‘American Star’ Review: Armed and Vacationing

A fire in Abkhazia, a Russian-backed breakaway region of Georgia, destroyed thousands of paintings early Sunday morning, devastating a collection that locals had cherished as a national treasure — albeit of a country only recognized as such by Russia and some of its allies, including Syria and Venezuela. Almost 4,000 paintings belonging the National Gallery…

Then there’s the much more entertaining murder mystery, in which one or two people have been killed, or perhaps none. A priest once posted to Kilkinure is found dead in his Dublin home, and suspicion falls on the protesting women. At about the same time, Lorna hits her head in a pub and wakes up…

If you were bored enough — a stultifying job, living with Mom after a bad breakup — you, too, might climb into a mysterious limo carrying Andy Samberg. You might even consider the offer: outwit assassins for 30 days and win $1 million. It’s a risk that Tommy, played by Jake Johnson, is willing to…

When Augustin Lignier, a professional photographer in Paris, was in graduate school, he began to ponder the point of picture-taking in the modern world: Why did so many of us feel compelled to photograph our lives and share those images online? It was not a novel question, but it led Mr. Lignier to a surprising…

The Istanbul Biennial, one of the European art world’s major events, was thrown into disarray on Friday when its lead curator stepped down and the event was postponed until 2025. Divisions in the art world over the biennial’s choice of Iwona Blazwick, a British curator, to oversee the event had made it “impossible” for the…

“Simon Boccanegra,” a story of fathers, politics, love and duty, is returning to La Scala, where personal connections to the opera run deep.