While the producers of the 94th Academy Awards tried their best to liven up the Oscars through scripted bits and formal tweaks, it was an unscripted moment that set the Dolby Theater—and the internet—ablaze in the end. About halfway through the show, Will Smith took offense to a joke that Chris Rock told at his wife Jada Pinkett-Smith’s expense, and went onstage to slap Rock. …
Read more
If one thread connects the best albums from this year, it’s honesty: No matter their genre, artists confronting the world head-on and telling the truth about what they saw made the most satisfying music of 2023. The best albums of the year range from a late jazz trumpeter’s final work to a pop newcomer’s self-assured declaration of her arrival on the scene, an album eked out at the tail e…
Read more
It’s unusual for a film director to be unavailable to speak about their movie in the weeks leading up to its release but this is the reality for Iranian director Jafar Panahi. As his film No Bears hits U.S. theaters on Dec. 23, the 62-year-old has been imprisoned for 165 days of a six-year sentence for criticizing the Iranian government’s arrest of fellow Iranian filmmaker Mo…
Read more