Top Gun
On the advent of Top Gun: Maverick, three Atlantic writers revisit the classic fighter pilot movie
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The Review
Join The Atlantic’s cultural critics and their guests as they go deep, debating the big ideas behind movies, music, and more.
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Knocked Up
Our hosts discuss what to make of how pop culture treats abortion and women's bodies.
Read MoreWinning Time
David Sims, Vann Newkirk, and Ross Andersen discuss the love-it-or-hate-it HBO series about the rise of the 1980s Los Angeles Lakers dynasty.
Read MoreSeverance
Spencer Kornhaber, Sophie Gilbert, and David Sims discuss the sci-fi thriller, how it echoes our real-life workplace anxieties, and what other dystopian works they recommend.
Read MoreThe Northman
Shirley Li, David Sims, and Sophie Gilbert debate the brutal viking blockbuster The Northman. Is it a thrillingly visceral tour-de-force or just Shakespeare for people who love crossfit?
Read MoreEverything Everywhere All at Once
Shirley Li, David Sims, and Spencer Kornhaber discuss the hit reality-bending action comedy. At a time of comic-book shows and movies filled with multiverses, why does this entry seem so… fresh?
Read MoreTurning Red
Shirley Li, Spencer Kornhaber, and Lenika Cruz discuss the Pixar coming-of-age film Turning Red, why they found it utterly charming, and why this post-villain era of animation is a welcome one.
Read MoreIs Pop Music Obsessed With Nostalgia?
Spencer Kornhaber, Shirley Li, and Hannah Giorgis assess the state of pop music following the Grammys.
Read MoreThe Dropout
From Theranos to WeWork to the socialite grifter Anna Delvey, television these days is all about the art of the scam. Why are these stories dominating our screens right now? And what does this moment reveal about American culture? Sophie Gilbert, Megan Garber, and Shirley Li discuss while recapping why they love The Dropout.
Read MoreWest Side Story
Sixty years after the classic 1961 film, West Side Story got an update from none other than Steven Spielberg. David Sims, Sophie Gilbert, and Spencer Kornhaber compare the two versions. Does the 2021 remake overcome some of the original’s problematic elements by grounding the story in actual history? Or does Spielberg’s realism undermine the dreamlike quality that helped make West Side Story a classic in the first place?
Read MoreThe Batman
David Sims, Sophie Gilbert, and Spencer Kornhaber discuss Robert Pattinson, their favorite Batman, and the state of our superhero monoculture.
Read MoreDrive My Car
David Sims, Shirley Li, and Lenika Cruz discuss the Oscar-nominated Japanese film Drive My Car. Does the success it and recent films have found mean we’re in a new era of appreciation for international film?
Read MoreThe Power of the Dog
The Jane Campion western drama is the most Oscar-nominated film this year. But does it, as Spencer Kornhaber has written, have a queer problem? Based on a 1967 novel, the movie’s found praise as an incisive study of masculinity. Does its dated source material make it a collection of cliched gay narrative though? Spencer Kornhaber, Shirley Li, and David Sims discuss.
Read MorePam & Tommy
Sophie Gilbert, Spencer Kornhaber, and Shirley Li discuss the Hulu series about “the greatest love story ever sold” and ask: Is Pam & Tommy just repeating the exploitation it depicts? Or is its retelling of internet history revealing something new about our current culture?
Read MoreCan Rom-Coms Make a Comeback?
David Sims, Hannah Giorgis, and Sophie Gilbert discuss the state of romantic comedies. Are they indeed dead? What happened to them? And can they make a comeback? They review Marry Me and I Want You Back, two new rom-coms that premiered over Valentine’s Day weekend.
Read MoreYellowjackets
Shirley Li, Megan Garber, and Lenika Cruz discuss the Showtime series about high-school girls stranded in the wilderness.
Read MoreThe Lost Daughter
David Sims, Sophie Gilbert, and Shirley Li discuss the Netflix drama adapted from an Elena Ferrante novel.
Read MoreFrasier
Does 'Frasier' hold up better than any other sitcom of its era? Megan Garber, Sophie Gilbert, and Spencer Kornhaber break down their favorite pandemic comfort watch.
Read MoreDon't Look Up
Adam McKay’s disaster satire is many things at once: a parable of our distracted society, a primal scream of a warning, and a comedy from the writer/director of Anchorman. That delicate balance has made the star-studded Netflix film a polarizing movie. Sophie Gilbert, David Sims, and Spencer Kornhaber discuss 'Don’t Look Up' and whether real life is now beyond satire.
Read MoreEmily in Paris
Sophie Gilbert, Spencer Kornhaber, and Megan Garber discuss Emily in Paris. Is the Netflix show a guilty pleasure? A hate watch? An argument for the joys of tackiness?
Read MoreSpider-Man: No Way Home
David Sims, Shirley Li, and Spencer Kornhaber break down the record-setting new Spider-Man film and debate Marvel’s continued dominance of moviegoing.
Read MoreAdele’s '30' and The Year of the Breakup Album
Adele, Kacey Musgraves, Taylor Swift, Olivia Rodrigo—why was 2021 the year of the breakup album?
Read MoreHouse of Gucci
What do Ridley Scott’s recent releases tell us about the precarious state of movies? David Sims, Spencer Kornhaber, and Shirley Li discuss.
Read MoreSuccession (Season 3 Finale)
Did Succession’s finale upend the Monopoly board — or will next season be another Game of Roys?
Read MorePassing (Bonus from The Experiment)
The American movie industry has a long, problematic history with stories about racial passing. But the actor-writer-director Rebecca Hall is trying to tell a new kind of story.
Read MoreDickinson
Why is television using period settings to tell contemporary stories lately? Sophie Gilbert, Shirley Li, and Spencer Kornhaber discuss the Apple TV+ show Dickinson.
Read MoreSpencer
Sophie Gilbert, David Sims, and Shirley Li discuss Spencer, the new “fable from a true tragedy” about Princess Diana. After Jackie, director Pablo Larraín turned his attention to another high-profile woman captive to family and publicity.
Read MoreThe Ring
Revisiting a modern classic that, despite its almost comically analog story, predicted the horrors of viral media.
Read MoreDune
David Sims, Shirley Li, and Spencer Kornhaber discuss the new big-budget adaptation of Frank Herbert’s 1965 classic.
Read MoreSuccession (Season 3 Premiere)
The boar is on the floor. The Greggs are in the Tomlettes. And season 3 of HBO’s Succession is finally here.
Read MoreNo Time to Die
The James Bond series now spans 25 movies, six actors, and six decades—but with the Craig era ending, where does Bond go from here?
Read MoreTed Lasso
David Sims, Megan Garber, and Sophie Gilbert examine the unlikely success that is Ted Lasso, and ask what the show’s much-discussed second season has to say about the merits (and the limits) of American optimism.
Read MoreAbout The Review
Don’t just watch a movie; understand it. Don’t just hear a song; consider what it has to say. On The Review, writers and guests discuss how we entertain ourselves, and how that defines the way we see the world. Join The Atlantic’s writers as they break down a work of pop culture each week, exploring the big questions that great art can provoke, making some recommendations for you, and having a little fun along the way.