THESE FILMS tend to follow a template: Cameras trail a singer through the recording studio or on tour. The subject speaks in dulcet tones about their life; tension is derived from the quest to exist as a public figure.
There is footage from their childhood, brisk montages, and testimonies about the nature of fame-all aimed at making the artist seem grounded and even more worthy of adoration. (And you can bet that they, or their manager, will be credited as a producer.)
We're in a boom time for the publicist-approved pop-star documentary. In the past four years alone, we've seen series and features about Jennifer Lopez, Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish, J Balvin, and many, many more. This year, we've already got Lil Nas X: Long Live Montero and Kings From Queens: The Run DMC Story (with more to come about Nicki Minaj, Brian Eno, Indigo Girls, Devo, and Céline Dion). While filmmakers have been profiling musicians for decades, early-2010s docs like Justin Bieber: Never Say Never and Beyoncé: Life Is But a Dream established the current formula. Containing two or three headline-generating revelations, these projects are mostly a way for artists to control their image from start to finish. How do you know if you're watching one? Just look out for these key elements.
1.The Origin Story
Whether it includes grainy footage of a talent show or memories of the church choir, a story about the dawning of the artist's talent is a must.
Childhood, whether beatific or brutal, is framed as a source of drive and set to a wistful score. We might learn this via camcorder videos of a miniature frolicking future star, as in Selena Gomez: My Mind & Me, or present-day footage, as in Machine Gun Kelly's Life in Pink, when the performer returns to the Cleveland block where he spent his teenage years.
2. Woe Is Fame
Esta historia es de la edición February 12-25, 2024 de New York magazine.
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Esta historia es de la edición February 12-25, 2024 de New York magazine.
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THE BEST ART SHOWS OF THE YEAR
IN NOVEMBER, Sotheby's made history when it sold for a million bucks a painting made by artificial intelligence. Ai-Da, \"the first humanoid robot artist to have an artwork auctioned by a major auction house,\" created a portrait of Alan Turing that resembles nothing more than a bad Francis Bacon rip-off. Still, the auction house described the sale as \"a new frontier in the global art market.\"
THE BIGGEST PODCAST MOMENTS OF THE YEAR
A STRANGE THING happened with podcasts in 2024: The industry was repeatedly thrust into the spotlight owing to a preponderance of head-turning events and a presidential-election cycle that radically foregrounded the medium's consequential nature. To reflect this, we've carved out a list of ten big moments from the year as refracted through podcasting.
THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR
THE YEAR IN CULTURE - BEST BOOKS
THE BEST THEATER OF THE YEAR
IT'S BEEN a year of successful straight plays, even measured by a metric at which they usually do poorly: ticket sales. Partially that's owed to Hollywood stars: Jeremy Strong, Jim Parsons, Rachel Zegler, Rachel McAdams (to my mind, the most compelling).
THE BEST ALBUMS OF THE YEAR
2024 WAS one big stress test that presented artists with a choice: Face uncomfortable realities or serve distractions to the audience. Pop music turned inward while hip-hop weathered court cases and incalculable losses. Country struggled to reconcile conservative interests with a much wider base of artists. But the year's best music offered a reprieve.
THE BEST TELEVISION OF THE YEAR
IT WAS SURPRISING how much 2024 felt like an uneventful wake for the Peak TV era. There was still great television, but there was much more mid or meh television and far fewer moments when a critical mass of viewers seemed equally excited about the same series.
THE BEST COMEDY SPECIALS OF THE YEAR
THE YEAR IN CULTURE - COMEDY SPECIALS
THE BEST MOVIES OF THE YEAR
PEOPLE LOVED Megalopolis, hated it, puzzled over it, clipped it into memes, and tried to astroturf it into a camp classic, but, most important, they cared about it even though it featured none of the qualities you'd expect of a breakthrough work in these noisy times.
A Truly Great Time
This was the year our city's new restaurants loosened up.
The Art of the Well-Stuffed Stocking
THE CHRISTMAS ENTHUSIASTS on the Strategist team gathered to discuss the oversize socks they drape on their couches and what they put inside them.
