John Powers

The new literary thriller "Cloudthief," by Nathaniel Rich, is about the reaction against Big Tech. In the novel, a struggling eco-journalist and a brilliant young woman decide to rob a data center in Oklahoma. Our critic-at-large John Powers says Rich wraps a smart exploration of our data-dominated society inside an entertaining heist story.

A talk with film critic John Powers about the movies coming out this holiday season.

Critic John Powers returns from the French film festival to talk about this year's new international films. Top among his picks is The Assassin, a martial arts film by director Hou Hsiao-Hsien.

The festival concluded Saturday. Fresh Air critic John Powers discusses the winners and the films that generated the biggest responses — both positive and negative.

Fresh Air's critic at large John Powers returns from the 2013 Cannes Film Festival with tales of the good, the bad, and the parties. He says Blue Is the Warmest Color was "the film of the festival" while Only God Forgives was the biggest disappointment.

John Powers, Fresh Air's critic-at-large and the movie critic for Vogue, returns from this year's Cannes Film Festival. Though he says it wasn't the festival's strongest year, the experience once again left him feeling rejuvenated about the movies.

The film critic reports his impressions of this year's Cannes Film Festival. On Powers' list of notable films: Terrance Malick's Tree of Life, about a young boy growing up in 1950s Texas, and an Iranian film by a director who was explicitly told by the Iranian government not to make films.

The film critic reports his impressions of this year's Canne Film Festival. On Powers' list of notable films: Apichatpong Weerasethakul's Palme d'Or-winning movie about a dying farmer, and a French film about Cistercian monks debating whether to stay put in a community full of terrorists.

Vogue Magazine film critic John Powers talks about the year in media: the major events, the trending topics and the evolution of social networking.

Critic-at-large John Powers reports on the scene at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival.