Review: A Sci-Fi Exploration of a Shadowy Government
The deeply weird Southern Reach Series reminds us that human institutions can turn people into something unrecognizable.
Staff Reviews
Review: A Novel About Walls, Both Literal and Figurative
Author Haruki Murakami offers a potent reminder of the value of free movement.
Review: Netflix's Biggest Heist Ever Documentary Takes Bitcoin Seriously
The film exemplifies the new age of mainstream respectability the token has entered.
Review: Armored MMA Is Like UFC but With Medieval Weapons
A bizarre new sport is reaching audiences online, a testament to the value of social media.
Review: Gladiator II Is a Historical Epic About the Dangers of Political Power
Director Ridley Scott explores what happens when people from the fringes of society rise to power.
Review: Wicked Is a Letdown for Fans of the Books
The movie musical fails to deliver on the more interesting antiauthoritarian themes of its source material.
Review: A Rap Trio Fights the Power In Gaelic
Kneecap is a semi-dramatized biopic of the Belfast music group of the same name.
Review: In Ren Faire a Tyrant King Tries To Find a Successor
George Coulam didn't just create the Texas Renaissance Festival. He built a utopia and crowned himself king.
Review: A Medieval Black Comedy With No Monarch
The state is almost completely absent in 'The Decameron. The characters don't exactly handle this responsibility well.
Review: Bullet Vending Machines Debut in U.S. Grocery Stores
The company claims its machines are more effective than store shelves at preventing shoplifters or underage purchases.
"Let people do what they want with their own bodies and property": Q&A with Todd Seavey
'Libertarianism for Beginners' was born in seeing the Soviet Union collapse.
Snoop Dogg Didn't Watch the New Roots Miniseries. What About You?
The rapper makes a passionate, NSFW case against the classic. He's really on to something.
Naomi Klein Changes Nothing
The laws of nature do not mandate a progressive paradise.
Nightcrawler and Horns
Jake Gyllenhaal brings the creepy, Daniel Radcliffe gets lost in a failed fright flick.
Birdman and Fury
Michael Keaton at his high-flying best, Brad Pitt bogged down in the mud of war.
Whiplash and The Judge
J.K. Simmons and Miles Teller jazz it up, Downey and Duvall go to court.
The Equalizer and Jimi: All Is by My Side
Denzel Washington kickstarts a franchise, Andre Benjamin illuminates a Hendrix biopic.
The Maze Runner and A Walk Among the Tombstones
More teen dystopia, and some middling Liam Neeson crime action.
Naomi Klein Changes Nothing With This Changes Everything
The laws of nature do not mandate a progressive paradise.
What Ken Burns' New Film Gets Right—and Wrong—About the Roosevelts
In his latest documentary, Ken Burns examines the tangled lives of Theodore, Franklin, and Eleanor Roosevelt.
The Skeleton Twins and The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby (Them)
Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig get serious, Jessica Chastain and James McAvoy sail the sea of heartbreak.
Wetlands and The Longest Week
A wild German import, and a limp Woody Allen tribute Jason Bateman can't quite save.
The November Man and Life of Crime
Pierce Brosnan gets back in the spy game, Jennifer Aniston takes on Elmore Leonard.
Sin City: A Dame to Kill For
Another all-star helping of blood and bullets from Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller.
Frank: Radiant Music and Madness. The Giver: Unnecessary Helping of Teen Dys-dopia.
Michael Fassbender gets a big head, and Jeff Bridges mutters through yet another post-apocalyptic franchise attempt.
What If: A Rom-Com Gem. Land Ho!: A Charming Indie Road Trip.
Zoe Kazan and Daniel Radcliffe in love and confusion, and two unconquerable codgers on an Icelandic adventure.
Guardians of the Galaxy: Beautiful Schlock. Get on Up Does Some Justice.
A spaced-out blockbuster and a problematic tribute to the great James Brown.
Magic in the Moonlight: Good Woody. Lucy: Girl Powers.
Colin Firth joins Allen on the Côte d'Azur, and Scarlett Johansson explores several new mental dimensions.
Boyhood: Life Itself. I Origins: Adrift in the Spirit World.
Richard Linklater delivers a long-form masterwork, Michael Pitt and Brit Marling get lost in a sci-fi muddle.
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes: Blockbuster With a Brain
Director Matt Reeves elevates the Big Summer Movie into something worth thinking about.
A Hard Day's Night: Beatlemania Revisited
Richard Lester's pop classic shines again in a new Criterion restoration.
Out of Step: A Monument to a Great Music Critic. Snowpiercer: Dystopia Revisited. Transformers: Age of Extinction: Whatever.
Nat Hentoff gets his due, Chris Evans hops a train, and Michael Bay does what he does all over again.
22 Jump Street and The Rover: Top Drawer Laughs, Bottom-Shelf Dystopia
Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill score again, Guy Pearce and Robert Pattinson…don't.
The Fault in Our Stars and Edge of Tomorrow: Teenage Tears and Blockbusting Terrors
Shailene Woodley and Ansel Elgort cement their stardom, and Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt kick several acres of alien butt.
