Arts review

ART REVIEW

Unfurling a Life of Creative Exuberance

By HOLLAND COTTER 10:50 AM ET

Fred R. Conrad/The New York Times

Several of De Kooning's sculptures.

“De Kooning: A Retrospective,” opening on Sunday at the Museum of Modern Art, pays long overdue attention to this Abstract Expressionist artist, and pays in full.

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MUSIC REVIEW

Metallica Earns Its Top Billing of the Big Four

By BEN RATLIFF 11:35 AM ET

The thorough and memorable concert let Metallica lord over its past as it headlined a seven-hour show with Anthrax, Megadeth and Slayer.

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CRITIC’S NOTEBOOK

A Gentle Nod to Country, With a Streak of Darkness

By JON CARAMANICA

Lady Antebellum’s third album, “Own the Night,” elevates the group’s fecklessness to high art and makes no apologies for its blunt-force tactics.

MUSIC REVIEW

In Good Times and Bum Times, a Trouper With Feisty Resolve

By STEPHEN HOLDEN

The ever-resilient Elaine Stritch is performing an all-Sondheim program at Café Carlyle and embracing those pesky obstacles that come with age.

Baryshnikov Breaks Out His Russian For ‘In Paris’

By ELAINE SCIOLINO

Mikhail Baryshnikov is performing in “In Paris,” a stark, experimental theatrical adaptation of a 1940 short story by Ivan Bunin, the first Russian to win the Nobel Prize in Literature.

DANCE REVIEW

A Bold and Ferocious Swirl

By ALASTAIR MACAULAY

“Swan Lake” opened the New York City Ballet’s new season, and Peter Martins makes it different if not always good.

•  Slide Show

BOOKS OF THE TIMES

‘The Rogue’

By JOE MCGINNISS
Reviewed by JANET MASLIN

Joe McGinniss searches for “the real Sarah Palin” by moving in next door to her.

• Excerpt: ‘The Rogue’

Consortium Views Arts as Engines of Recovery

By ROBIN POGREBIN

ArtPlace has brought foundations, corporations and federal agencies together to sponsor arts projects around the country.

Television

THE NEW SEASON

Six Actresses Not in Search of TV Work

By DAVE ITZKOFF

This season networks are hoping that Kat Dennings and a handful of other not-all-that-well-known young actresses will be able to carry television shows of their own.

CRITIC’S NOTEBOOK

It’s a Close Contest, but One Is Cruder

By NEIL GENZLINGER

The next few days bring the return of two of cable’s raunchiest sitcoms, “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” and “Blue Mountain State.”

ARTSBEAT Q. & A.

Emmys Watch: Peter Berg on 'Friday Night Lights'

By JEREMY EGNER

It took five seasons of time-slot swaps, near cancellations, lamentations from fans and a network-sharing agreement, but “Friday Night Lights,”finally received an Emmy nomination.

• '30 Rock' Director Beth McCarthy Miller
• 'Raising Hope' Actress Martha Plimpton
• 'The Killing' Actress Michelle Forbes

INTERACTIVE FEATURE: The New York Times Fall TV Ratings Pool

Tell us which shows from the Fall TV season will be the ratings winners and which shows will be canceled.

•  Your Dream Line-up | Headed for Cancellation

Sticking to His Web: Carney Extends Run as Spider-Man

September 15, 2011 43 minutes ago

Grandson Disputes New Play Attributed to Oscar Wilde

September 15, 2011 11:01 AM ET

Take Two: Polanski Plans Another Trip to Zurich Film Festival

September 15, 2011 10:15 AM ET

Go to Blog »

The New Season | Film

A Heartthrob Finds His Tough-Guy Side

By DENNIS LIM

Ryan Gosling’s coming roles suggest that the vengeance-fueled “Drive” is just the beginning of a new tough-guy phase.

•  Anatomy of a Scene: 'Drive' With Director Nicolas Winding Refn

ARTS & LEISURE

The Name Might Escape, Not the Work

By MANOHLA DARGIS and A. O. SCOTT

The faces, bodies and performances of character actors can linger in your memory even if you can’t quite recall their names.

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• Music Review: Emotions Swirl Amid the Simple Language

• Music Review: French Compositions, and Even a French Horn

• Newly Released Books

• Immigration Advocates Split Over Arizona Boycott

• Movie Review | 'Position Among the Stars': Upheaval in a Family That Hopes to Stand Out

• A Battle at the French Box Office: Two Remakes of One Classic Film

• Bridge: Chinese Team Takes Top Prize at a Tournament in Beijing

Abroad

Michael Kimmelman on culture and society in Europe and beyond.

Find your comprehensive television listings with this easy-to-use program guide.

• Daily Updated Highlights

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A free weekday e-mail newsletter featuring the best local offerings from all areas of NYTimes.com — business, arts, sports, dining, style and more.

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THE WEEK AHEAD

Sept. 11 — Sept. 17

A selection of events this week.

The Listings

Longer versions of selected event listings in the New York area this week are now available online.

Art | Classical & Opera | Dance |Jazz | Movies | Rock & Pop |Theater | Children’s Events |Spare Times | 9/11 in the Arts: An Anniversary Guide

VIDEO FEATURE:Artists Reflect on Sept. 11

To mark the 10th anniversary of 9/11, The New York Times asked eight artists in disciplines like dance and film to talk about how that day and its aftermath have informed their work and lives.

•  Your Thoughts: 9/11 State of Mind
• Colum McCann Author
• Elisabeth Subrin Artist/Filmmaker
• John Romita Jr. Comic Book Illustrator
• Steve Reich Composer
• Dennis Leary Actor/Writer
• Christopher Shinn Playwright
• Bill T. Jones Choreographer
• Laura Poitras Filmmaker

Outdone by Reality

By MICHIKO KAKUTANI

In the last 10 years, some eloquent or daring works of art about 9/11 and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq eventually did emerge, but none were really game-changing.

• Calendar: 9/11 in the Arts
• The Reckoning: 9/11 Lexicon | Special Section

Science review

Feathers Trapped in Amber Reveal a More Colorful Dinosaur Age

By JOHN NOBLE WILFORD 24 minutes ago

Science/AAAS

A feather barb within Late Cretaceous Canadian amber that shows some indication of original coloration.

Paleontologists in Canada have found 70-million-year-old amber preserving 11 specimens showing a wide diversity of feather types and pigments in the Mesozoic Era.

NASA Unveils New Rocket Design

By KENNETH CHANG

A colossal rocket would be the most powerful since the Saturn V that took Americans to the moon.

• A Setback Could Force NASA to Bid for a Plan B
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BP Shortcuts Led to Gulf Oil Spill, Report Says

By JOHN M. BRODER

Investigators said the cause of the explosion aboard the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig was a failure of the cement at the base of the 18,000-foot-deep well.

• Post a Comment | Read (83)

A City of Glass Towers, and a Hazard for Migratory Birds

By LISA W. FODERARO

The reflective towers of New York City, which is on the Atlantic migratory flyway, can be deadly for birds. An estimated 90,000 birds are killed by flying into buildings in the city each year.

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Furor Over Loans to Failed Solar Firm

By MATTHEW L. WALD and CHARLIE SAVAGE

Documents released by a House subcommittee raised questions about whether White House staff intervened to speed a review of loan guarantees for the Solyndra solar company.

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Scientists Hint at Why Laughter Feels So Good

By JAMES GORMAN

The simple muscular exertions involved in producing laughter cause an increase in endorphins, the brain chemicals known for their feel-good effect.

Science Times: Sept. 13, 2011

Geoscientists Get to Work as Quake Memories Fade

By HENRY FOUNTAIN

Scott Olson/Getty Images

AFTERMATH Restocking in Mineral,Va., the earthquake’s epicenter.

The magnitude 5.8 quake that struck central Virginia on Aug. 23 offers a chance to learn more about the seismology of the East Coast.

Claudette Barius/Warner Bros., via Associated Press

FEAR FACTOR "Contagion" can veer far from the reality of a viral pandemic.

ON VIEW

The Cough That Launched a Hit Movie

By ABIGAIL ZUGER, M.D.

For all the relentless realism of the film “Contagion,” much of the real drama of epidemic disease never quite makes it to the screen.

Taking Advantage of a Destructive Insect’s Weakness for Purple

By ANTHONY DePALMA

The emerald ash borer is the most destructive insect in North America, and officials in New York are using special purple devices — called Barney traps — against them.

• Green: Know Your Enemies

36 Light-Years From Here, New Hope for an Earth-Like Planet

By DENNIS OVERBYE

Scientists found a lump of something about 3.6 times as massive as the Earth, circling its star at the right distance for liquid water to exist on its surface.

Horwich Wins Lasker Award by Straddling Science and Medicine

By CARL ZIMMER

Dr. Arthur Horwich, a winner of this year’s Lasker Award, has discovered a “changing room” for proteins that allows them to do their jobs.

• Lasker Honors for a Lifesaver

Health News

In Republican Race, a Heated Battle Over the HPV Vaccine

By TRIP GABRIEL and DENISE GRADY

The unlikely issue has become the latest flashpoint among G.O.P. presidential candidates as they vie for the support of social conservatives.

• Read Comments (253)

Abuse of Xanax Leads a Clinic to Halt Supply

By ABBY GOODNOUGH

Citing concern over overdoses, doctors at Seven Counties Services in Louisville have stopped writing prescriptions for the anti-anxiety drug Xanax.

• Post a Comment | Read (264)

In Study, Fatherhood Leads to Drop in Testosterone

By PAM BELLUCK

The study suggests that men’s bodies evolved hormonal systems that helped them commit to their families.

• Post a Comment | Read (203)

• An Immune System Trained to Kill Cancer

• Cases: For Many Older Gays, a Toll of Time and Isolation

• A Squirt of Insulin May Delay Alzheimer’s

More Multimedia

INTERACTIVE FEATURE: Panoramas: Expanding the Shortcut Between the Seas

In the first expansion in the 100-year history of the Panama Canal, crews are starting to build a new set of locks that will handle much larger ships.

• Related Article

INTERACTIVE FEATURE: Name That Scientist!

How many of these scientists can you recognize?

VIDEO: Life Out There: Eden in a Test Tube

To better recognize extraterrestrial life should they come upon it, scientists are working to create simple life forms in a lab. But, as Dennis Overbye reports, they first have to agree what life is.

• ‘It’s Alive! It’s Alive!’ Maybe Right Here on Earth

VIDEO: Nora Volkow

An interview with the neuroscientist in charge of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, who also happens to be the great-granddaughter of Leon Trotsky.

• A General in the Drug War

To the Arctic, in Search of the Unknown

September 13, 2011

Rules of Engagement in the Elephant World

September 8, 2011

Go to Blog »

GREEN BLOG

Watch Out for Lethal Branches. Bats, Too.

By CRAIG LEISHER

Living off the grid in Maine, the author escapes rabies, a serious eye injury and carbon monoxide poisoning. Phew. But a storm damages the family's kayak.

SCIENTIST AT WORK BLOG

The Island Birds of Papua New Guinea

By JACK DUMBACHER

Scientists arrive in Milne Bay, a maritime province with more than 600 islands off the southeastern tip of New Guinea, where they hope to discover new species of birds and their parasites.

Greenhouse Gas Rule Delayed

September 15, 201112:04 PM ET

A War Against Food Waste

September 15, 2011 11:29 AM ET

Parsing Myth and Reality on Solyndra

September 14, 2011 4:50 PM ET

Go to Blog »

Science Columns

OBSERVATORY

Good Vibrations Lead to Hummingbird Romance

By SINDYA N. BHANOO

The male hummingbird’s tail feather vibrations are audible, precise and separate from the humming of the wings that gives the birds their name.

OBSERVATORY

A Jekyll-and-Hyde Act for the Feathered Set

By SINDYA N. BHANOO

Honeyguides lay their eggs in the nests of other birds, and upon hatching, the chicks kill their foster siblings.

OBSERVATORY

Cavefish Keep Time Without the Sun

By SINDYA N. BHANOO

Photoreceptor cells in cavefish do not respond to light, a discovery that provides insights about the evolution of circadian clocks.

• More Observatory Columns »

Q & A

Dating Stone Tools

By C. CLAIBORNE RAY

Because radiocarbon dating is limited to the last 50,000 years, an artifact like a flint tool is dated by the age of the sediment in which its found.

• More Q & A Columns »

Podcast: Science Times

This week: A new experiment in gene therapy for cancer, tracking a tree-killing insect, and comparing the movie “Contagion” to real-life epidemics.

 The Science Times Podcast

Health Columns

18 AND UNDER

A Child’s Nap Is More Complicated Than It Looks

By PERRI KLASS, M.D.

Napping in children actually is a mix of individual biology, including neurologic and hormonal development, cultural expectations and family dynamics.

•  Post a Comment
• More 18 and Under »

PERSONAL HEALTH

Attacking the Obesity Epidemic by First Figuring Out Its Cause

By JANE E. BRODY

A series of reports in The Lancet lays out the reasons why the number of overweight Americans began skyrocketing in the 1970s, and how the problem can be brought under control.

• The Numbers Behind an Urgent Fight
• More Personal Health Columns »

REALLY?

The Claim: Fingers Wrinkle Because of Water Absorption

By ANAHAD O'CONNOR

Researchers theorize that the wrinkles allow water to drain away as fingertips are pressed to wet surfaces, creating more contact and a better grip.

• More Really? Columns »

Opinion

DOT EARTH BLOG

Four Years, 1,630 Posts and a Nice Award

By ANDREW C. REVKIN

Awards for a remarkable book on the early days of cancer research, a series of articles on the frontiers of that field, a documentary on ailing dolphins and this blog.

More From Dot Earth »