03/04/22
This week: Of course you need a hat that reminds the world “it’s been a week.”
TRENDS THIS WEEK:
☞Youtube Billie Eilish - Happier Than Ever, The World Tour
☞Letterboxd THE BATMAN
☞TikTok Paralympics
☞Spotify Heat Waves - Glass Animals
☞Netflix WORST ROOMMATE EVER
☞Twitter LOVE IS BLIND Reunion
☞Shopify It’s been a week
Life & Culture
If you’re on pretty much any form of social media, you have probably not been able to escape the world of EUPHORIA over the past two months. And the numbers back that up…according to Twitter, the show is now the most-tweeted-about series of the decade so far, with over 34 million tweets. The high-school-set series is also setting records at HBO, with an average of 16.3 million viewers per Season 2 episode. For context, this beats out the viewership numbers of the first three seasons of GAME OF THRONES.
In equally important news, we just dropped a new line of merch: caps, slap-bracelet koozies, tees, and even a head scratcher, all part of our “It’s been a week” collection. It’s inspired by our popular Friday post on Instagram, also called It’s been a week. A few recent favorites here, here, and here. Shop the pieces here—we can’t wait to see pics of you all in them!
Okay, this isn’t the first time I’ve recommended a Humans of New York series (and it probably won’t be the last), but I was in constant-refresh mode reading the latest 13-part series. Creator Brandon Stanton tells the story of Venus, a mother of seven who learned that she didn’t know her husband nearly as well as she thought she did. The story is full of unexpected twists and turns—some truly devastating. But ultimately it’s a story of a mother’s resilience and dedication to her family. Film adaptation coming very soon, I’m sure.
And finally, in honor of women’s history month, I found a few videos that tell the stories of special women in history. This one introduces us to Sacheen Littlefeather, an Indigenous actress and the first person to give a political speech at the Oscars, this one introduces us to Grace O’Malley, one of the most successful female pirates, and this one is about the first known writer (and poet!).
—Darlene Kenney, Digital Strategist
Burning Question:
Would you rather…
only be able to watch TV for the rest of your life
OR
only be able to watch movies for the rest of your life?
Film
After a quiet few months at the box office, THE BATMAN (trailer here) is finally here to shake things up with a thunderous $100M+ domestic opening on the horizon this weekend. I’m pleased to report that I had a great time with this latest iteration of Gotham’s caped crusader, which feels less like the lazy product of a gargantuan corporate machine and more like its own contained noir-ish detective drama. While it draws heavy influence from CHINATOWN and SE7EN, it still stands on its own two legs with its compelling, bleak, singular vision. Taking place in a dreary Gotham—where it is perpetually raining and no one cares to turn on a lamp (~vibes~), Matt Reeves’ THE BATMAN follows a brooding Bruce Wayne (played hauntingly by Robert Pattinson…I’m still giddy about his performance) in his second year working as a vigilante. A serial killer (Paul Dano’s The Riddler) is targeting some of Gotham’s highest ranking officials to expose the city’s deep-seated history of corruption and abuse, leaving cryptic clues at his crime scenes addressed to The Batman. As Batman and Lieutenant Jim Gordon (Jeffrey Wright) work against the clock to piece together the bigger mystery, an exciting array of supporting characters come into the mix, complicating the story with twists and turns aplenty. But the true standout among them is Zoe Kravitz’s Selina Kyle (Catwoman!), who teams up with Bruce Wayne to save the day. While a number of actresses have taken a swing at the iconic character over the years, Kravitz imbues Selina Kyle with a blistering sense of humanity that earns the film a ton of emotional mileage, especially when its three-hour runtime might begin to test you (seriously, use the bathroom beforehand). Her relationship with Pattinson’s Bruce Wayne is achingly romantic, and Selina Kyle finally feels more like a fully-realized character than a perfunctory fantasy. In addition to Kravitz’s wonderful performance, I’d be remiss not to mention Greig Fraser’s painterly cinematography and Michael Giacchino’s unbelievable score, which has instantly become my new default “deep focus and work" playlist. If you’re looking for a grand, epic film to completely sweep you away this weekend, go see THE BATMAN on the biggest screen possible.
—Neal Mulani, Development Assistant
One of my favorite Sundance titles of 2022 is coming to Hulu today, and I need you all to watch it. Written by Lauryn Kahn and directed by Mimi Cave, FRESH (trailer here) is a wickedly funny and spine-chilling feminist thriller that depicts the horrors of modern dating as seen through the eyes of a young woman (Daisy Edgar-Jones) whose new date (Sebastian Stan) seems to have an, uh, “unusual appetite,” as Hulu’s description puts it. (Consider this my attempt at recommending the film without spoiling anything!) In her dazzling directorial debut, Mimi puts a deliciously dark comedic spin on the commodification of female bodies in our current consumption-oriented dating culture, all the while giving us stunning visuals (and warning: there will be some gore). Daisy and Sebastian also delivered incredible performances that are simultaneously contained and wild. It is one of those films that I can’t stop thinking about weeks later, and I urge you all to tune in this weekend!
—Mimi Li, Development Assistant
I’ve never understood the criminal underratedness of one of my favorite teen comedies of all time: STRIKE! (trailer here), a.k.a. ALL I WANNA DO, a.k.a. THE HAIRY BIRD. (Well, maybe having three different titles, one of which is shared with a seminal silent film about factory workers in pre-revolutionary Russia, has something to do with it.) But this movie has everything, starting with a great young cast, many of whom have since become very familiar faces—including Kirsten Dunst, Merritt Wever, Vincent Kartheiser, Gaby Hoffman, Heather Matarazzo, and Rachel Leigh Cook—plus, Hollywood royalty Lynn Redgrave. The film centers on a group of girls at a boarding school who revolt after discovering the board’s plans to go co-ed with a neighboring boys’ institution in the 1960s. It’s a coming-of-age movie that manages to be both raunchy and sweet while making interesting points about gender and sex. Not to mention, it’s highly quotable… “No more little white gloves!”
—Alicia Devereaux, Development Assistant
TV
I don’t know how I missed this show when it first came out last year, but I’m definitely glad I’ve since rectified the situation. ALRAWABI SCHOOL FOR GIRLS (trailer here) has been called the Arab MEAN GIRLS, but the Jordanian limited series teen drama certainly has a darker tone and deals with some heavier themes. Created by Tima Shomali, the show centers on an all-girls school in Jordan, but don’t let the pale pink uniforms and tiled bathrooms fool you into thinking this is a cute private-school drama. Within the first episode, we see Mariam, a quiet tomboy, become the victim of the popular mean girls, Layan, Rania, and Ruqayya, when they brutally beat her behind the school. Mariam deals with severe bullying at the hands of these girls, so she enlists the help of her friends, Dina and Noaf, to get her revenge. Despite this being a revenge story, you do get some heartwarming moments of camaraderie from the women-led cast, however the lengths that these girls go to seek their own form of justice will have you questioning their methods. Shomali created the show to highlight the young Arab woman’s experience, making sure that from the writing down to the production crew, women were the central voices in crafting the story.
—Ellen Amare, Development Intern
Happy women's history month to Deepti from LOVE IS BLIND (trailer here), and Deepti only! I’m not embarrassed to admit I binged the entire second season of LOVE IS BLIND this week and was shocked at how engaged I was by just one of the stars: Deepti Vempati. Her story seemed almost fairytale-like to start, with her and her potential match, Abhishek hitting it off in the pods, connecting about their shared culture and almost proving that love can in fact be blind. Until he completely switched up on her in the real world after seeing her. Without spoiling anything for anyone that’s not caught up, I was very proud of the way Deepti handled the whole situation. If you haven’t had your healthy dose of reality TV recently I highly recommend binging this season—the reunion just came out!
—Eden Bekele, Digital Associate
Music
At the start of Women’s History Month, I’m thinking about two of my favorite women musicians. Although they come from vastly different periods in time, Vashti Bunyan and Sudan Archives have both bent and blended genres, carving out a space for themselves where folk meets baroque. Bunyan’s most famous record, JUST ANOTHER DIAMOND DAY, was released in 1970—and while it eventually found a devoted fanbase and critical praise, it went mostly unnoticed in her time, leading her to retreat from the music industry for decades. Listening to the album feels a little like hearing an angel sing, with a voice so pure and delicate you’re afraid you might break it. She’s backed by a variety of old-world instrumentals including recorders and mandolins and even an Irish harp, and the effect is magical. It’s hard not to trace some spiritual connection between Bunyan and 21st-century violinist and songstress Brittney Denise Parks, a.k.a. Sudan Archives, who’s established her own sound by combining a contemporary singing style with plenty of strings (sometimes swelling, sometimes plucked), hip-hop-infused beats, and electronic techniques like the loop pedal. Some people call her music electro-soul, others call it Afro-futurist, but most call it avant-garde. While Bunyan’s work mainly pulls from traditional European influences and Parks’ reach extends to Africa, both artists use musical instruments and stylings from throughout space and time to bare their souls. Each is an admirer and maker of musical history in her own right, and that’s why I love them…but mostly, I’m just a real sucker for strings.
—Alicia Devereaux, Development Assistant
