Strong’s co-star, Brian Cox, dropped by Late Night with Seth Meyers on Wednesday to discuss the profile of his on-screen son. “The thing about Jeremy’s approach is it works in terms of what comes out the other end. My problem — and it’s not a problem, I don’t have a problem with Jeremy because he’s delightful… He’s a pretty unique individual,” he said. “But, he does get obsessed with the work. And I worry about what it does to him, because if you can’t separate yourself — because you’re dealing with all of this material every day. You can’t live in it. You know, eventually, you get worn out.”
Cox compared Strong’s method acting to Daniel Day Lewis, who “got worn out at 55 and decided to retire because [he] couldn’t go on doing that every day,” he said. “It’s too consuming. And I do worry about it. But the result — what everyone says about Jeremy — the result is always extraordinary and excellent.”
Cox isn’t one to shower his fellow actors with compliments (“Personable though I’m sure he is, is so overblown, so overrated,” he said about Johnny Depp), so he clearly has affection for Strong — and his f*cking go nut-nut process.
A few days ago, Olivia Rodrigo announced her first-ever run of tour dates, which is set to go down between April and July 2022. She has given a handful of live performances so far, but tours tend to be different than award show appearances and things of the like, so it remains to be seen just what sort of experience Rodrigo’s tour will offer. Looking back at Lorde’s shows may offer at least a bit of an idea, though, as Rodrigo says she’s very inspired by Lorde’s concerts, specifically by one show she went to.
Speaking with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe, Rodrigo said:
“I remember going and seeing Lorde’s Melodrama [tour] at the Staples Center, with two of my friends that I’ve grown up with since I was in elementary school, and just balling my eyes out at the experience that she created. She cultivated this whole experience and you could just feel it in your body. The visuals and the sounds and the everything just heightened the album so much for me, and I remember walking out of the Staples Center and being like, ‘I wanna like cultivate an experience for someone like that.’ That’s just like the highest form of art to me, a concert.”
The interview was pegged to Rodrigo’s dominance over this year’s Apple Music Awards, which were announced last week and saw Rodrigo win Breakthrough Artist Of The Year, Album Of The Year (Sour), and Song Of The Year (“Drivers License”).
Meanwhile, Rodrigo recently got some touring advice from Phoebe Bridgers, who said, “If you go on vacation and you get kind of depressed or whatever, it’s so much worse. If you’re depressed on tour, you’re surrounded by people, you get to be with all your friends and it’s like work. So then the magical moments are so much better and the sad moments are weirdly so much better. I have such a great friend group of people who are like, ‘I know it’s hard to miss your dog.’ My advice is FaceTime your pets, call your mom… it’s OK if there are times that feel a little bit harder, but mostly, it’s the best thing ever.”
If I called Barn the best Neil Young album in more than a decade, would it register as faint praise? We are, after all, talking about a bar set by the inauspicious likes of A Letter Home, Peace Trail, The Visitor, Colorado, and several (!) other albums that came and went in the 2010s without much fanfare. Compared with the recent competition, Barn practically feels like a return to the gold standard of Tonight’s The Night, On The Beach, and Rust Never Sleeps — but only when compared with the recent competition. It’s just good enough to make you wonder: Will he ever get around to making another truly great Neil Young album?
Being a Neil Young fan has always required a taste for roller coasters. Throughout his iconic 50-plus-year career, which dates back to his days in Buffalo Springfield with his musical soulmate Stephen Stills, Neil has willingly (and often thrillingly) steered between tremendous highs and crushing lows. He’s been fantastic and flat, brilliant and boring, insightful and insipid. All the while, he’s put out studio albums — 41 in all, not counting live records or his voluminous archival releases — at a steady clip, even when he hasn’t seemed particularly inspired.
Unfortunately, Neil’s “not particularly inspired” era has gone on for a while now. His output in the ’10s resembled the music he made during the most polarizing decade of his career, the 1980s, when he flitted from genre experiment to genre experiment — synth-pop, old-timey country, rockabilly, beer-commercial blues — both as a way to troll his long-time frenemy David Geffen and, one suspects, to satisfy his insatiable appetite for novelty and stimulation. The past decade has a similar ADHD quality: He put out a screamingly shambolic collection of folk standards (2012’s Americana), another album of covers made with Jack While in an ancient vinyl recording booth (2014’s A Letter Home), an album of tunes with orchestral and big-band arrangements (2014’s Storytone), a concept record about the food-industrial complex (2015’s The Monsanto Years), and a live LP that includes the “backing” of farm animals (2016’s Earth). All of these albums are “interesting” without being especially “good.”
But since this is Neil Young — one of the greatest artists to ever work in rock, full stop — I can’t fully dismiss any of them. Maybe they’ll grow on me. Maybe he’s just ahead of the curve. Maybe in a decade I’ll write a thinkpiece entitled, “We Were All Wrong About The Monsanto Years.” At the moment, however, it’s hard not to compare him to one of his only real surviving contemporaries, Bob Dylan, whose most recent studio album, Rough And Rowdy Ways, was a genuine event in a way no Neil record has been in many years. Dylan has had his own share of roller-coaster moments, to be sure. But in the past 20 years as his songwriting has slowed, he has tended to take his time before putting out new original work, waiting until he’s had a cogent set of songs. Now there’s a concept that apparently hasn’t occurred to Neil.
Whenever I’m confronted with yet another marginal Neil Young album I wonder — god help me — if he could use someone like Rick Rubin to help him focus again on songwriting fundamentals. Remember how he worked with a strong producer, Daniel Lanois, on 2010’s Le Noise, his last significant album? Perhaps he just needs to buckle down?
But then I recoil at the thought. Who wants a “well thought out” Neil Young record? Letting it all hang out is what Neil does. Neil is all instinct. Instinct is his brand. Working though it is his process. But the question is: What in the hell is he working toward?
Coming out of the ’80s, Neil Young recovered his stride by reconnecting with Crazy Horse, his partners in crime and his most reliable muse, commencing a run with 1990’s glorious Ragged Glory that rivals even his hallowed golden era in the ’70s. Lately, he’s drifted back into this familiar (and fertile) safety zone. On 2019’s Colorado, he revived the After The Gold Rush edition of his backing band, re-installing Nils Lofgren. (The previous Crazy Horse LP, 2012’s sprawling and jammy Psychedelic Pill, featured the band’s usual guitarist, Frank “Poncho” Sampedro.) And now Young, a man infamous for quickly changing course, has opted to work again with this lineup for Barn.
Judging by the “behind the scenes” documentary directed by Young’s wife, Daryl Hannah, that accompanies the album, making music with Crazy Horse seems, if nothing else, to be extremely fun. Working out of a gorgeous converted barn dating back to the 1850s perched high in the Rockies — an indulgence that only a gazillionaire hippie rock star could afford — we see Neil and his epically grizzled compatriots wail away under a full moon while surrounded by adorable dogs and ample bottles of cold beer. In the movie’s best scene, Young improvises a song on piano about having “no fucking cold beer” until some cold beer magically materializes via one of his assistants. Being Neil Young, as we all know, is pretty cool.
The movie re-affirms what is already evident from Neil Young’s music: He remains a master of vibe. On his best records (and even many of his weakest), you hear the room as much as the songs. The gregariousness of the sessions bleeds into the communal feel of the sounds. His records are often described as “sloppy,” and rightfully so, but in the sloppiness there’s a sense of genuine life being lived and captured on tape. This feeling of electric liveliness is assisted, of course, by Young’s stunningly well-preserved voice and the peerless rumble of Old Black, the 1953 Gibson Les Paul Goldtop responsible for the gnarliest guitar tone known to man next to Link Wray. Even as Young’s songwriting has wavered, Old Black has never failed him. His guitar playing is always what eases me into appreciating and even enjoying albums in which I can’t recall a single memorable melody or lyric. (Psychedelic Pill, for instance, ranks with my favorite Neil Young albums of the past 20 years simply because many of the songs have guitar solos that go on for at least 10 minutes.)
And so it goes on Barn, in which Neil once again dwells on the central obsessions of his late career. There are songs steeped in nostalgia (“Heading West”), songs about cars (“Change Ain’t Never Gonna”), songs about the dire state of the world sung in the tenor of a cranky Facebook poster (“Human Race”), and songs about how one shouldn’t forget about love (“Don’t Forget Love”). Many of them aren’t great, but they sound pretty good, thanks to Old Black and that high and lonesome whine frozen in amber.
And then there are the two songs that stand out from the pack. The first is “They Might Get Lost,” a punch-drunk shuffle in which Young trades harmonica licks with lines about “waitin’ for the boys to come and get the goods.” It has that brittle Tonight’s The Night feeling, in which Neil seems to be describing some illicit misadventure unfolding in front of him in real time with a band that’s about to keel over from a tequila overdose. The other standout is “Welcome Back,” a glowering slow-motion guitar breakdown imbued with the sinister beauty of “Cortez The Killer,” through which Old Black meanders in an aimless death spiral for what feels like several hours, except you hope it actually goes on for several days.
When I hear these songs, my hope that Neil may one day produce another Ragged Glory or Harvest Moon is renewed. As for Young himself, I wonder if at this point it’s more about process than destination. He makes records because that’s what he does. And he drinks his cold beer and he pets his adorable dogs and he breathes in that high Rocky Mountain air and feels alive. The songs will come when they come. In the meantime, there are worst ways to wait.
Neil Young is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Tucker Carlson has a lot of opinions, and almost all of them idiotic, offensive, unfounded, dangerous, or all of the above. His rhetoric surrounding COVID-19 in particular has been especially alarming. He’s regularly been called out by the media, scientific experts, and even his Fox News colleagues for sowing doubts and outright telling lies about COVID and vaccinations (all while refusing to state whether or not he himself has been vaccinated), yet he persists. And on Wednesday, as Mediaite reports, he made one of his most outlandishly inappropriate comments yet when he claimed that contracting COVID “feminizes people.”
By “people,” of course, Carlson means men. Manly men.
The comments were made while Carlson was chatting with Brexit instigator Nigel Farage on Carlson’s Fox Nation show Tucker Carlson Today. The two were discussing UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s leadership skills, and the many flip-flops he has made. Which led Carlson to comment that:
“Somebody who knows him told me, and I’d be interested in getting your take on this, that getting COVID emasculated [Johnson]. It changed him, it feminized him, it weakened him as a man.”
Farage confirmed that Johnson, who was hospitalized with COVID in 2020 and spent time in the ICU, was indeed “very seriously ill” and noted that “one of the things we have learned from COVID is people who are 50, 60, 70, 80 pounds overweight tend to have fared very badly.”
Carlson agreed, but seemed desperate to get back to his decidedly sexist opinion that “The virus itself, this is true, does tend to take away the life force in some people I notice.” (Note: This is not true.) “It does feminize people,” Carlson continued. “No one ever says that, but it’s true.” (Again, this is not true. And no one ever says it because it’s not true.)
Farage seemed reluctant to agree with Carlson’s statement, though he did agree that getting COVID seemed to change Johnson—but Farage thinks that the prime minister’s new wife, whom he referred to as “Carrie Antoinette,” is the real issue.
If you want to watch two misogynistic pigs have a conversation about the dangers of COVID and women, you can watch the clip below.
OMG! Tucker Carlson just said contracting covid “feminizes people.” I wish his meathead followers could hear this, but he only says this on his internet show. pic.twitter.com/jtxoKDSTiW
The tracklist and cover for Juice WRLD’s second posthumous album Fighting Demons have arrived, revealing a surprising feature for the prolific Chicago rapper. In addition to expected features from Juice’s peers, Polo G and Trippie Redd, a member of the K-Pop world makes an appearance: BTS member Suga, who will appear on the track “Girl Of My Dreams.” Rounding out the guestlist are Justin Bieber, on the previously released “Wandered To LA,” and Eminem, with whom Juice previously collaborated on “Godzilla” from Eminem’s 2020 album Music To Be Murdered By.
The news of Suga’s appearance is already drawing significant buzz among K-pop fan circles as the genre edges closer to the American mainstream — mainly by high-profile collaborations with other US rappers like Megan Thee Stallion and Juice, and other pop acts which are already popular here, such as Coldplay. “Butter,” BTS’ collaboration with Megan, hit no. 1 on the Hot 100 and has become a staple of this year’s live televised performances. Likewise, “My Universe” with Coldplay has also become a huge hit, contributing to the overall visibility of the international group.
Meanwhile, the collab could help Juice to another posthumous No. 1 debut after his prior 2020 release, Legends Never Die, became one of the most commercially successful posthumous releases ever, hanging onto the top spot for two weeks.
The Miyagi-Do and Eagle Fang dojos are now working together against Cobra Kai, and the Cobra Kai Season 4 trailer sets up an intense All-Valley showdown. Man, superfan Andrew Garfield is gonna be so happy to see this happen.
This tournament lead-up, of course, is a direct callback to the O.G. All Valley Karate Tournament confrontation that took place 30 years ago, and forever (and arguably) changed the life paths of Daniel LaRusso and Johnny Lawrence. Unsurprisingly, they can’t get over this rivalry, but they’re gonna have to suck it up and go there. Likewise, their respective dojos, Miyagi-Do and Eagle Fang, attempt to join forces against John Kreese’s ownership of Cobra Kai, but of course, getting along will prove to be a bumpy road. As you can see above, Johnny’s doing the wax-on-wax-off training favored by Mr. Miyagi while Johnny pushes Daniel into knuckle push-ups and encourages kids to roof-hop. What could go wrong? Oh, everything.
Well, Kreese has called in reinforcements in the form of his old Vietnam War buddy and co-founder of the Cobra Kai dojo, Terry Silver, who returns to the franchise. Who will win the spirit of karate in the Valley, and can Hawk and Tory stay afloat in life while Johnny’s messing around with a crane kick? Most of the grown-ups are a-holes in their own way on this show, so hopefully, the kids can talk some sense into them. At the very least, we’ll have fun watching them try while carrying torches for new generations.
Each week our staff of film and TV experts surveys the entertainment landscape to select the ten best new/newish movies available for you to stream at home. We put a lot of thought into our selections, and our debates on what to include and what not to include can sometimes get a little heated and feelings may get hurt, but so be it, this is an important service for you, our readers. With that said, here are our selections for this week.
This is a surprisingly star-studded — Ellie Kemper! Rob Delaney! Kenan Thompson! — addition to the Home Alone franchise, written by SNL veterans Mikey Day and Streeter Seidell. The plot remains the same: A 10-year-old boy gets left behind when his parents head off to Tokyo and he has to defend his house from various bumbling criminals. The reviews so far are… not great, but it might be worth a go if you’re looking for a nostalgia blast to the face or something to watch with younger kids. Order yourself a large cheese pizza first. Watch it on Disney Plus.
You like Turner and Hooch, right? Of course you do. Tom Hanks + a dog = good ’80s movie. OK, well, what if Turner and Hooch was set in the post-apocalyptic future… and instead of working as a cop, Tom Hanks is one of the last people on Earth and he travels the planet with his dog and a robot… and the movie was directed by the guy who did the awesome “Hardhome” and “Battle of the Bastards” episodes of Game of Thrones. It’s Finch time. Watch it on Apple TV+.
Jeymes Samuel’s slick, stylish Netflix Western is a “pick your fighter” lineup of gun-slinging, swag-dripping Black cowboys ready to dust off the history books and give us a more accurate, diverse representation of the Old West. Jonathan Majors is having a hell of a year and here, he imbues the deadly Nat Love with some impressive comedic beats that make it easy to root for the vengeance-minded outlaw – unless, of course, you’re swayed by the prospect of Regina King riding a horse and f*cking sh*t up in every scene. (Who wouldn’t be?) Idris Elba, LaKeith Stanfield, and Zazie Beetz round out the main cast members with the most things to do on screen and all of the shoot-outs and train robberies and saloon fights are timed perfectly to an eclectic mix of Reggae/Dancehall bangers produced by Samuel and collaborator Jay-Z. This ain’t your grandpa’s Western, and really, that’s kind of the point. Watch it on Netflix.
Andrew Garfield is giving theater-kids everywhere a musical-thirst-trap performance in this Lin-Manuel Miranda-directed biopic that pays tribute to Jonathan Larson, the artistic genius who changed Broadway with his seminal musical Rent. This film examines Larson’s life before fans were belting out Season of Love though, with Garfield giving an award-worthy turn as a restless visionary who feels the suffocating deadline of turning 30 without having produced a great show. The supporting cast is terrific, Garfield is doing his best work, and Miranda infuses everything with a genuine sense of love and admiration that makes it hard not to root for this one. Watch it on Netflix.
8. Last Night in Soho (VOD)
Working Title
Nostalgia can be dangerous, but if you’re nostalgic for when you saw Last Night in Soho in theaters, now you can watch it again at home (hopefully your ghost-free home). And if you never got around to checking out Edgar Wright’s retro psychological horror film starring Thomasin McKenzie, Anya Taylor-Joy, and Diana Rigg in her final role, here’s your chance. Watch it on VOD.
The debut film from writer-director Stephen Karam, based on his Tony-winning play, sounds a little too real for the holidays. Let’s let the official description explain why: “As three generations of Erik Blake’s family gather to celebrate Thanksgiving at his daughter’s apartment in Manhattan, darkness falls and eerie things start to go bump in the night, laying bare their deepest fears – and the love that binds them together.” It’s got an interesting cast — Amy Schumer! Beanie Feldstein! Steven Yeun! June Squibb! — and it’s got a great pedigree, so, you know, maybe give it a shot. Watch it on Showtime.
Halle Berry’s MMA movie made a deal with Netflix and now Halle Berry’s MMA movie is on Netflix. Yes, that sentence said “Halle Berry’s MMA movie twice but, to be fair, it’s a phrase it takes a little bit of time to wrap your head around. Berry makes her directorial debut and stars as a disgraced fighter named Jackie Justice (Jackie Justice!) who is back in the cage to deal with various personal demons. It’s Halle Berry’s MMA movie! The reviews are pretty good! Watch it on Netflix.
As odd as it is to have a movie about two of the greatest athletes of all time told centered on, not the women winning Grand Slams and Olympic gold medals, but their determined, driven father – King Richard works. It works because Will Smith exudes charisma and charm but he also brings a believable grit and weary defiance to the role of Richard Williams, the man who gave tennis not one, but two female legends. This is Serena and Venus’ story, told from the perspective of the man who believed in them when no one else did so, yeah, grab a box of tissues before you sit down to watch. Watch it on HBO Max.
You might be wondering, “There are already nine million books and documentaries and academic studies about the Beatles out there. Do we really need The Beatles: Get Back?” I can answer that: yes, we do. The three-part doc comes from Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson and includes never-before-seen footage of John, Paul, George, and Ringo in the studio recording their final masterpiece. I’ve got a feeling you’ll like it. Watch it on Disney Plus.
Oscar-nominee Riz Ahmed likes to make the kind of movies you wouldn’t expect him to. In 2019, he played a rock n roll drummer slowly losing his hearing and having to upend his life because of it. This year, well … he’s surviving an alien invasion. Sort of. Encounter is one of those streaming movies that quietly sneak onto a platform – this time it’s Amazon Prime Video – and usually stay buried under all the other content the algorithm prioritizes. Hopefully, that doesn’t happen here though because Ahmed is a force on screen, playing a disturbed man and desperate father who believes he’s saving his two sons from an extra-terrestrial invasion that no one else knows is happening. It’s a mindf*ck, in the best way possible. Watch it on Amazon Prime.
Well, it’s Sandra Bullock as a recently released violent felon who is trying to reintegrate into society after a number of years in prison and dealing with the various hurdles and stigmas attached to… all that. It sounds interesting and important, even if it’s not, like, the type of light holiday viewing you might be looking for in mid-December. Still, worth giving it a run at some point. Watch it on Netflix.
Benedict Cumberbatch gives a villainous performance for the ages in The Power of the Dog, the first film in 12 years from director Jane Campion. The western is expected (and deserves) to be an Oscars frontrunner, so hop on the horse-drawn bandwagon now. Watch it on Netflix.
Each week our staff of film and TV experts surveys the entertainment landscape to select the ten best new/newish shows available for you to stream at home. We put a lot of thought into our selections, and our debates on what to include and what not to include can sometimes get a little heated and feelings may get hurt, but so be it, this is an important service for you, our readers. With that said, here are our selections for this week.
Are you in the mood for an intense survival epic and psychological horror story with plenty of coming-of-age touches? How about all of that with Juliette Lewis and Christina Ricci starring as the adult versions of two female athletes who were irretrievably shaken by their experiences after a plane crash in the wilderness? Sure, that sounds like a stressful description, but it’s also a hell of a watch. Not to mention another reason not to hop onto an airplane these days. Watch it on Showtime.
How To with John Wilson changed my life: I will never look at scaffolding the same way ever again. Or furniture covers. Or risotto. In every episode, New York City-based filmmaker John Wilson edits together seemingly mundane footage into a compelling narrative about life’s quirks. It’s occasionally heartbreaking, but it’s always hilarious. Make it a double feature with Adult Swim’s Joe Pera Talks with You. Watch it on HBO Max.
It’s Kyle Mooney from SNL, and he’s goofing on old campy/corny Saturday morning TV shows in a hybrid live-action/animation series for adults, and the project is described as “wildly irreverent and slightly disturbing.” So… yeah. Let’s all check this out and get as weird as we want. Watch it on Netflix.
The final few episodes of this space epic drop this week, though knowing The Expanse (and its fandom) it’s hard to believe this is the end of the intergalactic journey. Before the screen fades to black though we’ve got ancient beings and protomolecule disasters and galaxy takeovers to contend with. The crew of the Rocinante must somehow save Earth, take down a space tyrant, and take some time to mourn one of their own. It’s a hell of a lot to pack into just six episodes but if any show can do it, it’s this one. Watch it on Amazon Prime.
Esmé Creed-Miles is back as the pint-sized, badass title character, who’s still attempting to defeat the mysterious powers that be while Dermot Mulroney’s operative is as sinister as ever. The third season promises more fight scenes and thrills, all while more characters get backstories, and Mireille Enos’ character forms one half of a lady power duo to cross generations. Watch it on Amazon Prime.
In this stop-motion animated series, the perpetually jolly Seth Rogen voices what seems like Santa while Sarah Silverman plays the dedicated elf who’s seeking to become the first lady Santa. Let’s hope she kicks some butt and rises above all the dude candidates, and you’ll also hear the voices of Craig Robinson, Nicholas Braun, Maria Bamford, and more along the way.Watch it on HBO Max.
6. Anne Boleyn (AMC Plus)
Amazon
Queen & Slim star Jodie Turner-Smith leads this reimagining of Tutor England’s era of King Henry VIII, and history will tell us that Anne, his second wife, did not fare well in the long term. The story leans toward psychological thriller rather than period drama, and the patriarchal society gets a feminist twist here. Expect a visionary take on a snapshot of time that people only thought that they understood. Watch it on AMC Plus.
The wait is over. The Gang is back to offer a playbook on how not to act, Forrest Gumping 2020, feigning wokeness, venturing back to the ’90s, and then going all the way to Ireland. From that description alone, it might sound like the show’s most epic season, and it may well be… which is fitting for its record-breaking 15th season. But no matter the ambition, these are still the same hilariously wicked monsters who inspire wonder over how they don’t get stabbed at the conclusion of every episode. Enjoy! Watch it on Hulu.
Carrie, Miranda, and Charlotte are back, along with the Big Apple. No Samantha will be found, given that Kim Cattrall declined to return, but there will be returning dudes, including Chris Noth’s Mr. Big. Yet there’s going to be a bittersweet aspect to this revival, given that Willie Garson (Stanford Blatch) recently passed away. All of those swirling moods will possibly disappear in a whirl of overwrought flower hats or something, but the show professes to be more inclusive this time around. Watch it on HBO Max.
The Great? More like The Great Show. Elle Fanning and Nicholas Hoult are back as Catherine the Great and Emperor Peter III, respectively, in season two of the wickedly funny Hulu series. If you like scheming and backstabbing, this is the show for you. Watch it on Hulu.
The MCU is in holiday mood for this series, which begins to pass the bow from Jeremy Renner’s Clint Barton (who desperately wants a real retirement) to Kate Bishop, played by Hailee Steinfeld, who hits the arrow-flinging mark while learning the ropes. The two battle through some sort of Christmas hellscape that feels awfully surreal, including a Captain America-themed musical and the entry of Vera Farmiga into the MCU. Also, Florence Pugh’s Yelena is on the way for Hawkeye, so watch out, man. Watch it on Disney Plus.
Everyone’s favorite collection of monsters is back, once again, this time for a slightly delayed third season. Things left off with the Roy family in turmoil, as always, although this time from friendly fire, thanks to noted screw-up and amateur rapper Kendall making a big move. The new season is getting ugly in the best possible way, so hop on board week-to-week if you’re already a fan or load up a binge and get caught up to see what everyone’s yammering about all fall. Watch it on HBO Max.
Centenarians — people 100 years or older — are a rarity. Their lives are often scrutinized as holding the key to aging.
Czech photographer Jan Langer‘s portrait series “Faces of Century” shows them in a different light: as human beings aged by years of experience, but at their deepest level, unchanged by the passing of time.
In the series, Langer juxtaposes his portraits with another portrait of the subject from decades earlier. He recreates the original pose and lighting as closely as he can — he wants us to see them not just as they are now, but how they have and haven’t changed over time. That is the key to the series.
These are the rare faces of people who have lived through two world wars, a cavalcade of regimes, and the rush of advancements in modern life. These photos, and the stories of the lives lived by the people in them, show not only the beauty of aging, but how even as we age, we still remain essentially ourselves.
Vejdělek is a former metallurgical engineer who will never forget the taste of warm fresh goat’s milk.
2. Bedřiška Köhlerová, at age 26 and 103
Originally born in Merano, Italy, Köhlerová wishes to visit Italy one more time.
3. Ludvík Chybík, at age 20 and 102
Chybík is a former postal carrier and says he will never forget the route he worked every day.
4. Vincenc Jetelina, at age 30 and 105
Jetelina spent eight years in prison after World War II. Now, he just wants to live the rest of his life in peace.
5. Marie Fejfarová, at age 101
Fejfarová burned all her material memories, including old photographs, when she decided to move to a long-term care facility. She lived a dramatic life, hiding from the Nazis and then the Russians, but eventually she was able to travel the world with her husband. Her experiences show there’s no such thing as too late in life to start a new chapter.
6. Antonín Kovář, at age 25 and 102
Kovář is a former musician whose daughter comes to visit him every day. He wishes to play the clarinet once more.
7. Anna Vašinová, at age 22 and 102
Vašinová will always remember the day her husband was taken away by the Nazis. She wishes to be reunited with him after death.
8. Stanislav Spáčil, at age 17 and 102
Spáčil was an electrical engineer throughout his life and thinks that it’s too early in his life to think about the past.
9. Anna Pochobradská, at age 30 and 100
Pochobradská was a farmer. She now lives a quiet life and is thankful that her daughter visits her every weekend.
10. Antonín Baldrman, at age 17 and 101
Baldrman was a clerk early in life and keeps up with current events by reading the newspaper.
11. Marie Burešová, at age 23 and 101
Burešová loves talking to her family and wishes to have them all together again.
12. Vlasta Čížková, at age 23 and 101
Čížková cooked in the dining room at the airport in the small village of Vodochody. She’ll never forget reciting her own poetry at wedding ceremonies.
13. Ludmila Vysloužilová, at age 23 and 101
Vysloužilová stays active every day by chopping wood, shoveling snow, and doing work around her house.
The photographer Langer was initially inspired to document the lives of elderly people because of what he saw as the media’s lack of coverage of them. He decided to focus on people over the age of 100 — a very rare demographic indeed. The 2010 U.S. Census reported only 53,364 centenarians, which is only 0.19% of the population of people 70 years or older.
“One should live every single moment according to their best knowledge and conscience because one day we will see clearly what has a real value,” Langer says of what he learned from his subjects while photographing them.
The series was originally part of a story that Langer did for the Czech news outlet aktuálně.cz. You can see more photos from the portrait sessions by following the link.
Earlier this week, Stephen Callaghan’s daughter Ruby came home from school. When he asked her how her day was, her answer made him raise an eyebrow.
Ruby, who’s in the sixth grade at her school in Australia, told her dad that the boys would soon be taken on a field trip to Bunnings (a hardware chain in the area) to learn about construction.
The girls, on the other hand? While the boys were out learning, they would be sent to the library to have their hair and makeup done.
Ruby’s reply made Callaghan do a double take. What year was it, again?
Callaghan decided to write a letter to the school sharing his disappointment — but his wasn’t your typical “outraged parent” letter.
“Dear Principal,” he began. “I must draw your attention to a serious incident which occurred yesterday at your school where my daughter is a Year 6 student.”
“When Ruby left for school yesterday it was 2017,” Callaghan continued. “But when she returned home in the afternoon she was from 1968.”
The letter goes on to suggest that perhaps the school is harboring secret time-travel technology or perhaps has fallen victim to a rift in the “space-time continuum,” keeping his daughter in an era where women were relegated to domestic life by default.
“I look forward to this being rectified and my daughter and other girls at the school being returned to this millennium where school activities are not sharply divided along gender lines,” he concluded.
Dear Principal
I must draw your attention to a serious incident which occurred yesterday at your school where my daughter Ruby is a Year 6 student.
When Ruby left for school yesterday it was 2017 but when she returned home in the afternoon she was from 1968.
I know this to be the case as Ruby informed me that the “girls” in Year 6 would be attending the school library to get their hair and make-up done on Monday afternoon while the “boys” are going to Bunnings.
Are you able to search the school buildings for a rip in the space-time continuum? Perhaps there is a faulty Flux Capacitor hidden away in the girls toilet block.
I look forward to this being rectified and my daughter and other girls at the school being returned to this millennium where school activities are not sharply divided along gender lines.
Yours respectfully Stephen Callaghan
When Callaghan posted the letter to Twitter, it quickly went viral and inspired hundreds of supportive responses.
Though most people who saw his response to the school’s egregiously outdated activities applauded him, not everyone was on board.
One commenter wrote, “Sometimes it is just ok for girls to do girl things.”
But Callaghan was ready for that. “Never said it wasn’t,” he replied. “But you’ve missed the point. Why ‘girl things’ or ‘boy things’… Why not just ‘things anyone can do?'”
He later commented that he didn’t think the school’s plan was malicious, but noted the incident was a powerful example of “everyday sexism” at work.
Callaghan says the school hasn’t responded to his letter. (Yes, he really sent it.) At least, not directly to him.
Some media outlets have reported that the school claims students are free to opt in and out of the different activities. But, as Callaghan says, gendering activities like this in the first place sends the completely wrong message.
In response to the outpouring of support, Callaghan again took to Twitter.
“At 12 years of age my daughter is starting to notice there are plenty of people prepared to tell her what she can and can’t do based solely on the fact she is female,” he wrote.
“She would like this to change. So would I.”
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