While the country spirals to shit I’ve been up binge watching.
Movies
Like Father (2018) – Netflix
Okay so Netflix has kicked up their romcom/chick flick game. Everything is supreme HD and makes your Friday night heart happy. Like Father is about Kristen Bell leaving her fiance at the altar and accidentally getting wasted and going on the honeymoon cruise with her estranged father, Kelsey Grammer. On the boat she meats Seth Rogen. It was cute and predictable and everything you want a chick flick to be.
Demitri Martin : Overthinker (2018) – Netflix
I’ve been a fan of Demitri’s comedy for a long long time and this special is fun if you are already a fan. He’s extremely quirky and plays guitar and does drawings. So that kind of comedy.
Ex Machina (2014) – Netflix
Okay so y’all know I’m a card carrying member of the #OscarIsaacSisterhood but somehow I just never sat and watched Ex Machina. Oscar is the owner of a high tech company and an employee gets to come to his home in the woods to help with a special project. It’s like an absolute perfect episode of Black Mirror and I’m so mad I just now saw it. I MEAN OSCAR IS BALD WITH A BEARD and shirtless a lot of the movie. Also though it’s very good. Also Oscar.
To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before (2018) – Netflix
See aforementioned statment about Netflix RomComs. This is peak teen romcom. You will fall in love with Peter Kavinsky. I will probably read the trilogy of books. Maybe.
BlacKKKlansman (2018)
Right. So let me first say that while I appreciate what Spike Lee has done for black cinema, I am not a giant Spike Lee fan. I’ve seen his movies and I mean, I get it, but okay. Anyway we went to see BlacKKKlansman and it’s not without it’s faults but it was good. Even slightly entertaining. But the last ten minutes of the movie is unscensored footage (I mean cell phone video) from the Charlottesville, NC protests and I purposely did not watch it but also purposely avoided twitter chatter of the movie so when it happened I was not ready.
Upgrade (2018)
Okay so this is like in some future where robotics are everywhere (think Minority Report) except this one guy still repairs old cars and he’s tapped to help a millionaire tech guy (somehow this is not tied to Ex Machina) but him and his wife get killed before they can help tech guy. Tech Guy then implants Mechanic Guy with a robot that helps him walk again and subsequently hunt down the killers and kick their ass.
HOLY BALLS this movie is full of graphic, violence, but oooooooohman. OH MAN. Adrenaline amped up.
The Female Brain (2017)
Whitney Cummings wrote a movie that’s basically a 2017 of one of my favorite romantic comedies, Someone Like You. Except this is less funny and less romantic. And also Blake Griffin is in it and plays…a basketball player.
It’s on Hulu so it was worth watching on Hulu maybe. MAYBE.
4/10 rating units
Carrie Pilby (2016)
I read Carrie Pilby in like 2001 when I first discovered Red Dress Ink chick lit books. It’s about a 19 year old Harvard graduate who is too smart for her own good and has to learn how to make friends with people and navigate relationships. I remember the book being good but the movie was just okay. It’s on Netflix. But read the book.
TV
Casual (Hulu) – S3, S4
The good thing about shows on streaming services is that they plan to end and can give you closure. S3 of Casual was good and S4 started off rocky but it was such a solid ending to the series. SOLID. (read about S1, S2 here).
Sharp Objects (Limited Series) – HBO
UGHHHHHHHHHHH. Every week I was waiting for answers and I tweeted my complaints and people would be like “do you even know how to watch mysteries”. Bitch shutup this HBO I need drama. And it was good but it could have been 3 episodes tops. It didn’t need to be 8. Patricia Clarkson will win the emmys. Amy Adams will win the emmys. I will not read the book.
The Good Place – S1, S2
OMG I haven’t laughed out loud at scripted TV in so long. Kristen Bell wakes up dead and finds out that she got into The Good Place. Except…she doesn’t belong there.
It is soooooo good and sooooo funny. Except now S3 is on NBC in real time and I am coming down off a strong binge of the show so time is not on my side and I get angry.
Watch it. 5 / 5 rating units.
Insecure – S3 (HBO)*
*Technically I finished watching on 10/2 but the season ended 9/29 so thanks to HBO Go and wifi at lunch for letting me finish when I wanted.
This was a solid season of Insecure and probably my favorite because it focused more on character growth than just relationships but it was not enough closure. I’m hoping they’re setting up for S4 to be solid and maybe the last season of the show. Binge watching has me wanting things to end in a timely fashion, like the British do.
Also the direction of lighting and wardrobe on this show is just so so so so good.
Books
The Nest – Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney
4 siblings are waiting to get their inheritance from their mom when the youngest sibling turns 40, which is in a couple of months. However, the oldest sibling gets into some legal trouble and they have to use The Nest to bail him out even though he has the most money of them all.
It’s a story told from multiple viewpoints and the book was very good and I was staying up late to read it while I listened to ocean sounds on Spotify (thanks whoever dropped that gem on twitter). Except I was not satisfied with the ending. I think it’ll probably be a TV show. Or maybe a decent movie like how they did This Is Where I Leave You.
85/100 rating units
The Incendiaries – R. O. Kwon (audible)
This book was on all of the “read this book this summer” lists. And it was a short book but I told myself to stop buying hardcover books so I got the audible.
The story alternates between Will (first person), Phoebe (from Will’s perspective), and John Leal (a cult leader). Will used to be a devout Christian but left the church and has arrived at college. Phoebe and Will meet and Phoebe gets involved with John Leal (see: cult) and Will tries to keep her in check. And it was interesting until one scene towards the end took me out of the whole thing and soured everything. And I don’t get must read lists. 3/5 rating units.
My Year of Rest and Relaxation – Otessa Moshfegh (audible)
Finally. FINALLY! A book from one perspective and one tense and one solid timeline of time. A girl decides that she is going to send herself into a medicated sleep most of the year from like June 2000 to July 2001. Mostly it’s a tale of depression and despair and an extreme case of a quarter year crisis (aren’t they all extreme?). Either way while it was a heavy subject it was just good to read from one character’s point of view. Isn’t that crazy?
Also they mention the twin towers several times and when you finally catch the year you’re like “oh this will include September 11th” and I have to brace myself when I read things about September 11th and Columbine cause those were my formative years and why I binge watch terror news.
Music
Two incredibly important things.
One day in 1983, Prince sat down on a piano with a microphone in and recorded himself playing for like 38 minutes. It’s probably one of a bajillion recordings. And then, at the end of September 2018, they released that recording for me to listen to on Spotify. And also I bought the album. Also one of the songs was featured in those last 10 minutes of Blackkkansman. Also I felt a way when I streamed the album cause I know what Prince was for and what he wasn’t for but also why did he record it if he didn’t want me to have it???????????
While I didn’t care for Sharp Objects, I did enjoy the music on the show. And because of it I found a Puerto Rican band from New Orleans (I know!) called Hurray for the Riff Raff. One of the songs on the outro of the show was Pa’Lante and then I had to look up the words and the meaning : go forward, go ahead.
I’m looking forward to new music from Emily King, and Anderson.Paak. Serial S3 back to it’s podcasty goodness. Big Mouth S2 starts today (10/5). Flight of the Conchords has a new HBO special out 10/6 (these are my birthday miracles I share with you). I really really want to see The Oath with Ike Barinholtz and Tiffany Haddish, and Bad Times at the El Royal Casino. Jasmine Guillory has a new book out at the end of this month AND she’s coming to Houston for a book signing. Hooray!
What are you watching/reading/listening to?
Let me tell you, I am not ready for the new FOTC special. I’ve been waiting 11 years for this and can.not.wait. The only way I could love those guys more is if they had gray hair and by god, they’ve done it. Sexy kiwis.