Aurelia Butler

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    Elaine May Makes a Rare Appearance to Talk About ‘Mikey and Nicky’

    At a screening of the gangster tale starring Peter Falk and John Cassavetes, the director recalls her battle with Paramount to get the film released.At Metrograph theater on Friday, a crowd of around 175 people was treated to the cinephile’s equivalent of a Bigfoot sighting on the Lower East Side: A rare public appearance by the 92-year-old writer, director and actress Elaine May.May chooses her creative projects sparingly — she won a Tony in 2019 for her last major acting role, in “The Waverly Gallery” — and almost never sits for interviews. But her friend and longtime collaborator Phillip Schopper convinced her that it was a worthwhile occasion: A screening, hosted by the American Cinema Editors society, of the director’s cut of her storied 1976 gangster flick, “Mikey and Nicky,” followed by a craft-oriented discussion with Schopper and an assistant editor on the film, Jeffrey Wolf. “Ask me anything,” May said to them at the start of a lively 40-minute discussion — a tantalizing prospect coming from such an elusive figure.May’s directorial career started out with a hit: Her riotous 1971 comedy “A New Leaf,” which was released a decade after the dissolution of her era-defining professional partnership with Mike Nichols.But in 1973, as she began shooting “Mikey and Nicky” — a bleakly funny tale of wounded masculinity and betrayal, starring John Cassavetes and Peter Falk — she and the executives at Paramount started butting heads. In part because she needed to work around Falk’s busy “Columbo” schedule, production went late and over budget. When May did not deliver a cut of the film by the contractual deadline, and several reels of the film mysteriously disappeared, Paramount sued her. Litigation stretched on for nearly year, until, in May’s telling on Friday, studio executives “got really nervous that I would be jailed.” She heard one of the higher-ups reason, “Do we really want to be the only studio that has ever jailed a director for going over budget?”In the end, as May recalled, they reached a compromise: “They actually gave me the movie back because they didn’t want to promote it, because they thought it would be such a flop.” Paramount buried it with an extremely limited release over Christmas 1976. Critics largely spurned it — in The Times, Vincent Canby wrote of May that “it took guts for her to attempt a film like this, but she failed” — and audiences who associated May’s name with zany comedy were put off by the film’s dark tone.In recent years, though, “Mikey and Nicky” has been the subject of a reappraisal and has finally found an audience, thanks in part to a 4K restoration of the director’s cut that was supervised by Schopper and released by Criterion in 2019. May’s directorial reputation, too, has been on the rise over the past decade. To a younger generation of cinephiles that does not remember the press’s frenzied fascination with the Paramount lawsuit or the production travails of her fourth and final film, “Ishtar,” May is now appreciated as a maverick filmmaker who challenged the studio’s whims and worked on her own terms. The audience that had sold out the Metrograph screening in mere minutes was noticeably reverent and intergenerational.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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    Golden Globes Snubs and Surprises: Jon M. Chu, Danielle Deadwyler, ‘The Substance’ and More

    Female directors were well-represented, while “Dune: Part Two” and “Sing Sing” didn’t do as well as expected.The 82nd Golden Globes nominations were announced Monday morning and the unconventional musical “Emilia Pérez” had plenty to sing about: The Netflix film topped all movies with 10 nominations, followed by “The Brutalist” and “Conclave.” Here are some of the most notable takeaways from this year’s field.Ryan Reynolds rebuffedRyan Reynolds wasn’t nominated for “Deadpool & Wolverine.”20th Century Studios/MarvelBefore a series of recent scandals prompted the Golden Globes to diversify its voting membership, you could count on this show to favor celebrity over critical consensus: Every year, the list of nominees included A-list megastars who were recognized even when their projects were not up to par. The old Globes voters, for instance, would have been eager to nominate the “Deadpool & Wolverine” star Ryan Reynolds for best actor in a comedy or musical, if only to lure Reynolds and his wife, Blake Lively, to their red carpet. The new Globes voters proved more resistant to his charms, though they did find room for the Marvel blockbuster in their dubious box-office achievement category, added last year.A ‘Sing Sing’ setbackClarence Maclin, left, and Colman Domingo in “Sing Sing.”A24Just last week, the A24 prison drama “Sing Sing” had a strong night at the Gothams, picking up wins for lead performance (Colman Domingo) and supporting performance (Clarence Maclin). The Globes proved less enamored: Only Domingo scored a nomination, and both Maclin and the film were snubbed. After an acclaimed but quiet run in theaters earlier this summer, the “Sing Sing” awards-season relaunch just took its first notable hit.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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    Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour Made a Record $2 Billion of Ticket Sales

    Over 21 months, the pop superstar’s culture-dominating stage show doubled the gross of its closest competitor, according to ticket sales figures confirmed for the first time.For the last 21 months, Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour has been the biggest thing in music — a phenomenon that has engulfed pop culture, dominated news coverage and boosted local economies around the world.Now we know exactly how big.Through its 149th and final show, which took place in Vancouver, British Columbia, on Sunday, Swift’s tour sold a total of $2,077,618,725 in tickets. That’s two billion and change — double the gross ticket sales of any other concert tour in history and an extraordinary new benchmark for a white-hot international concert business.Those figures were confirmed to The New York Times for the first time by Taylor Swift Touring, the singer’s production company. While the financial details of the Eras Tour have been a subject of constant industry speculation since tickets were first offered more than two years ago — through a presale so in-demand it crashed Ticketmaster’s system — Swift has never authorized disclosure of the tour’s numbers until now.The official results are not far from the estimates that trade journalists and industry analysts have been crunching for months. But they solidify the enormous scale of Swift’s accomplishment. Just a few months ago, Billboard magazine reported that Coldplay had set an industry record with $1 billion in ticket sales for its 156-date Music of the Spheres World Tour — a figure that is just half of Swift’s total for a similar stretch of shows in stadiums and arenas.Every date on the Eras Tour was sold out, and spare tickets were scalped at eye-popping prices — or traded within the protective Swiftie fan community, often at face value.According to Swift’s touring company, a total of 10,168,008 people attended the concerts, which means that, on average, each seat went for about $204. That is well above the industry average of $131 for the top 100 tours around the world in 2023, according to Pollstar, a trade publication.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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    Best Songs of 2024

    Listen to 68 tracks that made major statements, boosted big beefs, propelled up-and-comers and soundtracked the party this year.Jon Pareles | Jon Caramanica | Lindsay ZoladzJon ParelesA Little Strife, a Lot of RhythmHere’s a dipperful of worthwhile tracks from the ocean of music released this year. The top of my list is big-statement songs, ones that had repercussions beyond how they sound. Below those, it’s not a ranking but a playlist, a more-or-less guided cruise through what 2024 sounded like for one avid listener. I didn’t include any songs from my list of top albums, which are worth hearing from start to finish. But in the multiverse of streaming music, there are plenty of other possibilities.1. Kendrick Lamar, ‘Not Like Us’Belligerent, accusatory and as tribalistic as its title, “Not Like Us” wasn’t an attack ad from the 2024 election. It was the coup de gras of Kendrick Lamar’s beef with Drake, a rapid-fire, sneering assault on multiple fronts. Its spirit dovetailed with a bitterly contentious 2024.2. Beyoncé, ‘Texas Hold ’Em’“Texas Hold ’Em” isn’t just an invocation of Beyoncé’s home state. It’s a toe-tapping taunt at the racial and musical assumptions behind country music as defined by record labels and radio stations. Rhiannon Giddens picks an oh-so-traditional claw-hammer banjo intro and Beyoncé — raised in Texas — promises “a real-life boogie and a real-life hoedown,” singing about drinking and dancing and daring gatekeepers to hold her back.3. Sabrina Carpenter, ‘Please Please Please’Sabrina Carpenter delivers a sharp message on the slick “Please Please Please.”Nina Westervelt for The New York TimesComedy is tricky in a straight-faced song, but Sabrina Carpenter’s eye-roll comes clearly through the shiny pop of “Please Please Please.” The singer tries to placate and possibly tame a boyfriend who sounds more obnoxious in every verse. “I beg you, don’t embarrass me,” she coos; eventually she reaches a breaking point.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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    Minnesota Vikings Celebration Dance Pays Homage to ‘White Chicks’

    Not everyone loved the 2004 film “White Chicks.” But 20 years later, some N.F.L. players are paying homage to it in the end zone.If you don’t remember, “White Chicks” was a 2004 comedy in which the Black actors Marlon and Shawn Wayans donned heavy makeup to disguise themselves as white women.Its rating on the movie review site Rotten Tomatoes is 15 percent. Not good. Not even meh. The New York Times review of the film suggested viewers might want to prepare for it with “a full frontal lobotomy.”Yet somehow, 20 years later, “White Chicks” is still hanging around. An essay in The New York Times this past summer suggested that time had been kind to the film, hailing it as “a culturally, racially and sexually savvy tale” whose “spiky critique of white privilege has revealed itself to be far more incisive than its lowbrow humor would indicate.”On Sunday, the comedy somehow became a part of a National Football League game.After an interception by the Minnesota Vikings against the Atlanta Falcons, two players, Josh Metellus and Camryn Bynum, performed a celebratory dance. Aficionados of decades-old gender and race bending comedies recognized it as the one performed by the Wayans brothers at a dance-off in “White Chicks.”Perhaps inspired by the innovative dance, the Vikings won the game, 42-21. Bynum was proud of the celebration, posting on Instagram: “Best celly’s in the league.”In 2017 the N.F.L., which had once been so strict that it became known to fans and the news media as the “No Fun League,” relaxed its rules by allowing more elaborate celebrations. Since then players have become increasingly creative.Earlier this season, the same two Vikings performed a dance from the 1998 remake of “The Parent Trap,” starring Lindsay Lohan, in which a simple handshake turns into an elaborately choreographed routine. More

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    Steve Mensch, President of Tyler Perry Studios, Dies at 62

    Mr. Mensch, a longtime supporter of the film industry in Georgia, died in a plane crash on Friday in Florida, according to officials.Steve Mensch, a film executive in Georgia who pushed for state policies to support the industry and who was the president of Tyler Perry Studios, died in a plane crash in Florida on Friday. He was 62.Mr. Mensch was the sole occupant of a small-engine fixed-wing aircraft that crashed on Highway 19 in Homosassa, Fla., just after 8 p.m. on Friday, according to the Citrus County Sheriff’s Office. The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the crash.Mr. Mensch worked at Tyler Perry Studios for more than eight years, managing the 330-acre studio in Atlanta that was once home to Fort McPherson, a U.S. military base that closed in 2011, according to the company.Mr. Perry, the actor and entertainment mogul whose movies and television shows often depict the lives of Black Americans, bought the decommissioned base for $30 million in 2015.The lot has been a host to many of Mr. Perry’s projects, like “Boo! A Medea Halloween,” featuring Mr. Perry in his comedic role. Since his breakout role as Madea, Mr. Perry has appeared in nearly 50 shows and movies, including “Don’t Look Up” and “Gone Girl” and has over 70 producer credits, according to IMDb.Other shows and films have been shot at his studio, including “Pitch Perfect 3,” “The Walking Dead” and “Black Panther.”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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    Angela Alvarez, Great-Grandmother Who Won a Latin Grammy, Dies at 97

    Her only album made her a media star after she had raised four children and worked as a house cleaner — proving, she said, that “it’s never too late.”Angela Alvarez, a Cuban-born singer and songwriter who, at age 95, became the oldest performer to win the Latin Grammy Award for best new artist, died on Friday in Baton Rouge, La., where she had settled after immigrating to the United States in the early 1960s. She was 97.Her death was confirmed by her grandson Carlos Jose Alvarez. Mr. Alvarez, a film composer, produced his grandmother’s first and only album, “Angela Alvarez,” released in 2021. Its 15 tracks echo the sounds of a Havana nightclub in the 1930s or ’40s — a jazzy fusion of Caribbean, African and European rhythms.Sitting with her grandson at the Latin Grammy Awards ceremony in 2022, Mrs. Alvarez was stunned when she heard her name. (The vote was actually a tie: She shared the award with the Mexican singer and songwriter Silvana Estrada, 70 years her junior.)“I looked at him, and I said, ‘Carlos, that’s me!’” she told the Baton Rouge lifestyle magazine inRegister. “I couldn’t believe it.”She became a media star, with English- and Spanish-language publications chronicling her long and improbable journey to the awards stage after raising four children and working as a house cleaner.“Although life is difficult, there is always a way out, and with faith and love you can achieve it, I promise you,” Mrs. Alvarez said as she accepted the award. “It’s never too late.”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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    How I Aged Into the Bad Christmas Movie

    When I first discovered the existence of made-for-television Christmas movies, maybe 15 years ago, they struck me as sentimental and anti-feminist. Also, they seemed to be made for older people. The leads were always floundering in midlife until their romantic and professional lives were reformed through the magic of Christmas. Then, one December morning, I awoke to find that I had transformed into the target demographic. I am older now, and the movies are made just for me.The crop of Christmas movies released this year — broadcast most prominently on the Hallmark Channel, though increasingly rivaled by Netflix’s holiday machine — are sprinkled with millennial bait. They feature weathered stars from nostalgic childhood properties and crib plots and vibes from touchstone films. They have anticipated my critiques, modulating the melodrama with self-conscious winks and dialing up the sexual innuendo.Romantic comedies are about one party lowering her defenses and another raising his game until they finally meet on level ground. That’s what’s happened here: The bad Christmas movies grew more cynical, and I grew softer. As I neared the end of “Our Little Secret,” a Netflix Christmas movie starring Lindsay Lohan, I actually cried.Lindsay Lohan, star of “The Parent Trap” and “Mean Girls,” is now building a midlife holiday empire at Netflix, including “Our Little Secret.” Chuck Zlotnick/NetflixWhat’s happening to me? In recent years, my feelings about work, romantic love, big city living, small town charm and secular holiday cheer have not appreciably changed. It’s my relationship to rote sentimentality that has shifted. Recently I have felt so pummeled by stress and responsibility that I have found it difficult to turn on a compelling new television show at the end of the day. I have no extra energy to expend familiarizing myself with unknown characters, deciphering twists or even absorbing scenes of visual interest.What I’ve been looking for, instead, is a totally uncompelling new television show — one that expects nothing from me, and that gives me little in return. The bad Christmas movie’s beats are so consistent, its twists so predictable, its actors and props so loyally reused, it’s easy to relax drowsily into its rhythms. The genre is formulaic, which makes for a kind of tradition. Now it plays through the winter like a crackling fireplace in my living room.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