01/28/22
This week: Wordle alternatives; proof that the Renaissance of hand-drawn animation is upon us; a truly hilarious new series; and not one, but two new music recs to get you through the week.
TRENDS THIS WEEK
☞Youtube Try Not To Cry: Dad Edition
☞Letterboxd SCREAM 2022
☞TikTok #wildlife
☞Spotify Heat Waves - Glass Animals
☞Netflix OZARK
☞Twitter Not Wordle
Life & Culture
As someone who consults the internet for reviews of pretty much everything, review and ratings ethics and accuracy are important to me. And the FTC clearly agrees. In a statement released on Tuesday, the FTC shared that it’s requiring fast-fashion brand Fashion Nova to pay $4.2 million because the company deleted hundreds of thousands of reviews with ratings lower than four stars. This is the first time the FTC is challenging a company for failing to post negative reviews—and I’m into it.
After a 40-day streak, Amy Schneider’s Jeopardy reign is over. She’s now the most successful woman in the game show’s history, and the second most successful overall competitor. Schneider is taking over $1M to the bank, and recently signed with CAA.
Word games are back in, guys. As the newest mobile game craze, Wordle, gains more and more popularity (played by almost 3 million daily users now!), various rip-offs of the word puzzle are already starting to pop up. Lewdle, made by screenwriter Gary Whitta and games developer Adam Nickerson, challenges users to solve a simple word puzzle, but with only 5-letter swear words. It’s starting to catch on, with over 800,000 daily users. And in Dordle, which creators describe as “wordle plus wordle”, users must take on two words at once. There’s also Absurdle and Sweardle, so safe to say if you’re into word games, you have enough options to keep yourself busy these days.
If you want a glimpse into the future, look no further than this TikTok. This creator answers the question “what do single women do after work?” with a never-ending-set of household gadgets and home routines that seems to come straight out of earliest, 2033. And then, I loved this video as well. The creator simply makes videos of bench dedications from Central Park’s Adopt A Bench program. Filled with heartfelt messages, the memorial notes always get me.
—Darlene Kenney, Digital Strategist
Film
I’m convinced that the renaissance of hand-drawn animation is upon us, and Patrick Imbert’s beautiful THE SUMMIT OF THE GODS (trailer here) is only further proof. Based on a manga series by Jiro Taniguchi, the French-language film follows a Japanese photojournalist named Makoto Fukamachi and his fixation on climber Habu Joji, who Fukamachi believes to hold the secrets of legendary mountaineers George Mallory and Andrew Irvine. With breathtaking visuals and a powerful score by Amine Bouhafa, THE SUMMIT OF THE GODS is honestly more evocative than some live-action climbing films. And while many animated movies have questionable English dubs that make the subtitle route far preferable, this dub is notably strong—with Darren Barnet (Paxton from NEVER HAVE I EVER) voicing the lead! This is a unique and moving narrative told with painterly detail; be sure to catch it on Netflix for a breath of fresh mountain air.
—Alicia Devereaux, Executive Assistant
TV
Recently I’ve been making my way through the hilarious SOUTH SIDE (trailer here), a sitcom on HBO Max. Created by Bashir Salahuddin and Diallo Riddle, the series follows friends Simon (Sultan Salahuddin) and Kareme (Kareme Young) as they scheme to make enough money to leave their jobs at a rent-to-own shop. The show plays like a workplace comedy but much of the action takes place in the neighborhoods of the South Side of Chicago, where Simon and Kareme interact with the city’s locals as they reclaim rented equipment and pull off their own side hustles. Like most great sitcoms, SOUTH SIDE excels in building out a distinct world filled with a diverse cast of unique minor characters. Here, those role players bring mayhem and absurdity to this kooky depiction of the Chicago into which Simon and Kareme descend.
—Nolan Russell, Executive Assistant
Short Film
WEEKEND AT GUS’ is a visually astonishing short film directed by Paul Overstrom, following a woman named Stephanie in her daily life as she runs a small fishing supply store in the San Francisco area. Her late father opened Gus’ Discount Tackle 60 years ago, and there, he taught her from a young age, how to run a business—and even more importantly, how to develop a deep and meaningful connection with customers. While watching WEEKEND AT GUS’, you can feel the warmth and welcoming feeling that Stephanie projects into the store along with her bright contagious smile. The store itself looks like time hasn’t touched it—like you’ve walked through a time portal taking you back 60 years. Overstrom made the smart choice of shooting this short film with a Bolex H16 in Kodak’s 250D, which gives a perfect texture and color warmth to translate Stephanie’s love and passion for the store. You’ll walk away from the short feeling warm and fuzzy about following your passion, being kind to others, and supporting the ones you love. Seriously, there’s no room for cynicism here, and you won’t miss it at all.
—Eri Taira, Associate Graphic Designer
Music
Pink Pantheress just announced that she’ll be going on a U.S. tour and fans went absolutely wild. For those of you that haven’t given her a listen yet, her music is a unique blend of bedroom pop, uk garage and alt dance. The tickets released on Thursday for Oakland, LA, NYC, and Atlanta and every single city sold out in under a few seconds (I suspect bots are at play). And while I am completely butthurt that I didn’t score a coveted ticket, I am so excited for her to be making her way across the pond to do a completely sold out tour. She tapped into the heart of OG music lovers by choosing venues that evoked nostalgia for many, like 88Palace in NYC, which is one of many dim sum restaurants-turned-night clubs, in the heart of Chinatown.
—Eden Bekele, Digital Associate
At midnight on Thursday, AUDREY NUNA dropped a deluxe version of her debut album, a liquid breakfast. So, this is the perfect time for me to put you on one of my favorite underrated songstresses. You may have heard of her hit songs Comic Sans featuring Jack Harlow; or damn right, has been featured on soundtracks like INSECURE and NIGHT TEETH. As part of a notable new wave of Asian-American musicians and rappers making a splash in the American music industry, Nuna is one of the first Korean-American women to hit mainstream in her genre.And she’s undeniably cool. Not only in her shapeshifting music, which is a cross between R&B, rap, pop, and trap—but also in her style, which is somewhere between spacewear and streetwear, and in the avant-garde visuals she creates in her music videos. I saw her live last year and was absolutely captivated by her charm, energy, and skills. So you can bet I’ve spent all of today listening to the new tracks on a liquid breakfast non-stop.
—Mimi Li, Development Assistant
