Barack Obama Ranking the virtual commencement speeches In lieu of traditional graduations, the class of 2020 has been treated to a series of virtual commencement speeches from various celebrities and political figures. (Shout out to the class of 2020 who are coming of age in a literal nightmare but are hanging in there with the TikTok dances By Sarah • Jun 04, 2020 03:41 pm
Long Reads This week in America (Here is the latest installment in our Long Reads series – Sarah’s personal story about being an America living in America right now.) This week in America is happening because last week in America a police officer murdered George Floyd. I have lived in Chicago ten years this summer. During By Sarah • Jun 03, 2020 09:41 am
TV Updates At least Perry Mason still looks good There’s a lot going on right now, and it feels frivolous to write about the trailer for an HBO series—it IS frivolous—but I’ve run the gamut this past weekend from determined to uplifted to nervous to scared to panicked and now I’m idling on E. By Sarah • Jun 01, 2020 02:04 pm
TV Updates Steve Carell in Space Force When the trailer for Netflix’s new comedy series, Space Force, premiered a few weeks ago, I said that “reality IS satire now so this might as well be a documentary”. This turns out to be one of the biggest problems facing Space Force, that it is, intentionally or not, By Sarah • Jun 01, 2020 11:42 am
Theatre Nerd Emilia Clarke & Jessica Chastain remain committed To the stage, that is. Both women were to front revivals on London’s West End this summer, but the theater season was, of course, cut short by COVID-19. Emilia Clarke is to star in an adaption of The Seagull from Anya Reiss, and Jessica Chastain will lead Frank By Sarah • May 29, 2020 11:49 am
Movie Reviews and Previews Henry Cavill will return as Superman…kinda Here we go. Following the announcement that the “Snyder Cut” of Justice League would be released on HBOMax, there is more Zack Snyder-adjacent DC movie news. No, Ben Affleck is not returning as Batman—let the poor man take endless walks with his girlfriend and eat carbs—but Henry By Sarah • May 28, 2020 12:29 pm
Movie Reviews and Previews Scott Derrickson enters the Labyrinth Months after leaving Marvel and his Doctor Strange sequel, director Scott Derrickson has landed a new project—the sequel to the beloved 1986 David Bowie classic Labyrinth (I suppose this now supplants the previous iteration being written by Nicole Perlman). Perhaps this can be the gothic horror fantasy that Derrickson By Sarah • May 27, 2020 12:11 pm
TV Updates Hannah Gadsby is back with Douglas Two years after her not-comedy special Nanette made her a household name, Hannah Gadsby is back with Douglas, a stand-up special/one-woman show/glorified Ted Talk/lecture—whatever you want to call it, she really does not care. Gadsby herself compares the arc of Douglas to a By Sarah • May 27, 2020 10:06 am
Movie Reviews and Previews Issa Rae and Kumail Nanjiani in The Lovebirds Once bound to premiere at SXSW followed by theatrical distribution, The Lovebirds, a romantic comedy starring Issa Rae and Kumail Nanjiani, instead dropped on Netflix over the weekend (where it trended in the US’s Top 10). Honestly, Netflix feels like the right place for this movie, a slight but By Sarah • May 25, 2020 12:34 pm
Movie Reviews and Previews Charlize finally admits she’s immortal You MIGHT say that this is just a trailer for Charlize Theron’s next movie, The Old Guard, a comic book movie about a small group of immortal badasses who kick major ass. You might ALSO say that Highlander is just a movie, and not, in fact, an instructional manual By Sarah • May 22, 2020 12:36 pm
Movie Reviews and Previews Tenet reveals itself as its release date becomes questionable A new trailer for Tenet dropped last night, released first inside Fortnite, because when I think “Christopher Nolan”, I totally think “e-sports”. Lainey pointed out that there is probably some overlap between Nolan, Batman fans, and online gaming, and dropping a trailer in Fortnite is a way to engage By Sarah • May 22, 2020 10:59 am
TV Updates The Great: The Power of Gossip, the Power of Sex – and Teen Princess! Tony McNamara, Oscar-nominated co-writer of The Favourite, is back with another anachronistic tale of a woman in power. This time he focuses on Russia’s Catherine the Great (Elle Fanning), in a Hulu series titled The Great. It’s not as dark as The Favourite, and overall has By Sarah • May 21, 2020 02:37 pm
TV Updates The Stand arrives at the best-worst moment One of Stephen King’s most enduring novels is The Stand, a book about humanity attempting to rebuild—or just go full-end times—after 99% of the population is wiped out by a virus. When the COVID-19 pandemic began in earnest earlier this year, people immediately leapt to By Sarah • May 21, 2020 11:00 am
Movie Reviews and Previews Welp, the Snyder Cut is happening after all I admit it: I was wrong. The fabled “Snyder Cut”, Zack Snyder’s director cut of Justice League is actually being released, expected to drop on HBOMax in 2021 after years of toxic fan bitching. I did not think it would happen for many reasons, but following a regime change By Sarah • May 20, 2020 03:29 pm
Movie Reviews and Previews Halle Berry’s Geostorm Geostorm (GEOSTOOOOOOORM) is one of the great dumb movies of the 2010s—maybe THE great dumb movie of the 2010s—but if you’ve ever said to yourself, “What I’d REALLY like is Geostorm but with a hot lady,” then boy, have I got the movie for you. Halle By Sarah • May 20, 2020 11:18 am
Movie Reviews and Previews Pitch Perfect but for Eurovision Eurovision, the delightful annual summit that pits (mostly) European countries against each other in a bonkers singing competition, was cancelled earlier this year, along with basically everything else, due to the pandemic. I love anything that is countries competing against each other, and I firmly believe all geopolitical issues should By Sarah • May 19, 2020 11:53 am
