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      ‘American Fiction,’ ‘Origin’ and the Pressures Black Writers Face

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      The movies explore what happens when authors who focus exclusively on racism in their work push back against political and commercial stresses.“We younger Negro artists who create now intend to express our individual dark-skinned selves without fear or shame,” a young Langston Hughes proclaimed in an essay nearly 100 years ago. “If white people are pleased we are glad. If they are not, it doesn’t matter.”Seeking to establish his autonomy as a Black writer, he concluded, “If colored people are pleased we are glad. If they are not, their displeasure doesn’t matter either. We build our temples for tomorrow, strong as we know how, and we stand on top of the mountain, free within ourselves.”I thought a lot about Hughes’s landmark 1926 essay, “The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain,” after watching how Ava DuVernay’s “Origin” and Cord Jefferson’s “American Fiction” explore the fates of Black writers who push back against political and publishing pressures to focus exclusively on racism in their works.Like Hughes, the protagonists of these movies — the journalist Isabel Wilkerson and the novelist Thelonious Ellison, known as Monk — strive to write as they please. But, by depicting their characters’ struggles, the films offer refreshing commentaries on the social construction of race and its devastating consequences for those at the bottom of the hierarchy.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?  More

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      Watch Adam Driver Keep Time in a Scene From ‘Ferrari’

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      The director Michael Mann narrates a sequence from his biopic about Enzo Ferrari.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.The spiritual meets the primal in this scene from the biopic “Ferrari.”As the sequence begins, the automotive mogul Enzo Ferrari (Adam Driver) arrives at a workers mass. The priest gives a speech about the miracle of the internal combustion engine. But attendees are distracted by another event happening simultaneously at the Autodromo, a nearby racetrack. Maserati is challenging Ferrari for the record there. So scenes of worship are intercut with the driver, Jean Behra (Derek Hill, the son of Phil Hill, the first American-born Formula 1 champion), navigating the course. In the church, Ferrari and his workers have their stopwatches out to time the Maserati.Narrating the scene, the director Michael Mann said, “My serious intent was to imbue into audiences minds what’s in our characters’ minds, which is there’s something almost religious and deadly serious about it. The metaphysical, the savage power is really what is wedded together as a value in this scene.”Read the “Ferrari” review.Sign up for the Movies Update newsletter and get a roundup of reviews, news, Critics’ Picks and more. More

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      2024 Awards Season Fashion: All the Stars Dressed in Red

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      Viewers of award shows might have noticed a trend in recent years: Some of the red carpets have been colors other than red.But that doesn’t mean the color has been absent from the carpets. This year, red has been among the most popular colors worn by celebrities. Selena Gomez, Ayo Edebiri, Barry Keoghan, Dua Lipa, Meghann Fahy, Charles Melton, Michelle Yeoh, Suki Waterhouse and Margot Robbie are just some of the stars who have worn shades of red at recent awards shows like the Emmys and the Golden Globes.Danielle Brooks, an actress in “The Color Purple,” is another star who has chosen red — specifically, a bright-pinkish shade that lit up with every camera flash as she walked the purplish-red carpet in her strapless gown at the Globes. Of the dress, Ms. Brooks told Vogue: “Red is a power color and I am feeling powerful.”The following assemblage of red looks includes her gown and many more, from sleek and simple column dresses to over-the-top ensembles.Simply RedSarah Snook, a star of “Succession,” received the Emmy award for lead actress in a drama series in a crimson Vivienne Westwood ball gown with a corseted bodice, nipped waist and sweeping skirt.Amy Sussman/Getty ImagesVelvet shoulder bows added whimsy to the cherry-red silk Rodarte gown the actress Janelle James wore at the Emmys.Neilson Barnard/Getty ImagesAt the back of the halter-neck Carolina Herrera gown that Emily Hampshire chose for the Emmys was a giant bow with ribbons that trailed behind the actress as she walked.David Swanson/EPA, via ShutterstockThe actress Julianne Moore kept it relatively simple at the Golden Globes in a strapless Bottega Veneta gown with a full skirt and a pointy scoop neckline.Mike Blake/ReutersZuri Hall, an actress and a television host, chose a fishtail Oscar de la Renta gown for the Golden Globes that had oversize bows running down its back.Michael Tran/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesYes chef! Tom Colicchio, a star of “Top Chef,” turned heads at the Emmys in a chili-colored tuxedo jacket from the Italian label Isaia.Ashley Landis/Associated PressDarker ShadesAt the Golden Globes, the actor Barry Keoghan styled his checker-print Louis Vuitton tuxedo with pearly accessories.Michael Tran/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesThe singer Dua Lipa attended the Critics Choice Awards in a Prada dress with a textured, ruched fabric that evoked flower petals. Her dyed hair matched the gown’s pinot-noir shade.Michael Tran/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesRoses appeared to be blooming along the neckline of the strapless Armani gown the actress Meghann Fahy wore at the Emmys. Embroidered crystals gave the look some shimmer.Amy Sussman/Getty ImagesAt the Critics Choice Awards, the actor Charles Melton ditched the traditional penguin suit for this spicier Valentino style in a shade of cinnabar.Jordan Strauss/Invision, via Associated PressThe actress Christina Applegate, who has multiple sclerosis, walked onto the Emmys stage to present an award in an oxblood velvet tuxedo dress by Christian Siriano and Dr. Martens on her feet. The crowd reacted with a standing ovation.Mario Anzuoni/ReutersA deep burgundy shade set the actor Matty Matheson’s tuxedo apart from others worn at the Golden Globes.Amy Sussman/Getty ImagesFor the Emmys, the actress Abby Elliott chose a skintight Alexander McQueen dress with a unique three-peak neckline.Robyn Beck/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesSome 450,000 wine-colored sequins were used to embellish the body-hugging Oscar de la Renta gown that the actress Selena Gomez wore at the Emmys.Neilson Barnard/Getty ImagesJoana Pak, right, wore a short-sleeve, mock-neck gown in a rich shade of claret at the Emmys, which she attended her husband, the actor Steven Yeun.Richard Shotwell/Invision, via Associated PressA neck scarf topped the shimmering, garnet-chain-mail Moschino dress that the actress Juliette Lewis chose for the Emmys.Mike Blake/ReutersBrighter TonesAyo Edebiri, a star of “The Bear,” wore a scarlet column Prada gown with an iridescent layered train at the Golden Globes, where she won the award for best performance in a television musical or comedy.Robyn Beck/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesFor the Golden Globes, the actress Michelle Yeoh chose a fiery Bottega Veneta gown with a sculpted silhouette and a split-structured bodice.Valerie Macon/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesA flowing train enhanced the elegance of Camila Morrone’s corseted Versace gown at the Emmys. (The actress attended the awards with her father, who modeled for Versace in the 1990s).David Swanson/EPA, via ShutterstockDanielle Brooks’s look at the Golden Globes, which was designed by Moschino and Gabriella Karefa-Johnson, featured a floor-length stole and a fishtail skirt.Amy Sussman/Getty ImagesThe television host Mona Kosar Abdi opted for a Cinderella-style ball gown by Rita Vinieris at the Golden Globes.Amy Sussman/Getty ImagesJoining the television host Jimmy Kimmel on the Emmys carpet was his wife, the screenwriter Molly McNearney, who wore a rippled column dress and a matching vermillion clutch.Neilson Barnard/Getty ImagesJill Latiano Howerton, an actress and the wife of the actor Glenn Howerton, joined her husband on the Emmys carpet wearing a cascading chiffon dress with puffed sleeves and cutaway sides.Frazer Harrison/Getty ImagesReds That ShineThe actress Katherine Heigl, who had not attended the Emmys since 2014, made her return to the awards show this year in a strapless Reem Acra gown and a coifed blond bob that evoked old Hollywood glamour.Frazer Harrison/Getty ImagesAt the Golden Globes, Ms. Gomez wore a ruby-red Armani dress with an asymmetrical full skirt, a high-neck halter top and black, crystal-embroidered flowers on its peekaboo bodice.Allison Dinner/EPA, via ShutterstockThe actor John Krasinski paired a raspberry-colored, double-breasted jacket with blackberry-colored pants at the Golden Globes.Amy Sussman/Getty ImagesAfter arriving to the Golden Globes in this Sophie Couture gown with a gargantuan skirt, the model and television host Heidi Klum described herself as a big blond tomato in an interview with WWD.Mike Blake/ReutersRed With Something ExtraThe actress Suki Waterhouse showed off her pregnant belly at the Emmys in a Valentino gown with side cutouts and an oversize bow at the waist.Richard Shotwell/Invision, via Associated PressFor the Critics Choice Awards, the actress Emily Blunt chose an Armani gown that was covered in fire-engine-red paillettes and had large rose embellishments along its single shoulder and back.Phillip Faraone/Getty ImagesGrenadine-colored sequins added sparkle to the singer Mandy Moore’s chest-and-back-exposing Elie Saab gown at the Critics Choice Awards.Jordan Strauss/Invision, via Associated PressA bouquet of red rosettes blossomed along the neckline of the off-the-shoulder Balmain gown that Margot Robbie wore at the Critics Choice Awards.Michael Tran/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesThe actress Florence Pugh is known for taking swings with her fashion. Her look at the Golden Globes — a voluminous sheer Valentino gown dotted with poppies and worn over red hot pants — was no exception.Allison Dinner/EPA, via ShutterstockFor the Critics Choice Awards, the actress Vanessa Morgan chose a cherry-red Zuhair Murad mini dress with a shiny lace bodice and a cascading train that almost blended into the carpet.Frazer Harrison/Getty ImagesOne word to describe the button-front Sergio Hudson dress and matching red hair bow that the actress Rachel Brosnahan wore at the Golden Globes? Marvelous.Amy Sussman/Getty ImagesA puff of marabou feathers added drama to the structured ruby-red gown Michelle Peters wore at the Emmys, where she walked the carpet with her brother, the actor Evan Peters.Neilson Barnard/Getty ImagesSequined sleeves and panels gave a playful touch to the actress Tantoo Cardinal’s otherwise simple gown at the Critics Choice Awards.Frazer Harrison/Getty ImagesThe actress Alex Borstein’s Emmys ensemble had a lot to look at, including roses and marabou feathers clustered at the shoulders. A gaping keyhole neckline and a long slit in the red skirt offered more than a peek at her black lacy bra and underskirt.Neilson Barnard/Getty ImagesElizabeth Paton, Anthony Rotunno and Stella Bugbee contributed reporting. More

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      ‘The Kitchen’ Review: No Direction Home

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      Directing their first feature, Kibwe Tavares and Daniel Kaluuya spin a warmly humane story of cross-generational connection.The vitality and bonhomie that characterize many scenes in “The Kitchen,” a dystopian drama set in a near-future London, might seem at odds with the film’s focus on deprivation and persecution. Yet there’s nothing despairing about the close-knit, mostly nonwhite community that swarms and surges inside the titular public housing project, one of the last to be swallowed by private developers.It’s an estate under siege. From the authorities, who block essential services and food deliveries, and from the police, who deploy surveillance drones and armed raids. Inside this vibrant warren of market stalls and cell-like living spaces, though, the air hums with the punchy energy of people pulling together against a common enemy. Standing alone is Izi (a fabulous Kane Robinson), a selfish striver saving for a deposit on an upscale apartment. Izi sells burial packages at a futuristic funeral home, spinning fabricated tales of personal loss to juice his commission. His plans are soon compromised when he encounters Benji (Jedaiah Bannerman), a recently orphaned mourner who proves difficult to dislodge.In part an outcry against gentrification and the privatization of England’s once-thriving social housing, “The Kitchen” dilutes its abjection with unlikely humor and a vividly eclectic soundtrack (mostly dispensed by the community’s resident D.J., played by the former soccer star Ian Wright). The direction, by Kibwe Tavares and Daniel Kaluuya, is sure and unfussy, spinning a warmly humane story of cross-generational connection. Whenever the film threatens to slide into sentiment, the actors yank it back, with Hope Ikpoku Jr. especially effective in a too-brief turn as a wily competitor for Benji’s allegiance.Against expectation, “The Kitchen” ends with a question mark rather than an exclamation point, having said all that it wants and not a word more than it needs.The KitchenRated R for smashed windows and broken promises. Running time: 1 hour 47 minutes. Watch on Netflix. More

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      ‘Oppenheimer’ Leads BAFTA Nominees

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      Christopher Nolan’s movie received 13 nods, and will compete for best picture against the likes of “Killers of The Flower Moon” and “Poor Things,” but not “Barbie.”“Oppenheimer,” Christopher Nolan’s movie about the development of the atomic bomb, on Thursday received the highest number of nominations for this year’s EE British Academy Film Awards, known as the BAFTAs.The film secured 13 nods for Britain’s equivalent of the Oscars, including for best film, where it is up against four other titles including “Killers of The Flower Moon,” Martin Scorsese’s epic about the Osage murders of the 1920s, and “Poor Things,” Yorgos Lanthimos’s sexually-charged take on a Frankenstein story starring Emma Stone. “Poor Things” followed “Oppenheimer” with 11 nominations overall.The other titles nominated for best film are “Anatomy of a Fall,” Justine Triet’s Palme d’Or winner about a woman accused of murdering her husband, and “The Holdovers,” Alexander Payne’s tale of a boarding school teacher who has to look after students during the holidays.The nominations for “Oppenheimer” come just days after the movie won three of the major awards at this year’s Golden Globes, and will be seen by many as further boosting its chances at this year’s Oscars; the BAFTA and Oscar voting bodies overlap. This year’s Oscar nominations are scheduled to be announced on Tuesday.Although “Oppenheimer” secured the most nominations, the highest profile categories featured a variety of movies. In the best director category, Nolan, Triet and Payne were nominated alongside Bradley Cooper for “Maestro,” his biopic of Leonard Bernstein; Jonathan Glazer for “The Zone of Interest,” a movie about day-to-day life at the Auschwitz concentration camp during the Holocaust; and Andrew Haigh for “All of Us Strangers,” an acclaimed British film about a lonely gay writer.Andrew Scott and Paul Mescal in “All of Us Strangers,” directed by Andrew Haigh.Parisa Taghizadeh/Searchlight Pictures, via Associated Press“Barbie,” Greta Gerwig’s blockbuster about the doll going on a journey of self-discovery, was not nominated in the best movie or best director categories, but Margot Robbie, its star, secured a nomination for best lead actress. Robbie will compete for that prize alongside the stars of other high-profile movies including Emma Stone (“Poor Things”), Carey Mulligan (“Maestro”) and Fantasia Barrino (“The Color Purple”). Sandra Hüller was also nominated for “Anatomy of a Fall,” as was Vivian Oparah for her role in the British rom-com “Rye Lane,” set in a diverse part of south London.Lily Gladstone, who earlier this month became the first Indigenous person to win a Golden Globe for best actress for her performance in “Killers of The Flower Moon,” was not nominated for a BAFTA.Leonardo DiCaprio, Gladstone’s co-star, was also snubbed in the best actor category. That category’s nominees instead included Cillian Murphy for “Oppenheimer,” Cooper for “Maestro” and Barry Keoghan for “Saltburn.” They will compete against Paul Giamatti for his lead role in “The Holdovers,” Colman Domingo for “Rustin” and Teo Yoo for “Past Lives,” Celine Song’s wistful movie about two childhood friends who keep reuniting in later life.In 2020, the BAFTAs’ organizers overhauled the awards’ nomination processes in an attempt to improve the diversity of nominees. The changes included assigning voters 15 movies to watch each before making their selections. Sara Putt, the chair of BAFTA, said in an interview that the inclusion of Oparah among the leading actress nominees showed that the changes were helping to highlight smaller films, but she added that there was “still more to do” to increase diversity in the industry.The winners of this year’s BAFTAs are scheduled to be announced on Feb. 18 in a ceremony at the Royal Festival Hall in London, hosted by David Tennant. The ceremony will be broadcast on BritBox in the United States. More

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      ‘The Breaking Ice’ Review: Desire on the Border of China and North Korea

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      A love triangle takes shape among three 20-somethings in this melancholy film by Anthony Chen.In “The Breaking Ice,” a new film written and directed by Anthony Chen, three lost 20-somethings find one another in a liminal world. The movie takes place in Yanji, a Chinese city bordering North Korea, where two languages and cultures mix in the shadows of snow-blanketed mountains.In this icy town, Nana (Zhou Dongyu), a tour guide, crosses paths with Haofeng (Liu Haoran), a financier from Shanghai who is visiting for a wedding. She recognizes in him a melancholy that rhymes with her own, and invites him along to dinner with Xiao (Qu Chuxiao), a friend who works at a restaurant and pines after Nana.As the three down copious drinks, ride about on Xiao’s motorcycle and engage in youthful adventures, a love triangle takes shape — though it never results in predictable conflicts. It’s as if the cold, otherworldly solitude of Yanji sublimates the characters’ unrequited desires into a deeper yearning for connection. They are grateful to have each other, even if not in the ways they really want.The setting is rife with metaphoric potential, and it is here that Chen falters as a director. Haofeng’s depression is signaled by his habit of chewing on ice cubes and balancing dangerously on snowy cliffs; Nana repeatedly encounters reminders of her thwarted ice-skating career; and news reports of a North Korean defector appear throughout the film, provoking something in the restless Xiao.Deployed without subtlety, these motifs weigh down a film that, in its best moments, feels as light and refreshing as a cool breeze.The Breaking IceNot rated. In Mandarin and Korean, with subtitles. Running time: 1 hour 37 minutes. In theaters. More

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      ‘Which Brings Me to You’ Review: Out With the Old?

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      This rom-com boasts a clever conceit that at times feels a little cluttered.When Will stops midway through a makeout session with Jane in the romantic comedy “Which Brings Me to You,” it signals a kind of maturity on his part. And he’s met with surprise. Jane (Lucy Hale) was cool with a purely carnal interlude. Will (Nat Wolff) wants them to connect on a deeper level.Hale and Wolff make likable their romantically messy characters, a freelance journalist and an art photographer, in this movie directed by Peter Hutchings. After rethinking their coat-closet tryst — at a Jersey Shore wedding — the two reset and begin recounting their romantic histories over the next 24 hours.Her history tilts toward kind, deeply wounded men. His leans toward creative, vibrant women. The memories of these former romances unfold as visual vignettes, with each commenting on the other’s paramours. “Oh come on. … She’s really hot,” Jane says of Eve (Genevieve Angelson), the slightly older woman who spirited Will away from his college campus. “Oooh, Elton,” Wills says, hearing about the live wire (Alexander Hodge) who swept Jane off her feet before their relationship was upended by mental illness.Another Hutchings rom-com, “The Hating Game,” also starred Hale. And like that workplace comedy, this too features locations that may stir some nostalgia: Bahr’s Landing restaurant, Keansburg Amusement Park and the Asbury Park music venue the Saint.Based on the novel of the same name (by Julianna Baggott and Steve Almond, adapted by Keith Bunin), “Which Brings Me to You” is cleverly structured but often feels too crowded with the ghosts of lovers past. Then again, isn’t that the way with some of the most promising love affairs?Which Brings Me to YouNot rated. Running time: 1 hour 38 minutes. In theaters. More