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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.

Video Essays

  • BADLANDS: Terrence Malick’s “early, funny film”
  • Raised in Fear: The Superdynamational Horrors of Ray Ha...
  • CANNES 2013: Jia Zhang-ke's A TOUCH OF SIN
  • CANNES 2013: Joel and Ethan Coen's INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS
  • CANNES 2013: Images, Part 1

THE REGULARS

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Press Play

MAD MEN RECAP 12: THE PHANTOM

Television
Most nights I watch Mad Men on my living room couch with a computer in my lap. Tonight I watched at a terrific New York City bar, at the Basket of Kisses Season Finale Party, sitting next to Rich Sommer.
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  • By Deborah Lipp
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  • June 11, 2012 1:38 AM
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  • 31 Comments
More: Deborah Lipp, Mad Men, TV Reviews, Television, AMC, indieWIRE Video, MAD MEN Recaps (Deborah Lipp)

TRUE BLOOD RECAP 1: TURN! TURN! TURN!

Television
I love "True Blood," and I pray this is the end of it.
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  • By Ian Grey
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  • June 10, 2012 9:55 PM
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  • 8 Comments
More: Ian Grey, HBO , True Blood, TV Reviews, Television, Anna Paquin, Stephen Moyer, indieWIRE Video, Alexander Skarsgård

CRUEL SUMMER: THE BLUES BROTHERS (1980)

Blogs
According to John Landis, "The Blues Brothers" was the last movie made under the old studio factory system. "The Blues Brothers" feels, indeed, like a transitional movie. It takes the form of a big studio musical, but its execution is all 1980s bigger-is-better filmmaking.
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  • By Aaron Aradillas
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  • May 14, 2012 8:55 AM
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  • 3 Comments
More: Aaron Aradillas, John Landis, The Blues Brothers, John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, Video, indieWIRE Video, Cruel Summer, CRUEL SUMMER (Aaron Aradillas)

MAD MEN RECAP 8: DARK SHADOWS

Television
"I’m thankful that I have everything I want, and that no one else has anything better."
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  • By Deborah Lipp
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  • May 14, 2012 1:12 AM
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  • 17 Comments
More: TV Reviews, Deborah Lipp, Mad Men, indieWIRE Video, Video, MAD MEN Recaps (Deborah Lipp)

MAD MEN RECAP 7: LADY LAZARUS

Television
"But listen to the color of your dreams//It is not leaving, it is not leaving." --The Beatles, "Tomorrow Never Knows."
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  • By Deborah Lipp
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  • May 7, 2012 1:22 AM
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  • 21 Comments
More: Deborah Lipp, Mad Men, TV Reviews, Video, indieWIRE Video, MAD MEN Recaps (Deborah Lipp)

GIRLS RECAP 4: HANNAH'S DIARY

Television
I hoped the title of this week's episode wouldn't imply what I had a feeling it implied. I hoped we'd just see Hannah writing in her diary, or hear snippets in a voice-over—something, anything besides another character reading Hannah's diary and getting information s/he didn't want, while I watched, cringing, from behind a pillow.
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  • By Sarah D. Bunting
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  • May 6, 2012 10:55 PM
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  • 6 Comments
More: Sarah D. Bunting, Girls, Lena Dunham, HBO , TV Reviews, indieWIRE Video, Video, GIRLS Recaps (Sarah D. Bunting)

GAME OF THRONES RECAP 6: THE OLD GODS AND THE NEW

Television
"Game Of Thrones" is getting exciting again.
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  • By Rowan Kaiser
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  • May 6, 2012 9:55 PM
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  • 4 Comments
More: Rowan Kaiser, Game of Thrones, TV Reviews, Video, indieWIRE Video, GAME OF THRONES Recaps (Rowan Kaiser)

GIRLS RECAP 3: ALL ADVENTUROUS WOMEN DO

Television
Remember those Cosmo-ish "Which Sex & the City character are you?" quizzes that every single editorial outlet featured during that show's run? Of course you couldn't take the results seriously; you can't "be" one of those people, because those people weren't people. They were slices of people, meant to illustrate (and easier to write than) the composite, contradictory whole.
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  • By Sarah D. Bunting
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  • April 29, 2012 10:55 PM
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  • 8 Comments
More: Sarah D. Bunting, Girls, HBO , TV Reviews, indieWIRE Video, GIRLS Recaps (Sarah D. Bunting)

VIDEO ESSAY: Clint Eastwood and His Iconic Side View Profile

Video
The craggy complexion. The stately ovate chin. Those thin lips deceptively wrapped around that charming smile. That perfect nose. Those clear greenish-brown eyes. That squint.
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  • By Michael Mirasol
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  • April 12, 2012 12:30 PM
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  • 0 Comments
More: Michael Mirasol, Clint Eastwood, video essay, indieWIRE Video

Press Play video series MAGIC AND LIGHT: THE FILMS OF STEVEN SPIELBERG to debut Dec. 15, 2011

Video
Press Play is proud to announce our first video essay series in direct partnership with IndieWire: "Magic and Light: The Films of Steven Spielberg." Set to premiere Dec. 15, 2011 on this blog, this series will examine facets of Spielberg's movie career, including his stylistic evolution as a director, his depiction of violence, his interest in communication and language, his portrayal of authority and evil, and the importance of father figures -- both present and absent -- through
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  • By Press Play Staff
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  • December 7, 2011 12:34 PM
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  • 6 Comments
More: Jose Gallegos, Richard Seitz, Aaron Aradillas, Serena Bramble, Ali Arikan, Matthew Zoller Seitz, Steven Spielberg, video essay, indieWIRE Video

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