The underdog sports drama receives a wholesome twist in “Rule Breakers,” a movie based on the experiences of Afghanistan’s first competitive robotics team. This is a story of heartening firsts: Roya Mahboob, who spearheaded the initiative for schoolgirls, is the first woman to own a tech company in Afghanistan. The director Bill Guttentag and his … Read more
The philosopher Immanuel Kant once said, “out of the crooked timber of humanity, no straight thing was ever made.” Arguably, then, old age warps us even further. This certainly seems to be the case at the Royal Pine Mews Care Home, the fictional New Zealand setting for much of “The Rule of Jenny Pen,” a … Read more
Only the Canadian writer-director Atom Egoyan (“Exotica,” “The Sweet Hereafter”) could have made the movie “Seven Veils.” His signature obsessions — the ripple effects of trauma, the use of video as evidence, private anguish played out in public view — pervade every frame. The film centers on a theater director, Jeanine (Amanda Seyfried), who is … Read more
“There’s Still Tomorrow” is set in Rome after World War I, but it unfolds with timeless verve and romanticism. It’s the directorial debut of the Italian singer and comedian Paola Cortellesi, who also stars. This feminist dramedy tells a story about domestic abuse — echoing still-timely concerns about violence against women and toxic masculinity in … Read more
In her former life as a dancer with the Paris Opera Ballet, Nathalie Ziegler, 54, came home from performances with her eyes exhausted by the intense stage lights. She got in the habit of lighting her home with nothing but candles, which she placed inside photophores, enclosures that she assembled herself with mosaic-like bits of … Read more
This article is part of our Design special section about the reverence for handmade objects. One of the first things visitors will encounter as they enter the east gate of the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, opening on April 13, is a 20-foot-high balletic, ring-shape sculpture poised outside the Ireland pavilion. “It’s quite a complex … Read more
But this is not a film about the Sox, nor is it, at least on its face, about anything epic at all. In fact, that MLB team barely comes up at all, though Bill Lee, a.k.a. “Spaceman,” the famous left-handed pitcher who played for Boston in the 1970s, portrays a minor character in the movie. … Read more
The world is at once scarily familiar and thoroughly, enjoyably loony tunes in “Mickey 17,” the latest Bong Joon Ho freakout. Bong is the South Korean filmmaker best known for “Parasite,” a ferocious 2019 comedy about class relations that spares no one, including viewers whose laughs eventually turn into gasps of visceral horror. Few filmmakers … Read more
Since the election in the United States, performers at big-tent events like the Academy Awards and the 50th anniversary celebration of “Saturday Night Live” have steered clear of President Trump, with a few exceptions. And sharp comedians that regularly don’t pass up a chance to criticize him, like the late night host Seth Meyers or … Read more
Tyler Mitchell was only 23 in 2018, when his portrait of Beyoncé became the first Vogue cover by a Black photographer. Already established, he was suddenly a celebrity. But as was true for others before him, notably Richard Avedon, precocious success in fashion left him hungry for artistic recognition. To produce “Ghost Images,” his first … Read more