Column

Unwritten Recipes

Anyone who’s lived long enough to learn to feed themselves likely has some kind of biographical dish.

Abhrajyoti Chakraborty is depicted as a cartoon rendering.
Gestures of Ambiguity: On Todd Field's Tár

Tár holds back too much to work as a commentary on cancel culture, and isn't elusive enough to succeed as a work of art. 

Rick Rubin and the Spiritual Origins of Creativity

Why the producer's “do-nothing” approach means everything.

Popping Up in Dreams

Are we losing our capacity for cinematic enchantment? 

Not Even Seventeen

On two movies about teenagers.

Falling In and Out of Love: On Jean-Luc Godard (1930-2022) 

Will there ever be a filmmaker more adamant about emulating the literary canon?

Closing Pandora's Box

Reckoning with the swift decline of Twitter. 

Memories of Oppression: Revisiting a Classic Documentary on Kashmir

Over seven decades, the right to forget has seemingly become intrinsic to Indian nationhood.

Not This: Considering Oscar Isaac's Face

“I like when you watch something,” Isaac once told Rolling Stone, “and you get the sense it’s something you’re not supposed to be seeing.”

That Arrested Moment: On Stills in Film

I’ve always believed that a carefully chosen frame makes for the more appropriate film poster.