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Coleman Spilde

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Coleman Spilde is a senior culture writer and critic at Salon, covering film and its role in the broader human experience. Coleman’s work seeks to make sense of a chaotic world while highlighting the best and most important films of the present and past, the artists behind them and what we can learn from cinema — even when we think we’ve got it all figured out. He was previously a staff critic at The Daily Beast, and in addition to Salon, his work has appeared in Vulture, Slate, and his newsletter Top Shelf, Low Brow. He can be found sipping a black coffee at the movies.

Jeremy Strong in Columbia Pictures' "The Social Reckoning" (Sony Pictures Entertainment)

“The Social Reckoning” is the journalism thriller’s last stand

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Anne Hathaway as Verity Crawford and Josh Hartnett as Jeremy Crawford in "Verity" (Alisha Wetherill/Amazon MGM Studios)

Josh Hartnett turned heartthrob fame into a career of risks

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Tom Cruise in "Digger" (Warner Bros. Pictures)

There’s no solving a problem like Tom Cruise’s “Digger”

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A scene from "Promising Young Woman," left, and Cornell University's campus in Ithaca, N.Y. (Illustration by Salon / Focus Features / Getty Images / Barry Winiker)

The Cornell case puts “Promising Young Woman” back in focus

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Skyler Gisondo and Robert Pattinson in "Primetime" (A24)

Why Gen Z sees itself in “Primetime”

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Brad Pitt as James Belmont and Uber as Odin in "Heart of the Beast" (Paramount Pictures)

Brad Pitt’s comeback act has faltered

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Rooney Mara and Kate Mara in "Bucking Fastard" (Gateway to Orkney, New York Film Festival)

In Werner Herzog’s “Bucking Fastard,” two can be as lonely as one

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Merritt Wever and Robert Pattinson in "Primetime" (A24)

“Primetime” isn’t Chris Hansen’s story — it’s ours

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Milla Jovovich in "Resident Evil," directed by Paul W. S. Anderson (Rolf Konow/Sygma via Getty Images)

We got the original “Resident Evil” films all wrong

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"Naza" (JW Films/The Guardian)

“NAZA” could be the tipping point in the public perception of Gaza

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Sebastian Stan as Mihai Gheorghiu in "Fjord" (Neon)

“Fjord” tests whether we can ever stay objective

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Tom Cruise (XNY/Star Max/GC Images/Getty Images)

Tom Cruise wants the last word

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Sydney Sweeney (Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic/getty images)

Sydney Sweeney’s bombshell act masks a career with no endgame

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Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman in "Practical Magic 2" (Warner Bros. Pictures)

Some sequels are destined to disappoint

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(Illustration by Salon / Getty Images / AaronP / Bauer-Griffin / Matthew Nichols)

AMC, Warner Bros. bring back movie snobbery — and it’s about time

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Nathan Fielder and Elizabeth Holmes in "You Can See Everything" (A24)

The Oscars is shaping up for a showdown

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Anne Laure Sellier in "Chronovisor" (Grasshopper Film)

“Chronovisor” makes literacy the key to another world

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Isaac Mizrahi and Naomi Campbell in "Unzipped" (Janus Films)

Isaac Mizrahi’s “Unzipped” shows why flawed artists matter

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Mica Miller worships at Solid Rock Church in a clip from Netflix's "Death of the Pastor's Wife." (Courtesy of Netflix)

“Death of the Pastor’s Wife” casts doubt on true crime

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(L-R) Robert De Niro as Peter Willis, Adam Scott as Tom Kennedy and Michelle Monaghan as Amanda Beck in The Whisper Man (David Lee / Netflix © 2026)

Why Netflix only champions crap

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Will Forte in "Coyote vs. Acme" (Ketchup Entertainment)

It’s critical that you see “Coyote vs. Acme”

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Dolly Parton performs Best Song nominee "Travelin' Thru" from "Transamerica" at the 78th Annual Academy Awards. (M. Caulfield / WireImage)

“Travelin’ Thru” is the Dolly Parton song that can’t be forgotten

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HBO Max (Thomas Fuller/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

HBO Max is sacrificing its credibility to vertical video

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Hannah Einbinder and Gillian Anderson in "Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma" (MUBI)

“Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma” withers in metaphor Hell

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