Category: Viral
Category Added in a WPeMatico Campaign
The 38-year-old man was in an induced coma and couldn’t consent to medical treatment, so a tribunal had to act as his guardian.
BBC America’s Killing Eve is in full third-season swing with a new formidable character on the scene. The premiere introduced Dasha, portrayed by Dame Harriet Walter (Downton Abbey, The Crown, Succession), as she crashed Villanelle’s wedding, and we soon found out that there’s quite a history there. There’s quite a competition as well, given that Villanelle attempts to one-up her trainer’s most notorious kills while aiming for assassin supremacy. The next few episodes follow Dasha as she grapples with an unwieldy Villanelle in a war of wills that doesn’t look resolvable in the near future.
The veteran actress had a ball while barrelling into this role and making it her own, but she’s also giving plenty of credit to the behind-the-scenes players who helped craft Dasha’s physical presence. Walter was gracious enough to speak with us about what it’s like to introduce a new player into a TV show that’s already working so well, along with the strange experience of receiving the most fanmail in her career (out of three decades of work) for her quick blip in the Star Wars franchise.
Dasha is a knockout role. Out of all the gigs you’ve had, though, you’ve gotten the most attention for playing Dr. Kalonia in Star Wars: The Force Awakens. What do you anticipate with Killing Eve?
It hasn’t yet aired in the U.K., but a few people have streamed it in advance, so I’ve had some friends’ feedback. My experience is that there’s kind-of a nine-or-six-month delay when the maximum people have seen something, but yes, they told me that my seven words in Star Wars would have been seen by more people than all of my performances anywhere, put together. That surprised me.
What was your gut reaction to that?
It is humbling. Some of the things that I’m proudest of were seen by 250 people in a small theater, so you just accept that there’s all these different forms of communicating, and it’s a challenge to try and get some impact in all of them. So that’s good, I’m really not snobbish about who likes what.
Were you a Killing Eve fan before you accepted the Dasha role?
Yes, I was a massive fan. Fiona Shaw [who portrays Carolyn Martens, Head of MI6’s Russia Desk] and I are friends from way back. She was telling me about this great show that she was filming with Sandra Oh and Phoebe Waller-Bridge, and I thought, “Oh, that sounds interesting.” And when it came out — she was talking about it like any old job, you know — and then I watched it, “Oh, this is quite the best thing.” So, I was a fan from the beginning.
Did you do any extra homework before landing on the set?
When I got offered the role, I went back and watched everything, so I could see it all through new eyes, though the eyes of somebody who could have been watching over Villanelle from afar. All the kills that she was doing, I would have known about. It was important to see that whole stretch of work through the eyes of Dasha, so she knew what was going on. That was helpful.
Nobody knew Dasha even existed, and then all of sudden, blammo, she’s there.
I know, it is strange. It was great because I was very aware that it was going to be difficult to fit in with something that was so beautifully working before, and I didn’t want to upset the rhythm or not fit in, but at the same time, I think that she was there deliberately to bring some new energy into the show. So, I had more license, and I didn’t have to completely toe the deadpan line or whatever the different type of styles are that have evolved through that show, sort-of tongue-in-cheek, but they’re all outrageous and stylish. With all those components, I thought, “Gosh, how am I going to fit in with that?” But in the end, it’s down to what you’re told to say, and what you’re told to do by the script. It was all in there.
In terms of the hierarchy of The Twelve, are you aware of how Dasha compares to Konstantin?
It’s slightly nebulous, and I think it’s deliberately so. I don’t know how far you have watched.
I’m through episode five as of now, but let’s not go past episode three.
There is a person who surfaces that is higher than me in the hierarchy. I’ve always thought that Dasha was about level with Konstantin in terms of knowledge and involvement. I think that she, to be frank, has a vulnerability to The Twelve, and she needs them, more than they need her, perhaps. Or she thinks that she needs them more than they need her. In the past, she’s been incredibly important. She’s been their top trainer of assassins, and she’s been important to the hierarchy, but she’s feeling old, and she’s feeling like she could be on the scrap heap and wants to retire in glory to Russia. So she’s quite vulnerable, and she’s scared of losing her place.
Well, she still gets pretty physical, especially in the tacking scene. I imagine there were stunt doubles to keep you and Jodie Comer safe?
Well, I have to let you in on a secret. They don’t want us to break our limbs or get bruises because the makeup has to cover up, so it’s just easier that way. But we’re in on it from the beginning and work with the stunt doubles, so they digest what type of character you are and what your energy is. The stunt director is given a breakdown of who these people are, so you would stop them if they did a move that your character wouldn’t do.
What wouldn’t Dasha do in a fight?
My character wouldn’t poke someone in the eye or punch them across the jaw. You could say things like that. But other than that, you leave it to the experts to design the fight and choreograph that. They’re [the ones who are] throwing themselves around.
Villanelle’s got the coolest costumes, but yours are pretty funky as well. How does that compare with the period costumes that you’ve worn on other projects?
Oh, the wig and everything were very helpful to locate and invent this character. The wig and makeup designers devised the look with my lipstick always kind-of smudged and lovely little touches like that. With the costuming, they work separately, but somehow, when it comes together, it really worked. Sam Perry, who’s the costume designer, I’ve worked with her before on two different jobs, very different but both modern dress, and she’s just incredibly inventive, and they just let her come in with all these great ideas. I could never come up with that, that was lovely creativity, and I can think the department for helping me create a character because I don’t know for sure that I would have had that imagination.
In terms of Dasha’s dynamic with Villanelle (which includes putting a baby in the trash), do you think that she truly cares about her?
I think it’s a mixture. I don’t think Dasha’s really capable of tenderheartedness. I think that what we see in young Dasha at the beginning is designed to show you that she will cut out anything that threatens her ambition, whether it has to do with emotional dependency. That’s what that scene was about, where she kills her sort-of admirer because she’s in danger of lured away from her ambition, and so she’s killing that side of herself. She’s done that to herself, and I don’t think she’s got the tenderness about Villanelle, but she has a possessiveness, like an ambitious stage mother. That type of thing, where she lives through Villanelle, and her successes become Dasha’s successes. Her mistakes throw a bad light on Dasha, so that’s how she feels, so she’s competitive with her but also cares because she respects and admires her talent, but there’s a narcissism in Dasha where she’s also narcissistic about Villanelle, like she’s some extension. I’m sounding very complicated her, but there’s a good mixture going on in there, and Dasha’s not very good at being nurturing with kids in the school and gym club. She’s not interested in being sweet or kind.
Villanelle’s getting pretty careless, too, so there’s some concern, right?
Yes, absolutely. She’s blowing it, and if she blows it, she blows it for Dasha, too.
With the Spice Kill, was Dasha as appreciative of the hallmark as she claimed?
Yes, I think so. These are the little ways that she communicates. The little bit of a taunt before it happens. Where Dasha says, “I’m the best,” and Villanelle says, “You used to be, but not anymore,” or whatever it was. And it’s comforting for Dasha because the message is “I can do as well as you can and top it,” but at the same time, it’s a flattery because imitation is the highest form of flattery. So it satisfies Dasha, but it also exemplifies the way that Villanelle got a little bit of the last word, so Dasha’s gotta look out.
BBC America’s ‘Killing Eve’ airs on Sundays at 9:00 PM EST with simulcasting on AMC.
There are, of course, myriad streaming options new and old that you can choose to binge until you lose all sense of time over whatever collection of days you deem to be a “weekend.” But sometimes you want to lean into a theme. That’s what this is, a very specific list of thematically aligned options that you can easily knock out in a few hours. In this case, sci-fi action films from the ’90s. Or, even more specifically, a trio of these films that are perfectly enjoyable but also, maybe a little middle of the road? You won’t find Independence Day, 12 Monkeys, or The Fifth Element here. Instead, we’re breaking down films that feature tough-guy cops, amazing villains, and some questionable assumptions about the future as they saw it back then. So, give this not-too-serious look-back a read and then follow the prescription to stream all three (they’re all available to rent on Prime) of these mostly mindless thrill rides in short order.
Demolition Man
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fH9vX4FCuRA
What It Is: Sylvester Stallone is John Spartan, a top cop who can’t be stopped until… he’s lumped in with madman Simon Phoenix (played by Wesley Snipes) and accused of killing 20-30 people. Unbeknownst to all of us who lived through the ’90s, cryo-prisons are a hip new thing and so Stallone and Snipes’ characters are frozen as punishment. Cut to the year 2032 and Snipes breaks out, wreaking havoc on a sanitized and supposedly sophisticated Los Angeles before Stallone is defrosted to take him down.
I don’t know that I realized the conservative wet dream vibes of Demolition Man back in the day. A civil liberties trouncing tough guy cop swings into the future to restore law and order, disproving the tenets of a society built on an exaggerated and ineffective liberal utopia where language, violent behavior, and guns are thoroughly regulated. Check out this exchange:
Fancy Lady: What would you say if I called you a brutish fossil, symbolic of a decayed era gratefully forgotten?
John Spartan: I don’t know… thanks?
John Spartan is just trying to Make The Future Great Again. Also, Rob Schneider plays a weasely cop. In 1995’s Judge Dredd, he plays Stallone’s weasely sidekick. Were Rob Schnieder and Sly Stallone best friends? Are they still? I need to know.
What The Film Gets Right: The bankability of Sandra Bullock, for starters. Demolition Man was arguably Bullock’s first mainstream breakout, preceding Speed by a year and she’s great as a ’90s culture obsessed nerdy cop and willing disciple for Spartan.
In terms of things that the film gets right about tech and futurism, contactless sex is obviously a thing in various forms in 2020 that I will not catalog as this is a family website. Also, there are sci-fi gimmes like voice control, driverless cars, and H.G. Wellsian class divide.
Dennis Rodman’s hair! It’s entirely possible you forgot all about this movie until it got a mention in the Rodman-centric episode of The Last Dance for inspiring his first dalliance with self-expression through hairstyle. That’s definitely one for the win column.
What It Doesn’t: Besides the Rodman-Snipes haircut connection, the Three Seashells endures as the film’s biggest contribution to society, but it’s not like it rose up to replace toilet paper as a preferred ass wiping method in real life. Maybe if they hadn’t been so snotty about telling people how to use it. Regardless, in our current situation… beep bop boop boop. Not making that joke.
Turning convicts into “ice cubes” also isn’t a thing, but it’s interesting to ponder if that’s merely because the technology still only lives on the fringes of science, and not because of any kind of human rights concerns.
A future world without guns and aggressive police actions seems UNLIKELY. But not as unlikely as Denis Leary playing some kind of raggedy subterranean rebel leader… well, not a leader, he just does what he has to do, and sometimes people go with him.
Verdict: It’s maybe trying a little too hard to say something but it’s fun to see Stallone punch his way into and out of trouble and Snipes has so much fun as a cartoonish villain, rocking his Oshkosh B’Gosh psycho killer series overalls and throwing people into oversized fireplaces. Beyond that, it takes big swings imagining the future, giving it a slightly goofy feel that manages to still do it some favors all these years later.
Virtuosity
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEDdaStz4kw
What It Is: Denzel Washington is Parker Barnes, a top cop who can’t be stopped until… a political extremist blows up Barnes’ wife and daughter, throwing him into a rage-fueled massacre. His prison? Not an ice cube tray, but hard time in a penitentiary with field trips into a virtual world where he battles an amalgamation of some of history’s worst killers in the form of SID 6.7, who is played WITH VIGOR by Russell Crowe. And then it all becomes a bit Weird Science-y as SID takes humanoid form outside of his program, wreaking havoc on Los Angeles.
Denzel Washington is good, by the way. He’s always good. This is a bedrock truth. Crowe is… un-f*cking-tamed. Which was a gamble considering he was just establishing himself with US audiences at the time. This is like Pacino on PCP big. It’s the “GREAT ASS!!!” gif mixed with Max Headroom.
What The Film Gets Right: The magnetism of Crowe. He’d soon make his mark saying the loud things quiet while brooding, but while he is over the top here, you can’t look away. Especially at his eyes. Say what you will about moments like when he taunts an ultimate fighter to “lick it” while waving his severed stump in his face, but his eyes, throughout, portray a mix of zeal and vacancy. It’s captivating.
Also, we aren’t extracting fully functional, walking talking lifeforms from VR, but the ambition to create scaled to the max wholly immersive virtual worlds has come to fruition and 3D printers allow us to easily conjure things from our imaginations. Sadly, the lust for viral infamy also exists.
What The It Doesn’t: Nanotech that allows people to heal from nearly any wound by rebuilding body parts in seconds isn’t quite a reality.
The Verdict: This film plays to people’s fascination with the mysterious and seemingly pervasive internet of 1995 as well as the wild frontier of virtual reality. As such, it’s very 1995-y (even though it takes place in 1999) and it’s probably the most dated of the films on this list. But that’s all just window dressing for a fairly standard tale of revenge, justice, and chaos. It’s Ricochet with dial-up static, basically. Not bad, but come for the memorable performances, not the story.
Timecop
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OPLHgw54h4
What It Is: Jean-Claude Van Damme is Walker, a top cop who can’t be stopped until… actually, he can’t be stopped. His wife dies and he walks through life as a metaphorical zombie as a result, but despite cultivating a grief mullet, he’s still functional and not imprisoned, zipping back in time to stop rogue time travelers from screwing with the past to manipulate the future.
Ron Silver plays the bad guy, but he stands out against the pack here by being more slimy than psychotic. He just wants to make it easier for himself to win the presidency, making tweaks to give himself the bank to do that. At one point, he says, “the country is going down the drain because of special interests. We need someone in The White House who is so rich he doesn’t have to listen to anybody.” And then he shoots a guy and JCVD says, “maybe he’ll calm down after the election.”
Yo.
Do you think?
Yo.
What The Film Gets Right: It’s very cool how very traumatizing the experience of time travel is. They’re basically careening toward a wall and a Stargate looking thing with a questionable safety record, screaming and having their faces contorted while trying not to swallow their tongues. If time travel ever was a thing, it’s easy to imagine it being more like that then some cool car and flame trails.
JCVD being unf*ckwithable. Do a split, Jean-Claude Van Damme!
What It Doesn’t: Set in 2004, the cars of the future hurt my heart. They look like rejected Transformer prototypes.
The Verdict: Honestly, this film is pretty tight. I had a different memory of it, but for a dopey ’90s action sci-fi film, it seems to take the supposed rules of time travel rather seriously while concocting a story that feels grounded enough to feel interesting. Like, nevermind the fantasy, wouldn’t time travel lead to exactly these kinds of things? An underfunded branch of the government fighting with the bureaucracy and grubby thieves looking to use the world’s most amazing tool as a get rich quick scheme? Sure, the writing is a little lame and it’s got ’90s movie problems when it comes to the depth of virtually every character, but this stands up rather well as a popcorn film.
It also has a weirdly pop-heavy tie-in music video featuring JCVD deriving almost as much joy from simple button-pushing as I’m getting while telling you about this music video.
Even though many of us are currently a month or more into working from home, that doesn’t mean we’re remotely used to this new normal yet. Sure, we can set up schedules so that we complete our work in a timely manner, but a mid-afternoon nap or yet another snack break always seems to beckon us away from our laptops, like the proverbial siren’s song.
Partly out of hunger, but mostly due to boredom, many of us have found that we’re stuffing our faces with pretzels, chips, and cheese balls during these long quarantine days. We’re also snacking on sweets and desserts. With our seemingly endless free time we’re baking up brownies, blondies, and any number of cakes. And we need something to pair them with — that “something” being whiskey.
To get more specific, we asked some of our favorite bartenders to tell us the best whiskeys to pair with our insatiable sweet snacking.
Oban 14 Year
Peter Ruppert, beverage director at Short Stories in New York City
Dessert can be tricky because it’s very much so its own dish but if I were to pair it with anything, I’d say Oban 14 Year fits. Although it’s aromatic, it’s not too smokey or oaky so it actually has the ability to compliment something like a rich cake without stealing the show.
Michter’s American Whiskey
Piero Procida, bartender at The London West Hollywood in Los Angeles
Michter’s American Whiskey. I enjoy desserts that are typically very sweet, but you also don’t want to overpower it with a heavy, smoky, or spicy whiskey — which is easy to do with most Whiskey’s. Michter’s has a subtle sweetness which complements a sweet treat very well, but is still strong enough to cut down the sugars. I think that makes for a great pair.
Laphroaig 10 Year
James Arensault, director of food & beverage at Harbor View Hotel on Martha’s Vineyard
I’d pair a single malt possibly Glenfiddich or Laphroaig. Scotch and blended Scotches typically pair better with sweeter items. The smoothness and oak notes present a good contrast.
Glenmorangie Nectar d’Or
Zac Johnson, general manager at JJ’s Wine, Spirits, and Cigars in Sioux Falls, South Dakota
Glenmorangie Nectar d’Or would be my choice. It’s been finished in French Sauternes barrels so it has a great natural orange and lemon sweetness to it that would go great with any kind of cheesecake as a compliment. My choice, I would go with a basic chocolate and caramel drizzled cheesecake.
Blanton’s Bourbon
Brandon Carter, chef at FARM in Bluffton, South Carolina
Probably Blanton’s. It tastes like French toast and French toast (even though it’s not technically a dessert) sounds pretty delicious right now.
Glenfiddich 15 Year
Sebastien Derbomez, brand advocacy manager at William Grant & Sons
Glenfiddich 15 Year will be my choice; the solera system used to age this whisky makes it truly unique. It’s a multi-layered silky smooth whisky, it will take your dessert experience to the next level.
Rebecca Creek Texas Whiskey
Jon Joseph, bartender at JL Bar Ranch, Resort & Spa in Sonora, Texas
We would have to go with Rebecca Creek. This whiskey is a blend of bourbons that can range from 10 years and younger. It’s silky smooth on the pallet like a good dessert. We don’t want to overpower it, but complement it. You taste some dried tropical fruits with a finish of nuts and vanilla. Of course, this is from Texas.
Aberlour 12 Year
Hayden Miller, head bartender at Bodega Taqueria y Tequila in Miami
A Speyside Scotch whisky with sherry in the finish really comes to mind for me with something like a rich, sweet dessert. Both Balvenie and Aberlour double cask mature their 12-year statements, the marriage of oak and sherry creates a unique finish. The nature of Scotch itself both complements and cuts the sweetness of the dessert while the subtle notes of sherry blend with the richness.
Monkey Shoulder
Nicole Quist, beverage director at Bartaco in Aventura, Florida
A great dessert deserves a balanced, blended whisky. I’m a Monkey Shoulder blended Scotch whisky girl. The vanilla notes + richness make it the perfect dessert pairing whisky.
Writer’s Pick:
Four Roses Single Barrel Bourbon
This high-rye bourbon is full of favors like dried fruits, vanilla, chocolate, and caramel and would pair perfectly with something like sticky toffee pudding or simply a piece of dark chocolate.
HBO‘s Betty follows a group of young women — all real-life skaters, who aren’t Actors with a capital “A,” in fictionalized roles — who simply want to skate. Depending on your baseline interest in their culture, you might initially assume that this TV show is not for you. Yet if you take the ride, you’ll be treated to the street-level adventures of effortlessly cool characters, several of whom would literally give you the shirts off their back… to mop up the blood when you inevitably fall and scrape the hell out of your own bod. You’re probably not as hip as they are, but they’d still have your back, quite like they watch out for each other. It’s also a freeing viewing experience that lets you live vicariously as the ladies glide down the street in beautifully shot, authentic sequences.
Betty also does something notable with its title. It reclaims an often pejorative term, used by male skaters, used to describe female hangers-ons at skate parks, who didn’t always, you know, skate. Let me assure you that these ladies skate, and they frequently do so together out of a sense of community, although they might happen to pull off solo board-bound tricks in parks along the way, all in six breezy half-hours of programming.
As a TV show, Betty is very slice-of-life and doesn’t necessarily set out to make any heavy-hitting statements. A few do happen, although they feel organic, and the show feels like an immersive experience for all involved, including the audience. The series is part-continuation/part-spinoff of the 2018 narrative feature film, Skate Kitchen, from director Crystal Moselle (The Wolfpack), once again working within the cinema verité movement with a slightly different structure than the movie. That film brought us the coming-of-age adventures of an inclusive group of friends who spend their free moments in skate parks. Things got a little heavy at times when real-life responsibilities (and people) intruded on the vibe, but Betty manages to cut out a lot of those distractions, even with an increased overall runtime. Much of the cast reprise their roles with their characters experiencing fewer outside stressors to conquer, leading to a series that’s a little lighter, more freewheeling, and pure pleasure to witness.
The plot of Betty also feels fast-and-loose, and mostly there to string together the tight relationships between these characters. They’re largely a collective, yet the end result of their tight-knit group is liberating, in a way that showcases Moselle’s nearly unparalleled ability to harness an authentic view of youth culture. A lot of that, I believe, is down to how she discovers her subjects in a way that feels like fate. Moselle’s been perfectly open about how, prior to making The Wolfpack, she spotted the six Angulo brothers, all dressed like the suited-and-sunglassed characters from Reservoir Dogs, and chased after them down a New York street to investigate their story. That encounter led to a documentary film, but with Skate Kitchen, Moselle’s initial discovery of her stars turned into inspiration to cast them in fictionalized roles. The end result is that we, like Moselle, want to follow them and see what happens next, even if they’re only spending a day tracking down a backpack or getting high or having conversations that give viewers a fly-on-the-wall look at what young women really discuss when guys aren’t around.
As the origin story goes with the Betty ladies, Moselle overheard a conversation between these two (^^^^^^) New York skaters, Nina Moran and Rachelle Vinberg, and she immediately felt compelled to learn more about the pair. She subsequently met their friends from the Skate Kitchen gathering of female skaters, and she got to know their struggles and successes, on and off the board. Moselle simply hung out with them, much like what happens in Betty with plot coming secondary. So, what actually happens takes a back seat to the overarching attraction — like the director, the audience is driven to simply follow these girls in a quest to learn more about them.
Skate Kitchen viewers will notice that the main characters keep their names for the TV series, but some of their personalities are tweaked. They meet and interact with each other in slightly different ways, and their backstories also receive adjustments. For that reason, the stories presented in Betty feel fresh. This happens sort-of in an alternate-universe way but one that still feels comfortable and true to the characters’ spirits. The tweaking of these stories also helps to reinforce how these ladies were meant to find each other and become almost family, all while standing firm in a male-dominated world, in which men do still sometimes consider them outsiders, despite the occasional public display of respect for their tricks and speed skills.
Here’s a quick rundown of the main fab five of Betty (from left to right, above), who all appeared in Skate Kitchen:
– Honeybear (Kabrina “Moonbear” Adams) is an enigmatic documentarian whose story takes her into first-love territory while examining her true self in relation to what her family expects;
– Indigo (Ajani Russell) is the hustler of the bunch, as both a bit of a weed dealer and an aspiring model. She’s inventive when it comes to digging out of scrapes and is fiercely loyal. Unlike with the movie, she’s a novice skater in the TV show;
– Kirt (Nina Moran) is the most mellow, stereotypical stoner type of the bunch, never worrying about anything until someone attempts to do one of her friends dirty. If that happens, watch out, the fists will fly;
– Janay (Dede Loveless) is the vlogger who finds herself tangentially involved in a #MeToo story, one that demonstrates Betty‘s deft handling of a few complex issues in contemplative ways without falling into heavy-handed approaches;
– Camille (Rachelle Vinberg) is the reflective, bespectacled one who expends too much energy in attempting to be taken seriously by the guys. She’s most prone to straying from the girl gang but always knows how to come home;
Together, they’re an unassumingly entertaining crew, whose stories don’t shy away from harsh realities, from which they eventually emerge with glorious results. This is where I want to briefly mention the first scene of Skate Kitchen (available on Hulu) because that’s what the movie, and Betty, all come back to reinforcing. The scene was actually a sobering one and lifted straight from Rachelle Vinberg’s (first) real-life credit-carding trauma. That crude injury’s name refers to what crudely happens when a lady skater takes a spill and lands with the board between her legs. Yes, it’s gruesome, but the scene sent an immediate message: Moselle aimed to present the female skater experience, not only through brutal realities but by later showcasing transcendent moments that make the bruises, scrapes, and stitches seem like badges of honor.
There’s an overriding freedom that these young women claim from the perspective of their boards. They’re well aware of the risks, and their journey is an intoxicating one. Betty is contagious and worth your time to witness.
HBO’s ‘Betty’ debuts on Friday, May 1 at 11:00 pm EST.