Kingsley Ben-Adir had less than two weeks to prepare for the role of Malcolm X in One Night In Miami before filming began in New Orleans. He spent most of that time waking up before sunrise and drilling the script into his memory, studying Malcolm’s dialect and consuming audiobooks and films on the revolutionary leader.
Culture
In the wake of last week’s riot at the Capitol building, the feds are presumably working day and night to track down everyone involved. For many of the rioters, this has apparently not been challenging. Some of the more prominent characters, like Jake Angeli, the “QAnon Shaman” who is currently receiving organic food for his
The first installment of Disney+’s long and expansive slate of Marvel shows arrives today in the form of WandaVision, which stars Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff, a superhuman with telekinesis, telepathy, and reality-bending powers, and Vision (Paul Bettany), Tony Stark’s trusted A.I. sidekick turned sentient android. In the films, the two ex-Avengers fell in love;
Of course, Vonnegut. There’s one part of it that’s great, when the American gets captured by the British soldiers, and the British soldiers are trained to, when they wake up in the morning, make their bed, do 20 minutes of exercise, 20 minutes of reading, polish their boots, shave. And although I don’t agree with
Wine in hand, Butler tried to answer his own question by talking about his ambitions and, more insightfully, all the things he loves. First and foremost, Jimmy Butler loves his daughter. He can’t get enough of her. She’s taught him that unconditional love does exist, even if she sometimes slaps him in the face in
The politician Andrew Yang has announced his candidacy for a new role: Mayor of New York City. In his campaign ad, “Why I’m Running,” Yang describes his relationship with the city—going, some might say, a little overboard—and describes his lofty aspirations, including fixing the Knicks, a hollow campaign promise if there ever was one. There’s
Trump has been our first—and, god willing, our last—looks-first president. Indeed, he is a looks-only president, fond of describing appointees as “straight out of central casting.” He launched his presidential campaign with a hat, which quickly became an abhorrent symbol of white supremacy. He surrounded himself with an army of blondes. Female Trump supporters, peppered
Is there anything specific in your career that prepared you to tackle something like this? Well, I think I have a sense of adventure in life that I bring to my films. I’m interested in the adventure of making a movie into going into the unknown. There’s other filmmakers, who in general, the studios prefer
Last week’s attack on the US Capitol is already one of the most unforgettable events in American history. The Capitol building was last breached when British forces invaded during the War of 1812. 209 years later, a mob of insurrectionists attacked the building at the behest of none other than the sitting, but on-the-way-out, US
The first message came on Christmas morning which, if the Trump administration has its way, will be Dustin Higgs’ last holiday. “I would like to do whatever I can do to shine a light on this most horrific thing named the death penalty,” Higgs wrote to me in an email from federal death row. “To
The highlight of last year’s World Series was the offensive explosion of Tampa Bay Rays outfielder Randy Arozarena. The mostly unknown outfielder had only played 42 games in his career until he began launching home runs with Ruth-ian frequency, smashing 10 in the postseason and three in the World Series. The thrill of his incredible
Can you break down how you actually found him? Was there an article of clothing that unlocked everything or something? So the process began with an appeal. Can we find more pictures of this person? In the case of Zip Tie Guy, he had some clues. He was wearing a baseball cap from Black Rifle
Society’s most loathsome ideas are sometimes best confronted by the unlikeliest of cultural critics. Just look at Viagra Boys, a Stockholm-based punk-rock outfit whose very name is a parody of hypermasculinity and raging alpha males’ frequent inability to perform. But their musical performances—on record and especially onstage—are nothing if not potent. The spiritual descendants of
Do you feel like there’s any lessons we can take away from the film in terms of our approach to the pandemic? [Laughs] Is there a lesson? Be careful of who you trust! Or you’ll catch this disease! It’s not a real positive message. It feels like a lot of your work is still prescient.
If you’ve spent any time since Wednesday doomscrolling through Twitter or punishing yourself with CNN footage, you’ve seen the disastrous confrontations and disturbingly friendly-looking interactions between the Capitol rioters and law enforcement. So far, the storming of the Capitol has resulted in 5 deaths, including one officer. What the hell happened? To find out, GQ
This week, a band of rowdy, Glock-toting, Trump-worshiping insurrectionists descended on the Capitol building in Washington, D.C. in an attempt to stop the confirmation of Joe Biden’s presidential nomination. The scenes from the invasion itself have already been memed into oblivion. But as other accounts from people in the area trickled out, the picture of
Like the Odeon, dim sum in Queens, and the Prospect Park lawn, Fran Lebowitz is a New Yorker’s New York fixture and a cognoscenti touchpoint to a bygone era. Infamously cellphone-free and laptop-less, Lebowitz has nonetheless become more and more of a cult celebrity—in part due to her irascible wit on everything from politics to
(credit: Ventana Big Sur) 2020 has come and gone and how happy everyone is that 2021 has a glimmer of hope. For those wishing and wanting to keep that glimmer alive for as long as possible, stargazing is the ultimate activity to get lost in the vast skies and dream of a better tomorrow. Offering