Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny Is a Dud
It might as well have been titled Indiana Jones and the Quest for Cash.
Movies
Review: How Tetris Escaped the Iron Curtain
The Apple TV+ film tells the story of an entrepreneur who helped bring a Soviet designer's game to the world.
The Flash Makes the Case Against the Multiverse
A listless, cynical wrap-up to a decade of chaotic superhero storytelling.
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts Is Better Than a Transformers Sequel Has Any Right to Be
It's no Orson Welles as Unicron, sadly. But I'll take it.
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Does Cinematic Diversity Right
The Little Mermaid was a dull exercise in box-checking. Spider-Verse uses its diverse cast as an opportunity for narrative delights.
Review: A Lesson on Political Ambition From Dungeons & Dragons Movie
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves is more Rob Reiner than J.R.R. Tolkien.
Fast X Is a Loud, Obnoxious, Campy Bore
The 10th entry in the muscle-car series is loud, ugly, and all too self-aware.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 Is a Marvel Superhero Movie Made in Poor Taste. And It's Better for It.
In 2018, director James Gunn was fired from the film for gross tweets. But this comic book sequel shows the value of his gross-out sensibility.
Review: Bragg Brothers' Pinball Depicts Repeal of the Game's Ban in New York City
Politicians in the last century accused pinball of being mob activity.
Hollywood Strike: Writers Demand More Pay, New Limits on ChatGPT
Their last strike previewed the struggles of the streaming era. This one might be giving us an early taste of the age of artificial intelligence.
How To Blow Up a Pipeline Unintentionally Indicts the Climate Movement's Fringe Activists
The movie wants to be a call to arms for climate activists. Instead, it portrays them as delusional, apocalyptic depressives.
Review: M3GAN Meets the Demand for Tech Panic
Predictably, the machine-learning robot starts killing.
Elizabeth Warren Wants the Government To Save Batgirl
Companies make decisions all the time, some of them regrettable and unfortunate, that shouldn't be any of the government's business.
Review: The Menu Is Another Movie Mocking Wealthy People
In this film, it's mean and funny enough to work.
The Expensive, Seductive Nostalgia of Field of Dreams
Why are so many filmgoers and politicians eager to prop up baseball's boondoggles?
He Ended New York City's Insane Ban on Pinball
Austin Bragg and Meredith Bragg talk Remy, libertarian parodies, and their new indie film, Pinball: The Man Who Saved the Game.
Oscar-Winning Everything Everywhere All At Once Celebrates Individualism, Free Will
In a chaotic universe full of infinite realities where all choices are relative, individualism still matters.
Review: The Clumsy Anti-Muskism of Glass Onion
Hating tech billionaires is The Current Thing.
America Needs a Better Kind of Capitalism
Big corporations and entire industries constantly use their connections in Congress to get favors, no matter which party is in power.
The Mandalorian, Troops, and the Fan-Filmification of Star Wars
Today's Star Wars fulfills the promise of the late '90s internet.
Review: Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre
Jason Statham in an underpowered Guy Ritchie spy flick.
Review: Pelosi in the House Is a Nepotistic Puff Piece
The glowing documentary makes no mention of her failures or even shortcomings as speaker.
Prosecutor Drops Firearm Enhancement Against Alec Baldwin
After a tragic on-set accident, a district attorney used a law passed after the incident to threaten Baldwin with years in jail.
Actually, Magic Mike's Last Dance Is About the Awfulness of Urban Zoning Regulations
A male stripper takes on London's historic preservation rules in Channing Tatum's latest ode to hot, sensitive dudes.
Review: Knock at the Cabin and To Leslie
Shyamalan’s latest twist and a most unexpected Oscar nom.
Why Schools Suck in the Movies and in Real Life
Why are educational institutions in real life more like the one in Carrie than the one in Harry Potter?
Alec Baldwin Shouldn't Spend 5 Years in Prison for an Accident
The actor is a polarizing figure. That shouldn't matter when evaluating the criminal case against him.
Review: Post-Roe America Is Unlikely To Resemble the One Seen in The Janes
An underground network in Chicago helped women terminate thousands of pregnancies amid abortion prohibition.
Die Hard: 'Twas a Christmas Movie
Jake Tapper makes the definitive case to settle a longstanding debate.
Why Is Sesame Suddenly in Everything?
Plus: spending bill on its way to Biden, Don't Be a Feminist reviewed, lawsuit over Yesterday trailer can go forward, and more...
Judge Agrees Consumers Can Sue Over Misleading Movie Trailers
The weird judge-invented "commercial speech" exception to our right to free expression breeds strange results in suit against distributors of the 2019 movie Yesterday.
James Cameron's Avatar: The Way of Water Is a Can-You-Believe-It Spectacle That Looks to the Future
Also, there are battle whales.
New Movie Lists Honor Jeanne Dielman and 2001, Snub TikTok
Friday A/V Club: Sight and Sound revises the film canon again.
