Author: Jay Gabler
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Book review: Dan Martino’s “The Oyster Book”
Even if long stretches read like Wikipedia entries, I came away with a new appreciation for the merits of oysters and their farmers.
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Movie review: Cries and whispers in Aneil Karia’s “Hamlet”
Karia’s “Hamlet” locks us into the title character’s racing, flailing mind. Ophelia can’t break through, and neither can we.
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Movie review: “Sirāt” dances at the end of the world
“Sirāt” is not a profound movie, but you may have a profound experience watching it. The film conveys a sense of apocalypse in slow motion.
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Audiobook review: “The Windsor Legacy” offers British Royals 101
If you’re looking for a quick listen before you visit Buckingham Palace, this concise history is just the thing.
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Movie review: “Train Dreams” turns petro-masculinity on its head
Writer/director Clint Bentley’s sweeping frontier drama is romantic, but not regarding trains. (Planes fare better.)
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Movie review: “Sentimental Value” explores the healing power of art
For a movie with so much to chew on, Joachim Trier’s feature moves with efficiency, finding moment after moment of gentle emotional truth.
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Movie review: “Hamnet” is the best biopic of 2025
The film makes the case for art as a means of transfiguring an individual experience into one that is shared.
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Movie review: “Little Trouble Girls,” a subtle struggle between church and corpus
“Little Trouble Girls” understands the power of a few days away when you’re young and hopeful, even when that hope is bound to be dashed.
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Review: 2025 British Arrows inspire laughter and tears
Amid a numbing drumbeat of discouraging news, this year’s ads arrive as a welcome reminder that it is still possible to actually feel things.
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Movie review: “The Legend of Ochi” is gratifyingly strange
What most distinguishes the tone of “Ochi” from similar films of that era is its absolute, unblinking sincerity.
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Movie review: “I Wish You All the Best,” a gentle but thorny coming-of-age story
We believe Ben, a teenager coming out as nonbinary, when they say it’s their parents who need more self-knowledge.
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Movie review: “Ballad of a Small Player” hits its notes too hard
The protagonist’s struggle with his demons becomes the film’s focal point — to diminishing returns, because we’ve seen that story before.