My mother was exactly like Jupiter Jones in Jupiter Ascending, well, with bees anyway. In Jupiter Ascending, Jupiter Jones was Queen of Earth and much of the universe and the bees swarmed to honor her Majesty.
The bees reacted exactly the same with my mother, except they hated her. If she got within two miles of a hive, they would swarm and attack her. See, just like the Queen of Earth, only different.
Happy New Years to those of you on the Gregorian calendar. Asia’s is coming up soon, but it ain’t here yet.
NYT Critic’s Pick R Drama Directed by Karim Aïnouz
Two sisters living in 1950s Brazil are kept apart by their father but can’t be spiritually separated.
By GLENN KENNY
NYT Critic’s Pick PG Drama, Romance Directed by Greta Gerwig
Greta Gerwig refreshes a literary classic with the help of a dazzling cast that includes Saoirse Ronan, Florence Pugh, Laura Dern and Meryl Streep.
By A.O. SCOTT
NYT Critic’s Pick Not Rated Comedy, Horror Directed by Shin’ichirô Ueda
A one-take movie stunt is justified in the Japanese director Shinichiro Ueda’s fast and furious backstage comedy.
By ELISABETH VINCENTELLI
PG Comedy, Drama, Family, Fantasy, Musical Directed by Tom Hooper
Tom Hooper’s movie is not a catastrophe. It’s not even an epic hairball.
By MANOHLA DARGIS
PG-13Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Sci-Fi Directed by J.J. Abrams
Resistance is futile. Rey, Finn and Poe are back; so is Kylo Ren. No spoilers here.
By A.O. SCOTT
The share of Chinese restaurants has fallen in metro areas across the country in the last five years. Many owners are glad their children won’t be taking over.
By AMELIA NIERENBERG and QUOCTRUNG BUI
The water from the Fukushima disaster is more radioactive than the authorities have previously publicized, raising doubts about government assurances that it will be made safe.
By MOTOKO RICH and MAKIKO INOUE
Nearing the end of his round-the-world trip, the 52 Places Traveler was confounded by the Golden State cities of Los Angeles and Santa Barbara.
By SEBASTIAN MODAK
With Italians’ appetite for snack food growing, Barilla and Ferrero are in a pitched battle to make sure their cookies come out on top.
By JASON HOROWITZ and ANNA MOMIGLIANO
A showstopping Dutch baby, warming baked oatmeal, cozy baked eggs, and a classic broiled grapefruit — all are as easy as they are warming.
By MELISSA CLARK
The chef Heston Blumenthal’s latest exploration of historical appetites is a menu inspired by the final meals prepared in the doomed Roman city.
By MEARA SHARMA
Feeling a little spent? Let Alison Roman’s skillet chicken with white beans, a one-pan shrimp scampi, and a lemony carrot soup power you through the holidays.
By EMILY WEINSTEIN
Our chief restaurant critic tries to make sense of the past 10 years in American dining, with a little help from Twitter.
1. We ate with our cameras.
2. All our plates became small plates.
3. The vegans got their revenge.
4. Developers caught food-hall fever.
5. Many people of color who cook had a breakout decade.
6. Ethical treatment wasn’t just for farm animals.
7. The future looked grim.
8. And yet, everybody agreed that there are good restaurants almost everywhere.
By PETE WELLS
Frances Moore Lappé popularized the idea that plant-based diets were good for the planet. But her focus has been on politics all along.
By DAVID MARCHESE
City planners prefer a more manicured Bangkok, with air-conditioning, malls and Instagrammable dessert cafes — and without the mess and noise of street vendors.
By HANNAH BEECH
Years of drought, erratic weather and other stresses are taking their toll on the peppers that are central to the state’s economy and identity.
In fields around Hatch, N.M., workers pick chile by hand, careful not to bruise the state’s prized crop. But the peppers are in trouble.
By Amelia Nierenberg
J. Kenji López-Alt swaps ingredients, and grates and rolls his way to biscuits that are simultaneously crisp, flaky, soft and light.
By J. KENJI LÓPEZ-ALT
Cooked under buttery puff pastry, seafood mingles in a velvety sauce for a fish pie that doubles as a stunning holiday centerpiece for Christmas Eve.
By Melissa Clark
NYT Critic’s Pick PG Documentary, Biography, Music Directed by Alla Kovgan
Alla Kovgan’s documentary about the great Merce Cunningham shows aspects of his choreography that can be difficult to convey on conventional film.
By BRIAN SEIBERT
PG-13 Action, Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy Directed by Jake Kasdan
Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Jack Black and Karen Gillan return for this sequel, and they’ve got Danny DeVito and Danny Glover in tow.
By GLENN KENNY
Themed eateries in the Russian capital cater to a taste for the past, recalling Black Sea vacations, Space Race euphoria and the days of service without a smile.
By ANASTASIA MIARI
The largest dairy co-op in the United States is in talks to acquire Dean Foods, a milk processing company that sought bankruptcy protection last month.
By DAVID YAFFE-BELLANY
American pigs are raised on a liberal diet of antibiotics, fueling the rise of resistant germs. Danish pork producers are proving there’s a better way.
By ANDREW JACOBS
In “Of Morsels and Marvels,” the Guadeloupean novelist Maryse Condé writes about the links between her culinary and literary passions.
By CHARLOTTE DRUCKMAN
NYT Critic’s Pick R Drama, Romance Directed by Céline Sciamma
In Céline Sciamma’s new film, Adèle Haenel and Noémie Merlant play an aristocrat and an artist falling in love in 18th-century France.
By A.O. SCOTT
NYT Critic’s Pick PG-13Action, Adventure, Biography, Drama, Romance Directed by Tom Harper
Felicity Jones and Eddie Redmayne reach for the skies in this charming Victorian ballooning adventure.
By JEANNETTE CATSOULIS
NYT Critic’s Pick R Comedy, Horror Directed by Peter Strickland
Peter Strickland’s fourth feature is a horror story about, yes, a garment, but it’s his most engrossing work yet.
By GLENN KENNY
NYT Critic’s Pick Documentary, Action, Crime, Drama Directed by Luke Lorentzen
In this outstanding documentary, a family of emergency medical workers struggles both to save lives and to make a living.
By MANOHLA DARGIS
Drama, Sci-Fi Directed by Jessica Hausner
Jessica Hausner’s new sci-fi film about a flower engineered to release a potent antidepressant evokes “Invasion of the Body Snatchers.”
By GLENN KENNY
Growers in northern states are combating virulent outbreaks of a disease as seasons grow warmer, orchards have been reconfigured for higher yields and new varieties may be more vulnerable
By JIM ROBBINS
From experimental aperitivo bars to pizza labs to Michelin-starred bistros, cool Italian establishments are filling the French capital, and Parisians are flocking to them.
By SETH SHERWOOD
After a weak harvest for many potato farmers in the United States and Canada, there were concerns about shortages of the fast food staple. But supplies aren’t likely to run out anytime soon.
By JACEY FORTIN
As a teen vaping and health crisis dominates public concerns, the Food and Drug Administration has been without a permanent commissioner since April.
By SHEILA KAPLAN
A British-born son of publicans, he became a bartender in New York, a saloonkeeper, an author of 18 books and a columnist and commentator.
By SAM ROBERTS
