Harry Khachatrian

Toronto

Film Critic at Washington Examiner

Film critic, @dcexaminer Beltway Confidential Blog. Computer Engineer, MBA, @UofT. WSET🍷 Contact: [email protected]

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Articles

Family over fortune: The surprising conservative heart of ‘The White Lotus’

2 weeks ago | washingtonexaminer.com | Harry Khachatrian

One can only imagine what the Google reviews for the White Lotus hotels, the luxurious titular resorts of HBO‘s latest cultural phenomenon, would look like: “Beautiful, spacious villa, friendly staff. Unexpected mass shooting murder spree and cloudy weather. Would recommend.” Despite the litany of murders plaguing this fictional playground for bored millionaires, guests continue to flock there season after season.
Mel Gibson’s Flight Risk is a thrilling ride

2 months ago | washingtonexaminer.com | Harry Khachatrian

Despite a career plagued by scandals and public meltdowns, Mel Gibson remains one of Hollywood’s most compelling filmmakers. Whether directing sweeping historical epics such as Braveheart and Hacksaw Ridge or dabbling in offbeat action comedies such as Fatman, Gibson rarely fails to entertain. Flight Risk, his latest project, is no exception.
Mother, wife, and international spy: Keira Knightley juggles it all in Black Doves

Jan 5, 2025 | washingtonexaminer.com | Harry Khachatrian

Who said motherhood must hamper a flourishing career in espionage? Black Doves, Netflix’s latest spy thriller, thrusts Keira Knightley, better known for her roles in Regency-era England, into the world of high-stakes espionage as Helen Webb: an ostensibly loving wife, a mother of two, and a highly skilled international spy. Set against the glittering backdrop of Christmastime London, Black Doves attempts to blend spy thriller and murder mystery with a lighthearted tone.
Timothee Chalamet’s Bob Dylan rejects communist activists

Dec 31, 2024 | washingtonexaminer.com | Harry Khachatrian

I walked into James Mangold’s new Bob Dylan biopic, A Complete Unknown, which adapts Elijah Wald’s Dylan Goes Electric!, with low expectations, largely because it seemed unthinkable that any film could do justice to Dylan’s towering legacy. But to my surprise, it quickly became not only one of my favorite films of the year but one of the best musical biopics I have seen to date.
Best Christmas Pageant Ever: Finally, a Christmas movie about Christmas

Dec 20, 2024 | washingtonexaminer.com | Harry Khachatrian

Filmmaker Dallas Jenkins’s latest work, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, an adaptation of Barbara Robinson’s 1972 novel, reminds us of what Christmas is all about at its core. In an era where most contemporary Christmas films focus on secular themes, the “Christmas spirit” is often presented as a stand-in for faith.
From courtesan to cash grab: The empty tragedy of Anora

Dec 10, 2024 | washingtonexaminer.com | Harry Khachatrian

In Giuseppe Verdi’s La Traviata, the courtesan Violetta sacrifices her own happiness for the sake of her beloved’s family, immortalizing her love through virtuous surrender. Sean Baker’s new film, Anora, attempts a contemporary riff on this old archetype, once again placing a young woman enmeshed in transactional romance at the heart of a doomed liaison.
Red One is a fast, furious, and forgettable holiday misfire

Nov 24, 2024 | washingtonexaminer.com | Harry Khachatrian

In recent years, movie studios have moved to capitalize on the trendy debate over Die Hard’s status as a Christmas movie: bona fide holiday classic or an action flick that just happens to take place amid the Yuletide season? After endless cloying stories of saccharine and serendipitous love, audiences have been pining for a version of Love Actually where Colin Firth plays a muscle-clad Rambo on a mission to rescue Santa.
Disney’s Agatha is agony all along

Nov 19, 2024 | washingtonexaminer.com | Harry Khachatrian

Marvel’s latest series, Agatha All Along, an offshoot of WandaVision (itself an offshoot of The Avengers), distills the worst cliches of modern entertainment into an unwatchable slog, dragging what could have been an hour’s worth of plot across nine excruciating episodes. The story follows Agatha Harkness (Kathryn Hahn), a witch stripped of her powers in WandaVision, now on a quest to reclaim her sorcery. Along for the ride is her initially unassuming and unnamed companion, played by Joe Locke.
Between bottles: A primer on deciphering wine labels

Nov 7, 2024 | open.substack.com | Harry Khachatrian

Among the many wonders of wine is its sheer versatility. It can be as straightforward as a vessel for alcohol: a chilled bottle of the cheapest white wine on the shelf to placate nagging sobriety. On the other hand, wine can be as intricate and involved as researching which years in Tuscany saw the least rainfall — or if Mercury being in retrograde affected the grapes. How you enjoy your wine is entirely up to you.
Rings of Power’s second season has you rooting for Sauron

Oct 20, 2024 | washingtonexaminer.com | Harry Khachatrian

Following an underwhelming first season, Amazon Prime’s Rings of Power has returned to Middle-earth’s Second Age, with hopes to salvage its thus far billion-dollar debacle. Set as a prequel to J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings trilogy, the series follows Sauron’s rise to power and the forging of the great rings. Charlie Vickers reprises his role as the prodigious manipulator and emissary of evil.