Hi All,
Well, my job for CBC Music is going great. I’ve learned a lot in the last week and I’ve seen some really cool performances. I think this one might be one of my favourites. The “problem” is that it’s keeping me SUPER busy. I feel like I spent wayyyy less time watching TV, but at the same time, I’ve been watching TV for eight hours every day for work and then watching at least a show or two each night. Bold statement coming from me but I feel like I might be watching too much TV.
I’m hoping to catch up on my shows this weekend. I’ve got a list going of shows I’ve been meaning to watch, plus some new shows and I’m secretly hoping for a rainy day that just makes you want to sit on the couch.
There are a few that I’m REALLY excited about so let’s get to it.
This week on the blog:
It’s been a crazy week, so I didn’t blog — but I’ve got a couple in mind for next week. Expect a few to pop up over the weekend.
That being said yesterday Ginny & Georgia surpassed Tiger King for the longest #1 streak on Netflix.
What’s curious to me about this is that Tiger King was so ingrained into our collective consciousness but Ginny & Georgia has flown under the radar (except for that Taylor Swift drama) and has had more of a slow burn. It’s an “if you know you know” kind of show. Anyways — now you all know. It’s good. Go check it out.
You can read my reviews of Ginny & Georgia hereand Tiger King here.
Things to watch this week:
Off the top, I’m starting with my must-watch of the week: A Week Away. I have no idea if this is going to be the best movie ever or the worst movie ever but there will be no middle ground. This is a Christan Camp Movie Musical. Yup. It’s my must-watch because it’s the only thing I’m going to be talking about for weeks. So watch this so we can talk about it together, but especially watch this if you are a camp person because we’re going to need to talk about the lack of buddy board… in depth. I already have a lot of questions about supervision just from the trailer which you can watch here. Watch the movie today on Netflix.
If that’s not your speed (that’s fine — Christan camp movie musicals aren’t for everyone). I’d recommend checking out The Irregulars. Also on Netflix today, this is a series set in Victorian London. It’s a twist on Sherlock Holmes. It looks gritty in a good way. Check out the trailer here.
For nostalgic movie fans, The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers is probably already on your radar. Starring Lauren Graham, Brady Noon, and Emilio Estevez, I think it’s going to make a lot of people happy. New episodes come out every Friday starting today on Disney+. Watch the trailer here.
My final Friday pick is ForReal: The Story of Reality TV. It’s obviously streaming on Hayu (and on E! for you real TV people). It looks fantastic.
On Saturday, Crave has a new doc on Tina Turner simply called Tina. It looks really interesting. Check out the trailer here.
On Tuesday, Crave has another new documentary, The Last Cruise. This one is about the last cruise before Covid shut down the cruising industry. It looks very bleak but also fascinating. It will depend on my state of mind on Tuesday if I watch this. In some ways, I think the trailer shows you everything you need to see.
Over on Gem on Wednesday, I’ve got my serious must-watch of the week. They have the Canadian premiere of an Australian tween drama series about a transgender teen’s first year of high school. The show is called First Day. I watched the trailer and my eyes watered. It looks so well made, so thoughtful, and just a game-changer for TV.
Lastly on Thursday Netflix has two new offerings of note: Worn Stories, a documentary about the sentimentality of clothing (check that out here), and Madame Claude a French movie inspired by the life of a French bordello madam (trailer here).
Other things to check out:
Taylor Swift opened the vault and has released her first new old song, “You All Over Me.” She has Maren Morris singing backup vocals and I’m into it. The chorus feels very 2007 in all the best ways. I’m excited about more drops as we get closer to the full Fearless release in April.
I’m a big fan of the Arkells. Their Rally Cry show at the Bud Stage in 2019 was one of my all-time favourite concerts. They put on such a fun show and the energy is contagious. So I’m REALLY excited for their new song “You Can Get It” ft. K.Flay. When we can finally go to concerts, I can’t wait to hear this live.
If you’ve spent time on TikTok this year, you might have heard about the song “I’m Not Pretty” by Canadian singer-songwriter Jessia. It started with this TikTok, then another Canadian music producer Elijah Wood (from The Launch fame) said it was a bop and turned it into a song. Now we have the music video. Will this be a one-hit-wonder for her or is this the start of a long career? We shall see… but I will bet you a LOT of money it will end up winning some awards at the Junos in 2022.
Demi Lovato put out her newest YouTube documentary, Dancing with the Devil. It’s quite revealing and talks about very serious subject matter. Jezebel has a great article about how this format might actually be the future of musical docs. I’m not sure if I want it to be. On one hand, I’m over the fake/manufactured/deeply controlled musical docs that we currently have. On the other, I really don’t want to watch a bunch of docs that are trying to one-up each other on who has the most tragic story. Send me an email if you have thoughts on this because I’m into having some conversations.
If you are sick of scam calls watch this video about glitter bombs. It’s long but it’s very good and will make you smile.
Fun fact: Matthew McConaughey is now a YouTuber. He’s using it as a fundraiser for Texas, but I’m very curious if he’ll build out the brand. If you have a couple of hours, you can watch his main video Giddy Up to Give Back.
Cole Sprouse did Vogue’s 73 Questions. It’s as pretentious as you expect it to be. So it’s basically perfect.
I wanted to send this out last week but better late than never — Adam Brody (aka Seth Cohen) did a great interview with the AV Club.
Lastly, it was Red Nose Day in the UK and we’ve got lots of fun clips coming out. These three are my favourites: this one, this one, and this one. I’m not telling you what they are for the surprise :)
Have a great weekend,
-Paula
📝📝📝 This newsletter was graciously edited by Emma Sakamoto 📝📝📝
Editor’s Pick:
Canadian folk singer-songwriter Donovan Woods released a deluxe edition of his 2020 album Without People this week. Highlights include a new chill-inducing rendition of “Whatever Keeps You Going” featuring the J.P. Robarts P.S. Music Project, and new song “When the Party’s Over.”A snippet of that last one appeared on the original album as “Interlude” and Woods’ fans basically peer-pressured him into releasing the full version. It’s a folky country bop, and no one’s mad about it!