‘Polisse’: In Paris, A Thin Bleu Line
As humane as it is disturbing, Polisse rifles the files of Paris’ Child Protection Unit in search of successes, failures and all the shades of ambiguity in between. If the movie’s jumpy edits and raw emotions jangle the nerves, that’s intentional: This documentary-mimicking drama is designed to evoke the experience of working a beat that [...]
A ‘Hysteria’ Epidemic, And A Notably Electric Cure
Hysteria, a disappointingly limp ode to the invention of the vibrator, plays like a Merchant Ivory Production of Portnoy’s Complaint. Watching it, you’d never know that this revolutionary discovery, by allowing women to pleasure themselves, hammered a crucial nail into the coffin of 19th-century patriarchy. A boon to bluestockings and unsatisfied wives alike, the device [...]
Down In ‘Virginia,’ Where The Crazy Runs Deep
Dustin Lance Black, the writer-director of the swampy Southern melodrama Virginia, won an Oscar for his script for Milk, but his new film has more in common with the three seasons he served as a writer, story editor and producer for the HBO series Big Love. Though beautifully acted and compelling as soap opera, Big [...]
Two Gray Titles, One Sexy Mix Up
Ruta Sepetys is the author of Between Shades of Gray. “You are an erotic phenomenon.” That’s what the stranger seated next to me on the plane whispered. We had exchanged the basic bios of airline chitchat and he had inquired about the title of my recent book. “Erotic phenomenon, oh no, that’s not me,” I [...]
Cannes Diary: Of Efrons, Cinephiles And Whale-Taming Cotillards
To understand the peculiar atmosphere at the Cannes Film Festival, you only need to look at last year’s premiere of Terrence Malick’s The Tree of Life. Multiple journalists compared the frenzy for admission into that first screening to a mosh pit — one in which people were perfectly willing to bound over railings and punch [...]
New In Paperback May 14-20
Fiction and nonfiction releases from Tayari Jones, David McCullough, Roy Blount, Bill James and Diana Henriques. [Copyright 2012 National Public Radio]
A Museum Visit For Art Lovers With Alzheimer’s
Many art lovers feel completely in the moment when they stroll through the galleries of a museum. That feeling was particularly true on a recent morning at the Kreeger Museum in Washington, D.C. The Kreeger runs a special program for people with Alzheimer’s — seniors, their caregivers and middle school students are paired together to [...]
‘Canal Zone’ Collages Test The Meaning Of ‘Fair Use’
Richard Prince is an art world superstar. His paintings sell for millions, and many hang in the world’s great museums. But one recent series of works cannot be shown in public — at least, not lawfully. In 2011, a judge found Prince liable for copyright infringement for using the photographs of another artist without permission. [...]
‘Kickstart Shakespeare’: Of Sonnets, Beer, And Online Fundraising
The New York Shakespeare Exchange says its goal is “to encourage an enthusiastic appreciation of classical theater and to expand the reach of the art form within new and existing audiences.” More specifically, it’s interested in the question of “what happens when contemporary culture is infused with Shakespearean poetry and themes in unexpected ways.” What, [...]
Breasts: Bigger And More Vulnerable To Toxins
When science journalist Florence Williams was nursing her second child, she read a research study about toxins found in human breast milk. She decided to test her own breast milk and shipped a sample to a lab in Germany. What came back surprised her. Trace amounts of pesticides, dioxin and a jet fuel ingredient — [...]
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