Sundance, Gilded Age, Merle Haggard, the Best Dressed Man in New York, and More…
The social-climbing Bertha Russell, who is attempting to crack 19th century New York high society in HBO’s The Gilded Age, isn’t having much luck. No matter what she does, she keeps getting snubbed by Goelets, Astors, and Iselins, which only fuels her determination to show all those snobs one day. We suspect that there have been fleeting moments in your life when you’ve felt like Bertha (played by Dame Carrie Coon). Meaning, you have tried your very best with some poobah, but were left waiting for an I-love-you return! Where is that invitation to Newport already? Why aren’t you being allowed to join The Four-Hundred? Or, in contemporary terms, is it so hard to reply to an email? This is the sort of thing that could drive a person into a Bertha-like pique. For the last time: this is not about you. Maybe the Goelets are just busy on a Grand Tour or something. Anyhow, you don’t need to prove anything to anybody. You’ve already arrived!
We’ve mostly had a Sundance Film Festival, virtually. Turns out, it’s better without reality stars, swag, and most of all, slush. Here are some take-aways: You will like Lucy and Desi, from a little-known documentarian named Amy Poehler (watch it on Amazon Prime, the official Ricardo Network, March 4). You will be chilled by Nikyatu Jusu’s Nanny, a horror yarn about being a caregiver for a screwed-up family. You ought to be charmed by Cooper Raiff’s Cha Cha Real Smooth, costarring Dakota Johnson, the story of a bar mitzvah party fluffer that’s been gobbled up by Apple. You should be galvanized by Tia Lessen and Emma Pildes’ documentary, The Janes, (coming to HBO) about abortion pre Roe v. Wade, and Phyllis Nagy’s Call Jane, a fictionalization of a similar story, starring Elizabeth Banks. About Lena Dunham’s Sharp Stick, you will have debates. You will find Max Walker Silverman’s A Love Long starring Wes Studl and Dale Dickey, a starkly beautiful love story. Daniel Roher’s Navalny (also headed for HBO) is a chilling look at the dissident’s struggles in Russia. And then there’s Emma Thompson in a lovable sex comedy, Leo Grande, which will stream on Hulu. So much to to look forward to! Perhaps the future of screened entertainment is bright after all. But before you get to any of those goodies, here are some more things to amuse you in the now. And what was that ping we heard? Why, it must be Mrs. Astor, texting you back at last.
Yours ever,
Series
The Afterparty (Apple+). Is there anything that can be done to make a high school reunion less dreadful? Murdering the most obnoxious person in your class would help. Maestros Chris Miller & Phil Lord bring you a whodunit starring Dame Tiffany Haddish as a detective trying to figure out who iced a perfectly deserving victim (Dave Franco). Sam Richardson, Zoe Chao, Ben Schwartz. Ike Barinholtz, and Ilana Glazer are among the suspects. Who’s the killer? Get ready for comedy Rashômon.
Doc Series
The World According to Jeff Goldblum (Disney+). “I know nothing is the premise,” declares Sir Jeff Goldblum. “I’m a humble student, and in fact, kind of a late bloomer…a late Gold-bloomer.” So off we go, to learn about sneakers, tattoos, line dancing, with our impossibly tall, unfailingly genial, and honey-voiced guide.
Proper Piss-Up
Pam and Tommy (Hulu). There are great love stories, and then there is the saga of Pamela Anderson, Tommy Lee, and a sex tape that showed us it is possible to steer a boat with one’s little friend. Were the ‘90s really that long ago? Lily James brings real pathos to the role of good-hearted Pam, while Sebastian Stan is tattooed Tommy. Seth Rogen and Nick Offerman are the bumblers who complicate their lives.
With Pippa and Huck
Fraggle Rock was the first U.S. television series to be shown in the former Soviet Union, which a bit of a head scratcher, since Wag Emeritus Jim Henson’s children’s show about intertwined muppet cultures (Fraggles! Doozles! Gorgs! Silly Creatures of Outer Space!) is deeply odd. Still, Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock is charming, and ought to captivate the most restless pre-school aged mini-human. —Jack Bellicec
Fiction
Olga and Prieta Acevedo are a brother and sister, climbing the ladder in New York. Raised in immigrant Brooklyn, she’s become a high-priced Manhattan wedding planner, while he’s the member of congress for their old neighborhood. But there are some big secrets holding them back. And what happened to their mother, a Puerto Rican revolutionary who vanished from their lives? She’s somewhere out there, on the lam! Not only is there a family storm brewing, there’s a real one, Hurricane Maria, kicking up, too. Xochitl Gonzalez’s debut novel Olga Dies Dreaming is about American dreams hitting hard American reality, sibling devotion, and making your own way. Read it before the show hits.
The Nonfiction Bonus
Must Art be relevant? Wag Supremo Jed Perl really doesn’t think so. In fact, he thinks the arts have been yoked to social and political agendas (left, right, you name it) that harm art and inhibit artists. Authority and Freedom: A Defense of the Arts is a polemic on behalf of the non-polemical. In his view, one ought to appreciate Mozart, Aretha Franklin, Jane Austen, and Picasso, among other worthies, not because their work relates to contemporary concerns, but because it transcends them. Now, that’s a big bold idea for this fractious age! It may be we haven’t appreciated irrelevance quite enough. — Vivian Bearing
You’ve been reading a delightful dispatch from CultureWag, which serves up the best in culture recommendations and insight for smarties, edited by JD Heyman. To get even more goodies, make sure you are a premium subscriber. Because you are brilliant, bubbeleh.Subscribe
Musicians have messy lives, and Disgraceland is with the band. Season 9 of Backstage Denizen Jake Brennan’s podcast, which charts the scandals and woes of headliners, kicks off with the story of how Taylor Swift wrested control of her life and back catalog (as well as fended off all kinds of stalkers). Past episodes feature Fleetwood Mac, Oasis, and Cardi B, among others. — William Miller
You are frazzled, at end of your tether! Performance by British art rock/jazz fusionists Modern Nature will glide you gently to a bucolic island of calm. Frontman Jack Cooper agrees the world is going to hell in a hand basket, but he’s got a plan. The roar of chaos brings a rhythm / but there’s heaven in the hills, he sings. Step back and see what you create. Ahh, much better.
You don’t mess with Merle Haggard, but you don’t have to be precious about him, either. Eli Paperboy Reed stays true to the spirit of one of Haggard’s greatest hard luck songs, Mama Tried, but layers in a little ‘60s Soul. We think Merle would be cool with it—Deladis Slocumb
Remember when trousers didn’t come with a drawstring? Once upon a time, people (well, some of them) knew how to dress themselves. Now, it’s pajamas all the time, and civilization is crumbling! Thank goodness for Maestro Angel Ramos, not only one of the best dressed men on the planet, but the force behind 18th Amendment, the custom-tailoring brand that can turn a sack of mashed potatoes into Cary Grant. He’s not having it with all this schlubbiness, and if you spring for one of his elegant cashmere jackets, you will grow two inches and carry yourself like an Italian aristo. What inspires him to work sartorial miracles? Here are three touchstones of his boundless creativity.
- My Mother. She came to NYC from Puerto Rico at the age of 18 and immediately started working with textile designers and seamstresses, only knowing how to sew from childhood. You want to talk about a true hustler? She was a legend. Her schtick was she would design and make your wedding dress and make your wedding cake at the same time. The ol’ classic two for one.
- People. Since I was young, I’ve always wanted to be in graphic design. I was enamored by the art of it and started working on it very early in life and through high school and college. When I graduated university, I moved back to New York and dove into the media industry as a freelance graphic designer for magazines, only to find out my personality heavily fed off interaction with people. I love what I do, it allows me to work with people from all backgrounds and different places around the world. Being able to hear someone’s story—or be a part of it—drives me.
- Generosity. Most people would classify me as a high emotions individual. Being generous to others, or witnessing generosity towards, others tugs at my heart, and gives me the urge to be creative. It allows me to create more than just clothing or outfits, but a whole world. It’s the catalyst that begets success.
(18th Amendment, 13 Christopher Street, New York NY. By appointment).
This week’s Long Read this week delved into crime and Los Angeles — a topic so rich that it spawned an entire storytelling genre. Wag Emeritus Raymond Chandler, the master of hardboiled detective stories, distilled an image of Southern California in literature that stuck. If we were to pick just one L.A. noir movie to recommend, we would have to go with Double Indemnity, which was cowritten by Chandler with director Billy Wilder, and based on the book by another master of the crime thriller, James M. Cain. The collaboration didn’t get off the a great start. Wilder imagined the author would be a tough customer, like his hero, Philip Marlowe. Instead, the writer showed up “looking like an accountant,” said the disappointed director. During the four months they worked together, the pair fought so much Chandler nearly quit. Still, they produced an forgettably dark story: Insurance salesman Walter Neff (Fred MacMurray) is lured into a murder plot by a seductive housewife (electrifying Barbara Stanwyck). Best known for playing straight arrows, MacMurray peaked as weak man unable to resist temptation. Edward G. Robinson plays his sympathetic friend. And Chandler lands a cameo as a bystander in an office waiting room.—Phyllis Detriechson
July 15, 2024
