07/31/20

TRENDS THIS WEEK

☞ YouTube: Perfect Key Lime Pie From Dexter
☞ Letterboxd: The Rental
☞ TikTok: #NatureVibes
☞ Spotify: Guilty Conscience (Tame Impala Remix)
☞ Netflix: Umbrella Academy 2
☞ Twitter: Emmy Nominations

LIFE + CULTURE

Apparently horror and apocalyptic movie lovers are better equipped to deal with the pandemic compared to people who don't watch horror. The author of the study said "Our ability to imaginatively inhabit virtual worlds – worlds of our own making, as well as those conveyed by movies and books – is a gift from natural selection.”

Virtual affairs are on the rise during lockdown. According to research earlier this month, virtual infidelity offers an escape from pandemic life. “I don’t think these affairs are harmful in the same way as non-virtual affairs are. It’s easy to do strange things when they’re mediated by the anonymity of the internet” – Dazed

In music news, Beyoncé’s next gift to the world, visual album Black is King, premiers on Disney+ today, and Billie Eilish dropped her new single "my future”. 

SOCIAL MEDIA

If you’re in the need of escapist humor, this fabulous stand-up profile on Tik Tok offers the perfect LOL breaks in-between your Zoom meetings that include the realest interpretation of the Old Testament. 

This couple has the coolest IG account these days, and it's seriously heated up this week. Wanji and Sho-er own a laundromat in Taiwan and post photos of themselves styled in customers’ leftover clothes. Praying these two hit Vogue ASAP.


FILM

In case you missed its release last week, I highly recommend Karen Maine’s debut film YES GOD YES, now available through virtual cinemas! A spiritual successor to 2004’s SAVED! (though perhaps more grounded), the film follows Catholic high schooler Alice (played by STRANGER THINGS’ Natalia Dyer) as she begins to explore her burgeoning sexuality within the confines of a high school spirituality retreat. The film lampoons religious hypocrisy without ever feeling cruel, and Dyer nails the vulnerability of a young, sexually curious teenage girl. And did I mention it’s only 80 minutes?!
 

JULES AND JIM was released in 1962, but its vibrant and tragic portrayal of young love is forever imprinted in my heart. This summer, I highly recommend (re)visiting this classic, directed by the French New Wave auteur Francois Truffant. Legend has it that Truffant found the original novel by Henri-Pierre Roche in a used bookstore while he was adapting another Roche novel. This one overruled and you can feel why – Truffant lends his own romantic experience to this beautifully fatal love triangle tale. Check it out on the Criterion Channel or HBO Max.


TV

With a second season ordered a mere two weeks since its series premiere, breakout strip club drama P-VALLEY has proven it was well worth the wait. With razor sharp dialogue and some of the most eclectic characters you’ve ever seen from creator Katori Hall, this adaptation of her critically acclaimed play shows a side of the Mississippi Delta I didn’t know I needed. 

Summer has always been the time to catch-up on old shows and quarantine has only made this an even stronger proposition. I recommend revisiting the seminal teen drama THE OC, now that all episodes are on HBO Max. The nostalgic music (you’ll never hear Imogen Heap’s “Hide and Seek” the same way), melodramatic storylines (I dare you to try drawing a family tree by the end of it), and all things Seth Cohen are guaranteed to add some SoCal sunshine to your quarantine.


VIDEO GAME

GHOST OF TSUSHIMA developed by Sucker Punch -- In the late 13th century, the Mongol empire has laid waste to entire nations along their campaign to conquer the East. Tsushima Island is all that stands between mainland Japan and a massive Mongol invasion fleet led by the ruthless and cunning general, Khotun Khan. As the island burns in the wake of the first wave of the Mongol assault, samurai warrior Jin Sakai stands as one of the last surviving members of his clan. He is resolved to do whatever it takes, at any cost, to protect his people and reclaim his home. He must set aside the traditions that have shaped him as a warrior to forge a new path, the path of the Ghost, and wage an unconventional war for the freedom of Tsushima. 

I’ve been waiting to talk about this video game because I felt it deserves special attention, and let me tell you it does not disappoint. This game manages to do the nearly impossible by pulling you into feudal Japan yet the controls are intuitive and natural. This is an RPG that all fans of the genre should pick up. The blend of combat and art have me extremely excited to see where this franchise goes next. It’s worth every penny!


THEATRE

Get your tickets now for The New Group’s reunion livestream of THE JACKSONIAN by Beth Henley! A dark comedy about a murder in a seedy small-town motel, the play is chock full of the wonderfully bizarre characters one might expect from that setting, from filandering dentists to gold-digging motel workers. The star-studded cast includes Jane Krakowski, Ed Harris, and Bill Pullman, among others. Tickets start at $10 and can be purchased here!


BOOKS

The longlist for the Booker Prize, Britain’s most prestigious literary awards, was announced this week, and I was excited to see some of our favorite books from this past year on the list! In addition to SUCH A FUN AGE by Kiley Reid and HOW MUCH OF THESE HILLS IS GOLD by C Pam Zhang, we highly recommend the lesser-known LOVE AND OTHER THOUGHT EXPERIMENTS by Sophie Ward. The novel is made up of ten interconnected vignettes centered around Rachel and Eliza, a couple trying to get pregnant. The narrators of each story range from a boy who once slept with Rachel’s mother to an ant that crawled behind Eliza’s eye. It’s a satisfying, beautiful read that grapples with big ideas without feeling too heady.


PODCAST

REVEAL: AMERICAN REHAB is the newest season from the Peabody Award-winning Reveal, produced by the center from investigative reporting and PRX. The series is dark and the result of a 3-year investigation into the rehab facilities taking advantage of patients across the US: a system that puts its patients through a form of indentured servitude — and has roots in a cult. What exactly is going on in many American rehab facilities? And what impact is it having on people trying to recover from issues with substance abuse?

This is a brilliant piece of journalism. If you are interested in the opioid crisis, mental health, and/or cults, I recommend this podcast. 


SHORT FILM

THE BALLAD OF JUNIOR by Chris Ortega is an auto-biographical dramedy about Junior, an Uber driver, trying to find his way through his love life and the world at large. What I love about this is how Chris takes larger than life existential themes and distills them down to small conversations that we can all relate to. It's funny and heart-warming and the craziest part is Chris wasn't going to play the lead character until half of his actors dropped out at the last minute! I for one am happy they did. He does a great job. Check it out!