08/06/20
TRENDS THIS WEEK
☞ YouTube: The Boys Season 2 Trailer
☞ Letterboxd: Black Is King
☞ TikTok: #alttiktok
☞ Spotify: My future - Billie Eilish
☞ Netflix: Locked Up
☞ Twitter: #PrayForBeirut
LIFE + CULTURE
Mi pan su su sum, su su sum. If you're not on TikTok, you probably have no idea what that jumble of letters means. If you ARE, then you've had the pleasure of watching this lil mama llama do her thing, racking up over 92M views on the platform. Luckily for us, Insider did a deep dive on the audio that took the internet by storm, and found out that the weird sound originated from a Russian cereal commercial.
The competition between social media platforms keeps heating up. This past week, Facebook launched a rival platform to TikTok – Instagram Reels (stellar examples of this new content here and here). According to WSJ, Instagram is also attempting to steal some TikTok talent by offering to pay some big $$$. Snapchat also reportedly wants a slice of the cake and has secured music licensing deals in order to allow its users to add music to videos. Extra credit TikTok facts: the hype house is getting its own reality show, Addison Rae is the highest paid creator at $5M/year, and the White House's 45 day TikTok ban countdown has started ticking.
People won't be able to take selfies in space quite the same as they do here on earth. Commercial space flight company Virgin Galactic announced that cell phones will not be allowed onboard the spaceships taking tourists to space. The approximately 600 people that have bought tickets for the flights (spending up to $250,000 a ticket !!) won’t walk away without some selfies, though. 16 cameras are installed throughout the cabin and two more outside will record video and take photos throughout the flight.
Ever wondered what celebs tip on a burger with fries? Erica Smolcynski is spilling the tea on the (many) celebrities that she’s served as a waitress in LA, from who’s a fat tipper to who ordered the weirdest meal (looking at you Shia LaBeouf). Genuinely could watch her videos for days.
As if Dua Lipa’s Future Nostalgia album wasn’t enough of a bop - she’s now releasing a remix of it featuring the biggest icons of the 90’s. Oh snap! Booyah! Madonna, Missy Elliott, Gwen Stefani & more will be featured.
On repeat this weekend: WAP – Cardi B & Megan Thee Stallion. And that album artwork... 😍
FILM
The ZOLA trailer that dropped yesterday may have been just a teaser, but it still has me delirious with anticipation. To my pals at A24: unreal People correction, but give the people what they want! Aka a release date / full trailer / the entire movie to be spontaneously dropped on demand…
Can’t wait for TENET? Check out Christopher Nolan’s first film FOLLOWING. Shot for $6000, the movie was planned and executed as cheaply as possible when Chris was in his 20s. The movie uses the same non-linear plot structure that I love him for and while it doesn’t scratch the TENET itch, it comes close! Stream it on the Criterion Channel or rent it from Amazon.
TV
If anyone thought I would be recommending a-n-y-t-h-i-n-g other than BLACK IS KING then you got me all wrong, sis. Stop what you’re doing. Start learning the steps for “My Power.” Thank me later.
IMMIGRATION NATION on Netflix is the must-see documentary of the summer. An agonizing look at immigration policy and more importantly, the immigrant experience within the United States. Told through almost exclusively ride-along footage (how they got this level of access to ICE I will never know) and heartbreaking personal testimonies, this is essential viewing.
COMIC
BAD MOTHER by Christa Faust & Mike Deodato -- A nerve-wracking thriller from crime writer Christa Faust and blockbuster artist Mike Deodato Jr. (The Resistance, Infinity Wars). April Walters is a hit-and-run victim of life -- a middle-aged soccer mom whose inner fire has been snuffed out by her dreary suburban existence. When her teenaged daughter goes missing under mysterious circumstances, April embarks on a harrowing mission to find her; a journey that takes her through the underbelly of her suburban community and sets her on a collision course with a massive crime syndicate and its lethal matriarch. Tested to her limits and beyond, April discovers that hell hath no fury like a mother scorned.
This new series (not to be confused with the hit franchise, BAD MOMS) has a pretty familiar start but with a much cooler vibe and tone. This one feels like KILL BILL meets TAKEN meets THE KITCHEN. While all those comps are very similar, our hero, April, is what sets this one apart. She’s witty, dangerous, smart, and determined. This is the perfect fit if you’re looking for a new gritty action hero!
THEATRE
BOLD 2020, an annual short play festival devoted to new work by Black womxn, returns next week! The festival spans three nights with two ten-minute plays premiering each night, followed by talkbacks with the director and playwrights. In the words of BOLD’s co-founder Destinee Rea, “The restoration of our culture is dependent on the amplification of the Black womxn’s voices… We are in desperate need of their stories being contributed creatively; grafted into the American canon.” Free tickets are available here.
BOOK
The 12 year wait is over! MIDNIGHT SUN, Stephenie Meyer’s companion piece to TWILIGHT, was released on Tuesday and it’s everything we’ve hoped and waited for since that ~fateful~ leak back in 2008. If you’ve regressed in quarantine as much as I have (or if you never stopped loving Twilight, #TeamEdward4Ever), this one's for you.
PODCAST
ONCE UPON A TIME… IN THE VALLEY tells the story of Traci Lords, a porn star who started working when she was just 15, before being busted (or saved?) by the FBI before her 18th birthday for being underage. The podcast interviews Traci and the people in her orbit, balancing between depicting Traci as a victim and a fierce woman in control of her agency. Was the porn industry taking advantage of her, or is it the other way around?
SHORT FILM
PS favorite Damien Chazelle took us on a tour of cinematic history with his new short film shot for Apple, THE STUNT DOUBLE. I’ve been missing Damien’s signature cuts ever since I finished “The Eddy” and THE STUNT DOUBLE doesn’t disappoint. It’s LA LA LAND meets ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD and I couldn’t be more here for it!
