From ‘Sex’ to ‘Girls’ to ‘Insecure’: HBO’s Feminist and Intersectional Chronicle
“HBO has come a long way in representing the intersectionality of race and gender.”
You Gotta Act: The Extreme Sincerity of Meredith Hagner
“Here’s to hoping that Meredith Hagner will continue to make us laugh while taking her ludicrous characters seriously for many more years, just like Marilyn Monroe did before her.”
“Well, Childhood’s Over” – Claiming Adulthood with Some Help from Greta Gerwig
An Essay by Marshall Shaffer
Biography and Authenticity in the American New Wave
“The lucidity and frankness with which this new wave of filmmakers can dissect their own lives speaks volumes to their talents, boding well for their efforts to come.”
Girls, Boys and Technology
“‘The Social Network’ is a history lesson, but ‘Easy A’ remains coldly ensconced in the here and now.”
Recap: Girls ‘Love Stories’ and ‘I Love You Baby’
“Season 5 of HBO’s ‘Girls’ is now done, and so it is time to bestow upon it ‘one of the all-time best seasons of TV’ accolades.”
Recap: Girls ‘Homeward Bound’
“This is the first time in what seems like quite a while that I’ll actively be looking forward to the next season at the end of the current one.”
Recap: Girls ‘Hello Kitty’
“Girls is so fucking good this year.”
Recap: Girls ‘The Panic in Central Park’
“‘The Panic in Central Park’ is a richly realized half hour of television, maybe the best episode in the history of a show that’s had some awfully good ones.”
Recap: Girls ‘Queen for Two Days’
“I know I say this every week, but it must be said again: this is such a good season of Girls.”
Recap: Girls ‘Old Loves’
“The fourth episode of Girls’ still-terrific fifth season is the first point at which the end of the series comes into sharp focus.”
Recap: Girls ‘Japan’
“Damn, this season of Girls is good.”
Recap: Girls ‘Good Man’
“The series may not be as wild and crazy as its earlier and edgier self, but the even strain continues to fit neatly with the theme of maturation.”
Recap: Girls ‘Wedding Day’
“With the series and its central quartet now nearing a more fulsome sense of adulthood, the great delight in Season Five’s debut is in how thoroughly it revels in being a television show.”
Two Blistering Performances Help ‘James White’ Achieve Greatness
“In a way, James White is like a dark riff on the man-child formula, but it also works as a devastating exploration of death and decay.”
Review: Noah Baumbach’s ‘While We’re Young’
“A plethora of likable characters and tidy wrap-ups diminish the artistic potential of While We’re Young, as Baumbach doesn’t compromise the film’s abilities as a general crowdpleaser.”