What I Watched
TV
Yellowjackets: It’s nice when something is good enough to justify the sheer amount of hype.
Station Eleven: I read the novel for the first time last year and loved it, and the television adaptation does not disappoint, despite some fairly significant changes. Per Dejan Jotanovic, “Mackenzie Davis' performance in Station Eleven completely rehabilitates her character in The Happiest Season.” This Gawker review of the show really resonated with me given all of the ruminating I’ve been doing on ethics, restorative justice, and what we owe each other recently, particularly this line: “Most of all, it’s about the hope that people are basically good, that trauma is survivable, and that any stranger — no matter how lost or wild — can be made into a friend.”
The Sex Lives of College Girls: Created by Mindy Kaling, so you know it’s going to be funny, but it also has several moments of seriousness befitting a show about being a college-aged girl in the 21st century.
Movies
The Worst Person In The World: No notes. One of the best movies I’ve seen in recent memory. Every woman in her 20s/30s should watch this.
Licorice Pizza: Immediately after leaving the cinema, I wrote on Letterboxd, “This did nothing for me, I’m sorry. It didn’t strike me as a romance, particularly; if anything, it feels like a coming of age story, or just a story about young adulthood, but the romance is incredibly lacklustre, bordering on non-existent. Which is fine, but marketing it as a romance feels misleading as a result. Alana Haim’s performance was solid though, and the sets, costumes, and cinematography were excellent.”
Since then, my opinion of the film has improved somewhat, and I find myself appreciating the depiction of 1970s suburban Los Angeles more and more. However, I maintain that the ‘romance’ aspect fell completely flat.House of Gucci: This was fine. Good performances from Lady Gaga and Adam Driver, even Jared Leto, loathe as I am to pay him a compliment. The movie is tonally all over the place, and that combined with a highly condensed timeline that isn’t clearly demarcated in the movie, makes for a confusing viewing experience. A spiritual successor to All The Money In The World, in that both films are about obscenely wealthy and powerful families, and both are two of the weaker films in Scott’s filmography.
The Lost Daughter: This is a very strong directorial debut from Maggie Gyllenhaal, and while I knew Olivia Colman would be fantastic, I was also very impressed by Jessie Buckley. More movies should be filmed in Greece.
Red Rocket: Sean Baker does it again. I wholeheartedly agree with Demi Adejuyigbe’s review: “Sean Baker is one of our finest directors, just making the most rewatchable, rich slices of Americana. far more comedic than the Florida Project, but darker in a much quieter way.”
Other recommendations: Pleasure, Nitram, The French Dispatch, The Hating Game
Movies I’m looking forward to: Parallel Mothers, Petite Maman, Am I OK, Call Jane, Emily the Criminal, Happening
What I Read
Longreads
The Great Offline: Expertly dismantles the colonial concept of ‘the wilderness’ and argues that the concept of ‘going offline’ is its spiritual successor, and has inherited the same flaws.
“Take Her Down”: Inside eBay’s Stalking Campaign against a Natick Couple: A story of eBay execs being absolutely, criminally, unhinged.
How a Married Undercover Cop Having Sex With Activists Killed a Climate Movement: The lengths cops will go to to destroy progressive causes is unhinged.
On ‘Succession’, Jeremy Strong Doesn’t Get The Joke: The profile that prompted Jessica Chastain to publish a statement from Aaron Sorkin, who doesn’t use Twitter.
A QAnon con: How the viral Wayfair sex trafficking lie hurt real kids: Remember the hubbub over the expensive cabinets that QAnon supporters claimed represented kidnapped children? Victims of that conspiracy theory are still dealing with the aftermath.
Anna Marie Tendler Turns the Lens on Herself: An interview with John Mulaney’s now ex-wife. Hearing from her after hearing from literally everyone else on earth about this breakup was illuminating. Bonus: here’s her breakup playlist on Spotify.
“Is This Acting or Is This F***ing Therapy?”: Nicolas Cage, Andrew Garfield, Jonathan Majors and the THR Actor Roundtable: Nicolas Cage talks developing PTSD from an unruly horse and not getting cast in The Godfather Part III, Andrew Garfield is an absolutely sweetheart, other actors are there too (and they also have valuable contributions to the discussion etc.)
Books
Boy Parts by Eliza Clark: This is one of the most interesting books I’ve read in a while, and one of the more unique entrants to the ‘unlikable female protagonist’ genre
Love & Virtue by Diana Reid: I’m potentially biased as this is very much a complicated-feelings-letter to my alma mater, but I do believe this is a genuinely fantastic debut from a young Australian writer.
Exciting Times by Naoise Dolan: Ennui. Just so much ennui. Ennui and being Irish in Hong Kong and being in a relationship neither party is willing to label as such.
Trivial Grievances by Bridie Jabour: I’m not quite in my 30s yet, but it can’t hurt to be prepared, right?
Tell Me I’m Worthless by Alison Rumfitt: This book is incredibly messed up, and for those unused to horror fiction, I would recommend treading lightly. Having said that, this book is fantastically written, incredibly visceral, and thoroughly disturbing – it will probably stay with me for a while yet.
Bodies of Light by Jennifer Down: Deeply engrossing, empathetic, and insightful.
Books releases I’m excited for: Acts of Service, Book Lovers, The Candy House, Young Mungo, Trust
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