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      To Boldly Explore the Jewish Roots of ‘Star Trek’

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      LOS ANGELES — Adam Nimoy gazed across a museum gallery filled with “Star Trek” stage sets, starship replicas, space aliens, fading costumes and props (think phaser, set to stun). The sounds of a beam-me-up transporter wafted across the room. Over his shoulder, a wall was filled with an enormous photograph of his father — Leonard Nimoy, who played Spock on the show — dressed in his Starfleet uniform, his fingers splayed in the familiar Vulcan “live long and prosper” greeting.But that gesture, Adam Nimoy noted as he led a visitor through this exhibition at the Skirball Cultural Center, was more than a symbol of the television series that defined his father’s long career playing the part-Vulcan, part-human Spock. It is derived from part of a Hebrew blessing that Leonard Nimoy first glimpsed at an Orthodox Jewish synagogue in Boston as a boy and brought to the role.The prominently displayed photo of that gesture linking Judaism to Star Trek culture helps account for what might seem to be a highly illogical bit of programming: the decision by the Skirball, a Jewish cultural center known mostly for its explorations of Jewish life and history, to bring in an exhibition devoted to one of television’s most celebrated sci-fi shows.But walking through the artifacts Adam Nimoy recalled how his father, the son of Ukrainian Jews who spoke no English when they arrived, had said he identified with Spock, pointing out that he was “the only alien on the bridge of the Enterprise.”The “Star Trek: Exploring New Worlds” exhibition at the Skirball Cultural Center includes a navigation console from the U.S.S. Enterprise, the first script from the first episode — and tribbles.Alex Welsh for The New York TimesJewish values and traditions were often on the minds of the show’s writers as they dealt with issues of human behavior and morality, said David Gerrold, a writer whose credits include “The Trouble with Tribbles,” one of the most acclaimed “Star Trek” episodes, which introduces the crew to a cute, furry, rapidly reproducing alien life form.“A lot of Jewish tradition — a lot of Jewish wisdom — is part of ‘Star Trek,’ and ‘Star Trek’ drew on a lot of things that were in the Old Testament and the Talmud,” Gerrold said in an interview. “Anyone who is very literate in Jewish tradition is going to recognize a lot of wisdom that ‘Star Trek’ encompassed.”Adam Nimoy said his father, who played Spock, a part-Vulcan, part-human character, often noted that he was “the only alien on the bridge of the Enterprise,” drawing a parallel between his role and his history as the son of Ukrainian Jewish immigrants.Alex Welsh for The New York TimesThat connection was not explicit when the show first aired. And a stroll through the exhibition, which covers the original television show as well as some of the spinoffs and films that came to encompass the “Star Trek” industry, mainly turns up items that are of interest to “Star Trek” fans. There is a navigation console from the U.S.S. Enterprise, the first script from the first episode, a Klingon disrupter from “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” and a display of tribbles.The “Star Trek” exhibition has drawn 12,000 attendees in its first two months.Alex Welsh for The New York TimesA “Star Trek” phaser on display.Alex Welsh for The New York TimesA Klingon mask and costume at the “Star Trek” exhibition.Alex Welsh for The New York TimesTo some extent, the choice of this particular exhibition — “Star Trek: Exploring New Worlds” — to help usher the Skirball back into operation after a Covid shutdown reflects the imperatives museums everywhere are facing as they try to recover from a pandemic that has been so economically damaging. “These days — honestly, especially after the pandemic — museums are looking for ways to get people through the door,” said Brooks Peck, who helped create the show for the Museum of Pop Culture in Seattle. “Museums are struggling to find an audience and are looking for a pop culture hook.”It seems to have worked. The “Star Trek” exhibition has drawn 12,000 attendees in its first two months here, a robust turnout given that the Skirball is limiting sales to 25 percent of capacity.“This has been bringing in new people, no question,” said Sheri Bernstein, the museum director. “Attendance is important for the sake of relevance. It’s important for us to bring in a diverse array of people.”Jessie Kornberg, the president of Skirball, said that the center had been drawn by the parallels between Judaism and the television show. “Nimoy’s Jewish identity contributed to a small moment which became a big theme,” she said. “We actually think the common values in the ‘Star Trek’ universe and Jewish belief are more powerful than that symbolism. That’s this idea of a more liberal, inclusive people, where ‘other’ and ‘difference’ is an embraced strength as opposed to a divisive weakness.”Jessie Kornberg, the president of Skirball, said she had been struck by the links between “Star Trek” and Jewish beliefs, especially the importance of inclusivity. Alex Welsh for The New York TimesThe intersections between the television series and Judaism begin with its two stars, Nimoy and William Shatner, who played Capt. James T. Kirk. “These are two iconic guys in outer space who are Jewish,” said Adam Nimoy. And it extends to the philosophy that infuses the show, created by Gene Roddenberry, who was raised a Southern Baptist but came to consider himself a humanist, according to his authorized biography.Those underlying connections are unmistakable for people like Nimoy, 65, a television director who is both a devoted “Star Trek” fan and an observant Jew: He and his father often went to services in Los Angeles, and Friday night Sabbath dinners were a regular part of their family life.Nimoy found no shortage of Jewish resonances and echoes in the exhibition, which opened in October and closes on Feb. 20. He stopped at a costume worn by a Gorn, a deadly reptilian extraterrestrial who was in a fight-to-the-death encounter with Kirk.“When he gets the Gorn to the ground, he’s about to kill him,” Nimoy recounted. “The Gorn wants to kill Kirk. But something happens. Instead he shows mercy and restraint and refuses to kill the Gorn.”“Very similar to the story of Joseph,” Nimoy said, referring to the way Joseph, in the biblical book of Genesis, declined to seek retribution against his brothers for selling him into slavery.Leonard Nimoy died in 2015 at the age of 83. Shatner, who is 90 and recently became the oldest person to go into space, declined to discuss the exhibition. “Unfortunately Mr. Shatner’s overcommitted production schedule precludes him from taking on any additional interviews,” said his assistant, Kathleen Hays.The Skirball Cultural Center is set on 15 acres, about 20 miles from downtown Los Angeles.The exhibition ran for about two years in Seattle after opening in 2016 to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the original “Star Trek” TV show’s 1966 debut. (That version was on NBC for three seasons.) The exhibition had been intended to tour, but those plans were cut short when the pandemic began to close museums across the country.“Skirball faced a bit of a challenge in trying to explain to its audience how ‘Star Trek’ fit in with what they do,” said Brooks Peck, who helped create the exhibition for the Museum of Pop Culture in Seattle. “Happily it completely worked out.”Alex Welsh for The New York TimesThe exhibition was assembled largely from the private collection of Paul Allen, the co-founder of Microsoft and founder of the Museum of Pop Culture, who died in 2018.Peck said he wanted to commemorate the anniversary of the series with an exhibition that explored the outsize influence the television show had on American culture. “The answer that I am offering is that ‘Star Trek’ has endured and inspired people because of the optimistic future it presents — the good character of many of its characters,” Peck said. “They are characters that people would like to emulate.”“Skirball faced a bit of a challenge in trying to explain to its audience how ‘Star Trek’ fit in with what they do,” he said. “Happily it completely worked out. I had always hoped that Skirball could take it. Skirball’s values as an institution so align with the values of ‘Star Trek’ and the ‘Star Trek’ community.”Bernstein, the Skirball director, said the exhibition seemed a particularly good way to help bring the museum back to life.“There was never a better time to present this show than now,” she said. “We very much liked the idea of reopening our full museum offerings with a show that was about inspiring hope. A show that promised enjoyment.”By spring, ‘Star Trek’ will step aside for a less surprising offering, an exhibition about Jewish delis, but for now, the museum is filled both with devotees of Jewish culture, admiring a Torah case from China, and Trekkies, snapping pictures of the captain’s chair that Kirk sat in aboard the Enterprise.“There is no such thing as too much ‘Star Trek,’” Scott Mantz, a film critic, said as he began interviewing Adam Nimoy after a recent screening at the museum of “For the Love of Spock,” a 2016 documentary Nimoy had made about his father. A long burst of applause rose from his audience. More

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      Late Night Is Happy Twitter Booted Marjorie Taylor Greene

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      Seth Meyers said that living in a world with the Republican congresswoman’s “insane” screaming was “like trying to have a conversation with a friend on the street next to a jackhammer.”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.Five Strikes and You’re OutMajorie Taylor Greene, the Republican congresswoman from Georgia, was permanently kicked off Twitter on Sunday for violating a policy against spreading misinformation about the coronavirus.On Monday’s “Late Night,” Seth Meyers pointed out how Greene had repeatedly lied about vaccines and called for a “national divorce.” “Which is, I guess, the sequel to ‘National Velvet’?” Meyers joked.“How would a national divorce even work? Who would get the White House? Who would pay alimony? Who would get custody of Eric? It would probably just be the two sides pushing him back and forth: ‘He’s a Republican, so he should go with you.’ ‘But he’s a New Yorker, so he should go with you!’” — SETH MEYERS“Looks like you finally got that divorce you wanted.” — SETH MEYERS“And regardless of how you feel about the ethics of kicking politicians off Twitter, it’s just a huge quality-of-life improvement. Like when Trump got kicked off Twitter. Trying to live in a world where people like Trump and Greene are constantly screaming insane [expletive] on Twitter is like trying to have a conversation with a friend on the street next to a jackhammer.” — SETH MEYERS“Now to spread the word about Jewish space lasers, she’ll have to use Mormon carrier pigeons.” — STEPHEN COLBERT“They only banned her personal account, not her congressional account, which is also known as her crazy-lite account.” — JAMES CORDEN“Greene had been temporarily suspended in the past for spreading Covid misinformation, but her latest online lie violated Twitter’s five-strike policy. Yes, five strikes. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Fool me three times, you only get two more foolins’ after that.” — STEPHEN COLBERT“On the bright side, she is still a full-fledged member of the United States Congress.” — JAMES CORDENThe Punchiest Punchlines (C.D.C. Edition)“Meanwhile, the C.D.C. has cut their recommended isolation time in half, and now it says you only need to quarantine for five days. Yeah, a lot of Covid regulations keep changing the longer the pandemic goes on. For example, back then, doctors said to cough directly into your elbow; now, doctors say just have fun out there.” — JIMMY FALLON“They added that today is basically over, so it’s really four days. Plus, Sundays don’t count, so three day — you know what? Just take the weekend.” — SETH MEYERS“They also said you can swim right after you eat, breaking a mirror only gives you four years bad luck, and stepping on a crack won’t break your mother’s back; her back will just be very disappointed.” — STEPHEN COLBERT“Then the C.D.C. said to avoid large indoor gatherings. Now the C.D.C. says parties are fine as long as you set up a smaller ‘tested positive’ table.” — JIMMY FALLON“Also, back then you had to wash your hands for as long as it takes to sing ‘Happy Birthday’ twice. But now, you can sing it at the speed Applebee’s employees do when you can tell they’re not really into it.” — JIMMY FALLON“And, finally, back then they said to avoid misinformation by staying off the internet, but now the internet is where you live now — it is your home.” — JIMMY FALLONThe Bits Worth WatchingA “Tonight Show” viewer spotted a White Sox fan resembling Jimmy Fallon during a recent game.What We’re Excited About on Tuesday NightSt. Vincent will perform on Tuesday’s “Late Late Show.”Also, Check This OutSofia Kourtesis’s “La Perla” lands somewhere between hope and melancholia.Christopher BouchardThe Peruvian producer Sofia Kourtesis’s “La Perla” and “Paul Bearer” from the Michigan-based rapper BabyTron are just two of 15 underrated tracks from 2021. More

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      What’s on TV This Week: ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ and ‘Batman Forever’

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      The 14th season of RuPaul’s Emmy-winning competition series premieres on VH1. And “Batman Forever” airs on BBC America.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, Jan. 3-9. Details and times are subject to change.MondayINDEPENDENT LENS: PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF DESIRE 10 p.m. on PBS (check local listings). This documentary explores how real-life connections are being replaced by virtual relationships within the fast-paced livestreaming industry in China. Through a closer look at the popular YY streaming platform, it exposes the impact of technology as a revenue-generating platform, and what younger generations consider success in a never-ending online popularity contest.TuesdayMY SALINGER YEAR (2020) 5 p.m. on Showtime. Adapted from the memoir of Joanna Rakoff, this film follows a young writer, Joanna (Margaret Qualley), who lands a job as assistant to a technology-averse literary agent, Margaret (Sigourney Weaver), in New York City. Joanna is assigned the dull task of sorting through the fan mail of J.D. Salinger, the agency’s reclusive top client, and decides to bend the rules, personally responding to letters that would otherwise go unread.Tommy Lee Jones, left, and Jim Carrey in “Batman Forever.”Warner BrothersBATMAN FOREVER (1995) 6 p.m. on BBC America. In this Joel Schumacher-directed installment of the “Batman” series, Batman (Val Kilmer) faces off against the cackling split personality of Two-Face (Tommy Lee Jones) and the relentlessly wacky, neon-green-clad Riddler (Jim Carrey) in Gotham City, where everyone seems to have a secret. Brought together by their shared hatred of authority (in this case, Bruce Wayne and his company, Wayne Enterprises — and of course, Batman), the dastardly duo team up and devise a plot to drain the brains of the citizens of Gotham City to uncover the true identity of Batman. Meanwhile, Bruce Wayne finds himself a ward, Dick Grayson (Chris O’Donnell), soon to be Robin, and tries to sort out his feelings for Dr. Chase Meridian (Nicole Kidman), a psychologist new to the city.WednesdayTHE AMAZING RACE 8 p.m. on CBS. In March 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic forced a pause on production after the first three legs of this competition show’s 33rd season were already recorded, sending the teams and crew into a nearly 20-month hiatus before they could resume racing around the world. Finally, they’re back. The two-hour Season 33 premiere shows us 11 teams composed of internet personalities, father-daughter duos, best friends and married couples, all competing in challenges for a chance to win $1 million.ThursdayFaye Dunaway and Warren Beatty in “Bonnie and Clyde.”Warner BrothersBONNIE AND CLYDE (1967) 9:30 p.m. on TCM. The original tagline from Warner Brothers says it all: “They’re young. They’re in love. They kill people.” When the ex-con Clyde Barrow (Warren Beatty) meets Bonnie Parker (Faye Dunaway) in a small humdrum town in the 1930s, they’re both enthralled. Soon, the two are off causing mayhem and robbing banks across four Southern states, charming each other to death. In February 1968, months after its release, The New York Times reported that “Bonnie and Clyde” was banned in Norway for being “too brutal.”FridayRUPAUL’S DRAG RACE 8 p.m. on VH1. Gaze upon 14 shimmering, glittering drag stars — make no mistake, they’re queens, not contestants — as they compete in lip sync battles, bizarre challenges and create showstopping head-to-toe looks in hopes of being crowned America’s Next Drag Superstar by the one and only RuPaul. The 14th season premiere is turning heads for more than one reason, with the show’s controversial first-ever “straight queen” added to the roster, yet this Emmy Award-winning series continues to celebrate the journeys of all of its queens. “We, as queer people, that’s kind of our thing,” Symone, the winner of the 13th season of “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” said in an interview with The Times. “We look up to our heroes. They give us strength.” Now, sashay away!SaturdayMartin Freeman in “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.”James FisherTHE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY (2012) 5 p.m. on HBO. For some millennials, the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy “occupies the same role that ‘Star Wars’ might for those who grew up from the late ’70s into the ’80s,” Nikita Richardson wrote in a recent article in The Times. But long before Frodo Baggins begins his journey, his distant cousin Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) embarks on a mission of his own. At the request of wizard Gandalf the Grey (Ian McKellen), Bilbo leaves the comfort of his home and travels across the evil-creature-riddled land of Middle-earth to the Lonely Mountain, where a community of dwarves have lost their home to a greedy, gold-hoarding dragon. Adding to an origin story of grand proportions, a certain “precious” gold ring slips into Bilbo’s hands, with the power to alter the fate of all Middle-earth.THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION (1994) 7 p.m. on Paramount Network. Based on a 1982 Stephen King short story, this film follows Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins) after he is convicted of his wife’s murder and sent to Shawshank Prison. Although quiet and reserved, Dufresne befriends a few inmates, including Red (Morgan Freeman), the film’s narrator and the one on the inside who can get you anything. “Without a single riot scene or horrific effect, it tells a slow, gentle story of camaraderie and growth, with an ending that abruptly finds poetic justice in what has come before,” Janet Maslin wrote in her review for The Times in 1994.SundayROBIN AND MARIAN (1976) 8 p.m. on TCM. This take on the legend of Robin Hood follows that hero (played by Sean Connery) as he returns to Sherwood Forest some 20 years after the original “steal from the rich, give to the poor” story took place. Upon his return from fighting in the Crusades, Robin Hood finds himself taking on his greatest adventure of all: attempting to win the heart of Maid Marian (Audrey Hepburn). In true medieval fashion, the journey boasts many a duel, heroic exchanges, cruel foes (notably the Sheriff of Nottingham, played by Robert Shaw) and no shortage of romance. More

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      Noah Hawley Keeps Changing Lanes

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      AUSTIN, Texas — Noah Hawley tries never to approach a story the same way twice.When FX asked if he’d like to make an X-Men television series, Hawley came up with “Legion,” a surrealist mind-bender in which the protagonist hears and sees things that aren’t real.He has made four seasons of “Fargo,” a show loosely — very loosely — based on the Coen brothers’ film. Every season, he replaces the characters, picks a new setting and still calls it “Fargo.”His sixth novel, “Anthem,” out this week from Grand Central Publishing, is an exploration of contemporary America laced with magical realism. It features vicious political divisions, climate change, an insurrection and a study of what it’s like to be young in a collapsing world. It also includes a witch who is impossible to kill, a teenager who has regular chats with God and an outbreak of teenage suicides.Hawley, as you see, is busy. An author, show runner and director, he even sang on the soundtracks for “Legion” and “Fargo.” These days, he said, he just calls himself a storyteller.“A big part of what I’m trying to do,” he said over iced tea in Austin last month, “is to bypass that part of your brain that’s been trained by the thousands of stories that you’ve consumed in your lifetime.”A composed presence, with some salt in his chocolate-colored hair, Hawley, 54, started out wanting to be a musician. After graduating from Sarah Lawrence College in 1989, he moved to Brooklyn with his band and got a day job as a paralegal for the Legal Aid Society. His band, Bass Nation (the name “came off looking like the fish,” he said), played gigs and toured a bit — Hawley played guitar and sang — but it didn’t feel like it was going anywhere. So he started writing.“What’s it adding up to if I’m playing Limelight on Thursday night at nine o’clock?” he recalled of an old club in New York City. “Am I making progress? Am I not making progress? If you write 10 pages, you’ve got 10 pages. There’s something very literal about it, and I could do it myself. It didn’t involve living in a van with three filthy, penniless men.”“A big part of what I’m trying to do,” Noah Hawley said, “is to bypass that part of your brain that’s been trained by the thousands of stories that you’ve consumed in your lifetime.”Lauren Withrow for The New York TimesA few years later, when he was living in San Francisco, he sold his first novel, “A Conspiracy of Tall Men.” His mother, Louise Armstrong, was also an author, and through her, Hawley said, he found an agent. (“I asked him once what his accent was,” Hawley recalled, “and he said ‘pure affectation.’”)One of Hawley’s first attempts at a novel, set at a college, had been sent around to editors but never sold. One editor, he was told, felt Hawley was reluctant to make changes. That was news to him.“I will change anything you want!” he remembered thinking. But in the intervening years, that perception about his openness to feedback doesn’t seem to have changed much.“What I’ll hear is, ‘Oh, the network has a note, but they’re afraid to give it to you,’” Hawley said. “Which is so interesting because I never yell at anybody about anything. But that’s good because I don’t necessarily want the note,” he joked — or he seemed to be joking.“I can be difficult to read sometimes,” he said. “But on some level, that can be good, too, because a lot of this is a poker game.”After his first book was published, Hawley wrote a screenplay and an adaptation of his novel, and from there started writing TV pilots. Three of his pilots were bought and never made. In 2004, he moved to Los Angeles and took a job on the procedural series “Bones” so he could learn how to make a show.It was a good move, so good that he didn’t have to stay in L.A. for long. Five years later, Hawley and his family moved to Austin, where they have lived off and on ever since.Today he and his wife, Kyle, live on a sort of mini-compound on a half-acre with their two kids, who are 9 and 14, his wife’s aunt and three dogs. The property originally held four small cottages, built as housing for workers at a lumber company, two of which have been connected to make the main house.Two cottages remain, one of which is Hawley’s office. It has an area that can be transformed into an editing bay, a few instruments (a guitar, a bass and a mini drum set for his son) and a big roll of brown paper mounted near his desk. He started thinking about stories visually a few years ago, he said, and sometimes likes to lay them out using bubbles, arrows and grids.Natalie Portman, who starred in the movie “Lucy in the Sky,” which Hawley directed and co-wrote, said she was struck by how he balanced work and life.“It felt like he was prioritizing his family,” she said in an interview, “in a way that is not very common for directors.” If they weren’t in town during shooting, for example, he’d fly back to Austin over the weekend, she said. His decision to make his home there, she added, helped him to keep a bit of distance from the world of his work.“Even while, obviously, being incredibly successful in Hollywood, he’s been deliberately maintaining an outsider perspective, which is wonderful,” she said. “You feel it. It feels like friends of mine, not like people I work with. He feels very much of the world, and not of the entertainment industry.”“Anthem” is the latest book from Noah Hawley.Despite his many years in TV, Hawley said he has a love-hate relationship with writers’ rooms. “I tend to think of them as a group of very different people with very different brains, and the only common language they speak is plot,” he said. “That’s not necessarily how I tell the story.”People are trained that back story equals front story, he explained. Say a character’s mother left when he or she was very young; traditionally, that’s going to take the wheel of the narrative. But it doesn’t have to. What you want to avoid, he said, is getting to a point where you, as a writer, are just “holding on while the plot plays itself out.”The kernel that became “Anthem” started percolating about five years ago. Hawley had published his previous novel, “Before the Fall,” with Hachette, and Michael Pietsch, the company’s chief executive, was eager to sign him up for another. Hawley’s editor had just left the company, so Pietsch offered to edit the book himself.“You could do worse than the guy who edited ‘Infinite Jest,’” Hawley said of Pietsch.During the summer of 2019, Hawley was planning to work on the book during a two-month family vacation in Europe. At a bookstore in London, he collected a stack of novels that had been “eureka moments” for him, he said, including “The New York Trilogy,” by Paul Auster; “The Unbearable Lightness of Being,” by Milan Kundera; “One Hundred Years of Solitude,” by Gabriel García Márquez; and “Song of Solomon,” by Toni Morrison.“And now you’re traveling around with a box of books, and you’re like, ‘Why didn’t I just buy two?’” he recalled. “But it felt critical that I get them all.”“Anthem” is woven together using a number of contemporary threads, mostly seen through the eyes of teenagers who are battling to save themselves and one another. One of the main characters, Simon, is the scion of a pharmaceutical fortune made by selling opioids. A culture war descends into armed conflict, in a way that reads like it must be a riff on Jan. 6 — except that Hawley wrote it the previous October.“One of the ideas explored in the book is what unifies us now when there are so many things that tear us apart,” Pietsch said. “Imagine being a kid, hearing that the oceans are dying, that the bees are dying, reading about the opioid epidemic, seeing these political battles and reading about sexual predation. This sense that the world you’re growing into is being destroyed before your eyes, and what’s going to be there for you? What must that be like, and what can you do?”The book feels cinematic and at times fantastical. An insurrectionist points a gun at one of the protagonists and says, “There is no God,” and then a missile explodes behind him. An enchanted Amazon truck magically supplies materials for our heroes’ needs, whether it’s to hogtie an adversary or stitch up a wound.“The magic realism of the book,” Hawley said, “it was a relief, because magic realism has a way of making ugly things beautiful. Think about Márquez and ‘One Hundred Years of Solitude,’ and the amount of tragedy in that book that’s offset by the whimsy, and the beauty of just not knowing what could happen next.”Hawley hasn’t started thinking yet about another book, but he has been sketching out ideas for the next season of “Fargo” on those big sheets of brown paper.“I have the luxury of when I have ideas, I think, ‘Well, what is it?’” he said. “‘Is it a show? Is it a movie? Is it a book?’ But for something to be a book, it means you’re going to live with it for three or four or five years. There has to be enough there. It has to be about things — for me — that are more than just: ‘Is he going to get the girl? Are they going to get away?’” More

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      Betty White Recalled as a Trailblazer With a Love for Life

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      “The world looks a little different now,” said the actor Ryan Reynolds, who was one of many to pay tribute to the actress who died on Friday.Television stars, comedians, a president and seemingly the entire internet paid tribute on Friday to Betty White, the actress whose trailblazing career spanned seven decades and who died on Friday at her home in Los Angeles.President Biden said that Ms. White had “brought a smile to the lips of generations of Americans.”“She’s a cultural icon who will be sorely missed,” he wrote on Twitter. “Jill and I are thinking of her family and all those who loved her this New Year’s Eve.”The actor Ryan Reynolds, who co-starred with Ms. White in “The Proposal,” a 2009 romantic comedy, wrote on Instagram that “the world looks a little different now.”He said Ms. White had excelled at defying expectations.“She managed to grow very old and somehow, not old enough,” Mr. Reynolds wrote. “We’ll miss you, Betty. Now you know the secret.”Many paid tribute to Ms. White as a performer who had been ahead of her times, championing equity causes before they became popular.In 1954, Ms. White was criticized for having Arthur Duncan, a Black tap dancer, on her variety show, the account for the Martin Luther King Jr. Center wrote.“Her response: ‘I’m sorry. Live with it,’” the center wrote. “She then gave Duncan even more airtime. The show was canceled soon after. Rest well, Betty.”The journalist Dan Rather wrote that Ms. White had been beloved because she “embraced a life well lived.”“Her smile,” he wrote. “Her sense of humor. Her basic decency. Our world would be better if more followed her example. It is diminished with her passing.”The comedian Bob Saget called Ms. White “a remarkable talent” who was witty, kind, funny and “full of love,” especially for her husband.“She always said the love of her life was her husband, Allen Ludden,” who died in 1981, Mr. Saget wrote on Facebook. “Well, if things work out by Betty’s design — in the afterlife, they are reunited. I don’t know what happens when we die, but if Betty says you get to be with the love of your life, then I happily defer to Betty on this.”Mel Brooks, the actor and filmmaker, wrote on Twitter that it was “too bad we couldn’t get another ten years of her always warm, gracious, and witty personality.”The actor George Takei described Ms. White as a “national treasure,” adding, “A great loss to us all.”“Our Sue Ann Nivens, our beloved Rose Nylund, has joined the heavens to delight the stars with her inimitable style, humor and charm,” Mr. Takei wrote, referring to Ms. White’s roles on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” and “The Golden Girls.”He added in another tweet, “When midnight strikes tonight, let us all raise a toast to Betty.” More

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      Betty White, a Beloved Sitcom Actress, Is Dead at 99

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      Whether it’s reporting on conflicts abroad and political divisions at home, or covering the latest style trends and scientific developments, Times Video journalists provide a revealing and unforgettable view of the world.Whether it’s reporting on conflicts abroad and political divisions at home, or covering the latest style trends and scientific developments, Times Video journalists provide a revealing and unforgettable view of the world. More

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      The Best Movies and TV Shows Coming to HBO, Hulu, Apple TV+ and More in January

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      Every month, streaming services add movies and TV shows to their libraries. Here are our picks for some of January’s most promising new titles.(Note: Streaming services occasionally change schedules without giving notice. For more recommendations on what to stream, sign up for our Watching newsletter here.)Danny McBride as the debauched eldest son of a megachurch pastor in “The Righteous Gemstones.”HBO MaxNew to HBO Max‘The Righteous Gemstones’ Season 2Starts streaming: Jan. 9With “Succession” and “Yellowstone” both on hiatus, fans of stories about larger-than-life businessmen and their deeply damaged offspring can redirect their attention to the second season of HBO’s pitch-black social satire “The Righteous Gemstones.” Danny McBride, who also created the series, stars as Jesse, the eldest son of Eli Gemstone (John Goodman), an evangelical pastor leading a thriving megachurch. Season 1 dealt with a series of scandals that rocked the Gemstones, widening the divisions between the libertine Jesse and his two siblings, the unpredictable Judy (Edi Patterson) and the pious Kelvin (Adam DeVine). Expect these new episodes to build on what McBride and his team did with their first run, which mercilessly mocked a family of pompous, hypocritical Southern preachers and established the complex history that provides context for their corruption.‘Peacemaker’ Season 1Starts streaming: Jan. 13Before the writer and director James Gunn made the blockbusters “Guardians of the Galaxy” and “The Suicide Squad,” he worked on two low-budget, subversive superhero movies: “The Specials” and “Super.” Gunn’s new TV series, “Peacemaker,” is ostensibly a spinoff of “The Suicide Squad,” following the dimwitted, hyper-macho antihero Christopher Smith (John Cena) as he starts working with an eclectic splinter group of rogue government operatives. The spirit of “Peacemaker,” however, is more aligned with Gunn’s earlier, grubbier films, which make crime and crime-fighting alike seem like warped endeavors, suffused with a strange melancholy. Equal parts violent and comic, the show explores the psyches of the men and women who dabble in costumed adventuring.‘The Gilded Age’ Season 1Starts streaming: Jan. 24The “Downton Abbey” creator Julian Fellowes turns his attention to 1880s New York City with his long-in-development “The Gilded Age,” another opulent melodrama about the mores and machinations of high-society types and their poorer relations and servants. The star-studded cast includes Christine Baranski and Cynthia Nixon as eccentric sisters who take in their bankrupt niece (Louisa Jacobson); Denée Benton as an aspiring writer defying the racial stereotypes of the age; and Carrie Coon as a shrewd social climber married to a nouveau riche tycoon (Morgan Spector). Those are just a few of the dozens of characters Fellowes weaves through stories of romance, politics, resentments, betrayals and the social upheaval that defined the end of the 19th century.Also arriving:Jan. 1“Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts”Jan. 7“Search Party” Season 5Jan. 9“Euphoria” Season 2Jan. 16“Somebody Somewhere”Denzel Washington as Macbeth in “The Tragedy of Macbeth.”Apple TV+New to Apple TV+‘The Tragedy of Macbeth’Starts streaming: Jan. 14The latest big-screen adaptation of Shakespeare’s Scottish play marks the solo feature-filmmaking debut of Joel Coen, working without his longtime creative partner and brother, Ethan Coen. Denzel Washington takes on the role of the ambitious Lord Macbeth, while Frances McDormand plays his wife, who encourages him to do whatever he must — even commit murder and destroy families — to seize power. Kathryn Hunter gives a striking performance as a trio of prophetic witches, playing them as unnervingly alien. The acting is terrific across the board, and the direction is as visually dynamic and snappily paced as Coens classics like “Miller’s Crossing” and “Fargo.”Also arriving:Jan. 7“El Deafo”Jan. 21“Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock”“Servant” Season 3Jan. 28“The Afterparty”Amir Jadidi as a down-on-his-luck Iranian businessman in “A Hero.”Amirhossein Shojaei/Amazon StudiosNew to Prime Video‘A Hero’Starts streaming: Jan. 21The two-time Oscar-winning Iranian filmmaker Asghar Farhadi has made one of his best movies yet with “A Hero,” a gripping morality play that persistently subverts its audience’s expectations. Amir Jadidi plays Rahim, a luckless but likable entrepreneur who has been unemployed and stuck in a debtors’ prison since a business deal that went awry. When his girlfriend finds a purse containing gold coins, a furloughed Rahim decides to return it, and the resulting good publicity initially turns his fortunes around. But the seemingly selfless act also raises questions about his real motivations and the circumstances of the discovery. As the scrutiny intensifies, Rahim scrambles to cover his tracks, in what becomes a riveting story about a good person making terrible choices for the right reasons.Also arriving:Jan. 7“The Tender Bar”Jan. 14“Do, Re & Mi”“Hotel Transylvania: Transformania”Jan. 21“As We See It” Season 1Jan. 28“Needle in a Timestack”Hilary Duff and Francia Raisa in “How I Met Your Father.”Patrick Wymore/HuluNew to Hulu‘I’m Your Man’Starts streaming: Jan. 11In this German science-fiction romance, Dan Stevens plays “Tom,” a realistic humanoid robot companion being given a three-week trial by Alma (Maren Eggert), a lonely archaeologist who resents the assignment — even though Tom has been specifically engineered to make her happy. The charming Stevens is a superb choice to play an idealized version of an attractive, attentive gentleman. But “I’m Your Man” director Maria Schrader (who also co-wrote the screenplay with Jan Schomburg) is ultimately more interested in Alma, whose personal life and career have both been defined by her thwarted desires. This is a thoughtful drama about humanity’s yearning to let machines provide for our needs — and how that dream can only be realized if people can articulate what they really want.‘How I Met Your Father’ Season 1Starts streaming: Jan. 18This gender-flipped follow-up to the hit 2000s sitcom “How I Met Your Mother” has been in the works since 2013, going through multiple creative teams. The extended gestation may have been benefited “How I Met Your Father” head writers Isaac Aptaker and Elizabeth Berger, allowing them to bring the series more in line with the expectations of 2020s audiences — primarily by including more cultural diversity. Hilary Duff stars as a lovesick modern-day New Yorker named Sophie, while Kim Cattrall plays Sophie in the future, looking back at the days when she was trying to figure out which of the handful of men in her social circle might be her perfect match. The new show’s approach hews close to the original, using an old-fashioned sitcom style as it follows a bunch of bright and optimistic young people, stumbling through the early stages of adulthood.Also arriving:Jan. 1“Falling for Figaro”Jan. 3“The Year of the Everlasting Storm”Jan. 7“Pharma Bro”Jan. 10“Ailey”“Black Bear”“The Golden Palace” Season 1Jan. 13“Madagascar: A Little Wild” Season 6Jan. 14“Bergman Island”“Sex Appeal”Jan. 17“Georgetown”Jan. 20“The Estate”Jan. 27“Mayday”Jan. 30“Small Engine Repair”Josh Gad and Isla Fisher in “Wolf Like Me.”Mark Rogers/PeacockNew to Peacock‘Wolf Like Me’ Season 1Starts streaming: Jan. 13In this Australian romantic dramedy, Josh Gad plays a widowed father named Gary who has a chance encounter with an advice columnist named Mary (Isla Fisher) and feels the kind of personal connection he hasn’t known since his wife died. Mary likes Gary, too, but she has a big, scary secret that makes it hard for her to stay with any man for long. “Wolf Like Me” was written and directed by Abe Forsythe, whose 2019 horror comedy “Little Monsters” (also starring Gad) blended bloody zombie attacks into a relatively grounded story about people coping with everyday personal problems. This six-episode series is similarly genre-bending, injecting suspense and even a hint of the supernatural into a character study of a lost, lonely man, seeking companionship for himself and his child.Also arriving:Jan. 14“Use of Force: The Policing of Black America”Jan. 20“Supernatural Academy” Season 1“True Story with Ed & Randall” Season 1 More

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      Clifton Collins Jr. Hopes ‘Jockey’ Makes Him a Familiar Name

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      Every time Clifton Collins Jr. boards a flight midproduction, the possibility of the aircraft crashing petrifies him. “I’ve got to finish the film,” the actor thinks to himself midair.Once the movie is completed, turbulence, ups and downs? None of that matters, because he knows “I got another film in the can, especially if I’m hopeful that it’s going to be good,” he said. “I don’t care if it goes down. I’d feel bad for the other people, but me personally, I’m OK. I finished.”Collins, 51, has maintained such intense focus for more than 30 years as a character actor embellishing the ensembles of renowned directors like Steven Soderbergh (“Traffic”), Alejandro González Iñárritu (“Babel”) and Quentin Tarantino (“Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood”), though you might know him better for scores of appearances on television series like “Westworld” and “Ballers.”Now the actor is breaking through, finally, with a rare lead role. In Clint Bentley’s heartfelt indie, “Jockey” (in theaters Dec. 29), Collins plays Jackson Silva, an aging horseman confronting physical ailments and potential fatherhood. The visceral performance, born of immersive preparation, has already earned him a best male lead nomination from the Independent Spirit Awards, a first for him, and a special acting prize at Sundance. It’s not his only role in a prominent picture this season — Collins plays a carny in Guillermo del Toro’s lush noir “Nightmare Alley” — but it may be the one that makes the biggest difference.Collins, pictured here with Moises Arias in “Jockey,” worked as a grunt at a racetrack so that other riders would see him as one of their own.Adolpho Veloso/Sony Pictures Classics, via Associated PressDuring a recent interview at a restaurant in the Studio City section of Los Angeles, where he wore a fittingly unpretentious Pink Floyd T-shirt, Homeboy Industries cap and cozy flannel shirt, he explained, “I’ve had other leading roles, just not like this.”The distinction isn’t only about screen time but also about his continuing collaboration with Bentley, a first-time director, and the producer Greg Kwedar, who cast him in his directorial debut, “Transpecos,” a 2016 thriller in which he played one of three Border Patrol agents forced into an illicit drug-trafficking mission. For “Jockey,” Collins expanded his investment, and put his money on the line as an executive producer.To play Jackson, Collins dropped some weight from his already thin build to match the scrawny frame of a jockey. But that was only the superficial transformation. At Turf Paradise, the Phoenix racetrack where the film was shot, he became a grunt, hanging around every day and helping with the horses, to rid himself of the performer label in the eyes of the real riders.“I didn’t want to be seen as an actor. I didn’t want to be treated special,” he explained, adding, “To be embraced by the very people you are portraying is the biggest gift that any actor could ask for.”When it comes to the integrity of a character, Collins goes all in, however small the part. For the 2001 prison drama “The Last Castle,” he consulted multiple speech therapists before agreeing to play a character with a speaking impediment, even if it was only a supporting role. On another job, the 2009 comedy “Sunshine Cleaning,” he nearly refused to embody an amputee because the director hadn’t thoroughly considered the details of the fictional man’s condition.His requests weren’t self-aggrandizing but a way of respecting the experiences of individuals for whom these circumstances aren’t a costume but their truth. “You can’t just desecrate the challenges real people out there are trying to overcome,” he said.The actor was inspired by his grandfather, a self-made entertainer who appeared in the western “Rio Bravo” and “was the only person who said, ‘Yes, you can do it,’” Collins said.  Carlos Jaramillo for The New York TimesOn “Jockey,” Collins shares scenes with actual jockeys whom he tried to guide through the cinematic process with patience and space for spontaneity. The affecting banter in a hospital scene with an injured jockey, played by a real rider, Logan Cormier, resulted from the camaraderie he built over time with nonactors.“You might take it for granted when he’s being generous alongside Clint Eastwood” in “The Mule,” Bentley said. “But to have that same generosity with somebody who’s never acted before and in some cases is never going to act again speaks volumes to his quality as a person and artist.”Collins, who was born and raised in the Los Angeles area, also channeled memories of his father, who, when sober enough, would take him and his sister to his trailer in Inglewood, Calif. When his father met friends at Hollywood Park, a racetrack nearby, he would occasionally let Collins tag along and taught him how to bet on horse races from a tender age. The final speech Jackson delivers in the film — about Jackson’s father being an angry man who only showed affection while drunk or gambling — came precisely from these bittersweet childhood memories.Del Toro turned to Collins for “Nightmare Alley” (their second collaboration, after the kaiju epic “Pacific Rim”) because the actor “seems incapable of anything but being truthful and present and brimming with ideas,” the director said via email. Collins “has a cadence, rhythm and delivery that no one else has,” del Toro added. “He has cinema in his bloodline and his eyes. His eyes command the camera and our attention completely.”For the actor, wandering through the set of “Nightmare Alley” felt like stepping into the bygone realm of his maternal grandfather, Pedro Gonzalez-Gonzalez, a proud Tejano and self-made entertainer whose career began in traveling tent shows, or carpas. The vaudeville-esque Mexican American diversions, like La Carpa Garcia, were popular during the first half of the 20th century, and Collins’s grandfather mostly performed for other Latinos working the fields in Texas. He would go on to work as a contract player for John Wayne, most notably in the seminal 1959 western “Rio Bravo.”Where you’ve seen Collins: In “Transpecos,” above.Samuel Goldwyn FilmsIn the drama “One Eight Seven.”Warner Bros. Opposite Amy Adams in “Sunshine Cleaning.” Lacey Terrell/Overture FilmsAnd in the series “Westworld.”John P. Johnson/HBO“My grandpa was the only person who said, ‘Yes, you can do it,’ and all it takes is one voice, one person you respect, to say it,” said Collins, who first tried to go college for engineering before dedicating himself full-time to acting, with his grandfather’s blessing.Collins said that it was his work on “Capote” (2005), in which he played the death-row inmate Perry Smith, that convinced Gonzalez-Gonzalez he’d have a future in acting. “He was really worried if I was ever going to be successful or make it in this business,” Collins said.One evening while shooting “Nightmare Alley” in Toronto, del Toro encouraged Collins to write a screenplay about Gonzalez-Gonzalez. Collins began writing that very night.Gonzalez-Gonzalez himself received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2011, five years after his death and decades after he first sought it. Instinctively switching to Spanish whenever quoting his grandfather, Collins recalled: “When he got cancer, the second he told me, ‘Mijo, I’ve had a life bigger that I could ever dreamt of, the only thing I never got was that pinche star,’ and I said, ‘Grandpa, I promise you I’m going to get you that star.’”The promise was kept thanks in part to the advocacy of Samuel L. Jackson, whom Collins considers a father figure. The two starred together in the 1997 crime drama “One Eight Seven,” in which Collins played a young gangbanger opposite Jackson’s high school teacher, and have remained close friends ever since.Collins embodies the “there are no small parts, only small actors” truism, Jackson said, citing “the preparation, the attention to detail, the love of the craft.” Collins is “the kind of actor that demands your best and gives you his.”Onscreen, Collins has walked on both sides of the law, as a border agent on several occasions, and many others as men behind bars, like Cesar in “One Eight Seven.” But there’s a double standard for Latinos, he said, when it comes to roles that, while psychologically three-dimensional and rich, are not positive portrayals or seem to perpetuate stereotypes. With “One Eight Seven,” mainstream critics discredited him, the actor said, by suggesting the production had simply found a real criminal for the part, as if he couldn’t have been an actor who worked on the role. Meanwhile, he said, the ALMA Awards, which honor American Latinos in entertainment, wouldn’t consider his performance because they only highlight what they consider to be edifying representation.“How come Robert De Niro and Al Pacino can get awards for playing gangsters of their communities? But when we play gangsters of our communities, they say, ‘Don’t do that. We got to be the good immigrants.’”Collins said he and other Latino actors faced a double standard with roles that are psychologically rich but not necessarily positive. Carlos Jaramillo for The New York TimesOne of his most notable criminal characters was the morally conflicted robber Jack “Bump” Hill in the mini-series “Thief,” for which he received an Emmy nomination. The show’s creator, Norman Morrill, recalled that Collins wasn’t enthusiastic about doing more television work. The actor admits his hesitation came from arrogance. He had romanticized the struggling actor persona.Convinced of his magnetism, Morrill persuaded him to join the cast opposite Andre Braugher. “A lot of actors need words to communicate; the really great ones don’t. Cliffy’s silence sizzles,” the showrunner said. “The camera can just sit there and you go, ‘I’m going to watch this.’ That’s about as great an accolade anybody can get.”Bentley also saw the silent fire within, notably in the very last scene of “Jockey,” when Jackson is walking away after a defining moment. “It’s about three minutes long on his face, and he’s going through this whole color wheel of emotions,” the director said. “You could not write dialogue that would get across what he’s giving the audience. We get exactly what he’s going through.”With “Jockey” and “Nightmare Alley” behind him, a determined Collins has shifted focus back to polishing the script about his grandfather. Having honed his storytelling skills for years helming music videos for country performers like the Zac Brown Band (“Chicken Fried”) and Jamey Johnson (“High Cost of Living”), he also aims to direct it.“That’s the only singular goal I have,” Collins said. “I can’t see past that.” More