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After “Wicked,” What Do We Want from the Musical?
The American musical is in a state of flux. Today’s Broadway offerings are mostly jukebox musicals and blatant I.P. grabs; original ideas are few and far between. Meanwhile, one of the biggest films …
Published on 1 year ago
The Modern-Day Fight for Ancient Rome
Artists owe a great debt to ancient Rome. Over the years, it’s provided a backdrop for countless films and novels, each of which has put forward its own vision of the Empire and what it stood for. On…
Published on 1 year ago
Will Kids Online, In Fact, Be All Right?
In her new FX docuseries “Social Studies,” the artist and filmmaker Lauren Greenfield delves into the post-pandemic lives—and phones—of a group of L.A. teens. Screen recordings of the kids’ social-me…
Published on 1 year, 1 month ago
The Value—and Limits—of Seeking Comfort in Art
One of the most fundamental features of art is its ability to meet us during times of distress. In the early days of the pandemic, many people turned to comfort reads and beloved films as a form of e…
Published on 1 year, 1 month ago
Critics at Large Live: Julio Torres’s Dreamy Surrealism
Since the comedian Julio Torres came to America from El Salvador, more than a decade ago, his fantastical style has made him a singular presence in the entertainment landscape. An early stint writing…
Published on 1 year, 1 month ago
Help, I Need a Critic!
The art of advice-giving, championed over the years by such figures as Ann Landers and Cheryl Strayed, has lately undergone a transformation. As traditional columns have continued to proliferate, soc…
Published on 1 year, 2 months ago
A Controversial Trump Bio-pic and the Villains We Make
“The Apprentice,” a new film directed by Ali Abbasi, depicts the rise of a young Donald Trump under the wing of the notorious lawyer Roy Cohn. The film is, in many ways, an origin story for a man who…
Published on 1 year, 2 months ago
“The Substance” and the New Horror of the Modified Body
In “The Substance,” a darkly satirical horror movie directed by Coralie Fargeat, Demi Moore plays an aging Hollywood actress who strikes a tech-infused Faustian bargain to unleash a younger, “more pe…
Published on 1 year, 2 months ago
The Fate of the Finance Bro
From classic eighties films like “Wall Street” to Bret Easton Ellis’s 1991 novel “American Psycho,” the world of finance has long provided a seductive backdrop for meditations on wealth and power. On…
Published on 1 year, 2 months ago
Sally Rooney’s Beautiful Deceptions
Almost immediately after the publication of Sally Rooney’s “Normal People,” in 2018, Rooney-mania hit a fever pitch. Her work struck a cord among a generation of readers who responded to evocative de…
Published on 1 year, 3 months ago