I’ve had fiction writer’s block for way too long, but reading this helped… I think.
I read this and realized I hadn’t listened to any Tribe Called Quest in way too long so I loaded a playlist while I took a bath and it’s my new form of self care.
Thisis a great piece about why some black women have a fondness for fur and you should read it…
Here’s every time someone on It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia says “god dammit.”
If you’ve ever needed a reminder of how brilliant this ensemble is, simply watch this mashup. It’s unreal how many ways you can deliver a single phrase.
Google decided to shame the entire nation at once by putting together a chart that maps the top “how to spell” searches by state between January 1 and April 30 of this year.
In perhaps the most telling bit of data on this map, South Dakota frequently looks up the spelling of “college.”
In the grand scheme of the entire universe, from the first seconds after the Big Bang to the moment you clicked on this article, 20 minutes is nothing. Bill Wurtz’s channel.
You should spend, like, an hour or two looking at these dog names. Immediately. The biggest bubbles represent the most common names: Bella (1995), Max (1153), Charlie (856), Coco (852), Rocky (823), and so on.
Watch actors perform side by side with their real-life counterparts.
FromLa Vie En Rose to The Fighter toCatch Me If You Can,this video essay from Vugar Efendi, lets the viewer decide how well the cinematic recreations pair up with the moments they’re based on.
How an episode of SpongeBob SquarePants predicted the rise of meme culture
SpongeBob SquarePants might not be the first show one would turn to for philosophical depth, but Quinton of the YouTube channel Quinton Reviews argues there’s more intelligence than meets the eye in the cheeky cartoon series.
School yourself on the history of horror films with YouTube’s foremost expert.
Horror contains multitudes. In the film world alone, the genre can manifest as psychological, physiological, allegorical, or sometimes just plain gross. Finding a way into its myriad nooks and crannies, however, can be a daunting proposition. Film fans always benefit from cinematic mentors, after all, and Dr. Udru is here for anyone in need of guidance.
The A.V. Club procured dipping sauces from the major fast food chains, separated by category, and taste-tested each one on a recent afternoon.
Check out the full review and rankings of Ranch, Specialty Ranch, Mustard, Buffalo, Sweet and Sour, Barbecue, Hot Sauce, Miscellaneous savory, and Specialty spicy sauces here.
There’sno shortage of World War II movies, and there’s no shortage of twentysomething critics pontificating about their “accuracy.” Whether a film like Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk—a thrilling chronicle of the escape of Allied troops over the English Channel from the tip of France in 1940—is “accurate” is probably best determined by someone who was, you know, actually there. Luckily, that someone exists: His name is Ken Sturdy and Global News caught up with him in Calgary as he was leaving a screening of the film.
With the smash success of Wonder Womanandthe casting of Jodie Whittaker as the new Doctor Who, it seems an effort is being made by the frontrunners in fantasy and sci-fi to allow women a spot at the top of what was traditionally a boys’ club. Need proof that the paradigm needed changing? Look no further than this studyfromThe Pudding’s Amanda Shendruk.
In The Heights’ Lin-Manuel Miranda and cast break down new trailers and movie’s long journey to screens
It’s been three years since the In The Heights cast spent a summer in Washington Heights filming the big screen adaptation of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Broadway hit. In all it’s been almost 20 years since Miranda first envisioned a musical that represented the world he grew up in. “No one was was writing parts for people like him, so he wrote them,” In The Heights’ film director Jon M. Chu (Crazy Rich Asians) told reporters this weekend ahead of the release of two new trailers. “No one was writing parts for his community, so he wrote them.”
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On adaption the beloved stage musical for the screen
Quiara Alegría Hudes: I want to take it as an opportunity for people who already know and love musical to discover even new things in it, as opposed to try to make the same experience. Keep the heart and soul and add to it, and go new and surprising places too, so that you can have an even deeper experience if you already know it.
Lin-Manuel Miranda: I have to say, Jon, I think, dreamed bigger than any of us in terms of the size and scope of this. We spent our summer [of 2018] on 175th St. and Autobahn. You know, he was committed to the authenticity of being in that neighborhood…. And then also, when it comes to the production numbers, dreaming so big, I mean this is a big movie musical. I think we’re so used to asking for less—just to ask to oscupy space, as Latinos. Like, let us make our little movie. And Jon, every step of the way, was like, ‘No. This is a big movie. These guys have big dreams. We’re allowed to go that big. And I’m just so thrilled with what he did because I think it’s bigger than any of us ever dreamed.
On the universality of the story
Lin-Manuel Miranda: When we’re first generation kids and we come from somewhere else, we always wonder what it would be like if our parents had stayed. You know, those questions of home being real personal. Like, what does home meant to me? And every character is sort of answering it in a different way. For some people, home is somewhere else. For some people, home is the block there. And so, you know, that’s that’s worth singing about. That’s worth celebrating in a movie this size.
Jon M Chu: I was so lucky to be invited into [Lin’s and Quiara’s] homes, literally—they’re all in Washington Heights. To meet the block, meet the people who they get their café con leche from, their piragua guy. All those things, I got to witness. And it reminded me, [as it did] when I saw the show on Broadway years and years ago, of my own upbringing—even though I was not from Washington Heights. I’m from the completely other side of the country, a Chinese family and a Chinese restaurant. I recognize all the love. I recognize the characters. I recognize the aunties and uncles who raise you and say, “I love you” by their food. And you have to decode everything that they’re putting on you from their own baggage, but then you have to pick up your own and make your own path. And I love that this story that they’ve created has no villain. It’s everyone’s internal struggle on the path they want to make to their future. And to me, that’s really what home is. This is not a destination. It’s the people around you on your journey, and everyone finds their own way and finds what home means to them in their own way. And all of that is okay.
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On writing the female characters in the film
Quiara Alegría Hudes: It’s so fun and so thrilling. You know, growing up, the beauty standard I saw in magazines did not reflect the beauty standards I saw in abuela’s living room on the block, which had all different body types, all different hair textures, all different skin tones. And we would just celebrate it. And you would own it, who you were. I was it was the plucking, and the spraying, and everything. And it was also about just the spirit of celebration as you were getting ready or getting dressed, and the fun of that. And so, the opportunity to really say, “Well, here’s another notion of beauty that’s more expansive, and here’s how we take up space as we’re getting ready for the day.”It was so fun.
On making Carla and Daniela’s relationship a romantic one for the film
Stephanie Beatriz: Quiara and Jon really expanded on what Lin and Quiara originally created, and now they’re partners–and not just work partners but they’re life partners. And what was so gratifying to me, as a person who is queer, is to see this relationship in the film be sort of just part of the fabric of their community, and be normal, and be happy and functioning, and just part of the quilt that they’ve all created.
Thank you to @theavc for letting us kick off the eighth season of A.V. Undercover with such a beautiful ‘90s jam. Watch our cover of Hole’s “Violet” here: http://bit.ly/PhantogramAVClub
