Celebrity Life
Barry Jenkins’ The Underground Railroad Is a Stunning Adaptation and a Brilliant Critique of Black Suffering as Entertainment
This could be yet another graphic reenactment of Black suffering under slavery, crafted by well-meaning Hollywood types as a reminder of historical racism. Look deeper, though, and you'll find an incisive response to pop culture that fetishizes Black people’s pain
Three New Books Find Drama in the Scandals and Controversies of the Publishing World
The Plot, Who Is Maud Dixon? and The Other Black Girl mine questions of authorship and inclusion in the book world
HBO Max’s Hilarious Showbiz Comedy Hacks Is the Star Vehicle Jean Smart Deserves
The core of the show is Smart’s performance, which brings the perfect balance of steeliness and vulnerability
Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street Maps the History of a Revolutionary Kids’ TV Show That Still Has Plenty to Teach Us
The documentary tells the story of how the show came about, a kind of perfect storm in which a group of extraordinarily gifted people found their way to one another
Monster Tells a Harrowing Story—But the Filmmaking Gets in the Way
The power of a Netflix drama about a wrongly accused Black teenager is diluted by a gimmicky filmmaking trick
On Their New Albums, Miranda Lambert and Ashley Monroe Find New Ways to Disrupt Country Music
New records from Miranda Lambert and Ashley Monroe showcase artists who have long reveled in their rebel status, chasing creativity on their own terms
Limbo Is a Wry and Tender Comedy About Refugees Searching for the Meaning of ‘Home’
Set on a remote Scottish isle, Ben Sharrock's second feature maintains a lightness of touch, despite its serious underpinnings
A New Season of The Girlfriend Experience Gives Us Yet Another Exploration of Tech and Male Desire
Anxiety around the intersection of love, sex and technology has—for obvious reasons—become a pop-culture obsession
Tom Clancy’s Without Remorse Unapologetically Kicks Off a Bland New Franchise
Michael B. Jordan elevates a mediocre role in a new adaptation of Tom Clancy’s 1993 novel
Roy Andersson’s Quietly Gorgeous About Endlessness Explores Questions for Which There Are No Answers
Swedish director Roy Andersson's meditative film is as attuned to life’s eternally blossoming beauty as to its cruelty
Justin Theroux Is Great in The Mosquito Coast. But What Is This Muddled Meditation on American Life Trying to Say?
Theroux's role in the new Apple TV+ series puts a less sympathetic spin on the Hot, Crazy Dad archetype he played in The Leftovers
The Pandemic Oscars Were Surprisingly Decent. But Will the Academy Learn Anything From Its Break With Tradition?
We knew the 93rd Academy Awards telecast was going to be different even before Steven Soderbergh signed on to produce it