It took just a few minutes into this 2023 documentary for me to be dumbfounded that I had never heard about this chapter in American history, when an entire school bus of children and their driver, 27 people in total, disappeared mid-route on a hot summer day in 1976 in the small California town of … Read more
Almost two decades ago a pair of fresh-faced British sketch comedians armed with a good idea and an able director with a cache of film stock made a charming short film called “The One and Only Herb McGwyer Plays Wallis Island.” The 25-minute outing won a prize at the 2008 Edinburgh Film Festival, was nominated … Read more
What is art? Everyone has a different definition, not just at this moment in history but across eras. Art is a pretty picture. Art is what’s in a museum. Art is what makes us human. Art is something to sell, or buy, or make, or make fun of. Art is everything, or nothing at all. … Read more
Scott Rudin, the powerful producer who was exiled from Broadway and Hollywood four years ago after allegations of bullying led to widespread denunciations and even protesters in the streets, has been quietly preparing to return to show business. After what he called “a decent amount of therapy,” apologies to many people and a period of … Read more
Sofia Carson had just come back to earth. On a recent March morning, the actress-singer awoke at 3 to take a sunrise hot-air balloon ride over the rolling hills of Temecula, Calif. The adventure had been arranged by Netflix as a promotional stunt for the streamer’s new film, “The Life List,” in which Carson stars … Read more
‘Death of a Unicorn’ On the drive to his boss’s mansion, Elliot (Paul Rudd) hits and nearly kills a unicorn, leading to madcap misadventures in this horror-comedy directed by Alex Scharfman. From our review: There’s no real spoiling “Death of a Unicorn,” an unabashedly nonsensical movie that doesn’t take anything too seriously, itself included. There … Read more
Andy Kaufman became one of the most influential comedians ever in a brief amount of time — really only a decade, from his first national television appearance to his death from lung cancer in 1984 at 35. In between, his comic stunts blurred the lines of reality and fiction and found a variety of ways … Read more
It was a minute that changed the course of the “Star Wars” franchise. In “The Empire Strikes Back,” the now-celebrated 1980 sequel, audiences were treated to the first on-camera sighting of Emperor Palpatine. After receiving only a glancing mention in the first movie, he could have looked and sounded like anything. A human. A Wookiee. … Read more
Animated movies, like those from the famed Japanese filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki, are not made in a hurry. The intricate hand drawings and attention paid to every single detail can make for a slow, potentially yearslong process. Or, you could simply ask ChatGPT to turn any old photo into a facsimile of Mr. Miyazaki’s work in … Read more
The Sundance Film Festival is venturing to a new ski town. After a year of deliberations, copious site visits and scores of plane rides, the board of the Sundance Institute has chosen Boulder, Colo., to host its film festival beginning January 2027. “Boulder is a tech town, a college town, it’s a really creative town,” … Read more