In a storm in my best dress, Fearless 💛
Hi All,
Welp. Welcome to lockdown 3.0 for those of you in Ontario. I’m beyond livid with the lack of leadership. But you’re not here for my hot take on politics — you’re here for my hot take on TV and pop culture so let me tell you what I’ve been watching.
I’ve been watching a lot of Criminal Minds lately. I like watching shows that have strong leadership built into the plot. Like I know Aaron Hotchner is going to get his team together and they will catch the unsub. (Unlike a certain leader in this province who has no idea how to catch his “unsub” …).
Sigh. Really what’s taking my mind off things this week is Taylor Swift’s re-record and release of her sophomore album Fearless. It gave me something to look forward to and now that it’s here, I plan on dancing around my apartment feeling like a 16-year-old all weekend.
Let’s get into it.
This week on the blog:
Obviously I’m talking about Fearless! We’re breaking down which tracks are the best, which new “vault” tracks are exciting, and I’m sharing some stories about songs with special memories. Take a trip down memory lane and embrace your inner Swiftie with me here.
I’ve been so busy with work lately (which is great) and because of work, I’m going down the rabbit hole of great Canadian music. I’ve pulled together a playlist of all my favourite Canadian music. I’m going to be constantly adding to that so save it and expect more songs as I dive deeper over the next two weeks. Check that out here.
If you want to know *what* I’m doing — I’m helping the CBC Music team with archiving Junos stuff so they can make killer videos like this.
Things to watch this week:
If you're going to watch something this weekend, make it Nomadland. It’s the big buzzy probably-will-win-the-Oscar movie and it’s finally streaming today on Disney+. Director Chloé Zhao is getting a lot of personal buzz for this film and I’m so curious as to why this film is the film of the year. Check out the trailer here.
On Netflix, Thunder Force is definitely is going on my must-watch list this weekend. This is the buddy action-comedy starring Octavia Spencer and Melissa McCarthy. It starts streaming today. Watch the trailer here.
If you didn’t catch it when it first came out, Eighth Grade is starting to stream on Crave today. It’s one of my favourites. Read my blog about it here.
Shameless first premiered in 2011. A decade later, it’s time for the series finale. I never got into this show, but I know a lot of people love it. Check it on Sunday on Crave/Showtime.
Also on Crave this Sunday is The Nevers. This is Joss Whedon’s new HBO project. There are a lot of problems with Joss Whedon and he ended up leaving the show during post-production. NOW’s Norman Wilner wrote a good article grappling with JW’s legacy on this show. Think before you watch this, but if you’re interested in a Victorian London period show with some supernatural elements… watch the trailer here.
If you are looking for something warm and fuzzy, My Love: Six Stories of True Love might do the trick. It’s a documentary about six elderly couples in love in six different countries. It looks wonderful. It starts streaming on Tuesday on Netflix. Check out the trailer here.
Lastly, on Wednesday we’ve got two things I’m excited about:
1 — On Netflix, I’ve been waiting for season two of The Circle since season one wrapped. It is a brilliant show and one of my all-time favourite reality formats. Season two starts streaming on Wednesday with new episodes being released over the next few weeks. I’m so So SO excited for this. Watch the trailer here.
2 — On Gem, there is a new psychological Australian thriller, The Secrets She Keeps. It’s based on the book by Michael Robotham. It looks great, has a great cast, and has a bunch of buzz. When I’m done watching my current murder shows, I feel like I can add this to my list. Check out the trailer here.
Other things to check out:
We’ve got the new trailer for High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, season two. I loved this show so much in its first season (here’s my blog about it) and I’m SO excited for season two. The trailer looks great and after all the Olivia Rodigro and Joshua Bassett drama, I think even more people will tune into S2. If you haven’t watched season one, go catch up immediately.
After last week’s blog about camp TV shows and movies, my friend Champagne told me about Camp Cowabunga, a new kid’s TV show about camp that launched last summer. I’m obsessed. If you are a camp person or have kids in your life — you need this. It’s great. Check it out here.
In music business news — the songwriters are starting to push back on singers taking an unfair % of the publishing rights. “Change a word, take a third.” Songwriters are no longer happy with that arrangement (obviously). Variety has a great article explaining the situation, the historical context, and the new initiative the Pact. Read that here.
I’ve been obsessed with Valley’s song “Like 1999” since I first heard it on TikTok. They just released the music video featuring my TikTok obsessionBoman and I can’t stop hitting replay. Plus — they’re Toronto based, so triple like for local talent. Check it out here.
If you heard about the Jimmy Fallon x Addison Rae TikTok Dance scandal — then you’ll be pleased to know he had the original dance creators on the show on Tuesday.
Ryan Reynolds has another fire ad — this time for Mint Mobile. He’s repurposing his devil character from the 2020 Match ad, and it’s good. This isn’t a Little Nas X satan, you can actually send this one to your parents.
Lasly Toronto comedian and internet darling Julie Nolke is back again, a year after her first viral hit explaining the past year to her past self. It will make you smile.
Now go blast Taylor Swift.
Have a great weekend,
-Paula
📝📝📝 This newsletter was graciously edited by Emma Sakamoto 📝📝📝
Editor’s Pick:
I’m in the middle of reading Act Your Age, Eve Brown, the third book in Talia Hibbert’s series about the Brown sisters. If you read romance and haven’t read any Talia Hibbert, this recommendation is for you! (If you don’t read romance but like good writing and character development, this recommendation is also for you.) Her books are funny and sexy and diverse. I love her characters — who feel so real — and how they love each other. As one of my friends put it, Talia Hibbert’s books make her feel swoony when a lot of books miss that mark.