David Sims
He is also a co-host of the Blank Check podcast. Before joining The Atlantic in 2014, David worked at The A.V. Club as a critic and was a staff reporter on education and local politics at the New York City newspaper The Chief-Leader. At The Atlantic, he primarily covers film, as well as comedy, television, video games, and other pop culture.
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Neon Films Infinity Pool Isn’t Just Another Satire of the Ultra-Wealthy
But the gory, existential horror film can’t keep up with its own premise.
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Tyler Comrie / The Atlantic The Oscar Nominations Are In, and a Few Big Trends Are Out
The competition is more genuinely surprising than it has been in years.
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Murray Garrett / Getty Hollywood Cannot Survive Without Movie Theaters
Why is this so hard for studios to believe?
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BayView Entertainment Skinamarink Is a Delightful Nightmare
The idiosyncratic horror film makes use of one of the scariest devices: a story with more questions than answers.
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HBO The Last of Us Makes the Apocalypse Feel New Again
The HBO adaptation is well versed in the bleak clichés of the zombie genre, but it also offers something unexpected: empathy.
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Geoffrey Short / Universal Pictures M3GAN’s Killer-Robot Doll Is Just What 2023 Needs
The zany horror film is as self-aware as the sentient android at its center.
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Netflix The Mind-Boggling Grandeur of White Noise
The film is sharply funny, eerily timely, and loaded with movie stars. So why is this blockbuster-size event falling flat?
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The Atlantic; Erik Carter / The New York … Rian Johnson’s Primal Scream
The Glass Onion director on why his sequel to Knives Out is louder and angrier
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Scott Garfield / Paramount The Dizzying Debauchery of Babylon
Damien Chazelle’s new film is an extravaganza of caustic misery and overflowing movie magic.
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A24; The Atlantic ‘No One Wants to Talk About Mortality’
The British director Joanna Hogg on death, mothers, and the allure of memoir movies
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Ryan Pfluger / NYT / Redux Steven Spielberg’s Movie Magic Has a Dark Side
And no one knows it better than he does.
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20th Century Studios Avatar: The Way of Water Puts Most Modern Blockbusters to Shame
James Cameron’s sequel to his 2009 epic is proof that cinematic wonder still exists.
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A24 You Can’t Really Make a Feel-Good Body-Horror Movie
The Whale aims for noble sentimentality, but Darren Aronofsky can’t stop turning pain into spectacle.
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Julia Schimautz The 10 Best Films of 2022
An unforgettable year of cinema by newcomers and old masters alike
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Yannis Drakoulidis / Metro Goldwyn Mayer Pictures Unfortunately, the Sexy Teen-Cannibal Romance Is a Letdown
In Bones and All, the gore is paired with a love story that’s surprisingly tame.
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Qilai Shen / Panos Pictures / Redux The Streaming Death Spiral Must End
Former Disney CEO Bob Iger is back at a time when the company desperately needs a new direction.
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Photo by Eric Zachanowich. Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures. The Menu Skewers Class Politics
The pitch-black comedy examines the ethics of “eating the rich”—and the hypocrisy of “ethical consumption.”
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Will Heath / NBC Does Dave Chappelle Find Anything Funnier Than Being Canceled?
During his appearance on Saturday Night Live, the comedian opened by addressing Ye’s and Kyrie Irving’s anti-Semitic statements.
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Merie Weismiller Wallace / Universal Pictures The Fabelmans Is Steven Spielberg’s Most Honest Movie Yet
The director tackles his most challenging material: his own childhood.
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Marvel Studios Black Panther: Wakanda Forever Does the Near Impossible
It’s a thrilling blockbuster that still makes time for grief.
