MEMETERIA by Thomas May

Arts & Culture Stories from NPR

• 'Chilling Adventures Of Sabrina' Is Wicked, Good
  Mad Men's Kiernan Shipka ably carries the Riverdale-adjacent series on Netflix about a young woman who's half mortal, half witch and all hero.
• Memory Fuels Art And Activism In Mark Bradford's 'Tomorrow Is Another Day'
  Bradford represented the U.S. at the 2017 Venice Biennale. An exhibit of his work is now on view at The Baltimore Museum of Art — where one curator says he may well be the best painter working today.
• Kobe Bryant Removed As Animation Festival Juror After Protest Over Past Allegations
  A petition launched by "women and allies in the animation community" demanded "that accused rapist and sexual predator Kobe Bryant be removed" from the Animation Is Us festival.
• In 'Wildlife,' Carey Mulligan's Performance Blazes Bright
  Paul Dano movingly adapts Richard Ford's 1990 novel about a couple (Jake Gyllenhaal and Carey Mulligan) whose marriage crumbles as their son (Ed Oxenbould) watches.
• In 'Mid90s' Jonah Hill Looks At Skater Culture Through A Lens, Blankly
  Jonah Hill writes and directs this semi-autobiographical coming-of-age tale about a boy who embraces skater culture; the film faithfully documents the era, but offers no point of view.
• 'Halloween': This Time, Laurie Strode Is Locked And Loaded
  Critic Monica Castillo says this Halloween sequel takes as its true subject the lingering effects of the trauma Jamie Lee Curtis' character experienced in the 1978 original. (Also there's stabbing.)
• A Family In Quiet Crisis Gathers To Assess 'What They Had' — And What They've Still Got
  In her debut feature, writer/director Elizabeth Chomko brings fresh insight — and a stellar cast — to the "dysfunctional family" subgenre; the result is "funny and sad, but never mawkish."
• 'The Big Fella' Highlights Babe Ruth's Spot As First Celebrity Sports Star
  Jane Leavy tells the story of Ruth as the first baseball superstar — but also of his roles as movie star, vaudeville performer, barnstormer, pitchman for every conceivable product, and columnist.
• 'Ruth Bader Ginsburg' Reminds Us Why The Justice Is A True Legal Icon
  Jane Sherron De Hart's biography sheds light on personal and professional challenges Ginsburg faced on the way to the top and puts the Supreme Court justice's life in context.
• 'Melmoth' Bears Witness To Our Worst, Loneliest Moments
  Sarah Perry's new novel isn't subtle — it's full of ominous birds, guttering candles and mysterious figures in gloomy windows. But there's something satisfying about its emotional flamboyance.