Paul Thomas Anderson’s “One Battle After Another” adapts Thomas Pynchon’s novel into a political thriller about revolutionary groups fighting oppression. Leonardo DiCaprio and Sean Penn star in this story spanning 16 years of ideological warfare between radicals and conservatives. Anderson draws clear moral lines, refusing to give charisma to racist characters while celebrating those willing to fight for liberation.
Amy Nicholson is the film critic of the Los Angeles Times. She is a current on-air voice at LAist and KCRW, and a member of the Los Angeles Film Critics Assn. and the National Society of Film Critics. Her book “Tom Cruise: Anatomy of an Actor” was printed by Cahiers du Cinema/Phaidon Press, and her second, “Extra Girls,” will be published by Simon & Schuster. Nicholson also co-hosts the movie podcast “Unspooled.”
Mark E. Potts is a former senior editor for video at the Los Angeles Times. A native of Enid, Okla., Potts graduated from the University of Oklahoma with a master’s degree in broadcast journalism. He has created and edited video for DreamWorks, YouTube, Microsoft, Sony and BET.