The contenders for the film industry’s biggest prizes this year represent a range of genres and styles. But many are united by a common thread: they take on contentious topics with ferocious energy.

A fabulous range of films has been nominated for Academy Awards this year, from a shiny Broadway musical to a fact-based South American drama, from a rollicking farce about a stripper to an impressionistic period piece set in a Florida reform school. From a distance, it might appear as if the Academy’s voters had covered just about every genre and mood that cinema has to offer. But when you look closer, it’s remarkable how many of the nominees have something in common. In their own distinctive ways, these films take on contemporary issues with enough ferocious energy to make this one of the most political selections in the history of the Oscars.
In the case of The Apprentice, the political aspect is inescapable. Ali Abbasi’s film is a controversial biopic of newly inaugurated president Donald Trump, concentrating on his years as an aspiring real-estate mogul in New York. In October, Trump denounced the film as a “cheap, defamatory, and politically disgusting hatchet job”. The Academy seems to have liked the film: The Apprentice received two acting nominations, one for Sebastian Stan, who plays Trump himself, and one for Jeremy Strong, who co-stars as his mentor, Roy Cohn.

Nordic style is easy to wear – and can even cheer us up, say its fans. As Copenhagen Fashion Week approaches, we explore the fun, functional Scandi-girl style movement.

One bright morning last autumn, a swarm of photographers crammed on to a narrow pavement. As their shutters clicked, a street-style parade passed by: Chanel bags swinging across shredded jeans jackets, sheer ballet tutus paired with shiny spike heels, menswear-inspired suits embroidered with tiny beaded strawberries. Top models like Paloma Elsesser and TikTok stars like Maya Stepper came through; Pamela Anderson strolled by in a crisp white shirt and ivory slacks.

Before Netflix, before sagas like “Game of Thrones” — before high-speed internet — there was “Twin Peaks.”

Director David Lynch, whose death at age 78 was announced Thursday, will rightly be remembered as the surrealist master behind feature films like “Mulholland Drive” and “Eraserhead.” But he also transformed television as we know it.

It’s not a stretch to say that without “Twin Peaks,” there would be no “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” no “Riverdale,” and, arguably, no “Gilmore Girls.” Setting the blueprint for edgy TV drama, Lynch’s trailblazing police procedural, which first aired on April 8, 1990, brought gothic Americana into the mainstream.

Equal parts “Twilight Zone” and “Dynasty,” “Twin Peaks” was a departure from the conventional plot lines of popular prime-time dramas like “L.A. Law” and “MacGyver.” Its legacy transcends its short run (two seasons, until a third was released in 2017) and cult status, creeping onto the covers of Time and Rolling Stone, and into water cooler conversations around the world.