Arts News

A Too-Tasteful 'Elegy,' Feeling Mildly Lamentable
Isabel Coixet's film follows a refined formula — acclaimed actors, source material by Philip Roth, a classy soundtrack. But the gentility of tone masks, when it might contrast, a brute of a protagonist.
Curses, Batman! A 'Dark Knight' Jinx?
Death, car crashes and serious run-ins with the law. Sounds like the plot of The Dark Knight. But you could also be talking about what happened to actors who appeared in this summer's mega-blockbuster. If the new Batman film is cursed, it wouldn't be the first time movies — or stage productions — have been jinxed.
Finding Beijing's Not-So-Hidden Art Treasure
A few years ago a handful of renegade artists staked their claim just outside Beijing, away from the eye of the authorities. Now 798, as the area is called, is a bustling arts zone supported by the Chinese government.
Summer Loving: Your Favorite Wedding Flicks
Who doesn't love a wedding? Plenty of movies end at the altar, and we want to hear about your favorites. Weigh in with the wedding movies that you love, for better or for worse, in sickness and in health...
Circus Smirkus: Training Clowns On Tour
Where do circus clowns come from? Some of them are being trained by Circus Smirkus, an award-winning touring show for young aerialists, jugglers and rubber-nosed pranksters. Smirkus is an incubator of sorts, where scouts for big-time big tops find their new talent.
'Pineapple Express' Blazes Into Theaters
Film critic David Edelstein reviews the new stoner-action comedy, Pineapple Express starring and co-written by Seth Rogen.
Ballet's 'Flying Cuban' Looks Toward 'Home'
Ballet dancer Carlos Acosta is known for powerful leaps that make him seem to fly. Those leaps have earned him comparisons with Nureyev and Baryshnikov. He grew up in a poor neighborhood outside Havana. How that boy became a man who dances with grace and power is the subject of Acosta's memoir, No Way Home.
Summer Knight: Is Kingsley This Year's Rogen?
Veteran actor rules the screen this summer, appearing in five features between June and August. Among his roles: a mystic in The Love Guru, a corrupt C.I.A. mastermind in War, Inc., and a stoned shrink in The Wackness.
American Rapper Eli Sweet Reflects On China
Atlanta native Eli Sweet moved to Chengdu, China, nearly two years ago to improve his Chinese and discover a new way of life. The energetic American raps in underground clubs with Chinese hip-hop artists. He says he encounters "an endless stream of adventure."
A 'Frozen River,' Treacherous And Deep
With its bleak landscape and bleaker plot, Courtney Hunt's directorial debut — a Sundance festival favorite — provides a moving portrait of two women's desperation in a Canadian border town.
Parting Words: George Carlin
George Carlin died six weeks ago Sunday; his final comedy album was released Tuesday.
A Cross-Country Road Trip Back In Time
In the summer of 1973, photographer Stephen Shore set out on a quintessential American adventure. Now, 35 years later, his journey has become the focus of a book titled A Road Trip Journal. It reflects an America when gas was about 43 cents a gallon.
Experts Uncover A Painting Van Gogh Covered Up
A work by Vincent Van Gogh was recently uncovered at a museum in the Netherlands. But it wasn't lost in some dusty corridor, it was hidden under the paint of another Van Gogh. Scientists found it by using a giant X-ray machine.
Summer Movies: 'Dark Knight' And 'American Teen'
Scott Simon talks to film critic Desson Thomson about movie archetypes and how they're portrayed in two very different films: the latest Batman flick, The Dark Knight, and American Teen, a documentary about teenagers and the roles they play, or try to escape, in their small-town high school.
Summary Judgment: Swinging Mummies
This week, writer Mark Jordan Legan rounds up the critics' opinions on Mummy 3 starring Brendan Frazier, Swing Vote starring Kevin Costner and Frozen River.