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Under the Banner of Heaven


It’s so hard to reconcile the prim self-denial prescribed by modern Mormon dogma (no caffeine, alcohol, or pre-marital sex) with the cartoonish fantasy fulfillment at the church’s foundational core: polygamy and defiance of the federal government. Under the Banner of Heaven, on Hulu, is a remarkably engrossing thriller based on a series of real murders in Utah in 1984 that exposes not just the killers but also the contradictions of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. In this horrific tragedy, the squeaky-clean public face of the church is challenged by an apostate fundamentalist sect seeking to restore the 19th-century diktats of Joseph Smith and Brigham Young. The series is based on the 2003 nonfiction account by Jon Krakauer (Into Thin Air) and was created by Dustin Lance Black, who grew up in a Mormon household. The series has a message, obviously, but it unfolds as a twisty crime procedural, following two detectives, one a Mormon, the other a Paiute Indian, as they struggle to make sense of the vicious homicides in their small town. (hulu.com) —Alessandra Stanley

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Sonoratown


Many of the best restaurants in Los Angeles are in strip malls. Earlier this summer, Sonoratown, a tiny Mexican restaurant that opened downtown in 2016, joined the excellent-food-in-desolate-strip-mall category. Taking over an out-of-business Subway in Mid City, the restaurant’s second outpost is now serving their famed homemade flour tortillas in a location convenient for those on the Westside. While the recipe, which has been published by The New York Times, seems ordinary—flour, lard, baking powder—it’s nearly impossible to replicate. Every 12 days, co-owner Jennifer Feltham drives to Mexico to procure unbleached Sonoran wheat flour. (Regular American white flour is too hard.) The resulting tortillas—soft but still chewy—are some of the best in the city. (sonoratown.com) —Jensen Davis

Jun 09, 2004; Memphis, TN, USA; (File Photo: Date Unknown) BONNIE LEE BAKLEY, 44, was found shot dead on May 4, 2001. She was shot in the head and found in her husband’s car. The couple had just dined at Vitello’s Italian Restaurant in the Los Angeles area. Her husband, actor Robert Blake was accused of the murder. Pictured: Portrait of Bonnie Lee Bakley.
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The Execution of Bonny Lee Bakley


You might not like Bonny Lee Bakley—a con artist who once unapologetically announced that her goal in life was to “marry a movie star”—but it’s hard not to be fascinated by her. In the 1980s and 1990s, Bakley scammed lonely men out of hundreds, sometimes thousands, of dollars with “lonely hearts” ads and nude photos. She had five husbands, and briefly seduced Marlon Brando’s wayward son, Christian. Then, in 2001, she was brutally shot at close range outside an Italian restaurant in Studio City. The ensuing 11-month murder investigation—in which her husband of four months, actor Robert Blake, was the prime suspect—made history as the most expensive in L.A.P.D. history. Now the saga is told in a six-part podcast from Wondery, and is co-hosted by Tracy Pattin and Josh Lucas, the team responsible for juicy Hollywood crime podcasts such as The Dating Game Killer, The Wonderland Murders, and Death of a Starlet. The series is scripted with a few short interludes of archival audio that pull listeners into the heart of the story. (wondery.com) —Bridget Arsenault

JEAN PAUL GAULTIER DRESS
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Jerome Vintage


In Indre By, the center of Copenhagen, Jerome Vintage offers a small but exceptionally well-curated selection of vintage clothes. The owner, Pia Anna Kierulff, picks understated, Nordic-feeling designs from major fashion houses, such as Comme des Garçons, Yves Saint Laurent, and Celine. If you’re in Denmark, the store itself—a second-floor apartment with herringbone wood floors, white paneled walls, and vintage furniture—is worth the visit. If you’re not, they have an online shop that ships to Europe and the United States. (wearephoenix.dk) —Jensen Davis

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Tiffany & Co.


Leave it to the design masterminds at Tiffany & Co. to turn a padlock into a desirable accessory. For the new Tiffany Lock collection, the house’s designers mined the brand’s extensive archives for inspiration, and, accordingly, turned out an alluring range of bangles in various configurations. With diamonds or without? White, yellow, or rose gold? In short supply, these beauties are bound to be on some of the best-kept wrists in town, so stake your claim early and procure your style of choice. Our pick: the 18-karat yellow-and-white-gold style, bedecked with hand-set diamonds. (Price upon request, tiffany.com) —Ashley Baker

Mid Century Vintage Maison Bagues French Gold Plated Bar Cart
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Vinterior


In-the-know decorators, both amateur and professional, are already experts at searching on eBay. They should also familiarize themselves with Vinterior, a marketplace for vintage and antique dealers from all over Europe. Midcentury-modern end tables? Murano-glass chandeliers? Gustavian chairs and dressers? Original (yet fully refurbished) Terence Conran lighting? It’s all there, in abundance, at prices that will not induce weeping. Oh, there’s plenty of Perriand-esque collectible stuff, but it’s the antique farm tables, 70s magazine racks, bar carts, and consoles—many of which cost less than a new pair of Manolos—that make our pulses quicken. The downside: shipping overseas can be pricey. Those in the States should stick to the small stuff—until you finally find that perfect house in Aix. (vinterior.co) —Ashley Baker

Issue No. 162
August 20, 2022
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Issue No. 162
August 20, 2022