Hi All,
Are you feeling stressed? Want to cancel your seven day free trial of 2021? Me too.
Itās been a mess. Iāve been glued to the TV flipping back and forth between CBC News Network and CNN. Plus Iāve been watching all of the late-night TV guys just rip into the situation. I honestly cannot turn off the TV.
Iām a news junkie - itās the journalism student in me so this works for me; but I know a lot of people want to turn the news off and escape. Iāve got you. From this point out, Iāve got nothing but escapism content for you. Turn off those brains and relax.
Iām reading a book right now called You Had Me at Hola by Alexis Daria - itās a rom-com book about two stars of a telanovela. Itās very Jane the Virgin and Iām here for it. Iām only on chapter 10 but itās the perfect āturn your brain off and just have funā read.
I bring up a book because if you donāt want to watch anything this week - I also understand that. Iāve got a few books qued up on Libby and Iām always looking for more. Send me your books!
But for those of you who do want something to watch - Iāve got you. Letās get to it:
This week on the blog:
I came up with a list of the *ulimate* escapism content. Lots of romcoms, heist films, classic musicals - things that are just fun. Iāve got it all sorted out by streaming service (Netflix, Crave, Disney, Gem, Hayu, and Prime) and there should be something for everyone. Physcologists say that tapping into childhood favourites can be a coping mechanism to help them relax and eliminate stress so expect a lot of kids content. Read the whole list is here.
Iāve also got a full review and guide to Ratatouille: A TikTok Musical. In short - I loved it and Iāve had the songs stuck in my head all week. It is sadly not available to watch anymore (legally) - but for those of you who are in this rat cult with me or if you want to be hip with the kids and know what all the fuss is about - read it here.
Things to watch this week:
Iāve got a personal plug for you. This time last year I was living in Aliston Ontario (which is a great little town - highly recommend the road trip) and was the lead cast chaperone for All Round Championās second season. I lived with the ten athletes and really grew to care about each of them. The show aired on BYU in the states in the fall - but it has finally premiered on TVO. This is a true āfamilyā show - so if you have kids in the 8-14 range, Iād recommend watching this. There are two episodes a week and you can watch them all for free on TVO Kidās youtube page. Hereās a link to episode one featuring freestyle skier Gage.
Overall, there isnāt a lot of new stuff this week worth noting (go watch those old classics), but Iāve got a few things you could check out.
As I said last week, RuPaulās Drag Race is back for season 13 and the premiere last week was excellent TV. Catch up on episode one and then watch episode two tonight. If you are watching this let me know and we can start a group chat.
Lastly, if you missed it last week, weāve got a new season of The Bachelor. Itās the 25th season and the first to feature a Black lead - a guy named Matt James. Heās new to the franchise (he qualified as Tyler Cameronās best friend). His front runner is deaf and overall it looks like it will be a good season. But with all the buzz about diversity this season - thereās a great piece from Alma criticizing the show for being so āChristianā and how having some religious diversity would be nice. I agree. New episodes air on Monday on CityTV.
On Sunday, CBC Gem starts streaming BBCās acclaimed Les MisĆ©rables miniseries. This isnāt a musical (sadly), but that might work for some of you. It has a fantastic cast and if you are in the gossip world, you know about the whole Dominic West and Lily James āconnectionā so seeing them together on screen will be good. This first aired in December 2018 and this is the first time itās airing in Canada. (Someone on Tiktok made a joke about how this weekās coup was the āworst production of Les Misā š¤¦āāļø but Iāve heard this BBC is actually quite good.) Watch the trailer here.
Also on Sunday, at 9 pm on Crave, the two part HBO Sports documentary Tiger premiers. Itās (obviously) about Tiger Woods - but the focus is about the rise, fall, and rise again of the golf star. Iām not a golf fan or Tiger fan and yet I want to watch this because the trailer is so good. If you miss sports or are interested in his journey this might be for you.
On Thursday weāve got a new season of RuPaulās Drag Race UK. I always enjoyed watching an episode of Drag Race if it was on, but it was the UK season that got me hooked. Thereās just something special about the British Drag Queens and Iām so excited to watch this. Itās also on Crave.
Lastly - for all my Tim Rigginās fans out there - Waco the limited series starring Taylor Kitsch is leaving Netflix on the 15th so if you wanted to watch it, do that asap.
Other things to check out:
I am so excited about this - HBOMax released a trailer for the movie Locked Down. Itās the first pandemic movie Iām genuinely excited to watch. It stars Anne Hathway and Chiwetel Ejiofor and it isā¦ a Harrods Heist Film. I am SO pumped. It comes out next week - and Iām hoping itās on Crave. Iāll remind you when itās available in Canada. Watch the trailer here.
In gossip - Harry Styles and Olivia Wilde are apparently dating. I donāt think they are - I get the vibe that they might be in a Director x Actor showmance. But if they are thatās great. I just love them as friends/dating/whatever. They are a duo I can get behind. I only bring this up to plug the fact that back in 2015, Harry wrote a song for One Direction calledā¦ Olivia. Iāve had it on repeat all week.
A lot of you got in touch to talk about Bridgerton from last week and most of you wanted to talk about the costumes! Netflix released a little feature on that team and itās worth your time if you liked the show.
For Youtube fans - you know the annual rewind can be amazing or terrible (nothing between). Youtube officially canceled their rewind, but Youtuber megastar Mr. Beast released his own. Itās highly specific and if you donāt get youtube culture, you wonāt like this. But if you are a youtube fan youāll love it. Watch it here.
I missed sending this to you last week, but Iām sending it to you now. I adore the GQ experts series and late last week they had an Event Planner talk about luxury events in movies. It is phenomenal. Itās 45 minutes long and I watched the whole thing taking notes. Itās so good. Watch it here.
Lastly, I want to make you aware of a rising star: Olivia Rodrigo. You know her from High School Musical: The Musical: The Series - but sheās starting to release her own music and I just have this gut feeling weāll be hearing a lot from her as she grows up. Disney stars often do well and Iād argue sheās next in line for that crown. She just dropped her first single called Drivers License and itās wonderful.
Have a great weekend,
-Paula
p.s. send me a reply to this and Iāll send you puppy videos :)