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Nate Parker’s Alleged Rape And The Limits of Hollywood Damage Control
New details around actor and director Nate Parker’s involvement in a 1999 rape case shed a harsh light on the Hollywood apparatus that attempts to soften past transgressions in the name of art, awards, and, above all, profits.
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First Rule Of Elks Club Is: Tell All Your Friends About Elks Club
For over a century, fraternal orders like the Elks served as the cornerstone of American social and civic engagement. Here’s how one Seattle neighborhood has made the Elks, and the community it provides, cool again.
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How Rona Barrett Became The Gossip Industry’s Forgotten Trailblazer
Fifty years ago, Rona Barrett forged a Hollywood gossip empire. Then she left it all behind, her innovations attributed to others, her legacy almost entirely overlooked. But as she nears 80, there’s very little Miss Rona regrets.
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How Kerry Washington Became A Publicity Magician
The easiest way to maintain your fame while revealing nothing of your private life? Hide in plain sight.
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The Unbearable Sadness Of Ben Affleck
The Ben Affleck of the late ‘90s was a charm machine: goofy, self-effacing, and deep in a highly public bromance with the equally winning Matt Damon. Within five years, he was a punchline. It took a decade for his career to recover. Today, he’s once again at war with his image. So what’s Affleck so ashamed of?
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How Jennifer Garner Went Full “Minivan Majority”
Twelve years ago, Jennifer Garner was named the Sexiest Woman on Earth. Now she’s wearing modest dresses in Christian movies. What happened?
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How A Remote Idaho School Defends Itself
During the winter, it can take 45 minutes for police to arrive at Garden Valley High School — one of several reasons the district trains teachers to use rifles stored around the school. To some outsiders, it’s foolish. But to the residents of Garden Valley, it’s a solution that matches the challenges that distinguish their home.
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It’s Time To Stop Apologizing For Tina Fey
Whiskey Tango Foxtrot’s racism and exoticism are not novel. Nor, in the grand, offensive history of Hollywood films, that grave. The film is fairly funny; the acting is highly watchable. That’s exactly what makes it so infuriating.
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The Real Horror At The Heart Of “The Witch”
The Witch is a historical horror film: a piece of folklore, as the advertisements proclaim, from the early days of New England. But it also reveals a deeply held fear of female sexuality and power that is by no means limited to the Puritan era.
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How The Coens Tricked You Into Thinking “Hail, Caesar!” Is About Nothing
Hail, Caesar! postures as a trifle of a film: an appreciation of ‘50s Hollywood with an aimless plot and a handful of beautiful showpieces. But the film’s point is far more sneaky — and far less sweet.
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What To Expect When You’re Expecting The Collapse Of Society As We Know It
Millions of Americans may identify as “preppers,” but most don’t have massive stockpiles of guns, dress in camo, or live off the grid. They’re more like Lisa Bedford, the “Survival Mom,” who’s built a massive following simply by suggesting that being ready — for a financial crisis, for a massive natural disaster, for a terrorist attack — is just common sense.
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How A Movie Filled With Coke And Dicks Explodes White Privilege
White Girl is ostensibly the story of a college girl who moves to Queens for the cheap rent, hooks up with a Puerto Rican drug dealer, and ruins his life, interspersed with graphic sex and indiscriminate drug use. But it’s actually a trenchant critique of the privilege afforded young, beautiful, white women, and the wreckage they can leave behind.
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23 Movies From Sundance You Need To Know About
We watched a lot at the annual film festival in Park City, Utah so you didn’t have to — and these are the films worth talking about. In no particular order!
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The 7-1/2-Hour O.J. Simpson Doc Everyone Will Be Talking About This Summer
O.J.: Made in America is part true crime, part cultural history, and the most powerful and essential documentary about race, class, and gender in America in years.
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The Shaming Of Robert De Niro
After a slew of box office bombs and critical flops, Robert De Niro’s been told to retire, that he’s ruining his legacy, that he’s too blinded by his own genius to understand just how limp his films truly have become. But what if there’s a different explanation for why his movies end up so badly?
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Can “The Revenant” And “Hateful Eight” Use Old Hollywood Tricks To Make Movies Feel New?
The latest films from Tarantino and Iñárritu are banking on the same sort of spectacle that temporarily reinvigorated the moviegoing public in the ‘50s and ‘60s. But will their success actually pull Hollywood out of its blockbuster-induced slumber?
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The Revenant’s Bear Attack Triggered My Fight Or Flight Response
Biometrics can track your fear as you watch The Revenant. But can they make a better blockbuster?
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Jennifer Lawrence Is At A Turning Point
Like Leonardo DiCaprio and Julia Roberts before her, all J. Law needs to cement her otherworldly stardom is a starring role in a mediocre film.
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If Taylor Swift Won’t Write Her Memoir, Her Fans Will Do It For Her
Simon & Schuster is inviting fans to write the ultimate, crowdsourced Taylor Swift biography. It’s a brilliant idea. But who benefits?
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Inside Enya’s Irish Kingdom
Over the course of three decades and with 80 million records sold, Enya has morphed into more than musician: She’s her own adjective. What makes her music — and the mysterious woman behind it — appealing to so many? Anne Helen Petersen visits the reclusive singer in Ireland.
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