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theater review

Yes, It’s Tough to Be a Playwright: creation stories

Mfoniso Udofia’s play spends a lot of its time agonizing over whether it should be one—which doesn’t make for great theater. By Sara Holdren

tv review

East of Eden’s Ambition Wins Out

Netflix’s miniseries is the sort of sweeping intergenerational saga contemporary TV rarely attempts and even more rarely achieves. By Kathryn VanArendonk

the industry

Casey Bloys and the To-Do List From Hell

Run a streaming empire, fight Netflix, figure out Pluto … bury Showtime? No pressure. By Josef Adalian

role call

Jena Malone Answers Every Question We Have About Donnie Darko

Twenty-five years after the movie’s release, Malone reflects on its rise to cult status and her interpretation of that hand wave at the very end. By Louis Peitzman

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vulture games 5:00 a.m.

Cinematrix No. 920: October 2, 2026 Can you name a Dakota Johnson movie based on a book or play?
vulture 10x10 5:00 a.m.

The Billionaire Puzzle 7-Across, Eight Letters: Subtitle for the third “Captain America” movie
coming soon 10/1/2026

Fast & Furious Will See You Again on Television A new series is coming to Peacock in 2028.
streaming 10/1/2026

Netflix Hosts Amelia Dimoldenberg’s Final Season of Chicken Shop Date You can now watch that Andrew Garfield on your TV.
book review 10/1/2026

Ayad Akhtar’s Campus Problem The author’s portrayal of Gen-Z college students in The Radiance is too familiar. But when he writes about the body, it gets brilliantly weird.
fight fight fight 10/1/2026

Nicolas Cage Calls the MCU a ‘Well-Funded and Glorified WWE’ “I do say this with love.”
dudes rock 10/1/2026

Michael McDonald Has a Secret Doobie Son “The real rock stars in this story are his adoptive parents.”
trailer mix 10/1/2026

Clarissa Lets Sophie Okonedo Have Her Day Arie and Chuko Esiri’s Mrs. Dalloway adaptation gives the much-lauded character actress her moment in the sun.
my single is dropping 10/1/2026

Lil Nas X Returns, Minus the Trolling His new song, “World’s Greatest,” and its accompanying music video find the pop star at his most earnest.
x-mas 10/1/2026

Celebrate Christmas on Broadway With Lisa Rinna and Harry Hamlin They’ll star in a radio-play version of It’s a Wonderful Life alongside Andrew Rannells, Megan Hilty, and Tituss Burgess.
fame is a gun 10/1/2026

Ella Langley Contends With Her Viral Success “I don’t think I’ve ever had more opinions on myself in my life than I have in this last year.”
announcements 10/1/2026

October’s Subscriber-Only Perk: Free Pizza, Chicken Sandwiches, and Dankwraps Freebies from some of our favorite chainlets: Super Burrito, Lucia Pizza, and Bobwhite Counter.
our robot overlords 10/1/2026

Publishers Hit the AI Jackpot The industry stands to gain the most from Anthropic’s $1.5 billion copyright settlement. Many writers aren’t happy about it.
vulture games 10/1/2026

Telematrix No. 168: October 1, 2026 Can you name a Will Forte or Will Sharpe TV show with 3+ seasons?

More News

Recaps-feed

overnights 10/1/2026

War Series-Premiere Recap: The Tipping Point A tech mogul and movie star’s marriage comes to an acrimonious end, kicking off HBO’s delicious legal drama.
overnights 10/1/2026

The Real Housewives of Orange County Recap: Blasts From the Past It takes a drove of ex-Housewives to descend on the OC cast to breathe the slightest bit of life into the season.
overnights 10/1/2026

East of Eden Series-Finale Recap: A Good Life The East of Eden finale has everything: the return of Mike Faist, winter-melon soup, a gorgeous ending — what else could you want?
overnights 10/1/2026

East of Eden Recap: Hungry People East of Eden’s penultimate episode introduces the teen versions of Cal and Aron, and wonders what it means to be good.
overnights 10/1/2026

East of Eden Recap: Thou Mayest East of Eden’s only episode with a co-writer follows Lee as he breaks away from the Trasks.
overnights 10/1/2026

East of Eden Recap: Almost by Happenstance Cathy Ames is remade as Kate Albey, and her ascension to madam status pushes her closer toward irredeemability.
overnights 10/1/2026

East of Eden Recap: The Story of Mankind Adam and Cathy reach California in a sprawling episode that reveals her discontentment and pushes the story into its next phase.
overnights 10/1/2026

East of Eden Recap: A Girl Like That Cathy Ames gets the complicated backstory John Steinbeck never imagined.
overnights 10/1/2026

East of Eden Series-Premiere Recap: Meet the Trasks Zoe Kazan’s adaptation of John Steinbeck’s East of Eden begins with a clear realignment of focus: Florence Pugh’s Cathy Ames front and center.
overnights 9/30/2026

Survivor Recap: The Layup Self-sabotaging alliances and an outlandish scheme combine to make for a wildly chaotic episode.
overnights 9/30/2026

The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City Recap: Toothbrush It Off The newest snowflake’s introduction to cast trips involves being on the receiving end of Angie’s and Heather’s antics.
overnights 9/30/2026

Dancing With the Stars Recap: Rock the Boat, Baby “Yacht Rock Night” seems to pull everyone out of that distressing funk we witnessed last week, at least until the very end of the show.
overnights 9/30/2026

Slow Horses Recap: A Bullet Named Poirot Familiar faces rejoin the Slow Horses — just as mysterious forces conspire to eliminate them one by one.
overnights 9/30/2026

Ted Lasso Recap: Football Is Life (and Death) The Richmond team has never seemed as cohesive, but it comes amid major upheaval off the pitch.

More Recaps

Criticism-feed

theater review 10/1/2026

Yes, It’s Tough to Be a Playwright: creation stories Mfoniso Udofia’s play spends a lot of its time agonizing over whether it should be one—which doesn’t make for great theater.
book review 10/1/2026

Ayad Akhtar’s Campus Problem The author’s portrayal of Gen-Z college students in The Radiance is too familiar. But when he writes about the body, it gets brilliantly weird.
tv review 10/1/2026

East of Eden’s Ambition Wins Out Netflix’s miniseries is the sort of sweeping intergenerational saga contemporary TV rarely attempts and even more rarely achieves.
movie review 10/1/2026

Anne Hathaway Deserves a Better End to Her Big Year Than Verity The new Colleen Hoover adaptation is ridiculous, but no one involved can get on the same page about how ridiculous it is.
tv review 10/1/2026

War Knows Exactly What It Is Both familiar and more lurid than expected, the HBO-Sky legal drama injects glamour into a middlebrow courtroom potboiler.
nyff 2026 9/30/2026

Godzilla Minus Zero Delivers on the Monster Mayhem But the sequel to 2023’s Godzilla Minus One also overdelivers on the melodrama.
theater review 9/29/2026

Theatrical Performancemaxxing at Degenerates Else and Emma Rosa Went’s production is a super-intense dive into the darkness of the incel life.
book review 9/29/2026

Min Jin Lee’s Model Minorities The author’s fiction falls prey to the very tropes she has argued against.
movie review 9/29/2026

Digger Is a Brazen Act of Self-Sabotage The Tom Cruise–starring climate-change satire is a torturous experience — sometimes purposely so, often unintentionally so.
theater review 9/28/2026

Beauty Is Unbecoming: Jocelyn Bioh’s School Girls Jocelyn Bioh’s 2017 play is partly about the urge to chase celebrity and fame—and, up on Broadway, that gives it extra depth and richness.
theater reviews 9/28/2026

My Play, Myself: How Shakespeare Saved My Life and Arias With a Twist How much true life does a life story owe us onstage?
the murphyverse 9/25/2026

We’re in Club Hell American Horror Story’s borderline-incomprehensible 13th entry may or may not be cursed, but its viewers certainly are.
album review 9/25/2026

Taylor Swift Needs to Let the Showgirl Era Go Returning to her last album for an Encore means more biting insults and intermittent cringe.
movie review 9/25/2026

No One But Robert Pattinson Could Have Done Primetime The actor’s unhinged performance as Chris Hansen, host of the mid-2000s reality hit To Catch a Predator, is a stunning demonstration of his range.

More Criticism

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Interview

Poorna Jagannathan Had No Idea What She Signed Up For By Roxana Hadadi

War (S1/E1)

The Tipping Point A tech mogul and movie star’s marriage comes to an acrimonious end, kicking off HBO’s delicious legal drama.
The Real Housewives of Orange County (S20/E13)

Blasts From the Past It takes a drove of ex-Housewives to descend on the OC cast to breathe the slightest bit of life into the season.
East of Eden (S1/E7)

A Good Life The East of Eden finale has everything: the return of Mike Faist, winter-melon soup, a gorgeous ending — what else could you want?
East of Eden (S1/E6)

Hungry People East of Eden’s penultimate episode introduces the teen versions of Cal and Aron, and wonders what it means to be good.
East of Eden (S1/E5)

Thou Mayest East of Eden’s only episode with a co-writer follows Lee as he breaks away from the Trasks.
East of Eden (S1/E4)

Almost by Happenstance Cathy Ames is remade as Kate Albey, and her ascension to madam status pushes her closer toward irredeemability.
East of Eden (S1/E3)

The Story of Mankind Adam and Cathy reach California in a sprawling episode that reveals her discontentment and pushes the story into its next phase.
East of Eden (S1/E2)

A Girl Like That Cathy Ames gets the complicated backstory John Steinbeck never imagined.
East of Eden (S1/E1)

Meet the Trasks Zoe Kazan’s adaptation of John Steinbeck’s East of Eden begins with a clear realignment of focus: Florence Pugh’s Cathy Ames front and center.
More Recaps

Streamliner

streaming Netflix Hosts Amelia Dimoldenberg’s Final Season of Chicken Shop Date You can now watch that Andrew Garfield on your TV. By Alejandra Gularte
the industry Casey Bloys and the To-Do List From Hell Run a streaming empire, fight Netflix, figure out Pluto … bury Showtime? No pressure. By Josef Adalian
the industry Paramount Streaming Chief Cindy Holland Steps Down Her departure paves the way for HBO boss Casey Bloys to run streaming at the combined Paramount-Warner. By Josef Adalian
ratings The VMAs Just Scored Its Biggest Ratings in Over a Decade Can Madonna show up every year? By Josef Adalian

See More Streaming

Vulture Lists

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Features

movie review Anne Hathaway Deserves a Better End to Her Big Year Than Verity The new Colleen Hoover adaptation is ridiculous, but no one involved can get on the same page about how ridiculous it is. By Alison Willmore
theater Jocelyn Bioh Goes Back to School Girls The playwright reflects on reviving her 2017 play on Broadway: “People are more educated now about what colorism is.” By Jason P. Frank
tv review War Knows Exactly What It Is Both familiar and more lurid than expected, the HBO-Sky legal drama injects glamour into a middlebrow courtroom potboiler. By Jackson McHenry

Movies

fight fight fight

Nicolas Cage Calls the MCU a ‘Well-Funded and Glorified WWE’

“I do say this with love.” By Alejandra Gularte

trailer mix Clarissa Lets Sophie Okonedo Have Her Day Arie and Chuko Esiri’s Mrs. Dalloway adaptation gives the much-lauded character actress her moment in the sun. By Fran Hoepfner
exclusive When Cameron Winter and Paul Thomas Anderson Made a Movie Backstage with the Geese front man and director at Carnegie Hall. By Devon Ivie
vulture games Where Did Tony Soprano Get His Crosswords? The Gridspotters Know. A small group of crossword sleuths is tracking down every puzzle you’ve seen onscreen. By Emily Palmer Heller

shaken not stirred Danny Boyle Wants Jack O’Connell to Play James Bond The name’s Cook. James Cook. By Bethy Squires
mfl Vulture Writers Show How (or How Not) to Draft Your Movies Fantasy League Team Our first Roster Roundtable hits on all the big questions: The Odyssey vs. Avengers: Doomsday? Obsession vs. The Debut? Who’s going to win Best Actor? By Fran Hoepfner
nyff 2026 Godzilla Minus Zero Delivers on the Monster Mayhem But the sequel to 2023’s Godzilla Minus One also overdelivers on the melodrama. By Alison Willmore
rocky Sylvester Stallone Thinks I Play Rocky Is ‘Jumping the Gun’ The Rocky legend has “mixed feelings” about the upcoming biopic from Peter Farrelly. By Isabella Albaig
movie review Digger Is a Brazen Act of Self-Sabotage The Tom Cruise–starring climate-change satire is a torturous experience — sometimes purposely so, often unintentionally so. By Bilge Ebiri

Movies

TV

coming soon

Fast & Furious Will See You Again on Television

A new series is coming to Peacock in 2028. By Alejandra Gularte

trailer mix Tommy Lee Jones Has a Civil War ‘Stache in The Lowdown Season 2 Plus Betty Gilpin fresh off her first Emmy win. By Bethy Squires
coming soon Ariana Madix Is Developing a Futuristic Housewives Parody With Seth MacFarlane She takes space comedies very seriously. By Bethy Squires
encounter Bronwyn Newport Gets Undressed Newly single and messier than ever, the Real Housewives of Salt Lake City favorite is preparing for her villain turn. podcast By Brian Moylan
trailer mix Love Is Blind: Boston Edition Looks Wicked Dramatic “So are we engaged? Or did she dump me?” By Jason P. Frank

fall preview 2026
Zoe Kazan’s Ghost Story Adapting East of Eden required her to confront the family legacy she’d always tried to avoid. By Allison P. Davis

the maria bamford questionnaire Gardening Is Audra McDonald’s Anti-Anxiety Medication “I love it, and I’m terrible at it, and I don’t know what I’m doing.” By Hershal Pandya
the industry Paramount Streaming Chief Cindy Holland Steps Down Her departure paves the way for HBO boss Casey Bloys to run streaming at the combined Paramount-Warner. By Josef Adalian
crime Former American Idol Contestant Convicted of Murdering His Wife Season 13 contestant Caleb Flynn was sentenced to life in prison. By Alejandra Gularte
slomw The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives: Orange County Is Already Full of Drama One wife has already been replaced ahead of the November 12 premiere date. By Alejandra Gularte

Music

dudes rock

Michael McDonald Has a Secret Doobie Son

“The real rock stars in this story are his adoptive parents.” By Devon Ivie

fame is a gun Ella Langley Contends With Her Viral Success “I don’t think I’ve ever had more opinions on myself in my life than I have in this last year.” By Jason P. Frank
celebrity health updates Billy Joel’s Brain Disorder ‘Sounds a Lot Worse Than It Actually Is’ He’s got the old man’s car and a jazz guitar? Yeah, he’ll be fine. By Bethy Squires
main pop girls The Summer Pop Charts Were a Slog. Can Adéla Save Us All? The up-and-coming Slovakian musician is a straight-A student with a major in Main Pop Girl. By Jason P. Frank

hips don’t lie How to Watcha-Watcha Shakira’s Live Concert She’s closing out her Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran tour this Saturday. By Alejandra Gularte
the law Jay-Z Files a Second Appeal to Extortion Case After a Jane Doe retracted her allegations against the rapper. By Alejandra Gularte
evening that flow Pearl Jam Fell in Love With the Drummer They’re getting Abe Laboriel Jr. on loan from the cute Beatle. By Devon Ivie
lore Taylor Swift’s ‘Patient Zero’ Music Video Is a Fun Thriller Wait, is that poison? By Alejandra Gularte
winner winner Taylor Swift Does It for the Fans Dakota Johnson presented her longtime pal with the first VMAs Artist Director Honors, which Swift dedicated to those who love her videos the most. By Fran Hoepfner

Music

Comedy

bri'ish news

Saturday Night Live U.K. Gets Exciting Hosts, Innit?

Danny Dyer, James Norton, and Cynthia Erivo are next on the docket. By Jason P. Frank

last week on late night This Makes About As Much Sense As ‘Hootie Frutti’ “Newton’s Cradle (Come and Get It)” is the song of the fall. By Bethy Squires
last night on late night SNL U.K. Has Not Let Up on Ed Sheeran Or Benjamin Netanyahu. By Bethy Squires
this week in late night This Week in Late Night: Seth Is Back! It’s like Ben Is Back, but way less sad. By Bethy Squires

new hires SNL Hires Two New Writers for Season 52 Bam Alston and Chase Rosenberg join a staff that, with a couple of exceptions, remains mostly unchanged from last year. By Hershal Pandya
last night on late night Jimmy Kimmel Live! Is Bringing a Few Friends to Brooklyn All while Guillermo is still in the ballroom on Dancing with the Stars. By Alejandra Gularte
tv review Don’t Overthink Brothers Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson’s deeply meta brodown is far more pedestrian than its premise suggests. By Nicholas Quah
comics to watch The Comedians You Should and Will Know of 2026 We surveyed more than 200 industry insiders to determine these 19 comedy stars of tomorrow.
this week in late night A Fully Shaved Stephen Colbert Won Late Night This Week Plus Jay Jurden crushing it on The Tonight Show and the return of Have I Got News for You. By Bethy Squires

Comedy

Theater

theater

Jocelyn Bioh Goes Back to School Girls

The playwright reflects on reviving her 2017 play on Broadway: “People are more educated now about what colorism is.” By Jason P. Frank

x-mas Celebrate Christmas on Broadway With Lisa Rinna and Harry Hamlin They’ll star in a radio-play version of It’s a Wonderful Life alongside Andrew Rannells, Megan Hilty, and Tituss Burgess. By Jason P. Frank
theater review Theatrical Performancemaxxing at Degenerates Else and Emma Rosa Went’s production is a super-intense dive into the darkness of the incel life. By Sara Holdren
theater review Beauty Is Unbecoming: Jocelyn Bioh’s School Girls Jocelyn Bioh’s 2017 play is partly about the urge to chase celebrity and fame—and, up on Broadway, that gives it extra depth and richness. By Sara Holdren
theater reviews My Play, Myself: How Shakespeare Saved My Life and Arias With a Twist How much true life does a life story owe us onstage? By Sara Holdren

theater review
Chekhov and the Chaebol: A Korean Cherry Orchard at the Armory A smart reinterpretation set in Korea’s corporate power centers has a touch of the boardroom’s chill. By Sara Holdren

theater review Tension and Release: The Holes and America, Who Hurt You? Max Wolf Friedlich and Sarah Jones see a nation’s broken people very differently. By Jackson McHenry
theater review How Much Did I Love The Invention of Love? Theaterlab’s production of Stoppard’s favorite among his own plays, led by David Greenspan, left me fizzing and invigorated. By Sara Holdren
tributes The Cast and Crew of Spring Awakening Remember Duncan Sheik Tributes came from Steven Sater, Lea Michele, and more. By Bethy Squires
rip Duncan Sheik, Rocker and Spring Awakening Composer, Dead at 56 Spring Awakening, a touchstone for generations of theater kids, has a revival slated to premiere Off Broadway. By Jason P. Frank

Theater

Books

book review Ayad Akhtar’s Campus Problem The author’s portrayal of Gen-Z college students in The Radiance is too familiar. But when he writes about the body, it gets brilliantly weird. By Zain Khalid
our robot overlords Publishers Hit the AI Jackpot The industry stands to gain the most from Anthropic’s $1.5 billion copyright settlement. Many writers aren’t happy about it. By Emma Alpern
wife and wife Sophia Bush and Ashlyn Harris Have Been Secretly Married for Over a Year The two tied the knot in a private ceremony in upstate New York in 2025. By Fran Hoepfner
book review Min Jin Lee’s Model Minorities The author’s fiction falls prey to the very tropes she has argued against. By Sanjena Sathian
chapters Losing Beck His acclaimed album, Sea Change, was inspired by a breakup. For his ex-partner, it was the story of how the Church of Scientology took over his life. By Josephine Riesman

Books

Art

obits Psychedelic-Poster Pioneer Peter Max Dies at 88 He made the iconic poster for New York City’s second “be-in.” By Bethy Squires
first person A Funny Thing About 9/11 My father will always struggle with his harrowing memories as a first responder. His only positive one got us talking again. By Jesse McLaren
fall preview 2026 10 Art Shows We Can’t Wait to See This Fall Brancusi at MoMA, Arthur Jafa at the New Museum, Jordan Wolfson at Gagosian, and more. By Jerry Saltz
art What We Lost in Kusamaland The Infinity Rooms made Yayoi Kusama world-famous and upstaged the radical work that came before. By Jerry Saltz
vulture fashion John Galliano Backs Out of the Met Gala “I understand that meaningful atonement is not achieved through an exhibition, institutional recognition or a single public gesture.” By Jason P. Frank