The untempered version of world events right now: Things are not getting better. There’s no opposition coming, there’s no reckoning on the way, there is no stopping the free fall. And art is not going to save us. I don’t have much use for the untempered version, even if, on my worst days, I believe it. So,

I’ll admit to entering “MobLand” with some hesitation. Paramount+ has wasted no time becoming the hub for what could be called “Dad TV,” mostly by Taylor Sheridan, but not exclusively, and I haven’t been the biggest fan of most of it. It’s really an extension of the fact that network partner CBS has had the

Set in a future world where no one ages, there are no animals and precious few plants, Fleur Fortuné’s dystopian sci-fi drama “The Assessment” follows isolated scientists Mia (Elizabeth Olsen) and Aaryan (Himesh Patel) as they endure an arduous, week-long, and ultimately absurd government-mandated test, led by the wildly unpredictable assessor Virginia (Alicia Vikander), designed

Here’s how you know you’re having a bad night: Your boss dies under questionable circumstances during a State Dinner at the White House, and everyone around you is certifiably out of their minds. The President and his family: unhinged. The President’s unelected advisor: vain and shady. The staff: suspicious. The Australian contingent, including rumors of

Annapurna Sriram’s feature debut “Fu*cktoys,” about a sex worker earning a living while undoing a curse, is farce, psychodrama, theological inquiry, softcore, satire, and tragedy, all at the same time. And in an era when nearly everyone has gone digital, it’s been shot on 16mm color film by Cory Fraiman-Lott (another name film buffs should

Women over 50 years young are mad as hell and not taking it anymore. They are tired of being sidelined. They are creating scripts and roles for themselves that allow them to be portrayed as smart, sexy, viable human beings, ones that aren’t sitting at home knitting just because they clicked over into the AARP

On Fri. Jan. 20, 1961, CBS aired the first and only episode of a new game show, “You’re in the Picture.” A week later, the ill-fated show’s host, Jackie Gleason, in an extraordinary post-mortem, explained to viewers “how it was possible for a group of trained people to put on so big a flop.” Show

Horror is a big part of Austin, Texas. It’s not just the wonderful Fantastic Fest that unfolds every September, but the genre has been a major part of every SXSW I’ve ever attended. Even the Headliners here have an adults-only edge to them from the gore of “Death of a Unicorn” to the murderous betrayals

At this year’s SXSW, I’ve found that it’s easier to spot the thematic throughlines across projects. It’s a testament to the programmers for creating a line-up where the films feel in conversation with each other. Where else do you get films like “Together” and “Friendship,”–both of which explore the physical and mental toll of codependency–have

A film finally hit this year’s relatively down SXSW like a bolt of lightning, producing multiple in-film applause breaks and a standing ovation at the end. Andrew Patterson’s “The Rivals of Amziah King” is a crowd-pleasing wonder, a new classic of the American South that hums with earnest adoration for the people of this region,