Aurelia Butler

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    in Music

    Erykah Badu’s Woozy Flirtation, and 9 More New Songs

    Hear tracks by Kehlani, Benson Boone, Witch and others.Every Friday, pop critics for The New York Times weigh in on the week’s most notable new tracks. Listen to the Playlist on Spotify here (or find our profile: nytimes) and at Apple Music here, and sign up for The Amplifier, a twice-weekly guide to new and old songs.Erykah Badu and the Alchemist, ‘Next to You’Erykah Badu floats some companionable requests — “I wanna take walks with you,” “I wanna just talk with you,” “I can’t wait to see you after school” — in this leisurely, woozy, increasingly hypnotic track. The Alchemist’s production gathers countless layers of Badu’s vocals, with and without lyrics, but places most of them at a distance, for a happy tangle of inner voices.Brittany Davis, ‘Sun and Moon’Brittany Davis, a blind, nonbinary pianist, singer and songwriter based in Seattle, recorded their second album, “Black Thunder,” leading a classic jazz piano-bass-drums trio. “Sun and Moon” reaches back to Nina Simone for its husky, organic, bare-bones dynamics. This six-minute song rises ever so gradually, affirming everyday pleasures; “In the sun, my heart is full of joy and light,” Davis sings. “In the moonlight, I’m thankful for the blessings of the night.” The track has a jammy, improvisational feel, with serious purpose behind it.Billie Marten, ‘Clover’The English songwriter Billie Marten calmly savors tensions and contradictions in “Clover”: “You’re raining heavy, I’m almost dry / I’m only learning to love you right.” The tempo is relaxed; keyboards plink and twinkle through mild dissonances. It’s affectionate but watchful: “Don’t push me over, I’m half your size,” she admonishes.Kehlani, ‘Folded’Kehlani dramatizes the most reluctant of breakups in “Folded.” Yes, she’s waiting for her ex to “come pick up your clothes,” neatly folded. But this isn’t the door-closing scenario from Beyoncé’s “Irreplaceable.” Kehlani urges, “Meet me at my door while it’s still open” and notes, “It’s getting cold out but it’s not frozen.” Descending chords, a string section, little guitar licks and Kehlani’s voice all convey a world of regret and a chance to reunite.Cari, ‘Luvhiii’Cari Stewart-Josephs, an English songwriter, surrenders to infatuation in “Luvhiii,” from an EP due July 10. “You hit me like a truck,” she sings, “And I never will get enough.” A loping bass line, jazzy piano chords and a faraway but insistent tambourine arrive, enfolding Cari’s multilayered vocals in a trip-hop haze as she succumbs.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    in Movies

    Who Directed ‘Elio?’ It’s Complicated

    Three directors are credited for Pixar’s latest film, but not all are listed onscreen at the same time. Here’s the back story.After the emotionally resonant final moment of Pixar’s new outer-space adventure “Elio,” the names of directors Domee Shi and Madeline Sharafian pop up onscreen — typical for any feature film. But if you stick around until after the mid-credits tag, you might find something curious. Once the crawl starts, another person is also listed as director: Adrian Molina.The discrepancy hints at some of the behind-the-scenes shake-ups involving the film about an orphaned boy who dreams of being abducted by aliens.Midway through production, Molina, the original director, was replaced by Shi and Sharafian. All of the listed filmmakers have history with the company. Molina was one of the screenwriters and the co-director of the hit “Coco” (2017). Shi directed the red panda puberty story “Turning Red” (2022), while Sharafian was behind the Oscar-nominated short “Burrow” (2020).During an interview with The Wrap last summer, Pixar’s chief creative officer, Pete Docter, said that Molina was moved off “Elio” and onto a “priority project that we’re not ready to talk about yet.” (Molina is reportedly working on a “Coco” sequel due out in 2029, though it’s unclear whether that’s what Docter was referencing.)Docter, in the same interview, explained that Shi and Sharafian were crucial to figuring out story beats involving the awkward Elio (voiced by Yonas Kibreab), who ultimately gets his wish and is beamed up to an intergalactic summit by kindly extraterrestrials who believe he is Earth’s leader. “I think they’ve made some major discoveries on him that really helped the audience to connect and to move forward with the character into the second act,” Docter said.On animated films, one person often assumes the title of co-director, a role the Pixar veteran Andrew Stanton once described as a “jack of all trades.” That’s the part Molina had on “Coco.” But on “Elio” none of the listed directors have the “co” prefix.“Elio” has had a lengthy journey to the screen. The project was announced at Disney’s D23 conference in 2022 and was originally scheduled for release in 2024. America Ferrera appeared at that event and revealed that she was playing Elio’s mother. That in itself offers some clues as to what changed. In the finished film, Elio’s mother is dead and Zoe Saldaña voices his overwhelmed aunt living on a military base. More

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    in Movies

    Watch Hiccup and Toothless Connect in ‘How to Train Your Dragon’

    The director Dean DeBlois narrates a sequence from his live-action film, starring Mason Thames as Hiccup.In “Anatomy of a Scene,” we ask directors to reveal the secrets that go into making key scenes in their movies. See new episodes in the series on Fridays. You can also watch our collection of more than 150 videos on YouTube and subscribe to our YouTube channel.In the live-action version of “How to Train Your Dragon,” expressions can speak louder than words.That’s the case in this early scene from the film, in which Hiccup (Mason Thames) has caught a Night Fury dragon and is conflicted about what to do. He comes from a line of Vikings who kill dragons as part of their warrior tribe, but when Hiccup gets close to the Night Fury, he connects with the dragon (whom he later nicknames Toothless) and can’t muster the will to kill the creature.Narrating the scene, the director Dean DeBlois (who also directed the 2010 animated film), said, “This is one of the scenes that follows quite closely the animated movie. It’s a handful of scenes that I wanted to recreate almost shot for shot. But in this case we realized we didn’t need a lot of the dialogue that we gave Hiccup in the animated version. So much of it could be played on Mason Thames’s face.”DeBlois said he spoke with his actor about the emotional way to play the scene.“I remember on the day talking to Mason before we started rolling cameras, and I said, ‘Don’t forget, this is the moment you reference later in the movie when you looked into his eyes and you saw yourself.’ It seems like a moment of weakness but this is that strength in disguise that causes Hiccup to be a new thinker that can usher in an era of peace that nobody saw coming.”Read the “How to Train Your Dragon” review.Sign up for the Movies Update newsletter and get a roundup of reviews, news, Critics’ Picks and more. More

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    Never Quitting ‘Brokeback Mountain’

    Now 20 years old, this love story about two sheepherders is being rereleased in theaters. Here’s a look at what it meant to pop culture, then and now.“I wish I knew how to quit you,” says a frustrated Jack Twist (Jake Gyllenhaal) to his secret lover Ennis Del Mar (Heath Ledger) in a now emblematic scene from Ang Lee’s “Brokeback Mountain,” the celebrated gay-themed drama based on Annie Proulx’s 1997 short story.The film was originally released in December 2005, but is back in theaters this June for a 20th-annivesary Pride Month reissue.Jack’s sorrowful line came to synthesize the doomed love affair between the two rugged men for whom the majestic landscapes of Wyoming became a sacred romantic hide-out — the only place they were free to express desire and tenderness for each other.But that line, and the notion of two men who embody an archetype of American masculinity falling for each other, was both parodied and memed in pop culture — often reduced to “the gay cowboy movie” — even while the film received critical raves and Oscar nominations (eight, including best picture, a prize it lost to the movie “Crash”). Arriving at a political turning point in the United States, “Brokeback Mountain” struck a chord far beyond cinephile circles.For the film critic and author Alonso Duralde, who wrote a book about queer cinema history called “Hollywood Pride,” the film was a watershed moment for representation in mainstream Hollywood. It was distributed by Focus Features, the indie outfit of Universal Pictures, with a revered director and up-and-coming stars, which meant it could potentially have a wider reach and impact.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    What to Know About ‘28 Years Later’

    We catch you up on the “28” franchise, including the new movie, with commentary from the films’ screenwriter Alex Garland.This article contains minor spoilers for “28 Years Later.”Excitement has been building for Danny Boyle’s “28 Years Later,” in theaters June 20. Sure, the trailer, which uses a 1915 reading of a Rudyard Kipling poem to striking effect, is uncommonly exciting. And it’s been a while since we’ve seen actually scary zombies on a big screen. But for many viewers, the anticipation is further compounded by the history behind “28 Years Later.”The release is a new chapter in a franchise that began in 2003 with Boyle’s “28 Days Later,” now widely credited as creating a zombie revival, so to speak. Shot on a relatively tight budget, that film imagined a Britain taken over by ferocious, flesh-eating hordes. Some of the building blocks are familiar by now: Survivors band into small, often mismatched groups; scavenging expeditions loot empty stores; everybody runs from relentless pursuers of the fast-moving variety at one point or another. But “28 Days Later” still feels radical, thanks to Boyle’s inspired direction. The movie interspersed quickly edited close-ups of violence into much longer moody, melancholy scenes whose haunting power has not faded, and was often driven by the superb soundtrack. Tellingly, the composer John Murphy’s spooky instrumental “In the House — In a Heartbeat” has been reused (including in a Louis Vuitton ad) and recycled (including by Murphy himself in “Kick-Ass”) many times since.From left, Williams, Jodie Comer and Ralph Fiennes in “28 Years Later.”Miya Mizuno/Columbia Pictures and Sony PicturesNow Boyle has reunited with the “28 Days Later” screenwriter, Alex Garland, for what Garland has described as a trilogy. (The two men were executive producers on a first sequel, “28 Weeks Later,” that was directed by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo and released in 2007.)In a video interview, Garland said that while “28 Years Later” is a stand-alone film, a second has also been made, directed by Nia DaCosta. He explained that these two installments are narratively connected and were shot back to back. (DaCosta’s “28 Years Later: The Bone Temple” is expected in January.) As for the third feature, Garland said, “the story is written. The script is not written.”Now that we are back in the “28” world, here’s what to know about the premise, the new film’s universe and what you might expect.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    Be the First to Find Out the 100 Best Movies of the 21st Century

    Movie fans, we have a treat for you! We’re getting ready to unveil our list of the 100 Best Movies of the 21st Century.We asked directors, actors, cinematographers, costume designers and other film professionals and movie lovers in Hollywood and around the world to pick the 10 best films of the last 25 years. It was up to them to decide what “best” meant: Favorite? Most rewatched? Most artistically ambitious?Next week you’ll be able to see how they defined it. Each day, starting Monday, we’ll reveal 20 movies on the list, beginning with No. 100. The rankings are full of surprises — even to the editors — so sign up for the Movies Update newsletter to make sure you find out about every installment, culminating June 27 in the big reveal of the No. 1 movie of the 21st century.If you already receive the Movies Update newsletter, you will automatically receive the updates, and will not see a way to sign up below. You can find out which newsletters you are signed up for here. More

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    Barbra Streisand on the Duets That Define Her: ‘I Like Drama’

    With a new album due next week that pairs her with Paul McCartney, Bob Dylan, Laufey, Sam Smith and more, the singer looks back at her prized collaborations.To Barbra Streisand, a duet isn’t just a song. “It’s a dramatic process,” she said. “It’s wondering who is this guy in the song? Who is this girl? What’s happening with them?”Figuring that out plays straight into Streisand’s core identity as an artist. “I’m an actress first,” she added. “I like drama.”Small wonder she has performed character-driven duets so often, so creatively and with such commercial success. In October 1963, following the release of Streisand’s debut album, Judy Garland invited her to appear in an episode of her TV show; their joint performance all but anointed the younger as her vocal heir.In the decades since, many of her highest-charting songs have been duets, starting in 1978 with Neil Diamond on their death-of-a-love ballad, “You Don’t Bring Me Flowers,” followed the next year by her diva-off with Donna Summer on “No More Tears (Enough Is Enough).” Both shot straight to No. 1. In the early 1980s, she scored two Top 10 Billboard hits with Barry Gibb, chased by a dalliance with Bryan AdamsIn 2014, Streisand issued an entire album of double billings titled “Partners,” which teamed her with stars from the quick (John Mayer on “Come Rain or Come Shine”) to the dead (Elvis Presley via a vocal sample from the singer’s 1956 recording of “Love Me Tender”). Both that album, and its follow-up, “Encore: Movie Partners Sing Broadway,” scaled Billboard’s peak.Next week, Streisand, 83, will release a sequel, “The Secret of Life: Partners, Volume Two,” featuring contemporaries of different musical sensibilities, like Paul McCartney and Bob Dylan, as well as younger voices including Hozier and Sam Smith.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    In a New Documentary, the Deaf Actress Marlee Matlin Talks About Prejudice

    In a new documentary, the actress talks about the prejudice and loneliness she faced after becoming the rare Hollywood star who is deaf.Actors in documentaries about their own lives rarely — perhaps never — speak with the kind of candor that Marlee Matlin brings to Shoshannah Stern’s new film “Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore” (in theaters). This kind of project all too often results in a cagey puff piece, lots of warmed-over memories accented by one mildly surprising revelation, which ensures the movie will make headlines.Not this film. From the start, Matlin speaks with an unvarnished frankness about the loneliness and prejudice she encountered when she burst into public consciousness in “Children of a Lesser God,” for which she won the best actress Oscar in 1987. For 35 years, she was the only deaf performer with an Academy Award — a record finally broken in 2022, when Troy Kotsur won for “CODA,” in which he co-starred with Matlin. Now, she says, she isn’t alone anymore.But the path to this point was littered with frustrations in a world that still treats deaf people as second-class citizens. Matlin talks about how solitary she often felt, set apart not just from the hearing world but at times from the deaf one, too. She speaks, with nuance but also pain, of her relationship with her “Children of a Lesser God” co-star William Hurt, who was 16 years older and, she says, abusive at times. (Hurt died in 2022. In 2009, he issued a public apology “for any pain I caused.”) She also addresses the clear anti-deaf bias that surfaces in the news media — demonstrated, pointedly, by archival clips of interviewers saying offensive things — and how it shaped her addiction struggles as well as the way she presented herself in the years following her Oscar win.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More