What scares Ari Aster these days? His answer is dividing Cannes, so we sat down with him

Cannes, France – “The sun is my mortal enemy,” Ari Aster says, squinting as he sits on the sixth-floor rooftop terrace of Cannes’ Palais des Festivals, where most of the screenings happen. It’s an especially bright afternoon and we take refuge in the shade. Aster, the 38-year-old filmmaker of “Hereditary” and “Midsummer,” wears a olive-colored … Read more

Who’s afraid of James Joyce? Elevator Repair Service takes a tour of ‘Ulysses’

“Ulysses” may not be James Joyce’s most difficult novel. That distinction would have to go to “Finnegans Wake,” a book that has been described as unreadable even by its most fervent admirers. But “Ulysses,” the modernist novel that changed the course of 20th century literature, is notoriously demanding. The book bested me when I first … Read more

‘There is much to be afraid of’: Carl Lumbly on the fraught politics of ‘Captain America’

“Captain America: Brave New World” puts Anthony Mackie‘s Sam Wilson at the center of the Marvel Cinematic Universe as the first Black Captain America. Joining Mackie in his groundbreaking journey is Carl Lumbly, who made his own historic mark as a Black superhero three decades ago. Lumbly co-stars as Isaiah Bradley, a supersoldier who is … Read more