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backstories

‘Everyone Was Laughing at Me the Entire Time. It Was Awesome.’

Kyle Gordon self-funded his trip to Africa to film “Mr. Jambo,” his greatest parody song yet. By Devon Ivie

a long talk

Himesh Patel Had an Existential Freak-out on The Odyssey

The second-most crucial character in Christopher Nolan’s epic had to endure one horrific scene in particular. By Roxana Hadadi

at the box office

No One Sells Tickets Like Christopher Nolan

The Odyssey’s $264.1 million global haul this weekend is just the beginning — and other studios know it. By Chris Lee

book review

Colson Whitehead Keeps Subverting Expectations

The final book in his Harlem Trilogy is both enjoyable crime fiction and an ode to Black ingenuity. By Niela Orr

The Feed

Latest The Feed

News-feed

celebrity health 7:36 p.m.

90 Day Fiancé’s Armando and Kenny Give Health Update on Their Daughter Their teenage daughter has been discharged from the hospital.
moonlight memories 6:04 p.m.

Ariana Grande Might Be Writing More Songs About Ricky Alvarez Everything that led up to his critical “Thank U, Next” lyric update.
mergers and acquisitions 2:49 p.m.

The Warnermount Merger Hits a Roadblock A federal judge paused the sale for two weeks ahead of the 12-state lawsuit to stop the deal playing out in court.
bruvas 1:29 p.m.

Liam Gallagher Says World Cup Halftime Show Was Like a ‘Bad Trip’ But Justin Bieber “rules.”
movies fantasy league 12:00 p.m.

MFL Will Return … Season six coming soon!
trailer mix 11:42 a.m.

This Avengers: Doomsday Trailer Can’t Be Serious There’s no way this movie won’t just be characters introducing themselves to each other for an hour straight.
news about the news 10:21 a.m.

Today Deals With the Aftermath of an Intruder Savannah Guthrie has returned to the show after yet another scary incident.
vulture games 5:00 a.m.

Telematrix No. 147: July 20, 2026 Can you name an Amanda Seyfried or Michael B. Jordan TV show with 50+ episodes?
vulture 10x10 5:00 a.m.

The EDM Puzzle 3-Down, Three Letters: Format that beat out Betamax
vulture games 5:00 a.m.

Cinematrix No. 846: July 20, 2026 Can you name a Timothée Chalamet movie that ends with a vowel?
fire & blood & points 7/19/2026

House of the Dragon Scorecard: Power Management Rhaenyra’s speed-run from “I want to be queen” to “the gods are conspiring against me” is really quite impressive.
vulture sports 7/19/2026

Trump Booed While Presenting World Cup Trophy Another sporting event, another chance to boo the U.S. president.
obits 7/19/2026

L7 Bassist Jennifer Finch Dies at 59 The band’s biggest hit was 1992’s “Pretend We’re Dead.”
vulture sports 7/19/2026

Coldplay Brought Everyone Together for the World Cup Final Halftime Show From Justin Bieber to the Electric Mayhem to Ronaldinho.

More News

Recaps-feed

overnights 9:00 p.m.

Below Deck Mediterranean Recap: Sea Sickness Even with a few sick guests on charter, no one feels as bad as Luke does after he realizes that his career is in jeopardy.
overnights 7/19/2026

The Vampire Lestat Season-Finale Recap: Could Be Lestat gets the farewell concert of a lifetime.
overnights 7/19/2026

House of the Dragon Recap: Blind Spots This episode is light on dragons, heavy on grown men scapegoating Alicent Hightower for their troubles.
overnights 7/19/2026

The Real Housewives of Atlanta Recap: Death Becomes Her Porsha activates super villain mode and recruits new allies for her long-simmering ambush of Shamea.
overnights 7/17/2026

Sugar Recap: Assimilation Is a Hell of a Drug Sugar begins to lose himself as he sinks further into the messiness of being human.
overnights 7/17/2026

Cape Fear Recap: Family Affairs Cady might have gotten what he wanted, but now Anna finds herself with nothing left to lose.
overnights 7/17/2026

Silo Recap: Caught in a Rat Trap The increasingly fraught working relationship between Camille and the Algorithm develops into something more mysterious and dangerous this week.
overnights 7/17/2026

The Real Housewives of Orange County Recap: The Golden Girls Even with new taglines, an introduction to a new wife, and minor arguments, the season is off to a sleepy start.
overnights 7/16/2026

Project Runway Recap: Count Twice, Cut Once Significant time in the workroom and a strategic twist make for a satisfyingly gamified Project Runway episode.
overnights 7/15/2026

Next Gen NYC Recap: Hang-xiety Attack Riley’s drunken night out reveals a fascinating dynamic among the cast.
overnights 7/15/2026

The Valley Recap: Having a Ball Lala’s efforts to make the group see the truth about Danny and Janet largely go ignored — but at least she’s trying.
overnights 7/15/2026

Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed Finale Recap: The Wrong Mom Paula’s story isn’t adding up, and it’s definitely coming back to haunt her.
overnights 7/14/2026

In the City Finale Recap: Friends Taking The finale finally puts Amanda and Kyle’s divorce to rest, but it comes at the expense of a coherent episode.
overnights 7/13/2026

Below Deck Mediterranean Recap: A Sticky Situation Luke’s mistreatment of Gen and his general disrespect toward his colleagues finally catch up to him.

More Recaps

Criticism-feed

theater review 5:43 p.m.

Past As Prologue: The Whoopi Monologues and The Potluck A reinterpretation of Whoopi Goldberg’s astonishing 1984 breakthrough show and a meta-musical about turning awful history into good theater.
book review 1:42 p.m.

Colson Whitehead Keeps Subverting Expectations The final book in his Harlem Trilogy is both enjoyable crime fiction and an ode to Black ingenuity.
endings 7/17/2026

Christopher Nolan Explains the ‘Key’ to The Odyssey’s Ending On the surprise identity of the “people from the sea” and Odysseus’s urgent warning for today’s world.
spoilers 7/17/2026

The Odyssey Pulls Off a Gods-Tier Twist Zendaya’s Athena is the key to Christopher Nolan’s most radical change to the source material.
tv review 7/16/2026

We Should Reboot Will Ferrell and See If That Fixes the Problem “The problem” being his dire new Netflix golf comedy, The Hawk.
review roundup 7/15/2026

A Modern Odyssey Awes (Most) Everybody agrees that the scope is amazing. Beyond that, there are quibbles.
tv review 7/15/2026

Lucky Is Trying to Con You Don’t be fooled by the stacked cast. Apple TV’s latest is the worst thing a heist series can be: boring.
close read 7/15/2026

Loustat Forever? The Vampire Lestat’s best episode yet makes the case for (and against) Lestat and Louis’s destructive love.
movie review 7/15/2026

The Odyssey Is a Natural End Point for Christopher Nolan The British filmmaker’s take on Homer is both splendid and emotionally removed.
endings 7/14/2026

The Five Star Weekend Changes a Key Ingredient The adaptation opts for easily digestible gratification in place of the novel’s more complex themes.
theater review 7/11/2026

Giulia: A Baroque-Era Poisoner’s Tale all’Americana Jennifer Nettles writes and stars in a Sicilian pop-eretta.
tv review 7/10/2026

The Case for Sugar Largely freed from the obligations of its wild twist, Sugar settles into a charming and goofy genre piece that occasionally achieves transcendence.
endings 7/10/2026

You Got Me, Star City The For All Mankind spinoff finally reaches the heights of its predecessor in an operatic season finale.
movie review 7/10/2026

Remake May Be the Most Shattering Documentary of the Year Veteran filmmaker Ross McElwee returns, this time with a movie about his son’s life and death

More Criticism

More News More News More News

Interview

Delainey Hayles Wanted to Destroy Everything on The Vampire Lestat Set By Roxana Hadadi

Below Deck Mediterranean (S11/E7)

Sea Sickness Even with a few sick guests on charter, no one feels as bad as Luke does after he realizes that his career is in jeopardy.
Interview With the Vampire (S3/E7)

Could Be Lestat gets the farewell concert of a lifetime.
House of the Dragon (S3/E5)

Blind Spots This episode is light on dragons, heavy on grown men scapegoating Alicent Hightower for their troubles.
The Real Housewives of Atlanta (S17/E15)

Death Becomes Her Porsha activates super villain mode and recruits new allies for her long-simmering ambush of Shamea.
Sugar (S2/E5)

Assimilation Is a Hell of a Drug Sugar begins to lose himself as he sinks further into the messiness of being human.
Cape Fear (S1/E8)

Family Affairs Cady might have gotten what he wanted, but now Anna finds herself with nothing left to lose.
Silo (S3/E3)

Caught in a Rat Trap The increasingly fraught working relationship between Camille and the Algorithm develops into something more mysterious and dangerous this week.
The Real Housewives of Orange County (S20/E2)

The Golden Girls Even with new taglines, an introduction to a new wife, and minor arguments, the season is off to a sleepy start.
Project Runway (S22/E2)

Count Twice, Cut Once Significant time in the workroom and a strategic twist make for a satisfyingly gamified Project Runway episode.
More Recaps

Streamliner

ratings Gen Z’s June Obsession: Watching Love Island USA and the World Cup Peacock just had its best month ever — thanks to an unlikely programming combo. By Josef Adalian
now streaming The 14 Best Movies and TV Shows to Watch This Weekend Safe journeys, traveler. By Savannah Salazar
now streaming The 11 Must-Watch Movies on Prime Video This July Including two of the best new movies of the year. By Brian Tallerico
the industry Panic! at the Netflix Viewership drops, C-suite shuffles, fewer hits — are things as bad as they seem? “This is a group that’s running out of levers,” says one TV exec. By Josef Adalian

See More Streaming

Vulture Lists

More Vulture Lists

Features

finale thoughts A Long Table Talk With the Boys of The Vampire Lestat Sam Reid, Jacob Anderson, and Assad Zaman on the season finale: “There’s a lot left to unpack and revisit.” By Roxana Hadadi
endings Christopher Nolan Explains the ‘Key’ to The Odyssey’s Ending On the surprise identity of the “people from the sea” and Odysseus’s urgent warning for today’s world. By Bilge Ebiri
because maybe Tom Everett Scott Got to Live Out Every 50-Year-Old Dad’s Dream Thanks to, of all shows, Elle. “The next thought I had was, Oh shit, I have to learn ‘Wonderwall.’” By Devon Ivie

Movies

movies fantasy league

MFL Will Return …

Season six coming soon! By Vulture Editors

trailer mix This Avengers: Doomsday Trailer Can’t Be Serious There’s no way this movie won’t just be characters introducing themselves to each other for an hour straight. By Fran Hoepfner
boffo b.o. The Odyssey Conquers the Global Box Office The film beat The Dark Knight Rises to become Christopher Nolan’s biggest global debut. By Bethy Squires
vulture lists Every Matt Damon Movie, Ranked There are no truly bad Damon performances: He’s too controlled for that. But how does his latest role, in The Odyssey, stack up? By Tim Grierson and Will Leitch

obits My Left Foot and Home Alone 2 Star Brenda Fricker Dead at 81 She once lamented that the first three words of her obituary would be “Academy Award winner.” By Bethy Squires
endings Christopher Nolan Explains the ‘Key’ to The Odyssey’s Ending On the surprise identity of the “people from the sea” and Odysseus’s urgent warning for today’s world. By Bilge Ebiri
a complicated man Let’s All Learn From Odysseus’ Many, Many Questionable Choices Never take the scenic route home. By Whitney Friedlander
now streaming The 14 Best Movies and TV Shows to Watch This Weekend Safe journeys, traveler. By Savannah Salazar
the unknown west Reject Modernity. Run Away With Anne Hathaway. The Odyssey is the third Christopher Nolan movie to offer a similar vision of peace, and it’s hanging out with Anne Hathaway. By Fran Hoepfner

Movies

TV

finale thoughts

A Long Table Talk With the Boys of The Vampire Lestat

Sam Reid, Jacob Anderson, and Assad Zaman on the season finale: “There’s a lot left to unpack and revisit.” By Roxana Hadadi

fire & blood & points House of the Dragon Scorecard: Power Management Rhaenyra’s speed-run from “I want to be queen” to “the gods are conspiring against me” is really quite impressive. By Brian Grubb
awards szn Which Emmy Awards Are Actually Getting Televised This Year? Five categories have been moved to what used to be called the Creative Arts Emmys. By Bethy Squires
ratings Gen Z’s June Obsession: Watching Love Island USA and the World Cup Peacock just had its best month ever — thanks to an unlikely programming combo. By Josef Adalian
because maybe Tom Everett Scott Got to Live Out Every 50-Year-Old Dad’s Dream Thanks to, of all shows, Elle. “The next thought I had was, Oh shit, I have to learn ‘Wonderwall.’” By Devon Ivie

tv review
We Should Reboot Will Ferrell and See If That Fixes the Problem “The problem” being his dire new Netflix golf comedy, The Hawk. By Kathryn VanArendonk

momtok How Did the SLOMW Drama Escalate So Quickly? It only took one week for Taylor to be on bad terms with MomTok again. By Alejandra Gularte
gold rush Netflix Stares Down a Limited Emmys Future And eight more fascinating findings unearthed from the hundreds of 2026 Emmy nominations. By Joe Reid
this week in late night Birthday Boy Will Ferrell Won Late Night This Week Plus Jake Johnson anecdotemaxxing and Jeff Hiller’s résumé on WWHL. By Bethy Squires
the law Craig Melvin Says He’s Doing ‘Just Fine’ After Today Show Intruder An intruder broke into the studio and yelled racial slurs at him. By Alejandra Gularte

Music

moonlight memories

Ariana Grande Might Be Writing More Songs About Ricky Alvarez

Everything that led up to his critical “Thank U, Next” lyric update. By Alejandra Gularte

obits L7 Bassist Jennifer Finch Dies at 59 The band’s biggest hit was 1992’s “Pretend We’re Dead.” By Bethy Squires
vulture sports Coldplay Brought Everyone Together for the World Cup Final Halftime Show From Justin Bieber to the Electric Mayhem to Ronaldinho. By Bethy Squires
the hamptons Man Drives Car Into the Gate of Beyoncé and Jay-Z’s East Hampton House He’s been charged with criminal mischief and criminal trespass. By Bethy Squires

new superstar Try to Fathom Just How Big Ella Langley Is Right Now With three songs in the top five, she’s about to join Whitney and Mariah as the only women to have a No. 1 song for 14 weeks. By Jason P. Frank
collaboration Gracie Abrams and Paul Mescal Did Not Write a Love Song “Imaginary Friend” is about missing someone you are very much not with. By Jason P. Frank
irl club confessions Meet Madonna on the Dance Floor Trust me, it’s easier said than done. By Tom Smyth
the book of genesis Phil Collins Can’t Wait to Confront Noel Gallagher Collins expects an “interesting” experience at their Rock Hall induction later this year after his nemesis branded him “the antichrist of music.” By Devon Ivie
adios Saint Satine Already Lost a Member Before Their Debut Lexie Levin is leaving the group. By Alejandra Gularte

Music

Comedy

departures

Chloe Fineman Is Leaving Saturday Night Live

“It’s really hard to leave SNL but it does feel like the right time,” Fineman wrote on her Instagram after the news broke. By Jason P. Frank

i’m a cashew Dane Cook to Star in Horror Short Directed by Curry Barker’s Dad Medium Rare will also star Lesley Ann Warren. By Jason P. Frank
quality time What David Wain Watches (and Listens to) With His Sons “I sat down and watched Boyhood with my son as he turned 18, and it was very, very, very, very emotional.” By David Wain and Marah Eakin
spinoff showcase A Jimmy and Kayla Hacks Spinoff Is ‘Not Happening,’ Says Paul W. Downs “I’m not being coy, I’m telling you the truth. It’s not happening.” By Bethy Squires

good one podcast Nate Bargatze Fought Hard for the SNL ‘Washington’s Dream’ Sketch But he needed to be convinced to do the bit a second time. By Jesse David Fox
tayvis wedding You’ll Never Guess Who Officiated Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s Wedding I now pronounce you husband and wabadoo. By Bethy Squires
quality time What June Diane Raphael Watches (and Reads) With Her Sons She’s ready for the excuse to finally watch shows she was mad she wasn’t cast in. By June Diane Raphael and Marah Eakin
vulture festival 2026 Watch Dropout Improvise a Reunion for a Movie That Doesn’t Exist The Sound of the Squid isn’t a real film, but that didn’t stop four of the comedy streamer’s stars from sharing their memories of making it. By Jesse David Fox
stand-up 5 New Comedy Specials You Should Definitely Watch (When You Have a Moment) Looking for some stand-up recommendations? Here are some recent releases that are worth your attention. By Hershal Pandya and Jesse David Fox

Comedy

Theater

theater review

Past As Prologue: The Whoopi Monologues and The Potluck

A reinterpretation of Whoopi Goldberg’s astonishing 1984 breakthrough show and a meta-musical about turning awful history into good theater. By Jackson McHenry

theater review Giulia: A Baroque-Era Poisoner’s Tale all’Americana Jennifer Nettles writes and stars in a Sicilian pop-eretta. By Jackson McHenry
theater review Taking the Long View, Brilliantly: Birthright and Camping Two powerful new works trace the way we grow up and draw closer — or come apart. By Sara Holdren
stage whisperer Jimmy Award Winner Samia Posadas Is Ready to Work The musical theater wunderkind is off to college, unless the right job comes along: “Of course I’m going to take it.” By Jason P. Frank
new york new york Lin-Manuel Miranda and Eisa Davis’s Warriors Musical Is Broadway Bound It’s not about the cats. By Jason P. Frank

theater review
A Romeo and Juliet That Ignores Its Own Strength A production that rejects Shakespeare’s poetry puts itself at a disadvantage from the start. By Sara Holdren

stage whisperer The Best Play You Can Find in a One-Bedroom Greenpoint Apartment The buzzy Slanted Floors is being staged for six people per night — carrot stew included. By Jason P. Frank
marmalade news Paddington Sails to America The long-rumored transfer of Paddington: The Musical will finally debut on Broadway. By Jason P. Frank
theater review June’s Off Broadway Productions to See Xhloe & Natasha and Todd Almond’s Fringe imports, plus a bracing dose of anti-McCarthyism at City Center. By Sara Holdren
theater kids So Olivia Rodrigo Wrote a Musical Broadway producers are probably salivating over You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love. By Jason P. Frank

Theater

Books

first person The Death Scene I Was Ashamed to Cry About Ever since I was diagnosed with a neurodegenerative disease, I’ve been finding myself thinking about Little Women’s Beth March. By Sarah Chihaya
endings The Five Star Weekend Changes a Key Ingredient The adaptation opts for easily digestible gratification in place of the novel’s more complex themes. By Roxana Hadadi
bad blood Tomi Adeyemi Doesn’t Support The Children of Blood and Bone Movie The author confirmed there’s a “reason” why she’s done with the adaptation. By Alejandra Gularte
must reads 7 New Books You Should Read This July Colson Whitehead’s final Harlem Trilogy installment, a contemplative travel novel, and an audacious caper that’s back in print. By Emma Alpern and Jasmine Vojdani
encounter Robinne Lee Writes More Than Romance The Idea of You author’s first novel was misunderstood. Now she’s back with a book that defies the genre. By Allison P. Davis

Books

Art

art What’s an Artist Worth? A wave of New York dealers are leaving galleries to start their own agencies with new ideas about how to build their clients’ careers. By Rachel Corbett
art What David Hockney Saw He leaves behind a way of looking that makes the world larger, brighter, stranger, and more alive. By Jerry Saltz
the art world How Pace Gallery Broke Itself The mega-gallery embraced a fantasy of endless growth and hype and the assumption that bigger means better. The consequences have arrived. By Jerry Saltz
neighborhood news Skinny-dipping in the Park Ryan McGinley’s first solo exhibit in New York in nearly a decade was shot all over the city. By Samuel Hine
announcements Introducing How to Visit an Art Museum, by Jerry Saltz Our senior art critic’s guides to the Met, MoMA, the Whitney, the Frick, and the Guggenheim. By The Editors