Noel Murray
Noel Murray is a freelance writer, living in Arkansas with his wife and two kids. He was one of the co-founders of the late, lamented movie/culture website The Dissolve, and his articles about film, TV, music, and comics currently appear regularly in The A.V. Club, Rolling Stone, Vulture, The Los Angeles Times, and The New York Times.
Latest articles by Noel Murray
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Reality TV is getting nice
The Explainer And The Great British Baking Show is leading the charge
By Noel Murray Published
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Hereditary is the best scary movie of the year
The Explainer These terrors go deep
By Noel Murray Published
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Why political comedians will always let you down
opinion As comics quickly note whenever they're called out for crossing a line: Their job is to be funny, not to be righteous
By Noel Murray Last updated
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Why is TV so obsessed with crimes from the '90s?
The Explainer On the uneasy nostalgia of Waco, American Crime Story, Unsolved: The Murders of Tupac and the Notorious B.I.G., and more
By Noel Murray Published
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Why Grown-ish has been 2018's best new sitcom
The Explainer Rather than putting young people under a microscope, it's letting the kids do the looking
By Noel Murray Published
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It's a beautiful day to talk about Mister Rogers
The Explainer Why everyone is so enamored again with Mister Rogers' Neighborhood
By Noel Murray Published
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Why this year's Best Picture race is a total crapshoot
The Explainer Who will win the Oscars' biggest prize this year? No one has any idea.
By Noel Murray Last updated
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The complicated history of the black superhero
The Explainer It's been a long journey to get to this particular moment in popular culture
By Noel Murray Published
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What the best movies of Sundance 2018 had in common
The Explainer Sex and violence are overrated
By Noel Murray Published
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How the biggest movies of Sundance 2018 went small
The Explainer On the microscopic introspection of America's premier film festival
By Noel Murray Published
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Are Molly's Game and The Post too obviously about 2017?
The Explainer How Hollywood filters history through the values of the present
By Noel Murray Published
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Tonya Harding's belated moment to shine
The Explainer The agony and the ecstasy of the offbeat biopic I, Tonya
By Noel Murray Published
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Why The Middle is TV's most underrated comedy
The Explainer For 200 episodes, the series has been consistently sharp, often laugh-out-loud funny — with something true to express about modern life. So why is it rarely counted among this TV era's elite?
By Noel Murray Published
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The real Justice League is on The CW
The Explainer How the "Arrowverse" breathed new life into the superhero ensemble
By Noel Murray Published
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Why Lady Bird is an instant-classic high school movie
The Explainer Greta Gerwig's new film is going to be the next indie hit
By Noel Murray Published
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Three Billboards and The Meyerowitz Stories prove that great casting makes great movies
The Explainer They're not just stocked with familiar faces. They're stocked with the right familiar faces.
By Noel Murray Published
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How horror TV embraced our demons
The Explainer In the new horror series on television, the real monsters are us
By Noel Murray Published
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The complicated poverty of The Florida Project
The Explainer This is The Little Rascals amidst ruinous poverty. And it works.
By Noel Murray Published
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The Toronto film festival concludes with raw truths and unexpected beauties
The Explainer From I, Tonya to The Death of Stalin, here are the most noteworthy films of the latter half of the festival
By Noel Murray Published
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How the Toronto International Film Festival got deadly serious
The Explainer Forget Angelenos dancing on cars. This year's festival is all about humanity on the brink.
By Noel Murray Published
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The Defenders blessedly abandons the super-hero backstory
The Explainer This is the best of Netflix's Marvel shows so far, and the way it just dives right into its story is how all genre TV should be
By Noel Murray Published
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My teen son has autism. Here's what Netflix's new dramedy Atypical gets wrong.
feature To me, Sam feels "written," not lived
By Noel Murray Last updated
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Is Game of Thrones our last shared TV experience?
The Explainer Why did a fantasy show conquer television — and will it ever be repeated?
By Noel Murray Published
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Why streaming needs subscription bundles
The Explainer Watching your favorite shows online is getting very, very expensive — but there’s a solution, courtesy of the cable giants of yore
By Noel Murray Published
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