John Waters, the pope of cliché
Cinema’s pet subversive deserves a proper reappraisal
Books and Arts
Friday
Understanding museum theft with best-selling author Kirk Wallace Johnson
There is, inevitably, a feeling of embarrassment and shame that emanates from institutions after they have been robbed
Wednesday
The lamentable rise of VFX in horror films
CGI is no substitute for glue, tape and ketchup
Christopher Rufo’s new book is impressively erudite
America’s Cultural Revolution marks Rufo as an important, deeply knowledgeable thinker
Taylor Lorenz is optimistic about the internet
Extremely Online is mostly a story about money
Emily Carroll’s new graphic novel plays on our deepest fears
A Guest in the House is a beautifully plotted study of the madness of isolation, steeped in the tropes of fairy tale and horror
An admirable but flawed new biography of George Eliot
The Marriage Question shows us a woman fragmented
Bernie Taupin is more than just ‘Elton John’s lyricist’
The songwriter’s book is free of sentimental clutter, but it would take a heart of stone not to be moved by the takeaway message
A diverting but unsurprising new history of the Astor clan
There is a fine, perceptive book to be written about the Astors and their influence, but Astor: The Rise and Fall of an American Fortune is not it
Once Upon a One More Time is pat, prepackaged feminism
Authorized by Spears herself, the show revamps the tale of Cinderella, weaving in Britney’s own repertoire of songs
The value — and worthlessness — of contemporary art
Should you spot a binder full of explanatory word salad at the entrance to an art exhibition, take it as a red flag
Is a Kevin Spacey comeback possible?
The actor is not going to disappear into the shadows quietly
Friday
The roots of J.K. Rowling’s contrarianism
How did the woman who taught a generation to stand up to the Ministry of Magic betray liberal orthodoxy?
Zadie Smith’s latest novel is glittering, grand and powerful
The Fraud is a consciously (but not self-consciously) literary novel
How missing persons cases work in the wild
The real science of searching in nature is the most interesting — and disturbing — part of Lankford’s account
Maureen Ryan exposes the Hollywood horror show
At the end of Burn it Down , it’s hard not to wish that the industry could simply be shut down and rebooted all over again
Drew Gilpin Faust, a rebel with a cause
In Necessary Trouble the historian and former president of Harvard has given us a clear-eyed account of a vexed era
Apple’s foray into streaming
Apple TV+ will not be the next Netflix, and that is the whole point
Finding the warmth in Alfred Hitchcock’s filmography
When I look at the Hitchcock movies, I don’t see icy detachment. Instead what strikes me is their intimacy, gentleness and passion
Here Lies Love is too scared to be serious
The musical is like the disco ball that spins above its audience: beautiful but fractured. And, at its core, hollow