Alissa Wilkinson

New York

Movie critic @nytimes. Author of “We Tell Ourselves Stories: Joan Didion and the American Dream Machine" (out 3/11!) and "Salty" (2022). I teach sometimes too.

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Articles

Review: A24's Paul Rudd, Tim Robinson vehicle 'Friendship' provides cringey laughs

5 days ago | post-gazette.com | Alissa Wilkinson

One of the most unforgivable (and unforgettable) sins you can commit in youth, say around the sixth grade, happens when you're desperate to join a new friend group. You want to be cool. You want to be part of their circle. So when someone cracks a joke, you laugh with everyone, then add your own hilarious rejoinder — and everyone just stares. Some invisible line has been crossed.
An Unsettling Look Into the Soul of a Machine

5 days ago | nytimes.com | Alissa Wilkinson

This film by Jon Kasbe and Crystal Moselle skirts gimmicks to examine a creator's drive to build a humanoid device powered by artificial intelligence. My Robot SophiaDirected by Jon Kasbe , Crystal Moselle DocumentaryNot Rated1h 29mFind TicketsWhen you purchase a ticket for an independently reviewed film through our site, we earn an affiliate commission. In 2017, a robot named Sophia was granted Saudi Arabian citizenship, a dubious move on many fronts.
'Sinners' and Shows like 'Severance' Give an Old Form New Life

1 week ago | nytimes.com | Alissa Wilkinson

Online, onstage and onscreen, performers are playing multiple parts. The effect of watching someone shape-shift can be both thrilling and unnerving. The much-anticipated season finale of one of my favorite sitcoms was recently derailed when its creator, Shawna Lander, ran into a few snags.
‘Pavements’: A Sly Ode to the Last Band You’d Give the Biopic Treatment

1 week ago | flipboard.com | Alissa Wilkinson

2 hours agoThe executive order also instructs the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to halt indirect funding of NPR and PBS through grants to local stations. President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday evening seeking to prohibit federal funding for NPR and the Public Broadcasting Service …
Nicolas Cage's Best Performances Onscreen

1 week ago | nytimes.com | Alissa Wilkinson

In Praise OfDon't reduce his career to his unhinged characters. The actor's work is often more textured and soulful than he's given credit for. In Praise OfDon't reduce his career to his unhinged characters. The actor's work is often more textured and soulful than he's given credit for. Credit... We've reached the point in Nicolas Cage's career when it's easiest to refer to every new movie he's in by just describing his antics in them.
A Sly Ode to the Last Band You'd Give the Biopic Treatment

1 week ago | nytimes.com | Alissa Wilkinson

Everybody thinks they know their favorite musicians or bands inside and out: what the lyrics mean, when their style changed, which fabled event made or broke their careers. Filmmakers have always been willing participants in the process, from concert movies to intimate documentaries to glossy biopics. We crave the results, because the myth-weaving is collaborative. And sometimes it involves bending reality a bit to get a better story.
Big Hats and Big Intrigue

1 week ago | nytimes.com | Alissa Wilkinson

The sequel to the deranged 2018 comedy finds Blake Lively and Anna Kendrick feuding in the Italian sun. Another Simple FavorDirected by Paul Feig Comedy, Crime, Mystery, ThrillerR2 hoursFind TicketsWhen you purchase a ticket for an independently reviewed film through our site, we earn an affiliate commission. When " A Simple Favor " came out in 2018, I fell headlong in love.
Opinião | ‘Bichinhos de Estimação’ é um raro documentário para crianças, sobre crianças

2 weeks ago | estadao.com.br | Alissa Wilkinson

A maioria dos documentários não é voltada para as crianças. O mundo do cinema parece achar que elas só se interessam por filmes de animação sobre pets falantes. E, se o documentário é para a família toda, há uma boa chance de que fale sobre natureza e vida selvagem. Mas Bichinhos de Estimação (no Disney+) reelabora tudo isso: é um documentário sobre os animais de estimação e seus humanos, voltado para as crianças e, em grande medida, estrelado por elas.
Pope Francis, the unlikely movie star: Six films show his cinematic appeal

2 weeks ago | nzherald.co.nz | Alissa Wilkinson

Carlos Diehz in Conclave. His character, Cardinal Benitez, is clearly reminiscent of Pope Francis. In fictional tales and documentaries, directors approached him as a screen character who was both admired and controversial. Watching Edward Berger’s hit Vatican thriller Conclave last year, I found it hard not to think of Pope Francis. The film is fictional, based on Robert Harris’ 2016 novel, published three years into Francis’ papacy.
When New York Was on the Financial Brink

2 weeks ago | nytimes.com | Alissa Wilkinson

There's a bit of a puzzle at the center of "Drop Dead City" (in theaters), the new documentary about that time New York City barely escaped bankruptcy. Michael Rohatyn, who directed the film with Peter Yost, is the son of Felix Rohatyn, the banker and diplomat who led the Municipal Assistance Corporation.