Noticing how one of the world’s great noticers notices
In his collection “SEE/SAW,” Geoff Dyer offers the close, keen-eyed readings of images that are rare in art criticism, because they’re hard to fake.
Why I love Aaron Sorkin (really)
In the 10 years since he won an Oscar for writing “The Social Network,” Aaron Benjamin Sorkin has been more or less consistently uncool.
Activist, Professor, Politician, Aesthete — the many contradictions of Edward Said
Along with Walter Benjamin), Said was the closest thing to a saint in the unsaintly land of literary theory.
‘Nomadland’ and ‘Borat 2’ are the same movie — but only one deserves the Oscar
Years from now, historians will wonder how the same culture that made a cult of authenticity also paid to watch Amy Adams impersonate a hillbilly.
No, Mike Nichols wasn’t a great director, but he did touch greatness once
““The Graduate” is the most-directed movie Nichols ever made, and, naturally enough, it’s the one that earned him an Academy Award for Best Director
An ode to Ellis Island, whose dingy reality contradicted its majestic dreams
Perec captures the horrors of Ellis Island where a militaristic, racist nation sorted human beings into groups of desirables and undesirables
How a visionary movie director predicted the dire state of culture in 2020
Robert Hughes was, as usual, right when he said, “Most art aspires to the condition of Muzak. It provides the background hum for power.
Bellow and Nabokov are gone; their delightfully smug offspring lives on
Martin Amis’ autobiographical novel “Inside Story” pays tribute to the author’s literary fathers — Saul Bellow, Philip Larkin and Vladimir Nabokov.
Sol LeWitt: The conceptual artist who made an app of himself
The Sol LeWitt App, created by the artist’s estate and Microsoft, demonstrates the cozy relationship between big tech and conceptual art.
Now 90, Frederick Wiseman is as vital and relevant as ever
If there were a Nobel Prize for documentary filmmaking, Wiseman would have won a long time ago.