John Powers
'Portrait Of A Lady On Fire' Paints A Picture Of Forbidden Love
Writer-director Céline Sciamma's gorgeous new costume drama centers on the relationship between a young female artist and the woman she's been commissioned to secretly paint.
Back For Season 3, 'The Crown' May Just Be The Most Delicious Series On TV
The new season of the Netflix's wonderfully entertaining historical soap opera carries Queen Elizabeth II's story into the mid-1960s and '70s, when Britain's post-war afterglow has faded.
'Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan' Offers A Dose Of Retro Heroism In Its 2nd Season
Critic at large John Powers has speed through both seasons of Jack Ryan, which he says serves up something reassuringly nostalgic.
Energetic And Ambitious, 'Watchmen' Taps Into A Slew Of Today's Anxieties
Rather than rehash the 1980s superhero comic, series creator Damon Lindelof preserves the original's mood, themes and tricky structure — but uses them to tell an engrossing, totally new story on HBO.
Racial Tensions Complicate The Search For A Missing Child In 'Heaven, My Home'
Attica Locke's new novel centers on a black Texas ranger's effort to find the vanished son of a white supremacist. Heaven, My Home offers an unsettling American spin on a complicated crime story.
The 'Hustlers' Grab Back In This Crime Story With A Feminist Twist
nspired by an article in New York magazine, Hustlers is a giddy, energetic film about a band of New York strippers who start ripping off their rich, finance-world clients.
Work Cultures Clash When A Chinese Company Reopens An 'American Factory'
John Powers reviews 'American Factory' the first in a series of documentaries for Netflix by Barack and Michelle Obama.
The Beekeeper Of 'Honeyland' Knows All Too Well: Respect Nature, Or Get Stung
I'm not sure that any creature is more marvelous than the honeybee, with its highly evolved social organization, its ability to create honey, and, of course, the stinger that causes us to take heed whenever we hear buzzing. The pain it threatens makes it easy to think you need an almost-monastic devotion to become a beekeeper.
'Succession' Season 2 Is A Cleverly Plotted Portrait Of Privilege
The superbly acted HBO series is a darkly funny riff on King Lear. Members of a family struggle for control of a media empire — and not one of them is likable, but all of them are fun.
With 1 Huge Lie Revealed, 'Big Little Lies' Season 2 Takes A Slow-Burn Strategy
Critic at large John Powers reviews the second season of the HBO series about a group of entitled women in Monterey, California. He says the new season is "steeped in shame, anger and melancholy."