Stories in Motion

'Adults' Season 2 Review: FX's Gen-Z Sitcom Finally Grows Up

FX's "Adults" stumbled through a rocky first season, but Season 2 course-corrects hard. We talk about the new "Marathon Day" origin episode, the show's evolving love triangle between Paul Baker, Anton, and Issa, and why leaning into classic sitcom tropes actually saves this one. "Adults" Season 2 is streaming now on Hulu.

Our 28 Most Anticipated Fall TV Shows: East of Eden, Blade Runner 2099, and Yellowjackets' Final Season

Fall TV is stacked, and we're breaking down the 28 shows we're most excited about. Zoe Kazan reimagines Steinbeck with Florence Pugh in "East of Eden," Michelle Yeoh and Hunter Schafer head to "Blade Runner: 2099," and "Yellowjackets" wraps up its final season. Plus: Mike Flanagan tackles "Carrie," Tommy Lee Jones and Betty Gilpin join "The Lowdown" Season 2, and Jon Hamm goes hostage-drama in "American Hostage." We rank what's actually worth clearing your schedule for this fall.

Our 54 Most Anticipated Fall Movies: Dune Part Three, Digger, and the Return of Cannes Hits

Fall movie season is loaded, and we're breaking down the 54 titles we can't wait for. From Denis Villeneuve closing out his "Dune" trilogy and Tom Cruise going full arthouse with Iñárritu's "Digger," to Cannes standouts like "Fjord" and "La Bola Negra" finally hitting theaters, plus "Avengers: Doomsday," Laika's "Wildwood," and Robert Eggers' werewolf epic "Werwulf." We rank our most-anticipated picks and tell you what's actually worth the ticket.

HBO's 'Lanterns' Review: Kyle Chandler and Aaron Pierre Shine, But Can It Escape 'True Detective's' Shadow?

HBO's new DC drama "Lanterns" wears its influences right on its sleeve, from "Watchmen" to "True Detective" to "Friday Night Lights." We break down why Kyle Chandler and Aaron Pierre's mismatched-partner dynamic works so well, how the show digs into race and the burden of "earning" a Green Lantern ring, and why all those familiar reference points might be holding it back from becoming something distinctly its own.

Our 100 Best Movie Sequels Ever Made: The Definitive Ranking

We're counting down our list of the 100 greatest sequels ever made, and the choices are wild in the best way. We dig into how "Magic Mike XXL" landed the top spot over "The Godfather Part II," why "2046" and "The Last Jedi" made the cut, and the rules we set for ourselves (and immediately broke) to define what counts as a sequel in the first place. From Kurosawa to Kieślowski to "Jackass Forever," this is a list built to start arguments.

Dominic Sessa Is a Movie Star Now: Inside Matt Johnson's Anthony Bourdain Origin Story 'Tony'

Dominic Sessa's turn as young Anthony Bourdain in "Tony" is a genuine star-making performance. We dig into Matt Johnson's kitchen-set biopic, set during Bourdain's real 1975 summer in Provincetown, and talk about why it works as both an origin story and a coming-of-age gut punch. Plus: Antonio Banderas as the mysterious Chef, Emilia Jones as the girl he can't have, and why this might be the best Linklater movie Linklater never made.

Spidey Grows Up: Inside Brand New Day's Soulful Swing

Tom Holland delivers his most emotionally raw Peter Parker yet, grieving Aunt May, aching over a MJ who doesn't remember him, and fighting a mind hopping villain who might be the franchise's most human yet. We talk Ruffalo's Hulk cameo, that secret Avengers and X Men crossover everyone will be buzzing about, and whether "Brand New Day" finally proves less can be more after the multiverse chaos of "No Way Home."

Venice 83: Gallaghers, Ghosts, and a Bunker for the End of the World

Barbera drops his Lido lineup and it's stacked — McDonagh's back with Malkovich and Rockwell in Chile, Zeller pairs Bardem and Cruz for a doomsday thriller, and Boyle opens the fest with Guy Pearce as Murdoch. Oh, and Oasis has a documentary. We break down the buzziest titles, the wildest premises, and who's actually walking away with the Golden Lion.

The Power List: Who Actually Runs Hollywood in 2026

Vulture just dropped its ranking of the 100 most powerful directors in Hollywood — and the results might surprise you. Nolan on top, no shock there, but who's really jockeying for the No. 2 and 3 spots? We break down the tiers (IP Guys, A24 Boys on the Rise, the Old Guard), argue about the snubs, and debate whether "power" and "talent" are even the same thing anymore.

TIFF Drops Its Star-Studded Lineup: Cannes Hits, Almodóvar, and a Chris Rock Surprise

The Toronto International Film Festival just unveiled its Gala and Special Presentations slate, and it's loaded. We break down the buzziest titles heading to TIFF 51 — from Cristian Mungiu's Palme d'Or winner "Fjord" to Danny Boyle's "Ink," plus new work from Almodóvar, Kore-eda, Chris Rock, and a wave of Cannes and Sundance carryovers. We also talk through the biopics (Stallone's "Rocky," racing legend Gilles Villeneuve), the ensemble comedies, and what this lineup signals for fall festival season heading into Venice and NYFF.

Homer Is Where the Heart Is Not

Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey is the most spectacular film of the summer and leaves you slightly, inexplicably unmoved, which is the exact and only problem with it. Matt Damon as a crushed, grizzled Odysseus is inspired. Samantha Morton's Circe is extraordinary. The cyclops sequence is one of the year's best setpieces. We talk about why Nolan's structural genius and the emotional demands of Homer's homecoming don't quite meet, and whether any of that matters when you're watching it in IMAX.

Physical Media Matters, Now More Than Ever

Sony's plan to pull hundreds of titles from PlayStation libraries is the latest reminder that "buying" digital movies and shows was never really ownership. We dig into why physical media has shifted from nostalgic hobby to consumer self-defense — from Zaslav-era streaming purges to the "Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies" DVD rescue — and what it means when preserving pop culture becomes the audience's job, not the studios'.

Emmy Nominations 2026: The Pitt and Hacks Dominate

"The Pitt" leads with 25 nods, "Hacks" sets a comedy record with 24, and "Widow's Bay" surprises with 19. We break down the biggest snubs (Stranger Things, Sydney Sweeney, The Bear's cast) and surprises from Emmy nomination morning, plus what's new for the Sept. 14 ceremony hosted by Mariska Hargitay.

Midyear Report: The Best TV of 2026 (So Far)

Twenty shows, two critics' lists, one impossible ranking argument. From the Soviet space race thriller Star City to the return to Gilead in The Testaments, plus The Pitt's Emmy-sweeping second season and a vampire rock opera with The Vampire Lestat — we run down the best television of the year's first half, unranked and completely unfiltered.

Midyear Report: The Best Films of 2026 (So Far)

We're halfway through the year, and the multiplex actually has a pulse. From Baz Luhrmann's electrifying Elvis concert doc to the criminally under-seen Is God Is, plus Toy Story 5's victory lap and the $200M horror sleeper Obsession — we run down the ten films defining 2026 so far, and argue over which ones deserve way more attention before awards season locks in.

The Green Cologne Bottle

Moshe Rosenthal's Tell Me Everything is one of the best Israeli films we have seen in years. A boy witnesses the edges of his father's secret in a pool bathroom in 1980s Tel Aviv, and the film follows what that costs both of them across nine years. It is a film about fear, shame, and the silence they enforce on everyone they touch, queer or not. We talk about the structural diptych, the extraordinary final conversation, and why this film stayed with us long after the screen went dark.

We Are Not Alone

Steven Spielberg's Disclosure Day is a whistleblower alien chase thriller that is really about a 79-year-old filmmaker fighting back against cynicism with the only weapon he has ever had. Emily Blunt is extraordinary, the freight train setpiece is the best Hollywood action sequence of the year, and the script can't always earn the optimism the direction insists on. We talk about where this sits in Spielberg's alien filmography, what Blunt does that makes the whole thing cohere, and whether any of us were truly resistant to being moved by it. We were not.

The Next Room

Kane Parsons is twenty years old, came from YouTube, and has made the best horror film of the year. Backrooms takes the liminal space internet meme and turns it into an Ejiofor-anchored psychological freakout about a divorced furniture store owner who walks through a wall and keeps walking. We talk about what makes the film so effectively unsettling, why the monsters are its least frightening element, and why Parsons is the most exciting debut director we have encountered in years.

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Emmy Watch: End of May — The Race Takes Shape

Eligibility ends May 31st, nominations voting opens June 11th, and the Emmy picture is finally coming into focus. This week's update: "Pluribus" is the drama front-runner nobody saw coming, Rhea Seehorn is long overdue and the predictions agree, and "Beef" is eating the limited series category alive. We run through every category — who's surging, who's fading, and whether Harrison Ford can possibly win this thing again.

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Cannes 2026 - We Went Home Quieter Than We Arrived

Fifty-two films in ten days. We break down everything that mattered at this year's festival, from Cristian Mungiu's devastating Palme d'Or winner Fjord to the quieter miracles nobody saw coming. What Cannes 2026 said about grief, complicity, and the stubborn case for cinema.

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