Not Just Books: March 2020

While we do love us some books, believe it not, we do have a life outside of reading. So to highlight our other pop culture interests, on the last Monday of each month, we each will highlight three other “happenings” from the last month. Big events on favorite TV shows, new movies we’ve watched, old movies we’ve “discovered,” etc. Pretty much whatever we found of particular interest outside of the book world during the last month. Share your own favorite things in the comments!

Serena’s Picks

Movie: “Emma”

I had it all planned out. My husband and I were going to delay our Valentine’s celebration until March and then make a whole day of it with dinner and a viewing of this, the latest feature film adaptation of a Jane Austen novel. And then COVID-19 struck, the ruiner of all good things. So instead I ended up watching it in pieces at home while trying to wrangle a very mobile one year old. Not quite the same thing. Overall…I’m not quite sure what I think about this? I’ll have to re-watch it at some point when I can focus more fully. I know that I enjoyed Anya Taylor-Joy’s performance a lot, and I thought the costuming and set design were excellent and offered up something unique and new compared to other Austen adaptations. But as for the story itself and its take on several of the other main characters, I was a bit less satisfied. I think Knightly was too young and his friendship/relationship with Emma was not sufficiently set-up to make the payoff as satisfying in the end. Mr. Churchill, for all that he appears on the poster, felt like almost a non-entity. And overall I think the comedy angle, while very good at moments, also overwhelmed the heart of the story and sometimes even the heart of Emma herself. Kate also watched this one, but we haven’t discussed it yet. I’m excited to hear her take!

Online Game: Trickster Cards

My family are all huge card players. I mean, my sister and I were playing since we were in single digits and it’s a shock if any family get-together goes more than 30 minutes before someone suggests we play pinochle or bridge. But, again, raging pandemics have hit hard on things like this. Luckily, one of my aunts discovered this online card site where you can form games with people and set up times to play. It has video chat options which makes it all the better. My mom, sister, said aunt and I now have weekly standing dates to get together and play pinochle. Obviously not a complete replacement, but I’ll take what I can get!

TV Show: “Locke and Key”

I started watching this show kind of on a spur of the moment basis. And then suddenly I had finished it all within two days! I’m pretty sure Kate has read the original graphic novels it was based on, but from what I do know of them, I’m pretty sure this is quite different. For one thing, it’s definitely not as dark as I think the originals were. Instead, it’s more of a “Stranger Things”-like family adventure with elements of fantasy dashed all over it. The Locke family, after a great tragedy, move back to an ancetstral home that has been abandoned for years. While there, the three kids discover magical keys with fantastic abilities. Of course, there is also a big bad out to get the keys and a bunch of clueless (or not so clueless??) adults running around getting in the way. I really enjoyed all of the younger actors, which can sometimes be a sticking point for shows like this. There was also a great balance between the real-life challenges that many young people face (moving to a new town, dealing with grief and fear, meeting new friends, etc.) and the fantasy elements that slowly play a bigger and bigger role in the story. Again, I’ll have to ask Kate what the original was like, but for fans of “Stranger Things” or “Chronicles of Narnia,” this is definitely worth checking out!

Kate’s Picks

Video Game: “Animal Crossing: New Horizons”

This pandemic has been ramping up my already present anxiety like the dickens. But lucky for me I had the foresight to order “Animal Crossing: New Horizons” before everything went to hell! The “Animal Crossing” games are already super chill and laid back, and the new one for The Switch is even more so. Or perhaps it just feels more so. Regardless, I’ve been enjoying building a town, fishing, catching bugs, building things, and visiting friends on their own islands. For the unfamiliar, the basic premise is that you are a new villager on a remote island (with a few other villagers) and you can build up the community with very low stakes attached. Things change from day to day, and the open sandbox format means you can do pretty much whatever you want. It’s been a true saving grace during this quarantine period.

Netflix Show: “Tiger King”

I was familiar with the, um, “eccentric” zookeeper Joe Exotic before Netflix dropped this new true crime documentary series. “Last Podcast on the Left” had referenced him and his murder for hire plot he allegedly tried to carry out towards nemesis Carole Baskin. So when I went in I was thinking that it would be fine, but wouldn’t tell me anything new. I was SO. WRONG. “Tiger King” is one of the craziest Netflix docuseries I’ve ever seen, with a bunch of unstable weirdos who own big cats at the forefront. Now I knew that Joe Exotic was a nut. But honestly, I came away more concerned about just about everyone else in this series than I was about this guy. From cult like leaders who lure in teenage girls to drug trafficking kingpins to a missing husband (WHO MAY HAVE BEEN FED TO A BUNCH OF TIGERS), “Tiger King” has EVERYTHING. Truth is stranger than fiction, guys, and this one will probably make you say “WHAT?!?!” over and over and over again.

TV Show: “RuPaul’s Drag Race”

It’s springtime, which means that “RuPaul’s Drag Race” is back! I can’t believe we’re on season twelve, and while I still contend that the show’s quality hasn’t been the same since it moved to VH1, RuPaul and the queens always bring me back for more. This season has been promising, though I do have to mention that it hasn’t come without controversy. One of the contestants, Sherry Pie, was exposed for predatory behavior, as he would pretend to be a talent scout and solicit explicit videos from unsuspecting men under guise of an ‘audition’. The good news is that once this was exposed, the show officially disqualified her, and has put a disclaimer ahead of the episodes noting of this. A tricky situation to be sure, but I think it was handled as best they could in fairness to the other queens. Who are a super talented bunch this time around. I have my favorites already, and I can’t wait to see how far they go!

What non-book related things have you enjoyed this month?