This Week in Pop Culture: September 20, 2024
The Emmy Awards, Netflix's latest (terrible!) sci-fi YA adaptation, and more in this week's pop culture round-up.
Happy Friday, friends! I hope you’ve made it through the week in one piece and are looking forward to the weekend. I hope that you’re finding ways to protect your peace even as the world continues to be a massive garbage fire around us. I’m writing this week’s newsletter from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where I was at a work conference earlier this week. My husband is joining me for a long weekend in the city to visit breweries, see some art, and generally bum around.1
The Primetime Emmy Awards were this past weekend, and it was…pretty good? I thought that Eugene and Dan Levy did a great job as hosts, bringing a new energy to the telecast and getting in a couple of really good jokes. The Bear took home a bunch of acting awards (and people complained - a lot - about how it’s not really a comedy, but the night also saw some excellent wins, like Anna Sawai for Shogun and Liza Colon-Zayas (the first Latina to win in the supporting actress in a comedy category). This was, in my opinion, the best joke of the night:
I was bummed that D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai didn’t win for Reservation Dogs, but was impressed and moved by his political statement:
Some of my favorite looks of the night:
Anna Sawai in Vera Wang and Ayo Edebiri in Bottega Veneta.
Catherine O’Hara in custom Oscar de la Renta and Kristen Wiig in Oscar de la Renta (this is, I think, the best she’s ever looked).
Ella Purnell in Rabanne and Hannah Einbinder in custom Louis Vuitton.
Liza Colon-Zaya in Cristian Siriano (my fave dress of the night) and Selena Gomez in Ralph Lauren.
Sheryl Lee Ralph in Versace and Viola Davis in Zuhair Murad.
Here’s the rest of the pop culture that took up space in my brain this week:
What I Read:2
Dead to the the World by Charlaine Harris: When Sookie finds Eric Northman running nearly naked through the woods near her home, she’s shocked to find he has no idea who he is. It doesn’t take long for her to figure out that he’s been cursed by a coven of powerful witches, and she agrees to hide him while other vamps try to figure out a solution. But Sookie is surprised by the kinder, gentler Eric, and sparks fly between them.
I’m still on my Sookie Stackhouse re-read bullshit, and this week I got to what is definitely my favorite book of the series. I had so much fun revisiting this book on walks this week. I appreciate how Harris writes about rural America and the working class in particular, and how she seamlessly blends slice-of-life detail with the silly paranormal stuff. I’ve always been Team Eric when it comes to the series, so the book where they really get to be together is a stand-out for me. Genuinely sexy and funny and tense, this is the series at its best.
What I Watched:
Uglies (Netflix): In a world that imposes a cosmetic surgery on citizens when they turn 16 to help them achieve an “ideal” look, Tally and her friends are eager for their turn to join society. But when one of them runs away, Tally ends up on a journey to expose the truth and the dark side of what is happening in their world.
Oh no. This movie has famously been in development hell for years, and now that it’s finally been released, I can see why. This was abysmally, embarrassingly bad from start to finish. If I’m being brutally honest, it was almost impossible for me to finish it - not only is the story boring and convoluted and weirdly hollow, but the CGI (that they’re obviously hoping will distract from the lack of sensical plot) is so bad that it’s laughable. Everyone seems miscast and no one seems to be having a good time at all. It feels too easy to dunk on the fact that everyone in the movie is way too hot to be talking about how they can’t wait to undergo plastic surgery to become beautiful, but know that the movie’s plot hinges on that. I generally like Joey King as an actor, and she’s doing her best with the material, but even she can’t save this. I made it through this one but can’t recommend it to anyone - it’s not even bad in a fun way. It’s just bad in a depressing way. Skip!
Child Star (Hulu): Demi Lovato rocketed to fame as a young kid and then publicly struggled with mental health issues and substance use disorder. In this documentary - her directorial debut - they sit down with other grown-up child stars to discuss the lasting impact the industry had on them.
How well this documentary works for you will probably depend on how interested you are in the entertainment industry in general and how connected you are or were to child stars (in any era, honestly - the interviews with former child stars here range between at least three generations). I’d say that this documentary is timed perfectly the culture’s reckoning about how we treat celebrities (especially young ones, especially women), and that it fits nicely in between other documentaries like Brats, Kid 90, and maybe even Quiet on Set.
For me? I really enjoyed this, though the standout moments were definitely the interviews with Christina Ricci and Raven-Symone, both of whom seem to have done a lot of work on themselves to get to the other side.
How to Die Alone, Season 1 (Hulu): Mel is 35, single, broke, and a JFK airport worker afraid to fly. After a near-death experience, she becomes inspired to dream and live her life to the fullest, which includes a lot of bumps along the way.
Natasha Rothwell hive rise up! Four episodes of Rothwell’s show have dropped so far, and I binged them all in my hotel room this week.3 Rothwell stars in and created this show that feels both deeply personal and also extremely smart, funny, and emotional. Rothwell manages to thread the needle between comedy and real emotional stakes, and the show’s thoughtful exploration of loneliness, poverty, and friendship is remarkable from right out the gate. I can’t believe how easily the show shifts from humor to heartbreak and back again - there are some jokes in the first few episodes that are so funny that I guffawed out loud (a relative rarity for me). The entire cast is excellent and the writing is sharp - I can’t wait to see where the rest of the season goes. Highly, highly recommend.
What I Listened To:
Bon Iver, “S P E Y S I D E”: Bon Iver is releasing new music, baby! The first new stuff we’ve gotten from Justin Vernon since 2020, this single is off the forthcoming EP Sable,4 (due out in mid-October). Bon Iver is my favorite sad girl autumn music, and this moody, contemplative song got its hooks into me on the first listen. I’m stoked about new music from him!
What I’m Looking Forward To:
Killer Heat (Prime, September 26): When a set of twins find themselves in a love triangle, a detective known as “The Jealousy Man” is brought in to investigate. I’m not sure that this is going to be any good, but the cast is intriguing!
Lonely Planet (Netflix, October 11): At a writer’s retreat in Morocco, a novelist finds herself embroiled in a love affair with a younger man. Laura Dern and Liam Hemsworth in an age gap romance? Okay!
Salem’s Lot (Max, October 3): Based on Stephen King’s iconic novel, a writer returns to his Maine hometown to discover that the residents are being turned into vampires. I definitely read this book years ago and was very scared by it, and while I don’t know that we need another adaptation, it will be great viewing for Halloween season.
That’s it for this week! I’ll be back next week with thoughts on more fall TV (High Potential, 9-1-15, etc.), more book reviews (I need this reading slump to end), and so much more. Have a great weekend, and thanks, as always, for reading!
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Technically, this is our anniversary celebration, but our anniversary is in October, so we’re celebrating a wee bit early. Still counts!
It’s time to admit to myself that I simply do not get much reading done when I’m traveling for work! I’m in the middle of at least 3 other books but made almost no progress on them this week. Hopefully I’ll have more to report next week.
Look, I’m not a great traveler at the best of times, and solo business travel is nowhere near the definition of “best” for me. I eat an early dinner somewhere and retire to my bed chambers, where I rot until I fall asleep.
The comma is part of the EP’s title. Okay, bud.
To say that I’m excited for the bee-nado (yes, a tornado made of bees) in the much-hyped premiere is an understatement. I literally cannot fucking wait to watch the dumbest show on TV on the treadmill next week!
That image of D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai was wonderful to see. What an amazing, courageous young man. I might have to watch Reservation Dogs all over again!
And Ayo Edebiri—what a stunner!
I had not seen any of those pictures, so thank you for that.
uglies was SO BAD!!!! My husband laughed the whole time at the ridiculousness