Music, FIFA, Film
That just about sums up my summer thus far. (Kernels, May 25-July 31, 2026.)
Buttered Popcorn
A semi-personal newsletter about film, cooking, and culture.
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Song Sung New: “Hadestown: The Musical”
A radical adaptation of a beloved Greek myth comes to cinemas. (It’s not “The Odyssey.”)
World Cup/New York: Final Dispatch 🇩🇪🇳🇱🇸🇪🇪🇨🇪🇸🇵🇹🇦🇺🇵🇾🇧🇪🇪🇸🏴
The knockout rounds send me near (DUMBO), far (Westchester County), and everywhere in between (Manhattan).
With a Little Help From Her Friends
Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass, Take Care of My Cat (2001), My Name Ain’t Suzie (1985)
World Cup/New York: Dispatch 3 🇧🇷🇲🇽🇸🇳🇨🇻🇮🇷+🇨🇻
Closing out the group stage: scenes from Socceria, Senegalese snapper, and Cabo Verde block parties (plural!) I'll never forget.
World Cup/New York: Dispatch 2 🇰🇷🇯🇵🇦🇹🇭🇷🇨🇴
More country-specific watch parties: Sapporos at midnight, salsa on Steinway, and the World Cup of Wine!!
Watching the World Cup with (Almost) Every Nation in New York: Dispatch 1
🇨🇦🇨🇭🇧🇪🇩🇿🇨🇩🏴 & Knicks in Five
Secondhand Serenade
In “Power Ballad,” Irish realism and Hollywood fantasia clash.
Cannes Food & Film Survey: From Palme to Pissaladière
Six attendees share the movies and meals that made—or ruined—their festival.
Big Spring Recap
A New York restaurant week, best new music, The Drama & wedding food, and Chelsea gallery itinerary. (Kernels, April & May 1-24, 2026.)
18 Days in California
Recapping my spring trip, from SF to LA: food, movies, and my first Indian wedding.
Leaves Much to Be Desired
Tony Leung considers the possibilities of plant consciousness.
Land Marks
Italian drinking & driving in “The Last One for the Road” and indigenous dispossession in “Our Land.”
Everything I Watched at This Year's New Directors/New Films
Demon twinks, Basque hippies, Vatican conspiracies, Lebanon archives, John Early is brat, and much more.
Best Laid Plans, Gone Awry
New films: "Erupcja," "Zi," "Robert Wilson and the Civil Wars." Plus: Polish food in Greenpoint.
Revisiting My First Trip to NYC, Ten Years Later
Plus: cold plunges, instant ramen in Project Hail Mary & Hoppers, RIP Chinato. (Kernels, March 2026)
Our Quotidian Pain
Reviews of “Revelations of Divine Love,” “Living the Land,” and “Kontinental ‘25.”
Feed the Body, Nourish the Spirit
How chef Jenn de la Vega provided the cast and crew of independent film “Revelations of Divine Love” with healthy, flavorful meals.
The (Corpse) Bride! / Your Miroirs Staring Back at Me
“Dead Lover,” “Miroirs No. 3,” and Oscars betting performance.
Final Oscars Predictions & Dinner Party Poll
Last call for awards picks, what guests at my Oscars dinner thought of the nominees, and short words on short films.