TV, as a form, is constantly in flux. Twenty-two episode seasons become thirteen become ten. Dramas shrink to 30-minute quasi-comedies. Traditional 40-some minute dramas stretch to fill a full hour. High Maintenance, the beloved web series that today makes the jump to HBO, represents another evolution: the arrival of the short film on television. It certainly isn’t the first show to bring a short-film aesthetic to a mainstream TV network — episodes of Louie often have that feel, while Joe Swanberg’s upcoming Netflix show Easy works in the mode of omnibus films like New York, I Love You.

Bill Durgin’s Cyc-15 (2008). Hailed variously as the heir to the Kurt Vonnegut legacy, a Joseph Heller for the 21st century, and a Thomas Pynchon for the post-nuclear era, Nick Harkaway has garnered enough accolades since his recent authorial debut to turn a creative-writing MFA grad green with envy (if they weren’t already, thanks to his legacy: He’s the son of author John Le Carre). Harkaway’s first book, The Gone-Away World, is a gripping, satirical, postapocalyptic war epic populated with mimes, ninjas, bureaucrats, chimera, and gun-toting nerds.

samson July 29, 2011 2:00 pm By Amos Barshad Share Share Tweet Pin It 11 Photos Photo: 20th Century Fox At last week’s Comic-Con, the trailer for In Time — a sci-fi thriller starring Justin Timberlake, in which immortality can be purchased — was revealed. Also revealed: Timberlake’s shaved head. Justin’s always had an on-and-off relationship with his lustrous curls, repeatedly bouncing between letting ‘em fly — most recently, for his well-received turn in Friends With Benefits — and chopping ‘em all off.

80s nostalgia July 14, 2014 4:15 pm By John Sellers Share Share Tweet Pin It 14 Photos Photo: Ron Galella, Ltd./WireImage Today marks the 25th anniversary of When Harry Met Sally, one of Vulture’s favorite comedies ever, so we hope you can forgive us for going hog-wild on it. We feel bad about it, so please accept … ooh, look at these photos that just came in from the movie’s premiere back on July 13, 1989!

Cat Power. Improbably, Chan Marshall — who records as Cat Power, who was once the face of Chanel, who has never made a bad album — is still something of a cult figure. It’s tempting to say she shouldn’t be: How can someone with that many great songs not already be canonized into the pantheon of music’s greats? Shouldn’t we be talking about her back catalogue constantly from every possible angle?

Searching for Bobby Fischer After being sidelined for months because of COVID, sports made a comeback over the past several months, instituting new protocols to keep players safe and fans entertained during a pandemic. But it’s not just football and basketball that have returned to the spotlight; a large crop of viewers have spent the past several weeks obsessing over a very different game. Netflix’s acclaimed miniseries The Queen’s Gambit stars Anya Taylor-Joy as Beth, a brilliant, troubled orphan who turns out to be a chess prodigy.

BR_poster_27x40_v9_US Sofia Coppola’s The Bling Ring was initially based  on Nancy Jo Sales’s Vanity Fair article “The Suspect Wore Louboutins.” The author eventually expanded her initial piece into a full-fledged book called The Bling Ring: How a Gang of Fame-Obsessed Teens Ripped Off Hollywood and Shocked the World. By virtue of its length, it is able to delve much deeper into the case than the article or even Coppola’s film.

Ricky Jay and his 52 assistants. For decades, Ricky Jay dazzled audiences with his card tricks, both up close and as far away as he could throw them (a world-record breaking distance, in fact). With his flowing mane and fast hands, the magician quickly became a fan-favorite both for his showmanship and his undeniable talent. During his career, Jay performed across many major late-night shows, appeared in movies like Boogie Nights, and wrote 11 books.

Much of what you’ve read about Scientology is true — at least according to Ron Miscavige, a longtime acolyte and father of David Miscavige, the head of the Church of Scientology. Ruthless: Scientology, My Son David Miscavige, and Me, published yesterday, is simply the latest book to emerge detailing the practices of the highly secretive organization (most recently King of Queens star Leah Remini published her book, Troublemaker). In the 244-page memoir, the elder Miscavige tells bizarre and distressing stories about his 42-year relationship with the organization, beginning with his initial foray to his son’s meteoric rise to power.

Vince Gilligan, creator of Breaking Bad Right after Breaking Bad ended, Vince Gilligan and most of the cast (notably minus Bryan Cranston and Bob Odenkirk) showed up to discuss the finale on Talking Bad. In it Vince Gilligan, Aaron Paul, Anna Gunn, Giancarlo Esposito, Jonathan Banks, and RJ Mitte (and, for some reason, Jimmy Kimmel) reflected on the show and gave up details about the finale, like why Walt didn’t shoot Jesse, why Jesse didn’t shoot Walt, why Walt left his watch on the pay phone, and more.