The Flash in a Pan

 Posted on June 13, 2024  |  9 minutes  |  1808 words  |  Janel Helmers

The latest DC movie is the cinematic equivalent of a snake eating its own tail. This isn’t a film so much as brand management in flailing motion. This review was originally published in June. We are recirculating it now timed to The Flash’s streaming debut on HBO Max. The allure of the multiverse is in its wild possibilities. In theory, it gives storytellers infinite space to let their imaginations overgrow with experimentation and curiosity, to let dead ends become backdoors onto new vistas. [Read More]

The Great American Baking Show Is Having a Star-Studded Holiday

 Posted on June 13, 2024  |  1 minutes  |  159 words  |  Zora Stowers

Finally, America gets what it deserves: vindication for GBBO’s Mexican week. The Roku Channel is presenting The Great American Baking Show: Celebrity Holiday. For Brits, Celebrity Bake Off has been a beloved and dumber companion to The Great British Bake Off, the vapid Kitty Bennet to Bake Off’s Lizzie. When the cast of Derry Girls competed in 2020? Pure chaos. Ellie Kemper and Zach Cherry host as Joel Kim Booster, Chloe Fineman, D’Arcy Carden, Liza Koshy, Nat Faxon, and Murderville breakout star Marshawn Lynch compete to embarrass themselves the least in front of Paul Hollywood and Prue Leith. [Read More]

The Handmaids Tale Recap: The Dirty Compromise

 Posted on June 13, 2024  |  9 minutes  |  1799 words  |  Elina Uphoff

The Handmaid’s Tale Motherland Season 5 Episode 8 Editor’s Rating 4 stars **** «Previous Next» « PreviousEpisode NextEpisode » The Handmaid’s Tale Motherland Season 5 Episode 8 Editor’s Rating 4 stars **** «Previous Next» « PreviousEpisode NextEpisode » As June and Serena wave hello-goodbye as they pass one another on their opposing character trajectories, they are both offered versions of the same choice. [Read More]

The Killer Could Be a Great Comedy If David Fincher Let It

 Posted on June 13, 2024  |  5 minutes  |  1007 words  |  Aldo Pusey

There’s a thin line between self-reflection and self-parody, and The Killer, starring Michael Fassbender, comes dangerously close to crossing it a few too many times. This review was originally published in September out of the Venice Film Festival. We are recirculating it now timed to The Killer’s theatrical debut. The time for mothballing the philosophical-hit-man subgenre has long come and gone, but David Fincher’s The Killer might revive the debate all over again. [Read More]

The Lost Roles of Eddie Murphy

 Posted on June 13, 2024  |  20 minutes  |  4103 words  |  Elina Uphoff

Casting is one of the most important processes in movie making. Placing the right actors in the right roles can determine whether or not an entire film rings true. Thus, casting directors and filmmakers consider a variety of possibilities before going into production. Lost Roles is a weekly series that examines the missed opportunities — the roles that could have been — and explores how some casting choices that almost happened could have changed the film industry and the comedy world, at large. [Read More]

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel Recap: Say Yes to the Tour

 Posted on June 13, 2024  |  7 minutes  |  1413 words  |  Aldo Pusey

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel All Alone Season 2 Episode 10 Editor’s Rating 4 stars **** «Previous Next» « PreviousEpisode NextEpisode » The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel All Alone Season 2 Episode 10 Editor’s Rating 4 stars **** «Previous Next» « PreviousEpisode NextEpisode » It’s pretty darn tough to top a season premiere shot in Paris, so for the season two finale, The Marvelous Mrs. [Read More]

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel Series-Premiere Recap: Spontaneity and Wit

 Posted on June 13, 2024  |  6 minutes  |  1246 words  |  Elina Uphoff

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel Pilot Season 1 Episode 1 Editor’s Rating 4 stars **** The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel Pilot Season 1 Episode 1 Editor’s Rating 4 stars **** If you’re the type to pick up what Amy Sherman-Palladino is putting down, the pilot of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel had you as giddy as Lorelai Gilmore after her tenth cup of coffee. Sherman-Palladino has always had a gift for creating screwball heroines who make real life seem like a carnival, and the first 20 minutes of this pilot are pure tilt-a-whirl, a giddy array of gorgeous costumes and midcentury New York bustle and snappy one-liners delivered in massive apartments on the Upper West Side. [Read More]

The Morning Show Recap: Secrets Out

 Posted on June 13, 2024  |  11 minutes  |  2252 words  |  Aldo Pusey

The Morning Show Ghost In the Machine Season 3 Episode 2 Editor’s Rating 4 stars **** «Previous Next» « PreviousEpisode NextEpisode » The Morning Show Ghost In the Machine Season 3 Episode 2 Editor’s Rating 4 stars **** «Previous Next» « PreviousEpisode NextEpisode » Maybe the key to making a chaotic show work is to purposefully toss all of its characters into absolute chaos. [Read More]

The Most Ambitious and Cinematic of Duran Duran, According to John Taylor and Nick Rhodes

 Posted on June 13, 2024  |  20 minutes  |  4195 words  |  Janel Helmers

Superlatives A Vulture series in which artists judge the best and worst of their own careers. Superlatives A Vulture series in which artists judge the best and worst of their own careers. “We had to really fucking work hard to stay in the game.” Wider, baby, smile. You’re finally getting inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. If you’re Duran Duran, that is. Fifteen years after becoming eligible for the honor, the New Wave polymaths — Simon Le Bon, Nick Rhodes, and the unrelated Taylor trio of John, Roger, and Andy — are one of the many inductees in this year’s class, winning the “fan vote” by an absurdly high margin. [Read More]