On June 1, Norma Jeane Mortenson would have turned 100. She died at the age of 36, on August 4, 1962, but her artistic alter ego, Marilyn Monroe, became a film legend. The Bombshell Blonde façade concealed a very harsh childhood during which she lived in as many as 12 foster homes, a torturous romantic life, and a career marked by artistic self-doubt and very poor health (she never carried a pregnancy to term).

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With five Academy Awards to his name, Alejandro González Iñárritu, 62, had few things left to achieve, and this week he crossed one off. The award-winning Mexican director, who will release his ninth film this fall — the dramedy Digger, starring Tom Cruise — has returned to his native city to join the Colegio Nacional de México, one of the most prestigious academic institutions in the Spanish-speaking world. As its new 38th member and the first filmmaker ever asked to join the honorary academy, his entire craft is also entering the institution: an art that has historically played different roles, he says, from “its use by governments for ideologies and repression” to “poetry and inspiration,” and also “entertainment.”

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As a child, Camila Morrone (Los Angeles, 28) found it odd when she heard her mother and father arguing and repeating the same lines over and over in her family living room. She later understood that her parents’ profession — they are both actors — required long hours of learning lines, rehearsing scripts, and attending auditions that did not always have the hoped-for outcome. The actress has said she grew to feel some aversion to acting during her teens, though deep down she knew it was the path she would follow.

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In 2011, Karl von Randow and Matt Buchanan, two tech-loving New Zealand film buffs, launched Letterboxd, a movie review and rating app inspired by Goodreads, the platform that does the same for books. For several years, they juggled this small project with their work at a web design studio. Then came the Covid-19 pandemic. In March 2020, they hired their first full-time employee, and with the world confined to their homes, their user base exploded. In 2023, the company was acquired by the Canadian company Tiny and today boasts over 26 million user profiles. While this figure seems insignificant compared to companies like Instagram (with around three billion active users), it reflects the cultural power of film as a source of conversation. Those who love movies enjoy watching them as much as discussing and analyzing them in detail, and Letterboxd is aimed at that community — including famous filmmakers and performers.

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In the world of television, Girls marked a before and after when it premiered in 2012. If Sex and the City, which debuted 14 years earlier, reminded women of their power and their right to have fun and take control of their lives, Girls — the quintessential millennial series, written, directed, and starring Lena Dunham — delved much deeper into the realities of everyday life, far less glamorous for ordinary people.

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