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      Timeline: How ‘Furiosa’ Fits into the ‘Mad Max’ Series

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      “Furiosa” is a prequel that intersects with the earlier movies in surprising ways. Here’s a chronology, plus our ideal order for watching the whole series.“Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” is roaring into theaters, widely advertised as a prequel to the director George Miller’s 2015 hit, “Mad Max: Fury Road.” But that was the fourth film in a series that, until now, was chronological, so where does “Furiosa” fit in? How else do these movies intersect, with the numerous cast changes and recalibrations in the 45 years since the inaugural entry? Whether you’re approaching the franchise as a novice or looking for a quick refresher, here’s how it all fits together:The Films(All the older films are available for streaming on Max or for rental on most major platforms. “Furiosa” is in theaters.)“MAD MAX” (1979) Miller began his saga with this low-budget Ozploitation hit, which is not yet in the series’s signature style of postapocalyptic action extravaganzas — it’s more indebted to the exploitation cinema standbys of revenge thriller, ’70s car movie and ’60s biker flick. A then-unknown Mel Gibson stars as “Mad” Max Rockatansky, an Australian supercop with the Main Force Patrol. The world of “Mad Max” is in disarray, primarily because of oil shortages, but it’s not yet the wasteland of the later pictures; Max lives a life of relative normalcy, with a doting wife and child, though a roving gang of biker thugs escalates into the murder of Max’s family, turning him into a lone-wolf vigilante.In the first “Mad Max,” Mel Gibson played a relatively normal guy with a family.Film Forum/MGM“MAD MAX 2” (1981) Released in 1982 in the United States as “The Road Warrior” (the earlier film hadn’t made much of an impression here), the first sequel finds Max roaming an Outback that has further descended into lawlessness. He is only looking out for himself, seeking food and petrol to keep moving, but he stumbles on a commune of survivors hiding out in an oil refinery, and helps protect them from violent marauders. This is what we think of when we think of a “Mad Max” movie: a barren landscape, Frankenstein-ed vehicles, improvised weapons, gnarly deaths and a thrilling road-race set piece that takes up most of the third act.“MAD MAX BEYOND THUNDERDOME” (1985) Max lands in Bartertown, a trading post for necessities like oil and water. Entertainment is provided by fights to the death in the Thunderdome. (“Two men enter, one man leaves.”) He later falls in with children orphaned in an airplane crash, whom he reluctantly aids. This is the only PG-13 entry in the otherwise R-rated series, and worse for it (Mad Max is essentially turned into Peter Pan). Given the budget and resources of a major studio, though, Miller experiments with the scale and scope necessary for his next entry.“MAD MAX: FURY ROAD” (2015) After a 30-year hiatus, Miller returned to the series with this blistering bruiser, which plunges Max (now played by Tom Hardy) into the Citadel, controlled by the evil warlord Immortan Joe. One of his lieutenants, Imperator Furiosa (Charlize Theron), sabotages a routine run for petrol and ammunition by smuggling out Joe’s five wives, promising to take them to the idyllic Green Place of her childhood. Max (as usual, reluctantly) assists, and when they discover the Green Place is no more, the group turns back to take down Immortan Joe and take over the Citadel.“FURIOSA: A MAD MAX SAGA” (2024) In “Fury Road,” Furiosa told of how she was taken from the Green Place and her mother, trying to rescue her, was killed. “Furiosa” relates that story in detail, as young Furiosa (played first by Alyla Browne, then Anya Taylor-Joy) was kidnapped by the gang of the Warlord Dementus (Chris Hemsworth) and made to watch her mother’s murder; he subsequently trades Furiosa to Immortan Joe as part of a deal for control of Gastown, and she learns how to be a road warrior so that she can exact her revenge against Dementus.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 Best Films of 2024, So Far

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      Our critics pick nine films that they think are worth your time on this long holiday weekend.Looking for a good movie to pass the time this Memorial Day weekend? The New York Times’s chief film critic, Manohla Dargis, and movie critic, Alissa Wilkinson, have you covered. Here are their top picks for the year so far. All are in theaters or available on demand.‘Hit Man’In theaters; June 7 on Netflix.The story: Glen Powell is a philosophy professor who moonlights for the police in New Orleans when he finds himself undercover posing as a hit man in this Richard Linklater movie. An encounter with Madison (Adria Arjona), a housewife looking to hire him, raises the stakes, comedically and romantically.Alissa Wilkinson’s take: “If I see a movie more delightful than “Hit Man” this year, I’ll be surprised. It’s the kind of romp people are talking about when they say that “they don’t make them like they used to”: It’s romantic, sexy, hilarious, satisfying and a genuine star-clinching turn for Glen Powell, who’s been having a moment for about two years now.” Read the review.‘Civil War’In theaters.Kirsten Dunst plays a war photographer in Alex Garland’s “Civil War.” A24, via Associated PressWe 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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      An Extraordinary Documentary About the Most Precious of Lives

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      Margreth Olin’s “Songs of Earth” works almost like a poem as she records her parents and the Norwegian landscape.It’s rare to see a film that feels not just poetic in nature, but like actual poetry. The rhythm and cadence, the imagery and metaphor, even the sense of movement and time that often accompany a great poem don’t translate easily to the screen. Filmmakers need a light touch and trust in the viewer to lean in and let their work wash over them, rather than trying to decode everything.Margreth Olin somehow pulled it off — and in a documentary, no less. Her “Songs of Earth” (in theaters) is tough to categorize as anything other than poetry, though there are elements of nature photography and personal narrative woven throughout.At the center of “Songs of Earth” are the relationship between Olin’s parents, Jorgen and Magnhild Mykloen, as they age, and the spectacular landscapes of her native Norway. The film moves through a cycle of seasons, during which the terrain changes from green to brown to white and back again. At the center of that terrain is Olin’s 84-year-old father, who returns repeatedly to the Oldedalen valley, in the western part of the country.Olin’s father tells her stories of his life and their ancestors. She learns about tragedies, about surgery he underwent when he was young, about the way the world has shaped him and his life. Both of her parents — who have been married for 55 years — talk about their relationship and what the future may hold for them, with grief inevitably on the horizon.The gentle stories are marked by periods of silence that are never silent: The earth produces its own noises of ripples and blusters and crackling, melting ice, sometimes harmonizing with a gorgeous score by Rebekka Karijord. It’s really quite an experience to watch, and what might tie it all together is Olin’s decision to film her father’s skin at very close range. There’s a point being made there: His wrinkles and crevasses echo the landscape, which has also been shaped by time and forces of nature. In the span of the earth’s life, an individual human’s time is minuscule, yet precious — we are the planet in microcosm.It’s an altogether extraordinary film, one I’ve thought about often since I first saw it, and I’m delighted that it’s playing in theaters — the immersive nature of the sounds, music and landscapes are worth experiencing with the full concentration a cinema affords. But even if you can’t see it that way, it’s worth watching whenever it’s available digitally. Just make sure you close the door, dim the lights and give yourself the gift of being immersed in it fully.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 Beach Boys’ Review: How to Make Good Vibrations

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      This Disney documentary looks at the family ties and sweet harmonies that turned a California band into a popular treasure.The wholesome ocean-breeze look of the Beach Boys could make the group a punchline if it weren’t for their sweet sunshine sound. The origins of their intricate harmonies undergird “The Beach Boys,” a Disney documentary directed by Frank Marshall and Thom Zimny that notes obstacles in the band’s career but mostly tries to keep the good vibrations going.Brian, Dennis and Carl Wilson grew up in a musical household in Hawthorne, Calif., and eventually pooled their ample talents with a cousin, Mike Love, and a friend, Al Jardine. As told through a patchwork of polite interviews and mostly mundane clips from performances, the rise of their music was fueled by four-part harmonies, surf culture and entrancing orchestration not unlike Phil Spector’s Wall of Sound.Brian, who hated touring, was the band’s homebody musical mastermind, and he could imbue their pop with an outsider’s moods, while the Wilsons’ father, Murry, put on the pressure as their manager. Snippets from “Pet Sounds,” their landmark 1966 album, never fail to rejuvenate the movie. But after a while, you get the sense of a band that stopped growing, though the movie traces a fruitful competitive streak with the Beatles.Any deviations from the film’s obligatory timeline tour are very welcome, like a mortifying studio recording of Murry holding forth, and it’s a treat to hear the esteem for Brian among the Wrecking Crew, the storied group of session musicians. And for the pop romantics among us, the Beach Boys can still cast a spell with those four little words: Wouldn’t it be nice?The Beach BoysRated PG-13 for drug material and brief lapses into unsunny language. Running time: 1 hour 53 minutes. Watch on Disney+. More

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      Maria Bellow and Dominique Crenn Celebrate Their Union in Mexico

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      The actress Maria Bello and the Michelin-starred chef Dominique Crenn said they owe their journey to the “three C’s”: cancer, Covid and, now, commitment.Dominique Isabel Pascale Crenn receives countless DMs on Instagram from people trying to get a table at her San Francisco restaurant, Atelier Crenn. She doesn’t usually respond.But when Maria Elaina Bello sent her a DM in April 2018, the message resonated with her.Lorraine Silvera, a friend of Ms. Bello’s and a fellow food lover, had seen Ms. Crenn on the Netflix documentary series “Chef’s Table.” Ms. Silvera and Ms. Bello were flying to San Francisco from Los Angeles for dinner at Atelier Crenn, but reservations were fully booked.Ms. Bello, 57, sent a message to Ms. Crenn, 59, on Instagram: “My friend Lolo who started the first Italian restaurant in Cap-Haïtien, Haiti, is coming to visit next week and wants nothing more than to eat your divine food. We will fly from L.A. Thursday if it’s possible to get into the restaurant.”As it happened, Ms. Crenn had been to Haiti the year before with her friend Michelle Jean, who is Haitian, to help farmers who had been affected by Hurricane Matthew, which devastated the country in October 2016. Their efforts to rebuild infrastructure included planting trees for coffee and cacao farmers. Ms. Crenn felt compelled to respond to Ms. Bello, and she made space at the restaurant for her and her friend.“It was the most amazing food I ever had,” Ms. Bello said. “She was so kind, we knew that night we’d be friends forever. But I wasn’t in a dating place. She wasn’t in a dating place.”Ms. Crenn said she immediately felt safe around Ms. Bello, and that Ms. Bello gave her a hug that made her feel at peace. “Especially in my industry sometimes, so many people come to the restaurant and everybody wants to be your friend,” Ms. Crenn said.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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      Did Cate Blanchett Make a Pro-Palestinian Fashion Statement at Cannes?

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      The actress hasn’t said so, but some internet users think she did. Plus, a bleak week for small fashion brands and wedding dresses for fashion-forward brides.Since the start of the Israel-Hamas war, followers of events known for being fashion spectacles — the Oscars, the Met Gala, Eurovision — have watched them become venues for making sartorial as well as political statements about the conflict.The Cannes Festival in France has not been immune to this trend. Several attendees have used the red carpet on the Croisette to show their support for Israelis or Palestinians during the film festival, with some wearing sashes saying “bring them home,” referring to Israeli hostages taken by Hamas, and others wearing red pins calling for a cease-fire in Gaza.Off the carpet, the model Bella Hadid ate ice cream near the beach in Cannes wearing a dress made of the material used for kaffiyehs, the scarves long seen as a symbol of Palestinians solidarity and identity.But those obvious displays have not generated as much buzz as the dress that the actress Cate Blanchett wore on Monday to the premiere of “The Apprentice,” a docudrama about the early life of former President Donald J. Trump.At first glance the gown — a piece from the designer Haider Ackermann’s one-off spring 2023 couture collection for Jean Paul Gaultier — looked like a simple black dress worn with a pearl necklace across the length of Ms. Blanchett’s bare shoulders.But as she began to walk the carpet, flashes of other colors emerged: The back of the dress was a pink so pale that it appeared white, and the gown had an emerald green interior lining that Ms. Blanchett repeatedly revealed by lifting its train. The dress had been significantly altered since it appeared on the runway, where it had a knee-length hemline, a lime-green back and a lavender lining.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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      ‘Solo’ Review: Listen to Your Heart

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      Sophie Dupuis’s sensitive French Canadian drama takes a turn when a young, starry-eyed drag queen (Théodore Pellerin) opens up to questionable figures.The glittering “Solo” centers on Simon (Théodore Pellerin), a charming 20-something making a name for himself as a drag queen in Montreal. Simon’s life is glamorous and filled with loving support from the other performers who work at his nightclub; and from his family, particularly his older sister, Maude (Alice Moreault), his confidante and a costume designer who makes dresses for Simon’s drag alter ego, the blonde bombshell Glory Gore.The third collaboration between Pellerin and the writer-director Sophie Dupuis (“Family First”), the film takes a turn from its blissful beginnings when Simon, starry-eyed and tragically naïve, opens his heart to questionable figures. His mother, Claire (Anne-Marie Cadieux), a famous opera singer who abandoned the family years ago to pursue her career, re-enters Simon’s life. Then there’s the gaslighter, Olivier (Félix Maritaud), a new queen at the club whom Simon starts dating.Bitter disappointments and cruel manipulations seem to conspire to dim Simon’s light and idealism — his mother proves distant and superficial, cutting their meet ups laughably short. Then Olivier isolates Simon from his family, takes credit for his rise in the drag scene and smothers his confidence.Simon’s drag performances, captured with sumptuous visuals, are peppered throughout these intrigues, allowing us to register his anxieties through the lens of his act. Before an audience, the tensions between him and Olivier, with whom he performs as a duo, are magnified; so is the agitation caused by his mother, his artistic role model, when she finally attends one of his shows.“Solo” is a subtle snapshot into a gay man’s profound yet familiar upheavals. Simon’s drag spectacles may be intentionally fierce and operatic, but there’s something refreshing about this drama’s intimate scale and lack of interest in sweeping tragedies, especially in the context of queer cinema.SoloNot rated. Running time: 1 hour 41 minutes. In theaters. More