FROM THE MAGAZINE

October 2023

Film

The lamentable rise of VFX in horror films

CGI is no substitute for glue, tape and ketchup

By Ross Anderson

From the Magazine

Book Review

Christopher Rufo’s new book is impressively erudite

America’s Cultural Revolution marks Rufo as an important, deeply knowledgeable thinker

By David J. Garrow

From the Magazine

Book Review

Taylor Lorenz is optimistic about the internet

Extremely Online is mostly a story about money

By David Weigel

From the Magazine

Book Review

Emily Carroll’s new graphic novel plays on our deepest fears

A Guest in the House is a beautifully plotted study of the madness of isolation, steeped in the tropes of fairy tale and horror

By Philip Womack

From the Magazine

Book Review

An admirable but flawed new biography of George Eliot

The Marriage Question shows us a woman fragmented

By Oliver Soden

From the Magazine

Book Review

Bernie Taupin is more than just ‘Elton John’s lyricist’

The songwriter’s book is free of sentimental clutter, but it would take a heart of stone not to be moved by the takeaway message

By Christopher Sandford

From the Magazine

Book Review

A diverting but unsurprising new history of the Astor clan

There is a fine, perceptive book to be written about the Astors and their influence, but Astor: The Rise and Fall of an American Fortune is not it

By Anne Sebba

From the Magazine

Theater

Once Upon a One More Time is pat, prepackaged feminism

Authorized by Spears herself, the show revamps the tale of Cinderella, weaving in Britney’s own repertoire of songs

By Clarissa Sebag-Montefiore

From the Magazine

Art

The value — and worthlessness — of contemporary art

Should you spot a binder full of explanatory word salad at the entrance to an art exhibition, take it as a red flag

By William Newton

From the Magazine

Film

Is a Kevin Spacey comeback possible?

The actor is not going to disappear into the shadows quietly

By Alexander Larman

From the Magazine