Dearest readers -
We realized we watched a lot of stuff in the past few weeks that we wanted to just touch on in this newsletter. So here's some stuff we recommend, and some stuff we don't recommend!
Victoria's Roundup
The Matrix series: I watched the original three films, plus the newest one, Resurrections, and I strongly recommend this experience. The o.g. film is truly perfect. The three that follow are all imperfect in different ways, but in ways that I think are interesting and fun, and ultimately enjoyable. Unfortunately it's novel to watch action movies that are made for adults and are about adult things, and were love and sex are as real and powerful as they are in real life. The fourth film leaves HBO Max on the 22nd, but will be back eventually.
The Lost Daughter: Maggie Gyllenhaal's directorial debut is streaming on Netflix and is just excellent. Olivia Colman rules. I am fully back in my Elen Ferrante era.
The Last Duel. Also on HBO Max (I'm a maxxinista now, as you will see on this list). Big trigger warning for assault on this one, but I just thought it was excellent in every way. Perhaps a little bit too long, but you're at home, you have unlimited access to snacks, you'll get over it.
The Eyes of Tammy Faye. Also on Max. I do not recommend this. Jessica Chastain and Andrew Garfield are good, but the movie basically has nothing to say about the events it represents, so you're like....ok??
Paddington 2. Yes I'm late to this!! But it was never on streaming!! Plus you all love it so much I was like, "What if it's not that good!?" It is that good, and it is also streaming on HBO Max.
Encanto. If you're like me, the songs from this Disney movie took over your TikTok fyp a month ago. I was worried that would ruin my enjoyment of the film. It did not! Some of the songs are still a little shaggy, IMO, but when "We Don't Talk About Bruno" hits? Magic. It's on Disney+.
Back to my boy HBO Max. I finally got around to watching Starstruck, which I've been trying to savor since it's just six episodes (season two is coming this year). I have one episode left as I write this. It's wonderful. It's what Notting Hill thinks it is. A fun, modern romcom.
Spider-man: No Way Home. If you were thinking about seeing this, you've already done this, so this is kind of a review for no one. Yet. It's not that good! The first half is pretty boring! It improves when the other Spider-men arrive (Andrew Garfield <3), but like philosophically this movie is a mess. Also Dr. Strange sucks, so so so much.
Actually, let's stick on disappointing Disney things for a second. Hawkeye was pretty meh. Again, thematically it didn't really make any sense. And the new Star Wars series The Book of Boba Fett is just a snooze. I keep watching, but why? Save yourselves.
I forget if I recommended What We Do In The Shadows in a previous issue, but I think Hawkeye actually made me appreciate it more, so humor me for a second. In What We Do In The Shadows, the main characters, vampires, have a very high body count. In the first couple episodes, it's honestly off-putting, but slowly the vampires have to start facing the consequences of the things they've done, the people they've killed. It's heavy stuff, sometimes. Compare that to Hawkeye, where the good guys have an incredibly high body count, and you're like wait......is no one gonna be like, "hey you murdered someone?" WWDITS is on Hulu.
I started Station Eleven, also on HBO Max. I anticipate I will continue to love it. I understand why someone would not want to watch it — it's about people living in the aftermath of an apocalyptic pandemic. Maybe that's too much for you! If you think it might not be, watch it!
The other thing I recommend is crocheting. I have been learning. I bought a kit from here, and I've been making an imperfect blanket while watching the above. It's much better than playing on my phone while watching something, and at the end I get a blanket! if you have any crocheting expertise, please share it with me.
Hayley's Roundup
I finally watched Emily in Paris for exactly one episode. It's not even fun in a bad way. Jesus Christ!
I second Victoria's disappointing review of Hawkeye but also feel an obligation to keep up on everything in the MCU but also maybe now is a good time to stop?
Speaking of the MCU, I finally watched Black Widow after finishing Hawkeye because I realized that I hadn't seen it yet. I liked Black Widow, but honestly feel like they should have made that into a series instead. I wanted to live in that specific world more. Plus, I want more Florence Pugh in everything.
Because I spend so much time re-watching old seasons of GBBO, Netflix is always like "Hey what if you watched a different fucking food show?" and one of the shows it recommended was The Final Table, which I assumed was new because I had never heard of it but it's from 2018. If you like food competition shows, you will enjoy this a lot. I loved the structure of the competition and the creativity of the chefs. [SPOILER ALERT] The most frustrating thing about this show is that it essentially functions as a microcosm of what is wrong with the food industry today, and by that I mean that all four finalists are white men, and you can see the bias in the judging that got them there. So I recommend this overall but also you've been warned.
Another thing that I thought was new on Netflix but apparently is not is the documentary Dance Dreams: The Hot Chocolate Nutcracker which follows the incomparable Debbie Allen and her dance academy and their annual production of Allen's own Nutcracker. This made me really emotional and also really happy. If you're a former dancer like me, this will transport you back to some of the highs and lows of studio life.
The Witcher is back, baby! I fucking love The Witcher. This is Henry Cavill's best role, fight me. If, like me, you haven't seen season 1 since it debuted in 2019, Netflix has a great 15-minute recap of season one that you can watch before diving into season two. If you haven't started yet, wow I'm jealous that you get to watch it from the beginning!!! Fair warning, it is very violent.
All of High on the Hog is great, but I found episode 3 particularly fascinating. If you love mac and cheese as much as I do (hard to imagine tbh) then you gotta watch episode 3.
My friends and I have been begrudgingly watching And Just Like That, mostly because it's fun to hate-watch something and dunk on it with your besties. BUT, we have also been revisiting old episodes of Sex and the City as palate cleansers, and honestly, this is your sign to do a SATC rewatch if you haven't recently. It's really hitting the spot for me right now, a sentence that Samantha would turn into a dirty joke.
When I went to watch the new season of Queer Eye I realized that I actually have not watched the last three seasons. So, I've been catching up! Mostly this is how I feel. But, I think that this is the platonic ideal of a show you can put on in the background while you fuck around on your phone. Unless you are on your period, then you will sob. Proceed with caution.
I can't stop baking these chocolate chip cookies, they're absolutely perfect.