“Shabbat shalom, motherfuckers.”—Ilana
When an episode of Broad City, set almost entirely on an airplane, starts with Maroon 5’s Adam Levine in an absolute fever dream of an airline safety video, you know it’s about to pop off. And pop off it does, because with Abbi and Ilana in the air, en route to Israel, there are no punches left to be pulled in this finale. I can safely say that “Jews on a Plane” is the perfect bookend to a near-flawless season of Broad City and is easily my favorite episode of a comedy show in which a person’s homemade tampon is mistaken for a bomb.
Another week, another beloved and peerless musician has left us. In case you’ve been on some sort of Luddite retreat, you’ve heard the news that Prince has passed away at age 57. There are far too many good articles contemplating his death online to list them all here, but you might enjoy this one, in which I ponder what it means to lose our heroes, “The Beautiful Ones U Always Seem 2 Lose.”
Here are two vastly different new releases you might want to check out: Cherry Red Records has released Tiny Tim: The Complete Singles Collection (1966-1970) about which Hanna writes the following:
Hearing a grown man do a believable Shirley Temple imitation is always a beautiful experience, and “Mickey the Monkey,” a song from the perspective of a monkey in a zoo providing his story to the child listener, seems almost a comment on Tiny Tim’s own position as a novelty performer: “While you’re watching me, I am watching you, too / You’re as funny to me as I am to you.”
On a totally different segment of the musical spectrum is Trágame Tierra, the long-awaited follow up to Big Black Delta’s self-titled debut. Why this record isn’t blowing up I cannot imagine. I’ve seen only two other reviews for it, and one of them is the most ghastly and insulting thing imaginable, on a website whose name rhymes with “Consequence of Sound.” Ignore that crap, and just read about how great this album is.
Unicorn Booty’s got some music news for you on this week’s NOW HEAR THIS, including the Afropunk festival lineup and more.
Game of Thrones fans are gearing up for the new season which starts tomorrow and at Everything Is Scary, Tim Ford discusses the most frightening characters on the show. None of them is Cersei Lannister. If vintage sitcoms are more your speed, you can check out the first two episodes of the TV or GTFO podcast, in which our own Sachin Hingoo teams up with Gary Heather to talk about Perfect Strangers and Hulk Hogan’s Thunder in Paradise.
Laury Scarbro has a lot to chew on after Outsiders’ episode 11, while Carol Borden has a lot to say about Scandal, How to Get Away with Murder, and more on the Cultural Gutter.
Movies? You want movies? We got ‘em. Well, we have reviews, at least. Dump those copies of Bride of Re-Animator in the trash, but not before picking up Arrow Video’s glorious new reissue, which Tim Ford assures us is the definitive edition. Sachin reviews a couple of Hot Docs movies, the new ten-part film essay from Werner Herzog, Lo and Behold: Reveries of the Connected World and the more-horrifying-than-an-actual-horror film Tickled. Women In Hollywood has their always-welcome list of women-centric, directed, and written films for the week, including the fantastic High-Rise, which I’ll be reviewing next week.
Unicorn Booty is the best site you’re not reading, unless of course, you are already reading it, in which case, yay! The excellent “A Trans Person Explains What’s Really Behind Transphobic Bathroom Bills” does exactly what the title suggests, but there is oh so much more good stuff in there. There’s also a rundown of why Harriet Tubman should be on the US $20 bill as well as some huge developments in world LGBT politics.
Oh, and if you’re having trouble sleeping at night, by all means, do not read this creepy assessment of H.P. Lovecraft’s uber-creepy short story “The Festival” by Peter Counter on Everything Is Scary.
On this episode of TV or GTFO, Gary and Sachin review the 1994 Hulk Hogan vanity project, Thunder In Paradise! Is Hulk Hogan that kid’s real dad? How big is that boat, anyway? Why is so much of this show echoed in Hulk’s recent real-life Gawker controversy? Will he ever take off that bandana? Find out this week on TV OR GTFO!
In the wake of Breece’s death, I expected things to go just a bit differently. Thankfully, I was wrong about Ledda blaming Wade, but he does indeed blame himself. Normally, I would say that’s a bad thing, but the new and improved Wade uses that guilt to propel himself into taking action that he should have been more willing to take several episodes back.
“Jews! Jews! Jews! JEWS! JEWS! JEWS! JEWS! JEWS!!”—Jews
Last week was the heaviest episode yet in Broad City’s run, and it seems that Ilana and Abbi felt that we needed a break after all that sobbing and drama. Enter “Getting There,” a tried-and-true Broad City madcap adventure through New York City, this time to the airport as Abbi and Ilana are headed for a destination that’s kept under wraps for most of the episode. This is the first half of the two-part season finale and if it’s going where I think it’s going, next week’s episode should be a real banger.
By Tyler Hodg
The final episode of Trailer Park Boys Season 10 delivers big laughs and heart, and may just make you want to cry. Yes, cry.
This episode has to be among the best of the season thus far, I’d easily rank it in my top three favorites. Spoilers abound in this recap, with another main character death. Proceed at your own peril.
By Tyler Hodg
Anyone who knows Trailer Park Boys knows that the second-last episode of any given season is the most action-packed. In the latest installment, it is no different as Julian’s plan to save the park fails, the celebrity guest stars head out of town, and Lahey falls so far off the wagon that he shoots Ricky, essentially killing him.
By Tyler Hodg
Money for sex, an undeniable appetite for delicious Mexican cuisine, and a star-studded performance at a local legion hall: all brought to you by “The Super Bling Cowboy,” the eighth episode of the latest season of Trailer Park Boys.
By Tyler Hodg
Celebrities pile into Sunnyvale—er, Munnyvale—in the seventh episode of the tenth season, aptly titled “Up In Smoke We Go.” Wondering which well-known actors and musicians make an appearance? Hint: you won’t be that surprised.