Mary tells you all about her featured bookstore of the month, Bombshell Comics!
Read moreFeatured Bookstore: Bombshell Comics, Hattiesburg, MS
It's pretty beautiful at night, huh?
ANTM Recap: C24/E14 - Next-Level Fierce
Final Four. Again. But FOR REAL for real this time. No, seriously. We mean it now.
Remember Philipp-with-too-many-Ps Plein from the last panel? The guy who seems like he totally only became a designer because he wanted to bang models (but only the skinny ones)? Yeah, we get to spend some serious time with this guy in the finale.
Picking up right from last week’s judging, the final four (round three) go straight to Phillipp Plein’s (hereafter referred to as PP because I don’t have energy for this douchebag) studio to do their fitting for his runway show.
Shanice on the bus ride there: “I just want them to pick a winner.” Girl, so do we.
Read moreA Love Letter to the Ladies of Brooklyn 99
I initially decided to watch Brooklyn 99 because I really like Andy Samberg.
His sense of humor appeals to the part of me that is always drawn to the loudest, most obnoxious person in the room, and I expected that Brooklyn 99 would simply serve as a convenient vehicle for his lovably stupid antics. I didn’t expect to find that Brooklyn 99 is one of the most progressive network sitcoms I’ve ever had the pleasure of watching. Its diverse cast of characters doesn’t feel like a collection of tokens or ticked off boxes, but fully-realized human beings.
This is particularly true of the show’s three female leads. Save for a few episodes, Brooklyn 99’s five seasons pass the Bechdel test with flying colors — not to mention the fact that two of its female leads are Latina, a feat rarely accomplished on network television. I came to this show expecting to fall in love with Samberg’s Jake Peralta, but I didn’t realize how hard I would fall for Rosa Diaz, Gina Linetti, and Amy Santiago.
Read moreOthersode #13: Nerd Porn Auteur / Ready Player One
Othersode #13: Nerd Porn Auteur / Ready Player One
Put on your haptic suits and join the Book Squad in Halliday’s OASIS as we discuss the new Steven Spielberg movie, "Ready Player One." We’ve got lots of thoughts and feelings about Parzival, Aech and Art3mis in the movie, as well as in Ernest Cline’s 2011 novel on which the film was based. Plus, the squad gets into some questionable poetry by Cline and dives into how Gamergate affects some feminist readings of the book and the movie. Also, hear what’s up on our next fullpisode and what’s on the #BookSquadBlog!
Click through for table of contents and show notes!
Read moreWill You Accept This Book?
Bachelor Nation: Inside the World of America's Favorite Guilty Pleasure is a deep dive into The Bachelor franchise by Amy Kaufman, a journalist who used to cover the show for The LA Times until ABC asked her to stop because her coverage was "too negative." In addition to Bachelor dirt, the Kaufman also gives the reader a history of television dating shows, showing us how and why Mike Fleiss was able to make one of the most watched shows in history when he created The Bachelor. Plus, Kaufman gives us the scoop on what happens to most contestants post-show these days, and the book is peppered with snippets from celebrity fans of The Bachelor explaining why they like the show.
Kaufman was recently a guest on Here to Make Friends, a HuffPost podcast about The Bachelor, promoting her book, which is how Susan and Emily heard about it. They share their opinions about the book after the cut.
Read moreANTM Recap C24/E13: Beauty is Commercial
Well, we’re back again for the REAL final four since Jeana has replaced Rio in the house. I’m getting impatient though. Let’s cut it down to three and get this runway show on the road.
Tyra Mail is bonkers as usual. She teases the challenge by asking: “What do cotton candy, a squirt gun, and a fan have in common?” They all think it’s a carnival. Which makes almost no sense because only cotton candy is relevant to that. But what do I know?
Read moreYou Know You're Entitled if You're Pouting Because Your Stepfather Didn't Get Murdered Over Your Spa Weekend.
Thoroughbreds is a dark teen murder comedy which has been likened to movies such as American Psycho and Heathers. Emily and guest blogger Mary Kay (from Everything Trying to Kill You) aren't interested in those comparisons though. They're more interested in digging into the movie for its own merits, specifically examining the characters Lily (left) and Amanda (right) and how they're complex identity struggles are really what's most interesting about this movie.
Spoiler: both Mary Kay and Emily loved Thoroughbreds. If you want to avoid any further spoilers, please wait to read this post until after you've seen the movie. You've been warned.
Read moreRiverdale Recap! S2E17: The Noose Tightens
On this week’s episode of Riverdale, The Noose Tightens, the noose tightens — but for WHOM? It could be Archie, who’s already in too deep with the Lodge crime family, or Betty, as the murder of Chic’s drug dealer resurfaces, or Cheryl, currently institutionalized by a pack of homophobic nuns… or perhaps the point is that every character on this god forsaken show is already noosed up, and we’re all just waiting to see who will drop first.
(Can I be Jughead yet?)
Read moreLate to the Game: Night in the Woods
One of my favorite things of 2017 was Night in the Woods, a game developed by Infinite Fall and Secret Lab. I listed it as my absolute top thing of 2017 in our year in review episode, but I didn’t feel like I said enough about it. I recently replayed the game, along with a patch (the “Weird Autumn” expansion) that turns the game into a director’s cut of sorts, and knew that more attention needed to be paid to this charming game.
Read moreANTM Recap C24/E12: Beauty is a Comeback
Final Four Freakin'