I never realize exactly how much TV I’ve been binging until I have human contact and realize that 90% of my life updates are just Netflix series and movie recommendations. That happened to me recently and I realized that if I’m going to yap my face off about what I’ve been watching lately, why not recap it in blog form to benefit those of you who may not have all hours of the day to try each and every new addition?! See? Watching hours upon hours of TV has a PURPOSE when you write your own pop culture blog that barely anybody reads. You know how many hours are in a day when you don’t have a full-time job…A LAWT. It’s been a whole ass year of quarantine and I’ve watched more TV in this past year of garbage than in my 29 years leading up to it combined. If you’ll recall, I did a lovely binge recap at the beginning of COVID, and I’m happy to update you now on the latest and greatest in the past month or so on Netflix. *No Spoilers, just my highly regarded opinions*
To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before: Always & Forever
Ok so obviously this is the third installment in squeaky clean teen trilogy following Lara Jean and Peter Kavinsky. I’ve watched all three movies on their Valentines Day premiere weekends and yet I can’t say I’m a superfan of this storyline. Naturally, Peter Kavinsky is dreamy as hell as far as high school boyfriends who look like they’re 28 go, and the story is pretty well-rounded and not just focused on stupid teenage hormones…and YET there’s only so much John Corbett that can save a flick. The first one was okay, the second one was trash and the third one never needed to be made in the first place. I wish Netflix would stop automatically granting every teen story 3 movies upon its first release. NOT ALL STORIES NEED TO BE TOLD IN THREE PARTS. Obviously the first movie is the union of Peter and Lara Jean. The second movie is the childhood crush returns to town presence to ruffle the perfect relationship. And the third? The third was basically useless. These two are going off to college and in the land of high school relationships we all know that’s the kiss of death. We don’t need a movie about it. Was I just bored of this unrealistic storyline or was I personally victimized by the beginning of the movie when one of the high school kids said to another “at least you don’t have to wait for your acceptance letter in the mail like they did in the olden days?” I think we all know the answer here. When I attended college in 2009, I got my acceptance and rejection letters in the mail. On paper. SnAiL mAiL. That was 11 years ago and it is now considered the stone age to teenagers today. Nothing reminds you that you’re too old for watching a particular movie harder than them directly calling you geriatric. Put me in the ground, I’m over you losers. CAUSE APPARENTLY COLLEGES JUST SHOOT YOU A DM NOW IF YOU’RE IN. ***all the eye rolls in the world, I’ll never stop being bitter about this.***
I Care A Lot
I like to keep Netflix on their toes when they recommend shit for me. Oh you think I’ll enjoy the programming for 13 year old girls well BAM check me out watching this flick. I zig when they think I’m gonna zag. I gotta be honest, I saw this movie was up for a Golden Globe and since I try very hard to be that person who watches AT LEAST one critically acclaimed (up for at least one award) movie a year, I decided this should be it…mostly because I actually WANTED to watch Promising Young Woman but I refuse to ever pay for a movie in my own home. Unless I’m in a dark theater with a reclining chair and the greasiest of popcorn, you’re not getting a penny outta me. Anyway, this movie was AWESOME. As soon as I finished it and basically whooped it up at the VERY satisfying ending, I texted everyone I know to add it to their watchlist immediately. It’s twisty, it has crime, it has lots of swearing, it has a VERY tanned and white-toothed Chris Messina acting like a cocky babe soda (drool city, population; me), and most importantly of all, the main character played by Rosamund Pike is the WORST HUMAN ON THIS EARTH with her stupid designer outfits, blunt bob and vape pen that you just hope she chokes on. Plus, she won the globe for this part so you know at least the racist-ass HFPA liked this movie, Ch-ch-check it out!
Biggie: I Got A Story To Tell
As you all know, I’m a real doc nerd. This particular one was getting a lot of hype leading up to its release so I was ALL over it when it dropped. Here’s my background knowledge on Biggie: 1. I knew Biggie and Tupac had beef and Tupac is 100% still alive and in the witness protection program. 2. My roommate in college (also white as wonder bread like me) had her cellphone ringtone set to “Juicy” and every single damn time her phone rang I heard Biggie’s chubster mouth marbling “It was all A DREAM, I used to read WORDUP MAGAZINE.” 3. One time at Target I tried to buy the iconic Biggie with the crown on his head tee and my mom and my sister told me not to and it’s the biggest regret of my life. I would’ve looked cool as shit in that tee. So as you can see, I’m a diehard Biggie fan. Up until I watched this doc and nearly turned it off out of sheer boredom 5 times. This story could’ve been told in suuuuch an interesting way and instead it was an hour and a half of jumping all over the timeline, naming cross streets in Brooklyn and talking to the surviving members of Biggie’s crew who list all the other members by their 10 different nicknames. I never once knew who anyone was talking about. Probably the most shocking part of the doc was when B.i.G./Biggie/Christopher’s mom said she never once listened to his music, had no clue what he was doing 90% of the time and the only time she listened to his album was after he died. If my parents don’t read one of my blogs I immediately ask them why they hate me. How did she have a rapper son and never once heard him spit bars? Anyway, final rating: IT WAS ALL A SNOOZE.
Ginny & Georgia
In the words of my sister, better catch this one quick before that snowflake Taylor Swift cancels it. You might have heard about this show because they had a ONE LINER about “going through guys like Taylor Swift” and then Taylor decided to mount her white horse and try to take down the show and Netflix in one fell swoop. But here’s the real truth from the horse’s mouth. This show is actually one of those 2021 “woke” shows. It’s female-focused, it’s written by females and it tackles race, LGBTQ, self-harm, bullying, sex, relationships, crime AND MORE. It has a WHOLE lot going on for it to be shunned for a dumb throwaway joke. For those of you who might feel self-conscious about watching a teen-centric show, there is equal parts adult storylines that I actually really enjoyed. There’s a little intrigue and mystery of what the hell is going on with Georgia’s past to keep you going, plus she’s a mom with two kids from different dads, a VERY shady background and she has THREE babe sodas chasing after her. Basically Georgia is my hero. Get past the VERY cringeworthy virginity losing scene in the beginning between two fifteen year olds (seriously, one of the worst) and you’ll be off to the races. Also important to note: teenagers these days are basically the WERST. If I had to go through high school again, I’d KMS.
Eye candy for days though:
Moxie
This is 100% a teen feminist movie and naturally that’s the OPPOSITE of anything I’d be interested in and yet Amy Poehler created it and starred in it and I just love her so much that I gave it a go. Not an overwhelming recommend but also not the worst thing I’ve ever watched either. So basically I should be a film critic with that sentence. I was a little bitter when the girls all put their hands in a circle and chanted, “SI SE PUEDE” because that is a direct rip from classic DCOM “Gotta Kick It Up”, but otherwise there was a pretty adorbs first teen boyf storyline and Amy played *most obviously* the cool mom. I also feel that it is my duty to add that although I called the teen boyf storyline adorbs, their first date which led to their first kiss was the two of them laying in a LITERAL coffin together in a funeral home sharing ear buds. And that is not at all adorbs, that is a nightmare machine. Sry, girl. He can be the dreamiest feminist supporting your cause and telling you he wants to wait until the moment is right but if he snuggles with you INSIDE OF A COFFIN, it’s curtains on your relationship.
Pieces of A Woman
This was also nominated for a Golden Globe and I was really treating last weekend like I was screening the nominees before the big show…I also sensed it was going to be depressing AF and needed a good cry. It was real dark and real uncomfortable to watch. Not a recommend from me. The movie kicks off with the LONGEST home birth scene where I got a very realistic peek into what to expect when you’re expecting and I DON’T WANT IT. The lead was feeling nauseous while also having contractions and the amount of times that she burped or gagged, folks, we almost had a clean-up on aisle living room situation on our hands. I was feeling second hand retches just from watching. Unfortunately you watch this whole scene just to learn that the baby dies upon birth and the movie unravels the entire aftermath of that and follows the couple closely as they’re dealing with it. Hence: much discomfort. Shia LaBeouf plays a total scumbucket and although it’s not one of those artsy movies without a resolution, it reeealllyy didn’t feel resolved at the end.
Behind Her Eyes
The catalyst for writing this blog, I saw someone post a Facebook status about how the ending for this series was buh-nan-UHS and when I watched the trailer and got a little creeped out, I waited until daylight the following day to watch it so I wouldn’t crap my pants. AND BOY DID I WATCH IT. I watched all six episodes back to back in one sitting like the giant unemployed loser that I am. I just wanted to get to that ending. It was W I L D. I want to talk to everyone who will listen to me about it. The show starts out predictable and cheesy as hell with a guy sleeping with his secretary and the wife sneakily befriending her. Ho hum, Lifetime does this every weekend. Then all the sudden it was like invasion of the body-snatchers up in this B and I was all:
The ending blew my mind. Also SUUUUUPER dark. Not a happy ending in the slightest. Watch the following suggestion after this one to lighten things back up again. Also if you do watch this, get @ me so we can talk about that plot twist.
Nate Bargatze: The Tennessee Kid
So full disclosure, this is old but I just watched it for the first time the other night and I want to recommend it because in just a few short weeks, you’ll be able to watch a new special from Nate called The Greatest Average American. So basically I’m setting you up for a double feature of funny. I was strapping my lolerskates on to take a lap around my apartment after watching this special. At one point I repeated one of his jokes out loud TO MYSELF. I was watching by myself and acting like I was in a room full of people. Is that sad or is Nate just that funny? Don’t answer that. It’s the combination of his deep southern drawl and deadpan delivery for me. Looking forward to the next special. (Also if you’re into standup, 10/10 would also recommend Taylor Tomlinson’s special which came out about a year ago and kicked ass.)
BONUS:
This isn’t Netflix but I’ve also been all in on it (weekly, episodic) HBO Max has a documentary Allen V. Farrow featuring Mia Farrow and her 9000 children telling the story of their childhood and Dylan Farrow’s abuse from Woody as a kid. It’s obviously sanctioned by the Farrow family, not so much by Woody Allen. Mia filmed her children’s every moves so there’s a TON of original footage including the actual taping of Dylan first detailing the sexual abuse from Woody, which is incredibly disturbing. New episodes drop on Sunday nights. I want to make a zinger here but there’s really nothing funny about child abuse, especially when it’s one of the biggest filmmakers and he denies it still to this day. It’s pretty deplorable and credit to Dylan for making this documentary and telling her story.
The Salty Ju 
Pingback: Weekly JUice | The Salty Ju