Sounds of Christmas past
Books and ArtsI tend to associate Christmas music with the records I received as gifts when I was a kid
Culture
The good, the bad and the ugly in books, exhibitions, cinema, TV, dance, music, podcasts and theatre.
November 16, 2021
Threatened with yet another Downton Abbey film
The (initially glorious) franchise plods on and on and…
November 12, 2021
Taylor Swift tells it all too well on her ‘Red’ re-release
Heartbreak, drama and damn good songwriting
November 11, 2021
The Crown flirts with the unthinkable
Will the next season suggest what many already believe about Princess Diana’s death?
November 9, 2021
Spencer gives us a haunted and one-note Princess Di
The latest royal family biopic feels perfectly timed
November 8, 2021
The decline of the woke Marvel superhero movie
The formula has run out of gas — and audiences seem to have had enough
October 26, 2021
Afrofuturism and the decline of our art museums
A new period room at the Met shows the spirit of the times
October 25, 2021
The latest Dune entertains and underwhelms
Dune reviewed
Mel Gibson defies the keyboard cancelers
The bête noire for liberals in Hollywood is back yet again
October 22, 2021
The PR campaign at the heart of the war on Netflix
Dave Chappelle’s critics aren’t asking for censorship. They want reparations
October 18, 2021
The art world is cashing in on anti-capitalism
Books and ArtsAnti-capitalist artists like Barbara Kruger and Santiago Sierra are very skilled at making money from the capitalist machine
Vital Morgan
Books and ArtsLee Morgan was searching for a new musical path forward, following but not retreading the bebop era
Eternal Eastwood
Books and ArtsCry Macho reviewed
The spy’s the limit
Books and ArtsNo Time to Die reviewed
Wanted this Halloween: terror films, not horror
No more joyless Michael Myers slogs!
October 14, 2021
Dave Chappelle’s last special is no masterpiece
The comic has developed the irritating habit of emphasizing how transgressive he is being
October 13, 2021
Succession is the wittiest, darkest show on TV
The narcissism of the self-absorbed rich is always fun to watch
October 11, 2021
The Rolling Stones cancel themselves
The group is canceling a ‘problematic’ hit, but that could sum up half their repertoire
October 6, 2021
Squid Game’s bloody attack on inequality and dehumanization
Netflix’s biggest hit ever startles us with our own powerlessness
September 30, 2021
The Sting paradox
Just because he detected the modern tendency to confuse celebrity with profundity doesn’t mean he necessarily avoided it
September 20, 2021
The Crown will long reign o’er the Emmys
The show is a comforting reminder of when the British royal family was unassailable
September 16, 2021
Shakespeare is getting trigger warnings
Books and ArtsShakespeare, after decades of being found to be Problematic, is now being reclaimed as the wokemeister-in-chief
The triumph of bedroom pop
Books and ArtsFrom Joe Meek to Taylor Swift: a short history of lo-fi
September 15, 2021
Norm Macdonald’s comedic danger
As comedy becomes safer, he offered a sense of the unpredictable that will be sorely missed
September 14, 2021
Flagging energy
Books and ArtsJasper Johns, an art-world darling for decades, is getting a massive museum retrospective
Time for Another Round
Books and ArtsAnother Round reviewed
September 13, 2021
Titian meets Isabella Stewart Gardner
Books and ArtsThe masterpieces of Titian’s old age have come to Boston
September 8, 2021
Stillwater and the rise of the blue-collar American in Hollywood
The movie humanizes the camo-hat and cutoff shirt-wearing segment of America while still telling an entertaining story
September 1, 2021
Britain: please take James Corden back
His schtick is wearing thin
