Nashville vs Eyes Wide Shut, The Player vs *The Shining—*the latest episode of the GQ Hype Debate takes calling yourself a film buff to a whole new level as Jeremy Allen White and Lionel Boyce argue over who deserves the title of being the greatest film director of all time: Stanley Kubrick or Robert Altman.
The debate is broken down into three parts: an opening statement, three 60 second question rounds and a closing statement. Also, this time around, the episode has a customized “bullshit flag” that each debater can use once to call out their opponent’s bullshit.
Boyce starts off strong with his opening statement in defense of Robert Altman directoral talents. “He is the most artistically diverse filmmaker,” Boyce claims. This statement is met with an immediate “bullshit” from Allen White as he waves the bullshit flag in Boyce’s face. A strategic move by Allen White to throw Boyce off his game early on? Boyce thinks so, “You know what you can have that,” refutes Boyce. “That’s a part of your strategy, you can take it.”
The duo move onto the question rounds. When asked to speak on Kubrick’s breadth of work, Allen White makes a bold claim. “There’s almost no incredibly accomplished director living today that hasn’t sighted Kubrick as a huge and massive influence in their work,” says Allen White. There is no sign of a bullshit flag on that one from Boyce.
Watch until the end, when one contestant makes a shocking confession before he accedes to his opponent. He asked GQ to edit out his confession, but… we didn’t.
