'I Know About Popular' -Me in 2003, Homeschooled & Really Into Musicals
'Wicked,' Golden Globe nominations, and Taylor Swift holiday rom-coms!
Coming soon: Everything I’m watching this month. There’s good stuff on TV again!
Did you miss me!? I missed you! *Very Hallmark voice* I missed us. It’s been three full weeks since we last gathered here, and I send my deepest thanks to my former boss [and friend] Nando for texting me this morning: “It’s been a while since a Hannah’s Weekly!” I am perceived, therefore I am.
Whilst I was away from Substack, my sister visited for a glorious week, and we twinned our way across New York City in a kind of ostentatiously perfect cloud1, sipping cocktails at the Bar Room at The Beekman, snagging a rezy at Estela [finally!], seeing Cabaret on Broadway, eating an entire chocolate babka from Breads while strolling through Central Park, introverting at local cafe Five Flies, and deciding that the second season of Bad Sisters was ruining the absolutely-perfect-no-notes first season and should emphatically NOT be watched!
The following two weeks were filled with Thanksgiving and work trips, and alas, there is now so much to catch up on that I have given it up and decided to just gush about “Wicked” and rant about the Golden Globes!
But before we dive in: I want to know your Spotify Wrapped. No lying! Did your kids ruin your algorithm? Are you trying to hide the fact that you listened to Drake? Are you convinced Spotify is gaslighting you? Let’s hear it!
Golden Globe Nominations
The Golden Globe nominations came out Monday. The Globes are the drunk uncle of awards ceremonies, bringing together both movies and TV and sitting all the attendees around tables to get sloshed. I love it!
But the Globes also went through a rough patch, not unlike some uncles, where they got exposed for racism, sexual misconduct, bribery, corruption, etc. They promised to clean up their act and made some reforms.
Anyways, the Golden Globe nominations are the first early sign of what we might expect for the Oscars. The biggest winners in terms of nomination count were “Emilia Pérez” [which just looks too weird for me — an opera!?], “The Brutalist” [the new Adrien Brody movie], and “Conclave” [which I loved] on the film side and “The Bear” [of course] “Only Murders in the Building” [which I’m sorry to say I haven’t even finished Season 2] and “Shogun” on the TV side.
Biggest Snubs
The Clarence Maclin snub for “Sing Sing” has me HEATED.2 The film follows a group of inmates at Sing Sing Correctional Facility who are part of a “Rehabilitation Through the Arts” program. Maclin was an actual participant in that program and helped create and star in the movie. While the magnificent Colman Domingo did get nominated, Maclin was left out.
Danielle Deadwyler getting snubbed a second time is twice too many! I haven’t seen “The Piano Lesson” yet, but she was snubbed two years ago for “Till” and one of the most breathtaking performances of that year.
Directors: Denis Villeneuve was passed over for “Dune: Part Two” [which I saw twice], and Jon M. Chu was passed over for “Wicked” [which I plan to see several times!].
Nice Little Surprises
Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo being nominated for “Wicked” is a good sign for potential Oscars plays.
Yes, please, Donald Glover for “Mr. & Mrs. Smith.”
Ewan McGregor for “A Gentleman in Moscow.”
Kathryn Hahn for “Agatha All Along.”
Hugh Grant for “Heretic.”
“The Substance” with several nominations, including acting nods for Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley. Still haven’t seen it because no one is willing to watch body horror with me, but it’s top of my list for a night alone to really freak out!
“Challengers” haters, be silenced!
LOL TIMOTHÉE CHALAMET NOMINATED FOR HIS BOB DYLAN ROLE. I KNOW SOME OF Y’ALL ARE CRYING AND PUNCHING THE WALL RIGHT NOW!!
See the full list. The ceremony is scheduled for January 5 on CBS and Paramount+ and will be hosted by comedian Nikki Glaser who, if her stint as host of FBOY Island is any indication, will do a great job and probably be very mean.
Two Taylor-Travis-Inspired Holiday Movies
Spoiler Alert: They’re not what I would call “good”!
The Eras Tour may be over, but you can watch a woman who looks like she just strolled off the set of “Selling Sunset” do a cringey Taylor Swift impression in a completely nonsense Christmas movie!
Because I am a serious, hard-hitting, investigative pop-culture journalist, I watched not one but TWO Christmas rom-coms loosely inspired by the cultural juggernaut that is Taylor Swift + the NFL, and then I wrote a review for The Athletic’s fabulous newsletter, The Pulse.
As the saying goes, if I had a nickel for every Taylor-Swift-Travis-Kelce-inspired holiday movie, I’d have two nickels, which isn’t a lot, but it’s weird that it happened twice!
Scroll down to the “What We’re Watching” section via the link above.
Wicked: 15/10!! A+++!!! Extraordinaire!!!
[Q: What’s your favorite song from “Wicked”? Mine is “What is This Feeling”! It’s the musical equivalent of watching Simone Biles nail a floor routine.]
Inside every homeschooled girl/gay boy in 2003, there were two wolves: One was obsessed with Gladiator. One was obsessed with Wicked. We run Hollywood now.
Cut to the year 2024, and I haven’t seen the new Gladiator yet because I have very little margin in my life for anything, even if it’s something primarily occupied with oiled-up chiseled abs. Clearly, the musical-theater wolf inside me killed the other one.
But let’s talk “Wicked.”
How I was before watching Wicked: I had incredibly high expectations but also was extremely fearful because I was one of those people who watched the 2012 Les Miserables movie and said, “Heresy! Excommunicate!”
How I am after: Well, folks, it exceeded my most snobtastic expectations! I cried several times. I smacked my mom and Ben [seated on either side of me] with my closed fist repeatedly. When the credits rolled, I clapped and said aloud to the entire theater, “I want to watch this AGAIN!” [I know you’re all silently deciding never to go to a movie theater with me ever.] I don’t want to be dramatic but this movie resurrected my inner child. This movie had the inner 14-year-old me singing [every single lyric of the entire Wicked soundtrack, which I discovered I still have memorized front-to-back] for joy!
Highlights: Cynthia Erivo is doing vulnerability on a level that has deservedly stunned us all. And Ariana Grande took a bag of mixed emotions, highs and lows, put them on her BACK and carried us all through it! I don’t need to comment about how H-O-T-T-O-G-O Jonathan Bailey is or how I would instantly join any cult led by Jeff Goldblum and Michelle Yeoh. My dad compared the visual marvel of it all to the first time he saw the original Star Wars in theaters. And that’s just about the highest praise my dad could give.
Lowlights: I’ve heard some fair criticism of the movie — that the message is a little less complex than it could be in 2024, or it’s too long — but wow, I have zero critiques. I was, as the kids say, GAGGED.
Now I have to spend the next year holding space for all my thoughts about Part 2 because my family is extremely anti-spoilers, and even though they all watched the Broadway musical in person with me, they insist they can’t remember anything that happens in the second half.
Oh, to be unspoiled for that second half!
That’s all for today! Thanks for your patience over the Thanksgiving holiday! I’d LOVE to hear from you in the comments or with a heart. :)
These are the kinds of things I could theoretically be doing all the time but only actually do when my twin visits. Normally, I’m at home folding laundry.
I’ve been sitting on a “Sing Sing” review for whenever it becomes widely available, but it was one of my favorite films of the last several years.
Awwww I missed us too! In my #Wicked #Era....holding space until part two...and will sing loudly in theaters until....:)
OMG. I also compared Wicked’s visuals (mainly the fantastical physical sets) to the original Star Wars! Your dad is so smart.