03/18/22
This week: The end of our password-sharing days, the return of a bingeable UK drama, and a festive book rec
TRENDS THIS WEEK:
Youtube MS. MARVEL
Letterboxd THE BATMAN
TikTok #stpatricksday
Spotify Heat Waves - Glass Animals
Netflix THE ADAM PROJECT
Twitter #MarchMadness
Shopify It’s been a week
Life & Culture
It looks like the heyday of using our college roommate's ex-boyfriend’s step-mom’s Netflix password might be coming to an end </3. On Wednesday, the platform announced that it is going to start cracking down on members who share their accounts with people outside of their household. The company is rolling out two “new features” for users in Costa Rica, Chile, and Peru. These Netflix users can choose to pay an extra $2.99 for up to two people they don’t live with, or export profiles to a new account, in order to keep their viewing history, watchlist, and personalized recs. This all comes as the streaming competition gets hotter and hotter, and Netflix subscriber growth has started to dip.
The White House is going to an unlikely source in order to disseminate and amplify content about Ukraine: TikTokers. Knowing that millions of young people get information from the app, Biden officials spoke to 30 prominent creators on a Zoom call last week. They discussed the war, briefed the TikTok creators about the US’s strategic goals, and answered their questions. Meanwhile, anti-war Russians also have been leaning on digital spaces in order to come together, but with social media heavily regulated and shut down, one of the few places left that they can converse is actually Clubhouse. One room has been going for over two weeks, nonstop, with over half a million participants.
This week I particularly enjoyed this extremely calming video of birds migrating and this one of the most impressive mural I’ve ever seen. And I will leave you with this delightfully dumb magical duo from Germany who have not stopped popping up on my FYP.
—Darlene Kenney, Digital Strategist
And I'm curious:
Will Netflix’s password crackdown affect you?
-Yep, I might have to get off my friend’s family plan…
-Nope, I am a good upstanding Netflix-user
Film
With cult hits like THE HOUSE OF THE DEVIL and THE INNKEEPERS, Ti West has built up a devoted horror fanbase (two members being fellow PS assistant Neal Mulani and myself). So the anticipation was high for X (trailer here), West’s new slasher about amateur pornographers in the 1970s starring Mia Goth, Jenna Ortega, Martin Henderson, Brittany Snow, Scott Mescudi, and Owen Campbell. When the cast and crew of “The Farmer’s Daughter” arrive at the rural guest house of an elderly couple to begin shooting, things expectedly go south. At first, I was a bit wary of the film’s subject matter; in film and TV, it’s difficult to say anything particularly new or interesting about the porn industry, and easy to fall into the trap of sensationalizing or coldly satirizing the industry with a flashy or tongue-in-cheek style. The religious moral panic of the 20th century has also been played out too many times over. And while X does indulge in all of these familiarities—and not to mention, has some well-intentioned but heavy-handed lines about skewed perceptions of the adult film world—it takes an intriguing turn with its story. And while the film is undoubtedly horror, it balances a comedic and tragic tone in its treatment of the antagonist, leaving you cackling with discomfort. This one is definitely the most fun in a theater with your fellow scary movie enthusiasts!
—Alicia Devereaux, Development Assistant
FROM THE ARCHIVE
One word: chaos. Two words: mind blown. WILD TALES (trailer here) is one of my all time favorite films. It’s a story about human behavior and what happens when people are pushed to their limits. Unexpected, adrenaline-pumping, and funny, you basically get six movies in one with WILD TALES as its an anthology of short stories. Written and directed by Argentinian director Damián Szifron, who reportedly wrote the movie while taking a bath (or a couple), it absolutely transports you to another world. (Literally, he said “I’d write one story a night in the bath, then another, then 15 or 20…”) Def check it out.
—Martina Lund, SVP, Brand Marketing
TV
After a long two years, one of my favorite UK dramas, TOP BOY, is back. The show focuses on the drug wars between rival gangs, fighting for complete control of London's drug empire. While entirely fictional, the show sheds light on some very real issues, like gentrification, immigration and racism. This season will follow Dushane as he tries to remain the Top Boy (which is UK slang for head drug dealer) in his hood. One of my absolute favorite things about the show is the amazing cast, specifically the women, including the incredible singer, Little Simz, who plays Shelley on the show.
—Eden Bekele, Digital Associate
Book
Happy St. Patrick’s Day! My middle name is Patrick, so I’m obligated to make an Irish recommendation this week. MILKMAN by Anna Burns, winner of the 2018 Man Booker Prize, is a psychological slow burn set during The Troubles in Northern Ireland that deftly builds a palpable sense of danger and surveillance. The story follows an unnamed 18-year-old girl caught in a violent web of allegiances who begins to be followed by a sinister man known as the milkman. Although the novel is specific to a place and time in Irish history, it provides an account of young womanhood that transcends its setting.
—Nolan Patrick Russell, Executive Assistant
Music
If you’re looking for a Main Pop Girl to soundtrack your night out this weekend, Charli XCX is here to help. The English singer and hit songwriter has released CRASH, her fifth studio album and the last in her contract with Atlantic Records—and it’s a certified smash. Teased back in September with the release of lead single GOOD ONES (co-written and produced by bonafide hitmaker Oscar Holter), Charli released a slew of posts insisting that she had "sold her soul" to her record label, ready to serve up the “ultra popstar” version of herself. In that sense, the CRASH era is an ironic return to basics for Charli XCX—a form of performance art but so immaculately conceived that it can’t be dismissed as such.
After achieving mainstream success in the last decade with hit singles FANCY, I LOVE IT and BOOM CLAP, Charli backed away from the peak of her Top 40 sensibilities and leaned into the boundless experimentation of “hyperpop”: songs that retained classic pop melodies but riffed on them in the least radio-friendly of ways—glitchy outros and excessive autotune all over. And yet over the last decade, these hallmark traits of Charli's sound have (of course) bled into the zeitgeist, finding their way into the landscape of Top 40 in 2022. Instead of embracing that and doubling down on the validity of her prior work, Charli has turned back to her mainstream roots and assembled an album full of insanely catchy hooks and interpolations of other hit songs. My standout tracks are title track CRASH, CONSTANT REPEAT, EVERY RULE, LIGHTNING, and YUCK. And basically every other song on the album. Sorry, not helpful. But with that, prepare to succumb to the Top 40 industry machine this weekend and CRASH!
—Neal Mulani, Development Assistant