Featured Stories
  • A vastly underrated film in which the real life metaphor of prison and escape mirrors a nineteenth century woman’s life prison of lovelessness and respectability. In it, Diane Keaton gives a performance that seems to be of a piece with […]1November 17, 2014

    “Mrs. Soffel” (1984)

    A vastly underrated film in which the real life metaphor of prison and escape mirrors a nineteenth century woman’s life prison of lovelessness and respectability. In it, Diane Keaton gives a performance that seems to be of a piece with […]

  • Portrait of Eleanor and Franklin as Some Aspect of My Parents. The Ken Burns documentary is very moving, not least because of what Daisy, a beloved cousin of FDR’s, is reported to have said about their relationship: They were always […]0November 16, 2014

    The Roosevelts

    Portrait of Eleanor and Franklin as Some Aspect of My Parents. The Ken Burns documentary is very moving, not least because of what Daisy, a beloved cousin of FDR’s, is reported to have said about their relationship: They were always […]

  • “Last Tango in Paris.” (1973) The final devastating moments when age and need, once revealed, are too much for the female protagonist, despite Paul’s (Brando) insistence, all along, that names, truth, narrative are not valid, or particularly revelatory. Paul insists […]1October 28, 2014

    Tango

    “Last Tango in Paris.” (1973) The final devastating moments when age and need, once revealed, are too much for the female protagonist, despite Paul’s (Brando) insistence, all along, that names, truth, narrative are not valid, or particularly revelatory. Paul insists […]

  • The Ladies. Toni Morrison and Alice Walker. 1974. Photograph by Jill Krementz. No words. What they have given us: stories no one else wrote before they wrote them and then, having done that, they wrote some more. What one never […]1October 19, 2014

    The Ladies

    The Ladies. Toni Morrison and Alice Walker. 1974. Photograph by Jill Krementz. No words. What they have given us: stories no one else wrote before they wrote them and then, having done that, they wrote some more. What one never […]

  • Lord Alfred Douglas. “Bosie.” Seen here in middle age. Oscar Wilde’s friend, the ruin of so much and the hope of so much. He has visited my apartment over the years and I have learned to recognize him and ask […]1October 19, 2014

    Bosie

    Lord Alfred Douglas. “Bosie.” Seen here in middle age. Oscar Wilde’s friend, the ruin of so much and the hope of so much. He has visited my apartment over the years and I have learned to recognize him and ask […]

  • Orson Welles as “Othello” in his 1952 film adaptation of the great work. Before this summer I had avoided seeing the film for a number of reasons, largely because of my at times uneasiness with the play–I have yet to […]0September 7, 2014

    Othello

    Orson Welles as “Othello” in his 1952 film adaptation of the great work. Before this summer I had avoided seeing the film for a number of reasons, largely because of my at times uneasiness with the play–I have yet to […]

Most Read
  • The Ladies. Toni Morrison and Alice Walker. 1974. Photograph by Jill Krementz. No words. What they have given us: stories no one else wrote before they wrote them and then, having done that, they wrote some more. What one never […]1October 19, 2014

    The Ladies

    The Ladies. Toni Morrison and Alice Walker. 1974. Photograph by Jill Krementz. No words. What they have given us: stories no one else wrote before they wrote them and then, having done that, they wrote some more. What one never […]

  • These photographs were taken during the final awful scene in “Looking for Mr. Goodbar,” when the heroine dies by the hand of a closeted gay man. Hopped up on poppers and self-loathing, he first strangles and then stabs the young […]0August 24, 2014

    Diane Keaton in “Looking for Mr. Goodbar”

    These photographs were taken during the final awful scene in “Looking for Mr. Goodbar,” when the heroine dies by the hand of a closeted gay man. Hopped up on poppers and self-loathing, he first strangles and then stabs the young […]

  • We didn’t know the late Imamu Amiri Baraka (LeRoi Jones), who died this week at the age of seventy-nine, as a famous poet who initiated the powerful Black Arts Movement in 1965, or as the man whose groundbreaking plays, ranging […]0June 30, 2014

    Amiri Baraka’s First Family

    We didn’t know the late Imamu Amiri Baraka (LeRoi Jones), who died this week at the age of seventy-nine, as a famous poet who initiated the powerful Black Arts Movement in 1965, or as the man whose groundbreaking plays, ranging […]

  • When it comes to technique, actors know what you might call one another’s family secrets. They know what goes into creating a sustained stage illusion, and how to make a scene partner give and then give some more. They know […]0June 30, 2014

    Stars

    When it comes to technique, actors know what you might call one another’s family secrets. They know what goes into creating a sustained stage illusion, and how to make a scene partner give and then give some more. They know […]

  • Over the past twenty-five years or so, ever since her spectacular New York début at the Drawing Center, in 1994, the now forty-four-year-old artist Kara Walker’s visual production—sculptures, cutouts, drawings, films—has been diaristic in tone. But the diary Walker keeps […]0June 30, 2014

    The Sugar Sphinx

    Over the past twenty-five years or so, ever since her spectacular New York début at the Drawing Center, in 1994, the now forty-four-year-old artist Kara Walker’s visual production—sculptures, cutouts, drawings, films—has been diaristic in tone. But the diary Walker keeps […]

  • A writer’s byline follows her even as she becomes a different self and develops into a different kind of writer. I do not valorize the dead; our best work—as people and artists—happens in those moments when we can best serve […]1June 30, 2014

    Talking Back to Maya Angelou

    A writer’s byline follows her even as she becomes a different self and develops into a different kind of writer. I do not valorize the dead; our best work—as people and artists—happens in those moments when we can best serve […]