Film

The Beautiful and Useless Return of “Avatar”

The Beautiful and Useless Return of “Avatar” The Beautiful and Useless Return of “Avatar”

James Cameron has spent a fortune to bring audiences back to Pandora. Was it worth it?

Feb 8, 2023 / Books & the Arts / Erin Schwartz

Threat inflation: the Chinese balloon floats over Billings, Mont., on Wednesday, February 1.

Raving Balloonatics Take Over Washington Raving Balloonatics Take Over Washington

"Mr. President, we must not allow…a balloon gap!"

Feb 6, 2023 / Jeet Heer

Victor Navasky speaking on stage

Victor Navasky: A Generous, Mischievous, Endlessly Entertaining Genius Victor Navasky: A Generous, Mischievous, Endlessly Entertaining Genius

The Nation’s former publisher remembers his former partner and lifelong friend.

Jan 27, 2023 / Obituary / Hamilton Fish

Serge Daney’s Cinema of Life and Death

Serge Daney’s Cinema of Life and Death Serge Daney’s Cinema of Life and Death

The French critic and editor helped establish a critical vision of film that was both rigorous and revolutionary.

Jan 26, 2023 / Books & the Arts / Max Nelson

The Anxious Influences of Netflix’s “White Noise”

The Anxious Influences of Netflix’s “White Noise” The Anxious Influences of Netflix’s “White Noise”

What has Noah Baumbach wrought in his adaptation of the 1985 postmodern novel?

Jan 25, 2023 / Books & the Arts / Vikram Murthi

The Strange Thrills of “The Crown”

The Strange Thrills of “The Crown” The Strange Thrills of “The Crown”

While the infighting and personal lives of the British royals is boring, their desperate struggle to protect the monarchy makes for fine television. 

Jan 23, 2023 / Books & the Arts / Gary Younge

Norman Fruchter by the ocean.

Norman Fruchter Was a Giant in the Fight for Education Equity Norman Fruchter Was a Giant in the Fight for Education Equity

Fruchter, who passed away recently, was also a key figure in the New Left on both sides of the Atlantic.

Jan 13, 2023 / Obituary / Alix Kates Shulman

Babylon, Streaming Residuals, and the Boss’s Hollywood

Babylon, Streaming Residuals, and the Boss’s Hollywood Babylon, Streaming Residuals, and the Boss’s Hollywood

A pending showdown with Hollywood unions might kill nostalgia for the golden age of film moguldom.

Jan 13, 2023 / Ben Schwartz

Characters stand on the private island in the Netflix movie Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery.

The Butler Didn’t Do It! On Rian Johnson’s “Glass Onion” The Butler Didn’t Do It! On Rian Johnson’s “Glass Onion”

While Knives Out was a brilliant inversion of the class politics of an Agatha Christie whodunit, the sequel wants to have it both ways.

Dec 29, 2022 / Ethan Iverson

Jerzy Skolimowski’s Wild and Kinetic EO

Jerzy Skolimowski’s Wild and Kinetic EO Jerzy Skolimowski’s Wild and Kinetic EO

If Au Hasard Balthazar is austere and precise, EO is excessive and elusive.

Dec 28, 2022 / Books & the Arts / J. Hoberman

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