All Culture
'Deadpool 2' is a wisecracking, chaotically staged action rompSome of the movie's jokes hit the target, but many miss the mark.
'Book Club' fails to make good use of a stellar castThings turn raunchy 鈥� and a bit silly 鈥� when members of a book club decide to read 'Fifty Shades of Grey.'
Top Picks: 'Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls' podcast, the Redshift app, and more top picksAnnette Bening portrays 1950s actress Gloria Grahame in the movie 'Film Stars Don鈥檛 Die in Liverpool,' CNN delves into a pivotal year in a new program, '1968,' and more top picks.
What are you watching? Readers recommend 'Doctor Who,' 'Longmire'Monitor TV and movie fans share what they've been watching lately.
In a WordCan the punniest also be the funniest?Why, as John Pollack writes in 鈥淭he Pun Also Rises,鈥� do we consider puns 鈥渢he lowest form of humor?鈥�
Meanwhile on ... Scotland's Isle of Lewis and Harris, 海角大神s are extending a welcoming hand to a new mosqueAnd in聽Ashgabat, Turkmenistan,聽the government has allowed more than 200 indigenous Bronze Age artifacts to leave the country for the first time.聽
The Niger that I knowUS friends worry about safety in Niger; Nigerien friends worry about US school shootings.
Top Picks: '30 for 30' podcast, the Brad Mehldau Trio's 'Seymour Reads the Constitution!,' and more top picksTake the聽Viewranger app聽along on your next hike, the聽fun and uplifting movie musical聽'The Greatest Showman'聽is available on DVD and Blu-ray, and more top picks.
What are you watching? Readers recommend 'This Is Us,' 'Lost'Monitor TV and movie fans share what they've been watching lately.
In a WordMust Dennis be a dentist?A group of psychologists recently published a paper claiming that nominative determinism actually works. They found that men named Dennis were more likely to be dentists, the theory being that 'people choose 鈥� or are unconsciously drawn to 鈥� careers that resemble their own names.'
A few old words worth rescuingEnglish is a sort of free-for-all in which well-tempered words persist.
Modern dancers go toe-to-toe with Cambodian traditionWhat happens to a classic when it鈥檚 combined with modern ideas? In Cambodia, officials鈥� concern for traditional culture 鈥� four decades after it was threatened by the Khmer Rouge 鈥� is not preventing new art from being created. But a contemporary dance company is challenged by little money and limited access to an audience that could ensure its survival.聽
'Let the Sunshine In' is a bit more airy than it needs to beProtagonist Isabelle (Juliette Binoche) is flummoxed by her own gullibility and even more so by the subterfuges of the men (played by, among others, Xavier Beauvois, Nicolas Duvauchelle and, in a cameo at the end, G茅rard Depardieu).聽
鈥楾ully鈥� gives the Mary Poppins story an unsentimental updateThe cynicism in the film about the supposed undiluted joys of motherhood rings true, or at least truer than in movies that don鈥檛 admit such a station in life can be less than paradise.
'After Auschwitz' follows the lives of six women survivorsThe film鈥檚 thesis is that the struggle to survive did not end with the camps. Each of the women profiled recounts, with varying degrees of intensity, the difficulties in creating a 'normal' life in a world where the concept of 'home' can no longer fully resonate.
'RBG' is a love letter to Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader GinsburgDirectors Betsy West and Julie Cohen trace Ginsburg鈥檚 life and career from girlhood through marriage and law school to her current position as perhaps America鈥檚 least likely pop icon.
First LookOscars academy expels Roman Polanski and Bill CosbyThis is the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences's first decision since implementing new member standards of conduct after the expulsion of Harvey Weinstein.
Top Picks: Laura Veirs' 'The Lookout,' the podcast 'Circle Round,' and more top picksThe聽Fishbrain app聽can help you find a new spot, discover where fish are biting, and record what you鈥檝e caught in the past, the second story about a marmalade-loving bear comes to DVD and Blu-ray with 'Paddington 2,' and more top picks.
In a WordCan comity and Comey coexist?The US Senate is 鈥� or was 鈥� strongly associated with ideals of comity. Many of the recent articles about former FBI Director James Comey, however, suggest that Senate comity is under threat or already destroyed.聽聽 聽
The strawberry of Dave鈥檚 dreamsOregon鈥檚 climate is ideal for this fruit 鈥� except for the climate in my garden.
