Wednesday, June 24, 2020

The new David Adjmi memoir

If you need a bracing chat, I highly recommend the playwright David Adjmi, whom I interviewed about his memoir, Lot Six. My Q&A is here.

Lost Bullet

French directors are doing to action movies what an earlier generation did to horror: they're brushing up the genre cobwebs. As American actioners have grown bloated and ridiculous, the French ones stick to 90 lean minutes. And the new Lost Bullet is a nifty example of the new school. Read my review then head to Netflix. Or vice versa.

Liz Garbus, true crime and women

Before talking to Liz Garbus for the Times, I did a deep dive into her career. It was often tough going — she tends to go for dark subjects — but never less than compelling. Click here for our chat, pegged to the new HBO series I'll Be Gone in the Dark.

Why you need to watch The Bureau

S5 of the French series The Bureau has just started streaming on Sundance Now. I talked to some members of its team — including Eric Rochant, Jacques Audiard and Mathieu Kassovitz — about what makes the show, and this season in particular, so special. Click here for the spy goods.

Wednesday, June 10, 2020

Gay films that are not about coming out

The great arc of gay (in the widest sense of the word) characters over decades roughly goes like this: villain or pathetic characters, then coming of age/self-discovery, then the world is your oyster. I wrote about 9 films in the last category for the Times — and they're all from this decade. Click here, then stream away.

Monday, June 08, 2020

Tony's greatest moments

A few of the Times' finest theater mavens got together for this list of favorite moments from the Tony Awards. Prepare to click on a lot of YouTube links!

Streaming theater: underground and foreign edition

One of the very few upsides of lockdown is the opportunity to see shows that would have been difficult or even impossible for us to see — because they happened in Europe or because they had short, under-publicized runs in tiny spaces. I found some really good ones for my latest roundup so head thataway.

How to sing duets online

In good times and bum times, people like to sing together — but it's not so easy on Zoom. I wrote up a few tips for the Times' At Home section (first piece there!). Click here and sing out, Louise!