You’ll Never Make It Alone: On Groups in ‘The Good Place’
The Good Place puts a dirtbag, a human turtleneck, a narcissistic monster, and the dumbest person ever n the same room, because they’ll never make it alone.
comedy
Has Terry Gilliam Finally Captured Don Quixote?
In Terry Gilliam’s 25-year pursuit of filming Don Quixote, the story is at last made manifest but the character’s spirit is crafty.
‘The Great McGinty’ Takes on the Great Political Machine
Preston Sturges' classic Hollywood comedy The Great McGinty is an incisive and bold political satire that explores the ridiculous depths of American corruption—80 years before the Trump era.
‘Gloria Bell’: Silent Suffering and Disco Dancing in Late Capitalism
Gloria Bell painfully conveys that this economic system thrives on our isolation.
In Defense of Enjoying Tom Hooper’s ‘Cats’
Critics and audiences have made much fun of Tom Hooper’s Cats. The laugh is on them.
‘The Simpsons’ Plus-Size Marathon Is Aging Me All Over Again
For a show that so cynically pokes holes in the inanities of our plastic, apathetic world, The Simpsons' rough-edged bedrock of brilliantly conceived sentiment can cup a heart without compromising comedic integrity.
When Real Life Begins: On Fellini’s ‘The White Sheik’
Fellini is the master of blurring the lines between the real and the surreal, demonstrating the overriding imbrication of the familiar and the fantastic. In The White Sheik, currently playing at NYC's Film Forum, he inspires wonder and bemusement.
‘Uncut Gems’ Is an Embarrassment of Riches
Adam Sandler’s career-defining performance in the Safdie Brothers’ Uncut Gems is a gritty thrill ride into the psyche of an adrenaline junky.
In ‘Uncut Gems’ Adam Sandler’s Howard Ratner Is on the Brink of Everything, or Nothing
The Safdie Brothers' nervy ball of tension, #PMPick Uncut Gems, sends a hustler blasting recklessly through a city where everybody is on the make.
Venus as a Boy in Silent Film ‘Little Old New York’
Sidney Olcott's silent film Little Old New York falls into a tradition of men who find themselves strangely attracted to boys that turn out to be girls in disguise.
In Nickelodeon’s ‘Rocko’s Modern Life’, Corporations Steal Our Souls to Enchant Their Commodities
In a society of things, social responsibility requires a recognition of the influence of commodities upon our most foundational spiritual experiences. Nickelodeon's animated series, Rocko's Modern Life, puts it simply.