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Backstories

  1. chat room
    Interpreting Shōgun Was More Than Just TranslationAs the series’ bridge between cultures, producer Eriko Miyagawa had to consider everything from Sengoku-period accuracy to the nuances of “fuck.”
    By Bethy Squires
  2. backstories
    ‘Look at Me Like a Human Boy!’An oral history of Clifford, the 1994 cult comedy about a deranged little boy played by Martin Short.
    By Rob Turbovsky
  3. exit interview
    The 3 Body Problem Creators Just Want to Give You More Spectacle“By the last season or two, we would be giving people an experience they’ve never had before.”
    By Jackson McHenry
  4. oral history
    ‘We Were a Part of History’Beyoncé and the Chicks’ audacious CMAs set, and the volatile reaction offstage, as told by its background performers.
    By Zach Schonfeld
  5. backstories
    A Party, a Spanking, a Radio PlayThe past came looking for Killers of the Flower Moon in its three most ambitious scenes.
    By Roxana Hadadi
  6. backstories
    What’s Real and What’s Not in Dune: Part Two’s Biggest Action ScenesCinematographer Greig Fraser breaks down the “magic tricks” that made sandworm riding, bazooka attacks, and gladiator fights look convincing.
    By Matt Zoller Seitz
  7. backstories
    Why Christopher Nolan Fell in Love With Bulky, Expensive, Way-Too-Loud FilmImax used to be considered odd. The Oppenheimer director can’t resist it.
    By Bilge Ebiri
  8. on location
    Where the Cold Looms Over EverythingProduction designer Daniel Taylor breaks down how True Detective: Night Country took Ennis, Alaska, to Iceland.
    By Nicholas Quah
  9. backstories
    ‘The Movie Just Couldn’t Withstand Another Brother’s Death’The Iron Claw director Sean Durkin on the hardest decisions he made while telling the tragic (and true) story of wrestling’s Von Erich brothers.
    By Chris Lee
  10. behind the seams
    ‘She Says Good-bye to Him in Pants’Sofia Coppola’s Priscilla splits a young woman’s life into three distinct phases, with each step toward self-actualization reflected in her clothes.
    By Roxana Hadadi
  11. outbackstories
    ‘Time Has Caught Up With Us’How Baz Luhrmann reengineered 2008’s Australia to bring new perspectives to Faraway Downs.
    By Roxana Hadadi
  12. photo realism
    ‘A Photo Can Destroy a Life’How The Crown re-created the images of Diana’s final days within the constraints of taste, decency, and copyright.
    By Devon Ivie
  13. backstories
    Assembling OkernReservation Dogs’ art department designed its fictional hometown to mirror the memories of its most important audience: the series’ cast and crew.
    By Roxana Hadadi
  14. music notes
    How This Fool Captured the Underground Sound of L.A.“Why not give groups in Southern California money instead of using a song from a well-known punk group that’s been played to death?”
    By Roxana Hadadi
  15. backstories
    How Reservation Dogs Became the Best-Cast Show on TVAll it took was a little Hollywood royalty, a lot of Oklahoma talent, and the eye of casting director Angelique Midthunder.
    By Jen Chaney
  16. sequential art
    The Strange, Hidden Story of Harley QuinnThe character was on her way to becoming DC Comics’ most successful villain well before she was stealing scenes in Suicide Squad and Birds of Prey.
    By Abraham Josephine Riesman
  17. backstories
    Reservation Dogs’ American Horror StoryIn telling a story of Indian boarding school abuse, director Danis Goulet sought to honor, not exploit: “Our people have to have agency.”
    By Matt Zoller Seitz
  18. vulture investigates
    Untangling the Mystery Behind Dennis Quaid’s Full Circle Braid“I mean, it’s fabulous,” says hair-department head Adenike Wright. “But it’s just like … I can’t believe he made me do that.”
    By Kathryn VanArendonk
  19. backstories
    A Righteous Cock FightHow The Righteous Gemstones pulled off a giddy, gruesome, emotionally devastating “mid-jack-off” altercation.
    By Roxana Hadadi
  20. backstories
    How Here Lies Love Transformed Its Theater Into a DiscoOut with the velvet seats, in with the dance floor.
    By Jackson McHenry
  21. backstories
    How Clone High Rose From the DeadAn oral history of Phil Lord and Chris Miller’s vexed animation experiment and its unlikely return 20 years later.
    By Roxana Hadadi
  22. backstories
    The Tragedy of Hope“With Open Eyes” needed to feel like “a slow boil toward that final boardroom scene,” says Succession director Mark Mylod.
    By Matt Zoller Seitz
  23. backstories
    ‘Make Him Tell the Machine Story!’Stand-up Bert Kreischer chronicles the journey behind his megapopular joke.
    By Jesse David Fox
  24. backstories
    The Dead Cells Toxic Sewers Level Is Hard (But It Doesn’t, Er, Stink)What makes the game’s most daunting area so difficult and how new efforts around accessibility have changed the experience.
    By Aidan Moher
  25. hard mode
    Finding the Fun in FailureBennett Foddy’s video games are maddening, tedious, unfair, and borderline impossible — that’s just how he wants them.
    By Clayton Purdom
  26. backstories
    Into the Breach’s Final Level Is Hard Without Breaking the Rules“A high level of difficulty,” explains developer Matthew Davis, “makes every decision interesting.”
    By Aidan Moher
  27. backstories
    ‘They’ve Taken a Toy and Broken It’Succession director Andrij Parekh channeled the energy of Adam McKay’s 2016 Election Night party into “America Decides.”
    By Kathryn VanArendonk
  28. backstories
    The National Want Their Taylor Swift Duet Played ‘in Context’In “The Alcott,” she “inhabits this story as her own character,” says Aaron Dessner.
    By Ryan Leas
  29. backstories
    How Jury Duty Orchestrated the Trial of a LifetimeProducers Lee Eisenberg and Todd Schulman discuss getting James Marsden to play himself and casting TikTok’s new favorite star, Ronald Gladden.
    By Alejandra Gularte
  30. backstories
    Building Succession’s Haunted HouseFor the first episode without Logan, director Lorene Scafaria wanted to keep the claustrophobia alive.
    By Matt Zoller Seitz
  31. backstories
    ‘This Was The Fast & the Furious — But One of the Cars Is a Bear’Cocaine Bear director Elizabeth Banks breaks down the “scientific precision” of that mostly improvised ambulance chase.
    By Chris Lee
  32. backstories
    ‘It Needed to Be an Unbroken Performance’Director Mark Mylod breaks down the exhausting 28-minute take that changed the course of Succession.
    By Matt Zoller Seitz
  33. backstories
    Inside 80 for Brady’s Most Surreal and Guy Fieri–est Moments“[Marshawn and Rita] hit it off behind the camera and now they text each other, just to check in.”
    By Derek Lawrence
  34. meat deets
    ‘Who’s Gonna Throw Up First?’“Edible Complex” writer Jonathan Lisco dissects Yellowjackets’s long-awaited feast.
    By Roxana Hadadi
  35. backstories
    One Take. Three Days. A Painstaking Dance.Here’s how the explosive John Wick: Chapter 4 Dragon’s Breath shoot-out came together.
    By Roxana Hadadi
  36. backstories
    Inside the Weirdest Oscars Performance of All Time“Those were Michelle’s hot-dog fingers.”
    By Jason P. Frank
  37. stunt awards
    The Hardest Stunt I Ever Pulled OffStunt drivers and performers recall their toughest days on the job — and why they never want to waste Michael Bay’s time.
    By Elana Scherr and Brandon Streussnig
  38. by order of the king
    ‘I Still Don’t Know What It Was’An oral history of Kings, the ambitious, expensive, and admittedly weird drama on which NBC bet its prestige-TV future and lost.
    By Kathryn VanArendonk and Jackson McHenry
  39. backstories
    ‘If That App Existed, It Would Replace God’Mrs. Davis creators Tara Hernandez and Damon Lindelof map the audacious road to one nun’s crusade against AI.
    By Kathryn VanArendonk
  40. backstories
    How The Last of Us Raised Death From BelowMonths of preparation, weeks of night shoots, and dozens of extras went into unearthing Kansas City’s infected infestation.
    By Roxana Hadadi
  41. backstories
    ‘There Couldn’t Be Any Normal Scenes in This Movie’Damien Chazelle and his collaborators explain Babylon in three key scenes.
    By Bilge Ebiri
  42. backstories
    ‘A Rosetta Stone for The Last of Us’How two non-player characters and an unexpected love story elevated the HBO series beyond its source material.
    By Nicholas Quah
  43. backstories
    The Long, Odd History Behind the Arcs’ Lost David Berman Collaboration“Song could be about severe self doubt, isolation, paranoia, loneliness, etc. All the good stuff!”
    By Justin Curto
  44. backstories
    Glass Onion Isn’t Trying to Trick YouAccording to director Rian Johnson, every twist in his sequel is right in front of your face.
    By Alison Willmore
  45. backstories
    ‘Every Movie Is a Coming-of-Age Movie’: A Conversation About My Father’s DragonThe screenwriter and director of Cartoon Saloon’s latest, My Father’s Dragon, break down three pivotal scenes.
    By Roxana Hadadi
  46. exit interview
    Tony Gilroy Built Andor’s Finale Crescendo FirstThe showrunner illuminates the long road to Maarva’s big moment.
    By Roxana Hadadi
  47. backstories
    ‘Everything Was Incredibly Challenging and Beautiful at the Same Time’Ramy captures life in Palestine while exposing its protagonist’s greed.
    By Roxana Hadadi
  48. backstories
    Inside The White Lotus Premiere’s Survivor CrossoverKara Kay and Angelina Keeley explain how they ended up on that Sicilian beach.
    By Gabe Bergado
  49. hardest things
    The Hardest Horror Movie Sound I Ever Foley-edWhat does decapitation sound like? How about a demon birth? Foley artists explain just how difficult it is to engineer the sounds of horror.
    By Jordan Crucchiola and Vikram Murthi
  50. backstories
    An Oral History of Lilo & StitchThe beloved Disney movie made in a “secret hangar” that almost brought hand-drawn animation back.
    By Bilge Ebiri
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