We take issue with the toxic dysfunction at the core of Clea DuVall’s HAPPIEST SEASON, eviscerate the lack of compassion in Ron Howard’s HILLBILLY ELEGY, praise Paul Bettany in Alan Ball’s UNCLE FRANK, compare the first two episodes in Steve McQueen’s SMALL AXE, and throw up our hands at Ben Falcone’s SUPERINTELLIGENCE

In our first post-2020 election episode, we review Jason Woliner’s perfectly of-its-moment BORAT SUBSEQUENT MOVIEFILM, Zoe Lister-Jones’ thoughtful reimagining THE CRAFT: LEGACY, Miranda July’s cathartic farce KAJILLIONAIRE, Robert Zemeckis’ DOA remake of THE WITCHES, and Justin Simien’s polarizing horror comedy BAD HAIR.

In our first episode since Jason’s turbulent rebirth as an Angeleno, we review Liz Garbus and Lisa Cortes’ essential voter suppression doc ALL IN: THE FIGHT FOR DEMOCRACY, Aaron Sorkin’s electric courtroom opus THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7, Julie Taymor’s dreadful Gloria Steinem pseudo-biopic THE GLORIAS, Maïmouna Doucouré’s unjustly vilified CUTIES, and Radha Blank’s hilarious knockout debut THE FORTY-YEAR-OLD VERSION.

We review the long-overdue but impressively effective BILL & TED FACE THE MUSIC, Charlie Kaufman’s inexplicable I’M THINKING OF ENDING THINGS, Jeremy Hersh’s explosive ethical drama THE SURROGATE, and in a meta moment we couldn’t resist, The Binge reviews the teen party romp THE BINGE.

In our last episode of summer 2020 (such as it is), we review Seth Rogen’s dual performance in Branson Trost’s AN AMERICAN PICKLE, James Lebrecht and Nicole Newnham’s enlightening documentary CRIP CAMP, Chelsea Peretti in Andrea Dorfman’s SPINSTER, and Gillian Jacobs in Kris Rey’s I USED TO GO HERE.

We review Karen Maine’s Catholic coming-of-age sex comedy YES, GOD, YES; the blood-boiling but essential ACLU vs. Trump doc THE FIGHT; Amy Seimetz’s unclassifiable contagion mood piece SHE DIES TOMORROW; and Romola Garai’s boring-until-it-isn’t gothic horror film AMULET.

We review Gina Prince-Bythewood’s inclusive action saga THE OLD GUARD, Cristina Costantini and Kareem Tabsch’s beguiling Walter Mercado documentary MUCHO MUCHO AMOR, Dave Franco’s Airbnb horror flick THE RENTAL, and Natalie Erika James’ dark dementia fable RELIC.

In the first episode of our by-popular-demand new biweekly format, we review five movies from the first half of July: David Dobkin’s unexpectedly gentle musical comedy EUROVISION SONG CONTEST: THE STORY OF FIRE SAGA, Max Barbakow’s hilarious and thought-provoking romcom PALM SPRINGS, Kelly Reichardt’s tender ode to friendship FIRST COW, Hirokazu Kore-eda’s French mother-daughter dramedy THE TRUTH, and Dawn Porter’s important but lackluster documentary JOHN LEWIS: GOOD TROUBLE.

In which we celebrate Pride with a grueling death-march marathon of seven in-depth film reviews, joined by our dear friend Jen “Memaw” Chochinov: Judd Apatow’s amiable Pete Davidson vehicle THE KING OF STATEN ISLAND, Jon Stewart’s misbegotten political satire IRRESISTIBLE, Spike Lee’s frenetic Vietnam thriller DA 5 BLOODS, Sasie Sealy’s satisfying action-comedy LUCKY GRANDMA, Josephine Decker’s unconventional literary drama SHIRLEY, Channing Godfrey Peoples’ gentle character study MISS JUNETEENTH, and Shannon Murphy’s devastating but surprising drama BABYTEETH.

In our latest all-streaming roundup, we offer our (unanimous!) opinions of THE HIGH NOTE with Dakota Johnson and Tracee Ellis Ross, THE LOVEBIRDS with Kumail Nanjiani and Issa Rae, Alice Wu’s THE HALF OF IT, HOW TO BUILD A GIRL starring Beanie Feldstein, Andrew Patterson’s THE VAST OF NIGHT, and DRIVEWAYS with Hong Chau and Brian Dennehy.