John Powers
Stories
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'Islands' is a spare and satisfying slow-burn thriller
A washed-up tennis pro gives lessons at a fancy hotel in the Canary Islands. But when he meets an elegant woman with an unlikable husband, things take a noirish turn.
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'Hijack' and 'The Night Manager' continue to thrill in their second seasons
Idris Elba returns as the world's most unlucky traveler in Season 2 of the Apple TV series Hijack. And Tom Hiddleston is back as a hotel worker/intelligence agent in The Night Manager on Prime Video.
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A critic's year-end 'ghost list' wanders from Italian movie sets to 'Demon Hunters'
Critic-at-large John Powers gives his due to the movies, TV and books he wasn't able to cover earlier in the year, including La Grazia, Andor, Mississippi Blue 42 and the documentary Mr. Scorsese.
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Let 'The Secret Agent' fill you in on what it's like to live under a dictatorship
A research scientist is on the run from hitmen in this thrilling film. Set in 1977 Brazil, The Secret Agent captures the daily realities and surreal absurdities of life in an authoritarian state.
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Still thinking about the Louvre? 'The Mastermind' is about a museum heist gone awry
An unemployed cabinet maker robs the local art museum — then finds himself plunged into a world of cops and gangsters and life on the run. The Mastermind is a sad movie that gets stronger as it goes.
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'Blue Moon' is an aching comedy about a genius on the slide
Ethan Hawke stars as lyricist Lorenz Hart on the night his former writing partner, Richard Rodgers, debuts his hit musical Oklahoma!. Blue Moon offers a canny take on professional jealousy.
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Every moment pops in the nuclear thriller 'A House of Dynamite'
A single nuclear warhead, of unknown origin, is heading toward the U.S. mainland in Kathryn Bigelow's new Netflix film. It's an unnerving scenario — but it's also thrilling to watch.
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'The Lowdown' isn't just a good show. It's a good hang
Ethan Hawke plays a bookstore owner who moonlights as a muckraking reporter in Tulsa, Okla. Though The Lowdown occasionally meanders or misfires, every episode of the FX series is bracingly alive.
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'Mussolini: Son of the Century' is a flashy take on how dictatorships happen
A new eight-part series by MUBI chronicles the ferocious rise of the Italian dictator. While the show is a bit too eager to make Mussolini entertaining, the story it tells couldn't be any more timely.
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'Butterfly' is a frustrating spy thriller with a few too many twists
Daniel Dae Kim stars in a thriller about a spy who comes out of hiding to save his long-lost daughter. But instead of personal revelations, the series gets mired in plot twists and shoot-outs.
