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    D.I.Y. Sci-Fi: A Talk With Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead

    The filmmaking and acting team discuss their latest low-budget science fiction movie, “Something in the Dirt,” and their work on the Marvel Disney+ series “Moon Knight.”The writing-directing-acting duo Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead’s latest film, the science fiction satire “Something in the Dirt,” follows John (Moorhead) and Levi (Benson), neighboring tenants in a ramshackle Los Angeles apartment complex. After observing inexplicable supernatural phenomena in Levi’s flat, they attempt to capture the event on camera for personal gain, but meet disaster instead.Since releasing their feature debut, “Resolution” (2013), Benson and Moorhead have made movies their way, exercising full creative control over their malleable, genre-fluid aesthetic. Referred to in reviews as their “most personal” movie after its Sundance premiere, “Something in the Dirt” (in theaters) is a distillation of their sensibilities, striking a lopsided contrast with their directing contributions to the Marvel Disney+ series “Moon Knight,” an atypically weird superhero show involving dissociative identity disorder, Egyptian gods and Oscar Isaac.In an interview via Zoom, the two discussed nuances in personal filmmaking, the line between virtue and villainy, and how directing for an entertainment giant crystallized their filmmaking identities. These are edited excerpts from the conversation.“Something in the Dirt” is about two guys making a movie. Did the way that you make movies and collaborate wind up echoing in the story?Justin Benson: What’s strange is our dynamic and our filmmaking process and our relationship couldn’t be more different than John and Levi’s. Obviously we’ve seen it described as “their most personal film.” There is probably some truth to that, but you’ve got to get into this oddly precise definition of “personal,” because it’s the farthest thing from autobiographical. The characters were intentionally constructed to be wildly different from who we are.Explore the Marvel Cinematic UniverseThe popular franchise of superhero films and TV series continues to expand.‘She-Hulk: Attorney at Law’: Tatiana Maslany described the giant, green character making her television debut on Disney+ as “weirdly, the closest thing to my own experience I’ve done ever.”‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’: The trailer for the long-awaited sequel was unveiled at Comic-Con International in San Diego. The film will be released on Nov. 11.‘Thor: Love and Thunder’: The fourth “Thor” movie in 11 years, directed by Taika Waititi, embraces wholesale self-parody and is sillier than any of its predecessors.‘Ms. Marvel’: This Disney+ series introduces a new character: Kamala Khan, a Muslim high schooler in Jersey City who is mysteriously granted superpowers.Aaron Moorhead: For the most part we were interested in these characters because we were exploring stuff we don’t believe. That’s not just in our films. That’s our free time, our conversations. The stuff that’s interesting feels a little dangerous. It’s on a razor’s edge of being mockable, but still can hold resonance in our minds and hearts.Benson: The only similarity between Aaron and I and John and Levi is we spend a lot of time talking about science fiction. But that’s the point. The huge difference for us is that John and Levi are quick to believe, and we never believe in anything.Moorhead and Benson in “Something in the Dirt.”XYZ/Rustic FilmsJohn and Levi trade stories with each other that either are not true or are dubious. It feels like there’s a bit of you in that dynamic. Was it gratifying to play that in this fictional, very fractured environment?Benson: There’s a cut line from the movie — Levi accuses John of being a liar, and John says, “You lie more than anyone I’ve ever met!” They lie in different ways. Levi works at a bar and wants to put his best foot forward. He’s probably got half a dozen different stories, and once you run out of them, you end up with this sad, lonely soul. John lies for other reasons, but the way they lie was part of fleshing them out as real human beings.Moorhead: We were dedicated to this idea of: you sympathize with one character and suspect the other is a villain, and then it slowly swaps through the movie, and by the end, you realize they’re both flawed human beings, neither villain nor hero. Neither of us ever believed the characters we were playing were bad people, but while we were performing, we believed in the virtue of what they were doing. There’s a part of me deep down that says it isn’t villainous if you’re virtuous, but you don’t know if you’re virtuous or not. You just hope you are.Benson: The different ways John and Levi lie connects them to us as creators, hopefully as characters with humanity. You hope that in the way science fiction operates, people don’t think you’re lying, that they understand it’s science fiction storytelling — that people don’t think you’re expressing a viewpoint one would call a lie.Moorhead: It was part of the conception of this movie to examine your own relationship with pop culture and what you put out in the world. Sometimes lies enter the zeitgeist in a way you didn’t intend. What exactly is the responsibility of the person who’s creating these things whole cloth? It is terrifying as a filmmaker to think someone might actually believe that what you are showing them is real.“Something in the Dirt” premiered at Sundance. “Moon Knight” premiered in March. This isn’t a knock against “Moon Knight,” but it comparatively feels impersonal because it’s a Marvel production. There’s a big leap from your movies “Spring” and “The Endless” to Marvel. Did that personal quality remain intact in that framework?Moorhead: When we faced a decade of being completely unemployable, we walked into every single studio pitch room on every single project, pitched our hearts out and wouldn’t be able to make it happen. We now realize that was for the better, because our alternative was to make a personal independent film. That solidified in our own minds, but also in the minds of what you call the industry, what exactly we’re doing. Now, when people ask us if we want to do something, it’s in that niche — not broadly horror, broadly sci-fi. There’s mystery afoot, and something dark and cosmic about it.It isn’t that we have to erase our personality and work within the machine. What [Marvel] wanted from us was our voice. It comes out mostly in the visuals, because scripts are separate from direction, but we put a lot of ourselves into it. But your thesis is definitely correct. There’s by definition nothing more personal than an independent film.Benson: [“Moon Knight”] has given us opportunities to work with collaborators we wouldn’t otherwise, which has expanded our creative worlds. These opportunities have also given us time on set in a compressed period that’s been like a second film school in some ways — though being a filmmaker is continuously being in film school, because every day is never planned for, really.Moorhead: The greatest terror we both hold is losing our curiosity and ability to grow. It can happen, and it can sneak up on you. If you only ever make your own films, you might start to repeat yourself because you think you’ve got a bunch of great ideas, but they’re all the same idea. We only want to make stuff that expresses ourselves purely. Right now, doing something big and doing something indie, they feed each other very nicely. More

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    Late Night Rates Trump’s New Nickname for Ron DeSantis

    “Trump doesn’t even know what that means,” Jimmy Fallon said after Donald Trump referred to the Florida governor as “Ron DeSanctimonious.”Welcome to Best of Late Night, a rundown of the previous night’s highlights that lets you sleep — and lets us get paid to watch comedy. Here are the 50 best movies on Netflix right now.The Best He Could Come Up WithFormer President Donald Trump debuted a new nickname for Gov. Ron DeSantis at a Pennsylvania rally over the weekend, referring to him as “Ron DeSanctimonious.”“Trump doesn’t even know what that means. He thought he was casting a Harry Potter spell on him,” Jimmy Fallon joked.“That’s right, former President Trump referred to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis as ‘Ron DeSanctimonious,’ which is a risky move for Trump, because that’s six syllables.” — SETH MEYERS“Has anyone ever been worse at coming up with nicknames? Imagine Trump in ‘Top Gun’: [imitating Trump] ‘People! People! I know we all love Maverick, but I think I got one that beats it. Are you ready? Everybody ready? Airplane Guy.’” — SETH MEYERS“You saw that, breaking out a classic Trump nickname. I mean, at least we think it was a nickname. It could’ve just been Trump trying to say ‘DeSantis.’” — TREVOR NOAH“Yeah, there’s nothing voters like more than insults from a word-a-day calendar: ‘Let’s get bellicose! DeSantis is a pusillanimous sycophant! Incarcerate him aloft!’” — STEPHEN COLBERT“Yeah, he’s lost some speed on his nickname fastball, you know? In the old days, it would have been something like ‘Smelly Ron,’ and we would’ve all went with it.” — JIMMY KIMMELThe Punchiest Punchlines (Dr. Oz Edition)“Even Oprah, who made Dr. Oz, endorsed his opponent, John Fetterman. Which is — I mean, look, that’s like, that would be like me not endorsing Guillermo. It just wouldn’t happen.” — JIMMY KIMMEL“Poor Dr. Oz. If he wins, he’s gonna actually have to move to Pennsylvania. I don’t know if he knows this.” — JIMMY KIMMEL“And that’s always how it goes, people. At some point in life, you have to kill the monster you create. Yeah, Dr. Frankenstein and his creature. Obi-wan and Anakin. Parents and their kids.” — TREVOR NOAH“Astronomers predict that a total lunar eclipse will occur tomorrow. So if you look outside and the moon turns red, don’t worry — it just means Dr. Oz won his Senate race.” — SETH MEYERSThe Bits Worth WatchingStephen Colbert announced the winner of People magazine’s Sexiest Man Alive for 2022 on Monday’s “Late Show.”What We’re Excited About on Tuesday NightJimmy Kimmel and Stephen Colbert will both go live on election night.Also, Check This OutSasha Diamond, left, and Shannon Tyo play ambitious twin sisters in Jiehae Park’s “Peerless.”James LeynseFemale playwrights are adapting and revamping Shakespeare’s “Macbeth” for the modern age. More

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    On ‘S.N.L.’, President Biden Has Two Words on the Midterms: ‘Big Yikes’

    Amy Schumer hosted a “Saturday Night Live” episode that contemplated the coming elections and Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter.On the weekend before the 2022 midterm elections, “Saturday Night Live” turned to James Austin Johnson, its resident impersonator of President Biden, to assess how Democratic candidates might fare at the polls. And, well, he wanted to make a lot of last-minute substitutions.This episode, hosted by Amy Schumer and featuring the musical guest Steve Lacy, began with Johnson as Biden speaking directly to the electorate. “My fellow Americans,” he said, “this Tuesday, our midterm elections will determine the fate of our democracy, and let’s just say: Big yikes.”He continued: “What’s going on? I guess the Democrats’ message just ain’t getting through. Plus, I’m over here, talking to people who don’t exist. I don’t know much. Who’s that? Oh, nobody’s there.”Even so, Johnson’s Biden said he was pushing himself as hard as he could: “I’m on the Peloton every morning, tempting fate,” he said. He reminded voters of past accomplishments, like an infrastructure bill that provided red states with broadband internet “so you can share your Paul Pelosi gay erotic fiction at light speed.”The problem with his party, Johnson said, is that “we don’t have any stars anymore — too many Raphael Warnocks and not enough Herschel Walkers.”“Which is why we’re going to make some last-minute changes before Tuesday with the Democrats who are exciting,” he continued.Among them, Johnson introduced the free-spirited 2020 presidential candidate Marianne Williamson (Chloe Fineman). Describing herself as “a prominent author and Level 4 enchantress,” Fineman said, “I am ready to fight for the American dream — which I caught in this Tibetan singing bowl.”Other replacement candidates included the goateed restaurateur Guy Fieri (Molly Kearney), who bellowed, “Do y’all want Dr. Oz’s crudité or a full plate of paid family leave, dripping in donkey sauce?”Johnson brought out the adult film star Stormy Daniels (Cecily Strong) and the rappers Tekashi 6ix9ine (Marcello Hernandez) and Azealia Banks (Ego Nwodim). He also introduced the “S.N.L.” alum Tracy Morgan (played in the sketch by Kenan Thompson), who Johnson said would be in charge of student-loan forgiveness.“Y’all want that money?” Thompson asked. “Why don’t you come on over here, rub my belly?”Host monologue of the weekSchumer, the stand-up comic and star of the sketch series “Inside Amy Schumer,” returned to host “S.N.L.” for the first time since 2018. Since last hosting, she has become a mother, but parenthood and the passage of the years have hardly softened Schumer’s occasionally racy sensibilities (and vocabulary).Among the portions of her routine we can safely recount here, Schumer joked about people who gave her advice during her pregnancy: “I had this one friend, she kept telling me: ‘You gotta do prenatal yoga. It really helps with the birth,’” Schumer said. “So I immediately signed up. For a C-section.”She also talked about life with her husband after he was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. On a rainy night, she said, she told him that being with him and their son had been the best years of her life.“He just looked at me and he said, ‘I’m going to go put the windows up in the car,’” Schumer recounted, adding affectionately: “That’s my guy. It’s one of the times we play the game Autism, or Just a Man?”Fake commercial of the weekIn what begins as a seemingly standard pharmaceutical ad, a voice-over asks: “Are you feeling tired and worn down? Sick of the endless grind at work? Exhausted by your family, desperate for some peace and quiet?”Don’t feel ashamed if you caught yourself agreeing with one or more of those propositions before you learned it was, in fact, a advertisement for Covid — you know, the highly communicable disease responsible for the pandemic — which here is touted for having fringe benefits, like getting you out of work and child-care duties.Probably not a sketch that “S.N.L.” would have attempted a year or two ago, but as the voice-over reminds you: “Side effects of Covid include having Covid, which is still kind of bad, but doesn’t it seem different now?”Obligatory Twitter sketch of the weekEven in an episode that was largely focused on the midterms, you knew “S.N.L.” would find a way to revisit the chaotic energy unleashed by Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter. This weekend’s sketch was inspired by Musk’s announcement that the company would establish a content moderation council — in this case, a two-person team (Thompson and Fineman) who say they are the only two Twitter employees who haven’t been fired yet — to consider the reinstatement of suspended users.The council heard the pleas of various characters played by Schumer, Strong, Bowen Yang and Punkie Johnson, and then finally from former President Donald Trump (James Austin Johnson), who wanted his account back, too. “I won’t do anything bad except maybe coup,” he vowed.Weekend Update jokes of the weekOver at the Weekend Update desk, the anchors Colin Jost and Michael Che riffed on President Biden’s recent speech about American democracy and on the New Jersey Nets’ suspension of Kyrie Irving for promoting an antisemitic documentary.Jost began:President Biden, seen here begging for one more year before the midterms, warned about Republican candidates who say they will refuse to accept election results, warning they could set the nation on a path to chaos. So wait, this is just the path to chaos? I thought we’d been living in chaos for at least six years. I mean, Nancy Pelosi’s husband was attacked in their home by a guy with a hammer, and instead of even basic sympathy, Republicans were like, “We heard he gay.”He continued:Donald Trump Jr. mocked the attack on Pelosi’s husband by posting an image of a hammer and a pair of underpants, with the message, “Got my Paul Pelosi Halloween costume ready.” And I would agree that Don Jr. is probably the expert on getting hammered in your underwear. Also, Don Jr., is that your underwear, man? Why is it so dirty and stretched out? You were trying to burn Paul Pelosi, but now I’m just wondering if you wear your dad’s old underwear.Che then pivoted to the news about Irving:After meeting with the Anti-Defamation League, Kyrie Irving announced that from now on, he will pretend to not be antisemitic. Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving was suspended after he tweeted a link to the antisemitic film “Hebrews to Negroes: Wake Up Black America.” You know, Hebrews II Negroes was also the name of my favorite R&B group in the ’90s.Deskside segment of the weekStrong missed the first three “S.N.L.” episodes of this season while she performed a revival of the one-woman show “The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe” in Los Angeles. But she has been rapidly making up for lost time with appearances like this one, a companion piece of sorts to her Goober the Clown segment from last season.The name of this latest character, “Tammy the Trucker, Who Promises She’s Here to Talk About Gas Prices and Definitely Not Abortion,” pretty much says it all, and Strong could just barely pretend to turn a steering wheel or care about trucker lingo as she declared, “You shouldn’t have to pull the convoy across state lines to find a doctor who can provide health care for your anatomy without having to call their lawyer first.”In closing, she reminded viewers to vote because, as she put it, “We all love someone who’s had an abortion — I mean, drives a truck.” More

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    What’s on TV This Week: ‘Atlanta’ and ‘Black Panther’

    The series staring Donald Glover concludes its fourth and final season. And the Marvel blockbuster airs on FX as the sequel premieres in theaters.Between network, cable and streaming, the modern television landscape is a vast one. Here are some of the shows, specials and movies coming to TV this week, Nov. 7-13. Details and times are subject to change.MondayPUSS IN BOOTS (2011) 6 p.m. on TOON. In this prequel spinoff of the “Shrek” franchise, Puss, the talking cat voiced by Antonio Banderas, is framed for a bank robbery and becomes an outlaw in his own town. He seeks to restore his honor and pay the debt he owes to his hometown by joining forces with Humpty Dumpty (Zach Galifianakis) and Kitty Softpaws (Salma Hayek) to find the magic beans that lead to valuable golden goose eggs. The film is a “cheerfully chaotic jumble of fairy tale and nursery rhyme characters,” Stephen Holden wrote in his review for The New York Times. A sequel is set to be released on in late December.TuesdayELECTION NIGHT SPECIALS 8 p.m. on ABC, CBS, NBC and PBS. As the polls close on Tuesday, several networks are airing the latest election and voting news in the U.S. midterm elections. Find out what’s at stake in our guide to the midterms, including how state races could have a huge effect on issues like abortion rights and voting.SAY HEY, WILLIE MAYS! (2022) 9 p.m. on HBO. This documentary explores the life of the Major League Baseball legend Willie Mays as he navigated the sport during a time of segregation and racism. The director Nelson George tracks Mays’s experience growing up in Alabama and getting his start playing for the Birmingham Black Barons in the Negro Leagues, as well as his career in the big leagues. The film features interviews with Mays, the baseball greats Barry Bonds and Reggie Jackson and the sports commentator Bob Costas.WednesdayLainey Wilson in October. The performer is up for six nominations at this year’s CMA Awards ceremony, which will take place on Wednesday.Jason Kempin/Getty Images For CmtTHE CMA AWARDS 8 p.m. on ABC. Luke Bryan and Peyton Manning will take the stage live in Nashville to host the 56th annual Country Music Association Awards. This year, first-time nominee Lainey Wilson is up for six awards, including new artist of the year, and Ashley McBryde, Carly Pearce, Chris Stapleton and Shane McAnally are each nominated for five. The evening will feature performances from Carrie Underwood and Katy Perry, among others.HARD KNOCKS IN SEASON: THE ARIZONA CARDINALS 10 p.m. on HBO. This reality sports series is based on the HBO franchise “Hard Knocks,” which documents a different N.F.L. team’s training camp each year. This series instead focuses on a team through its pro season. The second season follows the Arizona Cardinals, led by the quarterback Kyler Murray. The Cardinals have gotten off to a rocky start this season, currently in last place in the N.F.C. West.ICONS UNEARTHED 10 p.m. on VICE. Season 2 of this documentary series focuses on the long-running animated series “The Simpsons.” In the final episode, writers, directors, actors and network executives share stories about how the television show came together and established its place in pop culture.ThursdayBIGGER THAN LIFE (1956) 8 p.m. on TCM. Based on a 1955 article in The New Yorker, the film follows Ed Avery (James Mason), a teacher who is diagnosed with a fatal illness. After his doctor prescribes him cortisone, he is at first believed to have made a recovery. But he then develops an addiction to the drug that leads to his downward spiral.ATLANTA 10 p.m. on FX. This series wraps up with the show’s characters back in Atlanta after spending time in Europe in Season 3. Acclaimed for its acting, storytelling and depictions of modern day Black life, the series follows the rapper Paper Boi (Brian Tyree Henry), his manager and cousin, Earn (Donald Glover), and their friends Darius (LaKeith Stanfield) and Van (Zazie Beetz).FridayChadwick Boseman in “Black Panther.”Marvel Studios/Disney, via Associated PressBLACK PANTHER (2018) 5 p.m. on FX. Need a refresher before watching the sequel? Catch this blockbuster film on the day of the premiere of “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.” In this movie, T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman) becomes the king of Wakanda, the isolated, technologically advanced African nation. As Black Panther, he rallies his allies and fights to keep his people, and their culture, safe. “In its emphasis on Black imagination, creation and liberation, the movie becomes an emblem of a past that was denied and a future that feels very present,” Manohla Dargis wrote in her review for The Times. “And in doing so opens up its world, and yours, beautifully.”SaturdayTHE SNAKE PIT (1948) 8:30 p.m. on TCM. Virginia Cunningham (Olivia de Havilland) wakes up in a mental hospital, with no recollection of how she ended up there and an inability to recognize her husband, Robert (Mark Stevens). The film follows Victoria as she attempts to regain her memory with the help of Dr. Mark Kik (Leo Genn).SundayFrom left: Melissa McCarthy, Kate McKinnon, Kristen Wiig and Leslie Jones in “Ghostbusters.”Sony Pictures Entertainment, via Associated PressGHOSTBUSTERS (2016) 8:30 p.m. on Syfy. In this reboot of the science fiction comedy franchise, a transit worker (Leslie Jones) contacts three paranormal physicists (Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig and Kate McKinnon) after she encountered a ghost in a subway terminal. The four women band together to fight off the ghosts that have invaded New York City. It is “a movie that is a lot of enjoyable, disposable fun,” Manohla Dargis wrote in her review for The Times. “It’s a lot like the old ‘Ghostbusters,’ except that it stars four funny women instead of, you know, four funny men.” More