California

My latest considers the first entry in Clubbed Thumb's Summerworks series. Click here for my puzzled review.

Golden Shield

I traveled to Manhattan Theater Club to review its new production, Golden Shield. Unfortunately I was not impressed.

Interview with Manuel Garcia-Rulfo

I worked on two stories when I went to Los Angeles earlier this month. One was about American Song Contest on NBC and the other just came out: an interview with Manuel Garcia Rulfo, the star of the new Netflix series The Lincoln Lawyer — as a Michael Connelly fan, I was excited. Click here for our chat.

Eurovision 2022

Once again I was part of the New York Times team covering Eurovision Song Contest live yesterday. It was action-packed, and if you haven't watched — what are you waiting for? You can relive the excitement in this thread.

May's streaming science-fiction movies

There's quite a bit of range in this month's selection, though make sure you don't mix Moonfall and Moonshot, or the Swan Song I talk about with the one starring Udo Kier! Click here for my latest column.

Which Way to the Stage

The characters in Ana Nogueira's play, at MCC, are pretty familiar types but the comedy flies for most of the show. But that landing… My review for the Times is here.

Backstage at American Song Contest

I recently spent a few days in Los Angeles working on a couple of stories. The first one just came out and it's about the NBC show American Song Contest. I am not, generally speaking, a fan of singing competitions but I genuinely love this one. Why? Because it's modeled after the Eurovision Song Contest, which of course I love! (And once again I'll be part of the Times' team covering the final on Saturday.) Watching how the sausage is made backstage was a thrill and you can read about it here.

My second (completely different) L.A. story will be out next week. Watch this space.

The Takedown

After Lupin, Omar Sy pairs up with director Louis Leterrier again for the buddy comedy The Takedown. Unfortunately, both men can do a lot better. My review is here.