Month: February 2017

Yesterday I praised Viola Davis’s Oscars speech for being memorable without being explicitly political—for simply talking about her job in a moving and well-written way. Twitter quickly let me know … Read More

This post reveals “plot” points of episode 10 of The Bachelor season 21. According to the fabricated lexicon of The Bachelor, the show’s characters do not participate in a mere … Read More

Viola Davis’s acceptance speech for Best Supporting Actress began with a thanks to the Academy and this observation: “You know, there’s one place that all the people with the greatest … Read More

The manner of Moonlight’s Best Picture win at the Oscars may have been bizarre and shocking, but in toppling expected favorite La La Land, Barry Jenkins’s film set a number … Read More

If the last-minute twist at the Oscars was seen to echo all the last-minute twists in American culture lately—the Super Bowl, the election—a silly five-minute segment earlier in the night … Read More

Last year, the comedian Marc Maron brought the author Chuck Klosterman on as a guest on his WTF podcast. The two discussed many things (including Klosterman’s then-new book, But What … Read More

President Donald Trump was 3,000 miles away from the Academy Awards on Sunday night, but his presence loomed larger in the Dolby Theatre than anyone else in the room. From … Read More

Sunday in the Park With George, currently playing in a limited run at New York’s Hudson Theatre starring Jake Gyllenhaal, is blissfully free of politics—a two-and-a-half hour respite from contemporary … Read More

30 Years After His Death, Andy Warhol’s Spirit Is Still Very Much AliveR.C. Baker | The Village Voice“How much responsibility does a mirror bear for whatever beauty or ugliness it … Read More

Why do the girls of Girls act that way? That’s the question underlying five years of baffled cultural responses to Lena Dunham’s epic of questionable decisions, cruelty, narcissism, and grace. … Read More

Don’t Miss The Case for Shyness—Megan Garber traces the history of timidity via Joe Moran’s fascinating new book Shrinking Violets. Chris Pizzello / Invision / AP Oscars Your 2017 Oscars … Read More

The documentary 4.1 Miles opens to a bright, sunny day on the Aegean Sea. It’s October 28, 2015, and for a moment the setting is beautiful: blue sky, blue water, … Read More

It makes so much sense to refer to certain kinds of celebrities as “stars.” At their heights, those people inspire the rest of us. They shine, larger than life, above … Read More

Updated on March 1, 2017 “Frank Ocean appears courtesy of Frank Ocean,” reads the liner notes to Calvin Harris’s new single “Slide,” which in this unseasonably warm late February has … Read More

It’s that time of year again, when we can all grouse about the inanity of the Oscars: how the Academy ignores blockbusters or ignores indie films or ignores people of … Read More

We asked readers to answer our question for the December issue: What was the most significant event to happen on a holiday? Vote for your favorite response below, and we’ll … Read More

“What do you want?” an exasperated petty criminal asks Ruth Kimke (Melanie Lynskey), who’s in the middle of the strange vigilante rampage at the heart of the new film I … Read More

Marine Le Pen is hoping the wave of populism sweeping the Western world carries her to the Élysée Palace. “The wind of history has turned,” Le Pen, who heads the … Read More

The list of actors who have won three Oscars is vanishingly short. Walter Brennan (a character actor from Hollywood’s Golden Age), Jack Nicholson, and Daniel Day-Lewis are the only men … Read More

The opening scene of Get Out is a familiar horror-movie image—a stranger walking an unfamiliar street, in the dead of night, nervously looking over their shoulder at every rustle of … Read More