Movies
Is Robert Pattinson the Best Actor of His Generation?
The BBC gave his Chris Hansen five stars and still stopped at "most intriguing." We will go further, with the habit that explains his whole career, the one rival with a real case, and six films to watch before Primetime opens next week.
6 min read
On Saturday, September 5, Primetime premiered in competition at the Venice Film Festival, and the reviews of Robert Pattinson read like the end of an argument. He plays Chris Hansen, host of To Catch a Predator, the Dateline NBC segment…
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This Week in Entertainment
Mon
14
78th Primetime Emmy Awards
TV · Monday night on NBC and Peacock, hosted by Mariska Hargitay
Thu
17
Tokyo Game Show
GAME · The 30th show runs five days at Makuhari Messe
Sun
20
TIFF People's Choice Award
FILM · Toronto's audience prize closes the festival
Cover Story / The Long Read
Stevie Wonder's Songs in the Key of Life Needs Only Four Tracks to Win You Over
On September 28, Songs in the Key of Life turns 50, and it still carries the reputation of a record you have to clear an afternoon for. Two LPs and a bonus 7-inch, 21 songs, an hour and 44 minutes…
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More this week
Television
Should Widow's Bay Beat Hacks?
Hacks bows out with a record 24 nominations, against a first-year horror comedy that already took eight trophies at the early ceremony. Our comedy verdict, a split ballot on The Pitt and Pluribus, and four nominees to stream whatever the envelope says.
Cross-media
The Only Resident Evil You Need Before Friday
Zach Cregger's movie opens this Friday, and exactly one game deserves your evenings until then. Why it isn't the version the director played first or this year's Requiem, why you can skip all seven older films, and the order to play and watch everything after.
Movies
Sylvester Stallone on I Play Rocky: "I Have Zero to Do With It"
Peter Farrelly's film about how Rocky got made premiered in Toronto last week. Why the best version of this story is nearly 50 years old, the documentary where Stallone tells it himself, and a Rocky and Creed order with the one sequel to skip.
Movies
Ghost in the Shell's Hollywood Remake Missed the Point
Mamoru Oshii's 82-minute original is back in theaters in 4K this Friday. The one rewrite that sank the Scarlett Johansson version, the opening-credits trick The Matrix borrowed, and a ranked route through the films, the series and the manga.
Games
Is Wolverine Worth $70?
Insomniac's Logan game lands this Tuesday with reviews running from a perfect score to "very bored far too often." What even the harshest reviews praise, why the claws split the critics, and who should buy now, wait for a sale or skip it.
Music
Odelay Is the Wrong First Beck Album
Beck's first studio album in seven years arrives this Friday, cut with the band from his quietest records. Inside: a map of the six Becks, the album a newcomer should meet first, and the trilogy we think the new one finishes.
Books
Emily St. John Mandel on Station Eleven: 'I had to end the world somehow'
Exit Party arrives this week, and her novels share characters, a flu and a painting. Why the pandemic book is the wrong way in, which novel the others all run through, and where the HBO series fits.
Games
Do You Need Three Houses Before Fortune's Weave?
The first main Fire Emblem since Engage lands on Switch 2 this Thursday, and a spoiler leak got there first. What the Sothis tease really confirms, separate advice for newcomers, Three Houses loyalists and Engage fans, and how to keep the leak off your feed.
Television
Is Slow Horses Better Than the Books?
Slow Horses returns this Wednesday with two Mick Herron novels folded into six episodes. Our verdict on the argument every fan ends up having, all nine novels in reading order, and the le Carré shelf Gary Oldman knows from the inside.
Music
Lizzo on the Year "Truth Hurts" Flopped: "I was like, oh, I quit music"
Two years later, a TikTok meme and a Netflix trailer helped make it a No. 1. Inside: the lyric that saw the drought coming, the 15 seconds that turned it around, and the Lizzo album we would play before any of her big singles.
Movies
Peter Cullen's Final Optimus Prime Plays This Week, Right After the Film Where Prime Died
Orson Welles voiced a planet, Spock snarled as Galvatron and a Python led the Junkions. Where the whole 1986 cast went next, and why killing Prime is the reason this is still the best Transformers film.
Books
Do You Need to Reread Ninth House?
Dead Beat ends the Alex Stern story this week, and only one of the first two books needs a reread before you start it. Plus a spoiler-light previously-on, reread plans from one evening to the full 957 pages, and a Bardugo ranking where Six of Crows comes second.
Television
Seinfeld vs Frasier Comes Down to One Reunion
Thirty-three years ago this week, Frasier premiered on the same NBC Thursday as Seinfeld's fifth season, then beat Seinfeld for the comedy Emmy five years running. For Emmy week, a rematch: two finales, one revival as evidence, and five starter episodes for each side.
Cross-media
Can You Catch Up on MobLand by Friday?
MobLand climbed twelve places on our TV chart without a new episode, and season two lands this Friday. The five-night plan, plus Blade Runner 2049, a roguelike turning six and a Coldplay record, each priced in hours.
From the archive
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The Week inEntertainment
No. 12
Don't Rewatch Practical Magic Before Friday
What Would Back to the Future 4 Have Looked Like?
The Week of September 7
The Week inEntertainment
No. 11
Can Onslaught Make Adria Arjona Undeniable?
Can Dawnwalker Escape The Witcher 3?
The Week of August 31
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No. 10
Coyote vs. ACME Was Worth Saving
Someone Should Have Saved the Cheerleader
The Week of August 24
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No. 9
Is the Gang Still Worse Than Us?
Disney Has a New Home for Iron Man
The Week of August 17
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No. 8
Should You Trust This Mystery Box?
Where Is All the Green?
The Week of August 10
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No. 7
The Best Spider-Man in 22 Years?
Can Ted Lasso Do It Twice?
The Week of August 3
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No. 6
Zendaya and Pattinson's Strangest Movie Yet Hits HBO Max Friday
Is Marvel Actually Back?
The Week of July 27
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No. 5
The Best Panel at Comic-Con Is Not the One Everyone Camps For
See It Big or Wait Until You Can
The Week of July 20
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No. 4
Disney Is Now Remaking Movies Your Kids Are Still Watching
Sam Neill Was Never a Movie Star. He Was Something Better.
The Week of July 13
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No. 3
The Dead Are Working Again
GTA 6 Is Skipping PC Because It Can
The Week of July 6