Articles written by the author
Trey Edward Shults' Fractured Family Portraits
Filmmaker Trey Edward Shults thinks a lot about families. Specifically, families in trouble. They preoccupy his work to a degree that is difficult for him to explain. And, believe him, he has tried to explain, including to his stepfather, who will call after watching one of his movies to ask whether everything is OK.
With 'Queen & Slim,' Melina Matsoukas Steps Beyond Beyoncé
In literal terms, Melina Matsoukas is a first-time filmmaker — her directorial debut, “Queen & Slim,” written by Lena Waithe and starring Daniel Kaluuya and Jodie Turner-Smith, arrives in theaters Nov. 27. But it’s hard to think of her as a rookie. As a young music video director in the 2000s and early 2010s, she was responsible for a string of vivid, otherworldly images that now seem like collective hallucinations: Snoop Dogg as a disco-era sex symbol, Rihanna romping through a field wit...
Once a 'Step Away,' Singer Now Has a Place at the Table
Around the summer of 2016, shortly after his second album, “Love & Hate,” was released, Michael Kiwanuka started getting texts from Russell Crowe. The texts were friendly — compliments about his music, invitations to get a beer, enthusiastic updates about works in progress — but felt strangely portentous, like being invited behind a velvet rope. After all, Crowe, the Academy Award-winning star of “Gladiator,” was seeking out and befriending Kiwanuka, an acclaimed but relatively obscure si...
Why Lupita Nyong'o's 'Us' Voice Sounds So Creepy
There are no shortage of haunting images in “Us,” the new horror film from Jordan Peele. But many of the movie’s most effective jolts are heard rather than seen, from the chilling score (including a macabre riff on Luniz’s “I Got 5 on It”) on down.
Where 'Euphoria' Is Surprisingly Conservative
(Reporter’s notebook)Michael Jackson Biographers Face History, and the Mirror
Two years ago, when Joe Vogel agreed to write a new edition of his influential book about Michael Jackson — to be released this summer for the 10th anniversary of the singer’s death — he thought it would be demanding but gratifying work, a fresh opportunity to train his arrow on the most formidable legacy in all of modern pop, to address new questions about the artist’s collaboration with producer Quincy Jones and to celebrate the enduring resonance of Jackson’s abundant song catalog.With 'Unplanned,' Abortion Opponents Turn Toward Hollywood
CLIFTON, N.J. — It was a rare packed house for a weeknight in the suburbs and when the movie was over the sold-out crowd of about 100 last Wednesday spilled haltingly into the light.
With 'Unplanned,' Abortion Opponents Turn Toward Hollywood
CLIFTON, N.J. — It was a rare packed house for a weeknight in the suburbs and when the movie was over the sold-out crowd of about 100 last Wednesday spilled haltingly into the light.
A Pocket Guide to the Oscars' Beefiest Controversies
We have gathered here today to discuss not the artistic merits of this year’s Academy Award nominees for best picture, but the controversies, firestorms and outright debacles that cling to them like dog hair to a dropped Tootsie Pop.Black directors on the legacy of John Singleton
The director’s classic first film, “Boyz N the Hood,” made him a historically significant figure at 24 — the youngest person and first African American to ever receive a best director nomination at the Academy Awards.
'They set us up to fail': Black directors of the '90s speak out
For the first time in a long time, things seemed to be changing in Hollywood. Black filmmakers were making inroads where their white counterparts had long been parked, bringing with them an array of perspectives and experiences seldom recognized by mainstream American production companies.
Fab 5 Freddy's latest cultural coup? 'The Archive of the Future'
As a sought-after graffiti artist, music video director, film producer and the original host and creative force behind “Yo!
Louis C.K.'s jokes aren't for sharing
Many comics despise leaks. Louis C.K. is banning them outright.
Conan O'Brien settles lawsuit alleging joke theft
After years of buildup, a debate about the nature of humor that verged on the metaphysical and the specter of a trial featuring testimony from Patton Oswalt and Andy Richter, Conan O’Brien settled a lawsuit against him Thursday, ending a standoff with a freelance comedy writer who had accused the late-night host of stealing jokes.
With 'Unplanned,' abortion opponents turn toward Hollywood
CLIFTON, N.J. — It was a rare packed house for a weeknight in the suburbs and when the movie was over the sold-out crowd of about 100 last Wednesday spilled haltingly into the light.
With 'Unplanned,' abortion opponents turn toward Hollywood
CLIFTON, N.J. — It was a rare packed house for a weeknight in the suburbs and when the movie was over the sold-out crowd of about 100 last Wednesday spilled haltingly into the light.Why Lupita Nyong'o's 'us' voice sounds so creepy
There are no shortage of haunting images in “Us,” the new horror film from Jordan Peele. But many of the movie’s most effective jolts are heard rather than seen, from the chilling score (including a macabre riff on Luniz’s “I Got 5 on It”) on down.
This is Lupita Nyong'o, Hollywood, please keep up
AUSTIN, Texas — When she was around 11, Lupita Nyong’o’s parents brought home a cassette tape that changed her life. It was of the song “Regulate” by West Coast hip-hop dynasts Warren G and Nate Dogg.
The accidental spirit guide
It’s easy to think of Badu as ageless. In person, her bright eyes, smooth skin and famously fluttering voice — restrained in conversation, though the occasional vowel sound answers a higher calling — project youthful tenderness.
Barry Jenkins still focuses on audiences of one
It’s a practice he began as a frustrated, underpriced Hollywood outsider, a way to shrink the burden of his own expectations down to manageable size.
