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: “Oppenheimer”
I was sad that I missed this one in the theater, but it came out in the middle of the family vacation we had planned and it just didn’t happen. So I’ve been patiently waiting for it to come out on some streaming service, and finally it dropped on Peacock. I knew the broad strokes of this story, but it was impressive just how much Nolan managed to pack into this movie. It took a bit to accustom myself to the flashes forward and backward in time and the brief glimpses we get into scenes before jumping to another, but as the story pulled together, it became clear just how effective this choice was. We see the complicated nature of both the man and this point in history, and it was fantastic all around.
Video Game: “Hogwarts Legacy”
It took me a bit to get to this one, but it was one of my most anticipated games in a while! There were a lot of great reviews for it and the previews all looked gorgeous. And man, did it deliver! It was clear that this one was made for fans of the series, both books and the movies. The decision to retain the same castle and landscape design from the movie was especially exciting, as it was great being able to wander around exploring all of the nooks and crannies that we saw on the screen. The game also did an excellent job of incorporating pretty much every location and magical event that fans could want. The storyline itself was fun enough, but I think I probably would have been happy just wandering around the castle and landscape for the entire time. Indeed, I probably spent about 90% of my time doing just that.
Kate’s Picks
TV Show: “RuPaul’s Drag Race”
Okay, remember how last month I mentioned that I had been prematurely picking “Drag Race” in these lists with the past two iterations, and how it came back to bite me? Well good news! I did wait for Season 16 to make itself more known, and it’s a pretty good season. It probably helps that my friend David has been in town post- Ph.D studies, and we’ve been watching it together. This has been a stellar season thus far, with a great cast of queens (I’m rooting for Sapphira!), some pretty good twists to keep it fresh, and after a long time gone a solid villain who is making GREAT reality TV (we love to hate Plane Jane!). It was extra special that David and I (and other friends) were able to go see a few of the queens from this season perform at a drag brunch in Minneapolis to see their charisma, uniqueness, nerve, and talent in person!
Film: “The Iron Claw”
My husband and I had planned to see this one on a double date back around the New Year, as he is a pro wrestling fan and I too enjoy the performance art, but then he contracted COVID and we had to cancel our plans. But I finally watched it this past month, and my goodness, it was devastating. “The Iron Claw” follows the Van Erichs, a legendary pro wrestling family that was beloved in the wrestling community, but was plagued by tragedy. In that three of the four wrestling sons of Fritz Von Erich all died young, two of the deaths the result of suicides after trauma, medical ills, and mental health collapse (horrible fact: in real life there was actually another wrestling brother who ALSO died of suicide, but the movie cut him out because it was just too much). Zac Efron plays the Kevin Von Erich, who helplessly watches as his brothers die one by one, all while their emotionally abusive father Fritz pits them against each other and pushes them to the breaking point. Honestly, Efron was robbed when it comes to acting accolades, as he REALLY embodies the steady, reliable, and ultimately devastated last brother standing. I spent the majority of the movie sobbing and yelling about what a horrible father Fritz Von Erich was and how toxic masculinity wrecks lives.
Joint Pick
Video Game: “Pentiment”
We seem to bounce back and forth between disturbing cult documentaries and video games that we play together. So we’re back to video games at the moment (don’t worry, we have a super messed up cult story coming up next!), and this time we decided to try something new. “Pentiment” is definitely one of the most unique games out there. It’s essentially a murder mystery, but the visuals are really what makes it stand out, with a heavily-stylized art style that draws inspiration from its Medieval setting and illuminated Biblical texts. We’ve only just started, but we can’t wait to see where the story goes from here!
The Library Ladies 