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: “The Mummy”
I may, MAY, have forced my sister to watch this movie excessively as a kid. But is there really such thing as “excessive” viewing of this movie?? No, there is not! Proved by the fact that even with our shared childhood watching of this movie, the minute I texted my sister that “The Mummy” was coming back to theaters for its 25th (oof) anniversary, she responded by immediately looking for theaters in her area. I knew she would thank me! Only took…yeah, 25 years apparently. But seriously, this is just a great film. In many ways, it’s the “Indiana Jones” sequel we never got in all of the important wants: action, adventure, romance, and a nice dose of cheese on top of it all. I probably re-watch this one once a year or so, but this was the first time I actually got to see it on the big screen!
Amazon Prime Show: “Wheel of Time” season 2
It may have taken a while, but when my mom was visiting recently she finally pushed me to go back and finish up what we have so far of the “Wheel of Time” series. I enjoyed the first season, for the most part, but I also wasn’t in love with it (hence the delay in getting to the second season in the first place!). But I was pleased to find that I liked this second season better! I think many of the younger actors more fully came into their own, and several of the characters were given more compelling plot line than they had in the first one. Of course, there were still characters whose stories I didn’t care about as much, but the strength of the others balanced it all out. I’m sure fans of the first season enjoyed this one, and now I know not to wait on the third one when it finally comes out!
Netflix Show: “The Gentlemen”
My husband and I stumbled on this one by pure chance, and boy am I glad that we did! I enjoyed the heck out of this! It’s the story of a man who comes into the dukedom after his father passes away only to find that his father had been funding the estate by letting a criminal organization run their marijuana farm on the property. Of course, what’s to be done but some how get tangled up in a mess of rival drug fiefdoms, including the one and only Giancarlo Esposito, who by this point is just trolling us all by playing a character who is a rival drug lord with his own plans. This is the “Breaking Bad” alternate universe that we didn’t know we needed!
Kate’s Picks
Film: “Lisa Frankenstein”
I missed this one in the theaters, but I found myself with no plans, a sleeping kid, and a husband at a soccer game one night, so I decided to sit down and watch it. And I was pretty charmed! It follows Lisa, an outcast teen in the 80s who spends her free time tending to the local bachelor’s grove cemetery. But when a lightning bolt resurrects the dead Victorian boy whose grave she had been especially fond of, she finds not only a true (if dead) friend, but also starts to realize that perhaps she can help put him back together. With the pieces of less than good people. I really enjoyed the 80s aesthetic in this one, and it was written by Diablo Cody, so you know the dialogue is snappy as hell. I’m also a sucker for outcast romances, and this one is VERY that. Also, the soundtrack is fantastic, especially for this New Wave loving former Goth.
TV Show: “Taskmaster”
This is purely my husband’s doing, as he stumbled upon this show on an Instagram reel and was immediately intrigued. He sought it out on YouTube, became obsessed, and then roped me in to watch it one night when we were both home and the kid was in bed. And what a fun and hilarious show! The premise is that a Taskmaster (comedian Greg Davies) and his assistant (creator and fellow comedian Alex Horne) present various ludicrous challenges and tasks to a group of other comedians and/or media personalities over the course of a series, and whoever has the most points at the end wins. Participants have included the likes of Noel Fielding, Katherine Parkinson, Mel Giedroyc, and many many more, and the challenges are bonkers and hilarious and require some serious ingenuity at times (one of my favorites was the participants had to paint a portrait of the Taskmaster but couldn’t stand on the large carpet that the easel was on and had to figure out how to make that work). I’ve laughed until I’ve cried many times.
Film: “Abigail”
You know how much I love a vampire story (assuming it fits only my VERY stringent criteria), and the moment I saw the trailer for “Abigail” I knew that I had to go see it. So Terror Tuesday folks and I hopped on over to the theater, and boy, what a wicked TREAT this movie is! A group of criminals have been hired to kidnap a twelve year old ballerina named Abigail, only told that she is the daughter of a powerful underground figure. But soon they realize that Abigail isn’t a normal twelve year old girl, and that they are trapped inside a fortified mansion with a little girl vampire who has a SERIOUS penchant for blood and gore. I mean, come on. That’s gold. And the cast is stacked, with Giancarlo Esposito, Dan Stevens, Kathryn Newton (her second film on my list this month!), and Melissa Berrera included. Though admittedly my favorite was Alisha Weir as the titular vampire because she as delightful. I also love cracking wise to anyone who will listen that my own four year old daughter who loves to spin in pretty dresses and who has some, shall we say, emotional regulation issues is pretty similar to the vampire ballerina.
The Library Ladies 