The Travers Take

Peter Travers, longtime film critic for Rolling Stone and celeb interviewer for ABC’s Popcorn, lets it rip on movies, TV, streaming, awards and the best and worst of pop culture. And he's ready for a fight.

“The Smashing Machine” — Dwayne Johnson is ready for MMA combat in “The Smashing Machine,” from A24

“The Smashing Machine”

They’re talking Oscar for a transformed Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson in this biopic of MMA fighter Mark Kerr with Emily Blunt as his equally combustible wife.

Peter Travers

Peter Travers

Oct 3, 2025 — 3 min read

“Anemone” — Daniel Day-Lewis with movie brother Sean Bean, in “Anemone,” from Focus Features

“Anemone”

Peter Travers

Peter Travers

Oct 3, 2025 — 3 min read

“Good Boy” — Cemetery ghosts don’t stand a chance with Indy on watch in “Good Boy,” from IFC and Shudder

“Good Boy”

Peter Travers

Peter Travers

Oct 3, 2025 — 2 min read

“Bone Lake” — Somebody doesn’t look happy with the sex dungeon in “Bone Lake,” from Bleecker Street

“Bone Lake”

Peter Travers

Peter Travers

Oct 3, 2025 — 2 min read

Quote by Timothée Chalamet

Spotlight: “Chad Powers” — The versatile Glen Powell takes on a dual role in “Chad Powers,” from Hulu

Spotlight: “Chad Powers”

Dreamboy Glen Powell plays two football quarterbacks in this sports sitcom. Only one is a dirtbag, but the series still fails to score.

TV and Streaming Reviews

Future Oscar winner Zoe Saldana stars as Neytiri in “Avatar: The Way of Water,” from 20th Century Fox Pictures

Spotlight: “Avatar: The Way of Water”

The re-release of the 2022 epic, eye-popping James Cameron sequel is a reason to get back to a theater to see it in 3D and soak it all in.

Out of the Past Movies

Spotlight: “Steve” — It’s back to school time with sharp-eyed Cillian Murphy in “Steve,” from Netflix

Spotlight: “Steve”

Oscar winner Cillian Murphy excels as a teacher at a last-chance reform school with his own demons to conquer.

TV and Streaming Reviews

Spotlight: Fall Movie Preview — Clockwise from top: “Avatar: Fire and Ash,” “Wicked: For Good,” “Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere,” “Marty Supreme,” “Jay Kelly”

Spotlight: Fall Movie Preview

From sequels to “Avatar” and “Wicked” to actors on a fast track to Oscar, here are my Top 20 picks for every must-see released between now and year’s end.

Quote by Martin Scorsese

In the News

This just in about the good and godawful in the business we call show.

Tilly Norwood — "Actress" Tilly Norwood has agents and managers everywhere trying to sign her up

Tilly Norwood

Why does everyone hate this acting newcomer?

In the News Movies

Bill & Ted’s Excellent Broadway Adventure — Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter, aka Bill and Ted, hit Broadway hard in “Waiting for Godot.”

Bill & Ted’s Excellent Broadway Adventure

Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter go legit by bringing Samuel Beckett’s literary classic to the Great White Way. Here’s the fun and the fallout.

In the News Movies

The Trouble with “One Battle After Another” — Leonardo DiCaprio and his ratty bathrobe in “One Battle After Another,” from Warner Bros Pictures

The Trouble with “One Battle After Another”

How can a movie be No. 1 at the box office and still be in crisis? Read this and weep.

In the News Moneymakers

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“The Smashing Machine”

“Anemone”

“Good Boy”

“Bone Lake”

Spotlight: “Chad Powers”