John Powers appears in the following:
Who will win 87,000 bottles of wine? 'Drops of God' is the ultimate taste test
Thursday, April 20, 2023
A French woman and Japanese man battle to inherit the world's most valuable wine collection in this high-gloss Apple TV+ series, based on the hit Japanese manga.
Pipeline sabotage is on the agenda in this action-packed eco-heist film
Wednesday, April 12, 2023
How to Blow Up A Pipeline is a lean, sleekly made movie about a modern-day monkey-wrench gang. Although unabashedly partisan, it doesn't preach or glamorize the eco-saboteurs.
Tag along with two young Londoners recovering from breakups in 'Rye Lane'
Monday, April 03, 2023
In Raine Allen-Miller's high-spirited romcom, two young, Black Londoners spend a day walking and talking together. It's a rare and enjoyable on-screen journey through south-of-the-Thames London.
Netflix's political thriller 'The Night Agent' sticks to the formula
Thursday, March 23, 2023
An FBI agent in a dead-end job suddenly finds himself in the middle of a huge conspiracy. This new 10-part series is a cross between a paranoid thriller from the '70s and a twisty TV show like 24.
Eco-idealism and staggering wealth meet in 'Birnam Wood'
Tuesday, March 14, 2023
Eleanor Catton's novel centers on young members of an radical environmental rights group who wind up entangled with a billionaire drone manufacturer. Our critic devoured all 400+ pages in two days.
'Return to Seoul' is a funny, melancholy film that will surprise you start to finish
Wednesday, March 08, 2023
In this wonderfully unpredictable film, first-time actor Park Ji-min stars as Freddie, a young woman raised by adoptive parents in France who returns to the country of her birth.
'Perry Mason' returns for Season 2, but the reboot is less fun than the original
Friday, March 03, 2023
The HBO series starring Matthew Rhys lures us in with the Perry Mason brand. But it ultimately overlooks the shark-like courtroom demeanor that made the character more legend than lawyer.
It's easy to focus on what's bad — 'All That Breathes' celebrates the good
Thursday, February 09, 2023
The Oscar-nominated documentary follows two brothers in Delhi who run a homemade infirmary nursing black kites — birds of prey widely considered a scavenging nuisance — back to health.
'The Last of Us' creates a dystopian landscape that feels human — and hopeful
Friday, January 27, 2023
HBO's new show, which draws from a video game of the same name, is replete with apocalyptic landscapes and zombies. But what makes the series truly groundbreaking is the emotion that runs throughout.
'Saint Omer' is a complex courtroom drama about much more than the murder at hand
Wednesday, January 18, 2023
Based on an actual criminal case in France in which a Senegalese woman killed her baby daughter, Alice Diop's film is rigorous, powerful and crackling with ideas about isolation and colonialism.
Noah Baumbach's 'White Noise' adaptation is brave, even if not entirely successful
Friday, January 06, 2023
The 1985 novel has been described as "unfilmable." Baumbach wasn't deterred — and though the movie brims with terrific moments, his White Noise doesn't hold together as well as Don DeLillo's.
Sleekly sentimental, 'Living' plays like an 'Afterschool Special' for grownups
Tuesday, January 03, 2023
Bill Nighy plays a bottled-up bureaucrat on a quest for meaning in Kazuo Ishiguro's adaptation of Akira Kurosawa's 1952 film Ikiru. The first film felt inventive and urgent — Living doesn't live up.
A critic revisits his list of the TV and movies he wished he covered in 2022
Monday, December 19, 2022
Every year, John Powers looks back on the great features he never got around to talking about. This year's list includes White Lotus, The Menu, Nanny and Dark Winds — plus one vodka commercial.
Pioneering writer Octavia Butler on writing Black people and women into sci-fi
Wednesday, December 14, 2022
Butler's 1979 book, Kindred, is now a series for FX on Hulu. In 1993, the pioneering author, who died in 2006, told Fresh Air she made up her own stories so that she could see herself in them.
This brash film about a wandering donkey may just leave you in tears
Wednesday, November 23, 2022
Jerzy Skolimowski's thrillingly imaginative new film, EO, follows a former circus donkey on a journey across modern Europe. It's a strange, haunting epic that couldn't feel more of our moment.
Thrilling crime films from Argentina and South Korea are marvels of versatility
Wednesday, November 02, 2022
Argentina, 1985 is a true-life portrait of a country struggling to reckon with its past. Decision to Leave is a thrillingly well-made murder story that crackles with originality.
'Magpie Murders' is a hall-of-mirrors whodunit with a satisfying resolution
Thursday, October 13, 2022
A writer dies under suspicious circumstances, leaving the last chapter of his new mystery novel incomplete. PBS' new MASTERPIECE Mystery! series is based on the bestselling novel by Anthony Horowitz.
If you haven't been back to the movies yet, Indian epic 'RRR' is the reason to go
Tuesday, October 11, 2022
The epic action-picture bromance makes the case for returning to theaters — it reminds us that movies are always more thrilling when they're part of a collective experience.
'Ramy' wades into murky waters in Season 3, but the comedy is clear as ever
Monday, October 03, 2022
Ramy Youssef's comic-drama about Muslim life in America aims higher than almost anything else on TV. In its new season, Ramy grows increasingly unlikable and his family appears to be falling apart.
Showtime's 'American Gigolo' sequel lacks the highfalutin glitz of the original
Thursday, September 08, 2022
There's nothing mythic about this series, which acts as a sequel to Paul Schrader's hit 1980 movie. This American Gigolo relies too much on people caring about a film that was made four decades ago.