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.
Movies
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.
Review: The Star Wars Prequel Trilogy Is Good, Actually
The millennial generation has had enough anti-prequel propaganda.
Review: WALL-E Is Not a Realistic Take on Space Travel
If we move to space, it probably won't be because we filled up Earth with trash.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever Is Ambitious but Disappointing
There's real grief in this superhero sequel. But it falls prey to too many Marvel movie problems.
Black Adam Is a Dreary Superhero Slugfest
The new DC Comics-based film wants to critique the superhero status quo. Instead, it ends up supporting it.
Review: Halloween Ends and The Banshees of Inisherin
Return of the Big Figure, and Colin Farrell at a new peak.
'Riotsville, U.S.A.' Explores the Origins of Police Militarization
Sierra Pettengill's documentary focuses on the fake towns, built by the Army in the 1960s, to train law enforcement.
Star-Studded Amsterdam Is a Tedious, Terrible Warning About the Rise of Fascism
A stacked cast and an Oscar-nominated director can't save this flop.
Review: Antero Alli's Low-Budget Psychedelic Naturalism
Tracer takes mind control to a new level.
The Woman King Rewrites History for a Feminist Twist on the Slave Trade
Hollywood often takes liberties. But there's a distinction to be made between poetic license and historical revisionism.
Netflix's Athena Is a Masterpiece About Police Violence and Social Unrest
A technically astounding film that turns a French housing block into a political warzone.
A White Woman's Documentary About Muslim Extremists Is Being Canceled. Guess Why.
Numerous critics object to the fact that the filmmaker, Meg Smaker, is a white woman.
The Feminist Dystopia Don't Worry Darling Isn't a Big Idea Movie. It's a Dumb Idea Movie.
A wannabe prestige picture that works better as a pulpy mind-trip.
The Dark Knight Rises Was a Cautionary Tale About Populism
Ten years after its release, the final film of Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy is possibly even more relevant.
Review: When Britain Banned Home Sales of The Exorcist
Even as it gained fans around the world, home sales of the film remained illegal in the U.K. until 1999.
Obi-Wan Kenobi and the Era of Cultural Stagflation
On streaming and the big screen, we're paying more for less, even as new ideas seem few and far between.
