Press Play

"The best video essay source on the web." (Roger Ebert) This web site is built on a mix of original video essays and critical, personal writing about film, TV, and their connection to broader cultural concerns. Co-founded by Matt Zoller Seitz, TV critic for New York Magazine, and Ken Cancelosi, it is overseen by Editor-in-Chief Max Winter.

THE REGULARS

Monthly Archives

OSCARS DEATH RACE: MONEYBALL

Blogs

When I heard that "Moneyball" was set to become a film, I didn't get it. It's a good book, and I'm a huge baseball fan, but as far as a narrative with wider cinematic appeal, I didn't see a there there. It's a story about a guy using statistics to exploit market inefficiencies, so…good luck with that?

By Sarah D. Bunting
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January 31, 2012 6:01 AM
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0 Comments

Video

Raising Cain Re-cut is my attempt to approximate Brian De Palma’s original vision of Raising Cain, before the director chose to compromise its structure in post-production. The re-cut uses all of the scenes in the theatrical release and puts them back in the order they were intended, giving rise to a dramatically different viewing experience.

By Peet Gelderblom
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January 31, 2012 6:00 AM
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8 Comments

Blogs

Made more in the spirit of the American New Wave than the French, ATLANTIC CITY is a whimsical sigh not only for the crumbling New Jersey city of the past but a certain mode of filmmaking that was entering its twilight.

By Ross Freedman
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January 30, 2012 5:18 PM
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0 Comments

Blogs

It’s not shocking that a film like Reds was never made again. It’s shocking that at some point in American history, such a film was made at all.

By Lisa Rosman
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January 30, 2012 2:28 PM
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0 Comments

Festivals

This is the first of (hopefully) several dispatches from Press Play Editor Kevin B. Lee at the Rotterdam Film Festival. A full festival wrap-up with highlights will appear at RogerEbert.com.

By Kevin B. Lee
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January 30, 2012 5:04 AM
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0 Comments

OSCARS DEATH RACE: HELL AND BACK AGAIN

Blogs

Sgt. Nathan Harris took a gunshot in the hip during an ambush in Afghanistan in 2009. "Hell and Back Again" tells you this without delay; Harris, back on U.S. soil and trying to rehab his way back to active duty, takes care of telling everyone else, compulsively -- Wal-Mart greeters, prospective landlords, fellow Marines. He can't help it. His shattered leg has become his world, and his medications send him spinning away from other topics despite himself.

By Sarah D. Bunting
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January 30, 2012 2:48 AM
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1 Comment

Television

Before we delve into HBO's "Luck," I need to get some housekeeping out of the way. I wrote about it in a very general way for New York magazine, then asked to recap the first season for Vulture. "Luck" is a rare TV drama that benefits from wonky auteurist scrutiny, and that's how I'm going to approach it. I'm fascinated by series creator David Milch and have written extensively about his great western drama Deadwood for the Star-Ledger, The House Next Door, and Salon.

By Matt Zoller Seitz
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January 30, 2012 2:28 AM
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0 Comments

Awards

At first I couldn't understand how "A Cat In Paris" had nabbed an Animated Feature nomination with animation this crude. In fact, at first I couldn't understand "A Cat In Paris" period. For reasons that don't bear explaining, I watched it without subtitles, and my French doesn't go much farther than cheeses, swears, and synonyms for "hurry up."

By Sarah D. Bunting
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January 29, 2012 4:04 AM
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1 Comment

Television

"Spartacus" is back with a new Spartacus. Both the new actor and the revamped series take some getting used to. For the most part, the reincarnation works, in large part because this cable franchise doesn't have a pedigree to sully. The latest edition, "Spartacus: Vengeance," picks up where the original 2010 hit "Spartacus: Blood and Sand" left off, with the title character and his lusty band of former slaves afflicting their former Roman masters, and the Romans trying to contain the rebellion.

By Matt Zoller Seitz
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January 29, 2012 1:05 AM
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0 Comments

Festivals

This is the first of (hopefully) several dispatches from Press Play Editor Kevin B. Lee at the Rotterdam Film Festival. A full festival wrap-up with highlights will appear at RogerEbert.com.