Justin Chang
Justin Chang is a film critic for the Los Angeles Times and NPR's Fresh Air, and a regular contributor to KPCC's FilmWeek. He previously served as chief film critic and editor of film reviews for Variety.
Chang is the author of FilmCraft: Editing, a book of interviews with seventeen top film editors. He serves as chair of the National Society of Film Critics and secretary of the Los Angeles Film Critics Association.
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Two big-budget films are set to battle at the box office: Wicked offers a gravity-defying origin story for the Wicked Witch of the West, while Gladiator II revisits the violence of ancient Rome.
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This enveloping drama, which centers two women in Mumbai, is about solidarity between women, about making ends meeting, and about how a populous city can feel like the loneliest place in the world.
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Eastwood takes measured aim at the American justice system in a film that centers on a murder trial — and a juror who realizes he may be implicated in the crime.
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In a film that has powerful moments of wonderment, humor and joy, Saoirse Ronan plays a London factory worker trying to protect her young son as German bombs fall across the city.
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When the pope dies, backbiting, infighting and ruthless smear campaigning taint the effort to find his successor. Ralph Fiennes stars in a film perfectly timed for this nail-biting election season.
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Anora is easily one of Sean Baker’s funniest works — and also one of the saddest. The film won the Palme d'Or at Cannes, and the director says it's dedicated to sex workers "past, present and future."
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Francis Ford Coppola's epic draws parallels between the U.S. and ancient Rome. Forty-some years in the making, it's got wild sex, startling violence, horse-drawn chariots and even nightclub unicorns.
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Two new films seem to be in dialogue: In The Substance, Demi Moore is a Hollywood star chasing eternal youth. The dark comedy A Different Man centers on a New Yorker with a rare genetic condition.
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Natasha Lyonne, Elizabeth Olsen and Carrie Coon play estranged sisters saying farewell to their terminally ill dad. It's a familiar plot, but writer-director Azazel Jacobs manages to sidesteps cliché.
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Director Tim Burton seems more interested in updating than duplicating his 1988 hit. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice demonstrates affection for the characters and genuine curiosity in how they’re doing now.