Not Just Books: August 2021

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:

TV Show: “Alone” Season 8

Obviously, my husband and I immediately started watching this show when it started up this summer! I think it’s probably both of our current favorite reality series (honestly, probably his only reality series. I’m not classy and enjoy several). This time, participants are set down in a remote section of Canada that also happens to be the home of the most concentrated grizzly populations, so now all we have to do is wait for the first person to realize, oh, yeah, grizzlies really are that big! Also can’t wait to see who the first person is to leave for ridiculous pretenses and to award the prize for “most cool shelter.” Fun times!

Movie: “12th Man”

I watched this movie on a pretty big whim. I didn’t even know it was a foreign language film when I selected it, but that in no way hindered my enjoyment of the story. It’s based on a true story (oh, you know I went down a big rabbit hole about all the details after finishing!) of a Norwegian resistance fighter who survives a harrowing escape after being chased by Nazis for weeks. Very much like “Alone,” much of his story involves survival in terrible conditions with very little food. Unlike “Alone,” it features Nazis rather than grizzlies. But really, they’re both bad, so we’ll allow it. I really enjoyed this film. It’s both uplifting and also incredibly tense. It’s so amazing the things people can survive.

Computer Game: “Sims 4: Cottage Living”

When I get a chance, I do enjoy play a few computer games. “The Sims” has been a long-time favorite but I hadn’t returned to it in a while since the packs I have I’d pretty much wrung the enjoyment from. But then they released a new expansion, and I’m back in it! Longtime fans of “The Sims” have been clamoring for a farming pack for ages, and it’s finally here! There is so much cute stuff in this expansion, from the new building options, to the new clothes, to, of course, all of the great farm animals. I, of course, immediately formed very negative relationships with the chickens, so that was very true to life for me. It’s a super fun expansion, so if you’re a fan of this game, I’d definitely recommend it!

Kate’s Picks:

Film: “The Suicide Squad”

I, of course, love superhero stories, but honestly it’s the villains and the anti-heroes that truly hold the keys to my heart. While I didn’t see the first “Suicide Squad” movie (as I heard it was terrible), I did see “Birds of Prey” and enjoyed it. Because of that, I was very interested in seeing “The Suicide Squad”, James Gunn’s reboot of the supervillain turned kinda hero franchise. This time, the Squad, including Harley Quinn, Bloodsport, Rat Catcher 2, and King Shark (one of my faves) have been thrown into the middle of a military coup in a South American nation, as the new government is hostile towards America. Oh, and there is also a potential scientific weapon that the government may be getting its hands on. So send in a bunch of hapless, kinda psychopathic, yet exceedingly charming criminals to take care of it. Margot Robbie is always a treat as Harley, but newcomers Idris Elba (Bloodsport), John Cena (Peacemaker) and Sylvester Stallone (King Shark, I KID YOU NOT) really sold it for me. It’s a really fun, over the top, hilarious and gory as FUCK movie, and I am SO happy that they got James Gunn to do this because he nails the tone.

TV Show: “Wellington Paranormal”

I love the vampire comedy “What We Do In the Shadows”, a faux documentary about a household of vampires living their undead lives in Wellington, New Zealand. One memorable scene involves Wellington police officers ending up at the house on a complaint call, and now those police officers (and a few more) have their own documentary comedy show, “Wellington Paranormal”. Officers Minogue and O’Leary have been selected by their superior Sergeant Maaka to be the members of the Wellington Paranormal unit, a division that investigates supernatural phenomena. They are competent but a little bit perplexed by what they see. Part “The X-Files”, part “Reno-911!”, this show has the dry and quirky humor of the movie it has spun off from, and I loved practically everything about it. Much like “What We Do in the Shadows” there are some great moments of meta horror and trope deconstruction, and it’s charming as all get out. If you love the movie (augh I still haven’t watched the show!), give this a try!

TV Show: “Reservation Dogs”

If Taika Waititi is attached to something I’m almost assuredly going to be interested, but I also saw a lot of hype for “Reservation Dogs” on Twitter by some pop culture and movie people I really like. Like, some people saying that it was the funniest show on TV hype. I decided to give it a try, and yep, it’s pretty damn funny. “Reservation Dogs” follows a group of Indigenous youth in rural Oklahoma. Bear, Elora Danan, Cheese, and Willie Jack are a group of friends that are hoping to escape their poverty ridden area for California, and commit petty crimes to make the money to do so. Hilarious misadventures ensue. “Reservation Dogs” is also a show that can tout the fact that it is a mostly Indigenous cast, and has a mostly Indigenous creative team working on it. Oh, and as if that isn’t awesome enough on its own, Zahn Tokiya-ku McClarnon is on the show as the police officer who is trying to bust the teens to no avail, and he is a hottie. Anyway, I’m really digging “Reservation Dogs”.