Please excuse any spelling and grammatical errors. I am extremely tired. If you’re my friend, feel free to text me if you notice anything wrong.
If you read my most recent post, you know that I have been working through my friendship insecurities. I’m pleased to share this past week I went on TWO friend-dates with other moms. Both were successful and we’re going to meet up again this week!
The first was a french mom named Sophie! I have not yet told her that is also the name of our dog. The two of us got coffee and pastries at Patisserie Vanessa. At first I was nervous to bring her to a french cafe, until she told me she has been primarily drinking Dunkin’. Sophie is basically everything I could want in a friend— ambitious (she’s a DOCTOR), progressive, funny, and interesting! Her daughter is a bit older than Sebastian (9 months), but that gap will eventually feel like very little. I met her at baby swim classes and I’m really proud of myself for making that connection.
The next was a friend-of-a-friend named Kate who was also delightful! The two of us met at Ralph’s where we hung out outside with our babies for hours talking. Something I really loved about Kate was her honesty. She was really forthcoming about her experience with motherhood so far (her daughter is 7 months) and it was incredibly refreshing.
Overall it felt like a really successful week socially :)!
Anyways, this is the bi-weekly cultural update, so let’s talk about what I did during my “off time” (if bouncing a baby in my arms is off time…)
Alice Sadie Celine by Sarah Blakley-Cartwright is a wild ride that you can totally opt out of. It’s about a complicated mother-daughter relationship that is only complicated because the mother is a narcissistic nightmare.
Evil Eye by Etaf Rum is the Bad Bitch Book Club January book pick! It’s about a Palestinian-American mother in the midst of an identity crisis as she begins therapy and is forced to reckon with her intergenerational trauma. If you loved Rum’s last book A Woman is No Man you should definitely pick this up.
Fault Lines by Emily Itami was described to me by my friend Chelsea as “by far her favorite book of 2023” (it came out in 2021) and I understand why. Mizuki is a Japanese housewife with an unraveling marriage and children she never quite caught the rhythm of. The prose is deeply honest and the setting of modern Toyko is a great backdrop. (CW for suicidal thoughts!)
As you may know I am trying to watch every movie nominated for a major Oscars category this year. This is made difficult by some movies still not being available for streaming, but I am doing my best!
Killers of The Flower Moon has 10 Academy Award nominations (!!) but most notably not a Best Actor nomination for Leonardo DiCaprio and honestly— that is the correct choice. This is a really powerful movie about the Osage tribe and the white people who infiltrated into their lives to destroy them. It’s just a little too long, a little too focused on the white man’s perspective, and IMO wrongly cast with Leo. Regardless of its imperfections you should definitely watch this so you can see why Lily Gladstone will inevitably win Best Actress this year.
NYAD is an average movie with exceptional acting— which is how the two leads scored nominations for Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress. Annette Bening plays Diana Nyad, a famous swimmer attempting to be the first person to swim from Cuba to Florida non-stop and without the use of a shark net. Jodie Foster (also nominated) plays her ex-girlfriend and coach. Allegedly Annette spent literal days in the water preparing for this role and was trained by an Olympic swimmer for an entire year leading up to filming. It’s on Netflix, so you may as well watch it, but don’t expect to be blown away by anything other than how incredibly well Jodie Foster pulls off these sport sunglasses.
Oppenheimer is a movie I really expected to hate. It has everything I am not into— a huge supply of white men, science and war. Count me out!! But alas I had to watch it because I wanted to have an opinion on every nomination this year and well…… this is probably the Best Picture (note: I have not yet seen Poor Things or American Fiction!) Unlike Killers of The Flower Moon this movie is 3 SHORT hours and the time is well-used. Plus it’s a really powerful story about the creation of the atomic bomb and the remorse that comes from being the inventor.
The Holdovers was best described to me by two friends as “made for men whose favorite movie is Good Will Hunting” and “designed to make straight men cry”— both are spot on. This is a great movie, albeit definitely one that will only be rewatched around Christmas. Don’t let that deter you— but we all probably should have watched it last month. Will it win best picture? Probably not, but I think it stands a chance for Best Film Editing, Best Supporting Actress (Da'Vine Joy Randolph) and potentially Best Actor for Paul Giamatti, though I think it should go to Cillian Murphy for Oppenheimer.
The House Bunny (2008) has aged like FINE WINE. Anna Faris (famously my least favorite author) plays an aged-out Playboy bunny who becomes a house mom at a sorority in an attempt to find a new family. If you’re looking for something silly and fun you must re-watch this. Also, fuck you Chris Pratt.
Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret (2023) despite coming out to glowing reviews, AYTGIMM didn’t get as much hype with the public as it should have. This is an absolutely charming coming-of-age story based on the Judy Blume novel and in my opinion a must-watch. Rachel McAdams slays.
The Bling Ring (2013) is one of those movies I missed because I was in college doing anything but going to the movies and wow— this is Girl Culture. The lore of Alexis Neiers runs deep in pop culture circles and I’m so glad I finally watched this movie. The visuals are stunning and though it didn’t hold my attention the entire time— it’s the perfect movie to put on while doing other things.
Lady Bird (2017) Is a coming-of-age story I have tried to watch so many times. I always end up watching the first half, getting bored, and then watching the second half whilst on my phone. It has some really tender moments and I do understand why people love it— it’s just not for me. Please don’t unsubscribe because of this!! I know this is a DEEPLY unpopular opinion.
The Trust: A Game of Greed (Netflix) is my new favorite Netflix reality TV show!! The concept is that a group of people are put into a beautiful mansion where they are given a large sum of money that they can either split amongst themselves OR vote each other out to have a bigger portion of the trust. Nobody HAS to vote, but whoever has the most votes is eliminated each week. I found this show to be so, so fun and I would highly recommend for fans of Big Brother and The Traitors…. speaking of which…
The Traitors S2 (Peacock) Parvati and Sandra in the same room? Say less. For those who aren’t familiar with the premiss, The Traitors is essentially a real life game of Clue. The cast is full of your favorite reality stars from Real Housewives to Big Brother contestants and watching them interact is the highlight of my week at the moment.
Love on the Spectrum S2 (Netflix) is just as sweet and endearing as season 1. If you’re looking for something light, heartwarming and emotional you must start watching Love on the Spectrum. Also if your man doesn’t treat you like David treats Abby, get a new man!!!
Expats (Prime) is the new Nicole Kidman series that could have been an email (or a movie.) It’s an interesting premiss about a family grieving from their missing child and the babysitter who lost him at the night market in Hong Kong— but it’s pretty boring. This is a skip.
Desperate Housewives: The Blind Items of Wisteria Lane (Fluently Forward): I also just wanted to give a quick shoutout to this podcast episode in which Fluently Forward discusses the drama surrounding the women of Desperate Housewives— one of my all time favorite shows. This is definitely worth a listen!
"Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret" is one of my FAVORITE movies. It deserved so much more recognition!!