Rob Long: Welcome to the Age of Blunder in Public Health, Foreign Policy, and…Hollywood
The former Cheers producer explains why the studios are failing, the writers and actors are missing the big picture, and creators fear their audience.
Hollywood
Hollywood Must Change—But How?
Join Reason on YouTube Thursday at 1 p.m. Eastern for a discussion about the Hollywood strikes with television writer and political commentator Rob Long.
When the Hollywood Strike Is Over, What Will be Left?
Between A.I. and TikTok, the actors and writers will be returning to a changed industry.
Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer Is an Intimate Epic About the Man Who Built the Bomb
It's a portrait of a complex man, and a warning about the nuclear era he created.
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny Is a Dud
It might as well have been titled Indiana Jones and the Quest for Cash.
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts Is Better Than a Transformers Sequel Has Any Right to Be
It's no Orson Welles as Unicron, sadly. But I'll take it.
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel Celebrated Selfishness as a Virtue
The show's final season boldly declared that success requires putting yourself first and accepting the trade-offs.
Fast X Is a Loud, Obnoxious, Campy Bore
The 10th entry in the muscle-car series is loud, ugly, and all too self-aware.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 Is a Marvel Superhero Movie Made in Poor Taste. And It's Better for It.
In 2018, director James Gunn was fired from the film for gross tweets. But this comic book sequel shows the value of his gross-out sensibility.
Hollywood Strike: Writers Demand More Pay, New Limits on ChatGPT
Their last strike previewed the struggles of the streaming era. This one might be giving us an early taste of the age of artificial intelligence.
Succession's Logan Roy: Not Actually an Anarcho-Capitalist
For perhaps the first time in television history, one character describes another as a "paleolibertarian" and "practically an anarcho-capitalist." But the terms don't fit.
Oscar-Winning Everything Everywhere All At Once Celebrates Individualism, Free Will
In a chaotic universe full of infinite realities where all choices are relative, individualism still matters.
The Mandalorian, Troops, and the Fan-Filmification of Star Wars
Today's Star Wars fulfills the promise of the late '90s internet.
Actually, Magic Mike's Last Dance Is About the Awfulness of Urban Zoning Regulations
A male stripper takes on London's historic preservation rules in Channing Tatum's latest ode to hot, sensitive dudes.
Don't Let Disney Monopolize A.I.-Generated Art
The indie artists suing Stable Diffusion may not realize it, but they're doing the Mouse's dirty work.
James Cameron's Avatar: The Way of Water Is a Can-You-Believe-It Spectacle That Looks to the Future
Also, there are battle whales.
Star-Studded Amsterdam Is a Tedious, Terrible Warning About the Rise of Fascism
A stacked cast and an Oscar-nominated director can't save this flop.
Field of Welfare: How COVID Funds Might Build a Money-Losing Ballpark in a Cornfield
Is there a single movie more tied up with lousy government policy than Field of Dreams?
Johnny Depp and Amber Heard Demonstrate How Not To Handle a #MeToo Case
The torturous trial calls to mind Title IX investigations on college campuses.
Michael K. Williams' Death Sparks Charges Against Drug Dealers
The actor's overdose death was a tragedy, but overzealous prosecution of the dealers who sold him the drugs will only make the problem worse.
Alec Baldwin's Gun Proposals Will Not Make Hollywood Sets Safer
Despite a tragic on-set death, there is no need to involve police officers in still more aspects of people's lives.
Sex, Communism, Race, and Creative Freedom in Hollywood
Like the Hays Code and Waldorf Statement before it, new diversity requirements are Tinseltown's way of asserting cultural dominance through self-policing.
David Fincher's Mank Is a Scathing Portrait of a Smug, Out-of-Touch Hollywood
The Netflix release paints a picture of movie-industry arrogance, smugness, hypocrisy, and condescension—especially when it comes to politics.
Skin: A History of Nudity in the Movies
A look at how Hollywood functioned prior to contracts detailing how much breast or cheek an actress must show to earn her paycheck
Antebellum Is Empty Social Commentary Disguised as a Horror Movie
It's a one-note, one-twist concept in search of a story.
The Oscars' New Diversity Rules Won't Change Who Wins Best Picture
They'll probably do more to lock out indie filmmakers than to advance real inclusion.
Time May Not Exist Anymore, but Tenet Does, and It's in Theaters Now
Don't try to solve this time-puzzle of a movie. Just feel it.
Why Does Hollywood Hate Real Estate Developers?
The typecasting of builders as villains might help explain why NIMBYs so often win the policy battles over urban growth and development.
The Democrats' Miserable Week
From Iowa to impeachment, Biden burnout to Trump triumph, the opposition party had itself a rough 7 days.
Ricky Gervais Slams Woke Hollywood's Sanctimony in Golden Globes Speech
"You're in no position to lecture the public about anything. You know nothing about the real world."
Richard Jewell Shows What a Conservative Hollywood Would Look Like
Clint Eastwood's masterful true-life drama about a wrongly accused American hero doubles as an awkward brief for Trump.
Is Everyone Wrong About NBA/China/Hong Kong Except South Park and…Ted Cruz?
Nah, the senator's still wrong about Internet free speech, argue the editors on the Reason Roundtable podcast.
Documentary About Harvey Weinstein More Unsettling Than Any Horror Movie
Hulu's Untouchable is a relentless accounting of the mogul's sexual misdeeds.
A Violent Movie Satirizing America's Culture War Gets Canceled by America's Culture War
After outraged responses from Fox and Trump, Universal yanks The Hunt from its schedule.
Summer Television Serves Up Some Femmes Fatale
Reviews of campy Why Women Kill and documentary Manson: the Women
Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon a Time in Hollywood Is a Nostalgic Defense of Movie Violence
It's a throwback to an earlier Hollywood era, and an argument for why movies still matter.
Deceptive Data Make Georgia's Film Tax Credit Program Look Less Wasteful
Economists debunk the state government's claims about the size of the film industry.
Anjelica Huston on Woody Allen, Roman Polanski, and Shitty Hollywood Men
Plus: FOSTA challenge gets boost from state prosecutors, the trouble with "democracy dollars," and more...
Harvey Weinstein Is Terrible. Calling Him a Sex Trafficker Is Absurd
Nonetheless, a judge will let a sex trafficking complaint against Weinstein proceed.
Is Hollywood Overthinking Representation?: Podcast
The perils-and profits-of being identity-focused in business, content, and audience