If you live in the Midwest, things have been bleak lately. It’s the doldrums of winter, punctuated by violent winter storms that bring states of emergency, weather advisories, and power outages. Kids get cabin fever from too many snow days and parents go crazy as a result. The rest of us wander around in a state of zombie-like discord, our eyes glazed over as we dream of warmer times. The colors of our world are white, gray, and dark gray. When the sun comes out, it’s like a holiday and we break out the shorts. The people rejoice. Then the freezing rain begins again.
Now that I’ve painted a semi-decent picture for you, I can continue. It’s no surprise that a slew of colorful, fluffy media has come into orbit this time of year. I’m in need of a respite from the chilly weight of winter. Luckily, Hollywood, Netflix, and Spotify have converged to give me some quality content to get me through these cold qualms.
MEDIA MINUTE #4 – February 23, 2019
What I’m Watching (I’m Watching A Lot, By the Way)
The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part. To say I loved The Lego Movie with my whole heart is an understatement. It was wonderfully nostalgic, surprisingly deep, and laugh-out-loud funny. The “second part” was in the same vein as the first, this time focusing on the meta-verse of sibling squabbles instead of a father-son bond (which made it all the more applicable for me; I’d be lying if I said my brother and I never fought while we played with our Legos.) It’s just what you’d expect from a Lego Movie sequel – Emmett is still funny and air-headed, Lucy is still edgy and cool, and the Spaceship guy is still obsessed with spaceships. And Batman is still Batman. But this time, there’s more songs. Fluffy, coloful, fun.
Set It Up. Netflix is loving its originals lately, especially when it comes to lightly poignant rom-coms. (Looking at you, Sierra Burgess is a Loser and To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before.) But instead of teenage angst, we see two twenty-something adults trying to set their “nightmare” bosses up so they can finally catch a dang break. Like most romcoms, we mostly get vague sketches of each character (Bossy male boss? Check. Bossy female boss? Check. Character development? Ummm…we’ll clean that up in post.) It’s got a little bit of heart and a lot of one-liners.
The Umbrella Academy. Do you ever wonder what would happen if the X-Men and Watchmen had a baby – er, several babies? Me neither. But we got The Umbrella Academy anyway, and it’s a surprising treat. After being adopted by an eccentric billionaire, a group of kid superheroes known as The Umbrella Academy disbands after too much public attention and probably other things that I haven’t figured out yet (I’m on episode 4, okay?) After their billionaire father’s mysterious death, they reunite as a team of mildly dysfunctional adults to try to memorialize him, even though there’s not much to memorialize. Oh yeah, and the end of the world is in like, seven days.
What I’m Listening To (and it’s one really important thing)
Broken Harts. From Glamour and How Stuff Works comes a journalistic investigation of Jen and Sarah Hart, who inexplicably drove their SUV – containing their six adopted African American children – off a cliff in California. Both wives and five of the children are confirmed dead, and it’s no longer being considered a freak accident. As the story began to unfold on the news, more was revealed about the Harts, including allegations of systematic abuse and neglect of their children. It’s a gripping commentary on institutional racism, the adoption process, confirmation bias, social media’s effect on perception, and more. It’s fascinating in the worst way. Check it out.
Audrey D. DeBoer 