DANCES WITH WOLVES (1990)
In 1990, Kevin Costner's epic western was widely hailed as major progress in Hollywood's representation of indigenous people. But what will The Unenthusiastic Critic make of it 30 years later?
IT'S A "STRANGE CASE" OF JEKYLL IN HYDE PARK ON A CHALLENGING LOVECRAFT COUNTRY
Questions of identity, duality, and transformation abound in a disturbing and surprisingly complicated episode of Lovecraft Country.
LOVECRAFT COUNTRY GETS LOST DOWN A GIANT PLOT HOLE IN "A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE"
With its weakest hour yet, Lovecraft Country turns in a story that is at turns dull, derivative, and disturbing (but not in a good way).
THE STRANGERS (2008)
There's no place like home, as The Unenthusiastic Critic's 2020 Halloween Movie Marathon concludes with Bryan Bertino's harrowing home-invasion thriller.
HEREDITARY (2018)
What's scarier than family? So we're talking about Ari Aster's breakthrough horror movie this week, as The Unenthusiastic Critic's Halloween movie marathon continues.
OTHER RECENT POSTS
DOCTOR WHO
DOCTOR WHO 10×03: "THIN ICE"
Some excellent character work elevates a fairly standard "monster-of-the-week" story.
May 1, 2017
DOCTOR WHO
DOCTOR WHO 10×02: "SMILE"
New companion Bill learns what it means to travel with the Doctor—and proves her mettle—in a strong second episode.
April 25, 2017
DOCTOR WHO
DOCTOR WHO 10×01: "THE PILOT"
It's a brand new season, a delightful new companion, and a welcome new beginning for Doctor Who.
April 21, 2017
FILM REVIEWS
LIFE (2017)
Silly, soulless, and disappointingly executed, Life is an instantly forgettable B-movie dressed up—not very convincingly—to look like a serious production.
March 25, 2017
FILM REVIEWS
LOGAN (2017)
Thoughtful, powerful, and existentially bleak, Logan may be the film that finally expands our expectations of what a "superhero movie" can be.
March 7, 2017
THE UNENTHUSIASTIC CRITIC
WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE? (1962)
The Unenthusiastic Critic—my reluctant wife—returns for her first viewing of Robert Aldrich's macabre camp classic.
March 5, 2017
FILM REVIEWS
GET OUT (2017)
Jordan Peele has made the first essential horror film of the Black Lives Matter era, and the smartest, most self-aware scary movie since The Cabin in the Woods.
February 26, 2017
FILM REVIEWS
A CURE FOR WELLNESS (2017)
Gore Verbinski's stylish horror film manages to entertain the eye and taunt the brain, but it never really engages the heart or soul.
February 18, 2017
FILM REVIEWS
I AM NOT YOUR NEGRO (2016)
James Baldwin's is the voice we need right now, and director Raoul Peck knows it, bringing a comparable clarity and poetry to one of the most powerful and provocative films of the year.
February 14, 2017
INDEPENDENT STUDY IN WORLD CINEMA
TRIUMPH OF THE WILL (1935)
In the latest installment of my Independent Study in World Cinema, I take an unfortunately timely look at how Leni Riefenstahl helped "make Germany great again" with her propagandist "documentary" about the Nazi party.
February 6, 2017
INDEPENDENT STUDY IN WORLD CINEMA
L'ATALANTE (1934)
Lyrical, sensual, and wise, Jean Vigo's L'Atalante is a film about the stink of love, the squalor of love, the anger and boredom and perverse complexity of love.
January 16, 2017
FILM REVIEWS
HIDDEN FIGURES (2016)
Theodore Melfi's Hidden Figures is not a groundbreaking film, but an old-fashioned, very entertaining film about some groundbreaking people.
January 8, 2017
BLOG
RESOLUTIONARY ROAD
Here at The Unaffiliated Critic, we appreciate the illusory, arbitrary promise of a fresh start as much as anyone. So here are my New Year's Resolutions for 2017.
January 6, 2017
TV LISTS AND ROUNDUPS
MY FAVORITE TV SHOWS OF 2016
There are many ways in which 2016 was a terrible, no-good, very bad year. But television provided a ridiculous embarrassment of riches.
December 30, 2016
GAME OF THRONES
GAME OF THRONES 6×10: "THE WINDS OF WINTER"
The sixth season finale of Game of Thrones finds women seizing control of the board. But who will these women need to become to hold onto power?
November 27, 2016
FIRST LOOK/LAST LOOK
LUKE CAGE, CRISIS IN SIX SCENES, AFTERMATH, VERSAILLES
Four shows enter. Three shows suck.
October 2, 2016
FIRST LOOK/LAST LOOK
THE GOOD PLACE, THIS IS US, SPEECHLESS, DESIGNATED SURVIVOR, PITCH, THE EXORCIST
The third week of the Fall 2016 premiere season brings a veritable cornucopia of new network shows—most of them far better than I expected.
September 25, 2016
FIRST LOOK/LAST LOOK
SON OF ZORN, AMERICAN HORROR STORY: ROANOKE, FLEABAG, HIGH MAINTENANCE
In this week's installment of "First Look/Last Look," it's a bit of a mixed bag.
September 18, 2016
FIRST LOOK/LAST LOOK
ATLANTA, QUEEN SUGAR, BETTER THINGS, ONE MISSISSIPPI
Every year in “First Look/Last Look,” I pan for TV gold in the fetid riverbed of the new fall season. This year, the first batch—surprisingly—is all gold.
September 18, 2016
GAME OF THRONES
GAME OF THRONES 6×09: "BATTLE OF THE BASTARDS"
"Battle of the Bastards" is a magnificent hour of television. But is it a great episode of Game of Thrones?
June 29, 2016
GAME OF THRONES
GAME OF THRONES 6×08: "NO ONE"
"No One" ever thinks they're the bad guy, but there comes a time when everyone has to ask themselves the question.
June 19, 2016
GAME OF THRONES
GAME OF THRONES 6×07: "THE BROKEN MAN"
This week, we see all the broken people trying to figure out what can be built from the shattered pieces of the past.
June 19, 2016
GAME OF THRONES
GAME OF THRONES 6×06: "BLOOD OF MY BLOOD"
An awkward and underwhelming episode focuses on the question of family loyalty.
May 30, 2016
GAME OF THRONES
GAME OF THRONES 6×05: "THE DOOR"
"Terrible things happen for a reason," we are told in "The Door." But is that really a comforting thought?
May 28, 2016