What to watch, listen to, read, and play this weekend
The TV show to watch
The Zen Diaries Of Garry Shandling
“Garry Shandling made groundbreaking TV comedy by showing the things that are usually left off TV. We take such lack of a fourth wall for granted in 2018, but some of the most thrilling parts of the new HBO documentary The Zen Diaries Of Garry Shandling are the types of things Shandling staged for the camera: outtakes from decades of television appearances, remnants of the ‘true’ Garry Shandling that was the late comedian’s eternal quarry, captured for posterity on programs ranging from The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson to Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee. Directed by Shandling’s friend, colleague, and one-time protégé, Judd Apatow, Zen Diaries assembles a comprehensive (occasionally too comprehensive) collage from such footage, combining it with home movies, broadcast clips, vintage audio, new interviews, and excerpts from the copious journal entries the comedian left behind when he died of a heart attack in 2016.”
Read the rest of our review here.
The podcast to listen to
The Windsor Knot: A Royal Wedding Podcast
“Nothing about this podcast should work: It’s two entertainment writers in London talking, often for an hour or more, about the upcoming royal wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. But Daniel Krupa and Joe Skrebels bring so much chemistry and curiosity to the podcast that it’s one of the most enjoyable podcast discoveries as of late—even (especially?) if you don’t think you care about royal weddings. Each episode is loosely themed; one episode looks primarily at the international response to the nuptials, another talks about security, and one episode is dedicated entirely to the perks available to royal wedding enthusiasts (the best ones are, unfortunately, reserved for couples named Harry and Meg[h]an).”
Read about the rest of the week’s best podcasts here.
The album to listen to
The Vaccines, Combat Sports
“On their excellent fourth album, Combat Sports, The Vaccines fall back into a familiar groove: exuberant, no-frills indie rock suitable for the dance floor and headlining festival slots. That’s a welcome change from the U.K. band’s previous album, 2015’s English Graffiti, an uneven effort that buffed up their usual razor-honed rock with sleek synthesizers. Such polish isn’t entirely absent this time around—keyboards add a shimmering underbelly to the Britpop throwback ‘Your Love Is My Favourite Band’—but Combat Sports possesses a loose vibe that’s much more welcoming.”
Read the rest of our review here.
The movie to watch
Gemini
“The mood it captures is a tricky, addictive one. [Writer-director Aaron] Katz uses little of the traditional Southern California sun, even in broad daylight; through his lens, L.A. is brighter at night, when even locations as potentially dreary as a laundromat emanate a neon glow, refracting into gorgeous blues and silvers. Cold Weather nicely captured overcast Portland atmosphere; Gemini gives Katz the opportunity to indulge a more stylish take on the modern noir, somewhere between ominous and beautiful, using both classic noir images and more updated technology.”
Read the rest of our review here.
The comic to read
Jeff Loveness and Jakub Rebelka, Judas
“If God is all-powerful, why did He create a world where people suffer? It’s one of the most commonly asked questions by challengers of Christianity, and Jeff Loveness and Jakub Rebelka tackle it head-on in Judas (Boom! Studios), a four-issue miniseries exploring the relationship between Jesus Christ and his duplicitous disciple. The book wraps up just in time for Easter, and the creative team delivers a heartfelt exploration of faith, friendship, and forgiveness that turns Judas Iscariot into the savior of not only the Messiah, but all the damned souls of Hell.”
Read the rest of our review here.
The video game to play
Far Cry 5
“For all those quibbles, I’m still enjoying my time with Far Cry 5. Montana features some of the most beautiful country in all of America, and Ubisoft has done an amazing job of capturing its rural glory. And the freedom to get credit for just fucking around in this gorgeous world, doing whatever feels most fun, is legitimately intoxicating. It doesn’t hurt that the Cult story is a compelling one, painting the Seeds (if not their followers) as three-dimensional characters who honestly think they’re doing the right thing, even as they plunge further and further over the edge.”
Read the rest of our review here.