11/18/22
This week: A book series that’s sure to make you feel warm and fuzzy this holiday season. Plus, two playlists we’ve been listening to all week, a foodie satire you have to see in theaters, and the return of Jennifer Coolidge.
TRENDS THIS WEEK:
Youtube Kendrick Lamar – RICH SPIRIT
Letterboxd BLACK PANTHER: WAKANDA FOREVER
Spotify UNHOLY - Sam Smith & Kim Petras
Netflix WHERE THE CRAWDADS SING
Twitter Ticketmaster
Trailer AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER
Shopify It’s Been A Week
Life & Culture
Let’s start with Ticketmaster’s Taylor Swift fiasco, because it’s a huge story with tentacles in entertainment, tech, and law. A quick recap: A massive number of fans (and bots) attempted to purchase presale tickets to Swift’s new tour, to the tune of 3.5 billion system requests, Ticketmaster reported in a now-deleted blog post. Fans were outraged after waiting on the site for hours and eventually being locked out. Then, on Thursday, the ticket-seller shared that it was canceling the general sale, due to “extraordinarily high demands on ticketing systems and insufficient remaining ticket inventory.” Swift responded this morning, sharing her disappointment with Ticketmaster, saying “it really pisses me off that a lot of [fans] feel like they went through several bear attacks” in the process of getting tickets. Now lawmakers from AOC to Amy Klobuchar are raising questions about Ticketmaster’s dominance over the market—and the DOJ has opened an antitrust investigation into its parent company, Live Nation Entertainment—although that’s been in the works since long before this latest debacle.
Apple has shared more details about its new Major League Soccer Season Pass, which the tech giant paid $2.5B+ for. The plan offers viewers total access to the regular season, playoffs, and cup competition with no blackouts. It launches on February 1, is available in 100 countries and regions, and will cost Apple TV+ subscribers $12.99 per month and $79 per season, and non-subscribers $14.99 per month during the season or $99 per season.
A small corner of the internet was glued to an auction of some of Joan Didion’s personal items earlier this week. Bidding, of course, got out of hand right off the bat. A pair of Céline sunglasses sold for $27,000, a Leslie Johnson oil painting of the literary icon looking sad sold for $110,000, a Patti Smith photograph of a typewriter with a personal inscription (and the most compelling thing in the lot, if you ask me) sold for $29,000. But more fun than all of that: a grouping of seashells and pebbles sold for $7,000, a rolling pin and aprons sold for $6,000, and two sets of blank notebooks sold for $11,000. You can’t make this stuff up. But the whole thing raised over $2M for medical research and a scholarship for women in literature, so you can laugh a little bit, but it’s all for a good cause.
And finally, Emma Chamberlain has struck a deal with Spotify that will make her podcast ANYTHING GOES exclusive on the platform, beginning early next year. Her listeners will be able to access a video version of the podcast going forward as well.
—Darlene Kenney, Director of Brand Marketing
TikTok
This week, I particularly enjoyed this photo series that explains the idea of “desire paths,” this undeniably cute video of a toddler pretending to be an adult, and this one from a playlist curator that single-handedly convinced me to listen to Ethiopian Jazz all week. If he does the same for you, here’s another playlist (with over 200 songs!) that is perfect to have on in the background, and pretty much guaranteed to elevate your day.
—Darlene Kenney, Director of Brand Marketing
Film
In a CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY meets KNIVES OUT style of foodie satire, THE MENU (trailer here) serves up a comedic, edge-of-your-seat 106 minutes best experienced in theaters. I highly recommend going in knowing as little as possible, as the unraveling mystery behind the exclusive dining experience that the characters partake in is worth the ride. The basic premise: A wealthy group of individuals dines in one of the world's most exclusive and sought-after restaurants, led by head chef Slowik (Ralph Fiennes). The ensemble of patrons contains an excellent cast, and Mark Mylod does justice by all of them, layering and balancing each character’s storylines intricately. Anya Taylor Joy delivers a phenomenal performance per usual. And Hong Chau’s character also stood out, coming in strong with some much needed comic relief. While THE MENU starts off very mundane, it builds toward an explosive ending. I appreciated the way the film leaned heavily into the satirical absurdity, and even though I know very little about the world of high-end dining, I’ve heard some industry people joke that the film ought to come with a trigger warning.
—Jackson Ingraham, Executive Assistant
TV
After snagging five Emmys last year, HBO’s hit show WHITE LOTUS (trailer here) returned on October 30 with an anticipated second season. This go-round, we once again follow wealthy guests as they arrive at another White Lotus hotel, this time set along the beautiful coast of Sicily. To avoid spoiling anything, all I will say is that something happened here, and it’s not looking good. The ensemble does not disappoint—show-stopping favorite Jennifer Coolidge returns with a husband (her romantic interest from the first season, played by Jon Gries) and a personal assistant (Haley Lu Richardson). They’re joined by the captivating Aubrey Plaza, Will Sharpe, Theo James, and more. Just like season one, the show does not shy away from showing the ugly sides of all of the guests and leaves us wondering if there is anyone we can fully be rooting for. So far, the interwoven narratives of the characters feel like a slow burn—it’s intriguing and lays out a complex web, but does not yet provide any answers to the mystery hinted at in the beginning. So, I will be tuning into new episodes each week in hopes of finding out more!
—Mimi Li, Development Coordinator
Book
I’ve finally gotten my hands on BEFORE YOUR MEMORY FADES, the third installment in Toshikazu Kawaguchi’s BEFORE THE COFFEE GETS COLD series. Each book in the series tells four short anecdotes about the patrons and employees of cafe Funiculi Funicula, where ordering a cup of coffee will allow a person to travel back in time. The caveat? They cannot change what has happened in the present, and they can only stay in the past for as long as it takes for the coffee to go cold. These rules make for an almost comically anticlimactic take on a time travel story, but it is how the characters take advantage of this narrow window of opportunity that makes the narrative sing. Kawaguchi’s mastery of the significance of a moment breathes lifetimes of happiness and sorrow into the brief minutes it takes for a character to drink a cup of coffee, making these books a perfect quick fix of emotion. Start with BEFORE THE COFFEE GETS COLD to meet the cafe regulars, continue with TALES FROM THE CAFE to get to know the employees a little better, then catch up with me to read BEFORE YOUR MEMORY FADES so we can feel all warm and fuzzy together.
—Anna Lee, Development Intern
Music
I think we can all agree that there are a lot of good holiday songs out there. From LET IT SNOW to ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS YOU, these songs are undeniably catchy and rooted in holiday spirit. But let’s admit it…we probably hear them over 500 times over the course of six weeks. With that being said, I took it upon myself to make a playlist filled with a mix of newer holiday-esque songs as well as covers of famous holiday songs by lesser known indie and pop artists. There’s a few songs on the playlist that don’t have much to do with the holidays but they do have a certain winter-y vibe so I just had to include them. So, go ahead and put on your comfiest pajamas, grab some hot cocoa (or whatever your warm drink of choice is), and put on PICTURESTART’S Indie Holiday playlist.
—Saad Hamid, Digital Marketing Intern
You might know AJR from their breakout hit NETFLIX TRIP, chart-topper BANG!, or the quarantine anthem BUMMERLAND!. But whatever you know them from, know this: their next era is shaping up to be their best one yet. Their new single THE DJ IS CRYING FOR HELP dropped last night, and it maintains the uplifting yet existential rhythm of past albums while hinting at creative growth and evolution to come. AJR is a band that puts on a great show no matter the format, and this music video is yet another example of that. The inventive use of strings is reminiscent of the extremely popular TikTok trend that came out of their song WORLD'S SMALLEST VIOLIN. I especially resonated with this song lyrically, especially its themes of second-guessing yourself, worrying about having wasted your life, and pursuing a career in a creative field with no plan B. If that doesn't describe entry-level Hollywood, I don't know what does. AJR's fifth studio album, currently known only as TMM, has yet to receive a release date, though the timing of this single's release along with that of lead single I WON'T has many fans anticipating a 2023 release. Go check them out! You won't be disappointed.
—Carrie Smith, Executive Assistant
Have a great weekend! And as always, be kind, stay healthy, and stay creative. ツ