Black Widow Could’ve Been Worse
Black Widow is a dumb movie that recycles the same Russophobic Cold War narrative Hollywood has been using for years. But it’s just dopey enough and supplies just enough laughs that I couldn’t be mad at it.
105 Articles by: Eileen Jones
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Eileen Jones is a film critic at Jacobin and author of Filmsuck, USA. She also hosts a podcast called Filmsuck.
Summer of Soul Is an Enthralling and Emotional Concert Film 50 Years in the Making
With historic performances by everyone from Stevie Wonder and Gladys Knight to Nina Simone and Sly and the Family Stone, Questlove’s documentary about the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival is a moving portrait of black music and a radical political and cultural moment.
Luca Is Another Beautiful, Overstuffed Pixar Sob Sandwich
Pixar’s latest film, Luca, is so chock-full of twists and turns, it reveals just how much that once-little animation studio has helped shape our current “bingeworthy” narrative standard.
In the Heights Is the Most Boring Movie of the Year
The controversy over casting in Lin-Manuel Miranda’s musical In the Heights obscures just how dull the film really is.
A Quiet Place Part II Can’t Match the Thrills of the Original — But It’s Close Enough
The sequel to John Krasinski and Emily Blunt’s horror-thriller A Quiet Place can’t deliver the same surprises as the original. But it still works.
Did They Just Turn Cruella de Vil Into a Girl Boss?
Disney has rebooted their legendary dalmatian-skinning villain, Cruella de Vil — and turned her into a scrappy, likable hero. The result is the complete mangling of one of the greatest Disney villains of all time.
Helen Keller’s Socialism Has Been Whitewashed
You wouldn’t know it from the whitewashed image of her as an angelic, unthreatening icon, but Helen Keller — yes, that Helen Keller — was a socialist.
Halston Suffers From Ryan Murphy Syndrome
Ryan Murphy’s new Netflix limited series on the 1970s fashion icon Halston is yet another showcase not only for Murphy’s trademark bright and glossy style but also his contempt for the unglamorous rabble.
Hollywood Shouldn’t Remake the Brilliant Another Round
Thomas Vinterberg’s Oscar-winning Danish drama Another Round celebrates the ways in which alcohol can bring joy to a midlife crisis — but there’s no way the coming Hollywood remake can avoid American moralism.
Mare of Easttown Is a Welcome Addition to the Small-Town Murder Mystery Genre
HBO’s Mare of Easttown is constructed around a familiar, virtually surefire plot: a shocking crime in a small town leads to an investigation that ultimately reveals every major local scandal in an astoundingly errant community. And it works.
Sasquatch Tries, and Fails, to Make Bigfoot a Metaphor for American Violence
Hulu’s docuseries Sasquatch uses Bigfoot as a hook to zero in on an unsolved 1993 triple homicide in the weed empire of Northern California. The series has some compelling material to work with — which it proceeds to squander.
Exterminate All the Brutes Exposes the Murderous History of Colonialism
Raoul Peck’s HBO docuseries Exterminate All the Brutes isn’t easy to watch — but it’s important popular education on the 600-year development of the concept and system of white supremacy associated with colonialism, slavery, and genocide.
The Crime of the Century
The mystery of Agatha Christie’s enduring popularity is rooted in a nostalgia for the certainties of the Victorian class system.
Minari Is Dedicated to Grandmas Everywhere — And Everyone Loves Grandmas
Minari is a gentle, universal story about a resilient South Korean family trying to make it in 1980s America. You should watch it.
Ernest Hemingway Was a Leftist Who Was Hounded By the FBI
Ken Burns and Lynn Novick’s PBS docuseries Hemingway sheds new light on writer Ernest Hemingway’s life. But it leaves out key details of his left-wing political convictions — including the FBI surveillance that haunted him until his suicide.
Justice League’s Snyder Cut Is Here. And It’s Still Bad.
After a long internet campaign demanding its release, HBO Max has unleashed Zack Snyder’s Justice League on the world. But it’s four hours of tedious superhero melodrama you’ll never get back.
Jessica Walter Was Robbed of the Decades-Long Stardom She Deserved
Jessica Walter thankfully found fame through roles like Arrested Development’s Lucille Bluth late in her life. But she should’ve been a major star when she was a young woman. Hollywood’s misogyny in the 1960s and ’70s made that impossible.
Eddie Murphy Is So Much Better Than Coming 2 America
Eddie Murphy is one of the most talented actors alive. Yet his brilliance is wasted in this sloppy sequel to the classic 1988 film Coming to America.
Nomadland Is a Great and Terrible Film
While Nomadland goes out of its way to avoid talking politics, its genius is in locating the emotional truth of what it’s like to be one of the many millions of Americans cast adrift by disaster.
Flaws and All, You Should Watch Judas and the Black Messiah
The story of Black Panther leader Fred Hampton’s assassination by Chicago Police and the FBI has finally been made into a movie. Judas and the Black Messiah is uneven as a film, but it’s a small step toward a serious reckoning with America’s past.