MOST RECENT ARTICLES BY:

Roxana Hadadi is a TV critic who also writes about film and pop culture, with the closed captions on and motion smoothing off.

  1. at the club
    An Ode to John Wick’s Many Nightclub BrawlsThe whole world was John Wick’s dance floor, and what a delight to watch him bust a move (and some heads).
  2. buzz! buzz!
    Citizen Detectives, Get SleuthingYellowjackets is already leaving us with more questions than answers about our favorite not-not-cannibal girls.
  3. buzz buzz hmmm
    Our Spooky, Sexy Yellowjackets TheoriesSeason-two premiere “Friends, Romans, Countrymen” gives us much to chew on.
  4. tv review
    Yellowjackets Bites Off a Lot, But Not More Than It Can ChewAn ambitious and only occasionally unwieldily second season offers proof the Showtime hit could be in it for the long haul.
  5. remembrance
    The Purposeful Presence of Lance ReddickFrom The Wire to John Wick, the late actor was in perfect control of all his performative gifts.
  6. close read
    Swarm’s Most Dangerous DevotionThe Prime Video series about a murderous stan falls short in exploring the ways female companionship can be amplified into something more sinister.
  7. tv review
    Does Ted Lasso Know What He’s Doing? Does Ted Lasso, for That Matter?The third round of the Apple TV+ series seems unsure where to go next.
  8. endings
    How Long Can You Keep Doing This?Joe can’t keep getting away with murder.
  9. highs and lows
    The Highs, Lows, and Whoas of the 2023 OscarsJenny the Donkey! David Byrne hot-dog fingers! An Oscar for Michelle Yeoh! What more could you want? (An Oscar for Angela Bassett.)
  10. exit interview
    ‘We Have to Interrogate How We Feel About Our Heroes’The Last of Us co-creator Craig Mazin questions the inherent positivity of love.
  11. chat room
    Benjamin Bratt Asked to Keep the Penis Ring From the Poker Face FinaleBreaking down the disdain and desire that drive Charlie Cale’s final nemesis: “He’s obsessed with Burn Notice and thinks, ‘I could be on TV.’”
  12. close read
    Poker Face Toes the Thin Blue LineIs it possible to make a show about crime and punishment that isn’t copaganda? That’s a mystery season one couldn’t quite solve.
  13. close read
    The Last of Us Is Lost in the Darkness of the American MythThe first season navigates a devastated nation defined by tribalism and filled with individuals enduring and surviving at the expense of others.
  14. movie review
    A Grim, Mesmerizing Portrait of Romantic ManipulationPalm Trees and Power Lines makes it difficult to look away.
  15. stunt awards
    More Fight Scenes Should Be This ‘Cartoony’The best movie showdown in recent memory is four minutes of glorious, over-the-top action.
  16. tv review
    Daisy Jones & The Six Is Too Big to Feel This SmallAn enjoyably indulgent but paper-thin adaptation shrinks Taylor Jenkins Reid’s best-selling novel into a claustrophobic love triangle.
  17. spoilers
    The Nevers Ending StoryThe long-delayed second part of the canceled HBO series came and went so quietly you were bound to miss it. Here’s what went down.
  18. spoilers
    Red Rose’s Ending Is Invasively ThornyDespite a few supernatural feints, the British thriller is ultimately more concerned with the dangers of casually ubiquitous surveillance.
  19. chat room
    The Last of Us’s Gabriel Luna on Finding Tommy“The voice and the movement, all of that was important. But I felt once I put the boots on, the character was mine to inhabit.”
  20. adult themes
    Awful Adults Haunt Lockwood & Co.’s Ghost-Hunting TeensJoe Cornish’s Netflix series suggests adolescent anti-authoritarianism is society’s most valuable asset against dispassionate grown-up greed.
  21. movie review
    The Blue Caftan Finds the Perfect FitMaryam Touzani’s film is as precise and vivid as its titular garment.
  22. backstories
    How The Last of Us Raised Death From BelowMonths of preparation, weeks of night shoots, and dozens of extras went into unearthing Kansas City’s infected infestation.
  23. endings
    Let’s Talk About the Ending of Knock at the Cabin Knock at the Cabin changes the ending from the novel and suggests that acquiescing to fate, rather than fighting it, is bravery — even grace.
  24. close read
    The 1619 Project’s Standout Episode Resonates With Infuriating TimelinessA six-episode adaptation of the sprawling New York Times effort can’t help but feel scattered, but “Capitalism” is honed to a sharply incisive point.
  25. endings
    Even Nicolas Winding Refn Doesn’t Know What Copenhagen Cowboy’s Ending Means“Sometimes getting everything is not the right answer.”
  26. emergency discussion
    Velma and the Case of the Condescending RebootThree new TV revamps of varying quality offer a lesson in how to wield nostalgia responsibly.
  27. spoilers
    The Last of Us Humanizes a Monstrous Turning PointThe changes the series makes to a pivotal moment from the game give it even grander existential stakes.
  28. close read
    The Makanai’s Twin AppetitesHirokazu Kore-eda’s live-action manga adaptation serves up cozy nourishment with a side of feminist ambition.
  29. vulture investigates
    The Last Of Us Fungal Outbreak Is Terrifying, But Is It Realistic?Out: zombie apocalypse. In: Cordyceps apocalypse.
  30. highs and lows
    The Highs, Lows, and Whoas of the 2023 Golden GlobesFirst whoa: We’re doing the Globes again.
  31. backstories
    ‘Every Movie Is a Coming-of-Age Movie’: A Conversation About My Father’s DragonThe screenwriter and director of Cartoon Saloon’s latest, My Father’s Dragon, break down three pivotal scenes.
  32. close reads
    Holy Spider’s Ending Uncovers a Tangled Web of MisogynyHoly Spider is at its most precise and upsetting in the film’s final scene.
  33. what’s in the bottle
    We Want to Taste the Jeremy Renner Hot Sauce From Glass OnionMake space in the Hot Ones lineup!
  34. performance review
    It Was the Would-Be Year of Jon Bernthal on TVIn his most active TV year, Bernthal did the work, whether or not people were watching.
  35. remember that time
    When Lindsay Lohan Was the Best Part of a Paul Schrader MovieThe Canyons makes the case that Lohan possesses more self-awareness than we give her credit for, then or now.
  36. best of 2022
    The Standout TV Performances of 2022Individually and collectively, these 14 performers embody what made this year’s television interesting and special.
  37. year in culture 2022
    This Year’s TV Female Friendships Were KillerIn their final seasons, Dead to Me and Kevin Can F*** Himself made misandry look a lot like love.
  38. here kiri kiri
    In Praise of Sigourney Weaver’s Teen Angst in Avatar: The Way of WaterYou’re wild for this one, Jim!
  39. finales
    The White Lotus’s Watery EndThe season finale plunges into the unknowable depths of Mike White’s favorite symbol.
  40. character study
    How Ava Coleman Became Abbott Elementary’s Engineer of ChaosScammer, step instructor, sorority girl: Janelle James made the role of a “precocious child trying to do the job of a principal” her own.
  41. hear me out
    Let’s Speculate Wildly About the White Lotus EndingOne episode left and still so much backstabbing, frenemy friction, marital infidelity, and financial messiness to resolve.
  42. tv review
    South Side Enters Its Golden AgeIn its fantastically funny third season, the Chicago-set comedy exudes a sense of unparalleled confidence.
  43. best of 2022
    In 2022, Good TV Was a Gut FeelingOur critics break down what goes into naming the best of the year.
  44. emergency discussion
    How Is His Dark Materials Going to Pull This Off?The series’ final season takes on the difficult task of translating many heady, absurd, and arguably heretical elements from The Amber Spyglass.
  45. best of 2022
    The Best TV of 2022Television’s future looks hazier than ever, but these shows make a clear case for optimism.
  46. the vulture transcript
    Gangs of London Won’t Hold Anything BackThe cast and creatives behind AMC+’s brutal action series discuss their choreography of chaos.
  47. close read
    Luthen Rael Embodies Andor’s Gray SideIn his similarities to Star Wars’ biggest villain, Stellan Skarsgård’s character challenges what we expect and accept from the franchise’s good guys.
  48. chat room
    Raúl Castillo on The Inspection’s Unexpected Gallows HumorEven his brother thought the A24 military drama was “really, really funny.”
  49. music notes
    How Nicholas Britell Made Star Wars Sound Nothing Like Star WarsThe Andor composer created an individual soundscape for each episode of the 12-part first season.
  50. lingering questions
    How Much Can We Believe in 1899’s Reality?Let’s navigate this show’s sea of unreliable narrators in search of the “wake-up” key that unlocks season one’s big reveal.
More Articles