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    ‘Saturday Night Live’ Sends Up Fauci and Covid-19 Vaccine Rollout

    #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }The Best of 2020Best ComedyBest TV ShowsBest BooksBest MoviesBest AlbumsAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main story‘Saturday Night Live’ Sends Up Fauci and Covid-19 Vaccine RolloutThe episode, hosted by Timothée Chalamet, also featured musical performances by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band.Kate McKinnon added Dr. Anthony Fauci to her repertoire this weekend on “Saturday Night Live.” (With Heidi Gardner as Dr. Deborah Brix.)Credit…NBCDec. 13, 2020While the pandemic has made Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top expert on infectious diseases, a highly visible figure in American life, “Saturday Night Live” has been circumspect about satirizing him in comedy sketches. When Fauci first turned up as an “S.N.L.” character this past spring, during one of the show’s remotely produced at-home episodes, he was given a mostly glowing treatment and played by none other than Brad Pitt (after Fauci himself had made the suggestion in a CNN interview).Presumably Brad Pitt had other commitments this weekend — instead, the “S.N.L.” cast member Kate McKinnon added another role to her ever-growing roster of celebrity and political impressions and played Fauci in the show’s opening sketch.McKinnon was joined by Heidi Gardner, playing Dr. Deborah L. Birx, the White House’s coronavirus response coordinator, as they explained to CNN’s Wolf Blitzer (Beck Bennett) how Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine, newly approved for emergency use, would be distributed to the American public.Following some applause from the audience, McKinnon said, “Let’s try to keep the woos to a minimum, please. As you all know, woos spread droplets.”McKinnon proudly announced that “the vaccine is approved and I am officially joining the Biden administration to continue the fight against Covid.”With some hesitation, Gardner added, “And I think I’ll be joining as well, right? Remember when Trump said to inject bleach and I did a stanky little face? And I almost whispered, ‘No’? Remember?”McKinnon said that “we’re doing this vaccine World War II-style,” and further explained: “We made England go in first, see what’s what. And then we swoop in at the end and steal the spotlight. Tom Hanks will make 10 movies about it and when it’s all over you can kiss any nurse you want.”Asked by Bennett to evaluate Trump’s performance during the pandemic, McKinnon answered, “I try not to comment, but this president has done about as good a job with this rollout as I did throwing out that first pitch at the Nationals game.” “S.N.L.” played video of Fauci’s pitch from July, which markedly missed home plate. (We’re not saying we could do any better.)McKinnon’s Fauci explained that the ultimate aim was a return to relative anonymity.“If enough Americans get this vaccine, you’ll all forget who I am,” McKinnon said. “That’s my goal, to have zero name recognition with Americans. Because that means I’ll have done my job well.”She added, “You have my promise that no matter who is in charge, I’ll do everything possible to ensure that you are able to see your loved ones safely once again.”Gardner chimed in: “And I’m taller.”Celebrity Bellwether of the WeekSometimes an “S.N.L” sketch offers a helpful snapshot of which famous figures its cast members deem worthy of being impersonated at a particular moment in time. That was the primary role fulfilled by “The Dionne Warwick Talk Show,” which featured Ego Nwodim as that enduring pop singer and newly-minted star of social media.While she didn’t necessarily recognize who most of her guests were, Nwodim played host to Harry Styles (played by Chalamet), Billie Eilish (played by Melissa Villaseñor and introduced as “Ms. William Eyelash”), Machine Gun Kelly (Pete Davidson) and, in a neat bit of meta-commentary, Timothée Chalamet (played by Chloe Fineman as an exuberant goofus).Weekend Update Jokes of the WeekOver at the Weekend Update desk, the anchors Colin Jost and Michael Che riffed on the Supreme Court’s swift rejection of a lawsuit, filed by the Republican attorney general of Texas and supported by numerous G.O.P. officials, that vainly sought to undo the results of November’s presidential election.Jost began:Guys, I’ve got to be honest. I’m beginning to think that Donald Trump didn’t win this election. This week, the Supreme Court dismissed two different Trump lawsuits to overturn the election results. They were the first rulings by the Supreme Court that were just the eyeroll emoji. Don’t worry, Trump isn’t throwing in the towel because he’s been a fighter his whole life. At least that’s what it looks like on his brain scans. I just love how the media keeps telling us, OK, this time, it’s over. Nothing is ever over as long as Donald Trump can make money off it. Even when he dies his tombstone is just going to have his Venmo info. Also, he’s a billionaire and he keeps asking his supporters for five dollars. Isn’t that just sad? It’s like saying, for the price of a cup of coffee a day, you can help a desperate old man pretend he’s still president.Che continued:The Texas lawsuit asked the Supreme Court to invalidate election results in four other states. Which is a plan so crazy, only Texas would try to execute it.Many Black doctors are saying that they are having a hard time convincing their patients to take the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines. Which is weird, because Moderna Vaccine is my favorite Tyler Perry character.Fake Cable Channel of the WeekPivoting off the insurgent success of cable channels like Newsmax, which have supported President Trump’s false claims that he won the election, “S.N.L.” introduced us to a new companion channel, Sportsmax, where failing New York sports teams like the Jets and the Knicks somehow find ways to emerge victorious.As a sports anchor played by Alex Moffat explained, “A lot of mainstream sport networks like ESPN are saying that the Jets have not won a single game this year, that they’re 0 and 12.” A commentator played by Bennett added that this was “is very interesting because the truth is, the Jets have already won 11 games this season.” Revisiting an October matchup that the Jets lost to the Buffalo Bills, Bennett said, “After the first quarter, the Jets were winning the game 3 to 0. But then something very suspicious happened. The Bills start getting all these points out of God knows where. Either the Jets won, 3 to 0, or this whole game’s rigged.”Musical Performance of the WeekIt’s been a long week, a long month and an especially long year. So here, to offer a few minutes’ respite from reality, are Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band with a rousing rendition of their song “Ghosts.” (They also came back later in the program to deliver an equally stirring performance of their song “I’ll See You in My Dreams.”)AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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    Holiday Theater to Stream

    #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }Holidays 2020Tame Your Gift MonsterSaying Goodbye to HanukkahHanukkah Dreidel TreatHoliday Gift GuideAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyCozy Up With Holiday PlaysStream productions of reimagined fairy tales and Christmas standards like ‘A Christmas Carol’ being staged at theaters around the world.Credit…Luci GutierrezDec. 12, 2020Even a year as extravagantly Grinch-like as 2020 can’t quash holiday shows entirely. Rather than succumbing to despair and too much eggnog, theater companies have instead turned to performance capture, audio drama, livestream, green screen, shadow puppets and virtual reality to deliver festal entertainment. So let heaven and nature sing, unbothered by Zoom time delays. Here are a few suggestions to enjoy virtually.Pantomime? Oh yes, it is!The English tradition of pantomime — with its fractured fairy tales, its playful cross-casting, its audience call-and-response — has never really caught on in America. But this year, several companies have made these comedies available internationally. In England, the Belgrade Theater’s Iain Lauchlan has created a version of “Jack and the Beanstalk,” which includes a good fairy from Britain’s National Health Service and a cow that measures at least six feet, so that the two actors inside can appropriately distance (belgrade.co.uk, through Dec. 31).Meanwhile, the Nottingham Playhouse will stage a version of “Cinderella” with the ball open to all (nottinghamplayhouse.co.uk, from Dec. 19). Sleeping Trees have prepared an antic panto mashup, “The Legend of Moby Dick Whittington” (thesleepingtrees.co.uk, through Dec. 31). Scotland’s Pace Theater Company offer free performances of “Lost in Pantoland” (pacetheatre.com, from Dec. 19). The National Theater of Scotland’s “Rapunzel: A Hairy Tale Adventure” draws parallels between a certain tower-trapped princess and the experience of lockdown (nationaltheatrescotland.com, from Dec. 22). Also in Brit, Perth Theater spreads Southern hemisphere joy with “Oh Yes We Are! A Quest for Long Lost Light and Laughter” (horsecross.co.uk, through Dec. 24).Carol After CarolActual caroling is frowned upon this year (singing really sends those viral particles flying) and “A Christmas Carol” is also a dubious in-person proposition in most places. But the actor Jefferson Mays and the director Michael Arden have filmed “A Christmas Carol” — with Mays playing all the roles, even a potato. The Times critic Jesse Green described the show as “an opportunity to make what was already a classic story feel new, while also making it feel as if it should matter forever.” (achristmascarollive.com, on demand through Jan. 3.)If a one-man “Carol” strikes you as mere humbug, try the relative luxury of Jack Thorne’s “A Christmas Carol” at the Old Vic, directed by Matthew Warchus. (A version played on Broadway two winters ago.) In this production, livestreamed from an empty theater, Andrew Lincoln stars as Scrooge. Thirteen other actors assist in his transformation (oldvictheatre.com, through Dec. 24). Or consider the wizardry of Manual Cinema, which tells the tale with hundreds of paper puppets and silhouettes (manuelcinema,com, through Dec. 20). Or close your eyes as the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future appear via audio in “A Christmas Carol on Air” from the American Conservatory Theater, which takes the theater’s beloved holiday production and adapts it for radio (act-sf.org, on demand through Dec. 31).Holiday Tales, RetoldThis season, many companies have retrofitted familiar tales to better reflect the themes of an unfamiliar year, offering comfort or its opposite. Let’s start with what a story like “Twas the Night Before Christmas” leaves out. Do you really think it’s jolly Saint Nick who sorts out how to distribute all the presents? As a gentle corrective, North London’s Little Angel Theater, offers a free online puppet show, “Mother Christmas,” in which Mrs. Claus organizes the package delivery (available on YouTube). Prefer a darker vision of the Christmas story? Try “Krampusnacht,” a live immersive virtual reality experience that promises to reveal horror beneath that red suit (krampusnachtvr.com, through Dec. 27).Elsewhere, the visionary director Mary Zimmerman reinvents Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Steadfast Tin Soldier” for a wordless, enchanting livestream, hosted by the Lookingglass Theatre Company (lookingglasstheatre.org, through Dec. 27). And Kitchen Zoo and Northern Stage rework another Andersen tale, “The Emperor’s New Clothes,” into a cockles-warming holiday story of two fashion-conscious con artists (northernstage.co.uk, through Dec. 31).The Christmas-industrial complex is mighty, but for those looking for some Hanukkah counterprogramming, Untitled Theater Company has reworked its children’s theater show “Playing Dreidel with Judah Maccabee” for remote performance. Via Skype, Zoom or phone, an actor will connect with a young person in your household for a time-traveling, dreidel-playing adventure (untitledtheater.com, through Dec. 20).AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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    New Star of ‘The Prom’ Sees a Chance to Make L.G.B.T.Q. Characters Visible

    #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }The Best of 2020Best MoviesBest TV ShowsBest BooksBest TheaterBest AlbumsAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyNew Star of ‘The Prom’ Sees a Chance to Make L.G.B.T.Q. Characters VisibleLike her character, Jo Ellen Pellman identifies as queer, and she is making her film debut in the Netflix musical alongside A-listers like Meryl Streep and Nicole Kidman.“It’s the best feeling in the world knowing I can bring my authentic self to the role,” Jo Ellen Pellman said of “The Prom.”Credit…Da’Shaunae Marisa for The New York TimesPublished More

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    ‘Le Jeu de la dame’ encourage les femmes à se mettre aux échecs

    #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }The Best of 2020Best MoviesBest TV ShowsBest BooksBest TheaterBest AlbumsThe actress Beth Behrs has been obsessed with chess since watching ‘The Queen’s Gambit’ on Netflix.Credit…Jessica Lehrman for The New York TimesSkip to contentSkip to site index ‘Le Jeu de la dame’ encourage les femmes à se mettre aux échecs La série-phare de Netflix montre que “les femmes peuvent être des rock stars” aux échecs; elle suscite de nouvelles vocations auprès de ses fans, dont des adolescentes et l’actrice Beth Behrs. The actress Beth Behrs has been obsessed with chess since watching ‘The Queen’s Gambit’ on Netflix.Credit…Jessica Lehrman for The New York TimesSupported byContinue reading the main storyDec. 11, 2020Read in EnglishLa comédienne Beth Behrs a une nouvelle obsession — les échecs — et c’est la faute de la série “Le Jeu de la dame”, sur Netflix. Elle lui a même attiré des ennuis sur le plateau de la série CBS “The Neighborhood” dans laquelle elle joue le rôle de Gemma Johnson.“Ils m’ont crié dessus hier au boulot parce que je cachais mon téléphone sous mon scénario”, raconte-t-elle. “Au lieu de faire mon métier d’actrice, je jouais à Chess.com.”Behrs est loin d’être la seule à s’être découvert cette nouvelle passion. “Le Jeu de la dame”, ou “The Queen’s Gambit”, raconte l’histoire de Beth Harmon, une prodige aux échecs, qui se fraie un chemin dans le monde des tournois, dominé par les hommes. La série est un succès pour Netflix — 62 millions de foyers ont regardé au moins une partie de la série, selon la plateforme de streaming — et le phénomène a réveillé l’intérêt pour ce jeu, notamment auprès de femmes et de jeunes filles.Chess.com, le site sur lequel jouait Beth Behrs, a enregistré plus de 2,35 millions de joueurs supplémentaires depuis la sortie de la série fin octobre, selon Nick Barton, son directeur du développement commercial. Les inscriptions de femmes sont en hausse de 15% depuis la diffusion du “Jeu de la dame”, précise-t-il.La demande de cours d’échecs monte en flèche. Evan Rabin, le fondateur de Premier Chess, précise que les inscriptions à des leçons virtuelles cet automne ont crû de 50%, en grande partie par des femmes. Chez Maxim Dlugy, un grand maître qui dirige la Chess Max Academy à Manhattan, la demande de cours particuliers a doublé, et lui aussi constate qu’il y a davantage de joueuses.Parmi ces nouvelles adeptes, il y a Leyli Zohrenejad, membre du conseil d’administration de plusieurs organisations à but non lucratif, dont Pioneer Works à Red Hook, un quartier de Brooklyn. Elle a appris à déplacer les pièces lorsqu’elle était jeune, mais ne s’est mise proprement à jouer qu’avec la diffusion du “Jeu de la dame”.“Ça m’a en quelque sorte décidé à passer de ces jeux distrayants sur smartphone à quelque chose de vraiment plus significatif”, explique Zohrenejad.Elle prend jusqu’à quatre leçons par semaine et débute certaines de ses journées en réfléchissant à des problèmes d’échecs, sa tasse de café à la main.Beth Behrs chez elle. Elle et son mari, l’acteur Michael Gladis, se réservent une soirée à deux par semaine pour jouer aux échecs.Credit…Jessica Lehrman for The New York Times“Ça me réveille le cerveau le matin”, dit-elle. “Il n’y pas grand chose que je puisse faire le matin qui me mettrait dans une disposition d’esprit similaire”. Svetlana Timofejeva, qui vit à Athènes, en Grèce, a débuté des cours d’échecs il y a quelques semaines avec Anastasiya Karlovich, une femme grand maître, après avoir vu sur Facebook une publicité avec la photo de Beth, l’héroïne de la série. Les échecs lui rappellent son père, raconte-t-elle, qui lui avait appris à jouer quand elle était jeune et qu’elle vivait en Lettonie. Il s’y adonnait avec des amis dans un jardin public, tout comme dans les scènes du dernier épisode de la série.Bianca Mitchell, qui a 15 ans et qui vit à Albuquerque, s’est mise à jouer au CP mais a arrêté en classe de cinquième, quand elle est partie un an à Rochester, dans l’État de New York.“J’étais la seule fille à jouer et ça me mettait vraiment mal à l’aise”, admet-elle.À son retour au Nouveau-Mexique, elle n’avait pas envie de reprendre. Mais son état d’esprit a changé en voyant “Le Jeu de la dame”. Apprentie cinéaste, elle est enthousiasmée par la cinématographie et par le personnage de Beth. La série montre les échecs sous un jour “très glamour et luxueux, que les femmes peuvent être des rock stars”, dit-elle. À présent, elle aussi veut devenir grand maître.Lila Field, à gauche, et sa soeur  Rowan Field en 2019; elles ont toutes deux pris part à des tournois internationaux d’échecs.Credit…Carmen FieldLa série a même inspiré des joueuses d’échecs établies. Rowan Field, 12 ans, et sa sœur, Lila, 11 ans, qui vivent à New York (et ont toutes deux auditionné pour le rôle de Beth enfant), sont des juniors bien classées qui ont pris part à des tournois internationaux au Brésil, en Chine, en Espagne et au Chili.Si elles disent ne pas s’identifier à Beth, parce qu’elle est orpheline et souffre d’addictions, elles trouvent que ce personnage “montre qu’il peut y avoir des joueuses d’échecs extrêmement talentueuses”, se félicite Rowan, sa sœur acquiesçant d’un hochement de tête lors d’un appel Zoom. On voir rarement ça dans les séries télévisées ou les films, note Rowan.Pour Marisa Maisano, 13 ans, qui vit à Philadelphie et qui a commencé à jouer aux échecs au CP, Beth est un modèle d’excellence. “Suivre ses progrès au fil du temps et constater à quel point ils sont stupéfiants, et comment elle a réussi, ça a vraiment été une source d’inspiration pour moi”, confie-t-elle. Deux de ses amies qui ne savaient pas jouer aux échecs lui ont demandé de leur apprendre le jeu.Beth Behrs, comédienne et passionnée d’échecs.Credit…Jessica Lehrman for The New York TimesOn n’avait pas vu un engouement pareil pour les échecs depuis 1972, l’année où l’Américain Bobby Fischer est devenu champion du monde en l’emportant sur le Russe Boris Spassky. Une génération de passionnés s’en est suivie mais la vogue est retombée — en grande partie parce que Fischer s’est progressivement enfermé dans la solitude et l’instabilité, tenant des propos antisémites puis renonçant à son titre. Il est trop tôt pour savoir si l’enthousiasme actuel pour ce jeu perdurera et s’il est susceptible d’engendrer de nouvelles Beth Harmon. Mais beaucoup lui ont déjà fait une place dans leurs vies.Pour la comédienne Beth Behrs, savoir jouer aux échecs est une priorité depuis longtemps car son mari Michael Gladis — l’acteur de la série “Mad Men” — est un passionné. Il arrive à ce dernier de jouer plusieurs parties par jour sur Internet. Quand ils se sont mis en couple il y a 10 ans, Behrs a tenté de s’y adonner mais se sentait intimidée.“J’ai mis ça de côté et je ne m’y suis jamais mise”, reconnaît-elle.“Le Jeu de la dame” a tout changé. La série lui a donné confiance et elle trouve le jeu créatif et stimulant.Désormais, Behrs et Gladis se réservent une soirée à deux par semaine pour les échecs. Ils mettent un disque, allument un feu dans la cheminée et commencent la partie.AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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    ‘The Mandalorian’ Season 2, Episode 7 Recap: Face-off on Morak

    #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }The Best of 2020Best MoviesBest TV ShowsBest BooksBest TheaterBest AlbumsAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyThe Mandalorian‘The Mandalorian’ Season 2, Episode 7 Recap: Face-off on MorakMando joins forces with an old enemy, just one of several major compromises he makes in hopes of rescuing Grogu.Mando and Boba (Pedro Pascal, left, and Temuera Morrison) took on the Empire together again, with a little help this time from a certain red-headed rogue.Credit…Lucasfilm Ltd.Dec. 11, 2020Season 2, Episode 7: ‘The Believer’It was bound to happen. All season long, Mando has been suffering loss after loss. The Child’s floating transport-egg? Totaled. The Razor Crest? Destroyed. Grogu himself? Kidnapped. So it was inevitable that at some point, Mando was going to have to give up what has mattered to him more than anything for most of his life: his helmet.About a third of the way through “The Believer,” Din Djarin realizes that the only way for him to infiltrate an Imperial refinery — and thus to obtain the information he needs to rescue Grogu — is to shed his near-impenetrable beskar shell and go undercover as a stormtrooper. He does get to stay masked, at least. He puts on a pathetic-looking helmet, with the little frown etched into the face-plate that’s common to the Empire’s armor. But as soon as he dons the gear, his body stiffens and he lapses into silence. The Mandalorian no longer feels like a Mandalorian.It gets worse. Once Din arrives in the facility, he discovers that he’s going to have to access a communications terminal that requires a face-scan. He makes one sad, fruitless attempt at keeping his stormtrooper disguise on while doing the scan, but immediately a warning alarm sounds, and he has to remove the helmet. For only the second time in this series, the actor Pedro Pascal — the star of “The Mandalorian” — shows his face.I could quibble with the narrative logic that led to this moment. We’re told early on that the Imperial base on the mining planet of Morak is protected by various devices which identify and weed out wanted fugitives. No one has seen Din’s face, so no scanners would register him as an outlaw. But wouldn’t it make sense for a scanner at an Imperial outpost to make sure the faces it’s scanning belong to actual Empire employees?I have no complaints, though, about the emotional punch of the scanner scene. It pains the Mandalorian to reveal himself — and it’s painful to see him do it. As the title of this week’s chapter, “The Believer,” implies, this is a man of deep faith who doesn’t take the trappings and the rituals of his order lightly. When the Imperial commander Valin Hess (Richard Brake) asks him to sit down and have a drink with him in the refinery’s commissary, Din is so mortified — so soul-sick — that he can barely move or speak.As with most of the episodes this season, this one was primarily made up of a few white-knuckle action sequences. Rick Famuyiwa directed and is credited as the screenwriter. Initially, Famuyiwa introduces a scenario reminiscent of the classic movie “The Wages of Fear,” with Din and the dastardly mercenary Migs Mayfeld (Bill Burr) driving a transport vehicle filled with the explosively volatile starship fuel rhydonium across bumpy roads. Then their transport is attacked by pirates, who keep coming in waves after seemingly every last-ditch effort by Mando to fend them off.Paradoxically, Din and Migs are saved by the Imperial forces, who salute them as they roll into the refinery with potentially enough rhydonium to help the Empire strike back (again). But when Migs hears this boast from Hess, it stirs the criminal’s conscience, reminding him of all the past atrocities he has witnessed. He impulsively shoots Hess before executing a daring escape with the help of Mando, Boba Fett, Fennec Shand and Cara Dune, finishing it with a long-distance shot that blows up the rhydonium and the refinery.But as exciting as all those chases and shootouts are, it’s almost more thrilling this week to hear Migs push back against Din’s understanding of how the galaxy works. Although Migs sabotages the Empire, he’s not really a partisan of any kind. He insists to Mando that folks born on one planet believe one thing and folks born on another planet believe something else, and that none of this matters because in a life-or-death crisis, people will cross any line they have to, just to survive.The action in this episode seems to probe Migs’s point as Mando finds himself delivering vital rhydonium to the enemy — and killing “pirates” who could well be agents of the Republic, for all he knows — in order to further his own personal agenda. It also can’t be too reassuring for the by-the-book Mando to hear Hess argue that the Empire will prevail again because “Everyone thinks they want freedom, but what they really want is order.”This is something else that our hero has been losing this season: his certainty about “the Way,” and about what he is and isn’t duty-bound to do. Taking care of Grogu has given him a new perspective on where his loyalty truly lies.That’s why it’s significant that during Migs’s rant about how both the Empire and the Republic routinely wreck the lives of ordinary citizens, Din is shown looking out the window at Morak’s native children. As an orphan himself, that’s who he identifies with the most. And as we head into next week’s season finale, that’s who the Mandalorian is most passionate to save.This is the way:After all the mythology built up around Boba Fett over the decades, it is both strange and awesome to have him just hanging around all the time as part of the Mandalorian’s team. (“Fett, punch in the coordinates!” Mando will say, as though it’s perfectly normal to be barking orders at one of the galaxy’s most notorious bounty hunters.) It was also cool this week to see how Fett’s ship, Slave 1, looks from the inside as it’s making the crazy horizontal-to-vertical pivot it does during takeoffs.Even with a stand-up comedian as a guest star, this episode featured fewer moments of comic relief than usual. I think I laughed out loud only once, when Migs shoots Hess, right as a stormtrooper walks into the cafeteria. The tension of that moment is immediately defused by the ridiculous image of a trooper carrying a lunch-tray, looking like a dumbfounded fifth grader.The locations this season have all been pretty spectacular — and impressively varied. This week, we begin in an imposing trash heap patrolled by giant “walkers,” and we end with a fight at a refinery by a towering dam. There’s nearly always something to marvel at on this show.AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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    Jimmy Fallon: Trump’s Hanukkah Party Was a ‘Festival of Lies’

    #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }The Best of 2020Best MoviesBest TV ShowsBest BooksBest TheaterBest AlbumsAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyBest of Late NightJimmy Fallon: Trump’s Hanukkah Party Was a ‘Festival of Lies’“Even the dreidel was looking at Trump like, ‘Damn, this guy spins more than I do,’” Fallon joked on Wednesday.Jimmy Fallon thought it was a good thing Trump stayed on brand and spoke about the election at the party, saying, “I feel like him winging the story of Hanukkah would have been worse.”Credit…NBCDec. 11, 2020Welcome 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. We’re all stuck at home at the moment, so here are the 50 best movies on Netflix right now.Spinning False TalesPresident Trump attended a crowded Hanukkah party at the White House on Wednesday, where, Stephen Colbert noted, he “greeted his guests and spoke about the true meaning of this beautiful religious holiday” — once again falsely claiming he had won the election.“Ah, yes, the festival of lies,” Jimmy Fallon joked on Thursday’s “Tonight Show.”[embedded content]“Even the dreidel was looking at Trump like, ‘Damn, this guy spins more than I do.’” — JIMMY FALLON“I like how everyone whipped out their phones to record Trump, like it was a drunken fight in a Waffle House.” — JIMMY FALLON“It’s probably good that Trump talked about the election. I feel like him winging the story of Hanukkah would have been worse. It’s like, ‘For eight nights, Jewish Santa would visit all the good little Kushners.’” — JIMMY FALLON“Now, that might seem like a pathetic old man clinging to past glory, but his claims of election fraud actually have a lot in common with Hanukkah — they both involve a mysterious, endless supply of oil.” — STEPHEN COLBERTThe Punchiest Punchlines (Facebook Edition)“Oh, big Facebook news! No, your old friends from camp haven’t stopped being mad that you didn’t show up to the Zoom reunion.” — STEPHEN COLBERT“Remember how back in the day we all had that cousin, you know, that cousin home from college who was like, ‘I’m not giving the corporations my private photos!’ and most of us were like, ‘Man, we get what you’re saying, but you’re also a vegan.’ But now, more and more, the rest of us are like, ‘Huh, maybe I shouldn’t have given big tech a perfect scan of my face so they can recognize me wherever I go on the planet.’” — TREVOR NOAH“Yes, it’s just like Monopoly except every time you pass go, instead of getting $200, Zuckerberg sells your data to a Moldovan spam farm.” — STEPHEN COLBERT“And can I just say, I’m very impressed that so many government officials are willing to come out against Facebook, especially when you consider how much Facebook knows about them.” — TREVOR NOAH“So the F.T.C. is saying that Facebook must be broken up. To be clear, Facebook has not been broken up yet, but it has changed its status to ‘It’s complicated.’” — STEPHEN COLBERT“What’s amazing to me is that, even though America is so divided right now, almost every state agrees that something needs to be done about big tech. And, look, whatever the merits of this particular lawsuit, the fact that it was brought at all should be a warning for Facebook, because if what you’re doing is so egregious that you’re bringing California and Mississippi together, you done [expletive] up.” — TREVOR NOAH“Of course, if Facebook does break up, it faces the daunting task of going through and manually untagging all the photos of it together.” — STEPHEN COLBERT“So Facebook could be in real trouble, which seems crazy, since they look so happy in all those pics they post. Their life is definitely way better than mine.” — STEPHEN COLBERTThe Bits Worth WatchingLil Nas X joined Jimmy Fallon’s Santa for a new holiday classic, “Santa vs. Santa Nas X.”Also, Check This OutCredit…Jessica Lehrman for The New York Times“The Queen’s Gambit” has inspired more women to take up chess, including Beth Behrs.AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More