Television
The Simpsons (Disney +)
First off, Homer Simpson is a terrible human. Like, just awful. Marge deserves so much better. I know that’s the joke, but when you think of how many women are actually living Marge Simpson’s ACTUAL life, it’s not very funny.
It makes me sad how normalized that was.
We are on Season 14, if you’re keeping track. 9/11 came and went and it’s like it never even happened. I’m really interested to see how, if at all, they handle Covid.
I think it is very weird that so many TV shows have just pretended it didn’t happen. I applaud both The Morning Show and P-Valley for not only recognizing the quarantine times, but making them a major part of their storylines. I know it was a scary time to go through in real life and TV is an escape for a lot of people.
I just think, from, like, a historical perspective we’re in danger of forgetting or diminishing or anything.
I know we already have for the most part, though. It’s fucking scary how quickly it happened. How we just accepted this as part of our lives with a shoulder shrug.
Somebody Somewhere (MAX)
Sam is so vulnerable in such a human, heartbreaking way. I love her, I love how Bridgett Everett performs her.
I’m gonna miss her so much. I really hope some miracle happens and we get a fourth season. I don’t want next season to be the last one.
Shrinking (AppleTV+)
Between this and Bad Monkey, Meredith Hagner from Search Party is having a YEAR. It makes me so happy, because she made the most of a difficult character in Portia. She’s been excellent in everything I’ve seen her in since and it makes me so happy to see her whenever she pops up on the screen.
I was telling Mickey about this show before he went to work tonight and I told him that it was a meditation on grief. And that it is also more like a book than a television show.
I love it so much. This flashback is gonna make me cry, I can tell it.
It did.
This might be my favorite thing Harrison Ford has ever done. Defnitely my favorite thing Ted McGinley has done.
Would it be wild to do a Married With Children rewatch?
Bad Sisters (AppleTV+)
Why are so many streaming services “plus” I hate it. Make it stop. Just be happy with yourself as you are, AppleTV. I mean, you’re giving me by far the best bang for my buck of all the streaming apps. You have the highest concentration of my favorite shows and your choice to both employ my friend as a VFX editor and hire Jeff Russo for the score of For All Mankind warms my heart to no end.
The whole soundtrack is a banger though. A real trip through time with some lovely, moving instrumental interludes.
Oh, but I am not talking about my space show right now.
Bad Sisters is a masterclass in writing. That’s even more obvious on a rewatch. The first episode is all setup to the most twisty turny whodunit I’ve seen in a hot minute. It’s so darkly funny and all the actors wholly understand their characters.
It’s not only a whodunit, but also a how did they do it. Ugh, it just works on all levels so well.
I am wrapping up season 1 of this show this week. I know the ending, and watching the build up to it knowing the ending makes this an entirely different experience and I totally recommend it. I can’t wait to see where season 2 takes me.
Dead Like Me
I’m so sad on the inside that there isn’t more than two seasons of this show. Mandy Patinkin’s Rube is an impeccable character, and so are all the rest of them. The show itself is timeless and I will continue to rewatch it frequently.
It is like a comfort meal for my brain.
And no, the dumb movie never happened, as far as I am concerned.
Australian TV (Or Dropout TV)
Australian Survivor Heroes vs. Villains
Aubz is still being a jet setter, but she almost sent me off on a side quest the other day and the prospect was so exciting!
Dirty Laundry (Dropout TV)
There was a Survivor version! And one with Adam Conover! And it’s just so enjoyable, still. I am almost done though and then I will choose a different Dropout TV show to watch.
Gastronauts (Dropout TV)
I think this show is really gonna come into it’s own in the second season. Here are some things I would do:
- I think they need to streamline the sets – there are too many.
- The judging should take place in the same space as the preshow chatter – a space lounge if you will.
- Each judge should get their own dish. It oogs me out to watch them share the same food in the manner that they do. Especially the egg episode. But then I also have OCD, so that might just be a me thing.
- The host will relax into her role a bit more as she gets used to hosting. I’ve seen her in other things and she’s much more comfortable and chill. That same energy will serve her well here.
- Have a rating system for each round so that there are visible stakes.
Keep the guests and the challenges and the chefs, though. They have been collectively killing it.
Movies
Gladiator – 2000 (Paramount +)
I watched this out of pure spite.
I was actively angry that Gladiator II was dominating the Oscar race talks this year. I mean, in my mind even the first one wasn’t that great, you know?
See? I am on Reddit more than pretty much any other social media right now. My brain really loves reading words more than anything else. Well, of course I am in a bunch of movie subreddits and of course the topic of “what was the worst Best Picture winner of all time?” often comes up. My answer (in my brain only, I don’t feel passionately enough about this to post about it) was always Gladiator.
So, we were trying to decide what to watch and we stopped the scroll on it and watched it.
Y’all it was not only good, it was great. Like, I knew I loved Joaquin Phoenix in it (but that was probably mostly because he was also in Quills, which was my Oscar crush that year), but I remember the rest of it being …eh.
Naw, dog. This movie is fantastic.
Yes, Joaquin is pure electricity the moment he steps on screen. My opinion there did not change once bit.
The lighting is wonderful. When the music is tense, it’s perfect. Sometimes the music sounds very Pirates of the Caribbean-y, which makes sense because Hans Zimmer was the composer for both.
Sometimes Russell Crowe used too much snot, but I get it. Snot’ll win you an Oscar (see: Leonardo DiCaprio).
A note that I took during my watching: Of course this won Best Picture, it’s about show business.
Another: This movie gave doods the EASIEST Halloween costume. Pillowcase with arm and headholes cut out jaggedly with a wide leather belt. Fake weapon optional.
One final: This has the vibe of a late 90’s high school drama and I think it could be Clueless-ed into one.
This was simply a great movie. Was is the best of that year? I dunno. My gut says both Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Quills are better, but I’d have to rewatch them to be sure.
Dave Made a Maze (Peacock)
So many people have been telling me to watch this movie for so long and I get it now. I get it.
Oh my god this movie got me hype in the same way that Swiss Army Man got me hype the first time I saw it. I knew the filmmaker would go onto make something earth shattering.
Which, I might add… the Daniels (the writers/directors of Swiss Army Man) did with Everything Everywhere All At Once.
So I’m excited to see what Steven Sears and Bill Watterson get up to next.
I was in immediately and wondered if the movie was just a parable for depression. I don’t think parable is the word I really want, but I like how it sounds there so I’m keeping it.
The set is incredible and in fact I wish it went on tour so I could go inside of it. Or maybe make a HHN house out of it! That would be amazing. SOmeone needs to do an indie movie version of HHN with this one and Tucker and Dale VS. Evil and other ones I can’t think of right now.
Molly would have loved this and I would have recommended it to her immediately after we finished it.
