8.8 BEST NEW MOVIE Black Bag is the kind of film you don’t want to keep secret By: Tim Stevens Steven Soderbergh’s latest is a twisty intimate spy tale that hinges on hushed words far more than loud bangs.
7.4 Reviews The Day the Earth Blew Up is wacky, adequate Looney Tunes successor By: Tim Stevens Warner Bros finally brings a new Looney Tunes film to the screen, for better or worse.
8.2 BEST NEW SHOW Dope Thief will rob you of any sense of calm By: Tim Stevens AppleTV+’s new crime drama excels at telling an unbelievably tense tale even as the plot grows ludicrous.
9.0 BEST NEW MOVIE On Becoming a Guinea Fowl effortlessly transforms into something special By: Lisa Laman Rungano Nyoni's precise directing and scripting deliver a film unafraid to tell dark and painful truths.
9.6 BEST NEW SHOW Adolescence is painful and should not be missed By: Tim Stevens Netflix’s family/crime drama is a brutal and deeply engaging masterpiece about social media, family, trauma, and teen life.
7.1 Reviews Running Point plays small-market comedy ball By: Tim Stevens The Kate Hudson-led workplace-family-sports comedy mashup can dish solid gags, but lacks all-star laughs.
Features 97th Academy Awards Predictions: Who will Oscar, Who Should The Spool weighs in on film's biggest night, the 97th Academy Awards!
5.6 Reviews Zero Day isn’t a catastrophe but that’s not much of bar to clear By: Tim Stevens Robert De Niro’s first foray into series television has too little of what it does well and too much of what it does poorly.
8.2 BEST NEW SHOW Your favorite rootless man mountain returns in Reacher Season 3 By: Tim Stevens Shedding much of Season 2’s sadism, the Prime series—and its hero—delivers a world of moral clarity where “true” justice can be found.
9.0 BEST NEW SHOW The White Lotus Season 3 blossoms slowly, but satisfyingly By: Tim Stevens The third installment of the rich people acting badly on vacation series is its least flashy, most thoughtful installment yet.
Reviews Spend Valentine’s Day in the dark By: Tim Stevens The Spool’s handy guide to what’s playing and romance-promoting in theatres and on streaming this Valentine’s Day weekend.
7.4 Reviews Paddington in Peru takes quite the journey By: Lisa Laman Everyone's favorite bear undergoes a fun, if more convoluted, extension of this wholesome saga in his third cinematic adventure.
5.4 Reviews Only z-level jokes here in The Z-Suite By: Tim Stevens Tubi’s first swing at scripted programming in two years wastes a game Lauren Graham.
8.0 BEST NEW SHOW Apple Cider Vinegar burns going down By: Tim Stevens Kaitlyn Dever is excellent as a scamfluencer so hungry for love she’ll never be satisfied in Netflix’s new based on a true story drama.
7.8 Reviews Love Hurts is a messy, but delightful, kick in the heart By: Justin Harrison Longtime stunt and fight coordinator JoJo Eusebio's directorial debut flails, but Quan, a game cast, and solid fight choreography carry it home.
6.0 Reviews The Hunting Party could use better technique By: Tim Stevens NBC’s high concept procedural can’t live up to its one big idea.
8.2 BEST NEW SHOW School Spirits Season 2 is a series worth haunting By: Tim Stevens Paramount+’s returning tale of teens, spectral and otherwise, picks up right where it left out off.
7.3 Reviews Who’s a good but overly melancholy boy? Dog Man. By: Lisa Laman Adaptation brings beloved graphic novels to charming, hyperactive, and visually imaginative life. If only it jettisoned the pathos.
Festivals Sundance 2025: The Ugly Stepsister, Coexistence My Ass!, Cutting Through Rocks Three tales of women struggling against societal pressures haunt our first dispatch from the 2025 Sundance Film Festival.
8.5 BEST NEW SHOW Is there trouble in Paradise? By: Tim Stevens Hulu’s conspiracy political thriller delivers excellent performances but a successful conclusion remains unclear.
8.2 BEST NEW SHOW Mythic Quest Season 4 takes some time to find its final path By: Tim Stevens The final season of AppleTV+'s video game development comedy delivers more than just laughs...eventually.