Stephen Whitty

4 days ago | njarts.net | Stephen Whitty

2 For more than 60 years, Sports Illustrated has had a swimsuit issue. Somewhere along the way, though, they realized they had a swimsuit issue. Wasn’t this a pretty obvious way to boost sales by marketing sexy pictures to horny men? Wasn’t the whole project just perhaps the most perfect example of “the male gaze,” the way that images in popular culture typically demean and objectify women? The first answer is, yes, absolutely.

5 days ago | njarts.net | Stephen Whitty

1 School’s out for summer. Unless you’re going to the movies. Instead of offering an escape, these days too many would-be warm-weather blockbusters are assigning serious homework. New chapters in never-ending narratives, stories that require a deep-dive knowledge not only of the original franchise but all its other spinoffs … these pictures demand that you study. Because there will be a quiz.

2 weeks ago | njarts.net | Stephen Whitty

2 Milestone Films is a mom-and-pop operation — literally. The two-person distribution company was co-founded 35 years ago by the newly married Dennis Doros and Amy Heller, working out of their Manhattan apartment. Later, drowning in VHS tapes, they moved themselves, and their company, to a house in Harrington Park. And as their family grew — they have a daughter, now an engineer — so did their ambitions. As eclectic and independent as its owners.

1 month ago | njarts.net | Stephen Whitty

1 Tom Cruise has a complaint. You might not, at first, imagine how he could. He is a perpetually youthful millionaire. He has a huge new movie about to open, “Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning.” And the gossip pages are full of relationship rumors about the actor and the lovely Ana de Armas (who also — coincidentally — has an upcoming movie that she is promoting, too).

1 month ago | njarts.net | Stephen Whitty

2 We lost another movie house. On April 30, part of the ceiling of the historic Cranford Theater collapsed. There was no audience inside the affected auditorium at the time — luckily — but the entire building had to be evacuated. It remains shuttered while the damage is assessed. The 99-year-old picture house plans to reopen — its owners specialize in revitalizing vintage theaters. But it’s hard not to see this as one more nail in the coffin of local movie-going.