08/14/20

TRENDS THIS WEEK

☞ YouTube: The Devil All The Time Trailer
☞ Letterboxd: She Dies Tomorrow
☞ TikTok: #justvisiting
☞ Spotify: Pressure In My Palms - Amine, slowthai, Vince Staples
☞ Netflix: The Last Dance
☞ Twitter: Apple Removes Fortnite from Apple Store

LIFE + CULTURE

Earn $93K after taking a $300 course? Sounds pretty sweet. Google just announced new professional certificates, on par with college diplomas, that can be completed in 6 months. The announcement comes at an already challenging time for US colleges with ongoing conversations about the future of the higher education system as a whole. Some commentators are asking if “this could be a solution to unequal access to education”. Some think “higher education is about more than just skills”, and “college helps create well-rounded individuals and critical thinking”. WDYT? I’ll be circling back on this.

Blockbuster broke its silence on Twitter this week after a six year hiatus… and then promptly checked out again only a few hours later. I would like to check out too plz. The iconic video company has one location left in Deschutes County, Oregon, and to celebrate their 20 years in business, Airbnb is hosting a pop-up. For $4, the lucky renters (strictly residents of Deschutes Country) can stay in the 90s-themed store for a sleepover. 

AMC is reopening over 100 theaters on August 20th with tickets priced at 15 cents a pop. The company is celebrating its centennial by offering 2020 movies at these 1920 prices. They are also bringing back older films like Black Panther, Back to the Future, and Inception. 

The Weeknd’s interactive virtual concert on TikTok saw over 2 million total viewers and raised $350,000 for the Equal Justice Initiative. The Weeknd performed in digital avatar form. The visuals from the concert were insane, and Abel released a handful of the songs on his YouTube page this past week. 

On repeat this week: Moses Sumney’s Tiny Desk Concert. Truly healing. And in other music news, on the tail of WAP, Cardi B launches an OnlyFans account this week. I mean, respect. 


FILM

PROJECT POWER, the latest film from our dear pals Henry Joost & Rel Schulman, comes out on Netflix today! It’s a high-octane thriller about the proliferation of a dangerous drug that gives the user superpowers for five minutes at a time - and it’s up to Jamie Foxx, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Dominique Fishback to stop it from getting into the wrong hands. Fishback is a movie star in the making, and I cannot wait to watch her steal the movie! 

And while I have you, check out PICTURESTART’s trailer for UNPREGNANT, starring Haley Lu Richardson and Barbie Ferreira, and directed by Rachel Lee Goldenberg! Slurpees, a stolen Trans Am, and a woman’s right to choose: a trifecta Thelma and Louise would be proud of. It’s coming out 9/10 on HBOMax!


TV

Just when you thought true crime was a passing trend, HBO gave us the perfect binge in I’LL BE GONE IN THE DARK, an engrossing account of Michelle McNamara’s pursuit to uncover the Golden State Killer whose horrifying crimes dwarfed the Zodiac by comparison. Even for the most fatigued viewer to the genre, director Liz Garbus will hypnotize you with her subversive commentary on the frustratingly flawed treatment of crimes against women and a meditation on the tragic lengths Michelle went to solve the case that results in one of the most inspiring denouements I’ve seen in the crime space. Has it made me lock my bedroom door at night? Absolutely, but it was so worth it. All episodes are available to stream on HBO Max. 

An easy quick binge about the cynical side of politics that STILL somehow feels more desirable than our current state of things - VEEP is hands down one of the funniest shows of the past decade. Come for the vulgar and hilarious one-liner insults, stay for every single microexpression that appears on comedy queen Julia Louis-Dreyfus’s face. 

THEATRE

For those nerds who are craving some new original musicals in their life as much as I am, Transport Group is streaming their original musical BROADBEND, ARKANSAS through this weekend! The musical follows a Black family over three generations (from the 1960s to present day), as they grapple with inequality, violence, and suppression in the South. The musical "asks us to contemplate the cycle of violence in this country and how we will find hope and create change against the backdrop of hate that plagues America.”


BOOK

If there’s one book everyone is talking about this month, it’s LUSTER by Raven Leilani. This debut novel follows a young black book editor who moves in with her older boyfriend and his wife (both white) and their adopted black daughter. The book is a self-aware and frank exploration of sexuality, racial dynamics in the workplace, and millennial angst. If you’re looking for a brief escape into other peoples’ problems, I highly recommend checking it out.


PODCAST

I could not let the week go by without professing my love for NICE WHITE PARENTS (a five-part series, detailing what is arguably the most powerful force in our schools: White parents). 

But for a podcast a bit farther off the beaten path, I suggest you check out SMOKE SCREEN: FAKE PRIEST. The first episode dropped yesterday, and it’s captivating. It’s an investigative show about Ryan Scott, a popular priest who spent the last thirty years traveling the Midwest, committing crimes. 


SHORT FILM

The Adobe Stock Film Festival 2020. Adobe gave 13 filmmakers from around the world the task to create a short film in just 5 days. They had unlimited stock and audio footage from Adobe’s platforms and were able to edit on Premiere Pro. They came up with some pretty cool films. Shows you how far a creative mind will take you in quarantine! I particularly liked CLASSIFIED by Jasmine McCullough.

Thank you to PS WEEKLY reader Jessie Kahnweiler who sent in her short film HE’S THE ONE. A really powerful take on sexual assault in a nuanced and humorous way. Also some really great acting here by Luka Jones and Jessie herself. Can’t wait to see what else you do!