Criticism Is Dead

We discuss Made for Love, the new HBO Max adaptation of Alissa Nutting's novel, about the wife of a tech billionaire who tries to escape their toxic 10-year marriage, only to find that he's everywhere she is.

It's dark, cynical, and dystopic — but also zany, absurd, and wry. Truly a work for the end of the world AKA our bleak future!!!!

We're joined by a special guest: the very smart and funny Alison Herman, who writes mostly about TV for the Ringer. Follow her on Twitter (@aherman2006) and read her review of _Made for Love_.

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Follow us on Twitter and Instagram. For extended show notes — including links that we reference, plus more — subscribe to our Substack. Inquiries, complaints, and recs for what to watch can go to [email protected].

Music: REEKAH

Artwork and design: Sara Macias and Andrew Liu

Find out more at https://criticism-is-dead.pinecast.co

We discuss the new film Shiva Baby and the series Gentefied, both about (in a way!) power, money, and who has those things.

02:25 Shiva Baby, available in some theaters and on demand, is about a college student/sugar baby stuck in a claustrophobic limbo at a shiva.

22:17 Gentefied, streaming on Netflix, is about three cousins and a grandpa trying to balance their dreams and their community in LA.

37:27 Plus, culture notes about Regé-Jean Page's departure from Bridgerton, and more broadly, about the rise of the romantic male breakout star compared to their female counterparts.

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Follow us on Twitter and Instagram. For extended show notes — including links that we reference, plus bonus bullshit — subscribe to our Substack. Inquiries, complaints, and recs for what to watch can go to [email protected].

Music: REEKAH

Artwork and design: Sara Macias and Andrew Liu

Find out more at https://criticism-is-dead.pinecast.co

We discuss Superstore, a rare kind of workplace drama, and Abstract's episode on a legendary costume designer.

04:02 Superstore, streaming on Hulu and Peacock, combines the fantasy of the warm work family with the reality of the minimum wage-earning working class under modern capitalism.

19:30 Abstract, a design docuseries on Netflix, dives deep into the world of Ruth E. Carter, Oscar-winning costume designer for films like Black Panther and Do the Right Thing. Mostly, we take this as an opportunity to talk about costume design in film and TV! (We'll include as many visuals as we can in our newsletter.)

34:59 Plus, culture notes on Lil Nas X's "Montero (Call Me By Your Name)" and overt depictions of queerness and sex as a revolutionary act.

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Follow us on Twitter and Instagram. For extended show notes — including links that we reference, plus bonus bullshit — subscribe to our Substack. Inquiries, complaints, and recs for what to watch can go to [email protected].

Music: REEKAH

Artwork and design: Sara Macias and Andrew Liu

Find out more at https://criticism-is-dead.pinecast.co

We discuss Ginny & Georgia and Rocks, two works that happen to be about the huge presence of a mother (or lack thereof) in the lives of a teen daughter.

03:47 Ginny & Georgia, a new Netflix series, is less interesting as a high school drama and more compelling as a story about the cycle of abuse and trauma. (That makes it sound more serious than it is, it's actually mostly an entertaining watch lol)

23:54 Rocks, also on Netflix, is a film about the warmth of teen girl friendship, the heartbreak of holding out for a mom who can't care for her children, and the terror of foster care and social services.

40:39 Plus, culture notes on WHAT IS A SNYDER'S CUT. Pelin explains to Jenny.

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Follow us on Twitter and Instagram. For extended show notes — including links that we reference, plus bonus bullshit — subscribe to our Substack. Inquiries, complaints, and recs for what to watch can go to [email protected].

Music: REEKAH

Artwork and design: Sara Macias and Andrew Liu

Find out more at https://criticism-is-dead.pinecast.co

We discuss The 40-Year-Old Version and Lingua Franca, two films by multi-hyphenate talents with personal stories to tell.

04:14 The 40-Year-Old Version, streaming on Netflix, is about a Black playwright who was once considered a rising star, but is now struggling to create the art that she wants as she approaches her 40s.

24:26 Lingua Franca, also on Netflix, is about an undocumented trans Filipina caretaker whose attempts to fix her immigration status gets muddied once her client's adult grandson moves in.

42:15 Plus, culture notes about a TikTok of a video rental store replica that a couple built in their basement.

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Follow us on Twitter and Instagram. For extended show notes — including links that we reference, plus bonus bullshit — subscribe to our Substack. Inquiries, complaints, and recs for what to watch can go to [email protected].

Music: REEKAH

Artwork and design: Sara Macias and Andrew Liu

Find out more at https://criticism-is-dead.pinecast.co

We discuss Call My Agent!, a French love letter to show business, and The Head, an international South Pole murder mystery.

04:20 Call My Agent!, a series on Netflix, captures the allure and the fallacy of the "workplace family" fantasy, as framed through a talent agency in Paris.

20:28 The Head, a limited series on HBO Max, is a whodunit that's as much about how a group of people unravels as it is about who went on a killing spree.

35:00 Plus, culture notes about WandaVision finale discourse!

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Follow us on Twitter and Instagram. For extended show notes — including links that we reference, plus bonus bullshit — subscribe to our Substack. Inquiries, complaints, and recs for what to watch can go to [email protected].

Music: REEKAH

Artwork and design: Sara Macias and Andrew Liu

Find out more at https://criticism-is-dead.pinecast.co

We discuss I Care a Lot, a polarizing and deeply cynical(?) film, and It's a Sin, a limited series that's as tender as it is devastating.

04:42 I Care a Lot, streaming on Netflix, is ostensibly about a toxic white girlboss, but the extent to which the film is in on the joke is kinda hard to parse.

19:47 It's a Sin, out on HBO Max, is about coming of age in 1980s London, amid the AIDS crisis.

32:06 Plus, culture notes about the ways in which Tumblr has resurfaced in internet culture lately, including in a meme and in a Your Fave Is Problematic reveal.

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Follow us on Twitter and Instagram. For extended show notes — including links that we reference, plus bonus bullshit — subscribe to our Substack. Inquiries, complaints, and recs for what to watch can go to [email protected].

Music: REEKAH

Artwork and design: Sara Macias and Andrew Liu

Find out more at https://criticism-is-dead.pinecast.co

We discuss Nomadland, a film about human impermanence, and Judas and the Black Messiah, a betrayal biographical drama.

03:12 Nomadland, streaming on Hulu, follows the uprooted life of a woman who lives out of her van.

29:12 Judas and the Black Messiah, available on HBO Max through March 14, follows the life and eventual death of revolutionary Fred Hampton.

39:26 Plus, cultures notes about how WandaVision is introducing a under-appreciated actors — like Randall Park, Kathryn Hahn, and Teyonah Parris — to a whole new generation of fans. (Here is one of the TikToks, we'll link more in our Substack.)

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Follow us on Twitter and Instagram. For extended show notes — including links that we reference, plus bonus bullshit — subscribe to our Substack. Inquiries, complaints, and recs for what to watch can go to [email protected].

Music: REEKAH

Artwork and design: Sara Macias and Andrew Liu

Find out more at https://criticism-is-dead.pinecast.co

We discuss — and we mean really discuss — Minari, Lee Isaac Chung's new semi-autobiographical film about a Korean American family that moves to rural Arkansas in the 1980s.

Things we touch on: Asian American and immigrant narratives, nature and the land, Korean masculinity and fatherhood, the idea of the "American Dream," and more!!!

We are joined by special guest Inkoo Kang, who is a TV critic for The Hollywood Reporter, a fantastic culture writer, and a great person to follow on Twitter (@inkookang).

Read Inkoo's thoughtful interview with Lee Isaac Chung and her piece on the promise and pitfalls of Asian American reality TV.

And check out her and Daniel Schroeder's limited podcast All About Almodóva‪r‬, about the films of Pedro Almodóvar.

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Follow us on Twitter and Instagram. For extended show notes — including links that we reference, plus bonus bullshit — subscribe to our Substack. Inquiries, complaints, and recs for what to watch can go to [email protected].

Music: REEKAH

Artwork and design: Sara Macias and Andrew Liu

Find out more at https://criticism-is-dead.pinecast.co

We discuss WandaVision and Malcolm & Marie, two "firsts" that have people buzzing for different reasons.

03:22 WandaVision, Disney+'s first Marvel Cinematic Universe-based TV series, is a slow-drip fun watch, even for absolute non-MCU heads like us.

19:01 Malcolm & Marie, Netflix's first big feature film to be entirely created and filmed during the pandemic, is causing a bit of a stir among critics.

38:41 Plus, culture notes about the weird nature of Golden Globe noms, the snub everyone's talking about, and the need to watch better stuff.

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Follow us on Twitter and Instagram. For extended show notes — including links that we reference, plus bonus bullshit — subscribe to our Substack. Inquiries, complaints, and recs for what to watch can go to [email protected].

Music: REEKAH

Artwork and design: Sara Macias and Andrew Liu

Find out more at https://criticism-is-dead.pinecast.co