Happy Holidays, everyone. The world is a dumpster fire and it’s hard to feel celebratory about much, but I’m grateful for my little corner of the world, even if I write my last issue of 2023 sick on my couch, complete with a sexy cold voice (shout out Friends’ Phoebe Buffay).
Time on my couch has meant more time to digest content, at least when my daughter has gone to sleep. Sharing my 3 faves from the month below:
Recommendation #1: Love and Monsters (Netflix)
In my June 2023 Rabbit Hole, I confessed that I have a weird obsession with apocalyptic and/or post-apocalyptic shows and films. This mostly pertains to apocalypses of the zombie variety (The Walking Dead is one of my all-time favorite shows), but I have watched an unhealthy amount of content about the genre as a whole. I’ve even hosted a salon on the topic (!), and really enjoy chewy discussions around the breakdown of society, how humans universally strive for community, how we survive vs. how we thrive…you get the gist.
Anyway, Love and Monsters popped up on my Netflix recommendations the other day and when I read “apocalypse comedy” I was SOLD. (I told you, I’m a big fan of the genre.) This movie had all the things I love in a good film — the feels, A DOG WHO IS THE UNSUNG HERO, a witty anti-hero you love to root for, and lots of laughter and tears. Love and Monsters may be somewhat formulaic, but we need feel good movies like these when the world is such a dumpster fire. Enjoy on your coach or wherever you best stream your Netflix.
Recommendation #2: May December (Netflix)
Also on Netflix but decidedly not feel good or formulaic is May December, a film starring Natalie Portman and Julianne Moore. It’s already a big hit on the award show circuit, garnering a number of Golden Globe nominations this week, and while it is excellent, it is also a very hard film to watch. Directed by Todd Haynes, the film follows an actress (Portman) who travels to meet and study a woman who (in)famously had an affair with (slash raped) a 13 year old, who she is now married to and has a family with 23 years later. (It’s based loosely on the real life story of Mary Kay Letourneau.) There is just so much in this movie that is hard to watch and yet also hard to not watch — it is about performance and the subjectivity of truth, it will challenge your black and white notions of right vs. wrong, but also reaffirm them. Charles Melton (who played Reggie in the Riverdale series) plays Julianne Moore’s husband, and he is a revelation in this movie, a man who is still frozen in time as a 13 year old. It is a film that sat with me for days after, leading me to listen to, watch, and read a number of interviews (a true rabbit hole moment), the best being this one-hour panel with Josh Horowitz of Happy Sad Confused (shared below). Watch this movie, and then watch this interview after.
Recommendation #3: Emily Blunt & Anne Hathaway (Variety’s Actors on Actors)
Hello, I did not know how much I needed this reunion of Emily Blunt & Anne Hathaway seventeen years after the Devil Wears Prada (a movie I still quote to this day.) In the June 2023 Rabbit Hole issue, I mentioned that Variety’s Actors on Actors is truly my favorite series of conversations — the format is two actors who often already know one another or are connected in some way (the producers behind the pairings of this show are genius), and, as a result, it’s unfiltered and authentic and deeper than any other interview you’ll find on the internet. More importantly, it often is about the actors’ creative process, and I’ve always found the journey behind creativity as interesting if not (sometimes) more than the final product itself. In this interview, it’s not only fun to watch Emily & Anne reminisce about Devil Wears Prada, it’s also so lovely to see two women unabashedly sing each other’s praises and root for one another. Click above to watch this particular interview, but head over to Variety’s YouTube channel to see all of the others this season (I’ve loved all of them so far!).
Until 2024, friends. Take care and stay safe wherever you are,
Kals
Thanks for another edition! Love and Monsters made me think of Warm Bodies. I recommend it if you haven't seen it yet. 💕