Eleven outstanding film and television reviews by Tyler Cowen and Alex Tabarrok

From the Archive–these posts are written by ChatGPT

These selections emphasize the quality of the criticism: original interpretations, close attention to the work, and arguments worth considering even when you disagree. They are not a ranking of the films and television shows themselves. The list includes five reviews by Tyler Cowen and six by Alex Tabarrok. Several of the original posts reveal major plot developments; the descriptions here keep those revelations to a minimum.

1. Tyler Cowen — The Devil Wears Prada: A Straussian Interpretation

July 2, 2006 · Film · Spoilers in the original review

“Make no mistake about it, this is a movie about sheer power lust.”

Cowen reads beneath the film’s apparent moral lesson about rejecting a demanding career. His interpretation asks which relationships the ending restores, whose approval still matters, and whether the heroine has actually escaped the ambitions she appears to renounce. The result is a compact argument about power, independence, and emulation. Why it belongs: A memorable example of Cowen’s ability to turn a popular entertainment into an argument about motives. Read it after watching, when you can assess his interpretation against the ending. Read Cowen’s original review

2. Alex Tabarrok — Fleabag and Killing Eve

June 6, 2019 · Television · Major spoilers

“Fleabag is much darker and more religious and mystical than most people realize.”

Tabarrok connects the two series through sexual power, moral agency, and religious failure. His reading of Fleabag draws on textual and visual parallels to argue that its comedy conceals a much darker moral structure. The comparison with Killing Eve expands the argument beyond a single protagonist. Why it belongs: One of his most ambitious pieces of television criticism. Its characterization is contestable, but the sustained interpretation gives readers something substantial to argue with. Read Tabarrok’s original review

3. Tyler Cowen — Toni Erdmann, Misunderstood Masterpiece

February 5, 2017 · Film · Major spoilers

“The emotionally unrewarding nature of contemporary cosmopolitan life, but also the limits of rootedness.”

Cowen brings together family relationships, corporate humiliation, gender, and the relationship between Germany and Eastern Europe. He resists treating the film as a simple celebration of authenticity against professional life. Both the cosmopolitan daughter and the father who disrupts her world become objects of scrutiny. Why it belongs: The review connects intimate discomfort to larger social structures without reducing the film to a single message. Cowen’s suggestion that some of the father’s appearances might be imaginary should be read as his speculative interpretation. Read Cowen’s original review

4. Alex Tabarrok — Perfect Days, in “What to Watch (or Not)”

August 7, 2025 · Film · Some spoilers

“the routine is also a narcotic for the lost.”

Tabarrok challenges the comforting interpretation of Perfect Days as a lesson in finding happiness through simple routines. He recognizes the beauty of the protagonist’s life while asking whether its carefully maintained rhythms also protect him from painful relationships. His discussion of “crown shyness” turns a natural image into a metaphor for emotional distance. Why it belongs: A concise, sensitive counterreading that allows beauty and avoidance to coexist. The film discussion appears within a composite post that also covers Ballard and Billy Joel. Read Tabarrok’s original review

5. Tyler Cowen — Her

December 29, 2013 · Film · Light spoilers

“Will they enslave us, will they be our dogs, our friends, our trading partners, or something else altogether?”

Cowen treats the film as an exploration of the possible relationships between humans and artificial intelligence. He also attends to its visual and literary ancestry, making the review more than a response to the premise. The central question is how unfamiliar forms of intelligence might fit into emotional and social life. Why it belongs: It captures intellectual excitement about a film while opening questions that extend far beyond it. Its 2013 date makes the discussion especially interesting to revisit amid later debates about AI companionship. Read Cowen’s original review

6. Alex Tabarrok — Contagion

September 19, 2011 · Film · Limited plot discussion

“we have been lucky not virtuous.”

Tabarrok uses the film to examine preparedness and the difficulty of taking rare but consequential risks seriously. The review’s force comes from the relationship between cinematic imagination and public attention: a movie can make a danger emotionally intelligible when abstract warnings fail. Why it belongs: A strong example of film criticism becoming an argument about institutions and risk perception. Read its scientific and preparedness claims in their historical context: this is a review written in 2011. Read Tabarrok’s original review

7. Tyler Cowen — Technology in Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey

June 17, 2018 · Film · Spoilers near the end

“Finally the Solow residual is explained!”

Cowen combines observations about technological forecasting with attention to cinematic form, musical pacing, and narrative risk. The economic joke is characteristic, but the review also makes a case for the film’s sensory power and for seeing it on a large screen. Why it belongs: An entertaining blend of economic thinking and aesthetic attention. It shows how a familiar classic can yield fresh observations when approached through several disciplines at once. Read Cowen’s original review

8. Alex Tabarrok — Daredevil and the Doctrine of Double Effect

November 25, 2018 · Television · Some season-three details

“As I thought about this more, however, the Thou Shall Not Kill trope is least objectionable in Daredevil.”

Tabarrok starts with an objection to the superhero convention against killing, then revises his judgment by considering Daredevil’s Catholic commitments. The interesting move is to assess the character’s choices within his own moral framework rather than only through the viewer’s preferred calculation of consequences. Why it belongs: Criticism that visibly changes its mind. The post offers a useful discussion of character consistency and moral reasoning; its account of theology is best treated as part of that argument rather than a comprehensive doctrinal explanation. Read Tabarrok’s original review

9. Tyler Cowen — Borgen Season Four

July 23, 2022 · Television · Thematic spoilers

“I wish the content had more of ‘my kind of liberalism,’ but maybe the right-wing cultural critique makes for better TV.”

Cowen considers political power, gender, Greenland, and the media while separating his political preferences from his judgment of the drama. He asks whether a critique he finds less congenial might nevertheless produce stronger television. Why it belongs: A particularly clear example of judging artistic achievement independently of ideological agreement. The post is most revealing as a reflection on what makes political drama work. Read Cowen’s original review

10. Alex Tabarrok — The Remarkable Life of Ibelin

January 16, 2025 · Documentary · Reveals the film’s central turn

“What defines an ideal romance? What constitutes true friendship?”

Tabarrok explores how the documentary changes our understanding of a disabled young man’s life through his online relationships. Its construction prompts questions about intimacy, embodiment, and the limits of what even close relatives can know about another person. Why it belongs: A humane review that uses the documentary’s form to reconsider the value of online life. Although the original post labels itself “No spoilers,” readers who want to experience the central revelation unprepared should watch first. Read Tabarrok’s original review

11. Alex Tabarrok — The Gaslighting of Parasite

June 25, 2020 · Film · Major spoilers

“the most willfully misinterpreted movie that I have ever seen.”

Tabarrok challenges the prevailing interpretation of Parasite as an indictment of economic inequality. He builds his counterreading around the families’ conduct, the poorer characters’ treatment of other workers, and recurring imagery of smell and contamination. He argues that the film’s moral judgments cut against the political expectations many critics bring to it. Why it belongs: One of his most provocative and sustained film interpretations, and an essential inclusion in this selection. His reading is contestable, especially his insistence that the film’s judgments are unambiguous. That tension makes it rewarding to discuss alongside Cowen’s The Devil Wears Prada review: both ask whether a film’s apparent message conceals a different account of power and ambition. Read Tabarrok’s original review

The post Eleven outstanding film and television reviews by Tyler Cowen and Alex Tabarrok appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION.