This year’s top Arts & Culture stories include film reviews of must-see films like “The Irishman” and “Joker,” exclusive interviews with filmmaker Errol Morris and author Naomi Klein, and an account of the 2019 Venice Biennale, among others. To read the full stories, click on the hyperlinked titles.
Martin Scorsese Closes the Book on the Mafia Genre
By CARRIE RICKEY
The scope of “The Irishman” is as big as the U.S., and the director delivers a hit that lives up to the hype—and then some.
Neoliberalism Is the True Villain of ‘Joker’
By LESLIE LEE
In its depiction of an austerity-wracked Gotham, Todd Phillips has made one of the most subversive and left-leaning major films of 2019.
Geena Davis Puts a Sexist Hollywood on Notice
By KASIA ANDERSON
In “This Changes Everything,” Davis and peers like Kimberly Peirce, Meryl Streep and Taraji P. Henson zoom in on their industry’s gender gap.
‘Mulholland Drive’ Is David Lynch’s ‘Ulysses’
By ALLEN BARRA
One of the filmmaker’s most compelling fever dreams deserves another look.
Naomi Klein: We Have Far Less Time Than We Think
By ILANA NOVICK
In a new interview with Truthdig, the author of “On Fire” explains why the next year could determine the future of U.S. climate policy.
Watch the CIA Get Away With Torture
Based on the 2014 Senate probe into the use of “enhanced interrogation,” “The Report” sheds light on a shameful chapter in U.S. history.
Lawrence Ferlinghetti Is Still Revolutionary at Age 100
By NATASHA HAKIMI ZAPATA and ROBERT SCHEER
The legendary poet, who is now 100 years old, can be described by nearly enough epithets for every year he’s been alive.
Venice Biennale Artists Foresee a World on the Brink
By DAVID MATORIN
The tangible effects of political concerns, ranging from mass displacement to climate change, are unavoidable at the 58th Venice Biennale.
Ellen DeGeneres and the American Psychopath
By JACOB BACHARACH
The talk show host’s sanctimonious defense for catching a football game with George W. Bush speaks to a disturbing national pathology.
Errol Morris Is as Scared as You Are
By JACOB SUGARMAN
The legendary documentarian opens up about his new film, “American Dharma,” his fear of Steve Bannon and what makes compelling propaganda.
The Most Horrifying Look at Monsanto Yet
Samanta Schweblin has terrified readers across the globe precisely because she tells familiar stories we should all dread.
‘Black Is Beautiful’: Identity, Pride and the Photography of Kwame Brathwaite
By JORDAN RIEFE
A new look at the activist impresario and photographer provides a positive guide for building community.