‘The Afghanistan Papers’ Reveals How Not to Fight a War
Craig Whitlock’s searing Afghanistan war book is a jaw-dropping compilation of arrogance and stupidities that nobody wanted to see.
Chris Barsanti
Chris Barsanti is an habitual scrivener on books and film for the lucky readers of PopMatters, Film Journal International, Film Racket, and Publishers Weekly, and has also been published in The Chicago Tribune, The Millions, The Barnes and Noble Review, and The Virginia Quarterly Review. He is a member of the National Book Critics Circle and New York Film Critics Online. His books include Filmology: A Movie-a-Day Guide to the Movies You Need to Know, Eyes Wide Open 2013: The Year's 25 Greatest Movies (and the 5 Worst), and The Sci-Fi Movie Guide: The Universe of Film from 'Alien' to 'Zardoz'. His writings can be found here.
Pablo Larraín’s ‘Ema’ Is a Lusty Dance to the Death
Pablo Larraín’s Ema conveys his usual hypnotic and sinuous flow of sight and sound, but it’s delivered here with a more modernistic, punchy antagonism
‘All the Streets Are Silent’ Celebrates the Cross-Fertilization of Hip-Hop and Skateboarding in Pre-Gentrification New York
Elkin’s All the Streets Are Silent shows how skate crews and rappers picked up the mantle of guerrilla art and commerce in the post-Warhol and Basquiat years.
In ‘Stillwater’ a Red-State American Galumphs Through Marseille
Tom McCarthy’s Stillwater is straightforward but not didactic about the unthinking privilege of its blue-collar protagonist and the damage he causes.
The Tragedy of Never Enough in ‘Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain’
Morgan Neville’s documentary about celebrity chef and travel writer Anthony Bourdain, Roadrunner, is loving but clear-eyed.
The Power of Alternative History in Barry Jenkins’ Series’ ‘The Underground Railroad’
Barry Jenkins’ beautiful and brutal adaptation of Colson Whitehead’s alternative history, ‘The Underground Railroad’, indulges in compelling retro Afrofuturism.
‘Doom’ Illustrates Niall Ferguson’s Historical Flaws
While historian Niall Ferguson’s broad survey of human catastrophe, Doom, has erudition, insight, and sweep, it is frequently derailed by contrarian carping.
Ronald Brownstein Celebrates and Elegizes LA’s ’70s-Era Cultural Dominance
Ronald Brownstein’s ode to ’70s Los Angeles is, like so many California stories, less about a sustained moment than a bright and briefly thrilling mirage.
‘French Exit’ Resembles a Trans-Atlantic ‘Arrested Development’’
In deadpan funny ‘French Exit’ Michelle Pfeiffer and Lucas Hedges play a mother and son stubbornly resistant to the real world.
‘Coming 2 America’? Sure, Why Not?
Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall’s unasked-for sequel, ‘Coming 2 America’, clears its very low bar and reminds that Wesley Snipes is a damn movie star.
‘Soul City’ and the Southern Utopia that Never Was
Thomas Healy’s ‘Soul City’ shines a light on the obstacles Black activist Floyd McKissick faced to create an inclusive community in America.