Press Play

"The best video essay source on the web." (Roger Ebert) This is a web site built around original video essays and critical, personal writing about movies, TV, music, comics and whatever else interests its contributors. Co-founded by Matt Zoller Seitz, TV critic for New York Magazine, and Ken Cancelosi, it is published by Seitz and Cancelosi and overseen by editor-in-chief Kevin B. Lee and managing editor Max Winter.

THE REGULARS

Monthly Archives

VIDEO ESSAY: Cruel Summer: ROCKY III (1982)

Video

This video essay is part of the "Cruel Summer" series of articles; this series examines influential movies from the summers of the 1980s. The previous entries in the series covered THE BLUES BROTHERS (1980) and STRIPES (1981).

By Aaron Aradillas & Matt Zoller Seitz
|
May 31, 2012 8:46 AM
|
2 Comments

Blogs

Among its army of cult followers, "A Confederacy of Dunces" is the funniest American novel ever written. Little surprise, then, that the recent leaked news of yet another attempt to adapt it to the big screen after thirty years of failure—with Zachary Galifianakis in the lead role—was greeted ecstatically by the book’s fans.

By Mark Greenbaum
|
May 30, 2012 10:22 AM
|
4 Comments

Video

Listening to Haskell speak about the film conjures visions not only of the film, but also of an era that it reflects: a late '60s-early '70s generation in the throes of a massive cultural shift, discovering new ways to engage with cinema and with the opposite sex.

By Molly Haskell, Andrew Sarris and Kevin B. Lee
|
May 29, 2012 11:39 AM
|
0 Comments

Video

There’s absolutely no denying the ground-shaking societal impact of "Where The Wild Things Are," "In The Night Kitchen" and, in a quieter way, "Outside Over There"—they are the great post-Victorian children’s manifesto of rebellion.

By Tres Seymour and Ken Cancelosi
|
May 29, 2012 9:48 AM
|
0 Comments

Television

We know what we’re getting when we watch a Game Of Thrones episode, right? We’re getting some beautifully shot scenes, certainly; this has been one of the best-looking shows on television since its premiere. We know that the actors will be good, if not great. We know that we’ll see a wide variety of different, possibly intersecting plots, divided by geography. And we know that while there might be some action, it’ll be parceled out for more drama, more cliffhangers, but probably not catharsis. It’s a decent structure. It’s served the show well, as well as working for other HBO shows like The Wire, Treme, and Boardwalk Empire.

By Rowan Kaiser
|
May 28, 2012 8:14 AM
|
3 Comments

Television

"The Other Woman" may be the most disturbing episode of "Mad Men" ever.

By Deborah Lipp
|
May 28, 2012 1:36 AM
|
36 Comments

Television

Was anyone else surprised that the crack in this week's episode title was crack cocaine, and not the crack of an ass?

By Sarah D. Bunting
|
May 27, 2012 10:56 PM
|
4 Comments

Video

There’s no such thing as a truly anti-war film, Francois Truffaut once said. By depicting the adventure and thrill of combat, war movies can’t help but glorify their subject, fueling fantasies of spectacular, heroic violence. It’s a case where the sensational beauty of cinema works against our humanist impulses rather than for them. I’m not a fan of war movies as a general matter of principle. But in recent years, I’ve seen a couple of films with unique approaches to the war movie, and that bring humanity back into focus.

By Kevin B. Lee
|
May 27, 2012 3:55 PM
|
2 Comments

Video

The most exacting filmmaker of our time, Michael Haneke has just won his second Palme d'Or. To truly see a Michael Haneke film, should we be prepared to see through it?

By Kevin B. Lee
|
May 27, 2012 3:07 PM
|
0 Comments

Festivals

Read our critics' personal predictions of who SHOULD win the awards, and who WILL win the awards, at Cannes 2012...

By Glenn Heath Jr. & Simon Abrams
|
May 27, 2012 1:31 PM
|
3 Comments

start
previous
1 - 10 of 76
next
end

Blog Roll

Most "Liked"

Raised in Fear: The Superdynamational ...

like

0

CANNES 2013: Jia Zhang-ke's A TOUCH ...

like

0

CANNES 2013: Joel and Ethan Coen's INSIDE ...

like

0

CANNES 2013: Images, Part 1

like

0

VIDEO ESSAY: Wong Kar-Wai's Lust for ...

like

0

VIDEO ESSAY: Directed by De Palma

like

0

"The First, The Last, My Everything" ...

like

0

On an Animation of a Sentence by Nathan ...

like

0

CANNES 2013: Images: Part 2

like

0

CANNES 2013: Nicholas Winding Refn's ...

like

0

Latest Tweets

CANNES 2013: Nicholas Winding Refn's ONLY GOD FORGIVES | Press Play http://t.co/HymCzw9CDM via @indiewire
Posted 6 hours ago
RT @ThePlaylist: Zach Galifianakis Ruins Your Day By Suggesting Mr. Chow-Centric 'Hangover' Spin-Off, Plus New TV Spot http://t.co/6tugJ0INhP
Posted 12 hours ago
RT @RevChrisStangl: Crispin Glover's entire career has basically been an elaboration on the dance he did in FRIDAY THE 13TH: THE FINAL CHAPTER.
Posted 12 hours ago
RT @Slant_Magazine: #EPIC is something close to an animated masterpiece...provided it's watched on mute. http://t.co/QvbmRjtq5i via @Slant_Magazine
Posted 12 hours ago

Press Play