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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The Cannes award-winner Close -- about two inseparable teen boys — is for anyone who thought their childhood friendship would last forever. It's a beautiful Belgian film, but takes the easy way out. -
Eight women come together in a hayloft to decide what's next after their religious colony is devastated by sexual violence. Sarah Polley adapted Miriam Toews' novel, which was drawn from true events. -
In 2010, Iranian the authorities charged Jafar Panahi with making anti-government propaganda. No Bears, which was filmed in secret, is a brilliant, layered drama — and an idiosyncratic self portrait. -
Fresh Air's film critic says it was a terrific year for movies but also a dispiriting one. Blockbusters brought audiences back to theaters, but romantic comedies and grown-up dramas often struggled. -
Avatar: The Way of Water may not be one of the best movies of the year, but it is one of the best movie-going experiences of the year. (Think: Jacques Cousteau on shrooms.) -
Roald Dahl's Matilda the Musical, adapted from the popular stage show, and Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio, a stop-motion animated version of the classic fairy tale, are both coming to Netflix. -
Swinton plays a mother and a daughter who have gone to spend a winter holiday at a hotel in Wales. The double casting is much more than a stunt in this smart, subtle film — it is magical. -
An engrossing new film focuses on New York Times journalists Megan Twohey and Jodi Kantor, whose reporting uncovered the crimes of Harvey Weinstein — and the vast network of people who enabled him. -
On- and off-screen tragedies merge as the film reckons with the 2020 death of Chadwick Boseman, honoring the memory of the Black Panther star as respectfully as possible. -
Steven Spielberg puts his parents' divorce front and center in a new film about a young filmmaking prodigy. Based on his own childhood, the movie is funny, melancholy and altogether marvelous.
