Dear friends,
I canโt stop replaying this excerpt from a podcast between Jonah Hill and Michael Cera, about their experience promoting Superbad in Europe. Itโs so funny.
I wish you a great weekend.
OUR TOP MOVIE OF THE WEEK
Love Jones
On Netflix ๐ rating: 73%
In this romance from 1997, a photographer and a poet meet in an upscale nightclub in Chicago.
They quickly get together and connect on music, poetry, and photography, but Nina, the photographer, decides to go to New York to mend her relationship with her ex-fiance.
Itโs so well-acted, funny, and because itโs been enough time that this has become noticable, a great depiction of big-city life in the 90s. There is smoking inside, riding a motorcycle without helmets, and top-notch fashion.
The producers said they wanted to make โa contemporary film about African-American life that did not deal with guns and drugs,โ and probably because they didnโt make compromises, the film was a commercial failure. In recent years, however, it has been quietly growing into a cult classic.
๐ฐ Roger Ebert: โThere is also a bow to the unconventional in the ending of his film. Many love stories contrive to get their characters together at the end. This one contrives, not to keep them apart, but to bring them to a bittersweet awareness that is above simple love. Some audience members would probably prefer a romantic embrace in the sunset, as the music swells. But "Love Jones'' is too smart for that.โ
OUR TOP TV SHOW OF THE WEEK
Penguin Town
On Netflix. ๐ rating: - unavailable
Patton Oswalt narrates this fun miniseries about a town in South Africa where thousands of so-called jackass penguins go every year and mix with humans. โThere are a lot of movies about penguins,โ he confesses in the start, โbut not about theseโ.
The monogamous penguins go to the town to find life-long partners and compete over prized real estate to lay their eggs.
Itโs a heartwarming nature docuseries, one that would make for the perfect weekend morning watch.
Stuart Heritage of The Guardian: โMove over, Attenborough! Penguin Town is the cuddly nature show for our timesโ
TOP PICKS OUTSIDE OF NETFLIX AND AMAZON PRIME
Shiva Baby
On rental services starting $3.99 ๐ rating: 98%
This dark comedy is about a girl who tries to navigate a shiva where both her ex and a person she is seeing show up. This is added to the pressure from her prying family and neighbors, all making for an event so hectic it borders on a horror story.
TOP PICKS OUTSIDE OF NETFLIX AND AMAZON PRIME
Dave
Season 2 is new on Hulu ๐ rating: 72%
This easy comedy is a spin-off of parody rapper Lil Dickyโs Youtube channel. He plays Dave, a guy in his 20s who out of everything else decides he wants to pursue a career in rap.
Thatโsย itย forย this week, Iย hope thereโs something in thereย forย you.
The next edition of this weekly letter will be in your inbox Friday, May 25th.
Until then,
Bilal