It’s somewhat frightening to consider how much media I consume on a weekly basis. This is by no means a comprehensive list — it doesn’t include a ton of CNN and MSNBC and Twitter — but here’s what I can remember quickly just from just the last week of proactively staying off Facebook:
Movies
- Molly’s Game – I watched the first third of this on Wednesday night and the rest of it on Saturday night. I thought it was a great movie, although definitely a bit heavy on the Sorkin. Still, Idris Elba was stellar.
- 21 – I watched the first half of this on Friday night and the rest of it on Sunday night. I’d read the book years ago and feel a little guilty enjoying anything with Kevin Spacey these days, but thought it was a pretty good adaptation.
- Big Hero 6 – I got roped into watching this with my older son during a very early dinner on Sunday afternoon. It was easily the best movie I’ve seen in a while and I loved it and loved how much my son loved it and now we both want to build our own Baymax.
- Goldfinger & Casino Royale (2006) – My older son and I caught about twenty minutes of both of these while they were just sort of playing on the living room TV in the background while we were chasing my younger son around the house. I’m a big James Bond fan and was glad to see my son stopping everything to watch some of the cool gadgets and car chase scenes.
TV
- If you’re not watching Nate & Jeremiah by Design on TLC yet, drop everything and start today. It is incredibly fun and funny and full of love and joy and warmth and great feelings. It’s a lovely antidote to just about everything in the news. My wife and I binge-watched nearly a dozen episodes this weekend and cannot wait for more.
- My wife and I also started watching a new BBC series, Killing Eve, starring Sandra Oh. The second episode aired last night and we haven’t watched it yet, but the series premiere was gripping and it looks like it’s going to be a good show.
- Homeland got off to a slow start last season, but this season has been a roller coaster from episode one. This weekend’s show nicely (and hopefully finally) resolved an issue that has been annoying us for a few seasons now, so now maybe they can get down to saving the world in the two episodes left this season.
- Billions is such a great story concept, but I am starting to get tired of the over-writing. Nobody talks like Wags or Chuck or even Axe in the real world. Nobody. The plot is so terrific, though, and this week’s show feels like we’re moving closer to something big.
- Last week I finally finished the epic 10-part, 17-and-a-quarter-hour The Vietnam War Ken Burns series on PBS. Man. I know it’s definitely not everyone’s cup of tea, but I loved it.
- Last Week Tonight with John Oliver is always a bittersweet combination of hysterical and enraging.
- This weekend’s Saturday Night Live was one of the best in a while. John Mulaney killed it.
- We finished the Waco six-part miniseries on Paramount Network, too. Taylor Kitsch was shockingly good as David Koresh and Michael Shannon is a brilliant actor. I never really paid attention to the story when it happened while I was in college and was surprised by much of what I learned.
Music
I have music playing in the background the whole time I’m at work and often while making breakfast, exercising, and driving, so I probably heard hundreds of songs last week. Here are three that stuck with me for one reason or another.
- Puttin’ on the Ritz – Taco – After Eight is the 1983 remake of a song Irving Berlin wrote in 1927. I heard it recently and couldn’t stop thinking about how it’s almost a century old and still cool.
- C’mon C’mon – The Von Bondies – Pawn Shoppe Heart is probably best known as the theme song from the Denis Leary series, Rescue Me. That was a great show and if you didn’t watch it when it aired, I’m sure you can find it on Netflix or Amazon Prime Video.
- I Can’t Stay – The Killers – Day & Age is just one of my favorites. I heard it in the shower this morning and it’s been in my head all day.
Books
- I finished Command and Control: Nuclear Weapons, the Damascus Accident, and the Illusion of Safety by Eric Schlosser, which was recommended by a friend. Schlosser really, really goes into excruciating detail about pretty much everything. I thought it was a good read, but you need to be the kind of person who is fascinated by science and the Cold War and history to dig it.
- I read a few chapters of Atlantic: Great Sea Battles, Heroic Discoveries, Titanic Storms, and a Vast Ocean of a Million Stories, by Simon Winchester. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed every other book of his I’ve read, but am having a hard time getting into this one.
Podcasts
Sports
We watched The Masters last weekend and it was so great to see Tiger competitive again. He didn’t win, but he certainly made it fun to watch. And the whole tournament was compelling with a dramatic ending.
