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

VIDEO ESSAY: Ninja Turtles: Generation Y in a Half Shell

Video

“Ugh. Where do they come up with this stuff?” groans a frustrated Raphael, the brooding, red-bandana-wearing member of the Ninja Turtles, whilst walking out of a New York movie theater that’s playing the 1980s creature feature "Critters."

By Nelson Carvajal
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July 30, 2012 10:56 AM
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1 Comment

Blogs

"The Amazing Spider-Man" is shockingly terrible, a glorified cartoon with black skies and a black heart. Everyone dies, or is sad about someone dying, or will surely die in the sadly inevitable sequel.

By Paul Meekin
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July 27, 2012 12:36 PM
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5 Comments

Blogs

If you’re like most Americans, your first exposure to Bollywood cinema was almost assuredly via the opening scene of Terry Zwigoff’s "Ghost World."

By Gary Sullivan
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July 27, 2012 9:26 AM
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0 Comments

Blogs

"Human nature is violent," William Friedkin tells me, going on to say that he also likes Immanuel Kant's phrase "the crooked timber of humanity." As an artist, Friedkin is as blunt, matter-of-fact and masterfully cynical as his initial statement suggests.

By Simon Abrams
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July 26, 2012 9:54 AM
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0 Comments

Video

There was a time when a certain kind of adventure film was popular. The 1960s were its heyday. Sometimes they were realistic, or even drawn from real life. Sometimes they were fanciful. But almost always they were intelligent and enormously entertaining. I haven't seen a new example of that kind of film in 30 or 40 years.

By Jim Beaver
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July 25, 2012 12:08 AM
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7 Comments

Television

It’s amazing that a man, and the show that celebrates him, can recognize any news when they spot it, given how much time Will and "The Newsroom" spend in a self-regarding set of funhouse mirrors that seem to reflect only the most flattering version of Will back to him.

By Alyssa Rosenberg
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July 23, 2012 8:56 AM
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5 Comments

Television

The most striking aspect of tonight’s episode was our introduction to German mega-company Madrigal Elektromoteren (and, of course, the short-order introduction and elimination of suit Herr Schuler, who was clearly complicit in the late Mr. Fring’s meth empire, though we don’t quite know yet to what degree).

By Dave Bunting, Jr.
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July 22, 2012 10:55 PM
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4 Comments

Television

Here's where we start to hope. Here's where we begin fervently, passionately hoping that two outstanding back-to-back episodes of "Falling Skies" make a trend, possibly the shape of things to come.