Jerry Butler, Singer Known as the Iceman, Dies at 85

Jerry Butler, the graceful singer and songwriter who served as the first leader of the Impressions before launching a long, hit-heavy solo career, died on Thursday at his home in Chicago. He was 85. His death was confirmed by his assistant, who said that Mr. Butler had Parkinson’s disease. Mr. Butler’s resounding baritone voice, though … Read more

Five Action Movies to Stream Now

‘Blasting’ Stream it on Tubi. Seven years after a jewelry store robbery gone wrong, Gui (Lei Zhong), one of the thieves, has emerged from hiding to demand money from his former partner (Luo Da Hua). A bomb squad officer (Bai Hai Tao), who’s still haunted by that day, wants to put both men in jail, … Read more

‘Safe House’ Review: Singing a Song of Loneliness

Wearing a meadow-green T-shirt that proclaims her an Irish Princess, Grace dances with a white stuffed bunny that is her confidant. The music is Tchaikovsky’s “Sleeping Beauty” waltz, and it’s a clue to how Grace’s life plays out — not the ballet’s storybook ending, just the tragic parts. In this snippet of a scene near … Read more

The Artists Giving Figurative Sculpture New Life

FOR MUCH OF art history, figurative sculpture was steeped in a sense of the eternal. Ancient statues of leaders, heroes and gods tended to embody what their creators believed (or hoped) would endure forever. Now figurative sculpture reflects profound anxieties over permanence. Our bodies are bombarded by stuff — for example, the microplastic particles of … Read more

After Netflix Success, ‘Suits’ Opens Another Firm

On a January morning, attractive people in tailored attire stood in a sun-skimmed California courtroom, arguing a motion in the murder trial. “Bring the venom!” the director, Anton Cropper, said encouragingly. This was on the set of “Suits LA,” a sibling of “Suits,” the legal procedural that ran on USA for nine seasons, from 2011 … Read more