Author Archives: Larry Sanderson

NYT Critic’s Pick Movie(s)

I Saw the TV Glow
NYT Critic’s Pick | PG-13 | Drama, Horror | Directed by Jane Schoenbrun
An outstanding not-quite-horror film about being a fan just before the internet took over.


Justice Smith and Brigette Lundy-Paine in “I Saw the TV Glow.”
By ALISSA WILKINSON

Unfrosted
NYT Critic’s Pick | PG-13 | Biography, Comedy, History | Directed by Jerry Seinfeld
Starring Jerry Seinfeld in his feature directing debut, “Unfrosted: The Pop-Tarts Story” is the only corporate saga whose main ingredient is high-fructose sarcasm.


From left, Melissa McCarthy, Jerry Seinfeld and Jim Gaffigan in “Unfrosted: The Pop-Tart Story.”
By AMY NICHOLSON

Evil Does Not Exist
NYT Critic’s Pick
Ryusuke Hamaguchi follows up his sublime drama “Drive My Car” with a parable about a rural Japanese village and the resort developer eyeing its land.


Hitoshi Omika, left, and Ryo Nishikawa play father and daughter in “Evil Does Not Exist.”
By MANOHLA DARGIS

— Of Possible Interest —

Turtles All the Way Down
PG-13 | Drama, Romance | Directed by Hannah Marks
Hannah Marks’s adaptation of John Green’s blockbuster young-adult novel builds a dynamic depiction of a teenager with obsessive-compulsive disorder.
By NATALIA WINKELMAN

Food! Glorious Food!

One in Five Milk Samples Nationwide Shows Genetic Traces of Bird Flu
There is no evidence that the milk is unsafe to drink, scientists say. But the survey result strongly hints that the outbreak may be widespread.
By Emily Anthes and Noah Weiland

Maui in 36 Hours
By Shannon Wianecki Photographs by Michelle Mishina Kunz

How to use up a whole head of lettuce without making salad
Char it, grill it, even soupify it – our panel of cooks lets us in on secret ways to enjoy lettuce
Anna Berrill

What makes Korean gochujang any different from other chilli pastes?
Gochujang is sweet, spicy, fruity, savoury, umami and you can eat it as it is, in dips or on toast. Our panel pick a variety of ways to enjoy it
Anna Berrill

All In on Aloo Chicken
This shortcut version of a traditional Punjabi chicken and potato stew uses boneless chicken pieces and cashew butter for a brilliant dinner.


By Mia Leimkuhler

How Did Black Forest Cake Become the World’s Favorite Dessert?
Dessert lovers from Chile to Pakistan to Fiji claim it as a national treat. How did it get there from the woods of Germany?


The cake, long an adopted favorite in many countries, is more popular than ever — except perhaps in Germany.
By PRIYA KRISHNA

A GOOD APPETITE
The Best Ways to Cook Asparagus
You don’t just have to roast those stalks. These three easy techniques can bring out the delicious best from the spring favorite.


Broiling, pan-searing and sautéing each bring out the best in asparagus.
By Melissa Clark

Why Does Day Drinking Feel Different?
A buzz in the sun can hit harder than dinnertime drinks. Experts shed light on the science.
By Dani Blum

How an Ex-N.B.A. Player Is Diversifying Wine One Sip at a Time
As corporate diversity efforts fade out, Channing Frye and his Chosen Family Wines have taken an unpretentious grassroots approach, bringing wine to communities of color.
By Eric Asimov

NYT Critic’s Pick Movie(s)

Terrestrial Verses
NYT Critic’s Pick | Not Rated | Drama | Directed by Ali Asgari, Alireza Khatami
Ordinary Iranians face a maze of byzantine rules and small indignities in this series of gripping vignettes.


Sadaf Asgari in “Terrestrial Verses,” written and directed by Ali Asgari and Alireza Khatami. The movie unfolds as a series of vignettes.
By ALISSA WILKINSON

Nowhere Special
NYT Critic’s Pick | Not Rated | Drama | Directed by Uberto Pasolini
This understated tear-jerker sees a dying single father making future family plans for his toddler son.


Daniel Lamont, left, with James Norton in “Nowhere Special.”
By GLENN KENNY

Challengers
NYT Critic’s Pick | R | Drama, Romance, Sport | Directed by Luca Guadagnino
Zendaya, Josh O’Connor and Mike Faist play friends, lovers and foes on and off the tennis court in Luca Guadagnino’s latest.


Two sides of a love triangle: Zendaya and Josh O’Connor in “Challengers.”
By MANOHLA DARGIS

— Of Possible Interest —

Humane
R | Horror, Thriller | Directed by Caitlin Cronenberg
Caitlin Cronenberg’s debut feature is set in a dystopian world that’s alarmingly believable.
By ALISSA WILKINSON

Food! Glorious Food!

36 HOURS
Munich


The statue of Bavaria, the female personification of the southern German state, looks over the expansive Theresienwiese, the site of the annual Oktoberfest beer festival.
By A.J. Goldmann

WHERE TO EAT
The 25 Best Restaurants in Austin Right Now
There’s plenty of barbecue and Mexican — as you’d expect — but also world-class Japanese, Korean and more. Comments welcome, as always.
By PRIYA KRISHNA and BRETT ANDERSON

No, Your Spaghetti Doesn’t Have to Be al Dente: 5 Pasta Myths, Debunked
A veteran food journalist settles some long-simmering disputes on a slippery subject.
By Julia Moskin

Could Eating Less Help You Live Longer?
Calorie restriction and intermittent fasting both increase longevity in animals, aging experts say. Here’s what that means for you.
By Dana G. Smith

The Best Fish Is Also the Most Local. Why Is It So Hard to Find?
Seafood caught in nearby waters has long been left out of the farm-to-table movement. But these people have set out to get it into stores and restaurants.
By MELISSA CLARK

With a Fresh Look and Recipes, Manischewitz Courts a New Generation
The 136-year-old company’s products have been staples in American Jewish households for generations. After a major rebranding, the matzo ball soup comes with merch.


A new brand identity for Manischewitz leans heavily on a shade of orange inspired by its matzo ball soup.
By REMY TUMIN

Carbonara Ramen
With its bright pink packaging and spicy contents, these Korean-made instant ramen packs are going viral online and flying off shelves.


introduced in 2017, Samyang Food’s buldak carbonara ramen capitalized on the company’s already popular spicy ramen.
By Eleanore Park

A New Gochujang Pasta Has Entered the Chat
Alexa Weibel’s gochujang pasta balances the red chile paste’s pungency with sweet shrimp and juicy cherry tomatoes.


By Melissa Clark

This chef wants to help you cook ‘misunderstood’ vegetables


Becky Selengut at the University District Farmers Market in Seattle.
By Rebekah Denn

Behind a Vegan Chef’s Holistic Empire, an Ugly Reality
Matthew Kenney, one of the most famous names in plant-based cuisine, has left a trail of burned investors, bounced paychecks and graphic text messages.


Matthew Kenney, shown here in a 2017 photo, is one of the world’s best-known vegan chefs. Seventeen of his restaurants have closed since late 2021.
By Brett Anderson

That other grain — rice: https://youtu.be/1ivJsV1A5oU?si=XA3mx5PNsFzPE-Yi

Can there be delish dessert with less sugar? Absolutely, say these chefs
We don’t have to reflexively use refined sugar to sweeten. Dates often do the trick – in a way that’s healthier for us and the planet
Caroline M Saunders

Can a Brewery Make Good Wine? These Beer Makers Say Yes.
In an effort to reach an increasingly diverse customer base, brewers are turning over some of their equipment to producing wine.

A man and a woman hold up glasses of wine. Colorful light refracted through the wine glasses shine on their faces.
Fermenting fruit for sour ales inspired Joe and Lauren Grimm, the married owners of Grimm Artisanal Ales in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, to start a sister winery, Physica Wines, which released its first vintages last year.
By Joshua M. Bernstein

NYTimes Critics Pick Movie(s)

Ain’t none.

— Of Possible Interest —

Rebel Moon — Part Two: The Scargiver
PG-13 | Action, Adventure, Drama, Fantasy, Sci-Fi | Directed by Zack Snyder
A delirious, pulpy mishmash of knockoffs, Zack Snyder’s film isn’t good, but it sure is something.
By AMY NICHOLSON

Stress Positions
Not Rated | Comedy | Directed by Theda Hammel
The writer-director Theda Hammel’s biting, delirious quarantine comedy skewers white gay men in a world where fact, fiction and authentic experiences collide.
By LISA KENNEDY

Food! Glorious Food!

WHERE TO EAT
The 25 Best Restaurants in Boston Right Now
It’s not just seafood and Italian. There’s great Vietnamese, omakase, Peruvian and even bagels worth seeking out. (Don’t worry, there’s also great seafood and Italian.) We’ll see you in the comments.
By KEVIN PANG, PRIYA KRISHNA and BRIAN GALLAGHER

A Radicchio Salad for People Who Don’t Think They Like Radicchio
The Danish chef Frederik Bille Brahe shares the recipe for the star dish at his newly reopened Copenhagen cafe, Apollo Bar & Kantine.


By Gisela Williams

How to Make Frozen Shrimp Even Faster (and More Delicious)
You’re 20 minutes and a few simple steps from a fresh spring stir-fry built from a freezer staple.

Two blue bowls filled with rice, shrimp and asparagus sit against a pink background.
Placing frozen shrimp under running water, then rubbing them with salt, helps keep them snappy.
By Genevieve Ko

2 Simple Cocktails for Lemon Lovers
Get ready for summer with homemade hard lemonade and the Sgroppino, an icy Italian favorite.


Lemon is an easy way to balance cocktails, as in this hard lemonade that’s both reminiscent of and far removed from the six packs of yore.
By Rebekah Peppler

“Is it too subtle?”

Gay Native American artist in Venice?


Jeffrey Gibson in his studio in Hudson, N.Y., with a painting, at right, for his U.S. Pavilion exhibition at the Venice Biennale, opening April 20. The work, titled “Whereas It Is Essential to Just Government We Recognize the Equality of All People Before the Law,” cites the Civil Rights Act of 1875 in close, angular letters.

Will Venice ever be the same? Will Venice ever be different?

NYT Critic’s Pick Movie(s)

Food, Inc. 2
NYT Critic’s Pick | Not Rated | Documentary, News | Directed by Robert Kenner, Melissa Robledo
Directed by Robert Kenner and Melissa Robledo, the sequel about food production in the U.S. is, in some ways, a more hopeful film.


“Food, Inc. 2,” Directed by Robert Kenner and Melissa Robledo, begins by describing how the last few years have shown the risks of letting a handful of mega-suppliers dominate the market.
By BEN KENIGSBERG

Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead
NYT Critic’s Pick | R | Comedy | Directed by Wade Allain-Marcus
Wade Allain-Marcus has directed a rollicking update of the 1991 cult favorite.


Donielle Hansley Jr. and Simone Joy Jones in “Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead.”
By AMY NICHOLSON

In Flames
NYT Critic’s Pick | Not Rated | Drama, Horror | Directed by Zarrar Kahn
Set in Pakistan, the story of a young woman and her family, hemmed in by men, shifts from realism to genre, with heart-pumping consequences.


Ramesha Nawal in “In Flames.”
By ALISSA WILKINSON

Civil War
NYT Critic’s Pick | R | Action | Directed by Alex Garland
In Alex Garland’s tough new movie, a group of journalists led by Kirsten Dunst, as a photographer, travels a United States at war with itself.


Kirsten Dunst plays a war photographer in Alex Garland’s “Civil War.”
By MANOHLA DARGIS

It’s Only Life After All
NYT Critic’s Pick | Not Rated | Documentary, Music | Directed by Alexandria Bombach
The director Alexandria Bombach benefited from the musician Amy Ray’s archivist instincts in this warm, compelling new documentary.


Amy Ray and Emily Saliers were routinely mocked for being too earnest, too poetic, too folky, too lesbian. The documentary “It’s Only Life After All” takes a look at their legacy.
By ELISABETH VINCENTELLI