“The risk is worth it”: Carrie review
Now that I’ve had time to process Mike Flanagan’s Carrie - and time to read some of the angrier responses to the liberties Flanagan has taken with Stephen King’s original source material - I...
Author: Natalia Antonova
Natalia Antonova is a DC-based writer and editor
“There is a fine line between self-deprecation and self-abasement”: Youth review
October is spooky season, and sometimes it feels like there is nothing spookier than aging. Especially if you’re a woman. I’m not sure, however, if Sharon Horgan’s Youth, currently streaming on...
“A gore-spattered roller-coaster ride”: Resident Evil review
I really like video games, and I really like movies and TV shows based on video games, and I like it when those adaptations are not contemptuous of gaming. Some film versions take the video game...
Ted Lasso knows how to mix glitter up with tears, and silly jokes with strong emotional undercurrents
There are two wolves inside of me. One is named Ted Lasso, and the other one is Led Tasso. One really wanted a new season of the cheerful-American-coach-in-sardonic-old-England show, and the other...
Even in death, who could be more alive than Dolly?
Blasting “Wildflowers” in the grocery parking lot, I caught the attention of an older woman who waved to me. “Gosh, I love her!” she yelled. “I love her too!” Not “loved.” But...
My hopes for House of the Dragon season 4 (please)
To the chagrin of children and beleaguered adults (it’s me, I am the beleaguered adult) everywhere, summer’s coming to an end, and with it, HBO’s House of the Dragon season 3 has come to an end...
“The longer you stay, the stranger you become”: Backrooms review
For years now, I’ve been hearing complaints from my teenage son that go like this: “Ugh, this building reminds me of the Backrooms.” “Did you HAVE to pick a doctor’s office that’s...
“Completely deranged and surprisingly tender”: Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed review
When people don’t trust cops, I get it. Remind me to tell you all about the cop who tried to bust me for “underage drinking” at age nineteen, when I’d merely been enjoying an Arizona Iced Tea...
“I am tired of these people”: House of the Dragon season 3 review
The ritual of self-punishment is upon us yet again. By this, I don’t mean the men’s World Cup. The World Cup has been just fine so far. Soccer’s inherent beauty transcends its disappointments...
“A riot of color, like a poisonous plant patch”: Cape Fear review
Javier Bardem is just too good at playing villains. I have loved his work in his softer roles - 2010’s Biutiful comes to mind - but the man can evoke so many layers of shimmering menace that his...