On Nov. 6, the day after the presidential election, the artist Hank Willis Thomas was at his studio in Brooklyn. His production assistants were poring over tables strewed with blobby red white and blue silk-screen prints of the words “Fragile/ Democracy / Handle With Care” in capital letters. The design is one of Thomas’s many … Read more
The older woman has been very busy lately. By “older woman,” I am referring to the cinematic figure who is defined by her sexual and romantic relationships with younger men. Depending on your own age, you may know her as the “cougar,” the “Mrs. Robinson,” or the joke about “your mom.” Now she is the … Read more
I sometimes feel like I’m making Oscar predictions from a defensive crouch, already anticipating what the academy might get wrong. Still, hope springs eternal. Over the last few years, the academy has diversified itself and added more young and international members, so the group’s sensibilities are bound to shift, too. When the nominations are announced … Read more
If you go back far enough, it gets hard to tell genres apart. Just under a century ago, it wasn’t totally clear yet what was jazz and what was blues, or what was becoming R&B and what would soon turn into rock ’n’ roll. And the guitar was near the center of them all. Hear … Read more
Hi, This is James Mangold. I’m the co-writer, director, and one of the producers of “A Complete Unknown.” “Mr. Pete Seeger.” This is Gerde’s Folk City, an early scene in the film. Joan Baez has just done a show-stopping tune, and Pete Seeger comes onstage, played by the brilliant Edward Norton, and introduces his protégé, … Read more
Hi, This is James Mangold. I’m the co-writer, director, and one of the producers of “A Complete Unknown.” “Mr. Pete Seeger.” This is Gerde’s Folk City, an early scene in the film. Joan Baez has just done a show-stopping tune, and Pete Seeger comes onstage, played by the brilliant Edward Norton, and introduces his protégé, … Read more
Mike Rinder, a former spokesman for the Church of Scientology who became one of its fiercest critics and who gained prominence as a host of the Emmy Award-winning television series “Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath,” died on Sunday in Palm Harbor, Fla. He was 69. His death, at a hospice center, was confirmed by … Read more
Mel Shapiro, an award-winning theater director whose collaborations with the playwright John Guare included their critically acclaimed musical version of Shakespeare’s comedy “The Two Gentlemen of Verona” and the Off Broadway premiere of “The House of Blue Leaves,” died on Dec. 23 at his home in Los Angeles. He was 89. His son Josh said … Read more
Jeff Baena, the director and screenwriter who co-wrote the dark comedy “I Heart Huckabees,” and who directed films including “Life After Beth” and “Horse Girl,” died on Friday. He was 47. His death was confirmed by a press representative, who did not cite a cause. Mr. Baena often elevated dark thematic elements with humor in … Read more
Dear readers, When a friend forwarded some fresh ridiculous news about billionaires recently — you might have heard it’s a gangbusters time to be one — I scoffed the scoff of the comfortably righteous. Boo, hiss, the filthy feckless rich! Let them eat crypto, or whatever. My reading preferences, though, tend to look a lot … Read more