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

GIRLS on Film: Secrets, Seduction and Reclaiming the Body on Camera

Blogs

Hannah Horvath’s constant nudity in "Girls" has been a point of discussion since the start of the first season; one of the reasons Girls has been successful has to do with the way it tackles our own attitudes regarding female overexposure.

By Arielle Bernstein
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January 21, 2013 8:30 AM
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6 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

Tonight’s meh "True Blood" was proof double-O positive of the Law of Fives. Seriously, if physicists applied themselves, I trust they’d find the Law of Fives almost as immutable as the Law of Gravity, and not nearly as funny.

By Ian Grey
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July 16, 2012 8:29 AM
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3 Comments

Television

One of the reasons I wish "The Newsroom" spent more time following its characters as they report stories is that there’s a thesis floating through the show about what happens when people apply the methods they use in journalism to their personal lives.

By Alyssa Rosenberg
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July 15, 2012 10:55 PM
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0 Comments

Television

It always sucks to be Lafayette. And lately, Nelsan Ellis’s acting has been suffering as he tries to carry this impossible weight.

By Ian Grey
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July 9, 2012 9:21 AM
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1 Comment

Television

As much as I believe Aaron Sorkin is, to some extent, correct about the brokenness of our news system, as I’ve watched "The Newsroom," I’m finding myself increasingly sympathetic with the people he’s angry at, the ones who knuckle under to commercial pressure and the terms of their contracts as Will McAvoy and the News Night team rise above them.

By Alyssa Rosenberg
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July 8, 2012 10:55 PM
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0 Comments

Blogs

There is a hunger out there that cannot be fed by smirks, poses, and irony. In art, in film, hell, in anything.

By Ian Grey
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July 6, 2012 8:58 AM
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0 Comments

Television

For Aaron Sorkin’s characters, doing your job and falling in love are often inseparable processes.

By Alyssa Rosenberg
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July 2, 2012 1:52 AM
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0 Comments

Television

Alan Ball’s a believer. Now on his last season as the major domo of "True Blood," he continues to see no reason at all why Big Themes and literary stuff can’t coexist with camp, bodice ripper romance, Hammer gore camp and a Ken-Russell-esque free-for-all approach to fantastic filmmaking.

By Ian Grey
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July 2, 2012 12:37 AM
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8 Comments

Television

HBO’s been trying to sell "The Newsroom" to audiences on the strength of its opening scene, when Will McAvoy (Jeff Daniels), a bland and personable cable news anchor trapped in his own private hell somewhere between a shout-y liberal and a conservative, snaps and delivers a rant about American greatness.