With the latest on Trump's views on Veterans, specifically those who were injured or died in service, is pretty yucky behavior. It's possible that these are all false accusations, possible, except for one: how he talked about John McCain. But his main defense of all of this is that he was always res...

Yea, I'm turned off by songs that are just bragging. :cheers: I would say that bragging is ok sometimes if it elicits a positive feeling for others. I think Lizzo's "Soulmate" really hits that, though it's more of a how-to-love yourself guide than bragging about how she's the greatest. h3...

He definitely gets explicit at times, uses the F word as a noun, but it's comparatively tame. But so is Chuck Berry's My Ding-a-Ling. Reading the lyrics, I didn't put together that my favorite song from the "Bash Brothers" film was probably inspired from the line "Shake that healthy b...

Lizzo in it for a few minutes, Sasha in it for about 4 seconds. But exciting nonetheless 52 By Women 2020 #68: Water Lillies Completed the fourth of four films of Céline Sciamma, director of "Girlhood" (very good), "Tomboy" (great), and "Portrait of a Lady on Fire" (mas...

This is a fun article to show that dirty songs going to #1 has been a 50 year phenomenon.
https://slate.com/culture/2020/08/wap-d ... ber-1.html

Still of those it's clearly the most explicit. But there's been songs this explicit for decades, they just never hit #1.

52 By Women 2020 #67: Hustlers A great two-hander (edit: I don't like when people write "pun not intended" in prose because chances-are you very-much intended it, but I already posted this before editing this to note: the pun was not intended), with Constance Wu and Jennifer Lopez starrin...

For sparkling water, the regional Wegmans chain has their own brand. In January I decided to taste test all their sparkling water flavors. Then I'd narrow it down until I figured out my favs. Yes, I turned it into a competition. I must gamify EVERYTHING! Top Tier, I buy two-a-week of each: Peach (th...

I also stopped caffeine in the pandemic! I would do a drink or two a day, but when pandemic made the local coffee shop and Starbucks unavailable, I decided not to bother to find alternatives or make-it-from-home. I also knew that it would be better for my health and anxiety (which was through the ro...

Awesome. I can't remember if I watched it, so I should probably watch it. 52 By Women 2020 #66: Harriet I was ready to want to like this film, loving Lemmons' "Eve's Bayou" and Tubman being a true local, national, and worldwide hero. But I knew this film got mixed reviews. The trailer wasn...

A decade ago, March 2019, Common was invited to the White House for a poetry jam (that also featured LMM debuting the first seeds of Hamilton) and Fox News went crazy, because this was a rapper, and we all know rappers are thugs. It was absurd, as anyone who knew of Common knew. But now, Trump is wa...

Listening to U Talkin' Talking Heads to My Talking Head, Scott recommend this cover album reimagining their Remain in Light album, which was influenced by African polyrhythms and specifically Fela, and returning it to Africa. It's pretty fab. Kidjo was on my artist deep dive project (so was Feta) th...

A simple leader test: are you an example or an exception?

I know the AV Club made a big deal about not reviewing New Mutants, nor any film that they don't receive a screener for, but in reviews for these films where studios are nice to the reviewers but not the public they write: Note: The writer of this review watched _____ from home on a digital screener...

52 By Women 2020 #65: The Go-Gos Acclaimed film by a woman + Documentary on the Go-Gos = Inevitable that I'd watch this. A thorough look at the greatest hits of the Go-Gos, and by greatest hits I don't mean just their best songs, but "The Formative Years (punk rockers)," "The Rise (S...

I've been thinking lately about "No Justice No Peace." I've always felt queasy about the "no peace" part, I've never yelled it, because I really do want peace. I am firmly pro-peace. But I've come to agree with its point. You cannot expect peace when there is no justice. And real...

Mean Girls Doesn't count for my list even though it was written by Tina Fey, is so clearly in her tone and style (the best), and everything not is a clear mimic/homage/sister-film of Amy Heckerling's "Clueless" (you can buy both, sold as a two-pack as "Girls Rock", at your local...

52 By Women 2020 #55-64 Ten Short Films, ranked high to low. Didn't feel these should count towards the 52 when I watched them, but since I'm past the goal, here they are. They are available on Kanopy and/or YouTube. Made between 1907 and 1942. 134 minutes total. Meshes of the Afternoon - a fun, su...

52 By Women 2020 #54: Beyond the Lights Working my way backwards in the Gina Prince-Bythewood filmography. Here's her take on fame and the fight to be yourself. The film tackles mental illness very well, and shames what we do to celebrities who deal, the monsters around them. Great performances all...

Jinx One of them classic pre-DC pre-Marvel Brian Michael Bendis noir comics. Great stuff, clearly showing off his top-notch dialogue and creative layouts. The wikipedia article says Charlize Theron optioned the script sixteen years ago. I hope she still plans on doing it, feels totally within her c...

Maybe, though Disney distributed it and it's scored by Howard's collaborator Alan Menkin. I wonder if it's because of what behind-the-scene archival footage they had available. I guess my main thought: as a big fan of Howard, it worked for me, but if you come in with little knowledge, you still migh...