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Matt Zoller Seitz

Features Writer
See all their articles from across New York Magazine
@mattzollerseitz
matt.zollerseitz@nymag.com

Matt Zoller Seitz is a critic and filmmaker who joined New York Magazine and Vulture in 2012 as a television critic. He has been writing about television and film for over 30 years and has written multiple books on popular culture, including the New York Times best sellers The Wes Anderson Collection, Mad Men Carousel, TV: The Book, and The Sopranos Sessions and the forthcoming The Deadwood Bible: A Lie Agreed Upon.

  1. the old oak
    ‘Hope Is Political’Ken Loach on the end of his 60-year filmmaking career and what he’s learned about power and the working class.
  2. a long talk
    Alex Garland Honestly Doesn’t Know If Civil War Is Irresponsible“I do sometimes think there’s a part of me that is thoughtful and there’s a part of me that is delinquent.”
  3. a long talk
    Giancarlo Esposito Finds Elegance in Every Bad GuyThe Gentleman and Parish are giving one of Hollywood’s greatest journeymen his long-deferred shot at antihero stardom.
  4. performance review
    The Coiled Ferocity of ZendayaChallengers is the ultimate example to date of what has become a distinctively Zendaya screen energy.
  5. a long talk
    A Royale LineageThe Carol Burnett Show inspired her career. Now Kristen Wiig is starring in a TV show with her hero.
  6. backstories
    What’s Real and What’s Not in Dune: Part Two’s Biggest Action ScenesCinematographer Greig Fraser breaks down the “magic tricks” that made sandworm riding, bazooka attacks, and gladiator fights look convincing.
  7. let’s go
    The 100 Fights That Shaped Action CinemaWhether the scenes featured fists, firearms, or blades, the result was always the same: The crowd was pleased.
  8. in conversation
    Made for Jessica LangeHer haunting role in Mother Play, like so much of her work, is one only she could perform.
  9. tv review
    Shōgun Teaches You How to WatchThe Japanese saga of court intrigue luxuriates in the language of taking and holding power.
  10. un phénomène social
    ‘We Made Something a Little Fake’Amélie director Jean-Pierre Jeunet reflects on the very French, very successful fairy tale he imagined after leaving Hollywood.
  11. a long talk
    Gus Van Sant’s Maysles MasqueradeThe director imagined a reality where the brothers documented — then scrapped — footage of the Black and White Ball for Feud: Capote vs. the Swans.
  12. remembrance
    It Was a Pleasure Just to Watch Carl Weathers MoveThe actor’s wattage was so bright it practically burned a hole in the screen. It’s why he left the Rocky franchise as its star.
  13. a long talk
    Reservation Dogs’ Gary Farmer Has Seen it All“As I look back on everything, it seems to me that having a career at all is pretty special in itself.”
  14. remembrance
    Norman Jewison Could (and Did) Do It AllThere are contortionists who can’t fold themselves into as many different shapes as the late Moonstruck director did during his career.
  15. encounter
    Josh Gates Is Adventure TelevisionHow the Expedition Unknown host became every dad’s favorite reality-TV star.
  16. remembrance
    Listening to Andre Braugher“When he acted, the words were notes; the sentences, lyrics; every monologue, an aria.”
  17. a long talk
    Sam Esmail Didn’t Mean for Leave the World Behind to Be So TimelyThe director on the script’s eerie synchronicity with current events and his evolving sense of how much information to give the audience.
  18. exit interview
    A Darker, Sadder SuccessionMonths after his masterpiece finale, Jesse Armstrong ponders the real tragedy of his show’s ending.
  19. finding heavenly light
    ‘It’s Probably the Longest Movie Ever Made Without a Plot’Philip Kaufman on the film fibs, demons, and labia that made The Right Stuff just right.
  20. a long talk
    Sterlin Harjo Lays Reservation Dogs to Rest“We’ve watched this world grow from four kids to a whole community.”
  21. a long talk
    ‘The Thing Is, to Me, a Movie Is Alive’Carl Franklin on how noir and the blues shaped One False Move, and the story behind that final shot.
  22. sex scenes
    It’s All in Franz Rogowski’s GazeThe star of the summer’s most intimate, explicit movie, Passages, reveals what’s behind his now-famous stare.
  23. backstories
    Reservation Dogs’ American Horror StoryIn telling a story of Indian boarding school abuse, director Danis Goulet sought to honor, not exploit: “Our people have to have agency.”
  24. remembrance
    A Hollywood Director PossessedWilliam Friedkin made movies like The Exorcist and Sorcerer his way, no matter what changes transformed his industry.
  25. remembrance
    The Eyes of Angus CloudHe did not seem “of” Euphoria. Yet somehow that made him the most believable actor on the show and one of the most distinctive on TV.
  26. remembrance
    It Was Easy to Get Pee-wee HermanHe was one of many characters Paul Reubens inhabited. Any of them could have been stars.
  27. grand old actor phase
    Harrison Ford and the Ravages of TimeIn his “grand old actor” phase, Ford has treated his characters’ alienation and sadness as a brittle core around which fantastic visions can be wound.
  28. encounter
    The Objects Wes Anderson Hoards in His New York OfficeAn afternoon with the Asteroid City director in an apartment he describes as “not very well maintained” and “a bit abandoned.”
  29. characters talking
    How Genndy Tartakovsky Cracked the Code to Quiet AnimationHis best films and TV shows rest on long, wordless sequences that challenge the audience to figure out his stories for themselves.
  30. backstories
    The Tragedy of Hope“With Open Eyes” needed to feel like “a slow boil toward that final boardroom scene,” says Succession director Mark Mylod.
  31. remembrance
    Kenneth Anger Never Cooled OffBut the filmmaker’s renegade aesthetic is all over the mainstream, from Martin Scorsese to David Lynch.
  32. a long talk
    ‘I Told My Assistant, “They’re Gonna Fire Me”’Ewan Roy’s eulogy stole the show in Succession’s penultimate episode. James Cromwell thought it would end his career.
  33. a long talk
    Walking on the MoonSuccession’s Jeremy Strong on Kendall’s elusive moment of triumph — and what it has cost him.
  34. backstories
    Building Succession’s Haunted HouseFor the first episode without Logan, director Lorene Scafaria wanted to keep the claustrophobia alive.
  35. backstories
    ‘It Needed to Be an Unbroken Performance’Director Mark Mylod breaks down the exhausting 28-minute take that changed the course of Succession.
  36. remembrance
    Tom Sizemore Made You UncomfortableDuring his career, the prolific actor inhabited an array of troubled characters. Offscreen, he was one himself.
  37. anniversaries
    The Chicken and the BabyForty years ago this week, M*A*S*H signed off with an emotional jab at network TV’s commitment to sanitizing the ugly stuff.
  38. exit interview
    Steven Soderbergh Can’t Quit Magic MikeHe says there was “no compelling reason” to make a third movie, and then Channing Tatum’s live show happened.
  39. remembrance
    Barbara Walters’s Superpower Was FairnessShe made subjects believe they were getting an open-minded hearing — and that made them talk.
  40. remembrance
    The Composer Who Made Sense of David LynchAngelo Badalamenti’s music helped audiences find the utter sincerity of Blue Velvet, Twin Peaks, and more.
  41. remembrance
    Bob McGrath Set the ExampleFor 47 years, the Sesame Street actor radiated the warmth and acceptance many young viewers would’ve never received otherwise.
  42. the vulture transcript
    ‘I Owe My Entire Life to Laurie Strode’Jamie Lee Curtis traces her every success — from Trading Places to Freaky Friday to Knives Out — straight back to Halloween.
  43. exit interview
    Baz Luhrmann Is the Stanley Kubrick of ConfettiThe Elvis director’s opulent movies aren’t for everyone, and he’s okay with that.
  44. chapters
    The Day Deadwood DiedHow a single phone call and “a clash of fucking egos,” as star Ian McShane put it, led to the abrupt end of the beloved HBO series.
  45. chapters
    ‘Omar Became a Superhero Costume I Wore to Hide From Myself’As The Wire’s breakout character, Michael K. Williams felt invincible — leaving him vulnerable to his real-life demons.
  46. let’s do it again
    The 102 Best Movie Sequels of All TimeWho in the world wanted a Top Gun sequel? Not even Tom Cruise, but that didn’t stop Maverick from getting made and soaring in our ranks.
  47. remembrance
    The Jagged Life of Anne HecheShe lived and died like an early Hollywood star who imploded before a grande dame period could get under way.
  48. performance study
    The Making of Silent BruceBruce Willis was a fast-talking lead who became a man-of-few-words star. Which made his mental decline that much harder to notice.
  49. remembrance
    The Opera in Paul SorvinoThe late actor, known for playing paragons of retrograde masculinity, drew from a well of tenderness unreachable to most.
  50. remembrance
    ‘The Lowest Form of Conversation’David Chase remembers The Sopranos great Tony Sirico.
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