Q3 is a wrap! So let’s look back on things I’ve watched, listene to, and visited this last quarter (that I can remember). I’m halfway through two different books, so unfortuantely that means I don’t get to add them to the list.
Movies
On The Sea
I watched On The Sea during SF’s LGBTQ+ Frameline festival. After skimming the list of movies and times, I pitched this one to a few friends as “Brokeback Mountain but with fishermen in Scotland”
That summary ended up being about correct, with maybe a sweeter ending. I liked the movie, it has good depictions of families and found-families, and how relationships change over time. Strong recommend!
Coyote vs ACME
I was so excited that Coyote vs ACME was rescued from the Warner Brother-Discover merger trash pile!
The movie did an interesting job of adding layers to the Coyote. He’s a victim, but still has some nefarious moments. Looking back over the Coyote and Road Runner rules, many of them apply to the movie, which is a great nod to the source material.
- The Road Runner cannot harm the Coyote except by going “meep, meep.”
- No outside force can harm the Coyote — only his own ineptitude or the failure of Acme products. Trains and trucks were the exception from time to time.
- The Coyote could stop anytime — if he were not a fanatic.
…
The grand conspiracy of the movie (Project Sisyphus) could have used a little more connection for me, I felt like sometimes the existence of it was treated as enough, but I would have enjoyed more details on specifically how it did what it did.
A fun movie, and the sign-as-dialogue bit for the Coyote was probably my favorite gag.
Fuze
I watched Fuze on streaming. It was a great heist movie, the best part about watching it at home was that I could yell out predictions and not feel like I was ruining anything for anybody else in a theater.
A lot of little threads and hints tied together in really fun ways. The ending of the movie was a “10 years ago” flashback that honestly, I don’t think we needed! The rest of the movie gave enough to piece things together, so I could take it on faith that the characters had met, I didn’t need to see their actual meeting.
History of Concrete
I did not know much The History of Concrete going into it, the pitch was “this guy who’s known for his weird sense of humor, he took a class on how to make a Hallmark rom-com”.
I think if I was going to summarize this movie for somebody, I’d call it “The Making of ‘The History of Concrete’” because it includes lots of snippets on the process of pitching a feature film and the various development of that.
The actual movie has dense, slightly absurdist humor spackled into every corner of it. It’s got lots of snapshots of quirky subcultures (concrete convention in Vegas, 3100-mile race in Queens) and a Tibetan monk ceremony that all align in their own way. A lot of the action takes places in New York City. A sequence where Eric Adams signs a controversial “City of Yes” law spliced over the Tibetan monks changing is a great climax to the movie.
Probably because of my own biases, I noticed a consistent throughline of NIMBY culture (people protesting various changes), I’m most sympathetic to the ones who protested against the unsafe dust affecting homes nearby the concrete recycling plant. But there was also a thread on how lots of concrete ages poorly, and a meditation on impermanence via the Buddhist teaching of Samsara. Reflected back, it feels to me lik a commentary on the futility of the NIMBY struggle: one way or another, things will change and even new things that get built may not last anyways, so what’s the point of protesting?
If you’ve read this much, I’ve probably said too much! Go see the movie if you have a chance.
TV
Lanterns
I wasn’t following closely ahead of time, Lanterns on HBO kind of snuck up on me. I only have a passing familiarity with Green Lantern lore, and have never seen True Detective, so maybe I’m not the target audience for a Green Latern-True Detective mashup. Either way, I am enjoying it!
I noticed that this show is not afraid to comment on race inequity in the US, which is refreshing in an age when it feels like many big networks are watering down political content. It reminded me a little bit of HBO’s Watchmen mini-series, which coincidentally also had Damon Lindelof behind it.
I hope the season finale this week ends well, and am curious what a second season could look like.
Music
“Popstar” by Tinashe
I really liked the singles from Popstar that were released before the full album was out like “Too Easy” and “Crash Out”. The piano in be beginning of “Pillow Fight” reminded me of the Guardian Battle theme from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.
When the full album was released, “Nobody Wanna Dance Anymore” immediately hooked me. It’s validating to me to see that has been one of the top-streamed songs on the album since. The whole album is a fun mix, I think I’d only listened to individual singles from Tinashe before, so I’m enjoying having a full project to listen to.
“Crave” by Meg Stalter
I knew Meg Stalter from Hacks, one of her viral “Hi Gay” TikToks, and a few singles she’d released earlier this year. I didn’t realize she was making an album until the entire thing dropped a few weeks ago. On first listen, her songs are cheesy, but they’ve really grown on me. Her remix of “Gay” featuring MUNA is so fun, I love her ad-libs. I have grown to love “Prettiest Girl in America” and its remix as well. I think my top song on this album is “Ish” even the intro “Hi, it’s Meg” and “Leave a Message at the… Interlude” are really funny too. She really leans into this over-the-top character and I don’t understand how something that is trying to be camp this hard actually succeeds. I feel like half songs on the album have some sort of voicemail gimmick, but the Interlude actually makes it work.
“Cavities” by Jake Giles
Jake Giles got on my radar through BlueSky and I’d listened to some of his previous songs on Bandcamp. I think we’re about the same age, so it makes sense that his sound evokes a particular pop-punk/alt rock feeling that takes me right back to high school. The titular single “Cavities” is great and maybe “Are We California Dreaming Yet?” is engineered to make a lifelong Californian like me me feel nostalgic for my own home. The practically winking-right-at-you humor in “That’s Who You Left For Me” is super fun.
“Day and Night” by Carly Rae Jepsen
To be honest, a few of the early single from Day and Night were kind of misses for me. Of those singles, “On Wires” hasn’t quite stuck with me and “After All” took a few listens before I got it. “Don’t Leave Me on the Dance Floor” was an instant yes for me.
It’s a double album, so the whole thing is a lot to digest. I probably haven’t listened enough times to the entire thing, but so far, “No Labels, I Love You” and “Never Let a Good Thing Die” are faves.
“Age of the Exhibitionist” by Rebecca Black
It’s old news that Rebecca Black has grown beyond her accidentally-viral Friday music video from almost a decade ago. Her album last year, “SALVATION” was great fun and pretty short. “Age of the Exhibitionist” hooked me more, it feels more in-your-face. There’s a lot of falsetto voice mixed in, songs like “Michael.” have fun hooks to them. Definitely worth a listen.
“The Outlaw Cherie Lie & Other Western Tales” by Shaboozey
I really liked the singles “Cowgirl” and “Burn it Down” before the full album of “The Outlaw Cherie & Other Western Tales” was released, I listened to them a lot! The full album as a lot of interludes and creates more of a narrative, which is fun great, but I just haven’t had the time or attention to fully absorb them. “Born To Die” is another favorite, but I could have sworn it was part of Shaboozey’s previous album (which was also great). To me, Shaboozey’s sound has been pretty consitent across albums, and that’s perfectly fine with me!
Museum Exhibits
Objects: USA
The current exhibit at SF’s Museum of Craft and Design is Objects: USA. It’s a reimagining of a classic 1969 exhibit of the same name at the Smithsonian American Art Museum. It has all sorts of interesting objects that could go in a home: furniture, decorations etc. I took a few photos of ones that stood out but the whole thing was great.
Prisoner sequence on a vase
Tongue chair
Video Craft
The previous exhibit at the Museum of Craft and Design until August was Video Craft. It had lots of interplay between video and fiber arts and even ceramic arts. It was a really fun mix, I ended up going twice to see this one and enjoyed it a ton the second time too.
Stil frames of a brief movie, as quilts
Film negatives with a special indigo die