Hi All,
This week has been a bit different.
I spoke at the celebration of life for my Girl Guide mentor this past weekend and since then have been working with her family to sort out her collection of Girl Guide things. It’s keeping me busy - but slightly distracted from TV things. I’ve also officially started studying for the GMAT. I’m attempting to re-teach myself grade 12 data management math. I now have a favourite math youtuber. So that’s where I’m at.
For a brain break, I’m now on season 6 of Real Housewives of Beverly Hills and I have some strong feelings. If you watch this show let me know. I want to talk about it.
I want to talk about a few different things so let’s get into the TV stuff you’re here for…
This week on the blog:
A lot of you asked for this… and so I have some thoughts on the debacle that was the Golden Globe nominations. Read them here.
Plus It’s Superbowl weekend! I do not like Tom Brady, the Chiefs need a new name, and I’m not a fan of The Weekend. So I will not be watching. However, I will be watching football and will be cheering for favourite football team, the Dillon Panthers. Yes friends, I’m breaking out the DVDs for the first rewatch of 2021: Friday Night Lights. If you have not seen this show you are truly missing out. It is one of the best shows ever made and I have a lot of love for it. Two years ago, I wrote a piece about what makes it special. You can read that here.
Things to watch this week:
So this week feels a bit slow but that’s ok. I’m catching up on Superstore and next week is BUSY. This is a good time to rewatch To All The Boys I Loved Before before the final film in the trilogy comes out next week.
Today Netflix is releasing Malcolm & Marie staring John David Washington and Zendaya. It’s getting a lot of buzz and I looks fantastic. It is also noteworthy becuase it was the first entirely written, financed, and produced Hollywood movie during the pandemic. Watch the trailer here.
Also out today on Netflix is Strip Down, Rise Up, a documenty about women finding empowerment through pole dancing. trailer here.
On Saturday I’ll be watching Saturday Night Live - Dan Levy is hosting and I’m quite excited.
If you want to watch football this is the weekend to do it… The Superbowl is on Sunday. It all starts at 6:30 pm. For people not into football but into the pageantry, Jazmine Sullivan and Eric Church are singing the National Anthem, H.E.R. is doing America the Beautiful, and The Weekend is performing the Halftime Show.
On Tuesday (Feb 9th) we’re finally getting a new episode of This Is Us. I’m a fan of this show - but mostly I’m pointing this out because Covid has wreaked havoc on LA’s film shoots. They film an episode or two, then need to shut down, then film another episode, then shut down again. It’s been chaos and while I really want to watch this show. I don’t want to watch it like this nor do I want to put the cast and crew in risk in order for me to watch a show. Not into it. But… really into this promo. I really love a Jack-Kevin storyline and so this should be a good episode.
On Wednesday we’re getting a new Crime doc on Netflix - Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel. It looks really creepy and I’m into it. Watch the trailer here.
But really I’m watching Drag Race, Drag Race UK, and The Bachelor - all my usual weekly shows.
Other things to check out:
I’m a huge fan of Meredith MacNeill. I’ve met her a few times while I was working at Frantic Films (the company that made Still Standing, The Stats of Life, and Baroness Von Sketch) and on the Canadian Screen Awards. She was always so lovely to the people around her and she always came across as extremely hard working. She is now starring in Pretty Hard Cases and I’m thrilled that she’s getting more opportunities. The Walrus wrote an excellent profile on her and I’d highly recommend it.
This week, the trailer for Amy Polher’s new movie Moxie came out. Amy is directing, she’s staring as the mom of a 16-year-old who learns how to smash the patriarchy. I immediately wanted to show this to every teenager I know. Watch the trailer here.
For my friends in the industry reading this or if you are interested in the Canadian Media industry, the CMF just put out its trend report for 2021. It’s a fascinating read. They are calling this year’s edition ‘Pause and Rethink’. So yup… they have a good understanding of where everyone is right now.
Cardi B dropped a new song last night, called Up. It’s going to be all over my TikTok FYP. It’s very catchy and I know the kids will make this into a massive smash. Watch the music video here and impress the youth in your life when you know the words before they do.
For all the former Bon Appetite fans out there - Reply All has a new podcast series dedicated to the rise and fall of the brand called Test Kitchen. I listened to the first episode this morning and really liked it. 10/10 would recommend.
One of my favourite things about the Superbowl is the commercials. We’ve got two of note so far but I’m sure more will come out soon. I loved this Alexa Michael B. Jordan commercial and I also really loved this GM EC commercial staring Will Ferrell.
This is niche but stay with me here. There was this Twitter trend going around where you show your high school starter pack - here’s mine. However… to find the photo of my high school sweater, I came across a site that does sports gear for literally every public high school in Toronto. It made me pause, and I wondered… what other schools were on this site. Well here is the Dillion High School store and the East Dillion High School store. I’d like to draw your attention to the customization tab here - you can make a shirt for the Dillion Booster’s Club or the Guidance Department or you know… the tetherball team?! Whatever you want. It’s pretty remarkable.
Have a great weekend,
-Paula