That Time the FBI Scrutinized “It’s a Wonderful Life” for Communist Messaging That Time the FBI Scrutinized “It’s a Wonderful Life” for Communist Messaging
The film “deliberately maligned the upper class,” according to a report that didn’t like the portrayal of Mr. Potter as a bad guy.
Dec 24, 2021 / John Nichols
What’s New in the New “West Side Story”? What’s New in the New “West Side Story”?
In Steven Spielberg’s version, we get a film that offers a far more inclusive vision of postwar America but one that still retains its flawed view of working-class tribalism.
Dec 20, 2021 / Books & the Arts / Ed Morales
The Last Days of the Beatles The Last Days of the Beatles
Does Peter Jackson’s eight-hour documentary give us the fullest picture of the band’s late history?
Dec 15, 2021 / Books & the Arts / David Hajdu
Letters From the December 27, 2021/January 3, 2022, Issue Letters From the December 27, 2021/January 3, 2022, Issue
Value proposition… Funny women…
Dec 14, 2021 / Our Readers
Denis Villeneuve’s Humanistic “Dune” Denis Villeneuve’s Humanistic “Dune”
His adaptation was the first to understand the scale—both intimate and epic—the sci-fi novel required to translate to film.
Nov 27, 2021 / Books & the Arts / Erin Schwartz
Inside the Hell That Is “The Many Saints of Newark” Inside the Hell That Is “The Many Saints of Newark”
All of the things that worked in The Sopranos make its prequel a remarkable slog of a film.
Nov 18, 2021 / Books & the Arts / Erin Schwartz
Joanna Hogg and the Art of Life Joanna Hogg and the Art of Life
Her remarkable two-part film The Souvenir examines how an artist turns the fragments of their personal history into an enduring story.
Nov 11, 2021 / Books & the Arts / Devika Girish
What “Passing” Can Still Teach Us About Identity What “Passing” Can Still Teach Us About Identity
A film adaptation of Nella Larsen’s novel dramatizes the mercurial and sometimes dangerous consequences of a person's performance of self in the public.
Nov 4, 2021 / Books & the Arts / Elias Rodriques
On Film, a Window Into Haiti On Film, a Window Into Haiti
Gessica Généus discusses Freda, the first movie by a female Haitian director to be nominated for an award at Cannes.
Nov 3, 2021 / Q&A / Clair MacDougall
Why Mike Nichols Was the Egalitarian Auteur Why Mike Nichols Was the Egalitarian Auteur
Mark Harris’s biography of the filmmaker shows that one cannot be an auteur without some help.
Nov 3, 2021 / Books & the Arts / Lindsay Zoladz