Slate's Culture Blog

Nov. 5 2014 12:57 PM

Hollywood Really Loves This Famous Dylan Thomas Poem

By Chris Wade

You may have noticed that Michael Caine recites part of Dylan Thomas’ famous villanelle, “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night” in the trailer for Christopher Nolan’s new sci-fi epic, Interstellar. Well, in the movie, you don’t hear the poem just once—you hear it four different times.

Which got us thinking about all the other times characters on TV and in the movies have recited this beloved poem. The most memorable recitation? With apologies to Michael Caine and his fellow Brit Simon Pegg, I think Rodney Dangerfield has given the Welsh poet’s work its most stirring rendition.

Previously
The New Insterstellar Trailer Is the Most Exciting Yet

News & Politics

Politics

Nov. 6 2014 6:04 PM Pipeline Politics President Obama has been stalling on Keystone XL for years. Now he finally has to make a decision. Josh Voorhees

Can You Create a Formula to Predict Genocide?

How Do America’s Abortion Laws Compare to the Rest of the World’s?

What Does the Republican Victory Mean for Hillary Clinton?

Are Photographs of Eradicated Diseases and Antiquated Treatments History or Just Horror?

What Republicans Can Learn From Democrats About How to Get Things Done

The Supreme Court Has More Fun Than Ought to Be Legal Arguing About Shrimpy Grouper

Business

Moneybox

Nov. 6 2014 5:19 PM Lyft Sues Former COO for Stealing Confidential Documents Alison Griswold

Sweden’s Postal Service Is Putting Robyn, Max Martin, and Avicii on Stamps

Tea Partier Says Republicans Lack Sweeping Legislative Mandate, Should Enact Sweeping Legislative Mandate Anyway

There's a Better Way to Board an Airplane, but Airlines Aren't Using It

Whole Foods “Values Matter” Turnaround Campaign Might Actually Be Working

How to Bring Tech Jobs Back to the United States

The Perks of Amazon Prime Are Now Available Beyond Amazon

Life

Outward

Nov. 6 2014 5:18 PM 6th Circuit Upholds Gay Marriage Bans, Inviting SCOTUS Intervention Mark Joseph Stern

A Song About Gay Love and Pot Smoking Just Won Country Music’s Song of the Year. Really.

Dancing Queen Brendan Jordan Is More Than Just a Viral Sensation

Is the 2014 John Lewis Ad Heterosexist? No, It’s a Capitalist Plot.

Gays Harbor Demons and Wear Diapers. Meet the Craziest Anti-Gay Legislator in America.

A Better-Phrased Sentence Could Have Saved This Woman “From Her Marriage to Her Dog”

The Soviet-Era Railways Run By Children

Double X

The XX Factor

Nov. 6 2014 4:37 PM What Happened to Wendy Davis? Amanda Marcotte

These Ridiculous New York Times Pregnancy Fitness Videos Are Making Me Miserable

Sexual Assault, Football, and a Mole Inside the Air Force Academy

Revenge of the White Male Voter

Next Up for the Personhood Movement: Targeting a City Near You

There Are 100 Women in Congress for the First Time Ever

Two Major Female Democrats in Close Senate Races Lose. What Does This Mean for Hillary?

Slate Plus

Tv Club

Nov. 6 2014 5:59 PM The American Horror Story: Freak Show Podcast, Episode 5 The “Pink Cupcakes” edition. J. Bryan Lowder and Willa Paskin

Slate Plus Sneak Peek: The Walking Dead Podcast Recaps Episode 4

Slate’s Working Podcast, Episode 4 Transcript: The Workday of a Rock Star

Nine Questions With Slate Home Page Editor Seth Maxon (Video)

Doctor Who Podcast: Phil Plait and Laura Helmuth Recap Episode 11

Arts

Books

Nov. 6 2014 3:49 PM Rather Hopeless Anthony Powell’s bleak first book is the funniest novel you’ve never read. Blake Bailey

You Can Finally Download Azealia Banks’ Debut Album

A New Biography Introduces Us to the Real Penelope Fitzgerald

The Right Way to Drink Water, and Four Other Mind-Blowing Food Hacks from Clickhole

In Pop Music Today, There’s the 1 Percent, and There’s Everybody Else

I Took Bulletproof Coffee’s Challenge. I Still Don’t Like Butter in Coffee.

The Title for Star Wars: Episode VII Has Been Announced

Technology

Future Tense

Nov. 6 2014 6:18 PM El Niño Is Sputtering. Why I (and Almost Everyone Else) Was Wrong Eric Holthaus

Out of Nowhere, Amazon Is Releasing a Speaker That’s Also an Always-On Personal Assistant

Astronauts Play With Blobs of Water in Zero Gravity. Yes.

Will the Family Survive the Revolution in Reproductive Technology? A Future Tense Event.

The FCC’s Net Neutrality Trial Balloon Should Never Fly

Rehabbing Abandoned Video Games Should Be Legal

Dating Site Has to Pay Up After Sharing Users’ STI Statuses

Health & Science

Space: The Next Generation

Nov. 6 2014 10:27 AM Interstellar Science What the movie gets wrong and really wrong about black holes, relativity, plot, and dialogue. Phil Plait

Watch a Porcupine Go Head-to-Head with a Pride of Lions

A Dusty Disk Heralds the Birth of a New Solar System

Alabama’s New Constitutional Amendment Overrules the Supreme Court on Gay Rights and the Death Penalty

If You Want to Survive a Black Hole Encounter, Bring a Friend

The New York Times Says Science Isn’t Sexist. Great News? Let’s Look at the Data.

The Unfortunately All-Too-Real-World Effects If Republicans Win the Senate Today

Sports

Sports Nut

Oct. 31 2014 6:32 PM Michigan Fans 1, Dave Brandon 0 The resignation of the Wolverines’ villainous athletic director is why we like college sports. Ben Mathis-Lilley

How LeBron James and Cleveland Found Their Way Back to Each Other

Introducing Slate’s Marathon Time Predictor—a Better Way to Calculate How Fast You’ll Run 

Should the Royals’ Alex Gordon Have Tried to Dash Home to Tie Game 7 of the World Series?

NBA Stars Aren’t Superheroes. They Break Just Like the Rest of Us Puny Humans.

Kyrie on My Wayward Son, and 2014’s Other Most Popular Fantasy Basketball Team Names

Just One Pitcher in Baseball History Had a Better Postseason Than Madison Bumgarner’s 2014