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      in Television

      How ‘Severance’ Is Shifting the Work-Life Balance Narrative With Innies and Outies

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      As “Severance” nears the end of its second season, the show has created a “cultural moment” that is changing the way people discuss work-life balance.At his job at an apparel store in SoHo, Thomas Lanese uses phrases that he would never utter outside of a work setting, like, “I’ll shoot this email to you by end of day.” Sometimes, he said, it feels like he is living two separate lives.It is something fans of “Severance” might relate to. In the buzzy show that concludes its second season on Apple TV+ next week, the characters literally live two distinct lives.Their “innies” (no relation to belly buttons) are their work selves. Their “outies” exist anywhere outside of work. They have chosen to work for Lumon Industries, a biotech company where they are “severed” from their personal lives, and their innies and outies have no idea what’s going on in each other’s worlds.The terms have now found a life outside the show, with innie used as a shorthand for being at work. Your innie can’t stop eating free candy in the office even though your outie is trying to cut back on sugar. Your innie wears unsexy clothes like knee-length pencil skirts even though your outie wears crop tops and miniskirts. And your outie parties late at night because your innie has to deal with the hangovers.“When you’re at work, you kind of put on this different facade than you do at home or you do with your friends,” said Mr. Lanese, a 26-year-old sales associate and game designer. In January, he posted a satirical video on TikTok remaking a scene from the first season of “Severance” that has received almost three million views. In it, his innie is visibly disgusted as he discovers cringe traits about his outie. For example, his outie has run three Disney 5Ks as Mickey Mouse. He captioned it “realizing that your innie would not be friends with your outie.”“It’s almost a form of disassociating,” Mr. Lanese said.

      @thomaslanese I cant wait for season 2 #severance #appletv ♬ original sound – Thomas Lanese

      @masonide #severance ♬ original sound – grapo We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

    • 125 Shares149 Views

      in Movies

      Some Vegans Were Harmed in the Watching of This Movie

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      A film critic who provides “vegan alerts” for animal cruelty goes beyond onscreen violence. Milk and eggs are problematic, too.Inside a dark theater in Midtown Manhattan, Allison McCulloch watched “Kraven the Hunter,” an origin story for the obscure Spider-Man villain, while jotting notes on a white piece of paper smaller than a Post-it.Fur clothing.Taxidermied animals.Characters eating steak.McCulloch is the Roger Ebert of vegans, a dedicated cinephile who cares as much as anyone about acting and cinematography — and more than almost anyone about onscreen portrayals of dairy, poultry and beef.In the short reviews she writes for the app Letterboxd, she includes her overall critique as well as “vegan alerts,” flagging signs of animal products in a one-woman quest to highlight animal welfare onscreen, even in details most viewers would overlook.“People might think a glass of milk is innocuous,” she said. “It’s not. It’s full of violence.”Some of McCulloch’s vegan alerts for “Kraven the Hunter,” with Aaron Taylor-Johnson: “Sergei catches and eats raw fish” and “tiger rug.”Columbia Pictures/Marvel, via Sony PicturesMcCulloch has documented her opinion on 24,082 movies on her Letterboxd account, putting her in the top 100 out of the app’s more than 18 million members. Movies starring animals are almost a lock for vegan-friendly ratings, with films like “Flow” and “Kung Fu Panda 4” getting four stars.“Kraven the Hunter,” about a criminal-tracking vigilante played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson, flopped by traditional measures (“incomprehensible plotting and dodgy one-liners,” Robert Daniels wrote in The New York Times). But it worked on some level for McCulloch, who was surprised by how it framed Kraven as a kind of conservationist who shares a supernatural connection with the creatures he encounters, and hunts criminals instead. She even gave the movie one “vegan point” for Kraven’s decision to not shoot a lion.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

    • 150 Shares189 Views

      in Music

      Inside the Sean ’Diddy’ Combs Hotline: The Makings of a Mass Tort

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      In a room full of cubicles, workers in headsets read from their computer screens, addressing callers who dialed a 1-800 number. They have a script.“Were you or your loved one sexually abused by Sean ‘Love’ Combs, known as Diddy, Puff Daddy and P. Diddy?”“If the abuse occurred at a party, please list the name of the party. What kind of party was it?”Their employer, Reciprocity Industries, is a legal services company located in a low-slung building in Billings, Mont., more than 2,000 miles from the Brooklyn jail where Mr. Combs awaits trial on federal racketeering and sex trafficking charges.For years, the company has helped seed litigation by fielding complaints from people hurt by natural disasters, weedkillers or abusive clergy.Now it’s the central collection point for sexual assault allegations against Mr. Combs.When a call related to Mr. Combs comes in, Reciprocity employees walk callers through a questionnaire that asks them to share the details of their complaints, including potential witnesses.Janie Osborne for The New York TimesSome complaints come in through the phone, others arrive online in response to ads promoted on Facebook and Instagram. (A news conference where a backdrop displayed the hotline in large red numbers made headlines last October.)We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

    • 113 Shares179 Views

      in Movies

      Pets Can’t Stop Watching ‘Flow,’ the Oscar-Winning Cat Movie

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      “Flow,” a dialogue-free animated Latvian film made with open-source software, is keeping our domesticated friends riveted.One night shortly before the Oscars ceremony, my boyfriend decided to catch up on “Flow,” the animated film from Latvia that would go on to win best animated feature. When I returned home from dinner, I found that the film had also captured the attention of another viewer — my dog Daisy, a corgi mix.Search on TikTok and you’ll find a number of videos of dogs and cats alike viewing “Flow” alongside their owners, appearing to recognize themselves in the gentle saga, which tells the tale of an adorable black kitty who must work with a motley crew of other industrious animals to survive rising sea levels in a surreal landscape. The trend is a particularly cute coda to what was already one of the feel-good stories of awards season in which the dialogue-free indie — made on open-source software and directed by Gints Zilbalodis — triumphed over studio fare like “Inside Out 2” and “The Wild Robot,” to earn Latvia its first ever Oscar.Watching “Flow” in the theater is a wonderfully immersive experience where the spectacle of the movie’s visuals are on full display. On a big screen, you can lose yourself in the animation, noticing the way the water ripples, succumbing to the beauty and terror of the universe this little kitty is trying to navigate. Watching “Flow” at home (it is streaming on Max) with an animal is an equally delightful experience, but a different one. You may find your attention pulled in two directions as you try to contemplate what this all means to your pet as well as what it means to you.I, for one, tried to decipher just what was going on with Daisy. Surely, she wasn’t understanding the climate change allegory, but her huge ears stood up straight as she gazed upon the heroic cat, and I caught her running up to the TV for a sequence in which it and its capybara ally go tumbling off their boat. Seeing — or perhaps just hearing — the characters in peril stressed her out on some level.

      @orionsgalaxy 10/10 would recommend ⭐️ #fyp #flow #max #animatedmovies #flowmovie #movies #cat ♬ sonido original – 𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗹 ֹ₊ Matiss Kaza, who produced and co-wrote the film, said in an email that he suspects that it’s the real animal sounds used in production that attract the attention of our domesticated friends. “We don’t commonly think of pets as a potential target audience when making films, but we are glad that ‘Flow’ has proved to be a special bonding experience between viewers and their dogs and cats.”

      @goldendudesamson He loved it! The movie is called Flow. Fully animated, such great visuals and a cute story. Does your dog watch tv? #goldenretriever #dogmom #cutedog #funnydog #goldenretrieverlife #flowmovie #movie ♬ original sound – Samson | Golden Retriever We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

    • 125 Shares99 Views

      in Movies

      Zoe Saldaña Makes Apology After Winning Oscar for ‘Emilia Pérez’

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      The Spanish-language musical from Netflix saw its grand hopes fizzle after derisive social media posts from its star resurfaced.Just six weeks ago “Emilia Pérez” got 13 Oscar nominations, more than any other film this year. Its lead actress, Karla Sofía Gascón, made history by becoming the first openly trans actor to be nominated and the film, a musical about a Mexican cartel boss, was seen as a real contender to win the Academy Award for best picture.It did not work out that way.Collapsing under the weight of award-season scandal after derogatory comments resurfaced that Gascón had posted years ago on social media, “Emilia Pérez” wound up winning just two Oscars: for best supporting actress and best original song (“El Mal”).Its travails became a punchline during the opening monologue from the evening’s host, Conan O’Brien. “Little fact for you: ‘Anora’ uses the F-word 479 times,” he said. “That’s three more than the record set by Karla Sofia Gascón’s publicist.”And even when its winners were supposed to be getting feted, they faced some of the only pointed questions of the night. Inside the press room, Cristina Ibañez, a journalist for a Mexican publication, confronted Zoe Saldaña, who won for best supporting actress, telling her bluntly that “Emilia Pérez” was “really hurtful for us Mexicans.” (The film, by the French writer-director Jacques Audiard, drew criticism in Mexico for its depiction of the country and the fact that few Mexicans were involved in the production.)“First of all, I am very, very sorry that you and so many Mexicans felt offended,” Saldaña said. “That was never our intention. We came from a place of love, and I will stand by that.”“I’m also always open to sit down with all of my Mexican brothers and sisters and with love and respect, have a great conversation on how ‘Emilia’ could have been done better,” she added later.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

    • 100 Shares199 Views

      in Television

      ‘Gossip Girl’ and ‘Buffy’ Actors Mourn Michelle Trachtenberg

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      Blake Lively, Sarah Michelle Gellar and other stars remembered Trachtenberg’s work ethic and friendship in social media posts.News of Michelle Trachtenberg’s death at 39 on Wednesday sent shock waves through Hollywood, especially among actors who worked with her on movies like “Harriet the Spy” and the beloved TV shows “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and “Gossip Girl.”Blake LivelyLively, who played Serena van der Woodsen on “Gossip Girl,” called Trachtenberg “electricity” and shared a photo on Instagram of the first day they met. She also praised the work ethic of Trachtenberg, who played Georgina Sparks in 27 episodes of the show.“Everything she did, she did 200%,” Lively wrote in an Instagram story. “She laughed the fullest at someone’s joke, she faced authority head on when she felt something was wrong, she cared deeply about her work, she was proud to be a part of this community and industry as painful as it could be sometimes.”Sarah Michelle GellarGellar, the star of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” shared a stack of eight photos with Trachtenberg, who played Dawn Summers in more than 60 episodes of the show. One photo showed Buffy embracing Dawn in an episode titled “Forever.”“Michelle, listen to me,” Gellar captioned the photos, referring to a famous “Buffy” quote. “Listen. I love you. I will always love you. The hardest thing in this world, is to live in it. I will be brave. I will live… for you.”Chace CrawfordCrawford praised Trachtenberg as one of a kind and recalled her strong presence on the set of “Gossip Girl,” where he played Nate Archibald. “I remember her coming on set for the first time and just absolutely owning it,” he wrote on Instagram. “She was a force of nature and just so, so unapologetically funny and magnetic.”Alyson HanniganHannigan, who played Willow Rosenberg on “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” said on Instagram that Trachtenberg “brought a loving energy to the set.”J. Smith-CameronSmith-Cameron, who also starred in the 1996 movie “Harriet the Spy,” told People that the young actress was excited to lead her first film at the age of 11. “Her natural ebullient nature was ratcheted up into giddiness as she tried to learn how to handle all that came with that,” she said.Additional TributesTributes also poured in from Melissa Joan Hart, Chris Colfer and Kenan Thompson. Rosie O’Donnell, who worked with Trachtenberg on “Harriet the Spy,” told People that the younger actor had “struggled the last few years” without providing specifics. More

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      in Movies

      Timothée Chalamet’s Very Viral Oscars Season

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      The 29-year-old actor has hit the usual stops, but the defining moments of his awards campaign have been distinctly online.Going viral during awards season is not necessarily a good thing. Look no further than the unearthed social media posts of “Emilia Pérez” star Karla Sofía Gascón for the most extreme example of how an actor’s online behavior can sink a film’s chances.But in other cases social media can be a tool for a contender. Timothée Chalamet, a best actor nominee for his portrayal of Bob Dylan in the biopic “A Complete Unknown,” knows this. Leading up to the Christmas release of his film and through the ensuing months on the awards trail, Chalamet has waged a highly amusing, sometimes odd, campaign eschewing the old, staid ways of Hollywood promotion. In addition to some somber interviews about how much Dylan means to him, Chalamet has posted videos of himself dancing, worn kitschy outfits and turned social media feeds into his own personal art project.While Chalamet has appeared on traditional media, he has utilized it in surprising ways where virality seems to be the end goal rather than reaching typical viewers of those programs.What we’re witnessing is perhaps the first Gen Z Oscar campaign. Technically, Chalamet, who was born in 1995, is a millennial, but he’s a child of the internet who understands its weird contours and knows that sometimes a post doesn’t have to make sense to be appealing. This won’t necessarily translate to Oscar gold, but it has certainly been fun to watch it unfold. Here are Chalamet’s greatest hits from this very unusual Oscar run.“College GameDay”The first sign that Chalamet was doing something different with his promotional campaign for “A Complete Unknown” came when he appeared on ESPN’s “College GameDay” in early December. It’s typical for celebrities to show up on the broadcast and join the analysts in predicting which teams are going to win the day’s matchups, but Chalamet, who broke out in art-house indie films, seemed like an odd choice for the gig.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

    • 163 Shares189 Views

      in Music

      Jesse Welles, a Folk Musician Who Sings the News, Is Turning the Page

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      In a small home recording studio on a Monday afternoon in January, Jesse Welles sat with a guitar on his lap, dressed head-to-toe in black.Welles, a singer-songwriter with a shaggy, dirty-blond mane and a sandpapery voice, has risen to recent prominence posting videos to social media of himself alone in the woods near his home in northwest Arkansas, performing wryly funny, politically engaged folk songs. He’s managed to turn subjects like the war in Gaza, the rise of the weight-loss drug Ozempic and the rapaciousness of United Healthcare’s business model into viral hits on TikTok and Instagram, building an audience of more than 2 million followers on those platforms. But the song he was recording in that basement in East Nashville, “Simple Gifts,” is a different beast.As he delicately plucked his acoustic guitar, he sang its earnest opening lines — “Slouching towards the sky’s extent from the edges of a waste / Was something darker than a hope, something brighter still than fate” — sketching out an imagistic tableau untouched by current events. Welles’s new album, “Middle,” due Feb. 21, is similarly minded.“The only filter placed on it was I wasn’t doing topical songs for this project,” he said. “These are ones that are self-indulgent, or at least I feel like they are at times. I like to do both. They’re two different mediums.”Jesse Welles’s protest songs deftly blend the whimsical with the serious, turning topics like Walmart and the war in Gaza into viral hits on TikTok and Instagram.Eric Ryan Anderson for The New York TimesThe producer, Eddie Spear, rose from behind a mixing board and adjusted the microphone in front of Welles. Most of the songs on “Middle” are recorded with a full band, but for “Simple Gifts” and the album’s title track, the setup was pared down to a solitary microphone. “I’m trying to honor what people are enjoying about Jesse,” said Spear, who has also worked with Zach Bryan and Sierra Ferrell. “We thought getting a really simple capture in this way might tie in where he’s come from and honor this particular period of his career.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More