Thanksgiving Diversions
Dear Wags,
Oh, let’s be thankful for once. We still have one another in a hard world. We have a sense of humor when dealt a lousy hand. We cling to the hope that tomorrow will be a bit brighter than today. And we have this little club, which grows by leaps and bounds thanks to smarties like you. Our editorial premise is simple — life is too precious to be taken so seriously. It is enlivened by different perspectives and made bubbly by the tonic of culture. When a society becomes callous and unforgiving, when it elevates rage at the expense of everything else, real life is sapped of joy. A sour and hopeless culture produces sour and hopeless people. It devours dreams.
But despair is never the whole story, not on our worst day. How resourceful human beings are: Even now, we still craft things of beauty, pathos, and wit — not with bricks and code, but our imaginations. When the monuments crumble, when infernal phones are melted into slag, we’ll still have stories and loved ones to share them with. How can we not be grateful for such a gift?
Yours Ever,
Brideshead, Turned Upside Down
Saltburn (theaters). Wag Emerald Fennell, who won a best original screenplay Oscar for Promising Young Woman, wrote and directed this class-skewer. It stars Remarkable Barry Keoghan (The Banshees of Inisherin) as a striver befriended by a young aristo (Jacob Elordi) who spirits him back to the family estate to be seduced and eviscerated by his decadent relations. We learn, once again, that posh people are dreadful. The thing is, Dame Rosamund Pike makes being dissolute look so much fun. She steals this picture. — Teresa Flyte
Un-American Activity
Fellow Travelers (Showtime). Lantern-jawed Hawkins Fuller (The Talented Mr. Matt Bomer) a star at the State Department in McCarthy-era Washington, has everything going for him. Until he falls in love with a congressional aide Tim (Jonathan Bailey). Together, the pair weather ’50s homophobia, ’60s social unrest, and ’70s disco. Allison Williams and Jelani Alladin are also part of this 20th Century romance, deftly adapted from Thomas Mallon’s acclaimed novel. —G.F. de Moncy Burgess
With Pippa and Huck
Dr. Who: The Star Beast (Disney+). Obviously, you know this is the 60th anniversary of Dr. Who! Our favo(u)rite mad geniuses —Jane Tranter, Julie Gardner, and Russell T. Davies—buff up the Tardis for a string of specials starring Britain’s beloved sci-fi hero. In the first adventure, David Tennant and Catherine Tate return as the Doctor and his sidekick, Donna Noble. Only she doesn’t remember him, because if she did she would die, which takes some explaining. Anyhow, it’s nerd crack. — Susan Foreman
You may go see Ridley Scott’s Napoleon. It’s certainly a spectacle, even it’s facing a bit of a critical Waterloo. But if you really want to get into the head of that martial Corsican, visit with Afua Hirsch and Peter Frankopan. The pair host the Wondery/Goalhanger pod Legacy, which examines the lives of historical figures and decides if their reputations are deserved. Picasso, Nina Simone, and oui, Napoleon all get the treatment. It turns out, he wasn’t that short for his day. — Andrei Bolkonsky
Is that the right thing to do? I just don’t know! In the late ’90s, The One and Only Bjork recorded Oral, a tune about restless hearts searching for something new. At the time, she wasn’t that crazy about it, so she never released it. Now it’s been retrieved from her back catalog and updated with strings, a dance beat and vocals from Spanish singer-songwriter Rosalía. It adds up to a sparkly anthem about the possibilities of love. The dream and the real, get them acquainted, sings Bjork. Why not! — Miranda Frost
The Bourbon Rickey
For Thanksgiving cocktails, we recommend a highball with bourbon. You can’t go wrong with the B.R., which is named after Col. Joe Rickey, a Democratic party fixer who lived in Washington D.C. in the 1890s. Rickey was a regular of Shoomaker’s Bar, a couple of blocks from Ford’s Theatre, where he regularly ordered bourbon and sparkling water. One day, fresh squeezed lime was added to the libation. The drink was a hit, though the Gin Rickey quickly eclipsed it. Save the gin for the summer; the original bourbon concoction holds up when it gets nippy. And it’s a cinch to make.
Ingredients
1 1/2 oz bourbon (pick your favorite)
1/2 freshly squeezed lime
Top off with sparkling water
Recipe
Fill your highball glass with loads of delicious ice
Take your lime half and squeeze it over the cubes before you add your liquor
Pour in your bourbon and top off with sparkling water.
Give it a little swisheroo
Make like Joe Rickey and talk pork barrel spending and bridges to nowhere with your cronies
