Creed II Lacks the Spark to Rewrite Rocky History Again
Ryan Coogler’s Creed was a masterful return to a well-worn franchise. Written and directed by the budding auteur, the…
In Gemma Hartley's Fed Up, Emotional Labor Is Everything and Nothing
In 2014, on the 25th anniversary of her 1984 book The Second Shift, sociologist Arlie Hochschild was asked if we had…
Life-Size Isn't As Fun the Second Time Around
When Tyra Banks first appears as a living doll (Eve) in the Life-Size sequel, 20 minutes into the movie, she’s laying…
The Favourite Walks a Thrilling Line Between Humor and Suffering
If you are online in 2018, or performing yourself elsewhere, you will be familiar with the phrase “commit to the bit.”…
Paula Abdul's Career-Spanning Show Is Totally Surreal (and Occasionally Surrealist)
I figured that a journey into the mind of Paula Abdul would be a wild ride, but I had no idea to what extent before she…
I Used to Be Normal Centers the Fangirls at the Heart of the Boy Band Story
When Australian director Jessica Leski and producer Rita Walsh took on I Used to Be Normal: A Boyband Fangirl Story, the…
Mariah Carey's Caution Is the Sound of a Legend With Nothing Left to Prove
Don’t call it a comeback—this won’t be that. Mariah Carey’s 15th album, Caution, hasn’t spawned any bona fide hits…
Daisy Johnson's Everything Under Is a Quiet Repurposing of the Oedipus Myth
In his essay on “Oedipal Knowledge,” Michel Foucault argued that Sophocles’s Oedipus, whose namesake is a man seemingly…
Green Book Is Another Film About Race for White People
There was nothing surprising about the announcement that Green Book had been awarded the Grolsch People’s Choice Award…
Aretha Franklin Concert Film Amazing Grace Was Worth the 46-Year Wait
It comes as no surprise that Sydney Pollack’s Amazing Grace is 87 minutes of sheer excellence. The long-lost movie…
John Leguizamo's Latin History for Morons Is a Lesson for Everyone
In the span of 90 minutes during John Leguizamo’s new Netflix special, the actor attempts to fill a void in his son’s…
Boy Erased Is Another Queer Movie for Straight People
Forced* conversion therapy is bad. You either believe this or you (at least tacitly) advocate for the extermination of…
Please Do Not Sleep on NAO's New, Out-of-This-World Album Saturn
There is a moment on the new song “Orbit,” by NAO, that is both entirely characteristic of its surrounding album and…
Hasan Minhaj's Hilarious Patriot Act Creates a Special Room for Brown People
On Sunday, after months of anticipation, Netflix debuted the first two episodes of former Daily Show correspondent…
In Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, Witchcraft Isn't As Feminist As Pop Culture Makes It Out to Be
It’s gotten quite trendy, over the past few years, to be a witch. Lana Del Rey casts spells on the President, movies…
Albums I Loved That Are Actually Bad: Nirvana's In Utero
Welcome to Albums I Loved That Are Actually Bad, a maybe one-time column about albums we loved at certain points in our…
On Robyn's Honey, the Fembot Strips Down Her Sound for Something Deeper
Let’s get one thing straight: Robyn has not disappeared.
Elle King's Shake the Spirit Is a Joyful, Bitter Reconstruction of Life After Hardship
In 2015, Elle King—born Tanner Elle Schneider, daughter of actor Rob Schneider—made her musical debut with the top 10…
The New Halloween May Be More Sensitive Than Ever, But It's Also More Brutal
We shouldn’t ask art to be emblematic of the #MeToo movement, but sometimes its makers tell us that it is, regardless.…