John Powers

Smith began Intimations: Six Essays at the onset of the pandemic and finished it shortly after George Floyd's killing. Although only 100 pages, there's something worth quoting on virtually every page.

Charlize Theron plays the world-weary leader of a group of heroes in a new film that broadens the notion of who can be a superhero — and what it might feel like to be one.

Currently in its fifth season on Sundance Now, the series focuses on the clandestine missions, office politics and kaleidoscopic personalities at France's big spy organization, the DGSE.

A poet, novelist and screenwriter, Hayes' name largely fell from view following his death in 1985. Now, with the re-issue of three of his novels, his reputation has been making a comeback.

Based on Sally Rooney's novel, Hulu's 12-part series centers on the unlikely love affair between two alienated high school students. Despite shortcomings, Normal People's romantic pull is addictive.

A limited series premiering on AMC deftly sketches the portrait of a married couple who get put on trial for cheating to win the top prize on the British version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?

In 2003, Japanese animator Satoshi Kon presented an upbeat fable about three social outcasts who find an abandoned baby. Recently restored, Toyko Godfathers never sinks into moralizing or treacle.

Actual crimes are scary and disturbing, but critic John Powers finds crime stories comforting. He recommends two shows he's been binge-watching during the pandemic.

The Russian poet Joseph Brodsky once said that prison is a lack of space counterbalanced by a surplus of time. Our current lockdown can't be compared to being locked up, but with so much surplus time on our hands, many of us are eager for stories that will help us escape endless thoughts of COVID-19. Here are three that did that for me: Unorthodox, Baghdad Central, and Abigail.

Hulu's new eight-part series uses the fraught encounter between two families — one well-off and white, one bohemian and black — to raise tricky questions about race and social class.