A Sample of Our Premium Weekly Recs
Dear Wag,
We love a bold prediction, so here’s one: It’s going to be The Year of the Dog. As in The Power of the Dog, as in Wag Suprema Jane Campion’s powerhouse Pathos- Western. We’ve been pushing it on you for ages, and if this were 1998, you’d have seen it already. But it’s 2022, and you can’t be pried from your Below Deck marathon. Time to put in anchor, sailor! You’ll be riveted by a chilling Benedict Cumberbatch, a resplendent Kristen Dunst, and The One to Watch: Kodi Smit-McPhee, who has the best representation in town and talent as big as the Montana sky.
After a weird, possibly final, Golden Globes (complete with a social media campaign in Esperanto), we are in it, folks. Here come the guild awards, as fast and furious as Sir Neal Moritz’s automotive extravaganzas, and then the Oscars. Guess what: they’ll have a host! Who dares sip from that chalice? Perhaps it’s time to deploy an A.I. Master of Ceremonies. In any case, we’re already focused on what happens in 2023, after the rope-a-dope of the pandemic, the triumph of streaming, the smooshing of Big Tech and Old Hollywood. What kind of show business will we have? Pause to mourn a real hero of that grand institution here, then strap on your KN-95 and embrace the big, bold future. After all, you are building it. We can’t wait to see what you make.
Yours Ever,
Series
Somebody Somewhere (HBO Max). What a joy it is to watch Bridget Everett do anything. Here she is playing a woman adrift in Kansas, discovering, not too late, that she has a home in a community of delightful oddballs. It’s Funny/Sweet/Sad. What else could you possibly want?
Picture
The Tender Bar (Amazon Prime). Human beings get more interesting as they go along, and that’s certainly true for Sir Ben Affleck, who is a bruised andtender father figure to Daniel Ranieri (and Tye Sheridan) in this adaptation of J.R. Moehringer’s memoir.
Doc Series
Cheer (Netflix). That first season, with its peppy “mat talks” and twisted limbs, streamed a million years ago. The follow-up is a good deal messier, given what has happened to the Navarro College cheerleaders since. Fame is atrocious for people. In case you weren’t sure how atrocious, there’s always Hype House (Netflix).
Proper Piss-Up
The Righteous Gemstones (HBO). Lord have mercy! This black comedy about a megachurch dynasty from Evil Genius Danny McBride is satanically funny.
With Pippa and Huck
Encanto (Disney+). Streaming since Christmas, this award-winning charmer about a magical Colombian family boasts the supernatural powers of Genius Lin Manuel Miranda. — Úrsula Iguarán
Stories
Our thorny, essential relationship with China keeps policymakers and corporate titans up at night. It also touches millions of regular folks on both sides of the Pacific. In Thank You, Mr. Nixon, The Brilliant Gish Jen charts 50 years of a squabbling courtship in interlocking tales, starting with a Chinese girl in heaven, corresponding with a disgraced U.S. president down in the fiery pit. It did turn out to be about so much more than pandas and table tennis, didn’t it?
Whodunit
Life and literature are better with a little mystery, and Ms. Nita Prose serves up a tidy thriller in The Maid. Molly Gray, a rather obsessive cleaner at the Regency Hotel, is content to perfect hospital corners, until a tycoon is found dead in his suite. The crime leaves her a suspect, and turns her into an unlikely sleuth. Here’s where you start casting the Netflix adaptation.
Essential History
We all know what the road to hell is paved with. And, that the adage is a painfully apt metaphor for U.S. foreign policy. In Looking for the Good War: American Amnesia and the Violent Pursuit of Happiness, Dr. Elizabeth Samet, a professor of history at West Point, unpacks how good intentions get very gummed up. Insert overseas fiasco here. —Alden Pyle
People have an awful habit of cartooning the past to suit contemporary needs. When it comes to delving into the real story of Deep Greenwood—the thriving Black community in Tulsa, Okla. destroyed by a 1921 race massacre— The Intrepid Clarkisha Kent isn’t playing that game. Gal-dem’s Reclaimed & Rewritten takes a comprehensive, unsparing look at the destruction of the s0-called Black Wall Street. It’s a wrenching tale, thoughtfully told. —Angela Abar
It’s not Sunday in October, except when we listen to Shortie No Mass, who transports us back to old school hip hop New York, circa 1989, when people still knew what the IRT was, and trousers were way too baggy. Don’t fight it, just bob your head.
Almost by accident, I have become rich, deadpans James Smith of Yard Act in the pithy, post-punk tune Rich. How? Through continued reward for skilled labour in the private sector/and a genuine lack of interest in expensive things. They still make them sharp, funny and bleak in Leeds! We wouldn’t have it any other way. —Thomas Shelby
Remember when work was interesting and fun? The Enterprising Fran Hauser—writer, speaker, and startup maven—never forgot! The author of The Myth of the Nice Girl and the upcoming Embrace Your Work, Love Your Career (preorder now!), shares these pearls of inspiration with you.
1. Ashley Longshore’s outrageous, pop culture-inspired art is the gift that keeps on giving. She’s a New Orleans- based mixed-media artist and entrepreneur I was luckyenough to be introduced to 10 years ago. Her confidence in herself, and passion for the causes she cares about, radiates in any room she enters. You can’t hold back a smile when you see a Longshore piece—they tend to feature neon colors, glitter paint, iconic public figures and quippy social commentary. I have one of them hanging in my office, and it’s a constant reminder of her empowered approach to art and life.
2. Author Maggie Smith went viral on Twitter when she was going through a divorce and started posting daily notes of encouragement to herself—reminders, every day, to keep going. Keep Moving: Notes on Loss, Creativity and Change expands upon that. It’s a collection of quotes and essays centered around the idea of loss and change as opportunities for growth and personal transformation. And it’s a moving and a quick read, perfect for the bedside table. Each quote is a little gift.
3. Corporate Natalie is a social media gem. Her content playfully pokes fun at the hard realities of corporate life. When I feel overwhelmed trying to balance writing, speaking, and just having fun, her videos are the dose of humor I need to take a step back and not take it all so seriously.
Wag Emeritus Peter Bogdanovich was an unrepentant rascal and raconteur. He loved to spin a yarn for an audience, complete with impersonations of figures he’d met, but you never would (he did a mean Orson Welles). Born in upstate New York, he grew up on the movies—as a kid, he kept a record of every film he’d seen on a notecard— and championed them as art. That led to an early stint as a film critic and programmer for the Museum of Modern Art. In the late 1960s, a genius for friendship took him to Hollywood, where he became a director. Luckily, he had a great collaborator in his first wife, The Incomparable Polly Platt, with whom he made a string of pictures— The Last Picture Show (1971), What’s Up Doc (1972) and Paper Moon (1973) —that are justifiably beloved. As he went along in life, he experienced failure and tragedy, but once his vanity was pricked, he became enormously charming. Luncheon with Bogdanovich was long, funny, and buoyed by a fantasy of Movieland that infatuated him and so many others. They All Laughed (1981) betrayed the tender heart of a showman, maybe the last who could pull off a neckerchief. He’ll be profoundly missed. — Howard Bannister
July 13, 2024
