Tagged: 2010s
Interstellar: Matthew McConaughey’s Heritage Workwear and Hamilton Watch
Matthew McConaughey in Interstellar (2014). Photo credit: Melinda Sue Gordon.
Vitals
Matthew McConaughey as Joseph “Coop” Cooper, resourceful NASA pilot-turned-farmer and widowed family man
Colorado, Spring 2067
Film: Interstellar
Release Date: November 5, 2014
Director: Christopher Nolan
Costume Designer: Mary Zophres
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Born 57 years ago today on November 4, 1969, Matthew McConaughey was in the midst of his celebrated “McConaissance” when he starred in Christopher Nolan’s 2014 sci-fi epic Interstellar, which opened in select theaters one day after the actor’s 45th birthday. The charismatic Texan had spent two decades building an eclectic career, from his stoner breakthrough in Dazed and Confused (1993) through a succession of dramatic leading roles and romantic comedies. Following a brief hiatus, McConaughey returned to the screen on the other side of 40 with a renewed focus on more challenging material, culminating in his Oscar-winning performance in Dallas Buyers Club (2013) and his unforgettable turn as nihilistic detective Rust Cohle in the first season of HBO’s True Detective.
Interstellar marked McConaughey’s first—and, to date, only—collaboration with Nolan, who sets his ambitious spacefaring saga in a dystopian future where catastrophic blight and widespread famine threaten humanity with extinction. McConaughey stars as Joseph “Coop” Cooper, a widowed former NASA pilot now raising his teenage son Tom (Timothée Chalamet) and 10-year-old daughter Murphy (Mackenzie Foy) on a dusty corn farm in the Great Plains. When Coop and Murph follow a series of seemingly supernatural clues to a clandestine NASA facility, they encounter Professor John Brand (Michael Caine) and his daughter Amelia (Anne Hathaway), who are preparing a desperate mission to identify habitable worlds beyond our solar system. Coop’s experience as a skilled aviator makes him an ideal candidate to pilot the expedition, though accepting the assignment means leaving his children behind for what could be years—or even a lifetime.
Coop: So if we find a home… then what?
Professor Brand: That’s the long shot.
Though Coop is motivated by the hope of securing a better future for his children, his decision to leave devastates Murph, who feels betrayed by the father she fears she’ll never see again. As a parting gift, Coop gives her a watch—specially designed for the film by Hamilton—to accompany the Hamilton timepiece he wears himself. Continue reading
Lanterns: Kyle Chandler’s Weathered Wardrobe as Hal Jordan
I’m pleased to again present a guest post contributed by my friend Ken Stauffer, who has written several pieces for BAMF Style previously and chronicles the style of the Ocean’s film series (and beyond!) on his excellent Instagram account, @oceansographer.
Kyle Chandler in Lanterns. Photo credit: John Johnson/HBO Max.
Vitals
Kyle Chandler as Hal Jordan, cocky former test pilot and Green Lantern of Sector 2814
Coast City, California, Summer 1975 and 1996, and
Rushville, Nebraska, Fall 2016 and 2026
Series: Lanterns
Air Dates: August 16-October 4, 2026
Created by: Chris Mundy, Damon Lindelof, and Tom King
Costume Designer: Cynthia Ann Summers
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
While most comic fans regard Hal Jordan as one of the medium’s most recognizable heroes, the pre-eminent Green Lantern of Earth, the character has really had a rough go in live action. Created by writer John Broome and artist Gil Kane, Jordan debuted in DC Comics’ Showcase #22 in 1959, succeeding Alan Scott as the second human to use that superhero moniker. When finally brought to life on the big screen by Ryan Reynolds in 2011, the movie’s overwhelmingly negative reception made the character untouchable for mainstream audiences for years to come.
Fifteen years later, DC Studios was finally ready to give Hal another opportunity to prove his worth, this time on HBO. To distance this interpretation from the last in the audience’s mind, a decision was made to shift the focus of Lanterns from spectacle to story, from special effects to character. The show deliberately takes a more grounded (not to mention cheaper!) approach, setting its character-driven mystery primarily in Middle America, à la True Detective. So rather than sending its protagonists on a galaxy-hopping adventure battling a host of CGI extraterrestrials, we see our heroes confront aliens and cyborgs (convincingly disguised as humans) in very recognizable environments, even when they’re briefly on another planet.
But who could bring this fantastic character back down to Earth, making him seem equally at home downing shots of whiskey in a roadside bar as soaring through outer space? Who could possibly make him feel convincingly lived in with just the right combination of rakish charm and dogged grit?
Enter Kyle Chandler. Continue reading
Robert Redford in All is Lost
Robert Redford in All is Lost (2013)
Vitals
Robert Redford as “Our Man”, a resourceful aging sailor
Indian Ocean, July 2012
Film: All Is Lost
Release Date: October 25, 2013
Director: J.C. Chandor
Costume Designer: Van Broughton Ramsey
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Robert Redford was born 90 years ago today on August 18, 1936, making this the first observance of the late actor’s birthday since his death in September 2025 at age 89. One of the prolific actor’s strongest performances from the later period of his career was J.C. Chandor’s survival-at-sea thriller All is Lost, which premiered at the 66th Cannes Film Festival in May 2013 before its wider release that October.
The 76-year-old Redford is the sole actor who appears on screen—unnamed but credited as “Our Man”, a resilient and robust mariner who was sailing solo through the Indian Ocean when a shipping container crashed into his starboard side of his CAL 39, the Virginia Jean. The collision immediately destroyed the Virginia Jean‘s power and external communications, leaving Our Man completely isolated to solve the compounding problems himself without the ability to call for assistance. “All is lost here, except for soul and body, that is, what’s left of them,” Redford’s character narrates. Continue reading
Justifed: Raylan’s Grayscale Plaid Shirt and Henley in “The Collection”
Timothy Olyphant as Deputy U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens on Justified (Episode 1.06: “The Collection”)
Vitals
Timothy Olyphant as Raylan Givens, old-fashioned Deputy U.S. Marshal
Between Lexington, Kentucky and Cincinnati, Ohio, Spring 2010
Series: Justified
Episode: “The Collection” (Episode 1.06)
Air Date: April 20, 2010
Director: Rod Holcomb
Creator: Graham Yost
Costume Designer: Ane Crabtree
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
I’ve recently been rewatching Justified with my wife—her first time seeing the series—and it renewed my interest in how Deputy U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens (Timothy Olyphant) dresses while both on- and off-duty working the Eastern District of Kentucky.
Debuting sixteen years ago this month in March 2010, Justified‘s first season especially blended a case-of-the-week format with the series mythology revolving around how the Givens family feud with Harlan County families like the Crowders and Bennetts translated to Raylan’s crusade against arch criminal Boyd Crowder (Walton Goggins) as well as his ongoing drama with his ex-wife Winona (Natalie Zea).
One of the last standalone episodes outside of this format was the sixth episode, “The Collection”, revolving around crooked Cincinnati art dealer Owen Carnes (Peter Jason), whom Raylan increasingly suspects was murdered by his wife Caryn (Katherine LaNasa), despite being reminded that murder alone doesn’t necessarily fall under the U.S. Marshals Service’s investigative purview. Continue reading
The Grey: Liam Neeson’s Winter Survival Gear
Liam Neeson in The Grey (2011). Photo credit: Kimberley French.
Vitals
Liam Neeson as John Ottway, world-weary oil company sharpshooter
Alaskan Wilderness, Winter 2011
Film: The Grey
Release Date: December 11, 2011
Director: Joe Carnahan
Costume Designer: Courtney Daniel
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
After a few reader requests that piqued my interest in survival stories, I recently watched The Grey, which premiered 14 years ago n January 2012 following its debut the previous month during the annual “Butt-Numb-a-Thon” film marathon in Austin.
Adapted by director Joe Caranhan and Ian MacKenzie Jeffers from the latter’s short story “Ghost Walker”, The Grey centers around Liam Neeson as the spiritually exhausted John Ottway, who describes his situation in the opening voiceover:
A job at the end of the world: a salaried killer for a big petroleum company. I don’t know why I did half the things I’ve done, but I know this is where I belong, surrounded by my own: ex-cons, fugitives, drifters, assholes. Men unfit for mankind.
Hell or High Water: Jeff Bridges’ Texas Ranger Western-wear
Jeff Bridges in Hell or High Water (2016)
Vitals
Jeff Bridges as Marcus Hamilton, experienced Texas Ranger nearing retirement
West Texas, Summer 2016
Film: Hell or High Water
Release Date: August 12, 2016
Director: David Mackenzie
Costume Designer: Malgosia Turzanska
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
One of the best to ever do it, Jeff Bridges turns 76 today. Born December 4, 1949, the actor was born into a family of talent including his parents Lloyd and Dorothy and older brother Beau, but he established his own path when he received his first Academy Award nomination for The Last Picture Show, released two months before his 22nd birthday. Bridges’ seventh and latest Oscar nod recognized his more grizzled, elegiac performance in the Taylor Sheridan-penned neo-Western crime thriller, Hell or High Water. Continue reading
Mads Mikkelsen’s Dark Dance Suit in Another Round (Druk)
Mads Mikkelsen in Druk (Another Round) (2020)
Vitals
Mads Mikkelsen as Martin, inebriated history teacher
Copenhagen, Spring 2020
Film: Another Round
(Danish title: Druk)
Release Date: September 24, 2020
Director: Thomas Vinterberg
Costume Design: Ellen Lens & Manon Rasmussen
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Happy 60th birthday to Mads Mikkelsen! Born November 22, 1965, the Danish actor rose to global prominence for his performance as the villainous Le Chiffre in the 2006 James Bond film Casino Royale and as the title character on NBC’s Hannibal, though his most celebrated performance may be as the depressed schoolteacher Martin in Thomas Vinterberg’s 2020 comedy-drama Another Round—originally released in Denmark as Druk and honored in the United States with the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film. Continue reading
Under the Silver Lake: Andrew Garfield’s Wood Badge T-Shirt
Andrew Garfield in Under the Silver Lake (2018)
Vitals
Andrew Garfield as Sam, sensitive stoner and conspiracy theorist
Los Angeles, Late Summer 2011
Film: Under the Silver Lake
Release Date: April 19, 2019
Director: David Robert Mitchell
Costume Designer: Caroline Eselin
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
David Robert Mitchell’s surrealist neo-noir Under the Silver Lake premiered seven years ago today during the 71st Cannes Film Festival, nearly a year before it was finally released theatrically by A24 in April 2019.
Andrew Garfield stars as Sam, a stoner in his early 30s whose interests of comics, classic movies, and conspiracy theories combine when he begins investigating the disappearance of his attractive neighbor Sarah (Riley Keough), the day after they met at the pool in his apartment complex. The two spend the evening getting high and watching How to Marry a Millionaire, only to be interrupted when her roommates return to the apartment. Sam returns the next morning to find that Sam and her roommates have swiftly moved out with no indication regarding what happened—aside from a mysterious symbol pointed on the wall. Continue reading
Justifed: Raylan’s Pilot Episode Charcoal Pinstripe Suit Jacket and Jeans
Timothy Olyphant as U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens in the pilot episode (“Fire in the Hole”) of Justified.
(Photo by: Prashant Gupta, FX)
Vitals
Timothy Olyphant as Raylan Givens, proudly old-fashioned Deputy U.S. Marshal
Miami to Kentucky, March 2010
Series: Justified
Episode: “Fire in the Hole” (Episode 1.01)
Air Date: March 16, 2010
Director: Michael Dinner
Creator: Graham Yost
Costume Designer: Ane Crabtree
Background
Inspired by a selection of Elmore Leonard stories like “Fire in the Hole”, Justified premiered 15 years ago this week on March 16, 2010.
The series began with a literal bang as Deputy U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens (Timothy Olyphant) demonstrated his quick trigger finger by outdrawing a “gun thug” in his assigned territory of Miami. Though he frequently insists “it was justified,” Raylan is ordered by his superiors to leave Miami, reassigned to the Lexington field office in his home turf of eastern Kentucky where he used to dig coal with now-criminal Boyd Crowder (Walton Goggins).
“We weren’t what you call buddies, but you work a deep mine with a man, you look out for each other,” Raylan reflects of his and Boyd’s initial acquaintanceship. Continue reading
Rafe Spall’s Colorful Plaid Jacket in the Black Mirror Christmas Special
Rafe Spall in the Black Mirror Christmas Special (2014)
Vitals
Rafe Spall as Joe Potter
Set on Christmas… somewhere
Series: Black Mirror
Episode: “White Christmas” (Episode 7)
Air Date: December 16, 2014
Director: Carl Tibbetts
Creator: Charlie Brooker
Costume Designer: Sharon Gilham
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Black Mirror‘s Christmas special—considered one of the series’ best episodes—aired ten years ago today on December 16, 2014. Written by series creator and showrunner Charlie Brooker, the episode takes a yuletide twist to Black Mirror‘s trademark tech-infused dystopia, centering on a new kind of “Christmas cookies” that you would not want at your holiday gathering!
We’re introduced to Joe Potter (Rafe Spall) as he wakes up on the morning of December 25th to the sounds of Christmas music and the sounds of cooking in the mysterious remote cabin here he’s evidently lived for five years. Stepping out into the kitchen, Joe discovers his apparent colleague and co-resident Matt Trent (Jon Hamm), a loquacious former social interaction engineer whose work included creating “cookies”—digital clones of people to serve as their own assistants.
“No one ends up here without things going to total shit for them back out there,” Matt observes when discussing their respective pasts with Joe. Continue reading
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