Aurelia Butler

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    Watch Mike Faist and Josh O’Connor Spar Over Churros in ‘Challengers’

    The director Luca Guadagnino narrates a tense scene between the two characters.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.Churros have never tasted more bitter than in this scene from “Challengers.”In this sequence, which takes place at Stanford, the character Art (Mike Faist), who is attending the university, reconnects with his dear friend Patrick (Josh O’Connor), who has left education to become a tennis pro. Not present in the scene, yet hanging over it, is Tashi (Zendaya), the woman at the center of their complicated triangle.At this moment, Tashi is dating Patrick, but in this scene, Art is trying to throw a wrench into the relationship. The sequence takes place at the university canteen where the two are chatting over churros. Narrating the sequence, the director Luca Guadagnino said that what is playing out is “a game of rivalry sparkling between these two young boys over Tashi, but at the same time, a jealousy that ignites the relationship also because, probably, these two guys are also jealous of one another.”That tension is played out in the way that Guadagnino shoots the sequence, holding on a long two-shot as the friends discuss Tashi, then cutting when Patrick realizes the game of manipulation that Art is playing.“The main guideline in thinking of this movie and the mise en scène was the classic old Hollywood screwball comedy kind of grammar,” Guadagnino said. “Those great movies were all using, in a beautiful way, the stillness of framing to let the performance breathe in all its ambiguities, in all its unspoken conflicts.”Read the “Challengers” review.Read an interview with the stars of the film.Sign up for the Movies Update newsletter and get a roundup of reviews, news, Critics’ Picks and more. More

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    ‘Uncropped’ Documentary Celebrates James Hamilton’s Photos

    A documentary celebrates the work of the revered photographer James Hamilton.A photograph is a record of the past from the moment the shutter snaps, which lends the medium a bit of wistfulness. That emotion also permeates “Uncropped” (in theaters), D.W. Young’s documentary about the eminent photographer James Hamilton. It’s not a biographical movie, at least not in the usual sense, though Young keeps the filmmaking stripped-down and simple. For the most part, “Uncropped” involves conversations between Hamilton and various friends, mostly around tables in his apartment and others’. Journalists, photographers and the odd celebrity or two (Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth, the director Wes Anderson) discuss Hamilton’s work and recount the old days. Interspersed with the conversations are shots of Hamilton’s photos, often breathtaking images that make you want to pause the movie and just look.That is, of course, the point. Hamilton’s photos appeared everywhere, though he’s best known for his work as a photographer at The Village Voice from 1974 to 1993. His style is distinctive: sharp contrasts, bright highlights, often a telling or humorous detail lurking in the shot that you don’t see for a few seconds. He photographed celebrities and prisoners, rockers and critics and, eventually, wars and film productions. He has always processed his own negatives, providing options to magazines, and editors know better than to crop the photos; Hamilton’s eye for composition is unparalleled. It’s an immense body of work that never stops being interesting to look at.Admiring his photographs could, of course, be accomplished in an exhibition or book (and there is one monograph, “You Should Have Heard Just What I Seen,” edited by Moore and accompanied by a show in 2010). But what makes “Uncropped” so great — and so memorable — is the way a chronicle of New York City’s art and media scenes from the 1960s forward emerges from the conversations. Discussions about collaborations between writers and photographers and editors reveal a different media world, one in which you sometimes got the chance to do something wild and daring and great, and do it even though everyone thought you were ridiculous for trying.It was a time of experimentation and feisty editorial staffs, a time before algorithms took over the way we consumed news and culture. It wasn’t perfect; the budgets weren’t always great; nobody got everything right. But it’s an era that’s gone, and one worth mourning. Golden ages are generally mythical, but it’s hard to say we’re better off now — and “Uncropped” makes an excellent case for what we lost. More

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    ‘The Royal Hotel,’ ‘Zola’ and More Streaming Gems

    Female-centered buddy comedies, rom-coms and Outback thrillers are among the under-the-radar recommendations for your subscription streamers this month.‘The Royal Hotel’ (2023)Stream it on Hulu.Kitty Green’s follow-up to the taut drama “The Assistant” is a feminist riff on the ’70s classic “Wake in Fright,” in which two Canadian tourists who have run out of money in Australia take on a gig as bartenders at a grimy watering hole in the middle of nowhere. “It’s a large mining area,” they’re told, so “you’re going to have to be OK with a little male attention.” For 90 tightly-wound minutes, Green mixes bleary naturalism and baked-in dread, as these modern women are exposed to the handsy, winking Neanderthal clientele, and the bar turns into a ticking time bomb. Julia Garner and Jessica Henwick are empathetic in the leads, while Daniel Henshall is all quiet menace as the establishment’s most boorish regular.‘When You Finish Saving the World’ (2023)Stream it on Netflix.Finn Wolfhard and Julianne Moore in “When You Finish Saving the World.”Karen Kuehn/A24The actor-turned-filmmaker Jesse Eisenberg recently received raves (and an Oscar-friendly fall release date) for his sophomore feature “A Real Pain,” so it’s a fine opportunity to check out his debut film. The “Stranger Things” star Finn Wolfhard is terrific (in, essentially, the Eisenberg role) as a self-important teenage singer-songwriter who tries to get political to impress a girl. Julianne Moore is his mother, a humorless scold whose coldness and impatience are seemingly understandable, as her son is such an insufferable boor. But the more Eisenberg mines the complexity of this toxic relationship, the more we understand and even sympathize with these two difficult people, and lock in on Eisenberg’s exploration of the moral stickiness of trying to do good in a narcissistic world.‘Plan B’ (2020)Stream it on Hulu.From left, Victoria Moroles and Kuhoo Verma in “Plan B.”Brett Roedel/HuluWe 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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    Mike Pinder, Founding Keyboardist of the Moody Blues, Dies at 82

    His expertise on the electromechanical Mellotron helped define the band’s progressive sound in the 1960s and ’70s on albums like “Days of Future Passed.”Mike Pinder, the last surviving founding member of the Moody Blues, whose innovative use of the Mellotron — a predecessor of the sampler — helped make the band a pioneer of progressive rock, died on Wednesday at his home in the Sacramento area. He was 82.His son Dan confirmed the death. He said that his father had breathing difficulties and had been in hospice care for a few days.The Moody Blues were formed in 1964, with a lineup of Mr. Pinder on keyboards, Denny Laine on guitar, Graeme Edge on drums, Ray Thomas on flute and Clint Warwick on bass. The group’s “Go Now!,” sung by Mr. Laine, rose to No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100.The Moody Blues at the house they shared in South London in 1965. From left: Ray Thomas, Denny Laine, Graeme Edge, Clint Warwick and Mr. Pinder.Chris Ware/Keystone Features, via Getty ImagesMr. Laine and Mr. Warwick left after the release of the band’s first album, “The Magnificent Moodies” (1965), and were replaced by Justin Hayward and John Lodge. The change in personnel set the stage for a change in direction: from R&B-tinged rock to the psychedelic, orchestral sound that the Moody Blues vividly showcased on their breakthrough 1967 album, “Days of Future Passed.”Mr. Pinder had worked as a tester in the Mellotron factory in Birmingham, England, before the Moody Blues formed. Playing the company’s Mark II model for the first time was “my first ‘man on the moon’ event,” he told the British music website Brumbeat.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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    The Harvey Weinstein Appeal Ruling: Annotated and Explained

    The 2020 conviction of Harvey Weinstein on felony sex crime charges in Manhattan was overturned on Thursday by New York’s top court. The ruling by the New York Court of Appeals said the trial judge in Mr. Weinstein’s case, Justice James M. Burke, erred in letting prosecutors call some women as witnesses who said Mr. […] More

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    Michael Cuscuna, Who Unearthed Hidden Jazz Gems, Dies at 75

    Possibly the most prolific archival record producer in history, he was a founder of the Mosaic label, which became the gold standard of jazz reissues.Michael Cuscuna, who brought an artist’s level of devotion and a scientist’s attention to detail to the work of exhuming and producing archival jazz recordings — work that vastly expanded access to the buried treasures of American music’s past — died on Saturday at his home in Stamford, Conn. He was 75.The singer and songwriter Billy Vera, a friend of more than 60 years, said the cause was complications of esophageal cancer.Mr. Cuscuna may have been the most prolific archival record producer in history. Starting in an era when midcentury jazz experienced a resurgence of interest, his name showed up in the fine print on over 2,600 albums, most of them reissues, many of which included his painstaking liner notes.The Mosaic label, which he founded with the music-business veteran Charlie Lourie 41 years ago, has become the gold standard of archival jazz releases. Its first issue was an exhaustive boxed set of old material that Mr. Cuscuna had found in the vaults of the famed Blue Note label.Soon after that, he helped to revive Blue Note, which had been dormant for years. Working with Bruce Lundvall, who became Blue Note’s president in 1984, Mr. Cuscuna took charge of the label’s back catalog. He released unissued gold by John Coltrane, Art Blakey and numerous others, ultimately combing through the entire catalog and putting out virtually every lost track that seemed fit to be heard.Mr. Cuscuna in the 1970s with Bruce Lundvall, center, who was the president of CBS Records at the time, and the saxophonist Dexter Gordon. When Mr. Lundvall took over the venerable jazz label Blue Note, Mr. Cuscuna took charge of its back catalog.via Cuscuna familyWe 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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    Popcast (Deluxe): Taylor Swift’s ‘Tortured’ Era

    Subscribe to Popcast!Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | YouTubeThis week’s episode of Popcast (Deluxe), the weekly culture roundup show on YouTube hosted by Jon Caramanica and Joe Coscarelli, includes segments on:The new Taylor Swift album, “The Tortured Poets Department,” and Swift’s “imperial era”How the album addresses her rumored relationship with Matty Healy of the 1975A possible face-off between this album and Beyoncé’s “Cowboy Carter” at next year’s GrammysThe Tortured Poets Department” as a detailed recitation of Swift’s life over the past two yearsThe production choices of Jack Antonoff and Aaron DessnerHow the album alludes to the work of the 1975 and HealySwift’s resentfulness streakSongs of the week from Drake featuring A.I. versions of “Tupac” and “Snoop Dogg,” plus Mozzy and Odetari featuring Ayesha EroticaSnack of the weekConnect With Popcast. Become a part of the Popcast community: Join the show’s Facebook group and Discord channel. We want to hear from you! Tune in, and tell us what you think at popcast@nytimes.com. Follow our host, Jon Caramanica, on Twitter: @joncaramanica. More