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: “Conclave”
I ended up watching this one mostly for the cast, as it’s jam packed with talent. I was also intrigued by the concept itself, which follows the intrigues uncovered during a conclave as the Cardinals of the Catholic Church work to elect a new Pope. And it really delivered on most of it! I will say, I think Ralph Fiennes really carries this thing, as much of the story lives and dies around the viewers’ investment in him and his motivations. There were a bunch of great twists and turns throughout, as well. Though I will say that final twist felt a bit like it was there for shock value, but failed to deliver any actual point along with the reveal. I just wanted a bit more there. But overall, it was still a great watch!
TV Show: “Severance” Season 2
We usually highlight movies/shows/games that we enjoyed on this list. However, there’s no rule that it has to be positive! And, boy, was this not a positive experience! And look, I enjoyed the first season of this show. Sure, it was a bit pretentious at times, but the cast was likable and the concept super interesting. But man, this second season was a mess. Rev up the pretentiousness to the maximum level, reduce the amount of time focused on the core cast and instead devote entire episodes to side characters we don’t care about, and then, worst of all, spend you entire last episode with characters working their way through difficult choices only to completely undercut all of it (including characterization that goes back to the first season!!) in the last five minutes of the episode. Truly, this was a hot mess. It was badly in need of editors to rein it back in, and I now have almost zero faith that there is any true foundation or plan at the heart of this story. Sure, I’ll watch the third season. But my expectations of a satisfying conclusion are now near rock bottom.
Game: “Baldur’s Gate” – Achievement Unlocked!
So, this is both a brag and also a confession. On the bragging side, I’m super proud of myself to have finally completed my Honor Mode run of BG3. (For those who don’t know, this is the max difficulty where you only have one save file for the entire game. So if you die, that’s it. Game over. Hours wasted. Start over.) I think somewhere like 2% of players get this achievement, but that’s probably because they aren’t crazy people like me. Since then the confession, of course, is that I’ve been devoting an unhealthy amount of time to playing this game over and over. I think I’ve done four full play throughs now, including the Honor Mode one, and a few that I got halfway through before abandoning (mostly because I wasn’t enjoying my main character). It’s truly an unhealthy obsession. And now that I’ve finally checked off the hardest achievement in the game, I’ve dove straight into the world of mods and, yep, here we go again!
Kate’s Picks
TV Show: “The White Lotus”
Hooray, my soapy murder mystery satire show is back! After a so so first season and a great second season (at least in my opinion), the third season of “The White Lotus” is finally here and we are still following shallow and horrible wealthy people and slimy and shady ne’er-do-wells at yet another White Lotus resort, this time in Thailand! This is one of the shows my husband and I both enjoy watching as a couple, and thus far we are both enjoying the season. I’m especially enjoying Parker Posey as a constantly drugged up wealthy wife to an unraveling businessman played by Jason Isaacs, as her one liners are iconic. Though honestly my favorite is Walton Goggins’s Rick. Because oh man Walton Goggins is VERY much my cup of tea. I’m curious to see how it all pulls together by the end, and who dies as one always must on this show (please not Walton Goggins!).
TV Show: “Dark Winds”
Hooray, one of my favorite procedurals is back! I absolutely adore “Dark Winds” and the characters of Leaphorn and Chee, and they are on a new case on the Navajo Reservation, six months after the end of season 2. We find Leaphorn still a part of the Tribal Police, with Chee now back on the squad after being a PI last season, and Bernadette trying to adjust to her new border patrol job. While Leaphorn and Chee are dealing with two missing boys, Bernadette is convinced that she has found evidence of human trafficking, though her boss doesn’t really give a shit one way or the other. And there may be something supernatural afoot this time around. Zahn McClarnon is still a stellar Leaphorn, and seeing his emotional distress this season after what happened LAST season AND a missing child case (making him think of his own dead son) is a gut punch, and he’s killing it. Can’t wait to see where this goes.
TV Show: “Interview with the Vampire”
It took me a long time to finally sit down and watch season 2 of this show, and it’s not because I disliked season 1. On the contrary, I loved it. I think the reason I waited was because I knew what was coming. I was excited for some things; Théâtre de Vampires! More Armand and maybe some queer subtext with Daniel (or in this case, supertext?)! But I also knew that it meant that Claudia’s arc was going to hit, and hit hard. All that said, when I finally did sit down and watch it, I was enthralled and devoured it. I loved seeing Armand’s theater coven, I loved seeing Daniel peel back secrets between Louis and Armand, and I LOVED seeing Lestat come back. Because we knew he would. And yes, it had its emotional gut punch moments that left me sobbing. And hints to what is to come (hellooooo, Talamasca!). I really, really enjoyed Season 2 even though it was devastating in some ways. Bring on Season 3. Especially since it’s going to cover “The Vampire Lestat”.
The Library Ladies 