culture porn 11/11
our weekly playlist
screenshot me:
killer sally (netflix)
without reading anything about this, i let NETFLIX auto-recommend this true crime docuseries to me, intrigued by the title - a commentary on the stereotype around strong women and "the ideal victim." it was a fascinating watch that enraged me -- and it didn't skimp on important nuances of bodybuilding culture and military culture and interracial marriage, but watching it was also heartbreaking. watching content about super-sad violence and abuse cycles amidst a world where violence seems ever-present can be hard at times.
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welcome to wrexham (hulu)
i'm loving this docuseries following this underdog team's attempt to move up in the british football league. like TED LASSO, new owners ryan reynolds (DEADPOOL) and rob mcelhenney (ALWAYS SUNNY IN PHILADELPHIA, along with ATV+'s own MYTHIC QUEST), are relentlessly optimistic while being entirely in over their heads – making for an equally fun, funny, and ultimately heartwarming tale of fish out of water.
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barbarian (hbo max)
after hearing about this from many, i indulged in a late night watch of this clever plot twister. if you need a smart, well-done horror flick, this fits the bill for a home rental gone super wrong.
i've steered clear of horror films ever since 1982, when POLTERGEIST wigged me out so bad i slept with the lights on for three months. but after hearing all the buzz about this low-budget indie, i watched in the middle of the day with all the lights on, covering my eyes when things got too freaky (as they inevitably do). it's clever and scary, but what i'm super curious about is why content is fixated on (spoiler alert!) secret underground tunnels – see also THE WATCHER and GUILLERMO DEL TORO'S CABINET OF CURIOSITIES.
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causeway (atv+)
i'm excited for jennifer lawrence's first film in years, with a screenplay by ottessa moshfegh, one of my fave authors (MY YEAR OF REST AND RELAXATION). co-starring the incredible brian tyree henry (paper boi on ATLANTA), the film deals with the timely issue of trauma, and the struggles of re-integrating with daily life upon returning from deployment in afghanistan.
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the empress (netflix)
i got pulled into this period piece about the habsburg dynasty, and found myself enjoying the BRIDGERTON meets THE GREAT vibes. star devrim lingnau is mesmerizing, and i encourage watching in german with subtitles.
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the good nurse (netflix)
academy award winner jessica chastain is at her compelling best as a nurse who finds herself torn between her colleague and the mysterious deaths at her hospital. based on a real-life serial killer, eddie redmayne is as endearing as he is lethal.
insights & inspo
is your house haunted?
i was floored to read that many homeowners think their houses are haunted. but having been on a ghost tour of my own recently (to the hotel in Estes Park, CO that inspired THE SHINING) - it started to seem more likely. have you seen a ghost in your home, and if not -- do you want to? 👻
more insights here
guess what’s the most popular interior design color, according to INSTAGRAM?
lately, i've been embracing colorful clothing as a way of peacocking my post-pandemic life. but it seems that when it comes to interior design, most people still play it safe – at least, according to INSTAGRAM hashtags. "after analyzing over 1.53 million Instagram posts tagged with one of the top 10 base colors used in interior decorating, luxury real estate company RUBYHOME found that there's one color that reigns supreme on the social media site in terms of interior design color — and it’s a favorite by a long shot," writes olivia harvey in APARTMENT THERAPY. can you guess what it is?
more here
what is Drill Rap?
hailing from houston, the home of "chopped and screwed" music, i've always been fascinated by the hyper-local – "yet deeply translocal" – nature of rap. according to WIKI, it's "sonically similar to the trap music subgenre and lyrically similar to the gangsta rap subgenre." the history of hip hop is so circuitous and has so many proud parents, so i loved this piece by VULTURE's wayne marshall schooling me in "the self-made soundtrack of young Black artists in these cities, as well as a rhythm that any laptop producer can program after a YouTube tutorial." scroll through for a snapshot cultural history of what's been called "rap's most dangerous genre."
learn more here
#LOokforward🌅 with linda ong
with midterms this week, i was lucky to spend a few days in mexico city on another culture vulturing tour led by the HAMMER MUSEUM’s acclaimed longtime director, ann philbin. the country, which i think of as "MIXICO," has at its core a love of evaporating boundaries between art, architecture, food, fashion, music and intellectuals - fueling a creative and cultural renaissance, with the queer community (as expected) setting the new bar. this is me at CASA BARRAGAN, a UNESCO world heritage site considered a modern masterpiece.
culture loves an enemy, and TIKTOK's now lasered in on ALMOND MOMS – women who "intensely parent" through "healthful" eating, called orthorexia.
for linda’s full debrief, head here