11/20/20

This week: Social backlash, Obama’s new book, and everything to watch/read over Thanksgiving

TRENDS THIS WEEK

☞ YouTube: Playing Among Us With Pros
☞ Letterboxd: Parasite
☞ TikTok: #NBAdraft
☞ Spotify: Therefore I Am - Billie Eilish
☞ Netflix:  The Crown
☞ Twitter: #Charli

Life & Culture

Big week for social platforms. IG changed its interface, adding tabs for Reels and Shopping, and people are not happy. Twitter added a “disappearing tweets” feature called Fleets, similar to IG and Snapchat Stories, and—surprise!—people are not happy. As humans, we are resistant to change, so this reaction is hardly shocking. Usually, we complain loudly, use the app anyway, get used to it, and then forget we were ever mad about it. But with IG users resisting adopting Reels in a meaningful way, I’m curious if that’s what happens in this case. Or, maybe Instagram walks the change back in another few months and replaces this experiment with something else shiny and new. 

On a more serious note, there’s a small sliver of good news related to this wilted disappointment of a year: The US’s greenhouse gas emissions are on track to fall 9.2 percent compared to last year. This is of course a result of the pandemic, as transportation is the highest-polluting sector of the economy and many of us spent a big part of this year working from home. Globally, emissions are on track to fall 7 percent, the figure that scientists say we’ll need to meet every year this decade to keep climate change at a manageable pace. Since the improvement came as a result of the pandemic and not real action, maintaining that number feels...pretty unlikely.

The two wildest TikToks I saw this week were this video depicting what is easily the most terrifying job on the planet and this video showcasing the most deadly rubber-band fly sniper out there. 

—Darlene Kenney, Marketing Assistant

Film 

If you’ve been craving the fun of a big theatrical film with a lot of heart and some weird-looking critters, LOVE AND MONSTERS is a great pick. Directed by Michael Matthews and released digitally last month, it’s the story of a plucky young man named Joel who’s been living in an underground bunker since the monster apocalypse hit. Sustained only by radio conversations with his girlfriend Amy, Joel sets out to find Amy’s colony on foot, monsters be damned. While I expected the movie to be a big CGI action-packed blockbuster (and it certainly is that at times), I was not expecting it to be so emotional and uplifting. A great co-viewing option for your Thanksgiving! 

—Julia Hammer, Creative Exec

TV

For those craving political and Hollywood history folded into one, THE REAGANS just released its first episode on Showtime. It explores the peculiar journey of the left-leaning and pro-union actor and President of SAG, Ronald Reagan, who went on to become the defining symbol of 80s conservatism. And yes, the profile on Nancy is equally (if not ten times more) juicy. The parallels with Donald Trump are undeniable and as fascinating as the doc’s interview with Reagan’s own son. 

—Kauveh Khozein Carrera, Creative Executive
 

Theater 

If you’re missing the usual family dysfunction of an in-person Thanksgiving, look no further than this star-studded production of UNCLE VANYA, available to stream through November 23! The production stars Constance Wu as Yelena, Samira Wiley as Sonya, Ellen Burstyn as Maria, and Alan Cumming as Vanya, the titular drunkard. Get your tickets here!

—Julia Hammer, Creative Exec
 

Manga 

DR. RAMUNE- MYSTERIOUS DISEASE SPECIALIST by Toro Aho is a sci-fi/fantasy comedy about a doctor who can cure mysterious diseases. The series feels like HOUSE meets the CHILLING ADVENTURES OF SABRINA. Each case is funny and weird but ends with our hero helping the patient through a deep piece of trauma. It’s quirky, honest and heartfelt — something nice to settle into for Thanksgiving.

—Royce Reeves-Darby, Creative Exec
 

Book

President Obama’s latest is here—and it’s shattering all the sales records for presidential memoirs. THE PROMISED LAND is the first in a two-volume set chronicling his political career and his two terms as the 44th president of the United States. Whether you’re eager to escape reality with some “historical” nonfiction or just looking for a gift for your dad for the holidays, immersing yourself in 700 pages of his elegant prose isn’t the worst way to spend your break. 

—Julia Hammer, Creative Exec
 

Comic Book

BIG GIRLS by Jason Howard has so much going for it. Set against a dystopian world with giant monsters of our own creation, it feels like PACIFIC RIM meets ATTACK ON TITAN by way of GIRLS. If that sounds like a combination that shouldn’t work, let me tell you that it does. While the series is gigantic in its action and scale, the emotions of the characters are small and intimate. Jump into this one if you want a fun action/sci-fi read!

—Royce Reeves-Darby, Creative Exec
 

Podcast

Podcasts are often the perfect medium for “truth is stranger than fiction” stories, and BED OF LIES is a perfect example of how sometimes you just can’t make this shit up. The new podcast from The Telegraph hits on a scandal that uncovers a British police practice in which officers take on new identities and engage in romantic affairs with female activists to infiltrate left-wing circles. The level of deception is so extreme that, after six years of dating, one woman discovers her partner not only goes by a different name but also has a secret family. There are only two episodes out right now, but I’m dying to hear more about how deep this program runs through law enforcement and if the women have found a stealthy way to organize and retaliate… 

—Erica Beach, Development Assistant
 

Short Film 

Can a music video be a short film? I would argue yes, when it’s done as well as LOST BUT NEVER ALONE. Last week the Safdie brothers dropped the new music video with their frequent collaborator Oneohtrix Point Never and it’s just as trippy as you would expect. What I didn’t expect was how much heart it had. The video takes the genius concept of inserting modern-day technology into the past. The father of the family doesn’t understand the iPhone his son has and he destroys it with a hammer, but maybe what he’s actually destroying is…his son? Check it out! 

—Bennett Levine, Executive Assistant