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
Sports: Winter Olympics
Dun, dun, dun dun dun dun, Dun, Dun dun dun dun dada dadada DUN! It’s that time once again, the time when I both watch more sports than ever before and more TV altogether more than ever. This year is even more fun because both of my kids are finally old enough that they actually will sit down and watch a lot of it. My primary mission this year has been to get them past any “ew girls” kneejerk reactions and to truly appreciate the art that is ice skating. But there are simply so many great sports to watch, that we had a hard time picking and limiting it all, truth be told!
MORE Sports: Superbowl
Yes, not one sports entry but two from me this month! What can I say, February was the perfect month for me, sports-wise! While I’ve lived in Minnesota now for over a decade, I was born and raised in the Pacific Northwest and the Seahawks have always been my team of choice. The Vikings can be second, I guess. So this was great for me either way! All the more so because there was some smirking sent my husband’s direction since the Seahawks’ new quarterback previously played for the Vikings…heh.
Video Game: “Blue Prince”
There are a few other games I’ve been playing recently, but this puzzle game that I’ve been working my way through with my husband really stands out. It’s such a quiet, compelling experience, each day building a blue print of a sprawling manor and trying to piece together the history of the place and the location of the final, mystery room. It’s hard to gauge how far we are in it yet, but the puzzles we’ve solved so far have all been great and there a bunch of tantalizing loose ends that we still haven’t managed to figure out. I definitely recommend this one if you enjoy slower, puzzle games, especially if you have someone to play it alongside!
Kate’s Picks
TV Show: “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms”
We all know that I absolutely hated the way that “Game of Thrones” ended. And we also know that I won’t watch “House of the Dragon” because I just can’t abide watching the Targaryens fighting each other and the start of the downfall of the dragons in Westeros. So maybe it’s surprising that I’m watching “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms”, the newest “Game of Thrones” spin off. But I am actually really enjoying it so far! Mostly because it just has so much more WHIMSY than the other GOT shows we’ve seen. Taking place between “GOT” and “HOTD”, we follow aspiring Hedgeknight Ser Duncan the Tall, who wants to become a legitimate knight. So he enters a prestigious jousting tournament. When he takes on a new young squire, a chatty and precocious boy who calls himself ‘Egg’, it turns into a bit of a misfit buddy comedy, though Egg has some secrets he’s hiding from his master. One downside is that there are no dragons in this show (sorry, Aerion, you don’t count). But that’s also a good thing because without the spectacle of dragons and magic, it has to rely on characters and engaging plot points. Also, we have Lyonel Barathon, aka the one good Baratheon male, popping up from time to time. It’s very fun, something I haven’t been able to say about other Westeros series.
Film: “Black Phone 2”
I greatly enjoyed the first “Black Phone” movie, not only because it was well done, super scary, and well acted, but because it was based on a Joe Hill short story that they adapted incredibly well. I was admittedly a little skeptical about “Black Phone 2”, because there was no Joe Hill short story to pull from and I didn’t see how it would work with The Grabber dead. But I was wrong to doubt, because I sat down and watched it this month and really liked it! A few years after he killed The Grabber, Finn and his sister Gwen are trying to adjust, though Finn is traumatized and Gwen is still having disturbing dreams of missing children. When her dreams seem to point her towards a youth camp in the Rockies, she convinces Finn that they are meant to go there. Unfortunately for them, there is, indeed, a dead phone that can contact them. And The Grabber may not be done with them after all. Not only was this a scary winter horror movie, it once again boasts fantastic performances from Mason Thames and Madeline McGraw. And the cinematography during the dream sequences is very Lynchian at its creepiest. Great sequel!
Film: “Waiting for Guffman”
This is not a new film to me in any way, shape, or form. I’ve actually been a fan of “Waiting for Guffman” since I was a high school theater kid, but when Catherine O’Hara died at the end of January I felt compelled to revisit it in her honor. The premise is simple: a small town in Missouri is preparing for its 150th Anniversary celebration and they ask local theater expert Corky St. Clair to write and direct a show about the town’s history. This faux documentary follows the people who are cast, the townsfolk, and the wacky journey they take creating a hometown show that they HOPE will end up on broadway because of rumors of a producer coming to see it. The cast is spectacular, with the usual suspects of Christopher Guest, Eugene Levy, Parker Posey, and Fred Willard, and of course Catherine O’Hara playing Sheila, a confident travel agent who has done community theater with her husband Ron (Willard) before. As a former theater kid I can tell you it nails the theater kid (or in this case local theater aficionado) culture, poking fun but never cruel. It’s a favorite O’Hara film of mine and I love hers and Willard’s RIDICULOUS rendition of “Midnight at the Oasis”. Rest in Peace, queen!
The Library Ladies 