“‘How It Ends’ Can’t End Soon Enough”

God grant me the serenity to accept things I cannot change, but also please, PLEASE explain to me why people still make movies like this one. Continue reading →

“‘Hacks’ With Jean Smart Sharply Unpacks How Comedians Are Fundamentally Flawed”

Hacks, but does not slash, but it tickles, and anyways let’s leave it at that. Continue reading →

“‘Happiest Season’s Kristen Stewart and Mackenzie Davis Bolster Christmas Pap with Queer Identity

Kristen Stewart is gay. Clea Duvall is gay. Mackenzie Davis is, uh, not, but she plays gay well. Christmas is now gay. You are gay. Continue reading →

“The Film Stage Show Ep. 396 – ‘Palm Springs’ (with Andy Crump)”

Appropriately enough, here I am talking about “Palm Springs” again…and again…and again. Continue reading →

“Spending an Eternity in ‘Palm Springs’ with Andy Samberg and Cristin Milioti Seems Like Fun”

Honestly, I don’t think I’d hate it until about day 30. Continue reading →

“‘Trying’: Starting A Family Isn’t Easy In This Honest, Charming Apple TV+ Series”

The first of two Apple TV+ series dropping this month that I actually like, riding on the strengths of Rafe Spall and Esther Smith. Continue reading →

“‘What We Do In The Shadows’ Returns In Delightfully Funny Season 2”

Back on FX and staking its claim as pretty much the best horror show you’ll find on television. Continue reading →

“‘Greed’ Is Not Good”

Both as in the selfish desire for wealth or power or material goods, and also the Michael Winterbottom movie. Continue reading →

Review: Family, 2019, dir. Laura Steinel

A movie about Insane Clown Posse, except the good news is that you don’t have to like Insane Clown Posse to enjoy or even understand the movie! Luck you. Continue reading →

“Here’s The True Story of Paige, The WWE Star In ‘Fighting With My Family'”

Paige, WWE Diva champion, made some history about eight years back in her main roster debut on WWE RAW. Now, Stephen Merchant has a film out about her. How does her story transition from ring to screen? Short version: Pretty well! Continue reading →

“Terry Crews In Brooklyn Nine-Nine Is Modern Masculinity At Its Best”

Terry Crews isn’t the star of “Brooklyn Nine-Nine,” but he’s pretty much the show’s heart and soul. And its muscle. And its fretting grandma. Continue reading →

“Only Spike Lee could have made ‘BlacKkKlansman'”

I don’t think it’s over the line to cite BlacKkKlansman as one of Spike Lee’s best films, and I’m the guy who usually seethes at claims of “masterpiece” directed at movies that haven’t been out in theaters for even a day. Is BlacKkKlansman that? Is it a masterpiece? I’m not sure. Time will tell. But it does stand out … Continue reading →

“‘Never Goin’ Back’ Is One Of The Raunchiest, Most Satisfying Comedies In Years”

Welp, A24 isn’t really doing much to promote Augustine Frizzell’s excellent Never Goin’ Back, so I guess it’s up to me, a critic, to champion this gross, tender, raunchy, outrageous, sweet-hearted, and absolutely hilarious film. (It’s one of my favorites of the year. And one of the best I saw at this year’s Independent Film Festival … Continue reading →

“In Her Netflix Show, Michelle Wolf Gives Us A ‘Break’ From All This News”

I’m interested in seeing how The Break with Michelle Wolf picks up in quality, but really, I’m interested in learning how many people actually tune in to watch it. It’s a good show; maybe I don’t know what the hell I’m talking about, but the first two episodes (FYI: It’s a weekly joint, rather than a … Continue reading →

“The 100 Best Comedies of All Time”

Good morning! It’s Wednesday, so please, have another “100 best” list. This time: It’s hilarious. Comedy being the most subjective genre, I have a bunch of personal ordering gripes here, most of them being “nothing ranked after What’s Up, Doc? is actually fucking funnier than What’s Up, Doc?, especially all of the movies made in the last five … Continue reading →

Review: Let the Sunshine In, 2018, dir. Claire Denis

For a movie with such a cheery, upbeat title, Let the Sunshine In is determinedly melancholic. Check the director’s name and that makes sense: Claire Denis doesn’t really make straightforwardly upbeat movies, from Trouble Every Day to White Material, so naturally she’d make a romantic comedy dripping in sadness. But it’s a good kind of sadness founded on a real … Continue reading →

“The Creator of ‘Dear White People’ on Season 2 and Why TV Shouldn’t Try to Fix Racism”

There are times, many in fact, when I sit back, look at what I’ve accomplished in my years coming up in the culture writing biz, and think to myself, “Yeah. That’s pretty good.” (Okay: “Many” is putting it strongly. I do not routinely bask in my own output. It happens only as often as Donald … Continue reading →

“Armando Iannucci on ‘Death of Stalin,’ Jeffrey Tambor and Satire in the Age of Trump”

So, this is pretty huge (at least for me): Last week I spoke to Armando Iannucci, the comic genius behind Veep and In the Loop (among other things, like The Day Today, The Thick of It, and so on) about his new film, The Death of Stalin, which is about exactly what you think it is about. I’m a Iannucci fan … Continue reading →

Review: I Do…Until I Don’t, 2017, dir. Lake Bell

I rather liked Lake Bell’s first go behind the camera, In a World…, so maybe I put higher expectations on her second, I Do…Until I Don’t than I ought to have. I didn’t hate it; I didn’t even dislike it. But it’s a step back, in a sense, from In a World…, less polished, less successful as a narrative, … Continue reading →

Bingeworthy Breakdown: Comrade Detective

Trust me: I really wanted to love Comrade Detective. I’m fond of most of the people involved, and if I’m naturally inclined to consider the basic conceit of dubbing comic vocal tracks over material that is not at all innately comic, I’m okay with it on the off chance that the people doing it nail the … Continue reading →