The Best Truthdig Arts & Culture Stories of 2019
Highlights include a unique take on "Joker," a powerful review of the 58th Venice Biennale and a probing interview with Errol Morris.
Joaquin Phoenix stars as Arthur Fleck in "Joker." (Warner Bros. Pictures)
This year’s top Arts & Culture stories include film reviews of must-see films like “The Irishman” and “Joker,” exclusive interviews with filmmaker Errol Morris and author Naomi Klein, and an account of the 2019 Venice Biennale, among others. To read the full stories, click on the hyperlinked titles.
Martin Scorsese Closes the Book on the Mafia Genre
By CARRIE RICKEY
The scope of “The Irishman” is as big as the U.S., and the director delivers a hit that lives up to the hype—and then some.
Neoliberalism Is the True Villain of ‘Joker’
By LESLIE LEE
In its depiction of an austerity-wracked Gotham, Todd Phillips has made one of the most subversive and left-leaning major films of 2019.
Geena Davis Puts a Sexist Hollywood on Notice By KASIA ANDERSON
In “This Changes Everything,” Davis and peers like Kimberly Peirce, Meryl Streep and Taraji P. Henson zoom in on their industry’s gender gap.
‘Mulholland Drive’ Is David Lynch’s ‘Ulysses’
By ALLEN BARRA
One of the filmmaker’s most compelling fever dreams deserves another look.
Naomi Klein: We Have Far Less Time Than We Think
By ILANA NOVICK
In a new interview with Truthdig, the author of “On Fire” explains why the next year could determine the future of U.S. climate policy.
Watch the CIA Get Away With Torture
Based on the 2014 Senate probe into the use of “enhanced interrogation,” “The Report” sheds light on a shameful chapter in U.S. history.
Lawrence Ferlinghetti Is Still Revolutionary at Age 100
By NATASHA HAKIMI ZAPATA and ROBERT SCHEER
The legendary poet, who is now 100 years old, can be described by nearly enough epithets for every year he’s been alive.
Venice Biennale Artists Foresee a World on the Brink
By DAVID MATORIN
The tangible effects of political concerns, ranging from mass displacement to climate change, are unavoidable at the 58th Venice Biennale.
Ellen DeGeneres and the American Psychopath By JACOB BACHARACH
The talk show host’s sanctimonious defense for catching a football game with George W. Bush speaks to a disturbing national pathology.
Errol Morris Is as Scared as You Are By JACOB SUGARMAN
The legendary documentarian opens up about his new film, “American Dharma,” his fear of Steve Bannon and what makes compelling propaganda.
The Most Horrifying Look at Monsanto Yet
Samanta Schweblin has terrified readers across the globe precisely because she tells familiar stories we should all dread.
‘Black Is Beautiful’: Identity, Pride and the Photography of Kwame Brathwaite
By JORDAN RIEFE
A new look at the activist impresario and photographer provides a positive guide for building community.
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Winners will be announced Dec. 1 by the Los Angeles Press Club.
Films like "Blue Velvet," "Lost Highway" and "Mulholland Drive" once offered a funhouse reflection of our national character. Not anymore.
Documentary director Rob Garver explores the prose, controversies and lasting legacy of perhaps the most enduring of America’s film critics, whose work didn't always garner favorable reviews from her peers.
A new memoir offers a unique glimpse into the mind of one of our most visionary filmmakers. Just don't expect him to explain "Twin Peaks."
Master of cinema bizarrité David Lynch is giving the Parisian nightlife a shot of his distinctive brand of surrealism by directing part of the production of a new nightclub, Silencio, based on his 2001 film "Mulholland Drive."
While the publicists have made it clear this isn't a reunion, Sir Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr will be playing the same charity event next month. The surviving Beatles will appear in support of eccentric filmmaker David Lynch's foundation, which hopes to teach transcendental meditation to a million at-risk kids.
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