Most of Radu Jude’s “Dracula” consists of numbered chapters that include loads of garish AI images and bring together, more or less, elements from the vampire legend. (Saga Film/Nabis Filmgroup/Paul Thiltges Distribution/MicroFILM) By MANOHLA DARGIS For “Dracula,” Romanian filmmaker Radu Jude has turned his attention and a cellphone camera on the title vampire in Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel and come up with a gleefully crude and vulgar go-for-broke provocation that is as grindin

Scarlet Camilo in “Boca Chica” (2023). (pragda.com via Selene Films) By DEVIKA GIRISH ‘Milisuthando’ South African artist and filmmaker Milisuthando Bongela had never really encountered racism until she was 9 years old — or so she thought. Born in 1985, Bongela was raised in the Transkei, one of South Africa’s many Bantustans: segregated regions that the apartheid government claimed conferred autonomy on the country’s native Black population, when in fact, they only entrenche

Jorge Calderón performs during “Join Me in L.A.: The Songs of Warren Zevon,” a tribute concert for Warren Zevon at the United Theater in downtown Los Angeles, on Friday, Oct. 24, 2025. The singer and songwriter was the focus of a tribute concert in Los Angeles on Friday. Next month, he’ll be honored by the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. (Alex Welsh/The New York Times) By BOB MEHR At the conclusion of “Join Me in L.A.: The Songs of Warren Zevon” — a 32-song, 4 1/2-hour concert held

While there have been offers, Sheena Easton hasn’t been tempted by the prospect of making a splashy comeback. (Facebook via Official Sheena Easton) By BOB MEHR These days, Sheena Easton can walk her dog, go to her Pilates classes and have lunch with friends mostly without being recognized. In the 1980s, however, the Scottish singer was one of the world’s biggest, busiest and most visible pop acts, known for radio hits like “Morning Train (Nine to Five),” “Strut” and “Sugar Wa

By MANOHLA DARGIS When I pulled up to Kathryn Bigelow’s house in upstate New York last month, I couldn’t figure out where she was. Some years back, Bigelow moved from Los Angeles after enduring one too many fires. She has been riding horses since childhood, and whenever a fire broke out, she would rush to where she had stabled hers, load them in a trailer and drive off, trying to keep ahead of the flames. She now owns a sweeping estate, where she keeps a few bays and some oth

By SHAAD D’SOUZA Last week, Taylor Swift did something highly unusual, in the context of the past decade of her career: She responded, however obliquely, to her critics. And it wasn’t in a song. Asked by Apple Music radio host Zane Lowe how she felt about the reaction to her 12th original album, “The Life of a Showgirl,” Swift seemed to acknowledge that her latest work hadn’t been universally praised, or invariably defended by her loyal fans. “I have a lot of respect for peop

By ERIK PIEPENBURG Just in time for Halloween comes killer cola, a creeping phantasm and death from the commode. ‘V/H/S/Halloween’ In recent years, the “V/H/S” found-footage anthologies have offered diminishing returns, mostly because of bloated run times and seen-it-before scripts — a far cry from the knockout first “V/H/S” film in 2012. So consider me as tickled as a kid on Halloween night when I say that the latest collection is (mostly) a big fat treat. Things kick off sp

“28 Years Later” (Sony Pictures) By ELISABETH VINCENTELLI In this month’s picks, the latest in the “28 Days Later” franchise, an aerial phenomenon, and a samurai lost in time. ‘28 Years Later’ Spike (Alfie Williams) is 12 and growing up in a Britain that is overrun by hostile, zombie-like wretches, turned into monsters by a highly contagious virus. A rite of passage involves going out and killing one with a bow and arrow — the country, which is sealed off from the rest of the