04/08/22
This week: Some thoughts on giving up your data. Plus, a strong opinion on the sexiest couple on TV, the latest Michael Bay film, and the first TikTok project to win a Grammy!
TRENDS THIS WEEK:
Youtube DOCTOR STRANGE IN THE MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS
Letterboxd THE BATMAN
TikTok #PGATour
Spotify As It Was - Harry Styles
Netflix BETTER CALL SAUL
Twitter Dollywood
Shopify It’s been a week
Life & Culture
CODA’s Oscar win proved to be big for Apple in a very tangible way. After the film’s historic Best Picture win, Apple TV+ saw a 25% rise in new subscribers, and a 300% increase in CODA views compared to the week prior. Pretty good ROI on the $25M acquisition of the film, as long as they can retain some of those new subs!
I’ve said it before, but Spotify is the only service that I gladly give my data to—because the personalization and curation I get in return is legitimately worth it. And the audio app is reportedly leveling up, as it’s currently testing a TikTok-like discovery feed for its users. This will look sort of similar to TikTok’s For You Page, with a vertical video feed, featuring new songs and accompanying videos. The new feature is being tested in the U.K., Ireland, Australia, New Zealand and Canada, and each day the feed will recommend 15 songs to each user.
Knowing that most of you come to our newsletter for film recs, I have to share a Google feature that my boss Neha put me on this week. If you’re Googling what to watch, you can now add the streaming services that you subscribe to, in order to get only recommendations that you can easily access. You can do this just by clicking on the “edit your services” button on the top right of your screen. Obviously, it’s a play for more of your data, which benefits Google’s YouTube TV and Google TV businesses, but still. This feels like real value-add.
This week I loved this video that shows off arguably the most ideal way to get around Lowe’s, this one that depicts maybe the best interaction with a Disney character, and this one that introduces us to a kid wise beyond his years.
—Darlene Kenney, Digital Strategist
Question of the week:
Do you keep a list of movies you want to watch next?
-Yes, of course. I’m a true film fan, after all.
-Nope, the only list I need lives in my brain.
Film
If there were one word to describe Michael Bay’s AMBULANCE (stylized as ambuLAnce across marketing materials because it follows an ambulance…in LA…keep up!)— it would simply be iconic. Without giving any context, there is an actual scene around the midpoint of this film where our main characters get on a group FaceTime with two trauma surgeons (who are calling in from a golf course, mind you) to learn how to perform an emergency surgery to retrieve a bullet from another character's spleen. I am almost certain that if you showed this scene to a pilgrim, they would immediately collapse.
AMBULANCE (trailer here) is overstimulating, nonsensical, graphically violent, deeply moving and hilariously chaotic—all at once. You must see it immediately. Based on the 2005 Danish film AMBULANCEN, ambuLAnce’s premise is simple: A struggling veteran, Will (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II), needs to pay his sick wife’s medical bills. He goes to his adoptive brother Danny (an exceedingly manic Jake Gyllenhaal), a career criminal wanted by the FBI, to help him rob a bank for $32 million. Of course, everything that could go wrong during the heist does, and after Will shoots a police officer, they hijack an ambulance and take the hardened, unemotional Cam (Eiza Gonzalez)—the Self-Proclaimed Best Paramedic In Town—hostage. As Cam works against the clock to keep the police officer alive in this careening getaway ambulance, Will and Danny drive across LA trying to mastermind a way out of their botched heist. Michael Bay’s maximalist filmmaking is not everyone’s cup of tea, but I, for one, am kind of obsessed. The swooping drone shots, practical explosions, and simple dialogue scenes that look like they were shot on a 120mm lens all work in service of the absurd, high-octane premise at hand. AMBULANCE demands your attention for every second of its 2 hour 16 minute runtime. And truthfully, not a lot of movies have that to their credit. There’s some wonky “both sides” socio political commentary going on here, but that honestly just made the movie that much more fun. So please…like my life depends on it, go see Michael Bay’s ambuLAnce this weekend—and thank me later.
—Neal Mulani, Development Assistant
TV
I'm so late to this party, but my binge-viewing of RAMY (trailer here) did not disappoint! This half-hour comedy series offers a nuanced, charming glimpse into the American Muslim experience through creator and star Ramy Youssef's singular point of view. Each episode finds Ramy in hilariously absurd situations as he attempts to strike a balance between adhering to his faith and exploring his individuality. And the episodes highlighting Ramy's friends and family are perhaps even more astute, tackling faith, family, and dating through multiple perspectives in Ramy's community. If you've foolishly kept this show on your watchlist (yes, I’m squarely in Camp Keep-a-List) for years like I did, start now and join the growing number of fans who are anxiously awaiting Season 3!
—Dustin Sloane, Development Assistant
Who else has been patiently waiting for almost two years for one of the sexiest (and most loving) TV couples to come back to the small screen? Who else has been Googling “Shows similar to OUTLANDER” to watch until the next season comes out? For those who cannot yet relate, now is the time to hop on board. OUTLANDER Season 6 (trailer here) premiered last month, with five episodes now out, and let me tell you that I am loving every single second of it. Season 5 ended on a very traumatic and dark note for our beloved Claire Frazer and so far we’re seeing how she’s coping and healing alongside her charming and supportive husband Jamie Frazer, who’s struggling on taking on a role in the British Army in the Americas. When I first discovered OUTLANDER, I was instantly hooked, and binged the first five seasons within a month. The combination of the world of the Scottish highlands in the 1700’s, steamy romance and a touch of comedy makes it the perfect rabbit hole to fall down. And the visually appealing aesthetic and unreal costume design just make it that much more appealing. Go give it a try—and I’ll see you six seasons later.
—Eri Sofia Taira, Associate Graphic Designer
Music
Okay, I know what you’re probably thinking—more BRIDGERTON? And to you, I say: Yes! But I’m here to discuss the music and the music only! If you’re anything like me and you love a little bit of a corny but steamy forbidden romance, you probably know that some of the biggest moments are cued by the music. What makes the music in BRIDGERTON so fun is the pop covers with a string quartet. The symphonic band nerd in me absolutely lost it when I heard the Hannah V rendition of Rihanna's DIAMONDS. Anyway, the musicians killed every single cover, from Madonna's MATERIAL GIRL to a cover of a Bollywood classic, Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham. And if you were a fan of Season 1, you probably remember the reimagining of Ariana Grande’s THANK U, NEXT, which was all over the internet at the close of 2020.
Even more impressive, the UNOFFICIAL BRIDGERTON MUSICAL, a musical theater album created by Emily Bear and Abigail Barlow, won a Grammy, the first ever award to go to a project that originated on TikTok. Inspired by the series, Barlow wrote songs from the characters' perspectives and teased them on the platform. One of the top songs, BURN FOR YOU has over five million views on TikTok.
—Eden Bekele, Digital Associate
