Paul Thompson

Los Angeles

Senior Editor at Los Angeles Review of Books

Contributing Writer at Pitchfork

all the critics love u in new york // senior editor at the los angeles review of books

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Articles

Sinners Review: Finally, A Transcendental Southern Gothic Vampire Musical Blockbuster

3 weeks ago | pitchfork.com | Paul Thompson

There’s a sequence early in Sinners, Ryan Coogler’s sneakily meditative new vampire movie, where Smoke, the more level-headed of two twins played by Michael B. Jordan, reunites with the girlfriend he had left behind in Mississippi. Before he walks into the small house where Annie (the exceptional Wunmi Mosaku) lives, he stops at the makeshift grave where they buried their infant daughter. Once inside, they argue, as one-time couples do.
Sinners Review: Finally, A Transcendental Southern Gothic Vampire Musical Blockbuster

3 weeks ago | yahoo.com | Paul Thompson

Illustration by Chris Panicker, photos courtesy of Warner Bros. / Everett CollectionThere’s a sequence early in Sinners, Ryan Coogler’s sneakily meditative new vampire movie, where Smoke, the more level-headed of two twins played by Michael B. Jordan, reunites with the girlfriend he had left behind in Mississippi. Before he walks into the small house where Annie (the exceptional Wunmi Mosaku) lives, he stops at the makeshift grave where they buried their infant daughter.
Sinners Review: Finally, A Transcendental Southern Gothic Vampire Musical Blockbuster

3 weeks ago | flipboard.com | Paul Thompson

Jordan Peele's HIM Teaser Trailer Is Better Than Most MoviesThe teaser trailer for Jordan Peele's HIM football horror movie is here and it is absolutely amazing, at once simple and complex.
Corbin: Crisis Kid

3 weeks ago | pitchfork.com | Paul Thompson

Typically, when an artist stays out of our view, every public gesture he or she does make is loaded with extra significance. Think of the ways each demo, cover, or bit of extramusical trivia is instantly subsumed into the canons of D’Angelo, Fiona Apple, or Frank Ocean.
Warfare Review: Bad Memories

3 weeks ago | pitchfork.com | Paul Thompson

Few real-world events have served as more durable prisms for American art than the Vietnam War.
Warfare Review: Bad Memories

3 weeks ago | yahoo.com | Paul Thompson

Illustration by Chris Panicker, photos courtesy of A24Few real-world events have served as more durable prisms for American art than the Vietnam War.
Barter 6 Is 2015's Most Paranoid, Virtuosic And Best Rap Record

3 weeks ago | passionweiss.com | Paul Thompson

Paul Thompson is running through the 323 with Yak GottiYoung Thug’s world is elastic. On his brooding Barter 6, the cartoon excess snaps back to unnerving realism, Birdman’s coupe back to the final song’s jail cell.
The Best and Worst of Coachella 2025

1 month ago | pitchfork.com | Paul Thompson

It was Sunday evening and BigXthaPlug’s mic was too low. As soon as the Dallas rapper ambled onstage, shirtless and glowering like a henchman in a children’s movie, it was clear that the mixing board was not exactly prepared for him. A deadened vocal track posed a particular problem in this case, as his crowd spilled out in three directions from an already overstuffed Gobi tent.
The Best and Worst of Coachella 2025

1 month ago | yahoo.com | Paul Thompson

It was Sunday evening and BigXthaPlug’s mic was too low. As soon as the Dallas rapper ambled onstage, shirtless and glowering like a henchman in a children’s movie, it was clear that the mixing board was not exactly prepared for him. A deadened vocal track posed a particular problem in this case, as his crowd spilled out in three directions from an already overstuffed Gobi tent.
Madvillain / Madlib / MF DOOM: Madvillainy Demos

Feb 11, 2025 | pitchfork.com | Paul Thompson

In early 2002, in a rented house in Northeast Los Angeles—one whose 1950s bomb shelter with 18-inch concrete walls had been refitted as a studio space—Madlib and MF DOOM began working, quickly and with little forethought or even communication, on what would become Madvillainy.