Grayskulll, flimflams & Kotter fever
On your mark, get set & go now,
Greetings and secret handshakes! I hope your week has been high on achievement and low on glitter. (I can't stand glitter, yet my house seems to be always covered in it.)
Hold on to your hairnets, and let's get started ...
What I'm into right now:
Yeah, I'm shaking up the format — it's summer, let's go wild:
1. R.I.P., David Berman. One of my favorite musicians and poets died this week, and I'm terribly sad about it. I attempted to cobble together some thoughts, if you'd like to read them. A world without his words is hard to imagine.
2. Read more comics. Julia Wertz and Abby Denson posted some excellent comix this week over on Spiralbound. Poems and comics will save us all.
3. UNHHHH. My favorite TV show is this YouTube series featuring drag queens Trixie Mattel and Katya Zamolodchikova talking about, well, whatever they want. (Don't miss eps 104 and 105, in which Katya wears a wig shaped like a telephone!)
4. Nicolas Cage is our rad uncle. Thank goodness for new Nic Cage interviews, like this one and this one.
5. "Inside Hillsong." Writer Taffy Brodesser-Akner did an interesting story for GQ about the megachurch that has attracted so many celebrities (including Justin Bieber, whose name I will never type again).
6. GRIFTHORSE. Comedians Howard Kremer and Megan Beth Koester have a new podcast about all the grifting, flimflams and schemes that comedians have done to pay the rent. Hear it on Soundcloud, and support 'em on Patreon.
7. Trailers. New doc THE POWER OF GRAYSKULL tells the history of He-Man. And Steve Coogan plays a conservative radio host in HOT AIR. I also really want to see JAY MYSELF, the doc about New York photographer/artist Jay Maisel.
8. I saw THE FAVOURITE. I'm so very late to the dance on this one, but spoiler: It's really good! (It's also now streaming via HBO.)
9. De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da. I'm very into Juliana Hatfield's upcoming album of Police cover songs.
10. LION KING redux. I took my daughter to see the new LION KING movie. It was fine and all (Billy Eichner for the win), but what really stole the show was this video of a cat dressed as a lion that Alamo Drafthouse played before the show.
11. Patreon playlist. This week I made a playlist of some of my fave cover songs for Patreon supporters. For the cost of a cup of fancy coffee, you can get your mitts on stuff like this every week.
Now on Patreon: My ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD review
Last week I posted a review of Quentin Tarantino's latest film on Patreon. Below is a short excerpt; become a supporter, and you'll get instant access to the whole thing.
These days lots of people come to reviews looking for the ol’ BOTTOM LINE, so let me hit you with it first: I loved Once Upon A Time in Hollywood. The blood, the abs, the feet, the flames — I lapped it up, and it lit me on fire.
And you know what my hands-down favorite moment was? When Brad Pitt’s character, Cliff Booth, and Rick Dalton (fair Leo) watch The F.B.I. in Rick’s living room, Quentin Tarantino does something pretty magical for a minute: He transforms the entire movie screen into ... a television set.
I mean, there we are, a sweaty, sold-out crowd that dared leave home to see a film The Proper Way for once. And what does this director do? He makes us stare at a huge TV! It sounds so simple, yet it looks and feels so fresh and alive.
Continue reading ...
And YOU recommend:
1. From Mark: "In September, Metallica is doing a 20-year anniversary show with the San Francisco Symphony. (I was able to score a ticket through divine intervention and will be flying to SF from Colorado!) But for those we can’t go, they're making a movie that will be shown in theaters Oct. 9."
2. Santiago sent me a link to Rob Tannenbaum's photos of an R.E.M. show he attended ages ago, back when the boys were still playing itty-bitty clubs.
3. Jed recommends the new X-MEN books "for the big relaunch of Marvel's X-line, which have so far included HOUSE OF X and POWERS OF X. Writer Jonathan Hickman is spearheading the initiative," he says, adding, "The books are so weird and stuffed with big ideas, and I'm happy to see the X-Men getting the love they deserve."
4. From our pal Jeremy: "THE LAST COWBOY is an amazing doc series on the Paramount Network ... not just because I work on it!" Ha!
5. And finally, Mike says, "What's not to like in this 'Within Your Reach' montage?" (As you know, I'm always up for a 'Mats moment.)
HEY THERE: Tell us what you're into anytime at 929-515-1988, where I try to leave a new outgoing message every day. Email me at whitmath@gmail.com. I'll put your hot tips in a future newsletter!
Shout-out to Josh M., who sent us this rad pic from 1976: "This was taken in the San Fernando Valley during the trophy ceremony at Studio City National Little League (RIP)," he says. "I was almost 8 years old and an obsessed Yankee fan because of my N.Y.-born father and because the Yanks won back-to-back titles in ‘77-‘78."
He adds, "This really is a real-life BAD NEWS BEARS photo. And chalk is up to 'It was the '70s' that I’m wearing a Budweiser tank top."
Notable releases:
TV/STREAMING:
- GLOW returns (Netflix, Aug. 9);
- Showtime airs the doc DAVID BOWIE FINDING FAME (Aug. 9);
- Docu-series FREE MEEK investigates the arrest of rapper Meek Mill (Amazon Prime, Aug. 9);
- Julio Torres delivers the amazing-looking MY FAVORITE SHAPES (HBO, Aug. 10);
- SUCCESSION returns (HBO, Aug. 11);
- LODGE 49 returns (AMC, Aug. 12);
- THE TERROR returns with INFAMY, which is set in a Japanese-American internment camp during WWII (AMC, Aug. 12);
- Rapper Danny Brown helms the surreal DANNY'S HOUSE (Viceland, Aug. 14);
- Oprah and Michael B. Jordan produce DAVID MAKES MAN, a series from MOONLIGHT writer Tarell Alvin McCraney (OWN, Aug. 15).
IN THEATERS/ON DEMAND (OUT AUG. 9):
- SCARY STORIES TO TELL IN THE DARK gets a creepy adaptation;
- Casey Affleck writes, directs and stars in LIGHT OF MY LIFE;
- Martin Freeman and Morena Baccarin star in ODE TO JOY, which is based on a story that was heard on THIS AMERICAN LIFE;
- THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING examines gender discrimination in Hollywood;
- Michelle Williams and Julianne Moore star in AFTER THE WEDDING;
- THE KITCHEN follows the misadventures of mobsters' wives in Hell's Kitchen;
- THE ART OF RACING IN THE RAIN features Kevin Costner voicing a dog;
- DORA AND THE LOST CITY OF GOLD brings the explorer to life.
RAD BIRTHDAYS:
Aug. 9: Sam Elliott, Posy Simmonds, Melanie Griffith, Kurtis Blow, Gillian Anderson, Gene Luen Yang
Aug. 10: Betsey Johnson, Ronnie Spector, Rosanna Arquette, Justin Theroux
Aug. 11: Ian McDiarmid, Brian Azzarello, Jim Lee, Viola Davis, Ben Gibbard, Chris Hemsworth
Aug. 12: George Hamilton, Mark Knopfler, Michael Ian Black, Cara Delevingne
Aug. 13: Tom Perrotta, John Slattery, Debi Mazar
Aug. 14: David Crosby, Steve Martin (pictured), Wim Wenders, Slim Dunlap, Jackée Harry, Halle Berry
Aug. 15: Matt Johnson (from The The)
Shane B. in Rock Island, Ill., sent us his adorable first grade class picture, in which he sports a WELCOME BACK, KOTTER shirt that I'd totally wear tomorrow.
Got a retro pop-culture pic to share? Email it (whitmath@gmail.com) or text 929-515-1988.
What a drag it is getting old,
Have a fiery week! Send email, texts and voicemail anytime. Also email for my mailing address or if you want to hire me as a writer/editor/speaker/painter. I don't leave streaks.
Like this newsletter? Forward it to a friend. , and find/tag me on Twitter and Instagram. If this letter gets trapped in spam, try this.
Your fact-checkin' cous,
Jill Hives
"I have not mutated myself in any way."
- Frances McDormand
"Every few years, you have to change your strategy. You have to look at how the world is mutating, and mutate. Not in the same way but parallel."
- Genesis P-Orridge
Don't forget to read my kids' book, WE MAKE COMICS, on getepic.com!