The Rise of CliffsNotes Cinema
Oversimplified literary remakes miss the point of the works they are adapting.
Culture
Why Justin Bieber Played YouTube Onstage for Thousands of People
The pop star transformed the normal act of browsing your laptop into something interesting—and unsettling.
The New Age of Performance Anxiety
With the rise of screen culture, all the world has stage fright.
Where Did ‘Let Them’ Come From?
Years before Mel Robbins published her best-selling self-help book, a struggling writer posted a poem with a similar message.
The Polarizing Movie That Paved the Way for Barbie-mania
Decades ago, the two fashion outlaws of Bonnie and Clyde stole the spotlight—and changed the rules of Hollywood marketing.
What Billy Crystal Knew About Hosting the Oscars
The ideal emcee needs to love movies as much as they love making fun of them.
Why Audiences Love to Laugh at History’s Monsters
In the Oscar-nominated El Conde, the Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet is a vampire—and part of a long tradition of villain comedy.
Saint Dismas
A short story
Shōgun Is Challenging Hollywood’s Most Revered Stereotype
FX’s epic new series is bringing unusual complexity to the beloved figure of the samurai.
The Haunting of Modern Pop Music
The producer who helped build Taylor Swift’s empire of nostalgia is still finding new ways to explore the past.
Here’s Who Will Win at the 2024 Oscars
And also who should win.
Seven Books That Explain How Hollywood Actually Works
These titles shed light on an industry that’s always bubbling with drama beneath the surface.
A Kind of Timeless Jazz Masterpiece
The best-selling and arguably the best-loved jazz album ever, Miles Davis’s Kind of Blue still has the power to awe.
The Tyranny of English
A new novel from the prolific translator Jennifer Croft challenges the dominance of the language.