Character

Jan 10, 2020 — How many times, in cultural history, has surrealism been declared out for the count? For the German philosopher Walter Benjamin, writing in 1929, surveying the surrealist literature of André Breton, Robert Desnos, and Louis Aragon, the glory days of this...

Jan 6, 2020 — 1917 is now repositioned as a late frontrunner in the Oscar race.

Jan 2, 2020 — Steven Spielberg, Sofia Coppola, Spike Lee, Wes Anderson, Chloé Zhao, and Joanna Hogg are among the many directors ready to roll out their latest features.

Dec 20, 2019 — This week we’re spotlighting directors’ and writers’ appreciations of other directors and writers, plus Céline Sciamma and Agnès Varda.

Dec 19, 2019 — Lists (of course), but also philosophical surveys, biographies, and coffee table books are featured in this month’s round.

Dec 13, 2019 — In 1991, with his sci-fi road epic Until the End of the World, Wim Wenders delivered a stunning vision of the near future. Set in 1999—as an out-of-control satellite threatens to wipe out the world’s communications systems, and a restless...

Dec 3, 2019 — A widely beloved Hollywood classic, All About Eve is justly famous for its impossibly witty dialogue, its dramatic twists and turns, and its note-perfect cast, led by Bette Davis as an imperious Broadway star, and Anne Baxter as a young...

Dec 3, 2019 — The Gotham Awards honor Noah Baumbach’s gripping divorce story and pay tribute to an endearing actress.

Nov 26, 2019 — In a key scene of the beloved Bette Davis film Now, Voyager (1942), the heroine goes to dinner on a cruise ship wearing a cloak decorated with fritillaries. A fritillary is a spangled butterfly, and the scene signals that Charlotte...

Nov 22, 2019 — Critics are praising the French New Wave icon’s joyous and reflective final film, which hits theaters in New York this week.