“Highbrow horror cinema has won respectability—but sold its soul.”
movies
Posted inEditor's Pick
The Strange Saga of ‘The Gods Must Be Crazy’
“The racist 1980s comedy broke box-office records worldwide—then promptly disappeared. The story behind it is revealing.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
Who’s Afraid of Mickey Mouse?
“Why the Disney formula doesn’t work in China.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
How ‘Go,’ the Wildest, Druggiest, Horniest Cult Movie of 1999 Got Made (And Almost Didn’t)
“Twenty-five years after it came out—and got bulldozed in theaters by The Matrix—the timeline-twisting indie comedy Go looks better than ever.”
Posted inTop 5
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
The April 12 edition features stories by Stephanie McCrummen, Mark Warren, Trina Moyles, Laura Preston, and Jack King.
Posted inEditor's Pick
Sure, It Won an Oscar. But Is It Criterion?
“How the Criterion Collection became the film world’s arbiter of taste.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
How a Script Doctor Found His Own Voice
“For decades, Scott Frank earned up to three hundred thousand dollars a week rewriting other people’s screenplays. Finally, he decided to stop playing ventriloquist.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
How Do You Make a Movie About the Holocaust?
“With ‘The Zone of Interest,’ Jonathan Glazer is just the latest director to confront the problem.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
How Sandra Hüller Approached Playing a Nazi
“The German actress probes characters with unusual depth. But to portray a Fascist wife, in ‘The Zone of Interest,’ she reversed her usual approach—and withheld her empathy.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
The Weird and Wonderful Life of L.A.’s Most Bizarre Celebrity Photographer
“He had the golden era of Hollywood in those shoe boxes.”