Aurelia Butler

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    ‘Aftersun,’ ‘Anomalisa’ and More Streaming Gems

    An Oscar-nominated father-daughter drama and a stop-motion dramedy are among the best movies hiding in the corners of your subscription streaming services.‘Aftersun’ (2022)Stream it on Netflix.Charlotte Wells writes and directs this stunning memory play, which begins as a wandering account of a divorced father (Paul Mescal) and his 11-year-old daughter (Frankie Corio), on holiday for his birthday; the mood is languid and mellow, capturing the carefree dreaminess of vacation, with nowhere to be and nothing to do. But this is no mere hangout, and Wells expertly deploys brief but affecting flash-forwards to snap the story she’s telling into focus, juxtaposing glowing, nostalgic memories with the cold, tough present. It’s a tour-de-force of instinctive, emotional filmmaking, anchored by the dazzling acting of Mescal (deservedly Oscar-nominated) and Corio (who turns in one of the best performances by a young actor in recent memory).‘Anomalisa’ (2015)Stream it on Amazon Prime Video.The surrealist screenwriter and filmmaker Charlie Kaufman (“Being John Malkovich,” “Synechoche, New York”) directed this puppet-populated comedy-drama with the stop-motion animation specialist Duke Johnson — but this is no “Muppet Movie,” or even a “Fantastic Mr. Fox.” Kaufman’s screenplay is populated with his signature brand of neurotic malcontents, here in the form of a depressed motivational speaker (voiced by David Thewlis) on a business trip who meets a sunny young woman (voiced by Jennifer Jason Leigh) and decides she is the answer to his ennui. Kaufman and Johnson transcend the potential gimmickry of the puppetry artifice, deftly driving home the picture’s delicate themes of isolation and loneliness in a hermetically-sealed world.‘A Love Song’ (2022)Stream it on Hulu.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 ‘Hillbilly Elegy,’ Film Based on JD Vance’s Memoir

    The 2020 film generally follows the book about the Republican vice presidential nominee’s formative years. But there are significant differences.Before J.D. Vance became the Republican vice-presidential nominee or even ventured into politics, he was best known as the author of “Hillbilly Elegy,” a memoir about growing up in the Rust Belt and Appalachia. Published in 2016, the book became a surprise best seller, offering one kind of answer to those searching for an explanation for Donald Trump’s presidential victory and trying to understand the experience of impoverished white Americans.The success of Vance’s book led to a movie adaptation with Imagine Entertainment winning the film rights in 2017. Netflix eventually spent a reported $45 million to finance the movie, which had a limited theatrical release in November 2020 before moving to streaming soon after. Unlike the book, the film received scathing reviews from critics.Here’s what to know about the movie:Who made “Hillbilly Elegy”? Who stars in it?Directed by Ron Howard with Vance getting an executive producer credit, the film stars Gabriel Basso as Vance. Glenn Close plays his grandmother, Mamaw, a loud, gruff but caring matriarch, and Amy Adams is his mother, Bev, who grapples with mental health issues and substance abuse. The cast includes Freida Pinto as Vance’s wife, Usha.Parts of the film were shot in Middletown, Ohio, where Vance grew up, as well as in Georgia, because of the state’s generous tax incentives.What is “Hillbilly Elegy” about?The film mostly follows Vance’s memoir. It begins with a younger Vance (played by Owen Asztalos) biking along a dirt path, while an older Vance narrates his love for the hill country of Jackson, Ky. Alternating between past and present, the film toggles between Vance’s unstable childhood growing up with Mamaw and a mother struggling with addiction and his adult years as a student at Yale Law School. While competing for a prestigious summer internship, Vance receives a call from his sister, Lindsay (Haley Bennett), who asks him to return home to care for his mother, who has been hospitalized after overdosing on heroin.Glenn Close with Bennett and Owen Asztalos as a young Vance in “Hillbilly Elegy. Lacey Terrell/NetflixWe 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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    Marvel Changes Israeli Superhero Sabra in Captain America Movie

    The studio said Sabra, a Mossad agent in comic books, will be “a high-ranking U.S. government official” in its next Captain America movie.When Marvel Studios announced two years ago that it had cast the Israeli actress Shira Haas to play Sabra, a superhero Mossad agent, in its next “Captain America” film, the news was cheered by Israelis and denounced by Palestinians.The studio said at the time that the makers of the film, “Captain America: Brave New World,” would be “taking a new approach to the character,” but did not elaborate.The contours of that reimagined character became clearer on Friday when Marvel released a trailer of the upcoming film. The accompanying announcement made no mention of Sabra as an agent of Mossad, the Israeli intelligence service, as she is depicted in comic books, but described her as “a high-ranking U.S. government official.”The change drew criticism from some who saw it as diminishing Israeli and Jewish representation onscreen. A headline in Haaretz, the Israeli newspaper, proclaimed, “‘Sabra’ Superhero in Marvel’s ‘Captain America’ Stripped of Israeliness Amid pro-Palestinian Backlash,” and one in The Jerusalem Post said, “Marvel removes Jewish superhero Sabra’s Israeli identity for new Captain America movie.”The American Jewish Committee said on social media that Marvel’s “decision to strip the Israeli identity of Sabra is a betrayal of the character’s creators and fans and a capitulation to intimidation. Sabra is a proud Israeli hero, and should be portrayed as such. Taking away such a central part of her identity would be like making Captain America Canadian.”It was not clear whether Sabra — alter ego: Ruth Bat-Seraph — still has Israeli origins in the movie, as her superhero name suggests. “Sabra” is a Hebrew word for a local cactus bush that doubles as an affectionate term for native Israelis. It also the name of a refugee camp in Lebanon where Palestinians were massacred in 1982 by a Christian militia while Israeli troops stood by, though the superhero predated that event. Haas appears only briefly in the new trailer, and a Marvel spokeswoman declined to comment.When Marvel said Sabra would be introduced in this “Captain America” movie two years ago, the prospect drew criticism from Palestinians and their supporters who argued that the comic book character, which dates back to 1980, unduly glorified Israel. The hashtag #CaptainApartheid began to appear on social media.“The bottom line is that to Palestinians, Marvel having an Israeli superhero whitewashes the occupation,” Sani Meo, publisher of This Week in Palestine, a magazine about Palestinian issues, said at the time.In the aftermath of Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack in southern Israel, and Israel’s war in Gaza, questions arose anew about how Marvel Studios, which is owned by Disney, would handle the character. Newsweek wrote in October that “Marvel’s Israeli Superhero Poses Huge Headache for Disney.”Just what kind of character Sabra will be in the film, which is set to be released in February, remains to be seen. More

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    Ingrid Andress Says She’ll Enter Rehab After National Anthem Flub

    Ingrid Andress, a country star, blamed drinking for her performance of “The Star-Spangled Banner” during Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game festivities.The country music star Ingrid Andress became one of many high-profile singers who have had trouble pulling off “The Star-Spangled Banner” when she sang it during Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game festivities before a capacity crowd at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, on Monday night.On Tuesday, after video clips of her pitch-challenged version were shared widely on social media for all the wrong reasons, Ms. Andress offered an explanation for the flub on her Instagram account.“I was drunk last night,” she wrote. “I’m checking myself into a facility today to get the help I need. That was not me last night. I apologize to MLB, all the fans, and this country I love so much for that rendition. I’ll let y’all know how rehab is! I hear it’s super fun.”Ms. Andress, 32, broke through to a wide audience in 2020 thanks largely to the ballad “More Hearts Than Mine” from her first album, “Lady Like.” Her debut also earned her nominations in best new artist categories from the Academy of Country Music Awards and the Grammys Awards. In 2021, Ms. Andress had a second hit, “Wishful Drinking,” a duet with Sam Hunt.Ms. Andress’s version of the national anthem, which was performed before M.L.B.’s annual Home Run Derby, generated a lot of chatter online on Monday, with many people on social media posting clips of the Philadelphia Phillies third baseman Alec Bohm, who was seen smirking as he was apparently trying to suppress a laugh while standing at attention among his fellow ballplayers on the field.She began the song with no instrumental backing and took it at an especially slow tempo. By the time she hit the phrase “through the perilous fight,” she seemed to be having trouble staying on pitch. Even so, the audience broke out into applause when she concluded the phrase “our flag was still there.”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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    Italian Pop Discoveries From My Vacation

    Hear songs from Angelina Mango, Patty Pravo and an unexpected hit by Conan Gray.Angelina Mango.Jessica Gow/EPA, via ShutterstockDear listeners,I’m back! Thank you to my editor, Caryn Ganz, for filling in for me for the past two weeks while I was on vacation visiting a friend in Italy. I was mostly in and around Florence, but I also made some excursions to Siena, Bologna and Rome. As relaxing as that sounds, know that my ears weren’t completely on vacation. As always, I was constantly discovering new music, and I’m going to share some of those finds with you in today’s playlist.I confess that, going into this trip, I didn’t know much about Italian pop music — minus Giorgio Moroder or the odd Italo disco track I’d downloaded over the years — and even after digging in a bit more deeply, I’m still far from an expert. But those circumstances sometimes make for the most honest and exciting discoveries. I don’t know which of the artists whose music I connected with are particularly “cool,” and I can’t quite trace all the cultural references that put them into a larger context. All I know is that something about each of these songs resonated with me when I heard them — and sometimes it really is that simple.What follows is a collection of nine songs that I encountered while browsing record stores, watching one of several music video channels that still exist on Italian TV, or sitting in a cafe and hearing something that piqued my curiosity enough to open up Shazam. It includes new artists like Italy’s most recent Eurovision representative Angelina Mango, national legends like Patty Pravo, and a three-song detour into the country’s ’80s new-wave underground. It also includes one recent American pop song that — I was surprised to learn — is unexpectedly big in Italy. Divertiti!Ciao,LindsayListen along while you read.1. Patty Pravo: “La Bambola”Patty Pravo was an unfamiliar name I kept seeing in used record store bins, and I’m glad I looked her up after I got home. Now 76, the Venice-born Pravo is a smoky-voiced chanteuse who has had a long and eclectic career. Her breakout hit “La Bambola” (“The Doll”) topped the Italian pop charts for nine weeks in 1968 and is still one of her signature songs.▶ Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTubeWe 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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    Jack Black Ends Tenacious D Tour After Bandmate Jokes About Trump Shooting

    At a concert in Australia, Kyle Gass made a comment suggesting that he wished the shooter had not missed former President Trump during an assassination attempt.Tenacious D, the American comedy-rock duo that includes the movie star Jack Black, announced on Tuesday that the remainder of its tour would be canceled and that all future plans were on pause after the band’s other member, Kyle Gass, made an offhand comment onstage about the assassination attempt on former President Donald J. Trump.A representative for the duo confirmed that Black had brought out a cake at the ICC Sydney Theater in Australia on Sunday to celebrate Gass’s 64th birthday. When Black asked Gass to “make a wish,” Gass responded, “Don’t miss Trump next time.” Videos of the moment were circulated widely online.In a statement posted to social media on Tuesday, Black, known for “School of Rock” and “King Kong,” said he “was blindsided by what was said at the show,” adding, “I would never condone hate speech or encourage political violence in any form.”“After much reflection,” he continued, “I no longer feel it is appropriate to continue the Tenacious D tour, and all future creative plans are on hold. I am grateful to the fans for their support and understanding.” In June, Black, 54, attended a star-studded fund-raiser for President Biden, at which he gave a speech in American flag-themed overalls.Gass posted an apology to social media on Tuesday morning, stating that “the line I improvised onstage Sunday night in Sydney was highly inappropriate, dangerous and a terrible mistake.”“I don’t condone violence of any kind, in any form, against anyone,” he wrote. “What happened was a tragedy, and I’m incredibly sorry for my severe lack of judgment. I profoundly apologize to those I’ve let down and truly regret any pain I’ve caused.”Michael Greene said on Tuesday that Greene Talent, Gass’s talent agency, had parted ways with him.Shortly before the announcement that the entire tour was canceled, the band, which has been active since 1994, postponed its Tuesday date in Broadmeadow, Australia.In the wake of Gass’s onstage remarks, Senator Ralph Babet of the center-right United Australia party called for the duo to be deported. In a lengthy statement posted online, he said, “Tenacious D should be immediately removed from the country after wishing for the assassination of Donald Trump at their Sydney concert.”During a rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday, a man fired shots toward the stage while the former president was speaking. One spectator was killed, and Trump was rushed off, blood visible around his right ear. The shooter was killed by the Secret Service, and his motive remains unclear.It is not the first time a celebrity has faced fallout from a joke about Trump. In May 2017, Kathy Griffin’s career was put on ice after she posed for a photograph holding a severed-head Halloween mask of Trump, who was then the president, doused in blood-like ketchup. More

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    Eric Garner’s Legacy is Honored by an Opera 10 Years After His Death

    “The Ritual of Breath Is the Rite to Resist,” part of Lincoln Center’s summer festival, aims to shine light on police violence in the United States.In the middle of “The Ritual of Breath Is the Rite to Resist,” an opera about the police killing of Eric Garner, a singer portraying his daughter reflects on his famous final words: “I can’t breathe.”“I can’t let go,” she sings. “I hear his words again and again. A scream in a dream that escapes as a gasp.”A decade after Garner’s death, “Ritual of Breath,” which comes to Lincoln Center’s summer festival on Friday, aims to shine light on Garner’s legacy and the broader problem of police violence in the United States.The opera, composed by Jonathan Berger to a libretto by the poet Vievee Francis, focuses on Garner’s daughter, Erica, as she grapples with the pain, guilt and anger she feels over her father’s death. But “Ritual of Breath” also spotlights the stories of other Black people killed by the police, and issues a spirited call for empathy and change from performers including a 90-member choir spread across the stage and in the audience.“It’s not enough to say that someone died on the street — to reduce them to a chalk outline,” Francis said. “If we don’t know who that was, if we don’t see them as human, no difference will be made. Art allows us to feel that life.”The creators of “Ritual of Breath,” which premiered in 2022 at Dartmouth College, hope the opera will bring fresh attention to social injustice in American society. Niegel Smith, the show’s director, quoted a line from the opera’s final scene in explaining its message: “When a brother’s breath fails, we pick it up. When a sister’s breath fails, we pick it up.”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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    Celebrating Film Nostalgia With Ooze and Ahhs at Blobfest

    In 1958, the sci-fi horror film “The Blob,” about a murderous, insatiable and ever-ballooning hunk of alien matter, opened in theaters across the United States. At the time, critics’ appetites for the movie were not as piqued as the onscreen monster’s.In a review for The New York Times, Howard Thompson wrote that “The Blob” was “woodenly presented,” and the “dialogue flattens as fast as the blob rounds.”Not even Steve McQueen in his first leading role could save the plot in Thompson’s eyes.But 66 years later, audiences are still hungry for more. The film became a cult classic, fitting snugly among other camp favorites like “Creature From the Black Lagoon” (1954) and “The Fly” (1958).And in Phoenixville, Pa., where much of the “The Blob” was shot, thousands of fans gathered at the 25th annual Blobfest over the weekend to celebrate with ooze and ahhs.A fire extinguisher parade kicked off the Blobfest celebration.Kat Graves, 22, dressed as Carrie (from the movie of the same name), won first place in the 18 and over category in the costume contest at Blobfest on Saturday.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