Sam Jennings

Author Archive

  • Jul 3, 2026
    If it seems odd to call Steven Spielberg a 21st-century filmmaker, that’s surely because Steven Spielberg has had an odd 21st century. On the surface there’s been little...
  • Jun 18, 2026
    The first thing to notice about you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love — especially compared to anything any other mega-pop star has put out in the last decade — is...
  • May 27, 2026
    Obsession is a nifty little horror movie. Genuinely disturbing, and exhausting, it seems destined to become a midnight movie classic, if we still have that kind of thing anymore....
  • May 20, 2026
    Pocket symphony: a phrase popularized by an ad-man (Derek Taylor)—a press-man, anyway; journalist, publisher, and producer—popularized, that is, by a man who had been...
  • May 19, 2026
    In 1996, when the great American critic Susan Sontag returned to her groundbreaking collection Against Interpretation and Other Essays (1966), she had the following to say about...
  • May 7, 2026
    The first problem with the New York Times Magazine’s new list (“The 30 Greatest Living American Songwriters”) is that it’s the wrong list. It makes perfect...
  • Apr 17, 2026
    They’ve been calling Kristoffer Borgli this year’s enfant terrible, and I can’t be bothered to figure out why. I’ve been avoiding all The...
  • Mar 24, 2026
    There is a famous line, often quoted and excerpted, from the 1970 documentary Meeting the Man, about the great American writer James Baldwin. In a moment of seriousness —...
  • Mar 11, 2026
    Oscars Season is upon us, and consistent readers can probably guess which films I favor for the biggest awards. One Battle After Another certainly seems like a lock for...
  • Feb 13, 2026
    I want to take advantage of the ramp-up to Oscar season — a wonderful time, during which my inner child will always be excited, no matter how pessimistic I’ve become over...
  • Feb 10, 2026
    Is there any more unhelpful term in popular use today than “attention”? Experts have been telling us for some time that we live in something called The Attention Economy....
  • Jan 7, 2026
    In my brief tenure as critic here, I’ve been pretty clearly pessimistic about the current state of the cinema. Discerning readers will note that the only film I’ve...