Ike Barinholtz is strikingly well-versed in an array of hot topics, exhibiting just as much enthusiasm discussing Rupaul’s Drag Race as he does politics, or talking about the classic films that inspired him as a first-time feature director.
“There’s this great old movie called Mrs. Miniver, really old,” says the actor. “I always loved that movie because it tricks you, where the first half [depicts] life in this pastoral English village [as] lovely, despite the war. And then it turns into the Nazis in the house.”
Barinholtz is in the nation’s capital to discuss The Oath, the pitch-black comic thriller he wrote, directed, and stars in opposite Tiffany Haddish. Set over a punishing Thanksgiving weekend when every American citizen is expected to sign an oath of loyalty to the president or face the consequences, The Oath, like Mrs. Miniver, takes a hard turn towards the intense. Inside the home of happily married couple Chris and Kai (Barinholtz and Haddish), all hell breaks loose when every member of their extended family can’t agree to disagree about signing the controversial oath.
The gloves come off, the fight gets ugly, and the violence threatens to go too far — though Barinholtz instinctively sensed how far to take things.
“We knew we were gonna have these really dark elements and violence and blood,” he says. “‘People should probably die,’ is what I was told…I resisted that urge because I wanted the movie — despite everything the people in the movie had been through and despite everything we’re going through now — to end optimistically. I am still optimistic about the country.”
The Oath
In the film, that optimism runs along a knife’s edge juxtaposed against wild paranoia, and everyone on every side feels the pain. The situation, though played for both laughs and scares, is grounded enough in reality that The Oath doesn’t seem like a paranoid fantasy, but like a real possibility in this cultural moment. “I think the word I would use to describe our current political ecosystem is absurd,” says Barinholtz. “We have an absurd president, you know what I mean? We have absurd leaders. People handle and process these things in an absurd manner.”
That absurdity led to an obvious comparison: “I wanted people to feel like when they’re watching the movie, [it’s] like they’re going through a Twitter feed. You go to your Twitter feed and you’re like, ‘Oh, that’s a nice video. That’s funny, that dog is hilarious. Oh my God, they’re separating parents and their children at the border. Holy shit.’ I really wanted to make it reflective of that, and just take people on that journey.”
The Oath is rated R, and opens in theaters everywhere October 12. Visit fandango.com.
David Urban, a Republican strategist and CNN commentator who served as a senior advisor to Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, has written an op-ed accusing Democrats of fear-mongering for suggesting that the U.S. Supreme Court might overturn its 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges decision legalizing same-sex marriage.
In his USA Today op-ed, Urban accuses "hyperpartisan liberals" of trying to "sow fear and discontent" by suggesting that the Supreme Court could reverse its own precedent and strike down the 2015 ruling -- a move that would immediately reinstate same-sex marriage bans still on the books in 32 states.
As Democrats celebrated major wins in key state contests on November 4, a wave of out LGBTQ candidates scored victories of their own in local and down-ballot races, further boosting LGBTQ representation in public office.
In Virginia, boosted by Abigail Spanberger's win in the governor's race, Democrats picked up 13 seats in the 100-member House of Delegates, increasing the size of their caucus to 64. All six incumbent LGBTQ delegates who were up for re-election -- Rozia Henson (D-Woodbridge), Laura Jane Cohen (D-Burke), Mark Sickles (D-Franconia), Adele McClure (D-Arlington), Joshua Cole (D-Fredericksburg) and Cia Price (D-Newport News) -- won their races.
"Hold on just a second, I have to put the phone down for a sec. I'll be right back," says Paula Poundstone as our conversation begins. A minute later, she's back with an explanation.
"I'm about to feed my cat Larry," she says. "And I feed Larry by throwing one piece of food at a time across the room, but that requires getting all the other cats out of the room."
How many cats does Paula Poundstone own? "I have 11," she replies. When I joke that she's playing into stereotypes, the 65-year-old comic breaks into a hearty laugh.
"I think I probably am, but you know what? Cat people are good people, I think. The fact that JD Vance hates us is so empowering. And my cats can't talk, but trust me, they don't like JD Vance."
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