Criticism

theater review

Divas at Dusk: Death Becomes Her as Broadway Camp

 The musical adaptation of the Streep-and-Hawn movie is relentlessly eager for you to laugh with and at its dueling lead actresses. By Jackson McHenry
theater review

Old Patterns and Bold Stitches: The Blood Quilt

 Katori Hall’s family-inheritance drama stays within a familiar grid. By Sara Holdren
endings

It’s Thumbs-down for the Forgettable Ending of Gladiator II

 The final fight is satisfying neither as spectacle nor dramatic payoff. It just kind of … happens, and then the movie ends. By A.A. Dowd
  1. endings
    Wicked’s Cliffhanger Ending, Explained (and What to Expect in Part Two)Wicked tells only half a story, but we’re not exactly in the dark about what happens next.
    By Louis Peitzman
  2. movie review
    When an American Pursues Bulgarian DreamsIn The Black Sea, Crystal Moselle and Derrick B. Harden co-direct a lovely ode to finding one’s place even when feeling out of place.
    By Jen Chaney
  3. books
    Percival Everett Can’t Be Pinned DownHis masterful new novel, James, cements his status as one of our most idiosyncratic writers.
    By James Yeh
  4. scene report
    Rust Didn’t Choose to Echo Its Tragedy, But It Courses Through the FilmThe finished movie is an appropriately unvarnished western, starring a lead actor visibly shaken by his experience making it.
    By Nick Newman
  5. theater review
    Out to Sea and Back With Swept AwayThe story of a whaling expedition that turned horrifying, musicalized by the Avett Brothers.
    By Sara Holdren
  6. movie review
    Wicked Is As Enchanting As It Is ExhaustingJon M. Chu’s film adaptation of the hit musical has charm, but the bloat is inescapable.
    By Bilge Ebiri
  7. album review
    Linkin Park’s Risky Rebirth Paid OffAn initially messy return paved the way for a balanced new album.
    By Craig Jenkins
  8. book review
    Haruki Murakami Has Lost the SauceTwo new works read more like fan fiction set in the extended Murakami universe than the thrillingly strange novels he’s famous for.
    By Bailey Trela
  9. theater review
    Shit. Meet. Fan. Tells Us Lots That We Already KnowNeil Patrick Harris and Jane Krakowski star in Robert O’Hara’s self-described “blistering vulgar satire.” It delivers one of those three things.
    By Sara Holdren
  10. theater review
    Grey Henson and Sean Astin in 'Elf.'
    Elf: The Musical, Where They Sing Really Loud for All to HearEveryone’s trying, but the show itself is a cotton-headed ninny-muggins.
    By Jackson McHenry
  11. tv review
    Stuck in Prequel QuicksandDune: Prophecy’s derivativeness is both its greatest flaw and its most defining characteristic.
    By Roxana Hadadi
  12. movie review
    ‘Some People Call It the City of Dreams, But I Don’t’Payal Kapadia’s new film, All We Imagine As Light, is a shimmering portrait of a Mumbai where everyone goes and nobody feels at home.
    By Bilge Ebiri
  13. theater review
    The Lighter Side of Christian Nationalism: Tammy FayeSpinning an evangelist grifter into a camp icon and sorta-feminist heroine is a little hard to take right now.
    By Sara Holdren
  14. theater review
    King Lear at the Fountain of YouthKenneth Branagh’s production is fleet and facile.
    By Sara Holdren
  15. tv review
    How to Get Away With More MurderSharon Horgan delivers a second season of Bad Sisters with fewer laughs but plenty more twists.
    By Jen Chaney
  16. tv review
    Tell Everyone About Say NothingFX’s exploration of the Troubles captures the thrill and romance of revolution — and the cost of its violence.
    By Nicholas Quah
  17. art review
    Maps of Things PastThe brilliant art-world cartographies of Loren Munk.
    By Jerry Saltz
  18. theater review
    When Robots Meet Cute: Maybe Happy Ending“It might feel like 2064 on the surface, but in its nostalgic, rechargeable heart, the show parties like it’s 1999.”
    By Sara Holdren
  19. theater review
    A Wonderful World Is Also a Familiar OneJames Monroe Iglehart does a fine job embodying Louis Armstrong in a show that’s anything but improvisational.
    By Jackson McHenry
  20. movie review
    I Hate to Say This, But Men Deserve Better Than Gladiator IIRidley Scott’s sequel might make you wonder if we’ve lost the ability to treat brawny historical epics earnestly.
    By Alison Willmore
  21. theater review
    Octavia Chavez-Richmond, Karen Lugo, Ugo Chukwu, Alina Troyano, and Will Dagger in 'Give Me Carmelita Tropicana!'
    Soho Rep Closes Out the House With Give Me Carmelita Tropicana!It’s the final show at Walkerspace, and Branden Jacobs-Jenkins and Alina Troyano’s play is a wild goodbye whoop.
    By Sara Holdren
  22. movie review
    Meanwhile, on Earth …In a moody new (mostly) live-action film from a great French animator, grief and aliens converge.
    By Bilge Ebiri
  23. movie review
    The Piano Lesson Can’t Quite Live Up to August Wilson’s PlayMalcolm Washington’s The Piano Lesson is a worthwhile and occasionally quite moving adaptation. But it lives uncomfortably between two forms.
    By Bilge Ebiri
  24. movie review
    Bird Is an Endearing, Ungainly Modern-Day Fairy TaleStarring a tatted-up Barry Keoghan, the film resembles a dream director Andrea Arnold had that she only semi-successfully translated to the screen.
    By Alison Willmore
  25. best of 2024
    The Best Video Games of 2024 (So Far)A weird noir, the new remaster of Silent Hill 2, and puzzles that will infiltrate your dreams.
    By Lewis Gordon
  26. movie review
    Hugh Grant Was Born to Play the VillainGrant’s been terrific in recent years as characters of questionable moral standing, but his riveting turn in Heretic is something else entirely.
    By Bilge Ebiri
  27. theater review
    Worlds on the Brink: Walden and A Woman Among WomenAmy Berryman and Julia May Jonas invoke and gut renovate Tennessee Williams and Arthur Miller (not to mention Thoreau).
    By Sara Holdren
  28. best of 2024
    The Best Anime Series of 2024 (So Far)Even after all these years, One Piece can still pull off an outstanding special episode.
    By Kambole Campbell
  29. best of 2024
    The Best Albums of 2024 (So Far)This year’s most notable releases are investigating deep questions and framing art as a balm for multiplying worries.
    By Craig Jenkins
  30. hot mic
    How Podcasts Became the New Battleground StateIf Democrats want to win future presidential elections, they need to start bro-ing out.
    By Nicholas Quah
  31. best of 2024
    The Best Books of 2024 (So Far)A highly anticipated sequel, a brilliant debut, and nonfiction to linger on.
    By Vulture Editors
  32. best of 2024
    The Best Songs of 2024 (So Far)A sexy dance-pop anthem, a country song that cuts deeply, and the most bombastic song of the year.
    By Justin Curto and Alex Suskind
  33. movie review
    Red One Will Remind You of Other, Better MoviesHonestly, the Dwayne Johnson–Chris Evans action comedy would be more interesting if it actually were a disaster.
    By Alison Willmore
  34. close read
    A Tale of Two Housewives DUIsShannon Beador and Karen Huger’s damage-control narratives are as different as the personas they’ve each spent seasons cultivating.
    By Louis Peitzman
  35. best of 2024
    The Best Podcasts of 2024 (So Far)Including a look into the checkered history of the New York Police Department and a meditation on the human body and death.
    By Nicholas Quah
  36. best of 2024
    The Best Movies of 2024 (So Far)The best election drama of the year doesn’t take place in the United States.
    By Bilge Ebiri and Alison Willmore
  37. behind the seams
    How The Penguin Styled Sofia Falcone’s Gigante TransformationFeeding into Cristin Milioti’s volatile performance, her costumes chart a journey from obedient heiress to homicidal mob boss.
    By Gavia Baker-Whitelaw
  38. best of 2024
    The Best TV Shows of 2024 (So Far)A punchy comedy, a spy thriller with complex politics, and a beautiful series that feels like a warm hug.
    By Jen Chaney, Roxana Hadadi, and Kathryn VanArendonk
  39. movie review
    The System Has Failed Clint EastwoodWith Juror No. 2, the director delivers a fine legal drama — but will anybody get to see it?
    By Bilge Ebiri
  40. movie review
    Netflix’s New Martha Stewart Documentary Makes Her More Powerful Than EverA new Netflix documentary charts the lifestyle mogul’s rise and fall (and rise) while giving us glimpses of her dark side.
    By Bilge Ebiri
  41. movie review
    Will the Year’s Most Powerful Documentary Ever Make It to Theaters?No Other Land, directed by a four-person Israeli-Palestinian collective, has won awards and acclaim. But no one in the U.S. wants to distribute it.
    By Bilge Ebiri
  42. theater review
    Teeth Is Back and Biting HarderAnna K. Jacobs and Michael R. Jackson’s horror musical now has a gory splash zone, and it benefits from the extra layer of kitsch (and plastic).
    By Jackson McHenry
  43. theater review
    A Big, Agnostic RagtimeCity Center’s revival blows the speakers out but says comparatively little.
    By Jackson McHenry
  44. movie review
    Here Is the Biggest Pile of Schmaltz You’ll See This YearTom Hanks and Robin Wright reunite for a movie that uses a bold formal device to incredibly hokey ends.
    By Alison Willmore
  45. close read
    For the Love of Pop CultureOnly Murders in the Building returned to the ties that bind in season four.
    By Roxana Hadadi
  46. album review
    Tyler, the Creator Confronts an Odd FutureChromakopia is more interested in critiquing masculinity than celebrating its own aggression.
    By Craig Jenkins
  47. art review
    Maybe KAWS Is Not So Bad After AllHis collection of outsider art, on display at the Drawing Center, is a marvel.
    By Jerry Saltz
  48. provocation
    Donald Trump Got the Tony Hinchcliffe He HiredThe comedian told racist roast jokes at the MSG rally. With his Kill Tony podcast fans watching, the ensuing backlash might have been the point.
    By Hershal Pandya
  49. album review
    Halsey Should Just Be HerselfThe singer’s new album is lost in a sea of elaborate impersonations.
    By Rich Juzwiak
  50. theater review
    Theater of the ApocalypseIn the Amazon Warehouse Parking Lot and HOTHOUSE put their characters in surreal settings as the world burns.
    By Sara Holdren
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