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Chris Barsanti

Tomatometer-approved critic
Biography:

A freelance writer for over two decades, Chris Barsanti has covered movies for websites and magazines the world over. He's even written a few books, like 'Filmology,' 'The Sci-Fi Movie Guide,' and the 'Eyes Wide Open' annual film guide series.

Official Website:

http://chrisbarsanti.net/

Reviews

Movies TV Shows
The Story of Documentary Film: Season 1 (2026) A EDIT “If the first episode of this limpid and essayistic series is any indication, the rest of ‘The Story of Documentary Film’ will be deeply, painstakingly journalistic in intent but lovingly poetic in its delivery. ” – The Playlist Feb 3, 2026 Full Review Disclaimer: Season 1 (2024) 77% 2.5/4 EDIT “At times, the series feels like a thriller straining toward a more elevated fiction.” – Slant Magazine Oct 3, 2024 Full Review A Gentleman in Moscow: Season 1 (2024) 92% 2.5/4 EDIT “This romanticized series mostly suggests rather than shows the horrors of a totalitarian regime.” – Slant Magazine Mar 25, 2024 Full Review The Afterparty: Season 2 (2023) 95% EDIT “The Afterparty is utterly unnecessary in the best way.” – PopMatters Sep 7, 2023 Full Review Extrapolations: Season 1 (2023) 43% 6/10 EDIT “Scott Z. Burns’ audacious if dramatically uneven climate-change Apple TV+ series shows that while the Earth will change radically, people will not.” – PopMatters May 17, 2023 Full Review The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel: Season 5 (2023) 96% 3/4 EDIT “The show’s mixture of comedy and fantastical nostalgia is as intoxicating as ever.” – Slant Magazine Apr 12, 2023 Full Review The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power: Season 1, Episode 4 (2022) 2.5/4 EDIT “The series is a feat of logistics and scene-setting rather than narrative design.” – Slant Magazine Sep 16, 2022 Full Review The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power: Season 1, Episode 3 (2022) 2.5/4 EDIT “The series is a feat of logistics and scene-setting rather than narrative design.” – Slant Magazine Sep 16, 2022 Full Review The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power: Season 1, Episode 2 (2022) 2.5/4 EDIT “The series is a feat of logistics and scene-setting rather than narrative design.” – Slant Magazine Sep 16, 2022 Full Review The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power: Season 1, Episode 1 (2022) 2.5/4 EDIT “The series is a feat of logistics and scene-setting rather than narrative design.” – Slant Magazine Sep 16, 2022 Full Review The Invisible Pilot: Season 1 (2022) 50% B EDIT “... fast-paced, tangent-laced, conspiratorial, and surprise-filled.” – The Playlist Apr 1, 2022 Full Review Slow Horses: Season 1 (2022) 95% 3/4 EDIT “The series is more of a dark office comedy than spy show, finding most of its drama in the tension radiating between its characters.” – Slant Magazine Mar 30, 2022 Full Review We Need to Talk About Cosby: Season 1 (2022) 99% 2.5/4 EDIT “Makes a simultaneous and similarly convincing argument about Cosby's artistic greatness, racial and cultural significance, and criminal guilt.” – Slant Magazine Jan 25, 2022 Full Review The Underground Railroad: Season 1 (2021) 95% 8/10 EDIT “Starts where many plantation-era slavery stories tend to end.” – PopMatters May 17, 2021 Full Review Exterminate All the Brutes: Season 1 (2021) 85% 2.5/4 EDIT “The series yanks together too many disparate elements without the necessary connective tissue.” – Slant Magazine Mar 30, 2021 Full Review Night Stalker: The Hunt for a Serial Killer: Season 1 (2021) 71% 2/4 EDIT “The series misses out on the chance to make a more memorable study of an unforgettable crime spree.” – Slant Magazine Jan 13, 2021 Full Review City So Real: Season 1 (2020) 90% A EDIT “A noble, heartfelt, and eye-opening look at the American city, matching the scope of Frederick Wiseman's recent scoping of a similarly fractious Boston in "City Hall," but giving it more of a human pulse.” – The Playlist Oct 30, 2020 Full Review The Third Day: Season 1 (2020) 79% 2.5/4 EDIT “Much of the show's drama pivots around how successful it will be at slowly pulling back the curtain.” – Slant Magazine Sep 12, 2020 Full Review Lovecraft Country: Season 1 (2020) 88% EDIT “Emptying out a library's worth of pulp references and using them to spelunk the darkness of postwar American white supremacy just before the dawn of the civil rights era makes for a heady brew. But the ideas don't always play out successfully.” – PopMatters Aug 7, 2020 Full Review The Plot Against America: Season 1 (2020) 87% 6/10 EDIT “David Simon's adaptation of Philip Roth's alternate historical novel about a fascist President Lindbergh leading to American pogroms is chilling but missing some of his usual snap.” – PopMatters Mar 16, 2020 Full Review Watchmen: Season 1 (2019) 96% 8/10 EDIT “Damon Lindelof's over-plotted, over-anxious, daring, genre-hopping offshoot is less about hunting down the bad guys than the twisted turns and stubborn legacies of racist trauma.” – PopMatters Nov 5, 2019 Full Review The Academy Awards: Season 85 (2013) 26% EDIT “The Academy Awards is decadent and depraved, an overwrought spectacle whose confused, junk-food emptiness is exceeded only by the Super Bowl. It will apparently always be thus, whether Seth MacFarlane is there or not.” – PopMatters Oct 30, 2019 Full Review Leaving Neverland: Season 1 (2019) 98% 2.5/4 EDIT “It's a harrowing account that doesn't turn away from the brutal realities of what the men describe as meticulously plotted seduction and rape.” – Slant Magazine Feb 28, 2019 Full Review Rescue Me: Season 1 (2004) 88% 3/5 EDIT “Though it's hardly can't-miss television, there's plenty to recommend, not least of which is Leary, whose bitter humor forms the dark heart of each episode.” – Slant Magazine Dec 12, 2018 Full Review Ozark: Season 2 (2018) 76% B+ EDIT “Like almost every other show on Netflix, "Ozark" follows the "If Only BBC" rule. (Meaning things would have been a lot snappier if they'd lopped off two, three, even four episodes.)” – The Playlist Sep 13, 2018 Full Review
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