Arts & Life

Godzilla — who's celebrating his own 65th birthday this year — watches over convention-goers on preview night at San Diego Comic Con.

Arts

Comic-Con 2019, Day 1: Sleepless In San Diego

7:00am July 19, 2019

San Diego Comic-Con kicked off Thursday, with more than 130,000 attendees expected. Big draws of the day were Lin-Manuel Miranda and Arnold Schwarzenegger — and a surprise appearance from Tom Cruise.

A sophisticated mix of digital imagery and virtual-reality techniques give Disney's Lion King remake the feel of a live-action film. The result plays like a Hollywood blockbuster disguised as a National Geographic documentary.

Arts

New 'Lion King' Remake Is More Creative Dead End Than Circle Of Life

5:44pm July 18, 2019

by Justin Chang

Disney's Lion King is so realistic-looking that, paradoxically, you can't believe a moment of it. The computer-generated blockbuster feels like the world's most expensive safari-themed karaoke video.

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David Crosby (center) with Neil Young (l) and Stephen Stills (r) during a Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young concert in Texas in 1974.

Wasted On The Way: A Musician Looks Back In 'David Crosby: Remember My Name'

5:31pm July 18, 2019

by Ella Taylor

In A.J. Eaton's documentary, Crosby proves a "passionate, wry, often bellicose" storyteller who "often seems to be writing his own self-lacerating obituary."

Louis Garrel (right), directs, co-wrote, and stars with Laetitia Casta (left) in this French romantic comedy about a complicated love triangle.

Arts

Mon Petit, Choose: In The Deft, Whimsical 'A Faithful Man,' A Couple's Bond Is Tested

5:00pm July 18, 2019

by Scott Tobias

Louis Garrel's second film as a director is a dry romantic comedy that involves a love triangle, and "watching it unfold can feel at times like an anthropological study of the French species."

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, pictured here in 2014, has announced this year's class of Kennedy Center Honors recipients.

Kennedy Center Announces 2019 Honorees

2:03pm July 18, 2019

by Patrick Jarenwattananon

Earth, Wind & Fire, Sally Field, Linda Ronstadt, Sesame Street and Michael Tilson Thomas will be recognized for their lifetime contributions to the performing arts at a gala in December.

Books
Arts

For The 'Nickel Boys,' Life Isn't Worth 5 Cents

10:47am July 18, 2019

by Michael Schaub

Colson Whitehead's harrowing new novel is based on a true story about a brutally abusive reform school in Florida where the grounds were pocked with the unmarked graves of the boys who died there.

Raised in Captivity, by Chuck Klosterman

Books
Arts

34 Ways To Beat The System In 'Raised In Captivity'

10:00am July 18, 2019

by Jason Sheehan

Chuck Klosterman's new collection of "fictional nonfiction" is full of people who subvert expectations and find ways around the systems that rule our lives. Also, there's a puma in an airplane toilet.

This Is How You Lose The Time War, By Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone

Books
Arts

Letters Serve To Bond Time-Traveling Rivals In 'This Is How You Lose The Time War'

7:01am July 18, 2019

by Jason Sheehan

Rather than the time travel or war, the thrill of Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone's book becomes the connection between two lonely professional killers with the ability to inscribe letters on lava.

'Super Mario Maker 2' is the latest entry in Nintendo's immense portfolio of games that feature the iconic plumber.

Arts

'Super Mario Maker 2' Is A Loving Ode To Fan Communities

7:00am July 18, 2019

by Vincent Acovino

In 'Super Mario Maker 2,' Nintendo loosens its grip on a beloved property and embraces its hardcore fans.

In the summer of 1927, Langston Hughes and Zora Neale Hurston drove together from Alabama to New York. Just outside Savannah, Ga., they gave a ride to a young person running away from a chain gang. An essay Hughes wrote about that encounter has recently r

Books
Arts

In Lost Essay, Langston Hughes Recounts Meeting A Young Chain Gang Runaway

6:02pm July 17, 2019

by Ari Shapiro

The work, previously published only in Russian, was discovered by Professor Steven Hoelscher. The encounter occurred in 1927, when Hughes and Zora Neale Hurston went on a road trip through the South.

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