Television
The Simpsons (Disney +)
We are on a break! 35 seasons requires an intermission.
The Big Door Prize (AppleTV+)
Season one is fine. I don’t really care about any of the characters and I think that is what makes this show a low priority to me. I understand why Apple didn’t renew it for a third season.
Starting season 2 now.
Let me say this: I almost didn’t watch season 2. In my brain, I was like, “Man, I don’t love season one; none of the characters are really grabbing me. Should I even continue?” I felt kind of like the only reason I was watching was for Lance from The Other Two.
I’m so glad I didn’t listen. Season 2 is a delight. It’s much brighter somehow, and I’m invested in storylines. I’ve even found myself with tears running down my face a couple of times. Especially an episode featuring Mr. Johnson, who is the owner of the store where the Morpho machine is.
I dunno. It was like the first season was tearing the town and the people in it apart, and the second season is bringing them back together. In a bunch of weird ways, of course.
Episode 8: Our Town with Wrestling? Okay, this kind of works. I would go see this production!
Look, I was okay with there not being any more seasons of this show at the end of the first season. Now I want more. This second season was wonderful.
Shrinking (AppleTV+)
No notes. I want this show to go on forever. Jason Segel is breaking my heart.
Bad Sisters (AppleTV+)
Omg, I need more of this immediately. The bottom somehow dropped even further this week. There was a bombshell with Ian and then we find out that the person we thought was dead is NOT?! Who is the dead person then?!
Ahhh, the way they have completely flipped some of these characters. The writing is so brilliant. Shows don’t often keep me guessing, but this one does every single episode.
I don’t know if getting caught up was such a good idea. I need more, right now.
Mr. In Between (Hulu)
The other day, I took to my Valley Of Oh group to ask for folks to suggest me a TV show. It’s hard to suggest me a show – I’ve seen a lot. And my brain almost always has super-specific requirements.
This time it was looking for a drama/comedy of around 30 minutes. In my heart, I wanted to rewatch Search Party because of season 4 and Cole Escola. In my other heart, I was looking for something with the vibes of Bad Sisters or Shrinking.
I felt bad cause everything folks suggested I had either seen already, or it was on Netflix, so bah, those are out.
So, I whined to my kid, who probably understands my taste better than anyone. After about 30 minutes of back and forth, she threw this show out. She had never seen it before, but it came highly recommended from her friends with taste. It has also come up A LOT on lists that include shows that I already love.
Plus, it hit two big Jacki flags: it’s Australian, and it’s on FX.
At first, I thought it was just a crime show with good dialogue, but it didn’t take long to see that this show is much more than that. In the same way that Barry and Brockmire are more than their surface stories.
There’s a lot of depth here. And a lot of softness that I wasn’t expecting.
I powerwatched the first season (6 short episodes) in one sitting. I’m excited for what’s next.
Season 2 is even better, and gosh, it makes me happy to see characters like this having conversations like they do on this show. It’s hard and soft at the same time in the best way.
Pop Culture Jeopardy / 1 % Club (Amazon Prime)
These are our trivia/dystopia shows.
SNL
I don’t like Martin Short, and it didn’t feel like the cast did either. He was rarely in a scene with more than one cast member.
Australian TV (Or Dropout TV)
Australian Survivor Heroes vs. Villains
Here is a trailer for the newest season of Australian Survivor:
I will miss watching this season live with Molls, y’all.
Movies
Conclave (Peacock)
THIS WAS SO GOOD.
I watched it out of duty – it’s gonna be a big name in the Oscar race, and I’m just getting a jump start on watching the potential best pic nominees.
But then, I got sucked all the way in.
Here’s the description from the pros:
Cardinal Lawrence is tasked with one of the world’s most secretive and ancient events — participating in the selection of a new pope. Surrounded by powerful religious leaders in the halls of the Vatican, he soon uncovers a trail of deep secrets that could shake the very foundation of the Roman Catholic Church.
Sounds pretty boring, right?!
WRONG!
Do you love learning about secret rituals that rarely see the light of day?!
Do you enjoy the drama of the repeated votes on Survivor?!
Do you like jury duty? The concept of it, at least?
Do you like movies starring Stanley Tucci and Isabella Rossellini that aren’t Big Night (the best food movie of all time, in case you were wondering)?
Do you like films where every single scene looks like an actual painting?
This is your movie.
It was compelling the entire duration. The dialogue was excellent, and the acting by all parties was impeccable.
So, I just did a jaunt to IMDB for more information on this film. It was directed by Edward Berger, who did another movie I watched out of duty for the Oscars, but ended up loving – All Quiet on the Western Front.
I’d be fine with him getting another Best Director nod for this. And on the acting front, I don’t think Lithgow or Rosellini deserve nods, but Ralph Fiennes and Stanley Tucci absolutely do.
I don’t think anything is win-worthy, though.
Maybe Art Direction – this movie was lush AF. Watch it so we can talk about it?
Challengers (Amazon Prime)
Don’t judge me. It’s good.
Also, I just grabbed this shot because I wanted some of the tennis action in this edition of me talking about this movie.
But then I thought… I bet this movie is STUNNING in Imax. The tennis games must be electric on a big all-encompassing screen like that. And then the score bumping all around me?! Ugh, I wish I could go see it after I’ve been in love with it like this.
I did that with RRR a couple years ago (not in Imax, just on a big screen) and it was an excellent decision. I was gonna do it with Triangle of Sadness the next week (I was OBSESSSSSSED with that movie, y’all), but it was gone by then, sadly.
I shoulda done a doubleheader.
I actually watched this movie twice this week. oops.
It is somehow better each and every viewing.
On this one, I noticed how well Luca Guadagnino captures that feeling of early attraction.
Stand Up Comedy
Brooks Wheelan – Live in Alaska (800 Pound Gorilla YouTube)
Watch here.
Watching that Andrew Polk special really reignited my comedy flame, so I made an effort this week to watch another special. And, by “made an effort,” I mean that I messaged three people whose comedy brains I respect and asked them what independent comedy specials they are loving right now.
“Brooks Wheelan in Alaska” was the first (almost immediate) response I got, and I was (again, almost immediately) IN on this special.
If you are a lifelong SNL fan like I am, you might recognize Brooks Wheelan from this short stint on the late-night show during its 2013-14 season. If you are also like me, you probably couldn’t recall any of the sketches he was in.
That’s okay, though; some of my favorite performers came from short stints on SNL:
- Jenny Slate
- Tim Robinson
- Christopher Guest
- RDJ
- Sarah Silverman
- Janine Garafolo
And I’m adding Brooks Wheelan to this list after watching the special. It itched my brain in the exact right way. I took a WHOLE PAGE of notes, y’all. I won’t, like, list them all though. For one, because they make less sense now than when I was watching, and, for two, who wants to read a list of unrelated words?!
The stage was set with nothing more than a red curtain behind Brooks – it was more than your typical red velvet theater curtain; this one had a subtle tone-on-tone checked pattern that I really dug.
Brooks Wheelan had such a depth of place-specific comedy at the beginning of the show. This is something I’ve come to expect from comedians at this level. Comedians who aren’t good at it will limit it to a couple throwaway lines at the top of the show. More experienced folks will have thoughtful material that can be appreciated by those watching in person and in a city thousands of miles away.
Brooks was so good at this. His Alaska material was top-tier. His jokes didn’t belittle the state, but they didn’t, like, fake love them either. There was a healthy dose of intelligent curiosity throughout his entire set that I found exciting!
Here are two catch phrases that popped up every now and then:
- “That just happened.”
- “Sheeeeit”
I love a good catchphrase, as long as they aren’t repeated too often… and he did not.
The lighting and shots on this comedy special were fantastic. These can go so wrong cause they are often performed in a dark, tight space, making it harder to get any shots other than a straight-on comedian centered in the middle of the screen. The team did a fantastic job with this special. The crowd was a ghostly silhouette, and Brooks was well-framed, consistently taking up no more than a third of the frame most of the time.
A lot of the things I wrote down in my notes were phrases from Wheelan’s jokes that delighted my brain. If I share them here, it will likely ruin the jokes, so I will not do that.
He did, however, liken Big Lots to “unshowered K-Mart,” and IDK if anything has ever been quite so spot on.
I really liked this special.
My favorite part was near the end, when he held a lil press conference to review which jokes worked and which didn’t. That’s what’s pictured above – there was a set change and a costume change and everything.
And DEFINITELY stick around to the end; there is a bonus set of jokes that he wasn’t planning to tell, and they ARE SO GOOD.
Although, I might think that partially because D watched Pocahontas A LOT when she was a wee one.
