Culture
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The Vexing Collaborations of Octavia Spencer and Tate Taylor
“Ma,” Spencer and Taylor’s fifth project together, should not be mistaken for being a contribution to the genre of black horror.
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The Hidden Identity in April Dawn Alison’s Self-Portraits
![](http://web.archive.org./web/20190603031727im_/https://media.newyorker.com/photos/5cf1a41147f7cc1417506a13/4:3/w_116,c_limit/als-alison13.jpg)
By becoming a woman for the camera, the artist exposed his soul to himself like nothing else on earth could do.
The Startling Image of a Blood-Spattered Victim of the Virginia Beach Shooting
![](http://web.archive.org./web/20190603031727im_/https://media.newyorker.com/photos/5cf2bb9e4cad8504a7c7df25/4:3/w_116,c_limit/Luo-VirginiaBeachShooting-Promo.jpg)
For all the images that have been broadcast from mass shootings, it is unusual to actually see the carnage up close.
“Rocketman” and the Inevitable Shortcomings of the Hollywood Pop-Star Bio-Pic
![](http://web.archive.org./web/20190603031727im_/https://media.newyorker.com/photos/5cf19d1e47f7cc8360506a10/4:3/w_116,c_limit/Brody-Rocketman.jpg)
Dexter Fletcher’s film dutifully works its way through events of Elton John’s life, but blandly flattens the drama of his creative artistry.
The Envies of Eating in Springtime
![](http://web.archive.org./web/20190603031727im_/https://media.newyorker.com/photos/5cefeb1b65b32e1890d9abd5/4:3/w_116,c_limit/Mendelson-EatinginSpring.jpg)
Were I to buy all the market spinach and peas I could eat, moths would fly out of my purse as in the cartoons and comics of my youth.
“Ma” and “The Perfection,” Reviewed: Two Horror Movies Crassly Exploit #MeToo
![](http://web.archive.org./web/20190603031727im_/https://media.newyorker.com/photos/5cf17cef4cad850955c7ddec/4:3/w_116,c_limit/Brody-MaandPerfection.jpg)
The films exhibit a tragic logic that dovetails with the real-life revelations of #MeToo, but neither is constructed with anything resembling the courageousness that women in the movement have displayed.
![](http://web.archive.org./web/20190603031727im_/https://media.newyorker.com/photos/5bf2e9731de98a35d66934d1/1:1/w_68,c_limit/Touchstones_Web-Images_Janet-1x1.jpg)
Introducing Touchstones, a series in which New Yorker writers guide us through the works that shaped them.
Goings On About Town
Szechuan Mountain House Gives Proletarian Fare the Palace Treatment
![](http://web.archive.org./web/20190603031727im_/https://media.newyorker.com/photos/5ce700d2aaa1184a42306124/4:3/w_116,c_limit/190603_r34415.jpg)
Classic dishes get poetic reinventions and opulent plating, with the same dedication to capsaicin as the originals.
Summer Dance Preview
![](http://web.archive.org./web/20190603031727im_/https://media.newyorker.com/photos/5cde0c44a8384f203348888c/4:3/w_116,c_limit/190527_r34368_rd.jpg)
The classical ballet of “The Sleeping Beauty,” a visit from the Royal Danish Ballet, minimalism in the Berkshires, and more.
Summer Night-Life Preview
![](http://web.archive.org./web/20190603031727im_/https://media.newyorker.com/photos/5cddf5059f52773ecf1409c3/4:3/w_116,c_limit/190527_r34367.jpg)
Rising temperatures allow for the pleasures of outdoor concerts, such as Governors Ball, Summer Jam, SummerStage, and more.
The Critics
TV’s Reckoning with #MeToo
![](http://web.archive.org./web/20190603031727im_/https://media.newyorker.com/photos/5ce713550efb4e36293303a2/4:3/w_116,c_limit/190603_r34422.jpg)
Many creators are visibly struggling to adjust to the changing landscape, rejecting the “very special episode” path and seeking something more honest and original.
The Bittersweet Poetry of “Lima :: Limón”
![](http://web.archive.org./web/20190603031727im_/https://media.newyorker.com/photos/5ce6b6d41280472df4a50c48/4:3/w_116,c_limit/190603_r34427.jpg)
Natalie Scenters-Zapico’s latest poems probe the richness of contradiction, mixing violence and pleasure, damage and repair.
Timelessness in Works by Thomas Cole and Brice Marden
![](http://web.archive.org./web/20190603031727im_/https://media.newyorker.com/photos/5ce823bc7ad23d6070622fc6/4:3/w_116,c_limit/190603_r34434.jpg)
Two small shows in the Hudson Valley hint at long spiritual rhythms that are not lost, though they may be occluded, in the staccato frenzies of our day.
A Live-Action “Aladdin” Falls Short of Its Animated Predecessor
![](http://web.archive.org./web/20190603031727im_/https://media.newyorker.com/photos/5ce6b71d9f527720ec14126c/4:3/w_116,c_limit/190603_r34428.jpg)
The director Guy Ritchie has reheated the 1992 Disney film’s tropes and tunes to graceless and cumbersome effect.
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The Startling Image of a Blood-Spattered Victim of the Virginia Beach Shooting
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The Invisible City Beneath Paris
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David Milch’s Third Act
- 4.A Reporter at Large
The Undercover Fascist
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