Room goes beyond the tabloid headlines.
Alison Hallett
Alison Hallett served nobly as the Mercury's arts editor from 2008-2014. Her proud legacy lives on.
Posted inBooks
Goosebumps Is Middle-Grade Meta
GOOSEBUMPS “Don’t worry! Our lives are in the hands of Jack Black.” Somewhere there’s a 14-year-old who just learned how to inhale who’s going to enjoy the bejeezus out of Goosebumps. It’s middle-grade mindblowing: The author is a character in his own story. There are also a lot of seven-to-11-year-olds who are going to enjoy […]
Posted inMovies & TV
Goosebumps Is Middle-Grade Meta
All of R.L. Stine’s Greatest Hits! (And Jack Black)
All of R.L. Stine’s greatest hits! (And Jack Black.)
Posted inBooks
Debating the Mysterious Allure of Elena Ferrante
Neapolitan Novels: Beyond All Reason
Neapolitan Novels: the perplexing joy.
Posted inMovies & TV
Sleeping with Other People Is Fun!
SLEEPING WITH OTHER PEOPLE Are these two hot people are going to make out??? The question at the heart of When Harry Met Sally feels pretty dated these days. Can men and women really be “just friends”? Yeah dummies, we totally can. Sleeping with Other People isn’t technically a WHMS remake—”slavish homage” might be more […]
Posted inMovies & TV
Sleeping with Other People Is Fun!
Alison Brie and Jason Sudeikis Should Totally Do It.
Alison Brie and Jason Sudeikis should totally do it.
Posted inMovies & TV
The Look of Silence Shows What It Takes to Forgive
THE LOOK OF SILENCE An unflinching look into Indonesia’s atrocities—and the people behind them. The Act of Killing is one of the most chilling documentaries ever made. Director Joshua Oppenheimer invited a few surviving leaders of Indonesia’s death squads to dramatize the atrocities they committed in 1964 and 1965, during the so-called “communist purge,” when […]
Posted inMovies & TV
The Look of Silence Shows What It Takes to Forgive
Morality and Reckoning in the Follow-Up to The Act of Killing
Morality and reckoning in the follow-up to The Act of Killing.
Posted inBooks
You Can See The End of the Tour Even If You Never Finished Infinite Jest
THE END OF THE TOUR A film based on not-so-brief interviews with not-so-hideous men. A certain segment of the reading population simply shouldn’t see The End of the Tour: David Foster Wallace diehards, the ones who’ve read Infinite Jest not just once but several times; who’ve internalized those famously complex sentences and who’ve waded through […]
Posted inMovies & TV
You Can See The End of the Tour Even If You Never Finished Infinite Jest
Of Resentment, Road Trips, and David Foster Wallace
This David Foster Wallace movie isn’t really about David Foster Wallace.
Posted inMovies & TV
Ricki and the Flash Is Being So Bad Today!
RICKI AND THE FLASH Your mom wants to see this. A lot. There is a certain type of woman who will refer to any dietary splurge as “being bad.” E.g., “I think I will have another bite of honey lavender cheesecake! I’m being bad today!” These women will really like Ricki and the Flash! Ricki […]
Posted inMovies & TV
Ricki and the Flash Is Being So Bad Today!
Oh No She Didn’t Joke About Her Graying Pubic Hair!
Oh no she didn’t joke about her graying pubic hair!