Aurelia Butler

More stories

  • 88 Shares189 Views

    in Music

    MacArthur Foundation Announces 2024 ‘Genius’ Grant Winners

    On Tuesday, 22 anonymously nominated Americans were recognized with fellowships and an $800,000 stipend.While the groundbreaking Indigenous teen comedy-drama “Reservation Dogs” may not have taken home any Emmys this year, the show’s co-creator Sterlin Harjo has been awarded a different prestigious prize: a MacArthur Fellowship.“The dreams that I had when I was young about changing the world and about changing representation and about showing us as real human beings, all of that meant something, and it did change the world,” Harjo said in an interview. He also co-wrote the new Netflix film “Rez Ball,” and has directed films, including “Love and Fury” and “Mekko.”Harjo, 44, is part of a new class of 22 MacArthur Fellows that includes a children’s and young adult author, a former U.S. poet laureate, two evolutionary biologists, an astronomer who uplifts underrepresented students and a pioneering alternative cabaret star.The honor is given out each year by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, recognizing individuals in a variety of fields. The fellowship comes with a no-strings-attached stipend of $800,000, disbursed over five years.The fellows, who were announced on Tuesday, were first submitted for consideration by a pool of anonymous nominators and then recommended to the foundation’s president and board by an independent selection committee. Since 1981, more than 1,100 people have been awarded the fellowship, which is commonly referred to as the “genius grant.”Recipients are not notified if they are being considered for the honor, so their selection comes as a surprise. This year, multiple fellows were told that the MacArthur Foundation wanted them to participate in a panel discussion, and would be calling them to organize the event. But when the call came, they were instead notified that they had been chosen as a fellow (and that the panel did not even exist).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

  • 100 Shares129 Views

    in Music

    The Metropolitan Opera’s Season Begins With a Boom

    “Grounded,” the new work that opened the season, has been joined by revivals of three Puccini, Verdi and Offenbach classics.The Metropolitan Opera’s season began not with a bang or a whimper, but with a boom.In “Grounded,” Jeanine Tesori and George Brant’s new work about a fighter pilot turned drone operator, which opened the season last week, a group of soldiers lets out a stentorian “boom” to depict an F-16 dropping a bomb. It’s a laughable moment; but the real sonic blast arrived during Puccini’s “Tosca,” a few days later.At the fever pitch of that opera’s second act, Mario Cavaradossi, an artist and revolutionary sympathizer, stumbles, bloodied and almost broken, out of a torture chamber and hears the news that Napoleon’s army has won a major battle. “Vittoria!” he cries, summoning his last vestiges of strength in a triumphant declaration of victory.It’s one of the most dramatic moments in a peerlessly dramatic opera. And on Saturday evening, the tenor SeokJong Baek held the two high B flats on the final syllables so long that the audience burst into a delighted ovation that covered the rest of his phrase. It was an unsubtle, unrestrained spectacle — and a deeply satisfying one, the kind of slightly guilty pleasure that’s a crucial part of why we go to the opera.Baek is one of several fine singers in the Met’s opening quartet of titles — “Grounded” and revivals of “Tosca,” Offenbach’s “Les Contes d’Hoffmann” and Verdi’s “Rigoletto” — though not one of the four is a must-see. There was a sense over the week that the company was gradually gearing up rather than coming out full force.There are worthy performances scattered throughout, though. The score of “Grounded” is humdrum, but the show boasts a memorable protagonist in the mezzo-soprano Emily D’Angelo, her dusky, penetrating tone the vocal embodiment of an anxiously furrowed brow.Poised and demure, the tenor Benjamin Bernheim is suavely melancholic in “Hoffmann.” The soprano Erin Morley, as the super-high-note-flinging robot he falls for, is an uncanny blend of human and unreal, and the mezzo-soprano Vasilisa Berzhanskaya, making her Met debut, is earthy yet eloquent in the dual role of Hoffmann’s friend and muse.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

  • 138 Shares179 Views

    in Movies

    Cannabis Has Become Upscale Chic. I Miss the Old Red-Eyed Stoners.

    Widespread legalization has created a polished new market for cannabis products — one that’s trendy, spalike and weirdly unfun.Last summer, in an effort to cut down my drinking after a particularly boozy vacation, I bought a case of cannabis soda online. The soda — called Lo Boy, by the brand Cann — was blood-orange-and-cardamom flavored; each can contained one milligram of THC and 15 milligrams of CBD. I’d drink one in lieu of a glass of wine while cooking dinner. On an empty stomach, it would give me the mildest feeling of euphoria — the equivalent of, say, a half a glass of wine — which faded after about 10 minutes.This suited my needs perfectly. I am in my 30s, and I can no longer handle a high dose of any recreational substance. The last time I tried a five-milligram THC gummy, I had the archetypal paranoid experience, and could calm down only by writing a detailed description in my iPhone’s Notes app of how terrible I felt as a warning to my future self. (Sample sentence: “There is a lag in my understanding of everything I am seeing and hearing, and in the space of this lag I feel an incredible amount of anxiety that understanding will never come.”) A Lo Boy’s low dose worked for me, and the sodas were sufficient to help me scale back on drinking — which, as I keep reading, is very, very bad for you.After the case was gone, I continued to be served ads for Cann on Instagram. Soon I was seeing ads for similar brands as well. (The algorithm seemed to think I was really sucking these things down.) There was Cycling Frog, with its twee mascot of a frog on a velocipede. There was Mary & Jane, whose ad for a product named Sunny asked: “What’s the microdose product that you and your book club have been taking?!” There was Rose Los Angeles, advertising a lychee-martini gummy with “Italian nipple lemon,” endorsed by the comedian Kate Berlant and modeled after a drink at a Los Angeles restaurant called Jar. The products came in flavors like blackcurrant, watermelon marjoram and yuzu.I was struck by the aesthetics of the branding: clean, bougie and firmly millennial. The Cann look, for instance, features elegantly bright colors; if you didn’t know better, you’d think it was an I.P.A. from a trendy microbrewery. Another brand advertised a gummy called Out of Office, which seemed to bank on customers being white-collar and deskbound: “Unwind like you’re on Vacay,” its website advised. Many ads stressed the wellness attributes of cannabis. Cycling Frog promised a “healthier buzz.” One brand was literally called Erth Wellness. Another, called Molly J., offered a picture of a box of gummies surrounded by bowls of almonds, blackberries, a handful of strawberries, a loose pear. The inside of the box — a gentle aquamarine — read “Chill is a state of mind.”These are the same virtues a certain strain of pothead has been advocating forever: that marijuana relaxes you, that’s it’s healthier than alcohol, that it soothes any number of ailments, that it comes from the earth. This argument may have received a yuppie makeover and a slick design update. But many of the selling points are the same as they were back when cannabis was just regular old weed, delivered to your door in a crinkled baggie by a shifty guy on a bike.As of this year, 24 states have legalized recreational marijuana, raising a fascinating new question: What does it look like to sell cannabis like any other product? As brands try to reach the maximum number of customers — including professionals who have, perhaps, aged out of mixing with dealers — their answer has, so far, resembled selling vitamins at an Apple Store. The dispensary near where I live in the Hudson Valley is bright, spare and immaculate. The staff members wear lanyards and are happy to answer questions. There exists not a trace of the head shop of yore: no novelty bongs, no Bic lighters adorned with pot leaves, no weird unlicensed drawings of Stewie from “Family Guy” smoking a blunt. All that stuff has moved to vape shops, which generally do not (or should not) sell weed but have nevertheless inherited the shelves of blown-glass pipes.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

  • 88 Shares179 Views

    in Movies

    5 Halloween Film Festivals Worth Traveling For

    It’s October, and horror movie festivals scratch both the weekend getaway and scare-the-bejesus-out-of-you itch. A guide to some worth checking out.Watching weird indie horror movies at home on Tubi can be a bunch of fun. So can going to the local multiplex to see the latest scary Hollywood blockbuster with other shrieking fans.Horror film festivals offer the best of both worlds, with twists. The programming is heavy on premieres and small-budget indies, and the more ambitious festivals host events like costume contests and offer themed food and drinks to keep the party going. Some of the festivals are very kid-friendly, and others are better suited for blood-and-guts lovers.With Halloween around the corner and fall getaways calling, here’s a look at some of the noteworthy scary (and not-that-scary) film festivals happening this October.The Eerie Horror Fest is held at the Warner Theater, in Erie, Pa., an ornate movie palace that opened in 1931 and seats 2,250.Paul GibbensEerie Horror FestErie, Pa., Oct. 4 and 5Presented by the Film Society of Northwestern Pennsylvania, this festival is known for showing classic and new films along with a hearty roster of panel discussions and events. A highlight takes place on Oct. 5, when the festival presents a screening of the 1995 horror film “Tales From the Hood,” an influential horror anthology and a seminal work in both horror and Black cinema, followed by a Q. and A. with the director, Rusty Cundieff.The frosting on the cake at this festival is its home: The Warner Theater, an ornate Art Deco and French Renaissance space first opened in 1931, with 2,250 seats, a grand proscenium stage and crushed velour and gold leaf accents — the kind of elegance more associated with the likes of Cannes than “Carrie.” This year, the festival has teamed up with two local coffee purveyors — Purrista Cat Café and North Edge Craft Coffee, a roaster — for a special drink menu featuring themed concoctions like the Frankenstein’s Matcha and Killer Klownz, a blueberry cheesecake latte. There will also be displays of adoptable cats — black ones, perhaps — at the theater.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

  • 100 Shares99 Views

    in Music

    An Oasis in England’s Troubled, Polarized Opera Landscape

    The sun shone brightly over the downs of East Sussex on a summer afternoon while people trickled onto the grounds of Glyndebourne to hear an opera by Handel. Most of the men wore black tie, and many women were in floral gowns, as they picnicked among gardens and sculptures, and under the shadow of the property’s grand, Jacobethan manor house.As they made their way into Glyndebourne’s opera house, old Oxbridge friends recognized one another and swapped life updates; introductions were made, photos were taken, and, when the time came for the show to start, the party was put on a respectful pause for the opening act of “Giulio Cesare.”It all had the appearance of opera in paradise, which isn’t so much of an exaggeration. Glyndebourne, a country house festival that over 90 years has grown into an enormous, year-round operation, has a reputation for elitism in its unofficial dress code and high prices. But there is also elitism, the good kind, in its level of music making.The Conrad Shawcross sculpture garden on the Glyndebourne grounds.Alice Zoo for The New York TimesIn the organ room at Glyndebourne.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

  • 138 Shares189 Views

    in Music

    Kris Kristofferson Stood by Sinead O’Connor as the Boos Rained Down

    At a moment when the Irish singer had few people defending her, the country music veteran showed strong support. It created a bond that remained throughout their lives.On Oct. 16, 1992, Columbia Records threw its longtime artist Bob Dylan an event at Madison Square Garden to celebrate the 30th anniversary of his first album with the label. The concert, available on pay-per-view, featured performances by Dylan along with some of the biggest stars of his era, among them Stevie Wonder, George Harrison, Johnny Cash and Eric Clapton.But it was the performance by the comparative newcomer Sinead O’Connor and the assist lent her by the country veteran Kris Kristofferson, who died Saturday at 88, that proved most memorable.O’Connor, then just 25, was at the center of a firestorm. Just two weeks earlier, the Irish singer was the musical guest on “Saturday Night Live” when, at the conclusion of her second and final performance of the evening, she ripped up a picture of Pope John Paul II and exhorted, “Fight the real enemy,” a defiant act of protest against sexual abuse in the Catholic Church (and also, she later revealed, a deeply personal statement — the photograph had belonged to her mother, who had physically abused her). The incident drew widespread outrage and turned O’Connor into a cultural pariah.Now, in the wake of that polarizing moment, it was Kristofferson who was tasked with bringing O’Connor to the stage.“I’m real proud to introduce this next artist, whose name’s become synonymous with courage and integrity,” Kristofferson said, in obvious reference to the “S.N.L.” incident. (As he would later sing of O’Connor, “She told them her truth just as hard as she could/Her message profoundly was misunderstood.”)O’Connor took the stage to a cascade of applause and boos, which did not let up as O’Connor stood silently at the microphone with her hands behind her back. A minute passed, and Kristofferson re-emerged from stage left, put his arm around O’Connor and whispered something in her ear.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

  • 150 Shares189 Views

    in Music

    Sean Combs Will Try Another Appeal of Judge’s Decision to Deny Bail

    Mr. Combs is in a Brooklyn jail awaiting trial on federal charges of sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy.The music mogul Sean Combs has given notice that he will file a second appeal of a judge’s order that denied him bail and sent him to a Brooklyn jail while he awaits trial on charges of sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy.In a brief form filed with federal court in Manhattan, lawyers for Mr. Combs indicated that they would be appealing to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Judge Andrew L. Carter Jr. had denied Mr. Combs’s first appeal of a federal judge’s order that he be held in the detention facility until trial.Attorneys for Mr. Combs did not immediately respond to a request for further information about his appeal.As recently as last week, Mr. Combs’s lawyers had informed Judge Carter that they did not, at that point, intend to ask for Mr. Combs to be moved from the Metropolitan Detention Center, a federal facility in Brooklyn.The M.D.C., as that facility is known, has been harshly criticized by lawyers and advocates for what they say are poor conditions and chronic understaffing. But in a statement last week, Marc Agnifilo, a lawyer for Mr. Combs, spoke positively about the facility, saying the “dedicated professionals at the M.D.C. are doing everything possible to help him and his lawyers prepare his defense, and I personally thank them.”“I can’t say enough good things about the M.D.C.,” Mr. Agnifilo added, “which has been responsive to our and his needs.”In arguing for Mr. Combs’s release on bail, his lawyers have suggested a variety of measures to ensure he would not flee before trial, including offering to post a $50 million bond as security if he were released. They have emphasized that their client has been cooperating with the prosecutors’ investigation for months, and that he had taken steps to fund the bond offer. Under an unusual proposal, which a federal judge rejected, Mr. Combs would have agreed to remain at his mansion in Florida, monitored around the clock by a private security force.But prosecutors have fought to keep Mr. Combs behind bars, citing concerns that he will tamper with witnesses if given the opportunity and that he is prone to violence. Judges have so far sided with the government, leaving him in the same unit of M.D.C. as Sam Bankman-Fried, the crypto mogul convicted of fraud. More

  • 125 Shares99 Views

    in Movies

    Stream These 11 Titles Before They Leave Netflix in October

    A slew of TV shows and movies are leaving for U.S. subscribers this month. Here’s a roundup of the ones worth catching, including a few great horror picks for the season.October’s departing titles from Netflix in the United States include bubbly rom-coms, action thrillers, killer comedies and plenty of thrills and chills — it is the spooky season, after all. (Dates indicate the final day a title is available.)‘The Super Mario Bros. Movie’ (Oct. 2)Stream it here.Like most of the output of Illumination Entertainment (the folks behind the Minions), this animated adaptation of the durable Nintendo video game is not exactly Pixar quality, in terms of family entertainment excellence. But kids will love it, especially the little gamers, and adults will find amusements here and there — primarily the rip-roaring gonzo vocal performance of Jack Black, clearly having a ball as the lovelorn supervillain Bowser.‘Crazy Rich Asians’ (Oct. 5)Stream it here.Jon M. Chu’s adaptation of the best-selling novel by Kevin Kwan is a sleek, shimmering, fast-paced examination of the haves and have-nots (but mostly the haves). It follows the charming Queens-born N.Y.U. professor Rachel (Constance Wu) and her boyfriend Nick (Henry Golding) to a wedding in Singapore, where the conspicuous wealth of his family threatens to upend their seemingly bulletproof relationship. Chu juggles quotable dialogue, gorgeous cinematography and a sprawling cast — most notably Michelle Yeoh as Nick’s stern and judgmental mother, a woman who Rachel quickly finds is not to be trifled with.‘It Follows’ (Oct. 10)Stream it here.Maika Monroe, so haunted and compelling in the recent movie “Longlegs,” made her big-screen breakthrough in this 2015 horror hit from the writer and director David Robert Mitchell. She stars as Jay, a 19-year-old girl who is stalked by a mysterious force after she sleeps with her boyfriend — who informs her, after the fact, that the only way to rid oneself of this particular evil is to pass it on, via sex, to its next victim. Such a setup lends itself to the crassest of genre exploitation devices, but Mitchell is too much of a stylist for that; he lingers on dread and mood rather than skin or blood, and he creates one of the more unshakable indie thrillers in recent memory.‘Bride of Chucky’ (Oct. 31)Stream it here.The “Child’s Play” franchise, in which the talking Chucky doll is possessed by the spirit of a serial killer, had lain dormant for seven years (an eternity in the world of slasher movies) after the series low of “Child’s Play 3” when the screenwriter Don Mancini revitalized his series in 1998. He did so by infusing the mostly serious thrillers with a heavy dose of campy comedy, and with the invaluable addition of the Oscar nominee Jennifer Tilly as Chucky’s love interest, Tiffany Valentine. The Hong Kong genre master Ronny Yu directs with visual flair and good humor. (Netflix is also streaming several other films in the series, which will also depart after Halloween night.)‘Dark Waters’ (Oct. 31)Stream it here.On first glance, this 2019 corporate thriller seemed to signal that the indie legend Todd Haynes was trying to go mainstream. But a closer examination reveals a film very much consistent with his preoccupations, pairing his formal ingenuity with a story of environmental illness and creeping paranoia that pairs nicely with his 1995 breakout film, “Safe.” Based on a 2016 article by Nathaniel Rich (published in The New York Times Magazine), it stars Mark Ruffalo as Rob Bilott, a corporate lawyer who typically defends corporate clients. Here, though, he takes on the giant DuPont corporation with a yearslong investigation that tested his sanity, resolve and personal safety. Haynes orchestrates the events with a masterly hand while Ruffalo reminds us of the exceptional actor lurking under the Hulk persona.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