Arts

Highlights

Critic’s Notebook
The Composer Who Changed Opera With ‘a Beautiful Simplicity’
In the mid-1700s, Christoph Willibald Gluck overthrew the musical excesses around him. A marathon double bill in France shows the vibrancy of his vision.
By Zachary Woolfe
CreditMonika Rittershaus/Iphigénie en Aulide
Exit Interview
Mia Goth on Reaching the End of the ‘X’ Trilogy
After playing two very different lead characters in a horror franchise, she reflects on what it took to pull off the roles, as well as what’s ahead.
By Kellina Moore
CreditAmy Harrity for The New York Times
1. The Tennis Podcast that Champions, and Hosts, Black Pros
  Black Spin Global found an audience with its cheeky coverage of the growing number of ranked Black tennis players. It also offered them a forum.
  By Stacy Y. China
  Creditvia Black Spin Global
2. On Comedy
  3 Sharp Stand-Up Specials to Entertain You This Holiday Weekend
  Hannah Einbinder, Raanan Hershberg and Mo Welch all take tricky approaches in their quests for laughs.
  By Jason Zinoman
  CreditMax

5 Children’s Movies to Stream Now
This month’s picks include a superhero adventure, a dark fantasy tale and films based on beloved television series.
By Dina Gachman
CreditNetflix
A Masterpiece of Fiction Inspires the Urge to Submerge in a Gallery Crawl
In New York’s art show of the summer, paint and prose meet in “The Swimmer,” a psychoanalysis of John Cheever’s suburban nightmare of 1964.
By Walker Mimms
Creditvia Jonathan W Anderson
Critic’s Pick
This Service Cat Has a Big Job: The Apocalypse
The director of “A Quiet Place: Day One” was confident a cat could take on the end of the world. But could the feline actors win over Lupita Nyong’o?
By Esther Zuckerman
CreditGareth Gatrell/Paramount Pictures
The Booty-Shaking Anthem That Still Endures, 25 Years Later
Juvenile’s “Back That Azz Up” was a 1999 hit that brought twerking and New Orleans bounce into the mainstream. Here’s the story of how it became a sensation.
By Jonathan Abrams
CreditRaymond Boyd/Getty Images
The Dazzling Artistry of Hiroshige’s ‘100 Famous Views of Edo’
It’s actually 118 at the Brooklyn Museum, and the more the better. These vivid color woodblocks have much to teach Instagram, and even Murakami.
By Will Heinrich
Creditvia Brooklyn Museum
Critic’s Pick

Why We Still Want to Hear the ‘Ode to Joy,’ 200 Years Later
Beethoven’s aspirational vision of unity and peace can be applied to virtually any situation or place. The music makes sure of that.
By Joshua Barone
CreditMark Sandten/Bongarts, via Getty Images
San Francisco’s Arts Institutions Are Slowly Building Back
Although attendance remains down from prepandemic levels, the city’s arts groups are having some success getting audiences to return.
By Robin Pogrebin
CreditUlysses Ortega for The New York Times
‘Space Cadet’ Review: Emma Roberts Shoots for the Stars
In a lightweight comedy, the actress plays a bartender who dreams of becoming an astronaut. One problem: She has no qualifications for the job.
By Alissa Wilkinson
CreditEric Liebowitz//Prime Video
The Most Intriguing Animated Films You’ll Never See
A digital book, “Drawing for Nothing,” highlights some of the best art from canceled animation projects like “Me and My Shadow.”
By Robert Ito
Creditvia Jacob Pruitt
5 Minutes That Will Make You Love Wayne Shorter
“He always was a genius,” Herbie Hancock says of his friend and collaborator. Hear a sampling of that genius in these 13 tracks.
By Marcus J. Moore
CreditDante Zaballa

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Sketch Pad
I Don’t Give a Damn About My Dad Reputation
A longtime “Freaks and Geeks” fan reconsiders what it means to be one of the cool kids.
By Mike Dawson
He Won the Turner Prize. But Does He Still Want to Be an Artist?
Jesse Darling is so disillusioned with the art world that he just isn’t sure.
By Thomas Rogers
My Ten
Jane Lynch Loves Being the ‘Weakest Link’ Host and Not a Contestant
The former “Glee” star turned a childhood fascination with game shows into a TV gig. “I could do it forever,” she says.
By Kathryn Shattuck
Paal Enger, Who Stole Munch’s ‘The Scream,’ Is Dead at 57
A promising player for a storied Norwegian soccer club, he instead found infamy for stealing one of the world’s most famous artworks.
By Alex Williams
Keke Jabbar, Who Starred on ‘Love and Marriage: Huntsville,’ Dies at 42
She was a frequent sight on the series, which began in 2019, and impressed fans with her straightforward attitude.
By Emmett Lindner
Michael Tracy, Artist Who Helped Restore a Texas Border Town, Dies at 80
His baroque fusions of bright paint, wood and other detritus wowed the art world. But as his fame faded, he turned his attention to historic preservation.
By Adam Nossiter
Critic’s Notebook
Resisting the Far Right at a Festival of French Theater
Tiago Rodrigues said the Avignon Festival, which he leads, would become “a festival of resistance,” juggling activism with the premiere of a new play.
By Laura Cappelle
Nancy Azara, Sculptor Who Created a Haven for Feminist Artists, Dies at 84
She helped establish the New York Feminist Art Institute. In her own work — monumental pieces carved from found lumber — she evoked ancient feminine imagery.
By Penelope Green
‘Prosper’ Is a Juicy Megachurch Drama
This Australian series has enough tawdry scandals to qualify as a soap and enough Shakespearean power lust to qualify as a fancy drama.
By Margaret Lyons
Five Science Fiction Movies to Stream Now
In this month’s sci-fi picks, life on Mars, a social dystopia set in near-future London and a meet-cute after a spaceship accident.
By Elisabeth Vincentelli