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R. Kikuo Johnson’s “Upstairs, Downstairs”

Save this storySave this storySave this storySave this story “One of the things that I’ve always loved about living in New York is that I don’t need to own a car,” R. Kikuo Johnson, the artist behind the March 31,…

A British Detective Comedy About a Reclusive Puzzle-Maker

Save this storySave this storySave this storySave this story There’s a gamelike element to being a detective—the seeking of hidden information, the identification of patterns, the piecing together of clues, the “Eureka!” of discovery. Several legendary fictional detectives have been…

What to Watch That Isn’t “The White Lotus”

Save this storySave this storySave this storySave this storyYou’re reading the Goings On newsletter, a guide to what we’re watching, listening to, and doing this week. Sign up to receive it in your inbox. The musician Tamara Lindeman founded the…

The Unsettling Cheer of “The Baldwins”

Save this storySave this storySave this storySave this story Early on in “Mulholland Drive,” the late, great David Lynch’s 2001 surreal masterpiece of American aspiration and degeneration, the young innocent Betty Elms (Naomi Watts) arrives in Los Angeles from small-town…

The Deliriously Witty Spy Games of “Black Bag”

Save this storySave this storySave this storySave this story The marvellous new espionage thriller “Black Bag” is, among other things, a sparkling ode to a happy marriage. I’m referring, in part, to the union between the movie’s central characters, George…

“This Life of Mine”: A Terminal Masterwork

Save this storySave this storySave this storySave this story Film festivals are important showcases for films that don’t yet have distribution, but there’s a hitch in the process. What happens when a movie, after a première at a festival, hits…

Mister Lonely, the New TV Hero

Save this storySave this storySave this storySave this story In the very first shot of the pilot episode of “Paradise”—a recent dystopian political thriller from Hulu—a man played by Sterling K. Brown lies alone, unrestfully, in bed. His eyes are…