Meghan & Harry, Vampires, Football, and More Movie Trailers
What I'm Reading, Watching, & Listening To This Week
HAPPY GREAT BRITISH BAKE-OFF DAY!!!!!! Anglophiles, rejoice! The Queen hath bestowed upon us a gift!
Yes, that’s right, the first episode of a new season of The Great British Baking Show* dropped on Netflix today!
*[Sidenote: the show is called “The Great British Bake Off” in England and is known fondly as “Bake Off” or “GBBO.” They couldn’t transition the name over the pond because of a Pillsbury “Bake Off” that no one knows or cares about.]
Anyways! The only thing you need for your mental health [other than a few solid friendships and a therapist] is to watch these pleasant British people with their Masterpiece Theatre accents bake stodgy British foods and politely offer each other assistance and say things like “saucy puds” and compete for the grand prize of a bouquet of flowers and a cake stand!!!!! There is no cash reward! God save the Queen!
It’s one of my go-to comfort shows, along with New Girl and Parks and Recreation. Even the tensest moments are warm, soothing, and gentle like a cup of cream tea.
Soooo, of course, I want to know—What’s *your* go-to comfort show? Or is it a movie? Or a book? What makes you feel like you’re wrapped up in a blanket with a cup of soup or hot cocoa? Let’s hear it in the comments!
Okay, let’s get to our weekly categories.
In the News
Also out this week is the new season of Survivor! My family didn’t watch this show in its first heydey, because they had twin daughters to get into college, but a couple of years ago we were all in a cabin in the mountains with no WiFi, and let’s just say we left that week total Survivor-heads!!! The trailer for this season said it will be “Like nothing you’ve ever seen before”(!!) whilst running a B-roll of activities I’m pretty positive I’ve seen in literally every previous season! But maybe! Will you be watching???
#RoyalWatch - Ms. Meghan Markle and her husband Harry were in NYC yesterday meeting with diplomats and wearing quite wintery clothes for a day that, to me and most of the internet [a bunch of mere commoners], felt quite hot. But that’s probably just our peasant asses panting and sweating on the humid asphalt like the Normals we are. I’m sure Meghan and Harry have a cool breeze following them around where’er they go.
More #RoyalWatch - The not-nearly-enough-disgraced Prince Andrew, the Queen’s second son, finally got served a lawsuit for his alleged crimes, and thank God for that. If you like knowing bad stuff, click the links – if you don’t, DON’T.
Michael Bublé Finds Out That Ryan Reynolds Can Sing and Posts an Adorable Meltdown on TikTok. Just pure self-deprecating humor and joy for the end of your week.
Watching - What We Do in the Shadows, Season 3
I know you *think* you don’t need a vampire comedy, but I’m here to tell you that I know what’s best for you and you DO.
What We Do in the Shadows is a show that asks “What if we made a ‘mockumentary’ about roommates who fight about normal things like whose turn it is to clean the dishes and why everyone hates the one roommate who lives in the basement — BUT — they’re also immortal vampires who kill people and drink their blood???” It started with a 2014 comedy film by this blog’s favorite, Taika Waititi, and Flight of the Concords’ Jermaine Clement, the guy who looks and sounds like New Zealand Jeff Goldblum. Then, in 2019, they made it a show with new characters and I think it’s even better!
The incongruity between the funny, lighthearted, and mundane problems the vampires face [like wanting a girlfriend or not feeling as cool as the other vampires] and the gruesome surroundings [like cleaning up the bodieeeeees] is perfection. You’ll enjoy it if you like a little bit of shock value to your humor and a little of the absurd in the everyday.
Part B of the “Watching” category is the new trailers and teasers out! [links to trailers in each title]
Hawkeye - I was not interested in this show. Hawkeye is so boring and the last thing we need is one more white dude leading a Marvel show. Then the trailer came out and it turns out it’s CHRISTMAS-THEMED so I just want to know when can I start watching and why not “immediately”??
The Humans - This cast is so exciting and the trailer made me misty-eyed!! [Anyone who knows me is like, “But you also cry at Taco Bell commercials,” and that is true, but show some respect.] It stars Steven Yeun*, Beanie Feldstein, Amy Schumer, and Richard Jenkins, the guy in everything. My only critique based solely on the trailer is: What apartment in NYC has TWO FLOORS, a SPIRAL STAIRCASE, and a WOOD-BURNING FIREPLACE and yet the parents are still all like, “Ew, this is a literal shit hole.” !?!?!?????
*[if you haven’t watch Minari, why are you here reading this and not watching Minari???]
Spencer - A ! longer ! trailer ! of ! Kristen Stewart ! as ! Princess ! Diana !!!!!
Most memorable moment: “Will they kill me, do you think?” (!!!!!!!!) I AM SOLD, GIVE HER THE OSCAR NOW! [Sidenote what is it with trailers having children’s choirs singing slow scary versions of peppy rock songs? I mean, it works, but did we as a society have a discussion about this that I missed???]
West Side Story - Admittedly this is one of my worst opinions, but I really hate West Side Story. It’s boring, nobody in it has a frontal lobe yet, and it’s TOO SAD. Yes, that’s obviously Shakespeare’s fault and I’m sure that was the exact description of Romeo & Juliet that the town criers announced in the 1590s: “Boring! Sad! No frontal lobes to be found!” But why do we have to keep doing it?? I went to see the West Side Story Broadway revival in NYC right before the pandemic and let me tell you it was GARBAGE [pron: “garbaaajh”]. That said, I am thinking these dance scenes and music numbers might be magnificent and yes I AM mad about it.
Nightmare Alley - Mkay, honesty moment? This trailer just made me feel exhausted. Buuuuuut, it’s got names attached to it like Guillermo del Toro, Bradley Cooper, Cate Blanchet, Willem Dafoe, Rooney Mara, and Toni Collete!?? [Oh and of course also Richard Jenkins, see my comment above about him being the guy in literally everything.] I’m honestly confused how this isn’t just Bradley returning to his role as the Elephant Man? Is this the same story??
Don’t Worry Darling - WE GOT TWELVE SECONDS OF FLORENCE PUGH AND HARRY STYLES AND CAN I JUST SAY i neeD sOmE WaTeR!??!?!?!?!?!? [If you would like to refer to your class notes, the big stories about this movie are: a) FloPugh. b) Harry Styles. c) director Olivia Wilde who is now dating Harry Styles but was recently married to Jason Sudeikis who is currently playing a broken-hearted divorcé in Ted Lasso and so the Internet has a lot to say about that even though none of it is any of their damn business.]
Listening - The Experiment’s “The Myth of the ‘Student Athlete’”
The Experiment is a new(ish) podcast by The Atlantic [this blog’s absolute favorite publication] and WNYC studios [they make RadioLab so yeah they’re legit; I also once applied to work there and, Reader, they did not get back with me]. In it, they explore both pivotal and lesser-known moments in the history of the great “experiment” that is the United States of America. It’s fascinating!
This episode is about 40 minutes long and explores how we ended up with this concept of “amateur/student athletes,” why we think it affects the purity of the sport, and where all that got us to now. Super relevant since it’s football season and the Supreme Court recently ruled that student athletes should be allowed to receive…free textbooks? Lol, big moves, y’all! [It actually was, though, which you’ll see by the end of this episode!]
If you are into sports, football, or just justice and care for young Americans, give this a listen! I learned a lot!
Reading
The Secret to a Fight-Free Relationship - The Atlantic. Do you schedule fights with romantic partners, friends, or family members? The article follows a couple who schedules their conflicts quarterly instead of following the proverbial wisdom to “never go to bed angry.” It worked for them and some psychologists explain why. [Honestly, I’m not sure I’ll ever be Type-A enough to schedule fights — I can’t even remember to schedule a dentist appointment — but kudos to anyone who can!]
A Middle of the Date Questionnaire - McSweeney’s. Hilarious. Necessary.
There’s Always Been More to Kirsten Dunst - The New York Times. For some reason, in the court of public opinion, Kirsten Dunst seems to share space with Anne Hathaway as a person who people “just don’t really like that much.” “She’s just kind of annoying….” they say vaguely and with no sense of fair play. Well, joke’s on us! Kirsten Dunst is living her best life, married to Landry from Friday Night Lights, having a baby, inspiring new memes, and continuing to be a great actor and get standing ovations at film festivals. Good for her.
How Old Does Ben Platt Look in Dear Evan Hanson? - Vulture. The answer, dear Reader, is “too old to be acting such a fool.”
Love you all! Share your thoughts and opinions in the comments! What did I miss? What do you think of vampires? Why is scheduling fights a bad idea? And, of course, What is your best comfort watch/read/listen to?
Hey Hannah! thanks so much for this -- LOVE the links. I read this aloud in the car to me and your Uncle John, hee hee. The way you have it set up, so visually easy to navigate, allowed me to chunk and skim what I thought wouldn't interest him, like the vampires, ha! But there was so much I was able to read, even to our generation.
SO GLAD I tuned it! The Michael Buble thing, OMG. What if I would never know about that???? And the movie Spencer -- I DIDN'T KNOW! And Prince Andrew -- I DIDN'T KNOW! John had to fill me in, i mean, SORDID. wow. Both of us have always wondered what to call the GBBaking Show. We always felt lame no matter which we chose. THANK YOU for that very important blank you filled for us. We didn't find out about that show until they were all out, so we got to BINGE, wow was that good. But then we went through withdrawals. So good to know it's back!!!
We started Big Bang Theory from the very beginning AGAIN. Always cozy and wonderful. That's probably our comfort show, along with Parks & Rec and GBBS.
Thanks for the wonderful post!
Ok, two marriages in this absolutely shocked me:
1- OLIVIA WILDE and HARRY STYLES?!?!? For one thing, I thought Harry was saving himself for me. But also ... age gap??! But also ... that's not new for Hollywood when the genders are flipped, so I'm probably just super sexist to even think question this.
2- KIRSTEN DUNST and LANDRY!!!!! I AM SO HAPPY ABOUT THIS. OMG. REALLY?!?!? YESSS!!!!!