HBO’s The White Lotus proved a revelation upon its release in 2021. The results of seasons one and two delivered one of the most entertaining series in recent memory. Show creator and writer Mike White struck a seamless balance, providing a sharp satire and critique of the rich. Not only …
Long Day’s Journey into Night has been a core of the theatrical canon since its 1956 debut. It won the Pulitzer Prize posthumously for its author, Eugene O’Neill, and has been in worldwide repertory ever since. The role of the mother, Mary Tyrone, is one of the best in the …
In The End, Joshua Oppenheimer turns his camera from documentary towards fiction while continuing his exploration of the lies people tell themselves. The film opens with a young man (George Mackay) painstakingly painting miniature figures and landscapes onto a large diorama; on closer inspection, the diorama seems to encapsulate a …
Dawn breaks over the Maine countryside as Duke (Donald Sales) and Reacher (the remarkable Alan Ritchson) drive back to the compound and discuss the infuriating Angel Doll (Manuel Rodriguez-Saenz). In the kitchen, Reacher tries to glean intel from housemaid Annette (Caitlin McNerney) and sharp-tongued English chef Agnes (Helen Taylor), though …
This second episode of the new season of Reacher is a day without much sunshine. By which is meant Reacher (the magnificent Alan Ritchson) has only one physical fight in Truckin’. It is between Reacher and Paulie (Olivier Richters), the unpleasant thug who is literally double Reacher’s size. Fortunately, Reacher …
The most popular American TV show is back, and as the first three (plus!) episodes of the new season of Reacher recently dropped on Prime Video, it’s worth discussing why this show – the modern James Bond – has been such a smash hit. The similarities with James Bond do …
The return of one of the greatest comic book TV series of all time is ready to shake up the world with Daredevil: Born Again. Charlie Cox and Vincent D’Onofrio return to their lead roles as Matt Murdock and Wilson Fisk. I consider the original Netflix three seasons the best comic book …
The Sundance Film Festival is a home for independent cinema. It’s somewhere for creatives and filmmakers to express themselves through obscure art. Being so obscure can lead to many films garnering a pulverizing response. It can sometimes lead films down the awards show circuit, like 2022’s best picture winner, Coda, …
One of the many reasons I love film and television is its ability to comment on the world. A piece of content can take a real-world context (i.e., a global pandemic or world disaster) and wrap it in an even more heightened setting. The results can create something entertaining while …
Of the three plus years of the virtual Sundance I have attended, 2025’s felt like the weirdest yet. The films had varying qualities of success, varying from good middling to downright bad. As the festival progressed, I began to think this was the weakest year yet. That is until I …
The AppleTV+ show Severance is an extraordinary feat of imaginative filmmaking. Over the course of a critically acclaimed first season, and three episodes of funky mystery-box plotting, and a crazy cliffhanger which saw Outie Mark begin to be psychologically recalibrated with his Innie, the show has consistently agitated and cajoled …
The title of episode three of Severance season two, Who Is Alive?, is a question. In a show that is constantly asking questions, this is only the second instance of the title itself existing as a question. The first was in season one, with the episode What’s For Dinner? which …
Brazilian cinema has always been known for exploring the country’s turbulent history and coming forward with hard-hitting stories. Be it the City of God or Four Days in September, cinema has been one of the most powerful mediums for shedding light on Brazil’s socio-political struggles, unearthing raw, unfiltered narratives that …
Death to Smoochy came out in 2002 when I had three kids under three and was expecting my fourth. I was in the thick of parenting little kids, which meant I was at my most familiar with children’s television programming. Danny DeVito’s dark look at the seedy underbelly of that industry seemed …
At the beginning of Parthenope, the protagonist reflects on the concept of beauty, saying that it lasts only for 10 minutes and all that is left after that is just boredom. Interestingly enough, that is exactly how I ended up feeling about the entire film after the first few scenes. …
Winning an award is always an achievement worthy of noting. The first season of Severance, the superb Apple TV+ thriller where characters sever their brains to become two people (an Innie for work life, and an Outie for home life) earned several but the one that feels most salient to …
The art of cinema has room for all kinds of experiences, whether unusual blends of genres, unorthodox storytelling methods, or unique filming techniques. Steven Soderbergh (Traffic) is a pioneer of modern independent cinema, and his movies are often acclaimed precisely for their inventive or distinct perspective. Presence fits into the …
When Apple announced their appearance on the streaming market, there was palpable excitement amongst media fans. Allowing filmmakers and creatives to play with big budgets to create vibrant, energetic stories nearly totally liberated from network executives was a concept unfamiliar within the media zeitgeist. That excitement soon deflated after AppleTV+ …
Starting a new cinephile year is always exciting, even knowing that January is far from being a particularly memorable month. In fact, even today, the first month of the year is often dubbed “dump January” precisely because it consists of 31 days studios don’t consider appealing or important for their …
I was a freshman in high school when Baywatch debuted, so I have always had a very particular view of who Pamela Anderson is as an actor. She was the Playgirl with the most covers on Playboy, the object of Borat’s lust, and the unfortunate victim of a leaked sex tape. Gia Coppola clearly knows Anderson’s background and used that …