fishing man

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By Olusegun Adeniyi The rule of law is underwritten by fundamental assumptions. One, that the law is fair to all and that citizens can approach the court expecting to obtain justice irrespective of their station in life. Two, that judges who interpret the law and dispense justice will be above reproach and remain impartial. Three, that an independent, orderly judiciary will be self-regulating. Unfortunately, recent developments in Nigeria only point to a betrayal of nearly all these foregoing assumptions. Last week, the Senate passed a resolution asking President Bola Tinubu to sack Danladi Umar as chairman of the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) over sundry allegations of corruption and misconduct. But the provisions of Section 157 (1) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) on which the resolution was anchored do not support what the Senate did. There is a difference between the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) and the CCT and you expect Senators to know that. It would take the votes of two thirds of members of both chambers (Senate and the House of Representatives) for the president to remove the CCT chairman. Apparently mindful of this lacuna, the House on Tuesday invoked the proper law, Section 17 (3), Part 1, Fifth Schedule of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) to complete the process with their concurrence that Umar be removed. The second issue is the presidential action that preceded the two resolutions. On 13th July this year, then presidential spokesman, Ajuri Ngelale, announced “the appointment of Dr. Mainasara Umar Kogo as the Chairman of the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT),” as directed by the president. “Kogo is a seasoned lawyer and analyst in the fields of law, security, economy, politics, and international diplomacy,” Ngelale further said. I assumed at the time that Umar’s tenure had lapsed, or he had quietly resigned. Evidently, that is not the case. With both Umar and Kogo claiming to be CCT chairman, the National Assembly has merely covered up for a presidential lapse of judgement on the matter. The third and perhaps most substantive issue relates to the charges against Umar. First sworn-in as acting CCT chairman in 2007 at age 36 despite his thin résumé, Umar became the substantive chairman in 2011. And in the past 13 years, there have been several allegations of impropriety against him. In January 2018, for instance, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) accused Umar of demanding and receiving bribes from one Rasheed Owolabi Taiwo, a defendant standing trial before the CCT for “favours to be afterwards shown” to him. Besides, Umar also has a notorious reputation in Abuja. Asked to repark his vehicle that was obstructing other customers at Banex Plaza on 8th April 2021, Umar (who drove himself that day and would later make a big deal of it in a reckless statement) adopted the usual Nigerian Big Man disposition of ‘Do you know who I am?’ by assaulting a security man. When the video went viral, he claimed to be the victim of assault by ‘Biafran boys’, thus profiling shop owners at the commercial complex. In calling for a full investigation into the incident at the time, the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) expressed its displeasure at the “display of naked power by a public officer especially one who, by virtue of his high office, is expected to exhibit a high standard of conduct.” Given the foregoing, Umar’s removal is long overdue. But what I find rather surprising is that his defenders are citing the crisis orchestrated by the removal of a former Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Walter Onnoghen to canvass for due process on the matter. This same Umar was a willing tool in the hands of President Muhammadu Buhari and his Attorney General and Justice Minister, Abubakar Malami, SAN, for that judicial act of infamy. Now that his misdeeds have caught up with him, Umar is seeking equity with unclean hands. However, the bigger lesson in this saga is for the judiciary. In my presentation at the 2024/2025 Legal Year ceremony of the National Industrial Court of Nigeria (NICN) in Abuja on 9th October, I made a general point about justice administration in Nigeria with a clear distinction between ‘rule of law’ and ‘rule of judges’. The latter, as I said, is a situation in which a judge places himself/herself above the law. “Regrettably, the loud and overpowering noise of the latter is becoming definitive of Nigeria’s judiciary in the perception of most people,” I concluded. “Nothing gives better expression to that than the statement, ‘Go to Court’ by conscious wrong-doers, often followed by ‘Go on appeal’ by their hand-in-glove judges.” In his highly entertaining book, ‘Judges’ which I once referenced on this page, Lord David Philip Pannick used the lesson of history in both the United Kingdom and United States to highlight what could happen when the people lose faith in the judicial process. “Some judges have received more than their just deserts for injudicious behaviour. In the 13th century, Andrew Horn alleged that in one year, King Alfred caused 44 judges to be hanged as homicides for their false judgments. In 1381, a mob pursued the Lord Chancellor, Simon de Sudbury, and cut off his hand. One year later, Lord Chief Justice Cavendish was killed after being apprehended by a mob and subjected to a mock trial in which he was sentenced to death,” Pannick, a member of the House of Lords and the Blackstone Chambers, wrote. “In 1688, the infamous judge Jeffreys, by then the Lord Chancellor, went into hiding when James II fled the country. Jeffreys was captured in Wapping when he was recognized in a tavern by a man who had been a dissatisfied litigant in his court. (The man had won his case, but Jeffreys had been rude to him and kept him waiting). Jeffreys was put in the Tower of London, where he died in 1689.” We are living in an age when the past bears an uncanny resemblance to the present. It is therefore important for the National Judicial Council (NJC) to begin dealing with deviant behaviours among its members. Authorities in the judicial sector must not allow a situation in which the people would openly turn against our men and women on the bench. This requires an urgent need for internal cleansing. May the day never come in Nigeria when an enraged public would begin to disrobe otherwise eminent judges in the marketplace! What the Yoruba People Have Lost “Chief Lóògò Bámútùlá explains, ‘I grew up amid deities...In the house, the gods talked audibly and clearly. They spoke precise human language...’ This is a Chief who actively remembers his ancestors, who offers his own stories of a life lived through the Nigerian Civil War and beyond, and whose clients include those of many different affiliations. His practices include prayer, festival, charms, psychiatric care, pharmaceutical and medical interventions, and resolving curses, reminding us of the complex rituals and acts that make up what we call religion...” The foreword by Laura Nasarallah, Scholar of Ancient Christianity and Buckingham Professor of New Testament Criticism and Interpretation at Yale University, United States, leads us to the story of an extraordinary man who had no formal education yet imbued with the power/knowledge to cure many ailments. Described as a “ritual specialist, native botanist and family patriarch” by Arthur Kleinman, Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School in the blurb, Chief David Akinsawe Bámútùlá of Ile-Oluji in Ondo State is not only a cultural avatar but also a symbol of the body of knowledge in Yorubaland that is gradually going into extinction. But how did I get to read the manuscript of the coming book by Harvard Professor, Jacob Olupona, co-authored with Oluwole Akinyosoye who worked briefly at The Guardian newspaper before venturing into the oil and gas industry? To get away from the drama of ‘birthday’ which holds no significance for me (village people don’t celebrate birthday), I try to take my annual holiday from the first week in November though the get-away gambit almost failed this year due to a delayed visa renewal process. But in the past two weeks, I have visited New York, Washington DC and Toronto (Canada) before finally arriving at my main destination in Boston, Massachusetts. For the past 15 years, Professor Olupona and his wife, Josephine Modupe, have been guardian angels for my family. But for me the real attraction in always holidaying with them is not so much the warm hospitality but rather the knowledge and insights I gain from Professor Olupona who always enjoys having me around. It’s much like being in school. In the process of discussing the current situation with the traditional institution in Yorubaland, Olupona told me of a coming book, ‘In the Twilight of Time: A Biography of an African Medicine Man’ he co-authored with Akinyosoye. And the moment he handed me the manuscript, I could not put it down. Chief Lóògò and the late Professor Thomas Adeoye Lambo were contemporaries and friends who pursued the same vocation in psychiatric healing though the latter was trained by the best Universities around the world. Lambo, a globally renowned psychiatrist and former Vice Chancellor, University of Ibadan (1967 to 1971) later became the World Health Organisation (WHO) Deputy Director General. Being senior to Lambo who was born on 29 March 1923, that means Chief Lóògò is well beyond 100 years in age. Lambo, Chief Lóògò recalls, usually sent a vehicle to pick him up for meetings of the association of Nigerian traditional healers where they always sat beside each other. “He was not much of a herbalist; he was a professor, an audacious fellow, ever ready to experiment,” Chief Lóògò told the authors in one of the numerous interviews conducted for the book. “Lambo chose to test me, when we needed to display the efficacy of charms at a conference in Iganmu, Lagos. Everybody was thrilled at the results.” The second foreword to the manuscript, by HRM Oba Olufaderin Oluwole Adetimehin, Jimoko II of Ile-Oluji Kingdom, Ondo State, is significant in several respects. “I found his (Baba Lóògò’s) elucidation on Yoruba culture fascinating, especially his explanations of conceptual nuances of Olóògún (Ògún devotees) and Olóògùn (traditional pharmacist) and the differences between Babaláwo (Ifá diviner) and Onísègùn (traditional healer)” wrote the royal father, a former president of the Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria (CIIN). “The elucidations reveal Baba Lóògò’s rich repository of Yoruba lore and culture.” I am sure the Ile Oluji Monarch must also have learnt a great deal about our past, especially considering how Yoruba Obas are now being abducted right in their palaces. In the days of yore, criminals who dared such a sacrilegious enterprise would have had to contend with ‘Sìgìdì’. Explaining how Sìgìdì provided security for powerful people in the past, Chief Lóògò illustrated his point with the experience of his own father from whom he inherited trado-medicine. “If an evil person is approaching, the Sìgìdì would ambush them before we know and announce their arrival after the task, ‘Baba, we are back.’ Father would respond, ‘You are welcome...You will eat tomorrow. Your mealtime is tomorrow’. I knew then that a goat would be slaughtered the following day. The Sìgìdì often alerted my father whenever danger lurked. Sometimes, Father would command the Sìgìdì to confront the attackers, and they (the attackers) would shoot, unaware that they were not aiming at physical objects.” In Yoruba cosmology, according to the authors, “sacred beings are presented in hidden forms. When one greets a king, either he will move his Ìrùkẹ̀rẹ̀ (flywhisk, a symbol of office) or have his courtiers speak on his behalf,” while expanding on how traditional authority was revered in the past. “The king himself is an Òrìṣà, and silence reflects his elevation and divinity; it is part of the reason that the king garners respect and honour.” Not these days when traditional rulers compete with ‘slay queens’ to throw tantrums on social media! Allow me to make an upfront admission here. I am a Christian who believes in the Bible, and I take my faith very seriously. But I have often wondered about some of the things I witnessed growing up in the village. I can still picture in my mind several traditional healing methods we now consider ‘occultic’. What makes knowledge and wisdom valid? Should knowledge be only those which cement or affirm the existing power structure and epistemology? These, according to Olupona, were some of the questions that prompted their research into the life and career of Chief Lóògò, and it is something I could relate with regarding the way we dismiss (or even criminalise) what we do not understand in Nigeria, because of a lack of curiosity that now defines public engagement and the intellectual space. I recall the controversy that trailed the release about two decades ago of Tunde Kelani’s ‘Agogo Èèwò’ (the gong of taboo). Written by the late acclaimed authority on Yoruba tradition and culture and National Merit Award Winner, Professor Akinwumi Isola, the National Films and Censors Board wanted to ban it at the time. Some of the parts they queried were when the character played by Abiola Atanda (aka Madam Kofo) was carrying rituals and where the herbalist (Akinwunmi Isola) was consulting the Ifa oracle with chants. The verses they considered objectionable are: “Af’ipá l’ówó won kìí kádún” (Seekers of wealth by forceful means do not last); “Afi wàràwàrà l’ówó bí ológun kìí dòla...” (Seekers of instant wealth who employ military brute force do not live long). Not much has changed since then. Chief Lóògò explained the different types of preventive traditional medicines to the authors. “Apparently, ‘Ayeta’ (bullet repellent medicine) as described by Chief Lóògò is not designed for a continuous assail of bullets but to protect against ambush or assassination and allow one to readjust himself for a fight or flight in a war situation,” they wrote. But the authors also lament how “Important trees, leaves and herbs are disappearing in their large numbers, even in Chief Lóògò’s backyard, due to human-induced climate change,” while revealing the contradictions in our society based on the revelations by Chief Lóògò fully captured in the manuscript. “Despite their outrage on his methods and their keeping public distance from him, we find from his dispositions that Christians and Muslims, including notable politicians, secretly patronise him.” It is interesting that Chief Lóògò believes that only God can heal, while also admitting that the same God can use anything and any vessel. “Look at Moses with only a rod. He did great wonders. There was nothing in that rod; It was just a symbol of God’s power,” said Chief Lóògò who then argues, “God is not averse to using medicine to heal the sick. They call the ‘trado-medical’ practitioner ‘Agbomolà’, one who saves the lives of men and women, young and old. Can God be upset with someone for saving another man’s life?” Meanwhile, Chief Lóògò has abandoned his practices and the family deities after embracing Christianity. “I converted to retrace, redirect my path, and change my family’s fortunes...I beg God daily to forgive my sins and those of my lineage.” When the authors inquired whether jettisoning Ògún, the deity he once served as its high priest, was due to pressure from his children, Chief Lóògò replied, “Ògún came to earth on his own volution just like Sàngó and other Yoruba deities. God did not send him here. I discovered that Ògún is opposed to God, so I decided to part ways with him and embrace God.” And the depth of his new-found faith can be glimpsed from this line: “I know my time (on earth) is far spent; my prayer is for Jesus to help me make it to heaven.” The main concern for me is that we have lost the traditional healing methods embraced by other societies. Having visited China several times, I have had the opportunity of seeing expansive herbal/traditional medical centres. During the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, China’s National Health Commission revealed that about 90 percent of their nationals infected with the virus took some form of traditional medicine to treat their symptoms. These traditional remedies, according to the Chinese, helped to alleviate symptoms, reduced the severity of the virus, improved recovery and reduced mortality rate. Growing up in the village, most of us also took these herbs that are now being derided, so we are aware of their efficacy. In the past, I have used Richard Niebuhr’s book, ‘Christ and Culture’, to demonstrate how Christians have attempted to deal with the challenge of their faith against the background of traditional beliefs and customs. Niebuhr identifies five approaches which he listed as: Christ against Culture; The Christ of Culture; Christ above Culture; Christ and Culture in Paradox and Christ the Transformer of Culture. Unfortunately, as I have also argued, the Pentecostalism embraced in Nigeria today fits into the paradigm of ‘Christ against Culture’, a notion which rejects all ancient mores and body of knowledge, including for traditional healing, as archaic, backward, and evil. • You can follow me on my X (formerly Twitter) handle, @Olusegunverdict and on www.olusegunadeniyi.comThe Atlanta Falcons drafting of Michael Penix Jr. just six weeks after signing Kirk Cousins to a $180 million contract doesn't seem like that much of a head-scratcher anymore. Penix, the eighth overall pick in this year's draft, was supposed to serve as Cousins' understudy for a year or two, a plan that was scuttled when Cousins quickly lost the zip and accuracy on his passes and his grip on the starting job. It was hard to argue with making the change after Cousins had nine picks and one touchdown pass in his last five starts — but it was a daring move nonetheless with the Falcons trailing first-place Tampa Bay by a single game with three weeks left. Penix made the move pay off with a solid first NFL start in the Falcons' 34-7 rout of the New York Giants on Sunday that bolstered Atlanta's playoff hopes , and the Falcons (8-7) moved back into first place in the NFC South with the Buccaneers' loss at Dallas on Sunday night. The left-hander was not at all overwhelmed by the moment, completing 18 of 27 passes for 202 yards — numbers that would’ve been better if not for at least three dropped passes, one of which Kyle Pitts bobbled right into the hands of a New York defender for Penix’s lone interception. “He went out and played almost flawless football,” coach Raheem Morris said. Cousins will almost certainly be looking for his fourth team in 2025. If the Falcons cut ties as expected, they'll have paid Cousins $90 million for 14 games. Cousins' career earnings are about $321 million and his record is 84-77-2, including a 1-3 mark in the playoffs and 7-7 this season. In the spirit of expedited judgments, let's take a gander at how other quarterbacks have fared with their new teams in 2024. The Pittsburgh Steelers landed the biggest bargain of the season in Wilson, whom they signed for the veteran's minimum of $1.21 million, leaving his former team, the Denver Broncos, on the hook for the remaining $37.79 million of his 2024 salary. Wilson's calf injury in camp forced the Steelers to start Justin Fields, who went 4-2 before Mike Tomlin made the risky switch to Wilson, who's gone 6-3 with 15 TD throws and four interceptions. With the Steelers (10-5) playoff-bound, Wilson will make his first postseason appearance since 2020. The only question is whether it'll be at home as AFC North champ or on the road as a wild-card. They're tied with the Ravens atop the division but currently own the tiebreaker. This was expected to be a rebuilding year in Minnesota after the Vikings lost Cousins in free agency. They signed Darnold, the third overall pick in 2018, to a $10 million, one-year contract and drafted national champion J.J. McCarthy with the 10th overall pick. McCarthy tore the meniscus in his right knee during the preseason opener and has undergone two surgeries, opening the way for Darnold's breakthrough season. Darnold brought a 21-35 career record with him to Minneapolis and all he's done is go 13-2 while setting career highs with 32 touchdown passes, 3,776 passing yards and a 67.2% completion percentage. The Vikings are tied with the Lions atop the packed NFC North and the division crown could come down to Minnesota's season finale at Detroit on Jan. 5. The Las Vegas Raiders signed Minshew to a two-year, $25 million contract and he beat out incumbent Aidan O'Connell for the starting gig. But he only went 2-7 and sustained a season-ending broken collarbone in a Week 12 loss to the Broncos, opening the door for O'Connell (1-4) to return. The Raiders' 19-14 win over Jacksonville on Sunday snapped a 10-game skid but might have taken them out of the Shedeur Sanders sweepstakes. They are 3-12, a game behind the Giants (2-13), who jettisoned QB Daniel Jones less than two years after signing him to a four-year, $160 million contract and have gone with Drew Lock and Tommy DeVito instead. The Chicago Bears had high hopes after drafting Williams with the No. 1 overall pick, but it might turn out that the second QB taken — Washington's Jayden Daniels — is better than the first as was the case last year when C.J. Stroud outperformed Carolina's Bryce Young. Williams has a terrific TD-to-INT ratio of 19-5, but the Bears are 4-11 and have lost nine in a row. Their last win came way back on Oct. 13 against Jacksonville. The 2023 Heisman Trophy winner out of LSU has led the Washington Commanders (10-5) to the cusp of their first playoff appearance since 2020. His bolstered his Rookie of the Year credentials with a five-TD performance Sunday in leading the Commanders to a 36-33 win over the Philadelphia Eagles. For the year, Daniels has 22 TD throws and eight interceptions. The former Auburn and Oregon star hasn't looked much like a rookie after starting an NCAA QB record 61 times in college. The Broncos (9-6) could snap an eight-year playoff drought with a win Sunday at Cincinnati thanks to Nix's steady play , Sean Payton's exhaustive guidance and Denver's traditionally stingy defense. Nix was drafted 12th overall after the Broncos released Wilson despite a a whopping $85 million dead money charge on top of the $37.79 million they're paying Wilson to play for Pittsburgh this year. With 22 TDs and 11 interceptions, Nix has almost matched Russell's win total (11-19) in his two seasons in Denver. AP Sports Writer Paul Newberry in Atlanta contributed to this report. Behind the Call analyzes the biggest topics in the NFL during the season. AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

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PM Trudeau attends Taylor Swift concert with family in TorontoOne night last month, near the end of the Chicago International Film Festival, a particularly long line of moviegoers snaked down Southport Avenue by the Music Box Theatre. The hot ticket? This fall’s hottest ticket, in fact, all over the international festival circuit? Well, it’s a 215-minute drama about a fictional Hungarian Jewish architect who emigrates to America in 1947 after surviving the Holocaust. The film’s title, “The Brutalist,” references several things, firstly a post-World War II design imperative made of stern concrete, steel, and a collision of poetry and functionality. Director and co-writer Brady Corbet, who wrote “The Brutalist” with his filmmaker wife, Mona Fastvold, explores brutalism in other forms as well, including love, envy, capitalist economics and how the promise of America eludes someone like the visionary architect László Tóth, played by Adrien Brody. Corbet, now 36 and a good bet for Oscar nominations this coming January, says his unfashionable sprawl of a picture, being distributed by A24, is also about the “strange relationship between artist and patron, and art and commerce.” It co-stars Felicity Jones as the visionary architect’s wife, Erzsébet, trapped in Eastern Europe after the war with their niece for an agonizingly long time. Guy Pearce portrays the imperious Philadelphia blueblood who hires Tóth, a near-invisible figure in his adopted country, to design a monumental public building known as the Institute in rural Pennsylvania. The project becomes an obsession, then a breaking point and then something else. Corbet’s project, which took the better part of a decade to come together after falling apart more than once, felt like that, too. Spanning five decades and filmed in Hungary and Italy, “The Brutalist” looks like a well-spent $50 million project. In actuality, it was made for a mere $10 million, with Corbet and cinematographer Lol Crawley shooting on film, largely in the VistaVision process. The filmmaker said at the Chicago festival screening: “Who woulda thunk that for screening after screening over the last couple of months, people stood in line around the block to get into a three-and-a-half-hour movie about a mid-century designer?” He lives in Brooklyn, New York, with Fastvold and their daughter. Our conversation has been edited for clarity and length. Q: Putting together an independent movie, keeping it on track, getting it made: not easy, as you told the Music Box audience last night. Money is inevitably going to be part of the story of “The Brutalist,” since you had only so much to make a far-flung historical epic. A: Yeah, that’s right. In relation to my earlier features, “The Childhood of a Leader” had a $3 million budget. The budget for “Vox Lux” was right around $10 million, same as “The Brutalist,” although the actual production budget for “Vox Lux” was about $4.5 million. Which is to say: All the money on top of that was going to all the wrong places. For a lot of reasons, when my wife and I finished the screenplay for “The Brutalist,” we ruled out scouting locations in Philadelphia or anywhere in the northeastern United States. We needed to (film) somewhere with a lot less red tape. My wife’s previous film, “The World to Come,” she made in Romania; we shot “Childhood of a Leader” in Hungary. For “The Brutalist” we initially landed on Poland, but this was early on in COVID and Poland shut its borders the week our crew was arriving for pre-production. When we finally got things up and running again with a different iteration of the cast (the original ensemble was to star Joel Edgerton, Marion Cotillard and Mark Rylance), after nine months, the movie fell apart again because Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. We couldn’t get any of the banks to cash-flow the tax credit (for location shooting in Poland). It’s completely stable now, but at that time the banks were nervous about whether the war would be contained to Ukraine or not. And then we finally got it up and running in Budapest, Hungary. Q: That’s a long time. A: Every filmmaker I know suffers from some form of post-traumatic stress (laughs). It sounds funny but it’s true. At every level. On the level of independent cinema, you’re just so damn poor. You’re not making any money, and yet from nose to tail, at minimum, a movie always takes a couple of years. With bigger projects, you might have a little more personal security but a lot less creative security with so many more cooks in the kitchen. Either route you choose, it can be an arduous and painful one. Whether you’re making a movie for a million dollars, or $10 million, or $100 million, it’s still “millions of dollars.” And if you’re concerned about the lives and livelihoods of the people working with you, it’s especially stressful. People are constantly calling you: “Is it happening? Are we starting? Should I take this other job or not?” And you have 250 people who need that answer from you. Every iteration of the project, I always thought we were really about to start in a week, two weeks. It’s just very challenging interpersonally. It’s an imposition for everyone in your life. And then there’s the imposition of screening a movie that’s three-and-a-half-hours long for film festivals, where it’s difficult to find that kind of real estate on the schedule. So essentially, making a movie means constantly apologizing. Q: At what point in your acting career did you take a strong interest in what was going on behind the camera? A: I was making short films when I was 11, 12 years old. The first thing I ever made more properly, I guess, was a short film I made when I was 18, “Protect You + Me,” shot by (cinematographer) Darius Khondji. It was supposed to be part of a triptych of films, and I went to Paris for the two films that followed it. And then all the financing fell through. But that first one screened at the London film festival, and won a prize at Sundance, and I was making music videos and other stuff by then. Q: You’ve written a lot of screenplays with your wife. How many? A: Probably 25. We work a lot for other people, too. I think we’ve done six together for our own projects. Sometimes I’ll start something at night and my wife will finish in the morning. Sometimes we work very closely together, talking and typing together. It’s always different. Right now I’m writing a lot on the road, and my wife is editing her film, which is a musical we wrote, “Ann Lee,” about the founder of the Shakers. I’m working on my next movie now, which spans a lot of time, like “The Brutalist,” with a lot of locations. And I need to make sure we can do it for not a lot of money, because it’s just not possible to have a lot of money and total autonomy. For me making a movie is like cooking. If everyone starts coming in and throwing a dash of this or that in the pot, it won’t work out. A continuity of vision is what I look for when I read a novel. Same with watching a film. A lot of stuff out there today, appropriately referred to as “content,” has more in common with a pair of Nikes than it does with narrative cinema. Q: Yeah, I can’t imagine a lot of Hollywood executives who’d sign off on “The Brutalist.” A: Well, even with our terrific producing team, I mean, everyone was up for a three-hour movie but we were sort of pushing it with three-and-a-half (laughs). I figured, worst-case scenario, it opens on a streamer. Not what I had in mind, but people watch stuff that’s eight, 12 hours long all the time. They get a cold, they watch four seasons of “Succession.” (A24 is releasing the film in theaters, gradually.) It was important for all of us to try to capture an entire century’s worth of thinking about design with “The Brutalist.” For me, making something means expressing a feeling I have about our history. I’ve described my films as poetic films about politics, that go to places politics alone cannot reach. It’s one thing to say something like “history repeats itself.” It’s another thing to make people see that, and feel it. I really want viewers to engage with the past, and the trauma of that history can be uncomfortable, or dusty, or dry. But if you can make it something vital, and tangible, the way great professors can do for their students, that’s my definition of success. “The Brutalist” opens in New York and Los Angeles on Dec. 20. The Chicago release is Jan. 10, 2025. Michael Phillips is a Tribune critic.

California urges Buttigeg to grant last-minute cash for LA-SF bullet train as DOGE looms

NEW YORK — I’ll get you, my pretty! And your little pygmy hippo, too! Forgive us the shameless attempt to link the fantasy hit “Wicked” to the delightful Moo Deng . But, hear us out — there’s something the two have in common as the year draws to a close. Escapism. Whether we found it on the yellow brick road, or in videos from a Thailand zoo, or perhaps in unlikely Olympic heroes , we gravitated toward fantasy and feel-good pop culture moments this year. There were new trends, as always. “Brat summer” became a thing, as did “demure, mindful.” And for some inexplicable reason, we became obsessed with celebrity lookalike contests. There were breakups — Bennifer is, again, a thing of the past — and reunions: Oasis, please try to stay together for the tour. Yet some things stayed, remarkably, the same: Taylor Swift and Beyoncé kept on breaking records and making history. So, after a year where much changed but some things held steady, here’s our annual, very selective trip down pop culture memory lane: Lily Gladstone poses in the press room Jan. 7 with the award for best performance by an actress in a motion picture, drama for "Killers of the Flower Moon" at the 81st Golden Globe Awards at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, Calif. It starts as a cheery tweet from a beloved “Sesame Street” figure: “ ELMO is just checking in! How is everybody doing?” The answers hint at something deeper and more worrisome. “Not great, Elmo. Not great,” says one milder reply. Doing much better is the viral phenomenon called “BARBENHEIMER,” which makes its awards season debut at the GOLDEN GLOBES . But perhaps the most poignant moment comes from neither film: LILY GLADSTONE , first Indigenous winner of best actress in a drama for “Killers of the Flower Moon,” begins her remarks in the language of her tribe, Blackfeet Nation. Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce (87) kisses Taylor Swift on Feb. 11 after the Kansas City Chiefs defeated the San Francisco 49ers in overtime during the NFL Super Bowl 58 football game in Las Vegas. Valentine’s Day — a perfect time to settle into a sweet love saga via TikTok. Only that’s not quite what we get with “Who TF Did I Marry?,” REESA TEESA ’s depressing, fascinating, 50-part account of her disastrous marriage with a man who lied about absolutely everything. Meanwhile, if you're looking for a single week that encapsulates peak SWIFT cultural dominance , try this: she begins with the Grammys in Los Angeles (becoming the first artist to win album of the year four times AND announcing a new album), then heads to Tokyo for four tour dates, then jets back just in time for the Super Bowl in Las Vegas — where she shares a passionate smooch with boyfriend TRAVIS KELCE on the field of victory. Ryan Gosling performs the song "I'm Just Ken" from the movie "Barbie" on March 10 during the Oscars at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. “What was I made for?” BILLIE EILISH sings at the OSCARS, channeling BARBIE . And what was KEN made for? Not entirely clear — but it's clear RYAN GOSLING was made to play him. His singalong version of “I’m Just Ken” is one of the most entertaining Oscar musical moments in years. Still, Christopher Nolan's “OPPENHEIMER” prevails, a rare case of the top prize going to a blockbuster studio film. Will it happen again in 2025? CYNTHIA ERIVO and ARIANA GRANDE sure hope so; as presenters, they make a sly reference to their upcoming juggernaut, “WICKED.” Speaking of marketing, people are obsessed with that bizarre “DUNE” popcorn bucket. Beyonce And BEYONCÉ carves her space in country music with “Act II: Cowboy Carter,” which will make her the first Black woman to top the Billboard country chart. Taylor Swift performs June 21 at Wembley Stadium in London as part of her Eras Tour. Tennis, anyone? The game’s been around for centuries, but it’s having a cultural moment right now, helped mightily by “CHALLENGERS,” the sweaty romance triangle starring ZENDAYA, MIKE FAIST and JOSH O'CONNOR (40-love? More like 40-sex.) Elsewhere, a new era dawns: At midnight, SWIFT drops “THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT," then drops another 15 songs two hours later. The fascinating and disturbing “BABY REINDEER,” the story of a struggling comedian’s extended encounter with a stalker, debuts on Netflix. Ben Affleck, left, and Jennifer Lopez arrive Feb. 13 at the premiere of "This Is Me ... Now: A Love Story" at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. It’s MET GALA time — or as it's known in 2024, another early marketing moment for “WICKED.” ERIVO and GRANDE make fashion waves on the carpet and then musical ones at dinner, with a soulful performance of “When You Believe.” If the “Wicked” tour is in full force, another one stops in its tracks: JENNIFER LOPEZ cancels her summer tour amid reports of both poor ticket sales and trouble in her marriage to BEN AFFLECK . It’s been an eventful year for J.Lo, who's released an album and movie called “THIS IS ME ... NOW" — both reflections on her renewed love with Affleck. Welcome to BRAT SUMMER ! CHARLI XCX releases her hit “Brat” album , with its lime green cover, and launches a thousand memes. Collins Dictionary defines “brat,” its word of the year, as “characterized by a confident, independent, and hedonistic attitude.” At the celeb-heavy SWIFT shows in London, we see PRINCE WILLIAM shaking it off, which is either charming or cringe, you decide. Even better: KELCE dons a top hat and tux and performs for one night. At another stadium across the pond, METS infielder JOSE IGLESIAS delights the crowd with his cheery number “OMG.” Stephen Nedoroscik is introduced June 29 at the United States Gymnastics Olympic Trials in Minneapolis. Bonjour, it’s OLYMPICS time! In Paris! An audacious opening ceremony along the Seine is punctuated by a fabulous CELINE DION , perched on the EIFFEL TOWER , singing her heart out — in the rain, too. Controversy swirls over a scene critics feel mocks Leonardo da Vinci’s “The Last Supper” (organizers say it does not). Olympic stars are born — including French swimming superstar LEON MARCHAND , rugby player ILONA MAHER , and bespectacled “Pommel Horse Guy” gymnast STEPHEN NEDOROSCIK , who nets two bronze medals and comparisons to Clark Kent. Baby pigmy hippo Moo Deng plays with a zookeeper Sept. 19 in the Khao Kheow Open Zoo in Chonburi province, Thailand. Also capturing hearts: yep, MOO DENG , born this month. Her name means “bouncy pork.” Australia's Rachael Gunn, known as B-Girl Raygun, competes Aug. 9 during the Round Robin Battle at the breaking competition at La Concorde Urban Park at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, France. This is them ... now: BENNIFER is no more. After two decades, two engagements and two weddings, J.Lo files for divorce. One union dissolves, another returns: OASIS announces a reunion tour. Everyone seems to want to get in on TikToker JOOLS LEBRON 's “ DEMURE, MINDFUL ” act — even the WHITE HOUSE press team. Back at the Olympics, in the new sport of breaking, we meet Australia’s RAYGUN , arguably neither demure nor mindful with her “kangaroo” move. Los Angeles Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani brings his dog Decoy to the mound Aug. 28 before Decoy delivered the ceremonial first pitch prior to a baseball game between the Dodgers and the Baltimore Orioles in Los Angeles. Cute animal alert: SHOHEI OHTANI ’s perky pooch DECOY does a great “first pitch” in his Major League Baseball debut. Chappell Roan performs "Good Luck, Babe" on Sept. 11 during the MTV Video Music Awards at UBS Arena in Elmont, N.Y. One of the year’s biggest breakout artists, CHAPPELL ROAN , withdraws from a music festival after speaking out about frightening fan interactions. And more on the price of fame: In an excruciating moment, “Bachelorette” JENN TRAN , the franchise’s first Asian American lead, is forced to sit through a painful viewing of her proposal to her chosen suitor, after tearfully explaining how he’d later dumped her over the phone. Tran is keeping busy though — she’s announced as part of the new “Dancing with the Stars” lineup. Also on the list: rugby player Maher, and Pommel Horse Guy! Also, ANNA SOROKIN , dancing with an ankle monitor. Online fandom, meanwhile, is shaken when X is temporarily suspended in Brazil and celebrity stan accounts post tearful farewells, revealing to many across the globe that their favorite accounts are run by Brazilians. Miles Mitchell, 21, wins of the Timothee Chalamet lookalike contest Oct. 27 near Washington Square Park in New York. “Dune” Chalamets! “Wonka” Chalamets! Thousands gather in Manhattan for a TIMOTHÉE CHALAMET lookalike contest, and things really get interesting when Chalamet himself shows up. He doesn’t enter the contest, though, and with his mustache, he may not even have won. The trend continues with contests for JEREMY ALLEN WHITE, ZAYN MALIK and — in a very Washington version — Kennedy scion JACK SCHLOSSBERG , who's been gathering a following with some interesting social media posts. New York Liberty Kennedy Burke dances with the mascot, Ellie the Elephant, during an Oct. 24 ceremony after a parade in honor of the Liberty's WNBA basketball championship at City Hall in New York. Turning to basketball, who’s that dancing with USHER ? Why it’s ELLIE THE ELEPHANT , the now-viral NEW YORK LIBERTY mascot. Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, right, appears Nov. 2 with Maya Rudolph on NBC's "Saturday Night Live" in New York. MAYA RUDOLPH does a pretty good KAMALA HARRIS laugh on “Saturday Night Live,” but you know who does it better? HARRIS herself. The Democratic candidate makes a surprise cameo three days before the U.S. presidential election, following in the footsteps of HILLARY CLINTON , SARAH PALIN and others. Elsewhere in television, Bravo announces that “VANDERPUMP RULES,” the Emmy-nominated reality show that has lived through countless scandals, is entirely recasting its 12th season — apart from namesake LISA VANDERPUMP . As for MOO DENG , she doesn't have her own TV series yet, but our favorite pygmy hippo is generating plenty of merch . And THAT brings us back to ... Ariana Grande, left, and Cynthia Erivo pose for photographers Nov. 11 prior to the premiere of "Wicked" at Auditorio Nacional in Mexico City. “WICKED” ! Director JON M. CHU ’s emerald-hued fantasy remains very very popular, to quote one of its buzzy show tunes, dancing through life and defying gravity at the multiplex. Moviegoers also come for “GLADIATOR II” and, in a veritable tidal wave, Disney's “MOANA 2,” which beckons us back to the seas of Oceania. Once again, 2024 seems to be telling us: Give people some whimsy, a place to escape, maybe some catchy tunes — and no one knows how far they’ll go. The stories and images that defined 2024. Searching for something? From queries about U.S. politics to cricket in India, Wikipedia has become a source of information for millions of people across the globe. From the Paris Olympics to the Super Bowl. From Simone Biles to Shohei Ohtani. And, of course, Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift. These are the sp... AP photographers assembled a visual catalog of our civilization as life in 2024 hurtled directly at us at every speed and in every imaginable ... In 2024, photographers captured glimpses of humanity, ranging from a deeply divisive presidential election, to hurricanes and fires that ravag... Associated Press photographers captured voters with raw emotions of joy, excitement, contemplation or sorrow. See entertainment's biggest moments in 2024, through the lens of Associated Press photographers. It beat five other finalists: demure, slop, dynamic pricing, romantasy and lore. News anchors, politicians and other public figures in the U.S. struggled with these words the most this year. Is it any surprise Merriam-Webster's word of the year is "polarization"? Here are the other words that rounded out the top 10 for 2024. Receive the latest in local entertainment news in your inbox weekly!Fury as Labour were warned MONTHS ago by Vauxhall owners that electric car targets threatened Luton factory By DAVID CHURCHIL CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT Published: 17:32 EST, 27 November 2024 | Updated: 17:32 EST, 27 November 2024 e-mail View comments Ministers came under fire today after admitting they were warned months ago that a Vauxhall factory could close because of electric car sales targets. Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds told the Commons that the boss of Stellantis, which owns Vauxhall, first warned him just 10 days after the election in mid-July. But he failed to launch a review of the EV sales mandate until this week - too late to save the Luton-based factory and up to 1,100 jobs. During a heated debate in the Commons, the Tories ’ business spokesman Andrew Griffith jumped on the admission, accusing the Government of ‘killing’ jobs by dragging its feet. It came as industry figures obtained by the Daily Mail revealed that less than one in five EVs have been sold to private buyers this year, plunging Labour’s net-zero plans deeper into chaos. Between January and October just 19.8 per cent of EVs were sold to private motorists, with businesses buying the rest. This was down from 23.5 per cent for the same period last year. It is a major blow for the Government’s target of banning new petrol and diesel car sales by 2030 - which it brought forward five years - because convincing more than 30million drivers to make the switch to EVs is one of the biggest hurdles it faces. Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds told the Commons that the boss of Stellantis, which owns Vauxhall, first warned him just 10 days after the election in mid-July. But he failed to launch a review of the EV sales mandate until this week Today the chairman of Ford in Britain, Lisa Brankin (pictured), said the car giant supports the Government’s net-zero ambitions but that there currently ‘isn’t customer demand’ for EVs The Vauxhall factory in Luton. Ministers came under fire today after admitting they were warned months ago that a Vauxhall factory could close because of electric car sales targets Today the chairman of Ford in Britain, Lisa Brankin, said the car giant supports the Government’s net-zero ambitions but that there currently ‘isn’t customer demand’ for EVs, telling BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: ‘Without demand the [sales] mandate just doesn’t work.’ She called on the government to create financial incentives for private buyers to stimulate demand. By contrast, businesses enjoy tax breaks if they buy EVs. Stellantis announced the closure of the Vauxhall van-making factory on Tuesday, putting around 1,100 jobs at risk. The firm said the sales targets, known as the ‘ZEV mandate’ and initially introduced by the previous Tory government, were partly to blame. Ministers are now expected to drastically water down the mandate. Quizzed in the Commons about how long he’d known that the Vauxhall factory was under threat, Mr Reynolds said he was informed ten days after the election by Stellantis’s CEO. Mr Griffith replied: ‘The government’s policy on zero-emission vehicles is a jobs killer. They say they have been talking [to Stellantis] since July. ‘So why, Mr Speaker, this panicked U-turn when it’s already too late?’ He added: ‘The closure of the Luton plant, I fear, is just a downpayment on jobs that will be lost under this Government’s relentless attacks on industry, its neglect of the realities of business and its failure to meet its promise not to raise taxes.’ Vauxhall factory in Luton. Stellantis announced the closure of the Vauxhall van-making factory on Tuesday, putting around 1,100 jobs at risk During a heated debate in the Commons, the Tories ’ business spokesman Andrew Griffith jumped on the admission, accusing the Government of ‘killing’ jobs by dragging its feet Mr Reynolds hit back, saying the attack was ‘the single most dishonest statement I have heard’ because it was the Tories who introduced the ZEV mandate. But he was accused of hypocrisy by Tory MP Saqib Bhatti, who pointed out that Mr Reynolds voted in favour of the sales mandate when it went through the Commons. Under the mandate, at least 22 per cent of new cars sold by manufacturers in the UK this year must have zero-emission capability. For vans it is 10 per cent. This is set to increase to 28 per cent next year and will rise each year over the next decade - to 80 per cent in 2030 and 100 per cent in 2035. 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