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TelevisionJune 15, 2022
Does “Severance”’s Workplace Satire Work?
On the ups and downs of the year's most talked-about office drama.
Vikram Murthi
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FilmMarch 30, 2022
The Oscars: Awkward Spectacle
The Academy Awards felt like a hyperactive fever dream, but really it was just a terribly engineered event that reeked of neediness and obsolescence and that was given its sole moment of excitement by an act of unscripted violence.
Vikram Murthi
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FilmMarch 10, 2022
The Wonder and Horror of Delayed Adulthood
With Worst Person in the World, Joachim Trier completes a trilogy of films that interrogates an aging generation facing a murky future.
Vikram Murthi
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TelevisionJanuary 31, 2022
Theater Kids and the End Times in “Station Eleven”
The HBO adaptation of Emily St. Mandel’s postapocalyptic pandemic novel examines, with mixed results, the endurance of art after society collapses.
Vikram Murthi
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FilmDecember 29, 2021
The Ardor of “Licorice Pizza”
Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest film is his most personal work yet.
Vikram Murthi
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TelevisionSeptember 15, 2021
Who’s to Blame in “The White Lotus”?
In the weeks since the release of Mike White’s latest HBO series, debate has centered on the show’s politics. Is it liberal satire or spectacle?
Vikram Murthi
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TelevisionJune 23, 2021
The Unfinished Evolution of Aziz Ansari
With the latest season of Master of None, the comedian and director’s attempt at a reboot of his creative approach reveals the limits of his perspective.
Vikram Murthi
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FilmApril 29, 2021
The Caustic Grace of ‘French Exit’
This surreal “tragedy of manners” is a showcase for one of Hollywood’s most compelling actresses—Michelle Pfeiffer.
Vikram Murthi
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CultureApril 15, 2021
The Rigorous Satire of Search Party
In its fourth season, the HBO show cements its status as cutting, if imperfect, send-up of millennial self-actualization.
Vikram Murthi
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CultureMarch 31, 2021
The Places John Lurie Can Take You
A cult musician, actor, and director returns with a television show that’s nominally about painting but is in reality a creative and spiritual journey.
Vikram Murthi