What the Fires Revealed About Los Angeles Culture
The blazes reflect—and exacerbate—the disparities embedded in the most mundane tenets of city life.
The Oscars Have Left the Mainstream Moviegoer Behind
The Academy found its nominees on the international film-festival circuit, not at the movie theater.
America Is Divided. It Makes for Tremendous Content.
Jubilee Media mines the nation’s deepest disagreements for rowdy viral videos. But is all the arguing changing anyone’s mind?
David Lynch, My Neighbor
The late director made beguiling movies about Los Angeles; he also loved his Scion xB.
David Lynch Captured the Appeal of the Unknown
The late director’s most successful work kept viewers in the dark.
My Sad, Sad Friend Talks Only About Herself
I want to be there for her. But it’s exhausting.
A Horrifying True Story, Told Through Mundane Details
I’m Still Here tempts viewers into a comforting lull before pulling the rug out from under them.
How the Village People Explain Trump
Showing off his new big tent, the returning president played circus master to a strange kind of union.
Dave Chappelle’s Sincere Plea on Saturday Night Live
The four-time host took a break from punching down to deliver a timely message.
What David Lynch Knew About the Weather
The filmmaker’s COVID-era L.A. forecasts found the eerie in the everyday.
What Are the Puzzles of Severance About?
In Season 2, the show’s abstract and surreal elements make more sense.
David Lynch Was America’s Cinematic Poet
The director’s death, at 78, is shocking only because it seemed he’d be with us forever.
The Hipster Grifter Peaked Too Soon
Kari Ferrell’s memoir is a zippy, intimate account of low-level trickery before the era of scams fully erupted.
I Have a Huge Crush on a Writer
Should I reach out to her?
No One Cares That the Chimpanzee Is Singing
The musical biopic Better Man is so much more than its curious gimmick.
Where Han Kang’s Nightmares Come From
In her novels, the South Korean Nobel laureate returns again and again to her country’s bloody past.
They Stole Yogi Berra’s World Series Rings. Then They Did Something Really Crazy.
The childhood friends behind the most audacious string of sports-memorabilia heists in American history
A Holocaust Novel Confronts Fiction’s Limits
Lily Tuck’s attempt to bring to life a victim of the atrocity turns her into a prosecutor, not a novelist.
A Palestinian Story Unlike Any Other
In her debut novel, Too Soon, Betty Shamieh isn’t trying to educate or enlighten.
Watch—And Rewatch—This 215-Minute Film
The Brutalist’s ambitious gamble with the audience mostly pays off.