No Content For Old Men

Harrison Ford is hanging up his fedora at the ripe ol’ age of 80, in a movie that is sturdy but weighed down by the excess of modern blockbusters.

In 2016, she was on top of the world. Now, it seems like J-Law doesn’t care what anyone else thinks. So why not make a studio sex comedy? I’m all for it!

Wes Anderson is one of our true film masters, even as his style has become a parody on TikTok and AI platforms. Let’s discuss why! Plus a little “Extraction 2” talk for Netflix.

Celine Song’s debut feature is everything we can hope for and more, giving us a lovely story on the surface and a million things to think about beneath that. Plus, Sydney Sweeney stars in “Reality” on Max!

What’s so special about this movie to melt my heart of stone toward Marvel? Nothing less than every single thing I wish those other superheroes movies could be.

Nicole Holofcener is the bard of female midlife crisis, and America’s favorite charismatic a-hole is her perfect avatar for this deeply considered and specific story about the lies we tell the people we love.

Christopher Abbott and Margaret Qualley would’ve been huge movie stars 20 years ago after a movie like this. Today? If a tree falls in the box office and no one hears it, does it even make a sound?

Wholesome, heartfelt movies don’t often sneak their way through the system. Especially good ones. This is both! Plus, the David Bowie movie is on streaming finally and two really good streaming recs!

Another Guy Ritchie movie, already? This one isn’t about cockney gangsters, but I’ll always turn out for one of my favorite directors. That’s more than I can say for AppleTV+‘s “Ghosted,” which I had to let our Bad Movie Correspondent Justin Birnbaum review for me.

This week, two new movies in my top 3 for the year so far! In addition to Ari Aster’s epic, there’s the provocatively titled “How To Blow Up A Pipeline.” Check ‘em out!

Ben Affleck and Matt Damon are back together again to sell us some shoes, and their revolutionary new production studio. I’m buying.

On one end of the spectrum, a gritty Sundance indie. On the other, an expensive Netflix sequel. Want to take a pick which one I liked more?

If comic book sensibilities dominated the last 10-15 years of blockbuster cinema, the next decade-plus could be ruled by videogame logic. I’ll let you decide if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.

From early March to the end of May is a new annual tradition: TV season. Find out why two dozen really good shows are all coming out at the same time, and why 20 of them will be forgotten by summertime.

Packed week! Head over to Mattscraig.substack.com to join my Oscars picks pool before Sunday night’s show! Or if awards aren’t your think, stay turned for my thoughts on Creed and Guy Ritchie!

It’s a movie about a bear…on cocaine. The trailer ruled, so does the movie even need to be good? Plus an update on the Oscars race after a series of guild awards. Let’s do this!

It’s free to play and has a winner-take-all prize pool of $2 per number of entrants. So get your friends to sign up and try to guess all 23 categories correctly! Also: my thoughts on “Somebody I Used To Know,” “An Affair To Remember,” and “The Forgiven”

Plus: “Magic Mike’s Last Dance,” “Your Place Or Mine,” and the reality competition show I’m currently obsessed with. Long episode today!

I’ve trashed his last few movies in my newsletter, and though I enjoyed “Knock at the Cabin” more than those, I still don’t get why people seem to love this guy like they do.

Streaming services are trying like hell to bring back rom-coms. But are they succeeding? Let’s discuss.

After months of speculation we finally have our set of Oscar nominees. What do they tell us about the past and present of the movie business?

The biggest hit at the box office this month is a so-bad-it’s-good horror comedy about a murderous AI doll. What has the movie world come to.

The star-studded conversation movie from Sarah Polley takes center stage this week, as I explain how it brought me to tears. Plus Netflix’s “The Pale Blue Eye,” if you’re more into the whole Christian Bale thing.

Netflix’s strategy of carte blanche is a filmmaker’s dream, but then why do the movies feel disappointing? Let’s talk about it, through the lens of three high profile releases from late 2022.

It’s a mad dash to the end of the year and tons of new movies are dropping. Is the new “Knives Out” sequel any good? What about the new drop from one of my favs, Damien Chazelle? Guess you’ll have to listen to find out.