The Tragedy of the Diddy Trial

Save this storySave this storySave this storySave this storyYou’re reading Critic’s Notebook, our weekend column looking at the most interesting moments in the cultural Zeitgeist. Sean Combs mouthed “thank you” to the jurors, his hands clasped in prayer. The intricacies…

Donald Trump, Zohran Mamdani, and Posting as Politics

Save this storySave this storySave this storySave this storyYou’re reading Infinite Scroll, Kyle Chayka’s weekly column on how technology shapes culture. On June 24, at 6:50 A.M., Donald Trump posted a message on Truth Social that might otherwise have been…

How Eva Victor Reimagined the Trauma Plot

Save this storySave this storySave this storySave this story At one point in “Sorry, Baby,” a new film written and directed by, and starring, the actor and comedian Eva Victor, the main character, an English professor named Agnes, has an…

“M3GAN 2.0” Is a Victim of Inflation

Save this storySave this storySave this storySave this story With “M3GAN 2.0,” the franchising of the 2022 sci-fi-horror mashup “M3GAN” suffers from sequelitis. At least it shows its symptoms clearly: inflammation and swelling. In the first film, Gemma (Allison Williams),…

The Shrewdly Regenerative Apocalypse of “28 Years Later”

Save this storySave this storySave this storySave this story Perhaps because cannibalism comes with the territory, the zombie movie has proved uncommonly immune to a certain strain of critical attack: the kind that instinctively finds fault with the derivative. This…

Glory and Gore in “Afternoons of Solitude”

Save this storySave this storySave this storySave this story You don’t have to like bullfighting to watch “Afternoons of Solitude” with fascination, any more than you have to like crime to enjoy a film noir. Full disclosure: I squeamishly watch…