What to watch, listen to, play, and read this weekend
The comedy special to watch
Cameron Esposito: Rape Jokes
“Cameron Esposito’s Rape Jokes was made for times like these—the comedian and Take My Wife creator said as much in a press release announcing the new special earlier this week. When Esposito set out to start a discussion on consent and sexual assault in the midst of the #MeToo movement, she knew a five-minute stand-up bit just wouldn’t cover it. So she expanded her thoughts into a new special that she released for free on her own website, with donations going to the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (once she’s recouped production costs). But Rape Jokes isn’t a polemic—it’s a canny mix of personal revelations and pointed commentary that ends with a word of advice.”
Read the rest of our review here.
The album to listen to
Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever, Hope Downs
“Hope Downs more than delivers on the promise of [Melbourne quintet Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever]’s two early EPs, doubling down on the melancholy pop it forged on 2015’s Talk Tight and last year’s The French Press while also polishing its sound. It still sounds distinctively Oceanic—anyone with more than a passing interest in the Flying Nun Records catalog will find a lot to love here—but [Fran] Keaney, [Tom] Russo, and [Joe] White bring a new sense of order to their guitar attack, resulting in a dreamy, mature collection of songs.”
Read the rest of this week’s music reviews here.
The movie to watch
Incredibles 2
“Superhero movies are now the dominant form of Hollywood entertainment, but even the most CGI-heavy of the lot tend to be restricted by the laws of gravity and physics—the hard limitations of a flesh and blood world. Early and often, Incredibles 2 makes the compelling case that animation is the ideal medium for stories based on, or at least inspired by, comic book fantasias, where reality tends to bend and twist as elastically as Elastigirl.”
Read the rest of our review here.
The video game to play
Prey: Mooncrash
“Arkane hasn’t lost sight of the steadily escalating danger that made Prey such a singularly unsettling delight last year, and every growth in power on the player’s part (and every new understanding of the four zones in which the game takes place) is met by an escalation in the ferocity of the threat pushing back against them.”
Read about the other games we’re playing this weekend here.
The comic to read
Saladin Ahmed, Javier Rodriguez, Álvaro López, and Chris O’Halloran, Exiles #4
“Marvel’s Exiles is an ongoing series that is all about finding different angles to approach a superhero universe, yet it still maintains connections to history as it sends a team of heroes across a variety of alternate realities to stop a villain from devouring entire timelines and dimensions. Each issue of Exiles is full of surprises thanks to its dimension-hopping concept, giving the creative team the opportunity to play around with Marvel concepts in their own unique way. In the case of this week’s issue, the story builds on the past to deliver an exciting pirate tale that is emotionally enriched by the historical reality of the slave trade.”
Read the rest of our review here.
The podcast to listen to
Small Doses, Side Effects Of White Women
“In this episode, [host Amanda] Seales calls out the subtle (and not so subtle) offensive behaviors of white women, gives advice to people of color on how to preserve their energy and thrive in oppressive environments, and offers examples of how people can use their privilege to confront problematic behavior and uplift others who aren’t given the same opportunity… This series not only analyzes the problem from a variety of perspectives, but suggests actions so that it’s no longer just about repeating talking points, but actually putting change in motion.”
Read about the rest of the week’s best podcasts here.