Neal Pollack

Wednesday, January 20, 2021

Kapuściński

NON-FICTION Politics

Kapuściński and the Autocrats

January 19, 2021January 19, 2021 Neal Pollack 0 Comments Donald Trump, Joe Biden, Ryszard Kapuściński, Shah of Shahs, The Emperor

The late Polish journalist, like no other writer, understood societies in crisis

MLK/FBI

DOCUMENTARY Featured Stories FILM

‘MLK/FBI’ Skips the Money Shot

January 18, 2021January 19, 2021 Neal Pollack 0 Comments Clint Eastwood, Dr. Martin Luther King, J. Edgar Hoover, Jr., MLK/FBI

Documentary about J. Edgar Hoover spying on Martin Luther King Jr. refuses to fully go there

WandaVision

Featured Stories TELEVISION

‘WandaVision’ Marks the Beginning of the Post-TV Era

January 16, 2021January 18, 2021 Neal Pollack 0 Comments Bewitched, Breaking Bad, Debra Jo Rupp, Elizabeth Olson, Fred Melamed, I Love Lucy, Kathryn Hahn, Mad Men, Marvel, MCU, Paul Bettany, The Brady Bunch, The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Sopranos, The Wire, WandaVision

A classic superhero show about classic sitcoms

Orwell

The Boys Who Cried Orwell

January 13, 2021January 16, 2021 Neal Pollack 1 Comment 1984, Andrew Sullivan, Animal Farm, Bret Stephens, Christopher Hitchens, George Orwell, Joe Biden, Josh Hawley, Louis Menand, Ron Charles, Sean Spicer, Ted Cruz

Everything is Orwellian, apparently

Terminator

Arnold Schwarzenegger: The Most Badass Movie Moments

January 12, 2021January 16, 2021 Neal Pollack 0 Comments Arnold Schwarzenegger, Batman and Robin, Commando, Conan the Barbarian, Hercules In New York, Kindergarten Cop, Mr. Freeze, Pumping Iron, Terminator, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, The Running Man, Total Recall

Going Commando, kicking ice, and taking names since 1970

Cobra Kai

Featured Stories TELEVISION

‘Cobra Kai’ Season 3: What Went Wrong?

January 11, 2021January 12, 2021 Neal Pollack 1 Comment Cobra Kai, Johnny Lawrence, Martin Kove, Ralph Macchio, William Zabka

From ‘The Karate Kid’ to ‘Apocalypse Now’ in two easy steps

CREATORS FILM Politics

An Online Festival Isn’t a Festival

January 6, 2021January 6, 2021 Neal Pollack 0 Comments Austin, Austin City Limits, COVID, festivals, SIFF, SXSW, The New Yorker

Let’s stop pretending they count

Promising Young Woman

Where the Boys Aren’t

December 29, 2020December 29, 2020 Neal Pollack 0 Comments Adam Brody, Bo Burnham, Carey Mulligan, Christopher Lowell, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Connie Britton, Emerald Fennell, Jennifer Coolidge, Laverne Cox, Molly Chester, Phoebe-Waller Bridge, Promising Young Woman

‘Promising Young Woman’, the Metooiest movie of the #Metoo era

News of the World

‘News Of The World’

December 28, 2020January 5, 2021 Neal Pollack 1 Comment Django Unchained, Helena Zengel, John Ford, News of the World, Paul Greengrass, The Ballad Of Buster Scruggs, Tom Hanks

Everyone has PTSD in this Tom Hanks Western about Reconstruction in Texas

Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

Chadwick Boseman’s Brilliant Final Role

December 18, 2020December 28, 2020 Neal Pollack 0 Comments August Wilson, Chadwick Boseman, Denzel Washington, Fences, George C. Wolfe, Glynn Turman, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, Pittsburgh Cycle, Viola Davis

His epic performance in ‘Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom’ shows us just what we’ve lost

Joseph Epstein

CREATORS NON-FICTION Politics Writers

Joseph Epstein Steps In It

December 13, 2020December 21, 2020 Neal Pollack 1 Comment Henry James, I Wipe My Ass On Your Novel, Irving Kristol, Jill Biden, Joseph Epstein, Norman Podhoretz, Northwestern University, The American Scholar, The Wall Street Journal

My former teacher made fun of Jill Biden’s Ph.D. this weekend, and reaped the whirlwind

The Twentieth Century

Blow Canada

December 10, 2020December 10, 2020 Neal Pollack 0 Comments Guy Maddin, Matthew Rankin, The Twentieth Century

‘The Twentieth Century,’ the year’s weirdest, funniest, most repulsive fake German Expressionist biopic about Canadian history

Mank

CREATORS FICTION Writers

‘Mank’ in the Tank

November 23, 2020December 5, 2020 Neal Pollack 0 Comments Amanda Seyfried, Charles Dance, Citizen Kane, Coen Brothers, David Fincher, Gary Oldman, Jack Fincher, Louis C.K., Madonna, Mank, Trumbo, William Randolph Hearst

David Fincher’s Old Hollywood movie is a pretentious snooze

Biden

CREATORS Politics

Can Joe Biden Save the Arts?

November 18, 2020November 18, 2020 Neal Pollack 1 Comment Amazon, Donald Trump, Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, Kanye West, the arts, Wynton Marsalis

We’ve got a country, let’s put on a show

A Teacher

‘A Teacher’: An Afterschool Special For The Age of Prestige TV

November 17, 2020November 25, 2020 Neal Pollack 0 Comments A Teacher, Afterschool Special, Hannah Fidell, Kate Mara, Nick Robinson, Scott Baio

A subtle and disturbing drama of teacher-student sexual abuse

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