Better Man Is a Standard Biopic, Slightly Monkeyed With
A CGI simian twist isn’t enough to turn Better Man into anything more than a by-the-numbers Robbie Williams biopic.
344 Articles by: Eileen Jones
Eileen Jones is a film critic at Jacobin, host of the Filmsuck podcast, and author of Filmsuck, USA.
The Damned Settlers Have Got to Pay
With a modest budget but plenty of thrills involving spooky 19th-century ships, frozen wastelands, and ghouls from Nordic folktales, The Damned proudly carries on our Gothic horror revival.
Timothée Chalamet Does Dylan
Despite Timothée Chalamet’s best efforts, A Complete Unknown is a cookie-cutter Bob Dylan biopic for a legendary artist who deserves something far more interesting.
Nosferatu Is a Flawed Triumph
Robert Eggers’s remake of the original 1922 vampire classic Nosferatu is a master class in atmospheric dread. You won’t even mind the occasionally clunky script.
Queer Asks You to Believe Daniel Craig Can’t Get Laid
Based on William S. Burroughs’s cult novel, Luca Guadagnino’s Queer finds an American expat looking for love among the men of 1950s Mexico. But a story about thwarted desires runs into problems when you cast a Hollywood hunk like Daniel Craig.
Jude Law Takes on White Nationalists in The Order
As an alternative to the “Big IP” movies dominating the box office, The Order is an effective and often thrilling drama about the FBI’s pursuit of white nationalists in the early 1980s.
“Glicked”: Are You Not Entertained?
Don’t fight the arrival of Wicked and Gladiator II. Accept them, allow them both to wash over you and leave no trace.
Anora: A Refreshingly Class-Conscious Indie Film
In keeping with the harsh realities of working-class life in America, filmmaker Sean Baker doesn’t deal in facile happy endings — not in his latest, Anora, nor in his other recent films. Living to fight another day is triumph enough.
It’s a Dismal Time for Political Films
Film industry executives are scared of them. Audiences are bored by them. It’s a dismal time for political films.
Conclave: A Shallow but Posh Papal Potboiler
There’s always an unlimited supply of narrative and visual drama to be mined from the machinations of the Catholic church. Conclave successfully taps into it.
Errol Morris’s Reminder of Trump’s Sadistic Border Policy
Donald Trump’s separation of children from their families at the border was a centerpiece of his migration policy. Errol Morris’s new documentary, Separated, chronicles the cruel policy during Trump’s first term that would likely return in a second.
Go See The Apprentice Before It’s Too Late
Trump supporters will never go see The Apprentice, and anti-Trumpers won’t be able to bear two hours watching the bane of their existence rise to wealth and power. This lack of a clear audience spells an unfortunate box-office bomb.
Joker: Folie à Deux Torpedoes Joker’s Melodramatic Power
Joker: Folie à Deux, the sequel to the huge 2019 hit Joker, is a vague and incoherent bummer of a film that even the dedication and charisma of Lady Gaga and Joaquin Phoenix can’t redeem. But with musical numbers!
Wolfs Is Lax, Low-Key Entertainment
In Wolfs, George Clooney and Brad Pitt’s new Apple TV+ buddy action-comedy about a rivalry between two lone-wolf fixers cleaning up a crime scene, you’ll find exactly what you’re looking for: lax, unambitious entertainment for dark times.
Corrupt Pols and Charismatic Idiots
Around 1947, McCarthyism hit Hollywood, just when it was starting to make hit films about the corruption and idiocy of American electoral politics.
Megalopolis Is Francis Ford Coppola’s Sad Nadir
Francis Ford Coppola was once a real cinematic titan creating indelible experiences at the movies. But Megalopolis, his overstuffed saga of the failing American empire, marks the drastic decline of his powers as a filmmaker.
An Appreciation of Maggie Smith
Beloved actor Maggie Smith died yesterday at 89. To understand her brilliance, look no further than her complex performance in the 1969 film The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie.
Demi Moore’s The Substance Is Bright Pop Body Horror
The Substance, starring Demi Moore, is a bright and showy body horror film about aging and the hypersexualization of the female body. But it doesn’t go much further than illustrating at great length that there are nasty cultural attitudes toward older women.
RIP James Earl Jones
Few American acting careers have made such lasting impressions on so many as James Earl Jones’s.
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice Is a Sweetly Satirical Delight
After a dreary sojourn through several terrible films, director Tim Burton’s delightful new Beetlejuice joint proves that you can go home again.