i just finished the first season of how to with john wilson. i’m sure that if you’ve heard of the show, you’ve heard that it’s brilliant so this isn’t exactly new information, but in case you’re needing one more push to watch it, here’s that push.
the show is comprised of documentary footage of quietly funny moments, most of which feature pedestrians and the buildings that surround them in new york city. each episode is centred around a different topic (“how to make small talk,” for one) and finds wilson venturing all over the city and sometimes even across state lines. on a whim, he hops on a plane to go to a conference for Mandela Effect believers. on another episode, he ends up in NOLA for a scaffolding industry convention.
overall the show carries this hopeful idea of interconnectedness and the sense that being alive is fascinating, even in the more anonymous, less grandiose moments. because of its unusual approach, it manages to do so while avoiding coming off as sappy.
anyway, let’s move onto the recommendations.
hello sweet natali,
the movie i’ve felt most moved by specifically because it “felt real” is probably dark waters. i saw this in the theatres with my mother and sister last november — a sentence which feels absolutely unreal, seeing as i haven’t seen either of them in person in just under a year, and well, we all know how long it’s been since going to the movies was a viable option.
dark waters is based on the New York Mag story about a lawyer who fought for those effected by the DuPont chemical company’s quiet dumping of toxic forever chemicals, among other inhumane practices. it would be easy to dismiss the movie as just another rehashing of an erin brokovich-like legal tale, minus the girl power, but the movie’s faithfulness in depicting how long any sort of justice takes was astounding to me and left me feeling very emotional. on a lighter note, there’s something reaalllly satisfying about watching mark ruffalo frantically sorting through thousands of documents.
for a more lighthearted watch, i’d recommend the daytrippers. starring hope davis as eliza and parker posey as her sister jo, it follows their family’s quest around new york city following eliza’s discovery of a love note that she believes proves her husband is having an affair. i think you’ll find all of the winter garb satisfying.
hi lovely erin,
have you watched superstore? i think it’s the perfect before bedtime show. in case you don’t know it, and haven’t gathered from the title, it follows a group of workers at Cloud-9 (their copyright friendly name for Walmart) lead by America Ferrera and Ben Feldman (who i love, made famous by don draper saying “i don’t think about you at all” to him in that one mad men screencap). suspended romance will never get old to me, and their two characters have a perfect little will they/won’t they that anchors the show.
besides that, the rest of the cast is very good at playing their specific weirdo characters, and it’s amusing to see the odd social dynamics that working service necessitates Represented On Screen.
otherwise, if ya want to go super sweet-tooth, i’d say younger, which might as well be a lifetime movie, but is very, very fun.
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