2018 Second Quarter Favorites and Reviews

Let’s just jump in, eh? All titles are linked or bolded for your perusing pleasure.

BOOKS

COMEDY SPECIALS

  • Greg Davies: You Magnificent Beast : )
    I love Greg Davies (see television shows below,) especially on talk shows. I felt like I shouldn’t have laughed a bunch of times, but when he laughs at his own jokes, I can’t help it. I just think he really knows how to turn a story.
  • John Mulaney: Kid Gorgeous : )
    If you’ll recall, I saw this live. And although I haven’t memorized jokes from this as I have from his other two Netflix specials, it is a great thing to have on in the background at all times so that I don’t wallow.
  • Patton Oswalt: Annihilation : ?
    I love Patton Oswalt, but I had a hard time laughing at this because so much of it centered around the tragedy of his wife’s death, and I felt like I got to know her through her book and it just made me sad.

DOCUMENTARIES

  • Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father ****
    Dear Zachary chronicles the murder of Andrew Bagby by his girlfriend, Shirley Turner, and the relationship Bagby’s parents were forced to have with Turner in the years afterwards. This is certainly a heartbreaking documentary, but well worth the watch if you don’t think you’ll be triggered by trauma. Filmmaker Kurt Kuenne (a longtime friend of Bagby) overlaps dialogue and moves through lightning speed montages to convey two things: unspeakable grief and the unknowable complexity of Bagby’s life. I certainly think that this film demonizes Turner when it could have looked a little more deeply into her obvious illness, but it was made by and for people who loved Andrew, so it’s hard to expect anything less. And this film caused real change in Canadian law. So, watch the thing.
  • The Woman Who Wasn’t There ***
    There’s no real twist in this because it’s in the title – it’s about a woman who lied for half a decade about being a 9/11 survivor, and before she was discovered she became the president of the World Trade Center Survivor’s Network. It’s tough to understand or empathize with this woman, especially since you know what’s coming. I wonder what it would be like if we didn’t know, and there was a twist, but at the same time, it’s just as heart-wrenching watching her do these things that are so disrespectful considering that she is lying.
  • Cowspiracy ***
    The reason why I give this three stars instead of four is because the first time I watched it, I couldn’t get all the way through it, and I sort of had to force myself to get through it all the way this time. It just makes me very upset. I was already a vegan when I watched this, and I became a vegan for many reasons, but I find this to be the best way to explain to people how being vegan is probably the most sustainable life choice.
  • Derren Brown: The Push ***
    To be fair, I sat down and watched the whole damn thing, but I do thing that despite our love for the macabre, this is pretty unethical. It’s about a man who is forced through rigorous social experiments without knowing that everything is a set up, and it all leads up to him being pushed to commit murder. I was pretty judgmental against this man, who was so compliant, but at the same time, everyone did work very hard to make it seem realistic. (I’m still sure I would have done things differently.) I wouldn’t recommend watching this if you have anxiety (like yours truly.)
  • Beware the Slenderman ***
    I definitely had to sleep with the light on after I watched this. It’s definitely a lot to deal with, especially because I think that communication really could have helped in a bunch of the situations leading up to the attempted murder this documentary explores. But it’s something I’m going to keep thinking about, for sure.
  • Mommy Dead and Dearest ***
    This is about the murder of Dee Dee Blancharde by her daughter Gypsy Rose and her boyfriend Nick. Something I was thinking about, because so much of this is quite hard to take in, is that often female sociopaths/psychopaths need a male counterpart to sort of trigger their actions, and so it just made me angry that the woman interviewing Nick’s mother placed all of the responsibility on Gypsy. That’s a lot of toxic masculinity floating around.
  • The Redeemed and the Dominant: The Fittest on Earth ***
    I don’t do CrossFit myself but I love watching it because I’m weird. I thought it was a bit defensive that the documentary started out with talking about steroids, but I didn’t know about Ricky Garard yet. It was an enjoyable watch but I thought there was less of the training in this documentary compared to the last two that I watched.

EXERCISE

  • The Best Plan to Train For Your First 10K by POPSUGAR Fitness
    I’ve completed the farthest routes I’ve ever run with this plan! However, I mostly run slower than it suggests, but my goal is to run unbroken rather than make a time. I do suggest that you start off with the Women’s Running First Finish 5K Plan if you are not a runner. That’s what I did. When I moved to New York, I’m afraid I fell off the bandwagon, but I walk all day every day!
  • Mapometer
    With my new training, I needed a way to map out my runs before I took them, because I don’t trust any of the fitness apps I’ve tried. And it works great on the roads. The problem is that I much prefer to run in the woods, and I haven’t found a reliable way to track that yet.

FILMS

  • Isle of Dogs : ?
    This was certainly meticulously made and my brother-in-law and I had such an experience getting to the theatre to see this. But for some reason I can’t decide how I feel about it overall. There was something I really liked about Chief being so resolutely a stray, which made us think about how the hell we know what animals actually want. (I think you can probably guess whether Chief remains committed to being master-less.) But I certainly couldn’t wrap my head around the fact that no female dogs were in packs (which is not precisely how nature works) and that all the female dogs were groomed to look like they had boobs? Also, I have written a story based in Japan, and I think it’s important to write about places that are not from whence you came, but I definitely was wondering how Japanese people feel about the piece.
  • A Quiet Place : ‘ )
    I really loved the concept, and I think for the most part it was carried out well, although the monsters looked very similar to the demogorgan from Stranger Things. I loved the subversion and sacrifice, and I think the young actors were really talented. I was especially pleased that a deaf actress was cast in a deaf role. See how easy it is, everyone? Beyond easy, because she was the best for the role overall, too.
  • Hello, My Name Is Frank : ‘ )
    I watched this on Amazon Prime. I shamefully don’t know a lot about Tourettes Syndrome, although I think severe adult Tourettes is quite rare, but basically this just made me cry a lot. There was a lot of nuance and emotion and character. Yes.
  • Chappaquiddick : (
    I guess this film didn’t really do much for me because I already knew that I hated Ted Kennedy? And even though sometimes it tried to make me feel sorry for him, I just kept thinking about how much I hated him, and how I’d much rather be reading that Joyce Carol Oates story so Mary Jo could be heard and there was SO MUCH WHITE BOY PRIVILEGE and lying etcetera, etcetera. Also, I got a little panicked because there was obviously drowning in this. And I have a fear of drowning because I almost drowned. (Cue my brother-in-law: What? You did? You never talk about it… Because I always talk about it. )
  • Captain Fantastic : )
    I mean anyone who knows much about me knows that I love Viggo. I love the nuance and the idea that no matter HOW you raise your kids, everything’s gonna get messed up at some point. But it’s often really tough for me to deal with mental health and suicide. So.
  • Professor Marston and the Wonder Woman : )
    I think that this is a very interesting look at polyamory, and I was charmed by all three of the main actors, but may I recommend the much more historically accurate – there should have been another woman involved, and there isn’t incredibly compelling evidence that the ladies were sexually active with each other – and one of my favorite books from last year, The Secret History of Wonder Woman by Jill Lepore.
  • Avengers: Infinity War : )
    Okay, so I hardcore cheated. I’m not a fan of Marvel, really, for various reasons. I really think that people should stay dead and I care more about actual people than these “super humans,” etcetera. I’ve also only seen Spider-man: Homecoming (I like Tobey Maguire,) Doctor Strange, Guardians of the Galaxy, and Black Panther. BUT I mostly knew what was going on from the lore and I had a good time. I especially liked the scene where it was just the ladies fighting. Check out Late to the Table’s episode on this one. (I know them!)
  • The Sound & the Shadow : ?
    I liked the aesthetic and most of the acting and some of the story subversions, but I think I would have doctored the script a little bit.
  • Captain America: The First Avenger : ?
    My brother-in-law was essentially like, okay, you’ve watched Avengers, so now you must begin this journey. He has picked out which films he think are essential and he began with this because he thought I might like Agent Carter. I was super distracted by film tropes I didn’t particularly like, but the experience of watching the film was fun.
  • Solo: A Star Wars Story *I don’t know how to make a shrug emoji: insert one here.*
    Right, so we haven’t talked about this here, but I am a pretty big Star Wars fan but I’m not a fan of the extended universe or any of these extra films so far. I just like 4, 5, 6, 7, and sometimes depending on my mood 8. I did enjoy the experience of watching this; I saw it with both sets of my siblings which hardly happens, and I laughed at some of the dumb/cutesy nods to the original films and rolled my eyes at others. I just don’t really believe in this version of Han. I was looking for chaotic neutral, pre-Leia Han. And I did not get that. I appreciate some of the ladies and the double-crossing. My brother pointed out, as I knew he would, that I share a personality with L3.
  • RBG : )
    I’m afraid that this experience was tainted for me by external worries. We all love RBG, but I’m not sure that I learned anything outside of what I read previously in Notorious RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
  • Adrift : )
    I used to love sailing until my near-drowning experience – cue my brother-in-law saying “What? You never talk about this!” I like that there is lady power and it’s quite realistic actually and also I quite love Sam Claflin. I will say that I knew what was happening going in because I always look up the true story first, but I still found it to be quite tense.
  • Please Stand By : ) 
    Ahhh, very unfortunately I don’t know if this an accurate portrayal of autism, but I admit that I really enjoyed watching this.
  • Won’t You Be My Neighbor : )
    I enjoyed this! I have a lot of thoughts. There is only one place in which Mr. Rogers could be used as problematic, and I have reasons that I think makes it okay, but I won’t say them here because I’ve just seen the movie and it’s almost eleven at night so my thoughts will lack nuance. Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood definitely wasn’t my favorite television show, but his plea to look for the helpers and this video and this one make him an icon in my eyes.
  • Incredibles 2 : )
    First of all, Bao was amazing and Christine was legitimately crying. I really liked Incredibles 2! I can see being quite scared as a kid, but I thought that the comedy was good and not mean in any way, and I think the message was good and it passed the Bechdel test! We totally knew the reveal, though.

HARRY POTTER

MY WRITING

PODCASTS

  • Bad With Money
    I do very much agree with Gaby Dunn that if we were more open to talking about money, many of us wouldn’t have so many problems. I certainly have a guilt complex about money myself, and it’s lovely to hear such intelligent discourse about common money mistakes, etcetera.
  • Gossip
    This is the only narrative podcast I’ve listened to, and I’m into it. I wish I could create things like this! Alas, my thought spirals make creative thinking quite difficult.
  • Late to the Table
    See above! They have recently branched out into reading a Gospel to review!

TELEVISION SHOWS

  • A Series of Unfortunate Events : ‘ )
    As mentioned in a previous blog post (click the link above,) I was inspired by the first Netflix season of ASOUE to re-read the books and it was just a very pleasant experience for me. There are some problematíque elements, of course, but I really appreciate the attempt by the Netflix series to ingratiate LGBTQ characters, etcetera. Sometimes it was difficult to get past the introduction of such famous actors, but I really enjoy the cinematography and direction, and I enjoy seeing scenes outside of the Baudelaire perspective. Those kids are amazing, by the way.
  • The Office (UK & US) : ) & : /
    I never had any interest in watching the office until I randomly saw a mashup of Jim pranks and I just figured that there was something there. So I started with the UK version, which you would have guessed if you knew anything about me. Martin Freeman is super charming and oh my goodness he broke my heart. And then I… didn’t really get into the US version
  • Cuckoo : )
    I started watching this on my spring break and found it pretty hilarious because I love Greg Davies and I really miss England. But I would switch between long periods of watching it and longs periods of not. And maybe I shouldn’t have liked parts of it. Hmmm. Thoughts.
  • Dear White People : ‘ D
    Right, so this is the best television series of 2018. I wish I could write dialogue like that. I wish I could set up such beautiful shots. I wish I could change the whole world. But I will settle for telling everyone to watch this. I would also please like to acknowledge that the casting of Rikki Carter was brilliant. AND that while I pride myself on figuring out surprises before they happen… that did not happen here.
  • 13 Reasons Why : /
    Right, so, I have opinions on this. I really do think that this show is dangerous. Don’t get me wrong; I liked watching it. But I am literally a masochist. I can’t say that it was detrimentally negative to my mental health – although I did start to read spoilers halfway through because I was worried I’d be surprised by another graphic suicide scene… not quite, but close – but it certainly wasn’t helpful. I wrote a lot and took a lot of notes on it, so I’m sure I’ll keep thinking about it. Also, I actually weirdly problematically fell in love with Mr. Porter and Justin. Though maybe it was just their acting. I found this article very helpful.
  • The Handmaid’s Tale : ‘ )
    I finally gave in! I always have opinions on book-to-movie adaptations, and this was no exception. I cried probably more than I have ever cried at a television show even though I knew exactly what was going to happen, although that may have been because I was switching medication again. I think that the way they’re going with things is extremely interesting and it’s something I could write a lot about if I put my mind to it, but I still find myself wanting to buy a copy to read it over for a third time to cleanse my palate.
  • RuPaul’s Drag Race: 10s, 10s, 10s, 10s, 10s across the board : )
    I think I’m better at bingeing television shows because from week to week, I couldn’t keep up. However, Drag Race will always get an A+ entertaintment grade form me.
  • The Great British Bake Off : ‘ D
    Ah, whenever depression comes around, this old chestnut comes out. I watched my favorite, season seven. I feel bad for other seasons when I say it’s my favorite, but there you have it.
  • Pride and Prejudice, BBC 1995 : ‘ D
    As one of my “top five stories for dark times” I think this is pretty self-explanatory.

YOUTUBE  

  • Jen Campbell
    Jen, I think, is probably the smartest person with whom I’ve ever interacted? And I’ve only interacted with her in a really cringey fan way, so that’s unfortunate. But she is an author and a speaker and an all-around excellent person and if you need to know anything at all about anything literary, see her.
  • Just Between Us
    Ah, how I love these women. (Gaby and Allison of previously mentioned podcasts and I Hate Everyone But You.) They are so intelligent and empathetic and I want to be their friends although I don’t want them to know me so that they can’t leave me. Seriously, though, they have gotten me through some real stuff.
  • The Lizzie Bennet Diaries
    Hello, darkness my old friend. I’ve come to talk with you again. One of my very favorite adaptations of Pride and Prejudice. Obviously. A depression cure.
  • Mary Kate Wiles
    Sometimes I do this thing where I decide to go through an actor’s entire body of work, just because it gives me something to focus on, and that’s what I recently did with MK Wiles. I know her best, of course, from The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, which is one of my very favorite adaptations of one of my very favorite books, but I also really love the work she does with Shipwrecked and I just really feel like I know her and can relate to her from her vlogs. I also received a Jane Bennet snickerdoodle-scented candle from her Etsy shop, Paper & Slate, which I would highly recommend.

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