business

One night in 1984, Compay Segundo, the Cuban singer and guitarist, heard in his dreams what would become his signature song. “I woke up hearing those four sensitive notes,” Segundo recalled later on. “I gave them a lyric inspired by a children’s tale from my childhood, ‘Juanica y Chan Chan.’” A hypnotic account of peasant … Read more

But I suspect Orlean is an outlier, and not just because according to the documentary, at one point one in every 20 American households purportedly purchased “a Kinkade” — meaning a licensed print — to put on the wall, and possibly many more. For those who grew up in and around Christian culture in the … Read more

Like many of us nowadays, I needed a reason to laugh. My mistake — encouraged by the offbeat bona fides of the British performers Tom Basden and Tim Key — was expecting “The Ballad of Wallis Island” to provide one. Bereft of chuckles or even a substantial story, this maudlin musical fable never escapes the … Read more

‘Death of a Unicorn’ Review: Into the Woods (Chomp, Chomp)

Across the compact space of a rent-controlled Manhattan apartment, a frazzled writer and a dog the size of a small pony exchange pleading looks. It’s a classic odd-couple setup, and you might call the central duo in “The Friend” unlikely roommates. But, more to the point, they’re two grieving souls, brought together by the death … Read more

The low-key charms of the coming-of-age story “Holy Cow” emerge gradually but steadily. Set amid the rolling slopes of the Jura, a mountainous region in eastern France, the movie traces a teenager’s progression from carefree, at times careless youth to adulthood after a life-altering tragedy. That might lead to a rainstorm of tears elsewhere, but … Read more

Portrayed with an entrancing hush by the actors Duy Bao Dinh Dao and Pham Thanh Hai, Viet and Nam are coal miners — and lovers. They are also the title characters in “Viet and Nam,” the director Truong Minh Quy’s haunting, meticulously paced drama set in Vietnam in 2001. If you surmise Quy is up … Read more

After about an hour, “Misericordia” becomes an increasingly bent kind of murder mystery in which the weapon comprises sticks and stones, in which we can tell who’s lying better than the two cops on the case, in which the village abbot (Jacques Develay) proves suspiciously omnipresent, omnipresently suspicious and a touch covetous himself. The mystery … Read more

The proliferation of documentaries on streaming services makes it difficult to choose what to watch. Each month, we select three nonfiction films — classics, overlooked recent docs and more — that will reward your time. ‘Sweetgrass’ (2010) Stream it on Mubi. Rent it on Amazon. The cowboys in “Sweetgrass” have access to walkie-talkies, radio and … Read more

In a 1983 interview for a French television show, the actress Maria Schneider was asked whether she would mind if the program broadcast a clip from “Last Tango in Paris,” a film she had made 11 years earlier. “No,” she said, pleadingly. “I’d rather not.” Directed by Bernardo Bertolucci, that movie depicts the heated sexual … Read more