PJ Harvey and Thom Yorke - "This Mess We're In"

I haven't listened to Stories From the City, Stories From the Sea  in a while, so I popped it in the other day. Still fantastic, but ...

2012 in Review: C'mon, Zach Galifianakis

Today at Deadspin , I cast my vote for the performance I most want to forget from 2012. Which brings me to Zach Galifianakis and The Campaig...

2012 in Review: Tom Cruise's Great, Forgotten Performance

2012 is very nearly over, so it's time to start looking back at the best and worst of the year. For Deadspin , I singled out a great per...

'Zero Dark Thirty' Review

Zero Dark Thirty is the follow-up film from director Kathryn Bigelow, who won an Oscar for her last one, The Hurt Locker . I respected the ...

Bruce Springsteen - "State Trooper (Trentemøller Mix)"

If it's playing in your town, you should see Rust and Bone , the fine new film from French director Jacques Audiard, who previously made...

Yeah, 'Red Dawn' Is Awful

The question isn't "Is Red Dawn  bad?" but, rather, "How bad is Red Dawn ?" Plenty -- it's plenty bad. I get int...

Happy Thanksgiving: Some Thoughts on 'Hannah and Her Sisters'

Just about every year right after Thanksgiving passes, I'll think, "You know, I should have watched Hannah and Her Sisters ." ...

Hell Yeah Ang Lee

Oscar-winning director Ang Lee will be releasing Life of Pi  on Wednesday. My review will be coming out closer to that time, but meanwhile l...

What's Steven Spielberg's Best Film?

That's the question that Will Leitch and I pondered for Vulture . We put our heads together and ranked the filmmaker's 28 features. ...

Back Stage: 'The Twilight Saga' Comes to an End

For this week's Screen Grab, you can read my thoughts on Anna Karenina , Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God and Silver Linin...

Joni Mitchell - "The Last Time I Saw Richard"

Joni Mitchell's birthday was earlier this month, which made me think about her career and what I would consider her best non-hit. A lot ...

'Anna Karenina' Goes Beyond the Gimmicks

I missed Anna Karenina  in Toronto, but I wasn't exactly wowed by the idea of director Joe Wright taking the Tolstoy novel and staging i...

Oscar Season > Election Season

The headline to this post is pathetically simplistic, I realize, but for IFC Fix I thought about the ways in which Oscar campaigns are pref...

The Crazy Career of David O. Russell

In the late '90s, David O. Russell was looked at as one of a crop of new American filmmakers (along with David Fincher, Wes Anderson, Qu...

Prince - "Kiss"

I have no empirical proof to back up this feeling, but I just get the sense that when it comes to Prince's all-time best songs, "Ki...

Back Stage: Spend Some Time 'In Another Country'

There are several great options for your movie weekend: Skyfall and Lincoln both come highly recommended. But over at Screen Grab this wee...

'Skyfall' Review

Casino Royale blew me away. Quantum of Solace was a bore. Now comes Skyfall , and it's a fine, fine return to form. In my Deadspin re...

Falling in Love With '28 Hotel Rooms'

Months after attending this year's Sundance, it occurs to me that my two favorite films at the festival had something in common -- and ...

'Hitchcock' Review

I have a soft spot in my heart for the opening night of AFI Fest. Many years ago, I attended my first ever opening night when I attended the...

'Lincoln' Review

I'm already curious to see Lincoln again. Not because I think it's a masterpiece -- it has its flaws -- but because I found the expe...

'The Man With the Iron Fists' Review

It's a strange set of affairs when a movie starring Russell Crowe opens and just about nobody is talking about the fact that Russell Cro...

Steely Dan - "Midnight Cruiser"

Most weeks, I resist the urge to post a Steely Dan song for the Friday Video. Just too obvious. This week, though, I'm giving in and put...

Back Stage: 'Wreck-It Ralph' Is Fun, Fun, Fun

Five movies opening this weekend are reviewed in my latest Back Stage column, and not a one of them is a dud. (Even the so-so This Must Be ...