MOST RECENT ARTICLES BY:

Adam Sternbergh

  1. movies
    The Matrix Taught Superheroes to FlyIt laid the template for the gritty, gravity-defying, self-seriously cerebral modern blockbuster.
  2. movies
    Why Did Rian Johnson Follow Star Wars With a Whodunit?The unlikely existence of Knives Out.
  3. from the archives
    Is Friends Still the Most Popular Show on TV?Why so many 20-somethings want to stream a 20-year-old sitcom about a bunch of 20-somethings sitting around in a coffee shop.
  4. thrillers
    Jurassic Park’s Screenwriter Wrote an Equally Terrifying Novel, and Loved ItDavid Koepp’s debut thriller, Cold Storage, stars a killer fungus and bored Midwesterners.
  5. encounter
    Carson Daly Is TV’s Ultimate Survivor“I’ve heard this my whole life. ‘What tangible talent does he have?’ The answer is none.”
  6. podcasts
    How Podcasts Learned to SpeakThe once useless-seeming medium that became essential.
  7. the crime scene
    If I Hate Violence So Much, Why Do I Love Writing About It?Writers of violent thrillers reflect on — and reaffirm — the ethics of what they do.
  8. in conversation
    M. Night Shyamalan on His Failures, His Successes, and GlassFirst, the director started making movies people liked again. Now he has his own superhero universe.
  9. the kavanaugh hearings
    When Powerful Men Are Convinced They Can’t Be WrongOr, what Brett Kavanaugh has in common with Roger Clemens.
  10. fall preview 2018
    Jonathan Lethem Wrote a Mystery Novel to Beat His Trump BluesThe Feral Detective emphatically reasserts the notion that a novel can grapple with a cultural moment.
  11. fall preview
    What Do You Expect From Jonah Hill? How About ‘Director’?The actor and unlikely style icon on finding his true calling.
  12. encounter
    Playing Dumpling Roulette With Kieran Culkin, TV’s New Favorite Lovable Bad BoyHe’s the breakout character on HBO’s Succession, the breakout show of the summer.
  13. science of us
    Middle Children Are Going Extinct, Just When We Could Use Them the MostThey’re empaths, peacemakers, negotiators — and an endangered species.
  14. Alex Garland on Annihilation’s Crazy Ending“There is stuff in there that, collectively, the people who made the film consciously included for a second viewing, not the first.”
  15. science of us
    Here’s Your Cheat Sheet to HappinessThe most talked-about college course in America isn’t about making money or saving the world. It’s about how to be truly happy. We took it for you.
  16. q&a
    Zoe Kazan Has Learned to Love Robots and Stephen KingAnd you can see one of those two things in her play After the Blast.
  17. Remembering the Tragically Hip’s Gord DownieHe always belonged peculiarly, and uniquely, to Canada.
  18. Remembering No Country for Old Men 10 Years LaterIt’s not Cormac McCarthy’s best book, and it’s not the Coen brothers’ best movie. But it might be the most successful collaboration in film history.
  19. behind the scenes
    Preview the Martha Stewart-Meets-Pee-wee’s Playhouse Set of Amy Sedaris’s ShowThe backdrop of At Home With Amy Sedaris features a wig wall, a dual-purpose garden-graveyard, and much more.
  20. The Duffer Brothers’ Upside-Down Journey to Stranger ThingsThe twin screenwriters thought they’d flamed out in Hollywood. Then they came up with the Netflix breakout.
  21. first look
    The Photographer Who’s Been Capturing Historic New York Moments for 50 YearsJean-Pierre Laffont’s latest collection, New York City Up and Down, proves that you never know what you might see here.
  22. fan theories
    4 Alternate Fan Theories on the Endings of Classic TV ShowsTony’s dead, Walt’s not, and Phoebe’s hooked on meth.
  23. profile
    Zoe Kazan Is Reimagining the Rom-Com Heroine — and HerselfIn a new film, The Big Sick, and a new play, After the Blast.
  24. comedy
    At 70, Andrea Martin Is Getting Her Big BreakVery few people stay funny for 50 years. Fewer still stick around long enough to land the perfect sitcom role at age 70.
  25. movies
    The Most Memorable Image From a New Martin Scorsese ExhibitThis Cape Fear continuity photo reminds the viewer of the intensity of Robert De Niro’s performance and of the iconic collaboration that produced it.
  26. tv couple scuffle
    TV Couples: Monica & Chandler vs. Ross & RachelIn the battle to determine the ultimate TV couple, we must first dispense with the undercard battle to determine the ultimate TV couple on Friends. 
  27. obituary
    Remembering Director Curtis Hanson, Dead at 71The 8 Mile and L.A. Confidential director died on September 20, at 71. 
  28. fall preview 2016
    Is Westworld HBO’s Next Game of Thrones?Given that the network was able to win you over to an epic show about dragons, how do you feel about robots?
  29. westward no!
    Hell or High Water and the West’s Broken PromiseNew takes on “the West” depict a frontier in foreclosure.
  30. the unbourne legacy
    Jeremy Renner Is Hollywood’s Greatest Negotiating Tool (But He Deserves Better)Somebody needs to figure out what to do with Jeremy Renner.
  31. Is the Present Worse Than Any Fictional, Futuristic Dystopia?The job of the futurist is no longer speculating about what might come. It’s trying to comprehend what’s already here.
  32. aliens
    Donald Trump Would Make a Great President (If Aliens Attack Earth)He’ll gather the best people, the absolute top people, to formulate a plan, you’re not going to believe this absolutely great plan to let us win bigly
  33. tv
    How L.A.’s Silver Lake Became TV’s Most Neurotic NeighborhoodIf all this comedic angst has a home, it’s here.
  34. movies
    The Weirdest Movie You Can See This WeekendA dystopian vision of 1989 that was filmed in 1982, involving leopard-skin suits, cross-dressing assassins, corporate conspiracy, porn stars, houseboats, and a fantastic droning-techno soundtrack by Tangerine Dream.
  35. angry birds
    Is Angry Birds About Trump? Or Hitler? Or Immigration? (Probably Not)According to the internet, if you squint and look at the movie version of Red one way, he could be Trump. If you squint and look at him another way, he’s obviously Hitler. (When he’s young, he’s even bad at art.)
  36. Captain America 3: End of the End of the World?What makes Civil War so revelatory, at least within the superhero genre, is it’s absent an actual bad guy.
  37. vulture cover story
    The Russo Bros and the Idea of Studio AuteurismJoe and Anthony Russo may be unlikely blockbuster impresarios, but they’re the future of Hollywood.
  38. Why Celebrities Endorse Donald TrumpThere’s a logic to this behavior. Presumably. 
  39. books
    The Sympathizer Heralds the Literary ConvergenceIt’s the first novel that’s won both a major literary award and a major genre award in the same year.
  40. bennui
    We Are All Sad Ben AffleckThe meme represents the barely suppressed despair of living in our modern media-driven world.
  41. Is Friends Still the Most Popular Show on TV?Why so many 20-somethings want to stream a 20-year-old sitcom about a bunch of 20-somethings sitting around in a coffee shop.
  42. Why the Public Should Elect the Oscar HostThe risk would be worth it.
  43. oscars 2016
    Would You Rewatch The Revenant? A New Criterion for Best PictureWho’s watched The Artist twice?
  44. George Miller on Mad Max and His Unlikely CareerAt age 70, he accomplished something extremely improbable: He revived a 30-year-old action franchise with a new installment that is the best one yet.
  45. swaps
    What the Super Bowl and the Oscars Should Steal From Each OtherSome idea-swapping for sports’ and Hollywood’s biggest nights.
  46. tribute
    As Hans Gruber in Die Hard, Alan Rickman Redefined Action MoviesHans Gruber redefined action-film villainy.
  47. In Conversation: Charlie KaufmanThe writer behind Being John Malkovich, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and, now, Anomalisa discusses where his ideas come from, the TV shows he can’t get made, and the finer points of puppet sex.
  48. In Conversation: Charlie KaufmanThe writer behind Being John Malkovich discusses where his ideas come from, the TV shows he can’t get made, and the finer points of puppet sex.
  49. for your reconsideration
    How I Stopped Worrying and Learned to Love FargoI loved the movie. I was nervous about the show. I was wrong.
  50. reasons to love new york
    Why New York Makes the Best Reality-Show StarsRecognizing the ingenious innovation of The Bedford Stop.
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