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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In 1979, a black police officer named Ron Stallworth successfully infiltrated a local chapter of the Ku Klux Klan. Director Spike Lee presents his story with humor and honesty in BlacKkKlansman.
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Searching takes the mundane details of a typical computer session — from video chats to browser windows — and spins them into a surprising, sometimes uncomfortably voyeuristic crime thriller. -
The romantic comedy based on Kevin Kwan's 2013 novel has been saddled with cultural and commercial expectations. Critic Justin Chang was happy to find the film doesn't collapse under the weight.
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Cruise shows no sign of slowing down as he takes on the role of secret agent Ethan Hunt once again. Critic Justin Chang says the new Mission: Impossibleis full of "exhilarating, large-scale action."
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Critic Justin Chang says the city is experiencing a renaissance moment in film. Blindspottingand Sorry to Bother Youare just two of the latest — both about young black men on quests for survival. -
Elsie Fisher stars as a teenage girl about to graduate from middle school in Bo Burnham's new film. Critic Justin Chang calls Eighth Grade an "enormously affecting" film that plays like a documentary. -
The war on drugs has gone from bad to worse in this follow-up to the 2015 film. Justin Chang says that though its "bigger and brasher" than the original, the story in this sequel doesn't fully engage.
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Eugene Jarecki's documentary uses the rise and fall of Elvis Presley to track the ups and downs of America's past century. Critic Justin Chang calls The King a "feverishly analytical" musical essay.
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The sequel to the 2004 animated hit continues the superheroic adventures of Mr. Incredible, Elastigirl and their three gifted children. Critic Justin Chang calls the film "gorgeous" and "touching."
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A new film offers a searing portrait of a family wracked by grief — and by mysterious forces. Reviewer Justin Chang says Hereditary is the most emotionally devastating horror movie he's seen in ages.
