Sixty years and a million record reviews ago, Robert Christgau pioneered rock criticism, becoming one of the most influential practitioners of the craft. The Last Critic celebrates this self-proclaimed “Dean of American Rock Critics” who began a career that would challenge and inspire generations of music lovers when he covered the 1967 Monterey Pop festival for Esquire. That nascent plunge into serious criticism led to his singular voice becoming a regular feature in the Village Voice, Rolling Stone, Creem, and The New York Times. From those pages, he canonized icons like The Ramones and Aretha Franklin, while his harsh criticism infuriated the likes of Lou Reed and Billy Joel. Now in his 80s, Christgau is still at it, grading records and holding forth online in his popular Substack column. For record collectors, rock obsessives, and anyone who still believes the music matters, this lively, incisive documentary traces the evolution of pop music through Christgau’s sharp ears and even sharper pen. And in our current era of algorithms and disappearing print media, is Robert Christgau simply a survivor—or truly the last critic? —Kelly Clement