I’m not a professional critic of movies or television, but I love a good story or insight into the human condition. And the fastest way to enjoy a good story these days is in front of the tube*.
*Do people even know what that means? And can you say tube if half the content is streamed from your laptop?
Below is a recap of what I recommend you spend your valuable time on when it comes to selecting material to stream.
Please note, I do not promise we share the same taste, nor that I specifically have a taste that you will enjoy. To try and determine if our taste is aligned, I recommend checking out my previous What I’ve Been Watching — have you watched any of those titles? If yes, do we share similar feelings? If no, you’re just going to have to roll the dice.
3 TV SHOWS x 4 MOVIES x 3 DOCUMENTARIES/COMEDY SPECIALS
📺: indicates the service i used to watch said tv, movie, doc, or comedy special
Steaming is up by 34% if not more, and I would like to say I am a part of that statistic, but it doesn’t feel like my consumption of streaming content has gone up by too much. However, this is the first time I’m finally coming out with a “What I’ve Been Watching” post — so, I’ve obviously been watching enough content to be inspired to share what I’ve discovered.
The Relationtrip
A super weird little indie film that involves an abusive toxic puppet named Chippy that sounds exactly like my internal dialogue sometimes. Yeah, that is how I want to describe this movie, because if you can’t sign off on a toxic puppet – then you will have a real hard time signing off on the rest of this indie picture. We basically follow two young people over the course of a weekend in Joshua Tree, and while watching the movie you’re not exactly sure if you’re in on a joke or just watching two people in a Southern California terrarium. It’s no longer available on Hulu, but you can rent it on Google Play and Amazon Prime for $3.99. If you’re down for weird, have an edible, and bored of everything else; then definitely watch The Relationtrip
Teen Spirit
I was surprised by how much I loved this movie. The soundtrack is fantastic and the acting impeccable. When I saw the trailer I was intrigued because of the music, but then was afraid it would be another dull indie movie similar to Neon Demon. A movie that is all aesthetic.
A common flaw of the indie or alt-film genre is that storylines can veer into the lane of either too complicated or too subtle to be enjoyable. A waste of my time. But Teen Spirit wasn’t! The singing competition is merely a vehicle to tell a more meaningful story about relationship dynamics.
I love ripping on bad trailers. Trailers that don’t make sense for movies at all and get the heart of the movie all wrong. Unfortunately, I can’t fault the trailer of Teen Spirit, because a trailer about the heart of the film – wouldn’t have motivated anyone to actually watch it. It’s like a hidden treasure for those who take the time to enjoy this film. It’s still available on Hulu, and you don’t need cannabis to enjoy it.
Under The Silver Lake
This movie is one of those indie movies that is too damn complicated for its own good and the fact it’s filmed in my backyard* can’t even save it. I wanted to like it, and I just couldn’t. It’s a 2 hour and 20 minute self-indulgent mess. It’s a bad date with a really cute guy. It’s available on Amazon Prime and I had to watch it over the course of two days because I gave up on Friday night, and am in quarantine and had nothing better to do with my Saturday morning – so I finished it. The ending wasn’t satisfying. The whole experience was mildly frustrating. So if you want an exercise in patience and enjoy self-torture, again – it’s available on Amazon Prime
*I live about 20 miles away from Silver Lake (silver lake area) but still consider it my backyard because I grew up in a suburb of LA and as soon as I could drive I went to Sunset Junction and fell in love. It’s no longer the city of my youth, but it still has a special place in my heart.
The Platform
If you enjoyed Cube, I think you will like The Platform, but you’ll need to read subtitles unless you’re fluent in Spanish. An incredibly unique film that puts a microscope on human nature. Can’t lie, it can be a little triggering especially given the current state of our world amidst a pandemic. An analysis on selfishness, indulgence, desperation, and privilege – oh it’s a think piece that might leave you a bit more unsettled than you were expecting. Violence, gore, and jumpsuits are involved; but if you get past the grim you get to enjoy a really great story. I’m jealous that I didn’t come up with the story. The movie is available on Netflix.
Marriage Story
I don’t like Scarlett Johansson. I love Adam Driver. Movie was mediocre. A basic latte. A beige sweater. It probably did so well with the Hollywood crowd because it’s a highly accurate picture of divorce …. fun ? ? ? I only watched it because I was already in a bad mood and kept me in the same place.
It’s been a really gloomy gray week in Southern California. But this morning the sun is out, and golden rays are flooding my office. I love the crisp cold air of the morning and the unique glow only fresh sun rays bestow on the earth. I feel like a sunflower waking up. Oh, no more floral metaphors. Anyways, this new day is invigorating, and as I watched May Favorite YouTube videos while eating some homemade granola, I really wanted to share some of my own favorites or just stuff I came across recently. This lead me to go “F* it,” it’s time to do weekly check-in’s / progress reports. So if you’re down, here are a few things I’ve been loving, liking, thinking about, and generally want to share.
SHOW & TELL
I have four different colors as my primary color inspiration for my wedding. Each bridesmaid get’s to choose her own color, fuchsia pink, turquoise, marigold, or poppy orange. My sister has been designated with poppy orange, but as she has three kids, a full-time job, and our writing project – I decided to do some bridesmaid dress research for her. I didn’t find the dress, but I did find these, that I’m in love with!! ONE / TWO
Recently a friend posed the question how someone can still choose to be Catholic after she’d watched The Keepers. I engaged in the conversation slightly, but Facebook really isn’t the place to have an in-depth theological discussion. Since I wanted to know where she was coming from, I watched the docuseries sooner than I had anticipated. It’s heartbreaking and the retelling of the acts of a truly EVIL man. It was disturbing, and my heart breaks for all the victims involved in this story. This also led me to watch Spotlight. The acts of the Archdiocese is appalling and inexcusable, and I pray that the church is exorcising its demons. I still feel the internet is not the best place for that conversation, but my position is that you can have faith in Catholicism and still oppose the acts of the Catholic Church, they are not one in the same. It’s spirituality versus a system. Anywho, The Keepers and Spotlight are both fantastic watches, and I commend the work of the Bulldogs exposing the corruption in the church. [[and you have every right to disagree with my thought process, and think I’m deplorable – whatevs. oh, and watching these films was NOT the first time i learned of the church’s corruption. ]]
Lighter note! Music – I discovered Rubblebucket this week and their EP “If U C My Enemies” makes me so damn happy.
Jessica Murnane of “One Part Plant” is my favorite human this week. I’ve been listening to her podcast, One Part Podcast for the last month and love her interview style. I also just finished her second podcast, The Cookbook Deal where she documented the process of creating a cookbook during the weirdest year of her life. And it was an intense year, basically, after listening to it all, I was like here have all my money and immediately bought her book on Amazon. Yesterday I made the granola from the book, it was super easy and with a few of my favorite spices (cinnamon & cardamom) super delicious. Definitely, listen to her podcast, here are a few of my favorite episode.
The theme of this Friday Favorites is “BEAT” because this week had me beat and I listened/watched some great beats. Unfortunately, due to work, I was unable to film a Friday Favorites video this week. And honestly, I’m not so certain about my ability to keep up with creating a series on YouTube because of my unpredictable work/life schedule. At one point this week I had only slept 2 hours in a 24 hour period. But I will commit to weekly uploads and Friday Favorite posts on the blog each week. So let’s get into it….
The Get Down: I totally missed the train on this show. It came out in August 2016 and I was never inspired to watch it. All I knew was that it was about the 70’s and I’ve never been a huge 70’s person, consider me traumatized from the era of That 70’s Show. But I remember hearing a little bit of buzz around it and after reading the show was directed by my man Baz Luhrman, I started watching the show. It’s AMAZING! The music is on point, the acting is fantastic, and the writing is sharp. There are only 6 episodes in season part 1 and part 2 is coming out 2017. Sadly, the show is expensive to produce and didn’t receive optimal ratings, so its future is unknown. But I’m excited to see what happens next. They really hook you and I am totally cheering on the main character Ezekiel, I want to see how these kids turn out. Oh, and the show is about the transition of the Disco Era to Hip Hop and social issues in the Bronx, NY.
Childish Gambino: Now if I’m late on The Get Down. I’m like a lifetime late to the party on Childish Gambino. I attended the Coachella festival Gambino had performed in the past, but missed his performance and never looked him up. All I knew about Childish Gambino was he was the guy from Community. This past week I ended up reading an article on him and finally was curious enough to look up Childish Gambino on Spotify. Man, I was missing out. His lyrics are smart and his beats are unique. I’m a fan and that’s all I can say about that. His latest album “Awaken, My Love” is inspired by the music he listened to growing up and you can hear him exploring and growing as a musician.
*Serge Normant Dry Shampoo: As it was a crazy week, I was using a lot of my favorite dry shampoo by Serge Normant. I love this brand because of its woodsy scent. Most dry shampoos are floral or smell like baby powder, but Serge Normant has a completely unique scent that is more my style. It’s not a cheap dry shampoo but I’ve had the same can now for over two years, can’t complain about that! (* the link is an affiliate link, meaning if you purchase the shampoo through the link I will get a friendly commission)
