Tagged: Directed by Rian Johnson
Glass Onion: Benoit Blanc’s Striped Seersucker Swimwear
Daniel Craig as Benoit Blanc in Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2022). Photo by John Wilson.
Vitals
Daniel Craig as Benoit Blanc, famous Southern detective
Spetses, Greece, May 2020
Film: Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
Release Date: November 23, 2022
Director: Rian Johnson
Costume Designer: Jenny Eagan
Background
Three years ago this month, eccentric billionaire tech developer Miles Bron (Edward Norton) pulled together a half-dozen of his closest friends frenemies for a weekend at his private Greek island. It’s May 2020, and—as in real life—the height of the COVID-19 lock-downs, though there appear to be no restrictions for Miles’ upper-class coterie.
While Miles welcomes some from outside his college clique, such as the laidback loafer Derol (Noah Segan), he’s unpleasantly surprised to greet the woman he had known as his former business partner Andi Brand (Janelle Monáe) and the famed detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig). Continue reading
Poker Face: Charlie’s Jacquard Cardigan
Natasha Lyonne as Charlie Cale on Poker Face, Episode 1.01: “Dead Man’s Hand”
Vitals
Natasha Lyonne as Charlie Cale, casino cocktail waitress and human lie detector
Nevada, November 2021
Series: Poker Face
Episode: “Dead Man’s Hand” (Episode 1.01)
Air Date: January 26, 2023
Director: Rian Johnson
Creator: Rian Johnson
Costume Designer: Trayce Gigi Field
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Despite the mysteries that drive each episode, it was no mystery to me that Poker Face would immediately become one of my favorite new shows of 2023. As intended, this case-of-the-week series could softly be described as a modern update to Columbo, with its “howcatchem” structure (rather than the traditional murder-mystery “whodunit”) and a scrappy lead character with an uncanny ability to read people, here brought to life by the amazing Natasha Lyonne, who celebrates her 44th birthday today. Continue reading
Glass Onion: Noah Segan as Derol
Noah Segan as Derol in Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2022)
Vitals
Noah Segan as Derol, carefree stoner who’s “going through some things”
Spetses, Greece, May 2020
Film: Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
Release Date: November 23, 2022
Director: Rian Johnson
Costume Designer: Jenny Eagan
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Derol is definitely having a moment right now! From articles in Variety to countless memes, the laidback loafer played by Noah Segan has quietly risen as a fan favorite among the star-studded cast of Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery in the month since it premiered on Netflix.
Glass Onion is set in May 2020, two months into the global lockdown resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, and the nonchalant Derol reminds me of the vibe I had aspired to at this stage in lockdown: unbothered, staying in my lane, growing out my hair and chilling. Continue reading
Glass Onion: Benoit Blanc’s Striped Sweater
Daniel Craig as Benoit Blanc in Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2022)
Vitals
Daniel Craig as Benoit Blanc, “in your words, the world’s greatest detective”
Spetses, Greece, May 2020
Film: Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
Release Date: November 23, 2022
Director: Rian Johnson
Costume Designer: Jenny Eagan
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
As its quick ascension to the #1 movie on the service suggests, many are spending their Christmas holiday and its surrounding days watching Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, which had only a one-week theatrical release earlier this year before it premiered on Netflix on December 23. My wife and I watched it last night and enjoyed yet another fun, stylish, and unorthodox mystery centered around Southern-fried investigator Benoit Blanc, reprised by Daniel Craig after his entertaining turn in Knives Out. Continue reading
Christopher Plummer in Knives Out
Christopher Plummer as Harlan Thrombey in Knives Out (2019)
Vitals
Christopher Plummer as Harlan Thrombey, mystery novelist and wealthy patriarch
Massachusetts, November 2018
Film: Knives Out
Release Date: November 27, 2019
Director: Rian Johnson
Costume Designer: Jenny Eagan
Background
The great Canadian actor Christopher Plummer died a week ago today at the age of 91 after three quarters of a century honing his craft across stage and screen from Shakespeare to The Sound of Music.
In his penultimate screen credit, Knives Out, Plummer starred as Harlan Thrombey, a charismatic writer who built his fortune through writing mystery novels and, on his 85th birthday, resolves to finally set his free-loading family free. Continue reading
Chris Evans’ Famous Fisherman’s Sweater in Knives Out
Chris Evans as Hugh “Ransom” Drysdale in Knives Out (2019)
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Chris Evans as Hugh “Ransom” Drysdale, arrogant “trust fund prick”
Massachusetts, November 2018
Film: Knives Out
Release Date: November 27, 2019
Director: Rian Johnson
Costume Designer: Jenny Eagan
Background
Released a year ago this week, Knives Out offered a fresh spin on the classic “whodunit” genre, complete with an idiosyncratic detective—in this case, Daniel Craig as the observant Benoit Blanc—and a dysfunctional family plunged into a murder mystery at their palatial country estate. It’s that dysfunctional family element that inspired me to write about Knives Out today, on the eve of a Thanksgiving that’s sure to look different than usual for most households.
The last member of the Thrombey household to be introduced on screen is Ransom Drysdale—or Hugh to “the help”—the spoiled grandson of the late mystery writer Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer). Even before Knives Out reached theaters, the internet was ablaze with preview images of Chris Evans lounging in Ransom’s moth-eaten fisherman’s sweater, reintroducing the classic Aran knitting technique to a new generation.
Daniel Craig in Knives Out
Daniel Craig as Benoit Blanc in Knives Out (2019)
Vitals
Daniel Craig as Benoit Blanc, “a private investigator of great renown”
Massachusetts, November 2018
Film: Knives Out
Release Date: November 27, 2019
Director: Rian Johnson
Costume Designer: Jenny Eagan
Background
Happy birthday to Daniel Craig, born 52 years ago today on March 2, 1968! While Craig is likely best known as the most recent actor to portray James Bond, one of his most celebrated recent roles has been his Golden Globe-nominated performance in Knives Out as Benoit Blanc, an idiosyncratic detective who describes himself as a “respectful, quiet, and passive observer of the truth.”