Andrew Lapin
Writer, critic, journalist, cinephile. Chicago and Paris by way of Michigan and DC.
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About Me
I’m a freelance film critic, journalist, podcaster and media analyst. You may have read my film reviews on NPR.org, scanned my “New on Netflix” columns for Vulture, heard me on WBUR’s Here & Now or seen my tweets about biking.
I'm also the Film-Critic-in-Residence at Kanopy, a streaming service specializing in classic, independent, documentary and international cinema.
Previously I was an Assistant Editor for the public media trade publication Current, the Publications Manager for the Chicago International Film Festival, the editor of the Fringeworthy theater blog for the Washington City Paper, an editorial fellow at Government Executive magazine and an intern for NPR. I’m also the book critic for Michigan Alumnus.
I have received the Rias Berlin journalism fellowship, the Tent Creative Writing Fellowship, the Young Critic’s Workshop fellowship at Film Fest Ghent, the Bear River Writing Conference Fellowship and the Hopwood Award for short fiction. I am also a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association.
I have a Bachelor’s of English with a Creative Writing subconcentration and a Statistics minor from the University of Michigan and a Master’s of Journalism with a specialization in Media Innovation and Entrepreneurship from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism.
Currently I'm interested in opportunities relating to: features writing, podcasting/public radio, film festivals/programming, and speaking engagements. I’m working on a longform podcast project about religion, history, bigotry and the media in Detroit. More details coming soon.
I’m a freelance film critic, journalist, podcaster and media analyst. You may have read my film reviews on NPR.org, scanned my “New on Netflix” columns for Vulture, heard me on WBUR’s Here & Now or seen my tweets about biking.
I'm also the Film-Critic-in-Residence at Kanopy, a streaming service specializing in classic, independent, documentary and international cinema.
Previously I was an Assistant Editor for the public media trade publication Current, the Publications Manager for the Chicago International Film Festival, the editor of the Fringeworthy theater blog for the Washington City Paper, an editorial fellow at Government Executive magazine and an intern for NPR. I’m also the book critic for Michigan Alumnus.
I have received the Rias Berlin journalism fellowship, the Tent Creative Writing Fellowship, the Young Critic’s Workshop fellowship at Film Fest Ghent, the Bear River Writing Conference Fellowship and the Hopwood Award for short fiction. I am also a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association.
I have a Bachelor’s of English with a Creative Writing subconcentration and a Statistics minor from the University of Michigan and a Master’s of Journalism with a specialization in Media Innovation and Entrepreneurship from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism.
Currently I'm interested in opportunities relating to: features writing, podcasting/public radio, film festivals/programming, and speaking engagements. I’m working on a longform podcast project about religion, history, bigotry and the media in Detroit. More details coming soon.
Works
Film Writing
I write weekly film reviews for NPR.org, which are then syndicated across the public radio web network. You can find a complete back catalog of my reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, where I am a designated “top critic.” I was also a regular contributor to Pitchfork’s film website The Dissolve for the entirety of its two-year run, 2013-2015.
“The Cakemaker” (NPR, 2018)
“Pope Francis: A Man Of His Word” (Jewish Currents, 2018)
“Joe Frank: Somewhere Out There” (Music & Literature, 2018)
“Detroit” (Neighborhood SEEN, 2018)
“Joan Didion” and “Faces Places” (NPR, 2017)
“The Glass Castle” (Uproxx, 2017)
Karlovy Vary International Film Festival coverage (IndieWire, 2017)
“Bleed For This” (Slate/Vulture, 2016)
“Nuts!” Director Penny Lane Interview (National Geographic, 2016)
Truly Inconvenient Truths: “The Island President” (Oscilloscope Musings, 2016)
Oscar-Winning Documentaries Available for Streaming (The New York Times, 2016)
Berlinale coverage (No Film School, 2016)
‘Goodbye to Language’ doesn’t mean goodbye to comprehension (The Dissolve, 2015)
Filmfest DC coverage (WAMU, 2015)
Washington Jewish Film Festival coverage (The Forward, 2015)
Ctrl + Alt + Doc: A Year After Hitting Reset, AFI Docs Is Still In Transition (Washington City Paper, 2014)
Film Fest Ghent coverage (Photogenie, 2014)
“Frances Ha and the dangers of post-Woody Allen-ism” (Tablet, 2013)
“Red Hook Summer” (The Atlantic, 2012)
Audio
“The 15:17 to Paris” and other films that cast real-life veterans (Here & Now, 2018)
Assessing the likely Best Foreign-Language Film Oscar nominees (Here & Now, 2017)
Current’s “The Pub” podcast: 100th episode: written, produced and hosted by me. (Current, 2017)
Interviewed on “The Frame” for a story about the Writer’s Guild of America negotiations (KPCC, 2017)
Radio scripts for “Yale Climate Connections” (2016-2017)
TV Criticism
“Wormwood” (Vulture, 2017)
“Sherlock” (Vulture, 2015-2017)
“The OA” (Vulture, 2016)
“Baskets” (Vulture, 2016)
“Marseille” (Vulture, 2015)
Theater Criticism
“Die Hard: The Musical” (Chicago Reader, 2015)
“Freedom’s Song: Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War” (Washington City Paper,
“The Tempest” (Washington City Paper,
Book Criticism
I am a regular appointed book critic for Michigan Alumnus magazine, where I review fiction and nonfiction offers by University of Michigan alums for the seasonal print publication.
“The Mothers” (Michigan Alumnus, 2016)
“Owen Gleiberman: Movie Freak” (Michigan Alumnus, 2016)
“Leaving Orbit: Notes From The Last Days Of American Spaceflight” (Michigan Alumnus, 2015)
“Three and Out: Michigan and Rich Rodriguez in the Crucible of College Football” (NPR, 2012)
Reporting
Steve Bannon’s strange forays into public television (Current, 2017)
Amir Came Home (Michigan Alumnus, 2017)
No Label, No Problem (Michigan Alumnus, 2017)
Third Coast International Audio Festival coverage (Current, 2016)
Traveling through the Minnesota State Fair with Chris Thile and “A Prairie Home Companion” (Current, 2016)
Lasers in Abraham Lincoln’s Petworth cottage (DCist, 2014)
A Tiny House Divided (Washington City Paper, 2014)
After Deepwater (Government Executive, 2012)
Other Writing
Published in “Speculative Fiction 2014: The Best of Online Reviews, Essays and Commentary” (Book Smugglers Publishing, 2015).
Published in “In the Name of Editorial Freedom: 125 Years of the Michigan Daily” (University of Michigan Press, 2015)
My essay for the book, “Cut to Michigan,” discusses the rise and fall of the state of Michigan’s tax incentives for filmmakers. It can only be read in print.
Opinion: “Let’s Clean Our Plates” (Washington Post, 2014)
I write weekly film reviews for NPR.org, which are then syndicated across the public radio web network. You can find a complete back catalog of my reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, where I am a designated “top critic.” I was also a regular contributor to Pitchfork’s film website The Dissolve for the entirety of its two-year run, 2013-2015.
“The Cakemaker” (NPR, 2018)
“Pope Francis: A Man Of His Word” (Jewish Currents, 2018)
“Joe Frank: Somewhere Out There” (Music & Literature, 2018)
“Detroit” (Neighborhood SEEN, 2018)
“Joan Didion” and “Faces Places” (NPR, 2017)
“The Glass Castle” (Uproxx, 2017)
Karlovy Vary International Film Festival coverage (IndieWire, 2017)
“Bleed For This” (Slate/Vulture, 2016)
“Nuts!” Director Penny Lane Interview (National Geographic, 2016)
Truly Inconvenient Truths: “The Island President” (Oscilloscope Musings, 2016)
Oscar-Winning Documentaries Available for Streaming (The New York Times, 2016)
Berlinale coverage (No Film School, 2016)
‘Goodbye to Language’ doesn’t mean goodbye to comprehension (The Dissolve, 2015)
Filmfest DC coverage (WAMU, 2015)
Washington Jewish Film Festival coverage (The Forward, 2015)
Ctrl + Alt + Doc: A Year After Hitting Reset, AFI Docs Is Still In Transition (Washington City Paper, 2014)
Film Fest Ghent coverage (Photogenie, 2014)
“Frances Ha and the dangers of post-Woody Allen-ism” (Tablet, 2013)
“Red Hook Summer” (The Atlantic, 2012)
Audio
“The 15:17 to Paris” and other films that cast real-life veterans (Here & Now, 2018)
Assessing the likely Best Foreign-Language Film Oscar nominees (Here & Now, 2017)
Current’s “The Pub” podcast: 100th episode: written, produced and hosted by me. (Current, 2017)
Interviewed on “The Frame” for a story about the Writer’s Guild of America negotiations (KPCC, 2017)
Radio scripts for “Yale Climate Connections” (2016-2017)
TV Criticism
“Wormwood” (Vulture, 2017)
“Sherlock” (Vulture, 2015-2017)
“The OA” (Vulture, 2016)
“Baskets” (Vulture, 2016)
“Marseille” (Vulture, 2015)
Theater Criticism
“Die Hard: The Musical” (Chicago Reader, 2015)
“Freedom’s Song: Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War” (Washington City Paper,
“The Tempest” (Washington City Paper,
Book Criticism
I am a regular appointed book critic for Michigan Alumnus magazine, where I review fiction and nonfiction offers by University of Michigan alums for the seasonal print publication.
“The Mothers” (Michigan Alumnus, 2016)
“Owen Gleiberman: Movie Freak” (Michigan Alumnus, 2016)
“Leaving Orbit: Notes From The Last Days Of American Spaceflight” (Michigan Alumnus, 2015)
“Three and Out: Michigan and Rich Rodriguez in the Crucible of College Football” (NPR, 2012)
Reporting
Steve Bannon’s strange forays into public television (Current, 2017)
Amir Came Home (Michigan Alumnus, 2017)
No Label, No Problem (Michigan Alumnus, 2017)
Third Coast International Audio Festival coverage (Current, 2016)
Traveling through the Minnesota State Fair with Chris Thile and “A Prairie Home Companion” (Current, 2016)
Lasers in Abraham Lincoln’s Petworth cottage (DCist, 2014)
A Tiny House Divided (Washington City Paper, 2014)
After Deepwater (Government Executive, 2012)
Other Writing
Published in “Speculative Fiction 2014: The Best of Online Reviews, Essays and Commentary” (Book Smugglers Publishing, 2015).
Published in “In the Name of Editorial Freedom: 125 Years of the Michigan Daily” (University of Michigan Press, 2015)
My essay for the book, “Cut to Michigan,” discusses the rise and fall of the state of Michigan’s tax incentives for filmmakers. It can only be read in print.
Opinion: “Let’s Clean Our Plates” (Washington Post, 2014)
