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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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. -
Over the past 50 years or so, Spanish filmmaker Víctor Erice has directed just four features. His latest, about a filmmaker who revisits a past project, has the pull of a well-crafted detective story. -
The latest installment of the "Alien" series is an efficient and reasonably entertaining thriller. But dwelling too obsessively on the past won't guarantee a franchise's future. -
On its surface, Good One is about a teen on a backpacking trip with her dad and his friend. But the film is so sharp and engrossing you might not notice the deeper story taking shape underneath. -
Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman have good, thorny chemistry in this odd-couple action hero flick. But brand extension disguised as a satire of brand extension is still just ... brand extension. -
Nicolas Cage plays a satanic murderer, and Maika Monroe is the clairvoyant FBI agent on his trail, in this tense and frightening horror movie. -
In the Quiet Place films, blind aliens attack, hunting anyone who makes a sound. But the details of the premise are fuzzy, and this prequel neglects to give a clearer picture of the global invasion. -
Writing and directing her first film, playwright Annie Baker exhibits uncanny powers of observation. Not much happens in this mother-daughter movie, but something momentous seems to have taken place. -
Fresh off of Poor Things, director Lanthimos' three-part dark comedy about domination and free will feels like a lazy and self-admiring riff — punctuated by the occasional crude shock. -
Inside Out 2 catches up with protagonist Riley at age 13, just as Anxiety enters her emotional life. But despite its many pleasures, the film lacks the emotional wallop of the original. -
You can’t immediately tell whether this film is trying to be an old-fashioned Western or a revisionist one. It was written and directed by Viggo Mortensen, who stars alongside Vicky Krieps. -
In this prequel to Mad Mad: Fury Road, Furiosa comes fully into her own as an action hero, hurling dynamite one minute and climbing up on top of the truck to fend off an attacker the next.
