Learn how to make kimbap (or gimbap) with Mary!
Read moreRecipe Time!: Kimbap
This kimbap from MyKoreanKitchen is much more photogenic than what I made.
Riverdale Recap! S2E21: Judgement Night
After last week’s BONKERS ep, we are back again this week, maybe one week closer to finding out who THE BLACK HOOD IS.
(Sadly, Kelli won’t be joining us this week because of Mother’s Day obligations, so Mary is flying solo.)
Read moreFive Summer 2018 Movies You Should Be Excited About
I have a hate/love relationship with summer.
I’m from Florida originally, and intense heat and humidity are conditions I’m all too familiar with — but now that I live in New York, the winters are long and stupid, and summer is something I genuinely look forward to. I daydream about all the tiny outfits I will wear, imagining my future self going to the beach, eating ice cream, and maybe even eating ice cream on the beach in a tiny outfit.
Of course, Summer has its drawbacks. Beaches are more crowded, ice cream melts faster, and sunburns are real. Half the time, it’s so hot outside that the most appealing option is to head straight to a movie theatre and settle in for 2+ blissful hours of powerful central AC. Unfortunately, shitty movies tend to ruin my bliss, and summer has a lot of those.
So many of “summer’s” biggest films technically premiere in spring and then linger in theatres for months, making the summer itself a bit of a dead zone when it comes to exciting new films to look forward to. It’s a season with a reputation for being chock-full of showy, expensive, and deeply terrible movies, and while that reputation is mostly deserved, I’m here to share five films premiering this summer that I’m actually really excited about. As a bonus, I’m gonna talk some shit about the ones that look bad, too, because what’s would a blog post be without a little light-hearted negativity? Written by someone else, probably.
Read moreRiverdale Recap! S2E20: Shadow of a Doubt
This week, Mary and Kelli bring you a very special recap of Riverdale: "Shadow of a Doubt," otherwise known as The Gun Violence Episode! We know what you're thinking - isn't that every episode? - but with two separate shootings in under 45 minutes, I think we've reached a new low.
Here we go again...
Read moreTwo Steps Forward, Two Steps Back
In light of the (not so shocking, sadly) news that author Junot Diaz is a total douche canoe, I feel like we need to have a talk about women's rights. Sit down, children.
Feminism is not the evil F-word it once was. Sure, plenty of people out there still claim to be "not feminist" even though they believe women deserve to be treated like people, which, okay, if that's the case, you're a feminist. Learn things. But for the most part, the world is starting to wise up and realize that women are people... people who have to deal with a lot of crap in their every day lives.
My response to this is duh. I've known this since I was ten years old and the boys at my middle school got to play flag football in PE class while the girls were forced to do Buns of Steel videos. What the actual fuck. This is a true story.
SNL also responded to this realization back in December when Saoirse Ronan and friends came out with the "Welcome to Hell" sketch (image featured above). Here's a sampling of some of the lyrics: "Cat's out of the bag, women get harassed all the time! And it's, like, dang, is this the world now? But here's a little secret that every girl knows. Oh, this been the damn world."
So yeah. We still need feminism, boys and girls. And every time we take two steps forward for women's rights, it seems like we take another two (thousand) steps backward. But here are some monumental steps forward and steps back for feminism that have happened recently in pop culture (because pop culture is what this blog is about, y'all).
Read moreThe Good and the Bad: Avengers Infinity War
Here comes everyone.
Last weekend, Marvel’s newest film Avengers: Infinity War opened to record breaking sales and excited fans everywhere. I saw it opening day and afterwards, the theater was oddly silent. One fan stood up and said, “Well that was extremely depressing!” then walked around for a bit before sitting back down to watch the after-credits scene.
I’m going to be posting spoilers in this review, so be warned of that if you haven’t seen it.
No, really. I’m going to spoil it.
Read moreWhat Does It Take to "Feel Pretty"?
Amy Schumer has a particular brand of comedy that she’s been developing for a while. She frequently talks about her body and body image in a way that I would venture is self-deprecating, and frames herself as an everywoman. Her newest movie, I Feel Pretty, follows a Schumer character named Renee, who works for the fictional beauty brand Lily St. Claire. Renee longs to be an integral part of the brand, representing it as a secretary in the main office instead of the basement-level computer work she’s previously done for the company. After a fall at SoulCycle convinces Renee she is beautiful (like, model beautiful), she has the confidence to go after her dreams. Nothing really changes about Renee’s appearance, and she still looks the same to the audience as well as her friends. The only change is in her perception of herself. Renee believes she’s beautiful and therefore she is, right?
Read moreRiverdale Recap! S2E19: Prisoners
“There are only three episodes left of Riverdale’s second season”
is a sentence I wish I had typed several months ago, but here we are, ready to recap season two’s NINETEENTH EPISODE. In “Prisoners,” we see the return of several long-lost plot points and receive something like closure regarding one of this season’s most irritating mysteries: Chic.
So, let’s get into it, for the nineteenth time.
Read moreWhy I Love Independent Bookstores & You Should Too
If you missed my interview with Celeste Ng over at Book Riot, maybe you're unaware that it's Independent Bookstore Day today. I mean, I guess you could still know that it's Independent Bookstore Day today without reading this Celeste Ng interview, but I wanted to start this blog post with a shameless plug, so roll with me here, okay? Okay.
So where was I? Oh yes. The last Saturday of April is always Independent Bookstore Day, which has got me thinking about what I love about independent bookstores and why they're so freaking awesome. So here is my informal ode to my favorite indie bookstores (featured above is Avid Bookshop in Athens, GA, btw--more bookstore shout outs to follow).
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