Welcome to Video Village

Welcome to Video Village, a new weekly newsletter penned by David Sims. Sims, a film critic, aims to uncover cinematic gems and share his passion for movies with readers. Perhaps you've heard the news: movies have made a triumphant return. Even though 2026 has been a year of cautious optimism in Hollywood, ticket sales have surged, the box office is thriving, and superhero films are no longer the sole engine propelling the industry.

Diverse successes, from large-scale storytelling like Christopher Nolan's "The Odyssey" to unexpected hits such as "Obsession" by Curry Barker, have proven that movies can still captivate audiences like few other art forms. As someone who has written about movies for The Atlantic for over a decade, Sims' excitement over this positive trend is not surprising.

His role involves spotlighting popular art, discovering hidden gems, providing context for films he dislikes, interviewing filmmakers, and analyzing the industry's response to current events.

Video Village, arriving in your inbox every Thursday, promises to offer all of that and more. Sims plans to share criticism, recommendations, and commentary on what's happening in the world of movies. His "newsletter takes its name from the industry term for the nerve center of a movie set: a collection of monitors where the director and their crew can watch footage live, making sure everything is looking good."

However, Sims wants to create his own little nerve center with the community, bringing everyone together to share in the passion for cinema with enthusiasm. Sims will suggest fun viewing projects, flip through streaming offerings, examine new releases, revisit old classics, and even explore random DVDs he has collected. If you share his cinema obsession—even to a small degree—this will be a fun ride.