Not Just Books: January 2024

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

Game: “Baldur’s Gate 3”

My husband wisely got me a video game gift card as part of my Christmas present. Wise mostly because even I couldn’t have necessarily come up with a game I really wanted if he had asked me before Christmas. But then afterwards, armed with free money essentially, it was easy to pull the trigger on this game. I had heard of it many times as a very popular game of 2023, but I also have no experience with this sort of DnD style game. Building/leveling characters, managing party dynamics, figuring out the whole dice thing. But now many, many (waaaay too many according to by husband, but really it’s his fault anyways) hours into this game, I’m pretty obsessed. I’m so late to the game that it’s barely worth me plugging it as a game to check out but, well, check it out!

Movie/TV Critic: Dan Murrell

I used to watch “Screen Junkies” fairly religiously, especially their “Movie Fights” videos, and it was here that I first was introduced to movie critic Dan Murrell. He was a truly excellent debater, but I also often found myself agreeing with his evaluations of much of the media landscape. So I was sad when he announced he was leaving a few years ago. But, luckily for me, he set up his own successful YouTube channel that I’ve been following pretty much from the start. For me, in an arena like entertainment criticism, the most important thing I want from a critic is a sound, steady point of view that can differentiate itself from all of the noise of whatever the trendy consensus is. Murrell does a great job of this, not only in his reviews for movies/shows, but also in his long-running shows where he evaluates trends and the successes and failures in the cinema landscape. He also has an entire show that is titled and devoted to charts; so, for an academic librarian like me, this is all I’ve ever wanted from reviewers!

Game: “Connections”

I’m not sure whether it was my mom or my sister who got me started on this, but it was definitely one of them while they were visiting over the holidays! (My mom plays like 10 of these games every day on her phone, so I’ll guess it was her). Either way, I’ve really been enjoying it! For me, I think this one requires a bit less mental energy than “Wordle,” which is incredibly important for something I’m probably trying to do while also managing tantrums from two small boys. This requires just the right amount of brain power and not much more! If you need yet another time-filler game, definitely check this one out!

Kate’s Picks

Film: “Society of the Snow (La sociedad de la nieve)”

Last Podcast on the Left did a series on the Uruguayan Rugby Team that crashed in the Andes mountain range in 1972 back in December, and hearing Marcus, Henry, and Ed (welcome, Ed!) tell the harrowing tale of survival really piqued my interest in the topic. And what do you know, shortly thereafter Netflix released the Spanish film “Society of the Snow”, a dramatization of the crash and the survivors and what happened on the mountain and how the people who got off of it survived. This movie is a gut punch with its realism, letting the audience really experience the horror and hope of this story, with every actor giving a fantastic and sometimes gut wrenching performance. I found myself sobbing multiple times, but was also taken with some of the truly beautiful moments, whether it was the cinematography, the characters themselves, or the way that it captures the despair as well as the resilience. Really wonderful, albeit heart rendering.

TV Show: “Canada’s Drag Race”

So while it is true that the 16th season of “RuPaul’s Drag Race” premiered this month, it’s still a LITTLE early, and I haven’t quite gotten a full feel for it and the queens yet to decide if I’m into it. I’ve been burned in the past where I post early and then I end up not liking the season as a whole (Season 13, All Stars 8). But that being said, I have REALLY liked watching the sister show of the Great White North, “Canada’s Drag Race”! For one, I like seeing the format of the voting on the judges panel, as the judgement is split between Brooke Lynn Heights, Brad Goreski, and Traci Melchor or Amanda Brugel (depending on the season and/or episode). For another, I really love seeing the drag cultures from Canada and how it differs from the U.S.. And finally, the queens themselves are all INCREDIBLY talented and INCREDIBLY likable! Even the edited ‘villains’ aren’t really villainous, just a little bit extra. It’s just been a breath of fresh air since the mothership show (as much as I love it) feels SUPER produced. Right now, “Canada’s Drag Race” doesn’t!

Podcast: “Radio Rental”

With one of my podcasts going on its seasonal break I was looking for another one to listen to to fill that void. My friend Mark came through for me, as he recommended an episode of real life horror podcast “Radio Rental”, which immediately hooked me. It’s a quirky premise with some seriously scary true stories told by those who experienced them, as listeners can write in with the unexplainable or just realistic scary things and experiences that happened to them. What sets it apart from other podcasts like this is that it is build around the idea that it is being provided by a retro video rental store as run by an eccentric owner named Terry Carnation and his cat, his niece, and a store mouse. Oh and Carnation is played by Rainn Wilson. So it’s kind of like “Let’s Not Meet” meets “Welcome to Nightvale” with creepy tales and a goofy and at times sinister/intense host. Some of the stories are hit or miss, but the ones that hit REALLY hit. I’m tearing through the back catalog and overall enjoying it. I’m thinking this will enter my podcast rotation of reliables.