What I'm Into: July 2021
Here’s a look at What I’m Into this month in the world of music, movies & television:
Dave: At some point soon, Emily and I are each going to breakdown why this show is one of our favorites. It's hard to pinpoint exactly what the show even is, but on the simplest of terms, it's about a satirical rapper trying to navigate his day-to-day and rise to fame. Plot-wise, it's very Seinfeldian: a show about nothing. However, there's a secret sauce that just works so, so well in that it can balance different tones and nuances and yet still make the most childish, irreverent jokes that land each and every time. Season 2 debuted earlier in June and we're about 3 or 4 episodes in at this point. Not every episode hits the same but all of them are nearly impossible to turn off. If you're going to give this one a watch, make sure you watch the first three episodes before making up your mind.
I Think You Should Leave: Continuing with Season 2s of TV shows, here's another show entering its sophomore season. ITYSL is surrealist comedy at its pinnacle. The first time I watched it, I chuckled a few times at a few sketches. The second time I laughed a little harder and before I knew it, I was quoting it on a regular basis and repeating classic lines on the daily. Emily's not 100% on board with this show and the style of comedy is not for everyone, however if you're okay with cringey, surrealist humor (Wet Hot American Summer/We Came Together would be prime examples) then you absolutely need to give this a try. A top-sketches list for ITYSL is in the works for the near future to help guide you if you don't think all of them land well enough for you. However, this is a great option for a quick/casual watch as episodes hover between 15 and 20 minutes. I binged Season 2 in about 2 hours on Tuesday and it has some strong sketches but as of today I still prefer season 1.
The Sopranos: It's okay, I'm only about 20 years too late on this one, but I'm finally sitting down and making my way through The Sopranos. As many of you already know, The Sopranos was a pioneer in high-quality long-form narrative television. Before Breaking Bad, Game of Thrones, and LOST, Tony Soprano was paving the way for Anti-Heros everywhere. I decided to give this one another go when I saw the announcement of the prequel movie, "The Many Saints of Newark", and I'm really glad I did. It feels a bit dated in places but the writing is at an all-time level. I'm finishing up season one this weekend and am excited to see this ride ramp up. It's hard to say anything about this show that hasn't already been said (and I'm sure I'll have more thoughts after diving in a bit deeper) but if you've been in hibernation on this one -- it's time for Spring.
The Mole: So, I was on the fence with which other piece of media to include in this post. Honestly, if it were on the basis of what I'm most enjoying, Loki would probably be on this list. However, I decided I'd go a bit deeper into what makes me tick and my guilty pleasure shows. If we've arrived there, the answer is absolutely early 2000s reality shows. Survivor has been a staple in my life for almost two decades and Emily and I have recently jumped into the back catalogue of The Amazing Race as our default "nothing great to choose from" option (or, let's be real, more like our "let's not spend the next hour trying to figure out what we want to watch" option) to stream. We've really eaten it up too! We started on Season 1 about halfway through the pandemic last year and just last night finished the Season 5 finale. So it's held our attention at least. However, this is not about The Amazing Race or Survivor. This is about one of the most underrated reality concepts in the early aughts: The Mole. A young Anderson Cooper hosts this show about deception and spy-like intrigue. A group of contestants are brought together and required to complete tasks that can grow their collective pot for prize money (which is awarded to the winner at the end) while one contestant is attempting to sabotage the group to the best of their abilities whilst going undetected by others. The show lasted two seasons and time has not been kind to its aesthetic, but it's easily worth a watch as it was recently added to Netflix last month.
Playlist of the Post:
Track Listing:
Fight for Me - GAWVI (feat. Lecrae)
MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name) - Lil Nas X
Start a Riot - Duckwrth (feat. Shaboozey)
brutal - Olivia Rodrigo
Motion Sickness - Phoebe Bridgers
Dustland - The Killers (feat. Bruce Springsteen)
Sophie - Bear's Den
Kyoto - Phoebe Bridgers
To Be Loved by You - Parker McCollum
They've Closed Down the Honky Tonks - Miranda Lambert