The New York Times

In 2004, a culture war was brewing when the Super Bowl halftime show audience saw a white man expose a Black woman's breast for 9/16ths of a second. A national furor ensued. The woman was Janet Jackson, and her career was never the same.

Fox Rich, indomitable matriarch and modern-day abolitionist, strives to keep her family together while fighting for the release of her incarcerated husband. An intimate, epic, and unconventional love story, filmed over two decades.

For this year's Movies Issue, The New York Times Magazine commissioned lines from an eclectic and talented group of screenwriters — writers responsible for some of the best scripts of 2013. We asked them each to write a single line for us — not a scene, a script or a scenario, but simply an intriguing, amusing or captivating line of dialogue. Then we gave these lines to one of the great movie artists of our time: the cinematographer Janusz Kaminski, a two-time Oscar winner. Kaminski used these lines as inspiration to create 11 original (very) short films. Each short evokes a style or genre of the cinematic past and stars an actor who gave an especially memorable performance in 2013.

In 1862, Abraham Lincoln's youngest son is laid to rest. That night, Lincoln visits his son's crypt, a chorus of ghosts narrating their brief reunion. Based on the bestselling novel by acclaimed author George Saunders.

Three men enter the new wild west of baby making, online forums where sperm donors connect with hopeful parents, but find themselves exchanging more than just genetic material.

The childhood, adolescence, and incredible adult years of Al Hirschfeld, celebrated creator of thousands of line drawings of famous people - many in the entertainment industry - over a span of more than sixty years. He is still drawing in his nineties. His interesting domestic life, political, and cultural views are highlights. In addition, he talks about himself a bit - seriously and lightly.(At one point he he claims that his only form of exercise has been to live in his Manhattan townhouse: stairs). He drives his car around Manhattan - an adventure in itself. Brief interviews with, and reminiscences of many friends and associates.

2014's best actors pair up in a series of intimate encounters.

This investigation into the layers of mass incarceration and its shaping of the modern black American family is seen through the eyes of a single mother in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Ingénues, icons, action heroes, divas and the world's next great comedy star: 13 actresses who gave the dreamiest performances of 2012.

Some of 2011's stand-out film actors appear in "a video gallery of cinematic villainy" for New York Times Magazine.

2015's best actors lift off in a series of tributes to the ultimate Hollywood magic trick.

Horror films dominated the cultural conversation in 2017. From the surprise hit “Get Out” to the movie adaption of “It” to the campy “Happy Death Day,” scary movies had an unusual hold on the collective imagination during that year. Maybe it's because reality was pretty horrifying, too. To punctuate the end of a hair-raising year, The New York Times Magazine asked ten actors who gave the best performances to play a series of eerie roles.

Step inside the suspenseful world of film noir in a series of short virtual-reality films, and see what its like to be in a scene with the year’s best actors.

An inside look at Louis C.K.’s public downfall and surprising return to the stage. Featuring interviews with three women -- Jen Kirkman, Abby Schachner, and Megan Koester -- who spoke up about his sexual misconduct, New York Times journalists who broke the story, and fellow comedians and writers such as Michael Ian Black, Michael Schur, and Aida Rodriguez. Invites viewers to question whose stories and whose art we value, and at what cost. A New York Times production.

This year's great performers striking some of the classic attitudes of cinema.

In his short lifetime, J Dilla was a musician, producer and visionary who profoundly influenced rap and hip-hop. Given how prolific he was in his 32 years, why didn't his accolades come sooner?

Elon Musk, the world's richest person, has claimed since 2015 that, for Tesla, technology for self-driving cars is a "solved problem," and made outlandish claims about Autopilot capabilities. But a New York Times investigation reveals the quixotic nature of Musk's pursuit of self-driving technology, and the tragic results.

In Denver, an intrepid activist runs for office with the aim of eliminating cash bail.

Behind the gates of a palm-tree-lined fantasyland, three residents and one interloper at America’s largest retirement community strive to find happiness.

Paul and Millie Cao lost their youth to the aftermath of the Vietnam War. Forty years later, they have become successful professionals in Southern California-and are rediscovering themselves on the dance floor.