John Powers
John Powers is the pop culture and critic-at-large on NPR's Fresh Air with Terry Gross. He previously served for six years as the film critic.
Powers spent the last 25 years as a critic and columnist, first for LA Weekly, then Vogue. His work has appeared in numerous publications, including Harper's BAZAAR, The Nation, Gourmet, The Washington Post, and The New York Times.
A former professor at Georgetown University, Powers is the author of Sore Winners, a study of American culture during President George W. Bush's administration. His latest book, WKW: The Cinema of Wong Kar Wai (co-written with Wong Kar Wai), is an April 2016 release by Rizzoli.
He lives in Pasadena, California, with his wife, filmmaker Sandi Tan.
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John Powers celebrates the books, shows and performances that stayed with him, including Miranda July's novel All Fours, Interior Chinatown on Netflix and an iconic Olympic moment with Simone Biles.
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In the Netflix series Black Doves, the wife of Britain's defense minister is secretly working for a private spy firm. Paramount+'s The Agency is a reworking of the acclaimed French series The Bureau.
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This Paramount+ series, featuring Billy Bob Thornton as a savvy veteran of the oil business, is an old-fashioned soap opera and a breezy portrait of one of the world's most influential industries.
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This Spanish-language musical about a cartel boss who undergoes gender-affirming surgery won two big prizes at Cannes, including a shared best actress award for its four women leads.
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In this almost perfect little film, Jesse Eisenberg and Kieran Culkin play cousins who reconnect in Poland to honor the memory of their grandmother, a Holocaust survivor. -
Michel Houellebecq is a controversial literary superstar. His new book, Annihilation, centers on a middle-aged Paris bureaucrat in a sexless marriage. It's slow to start, but still holds surprises. -
Pitt and Clooney play competing Hollywood "fixers" in this Apple TV+ film. The movie feels lazy and low-key, but these charismatic actors deftly deliver mocking silences and barbed asides. -
Death at the Sign of the Rook is an expansive novel that pokes fun of baroque, classic murder mysteries — but also delivers a fully satisfying, all-the-pieces-click-together ending. -
A new film follows Trey Parker and Matt Stone as they renovate a dilapidated, inauthentic, 1970s Mexican restaurant. The labor of love becomes a money-pit as they chase the landmark's former glory. -
After a heist goes bad, two inept Boston crooks (played by Damon and Affleck) become uneasy partners. The Instigators is a reasonably enjoyable film that reflects an earlier cinematic era.
