What to watch, read, play, and listen to this weekend
The movie to watch
Mother!
“Darren Aronofsky’s preoccupation with paranoid, physically grotesque searches for meaning… grimly paints humanity as a species defined by obsessions, addictions, delusions, and self-destruction, its only prophets being madmen. But now Aronofsky is something of a madman, too; he’d have to be to make Mother!, a delirious allegory that lets loose various subtexts and criticisms of the Bible (e.g., God as an inconsistently written character) to rewrite scripture as surreal psychological horror, with the human race as uninvited guests pissing and screwing where they don’t belong and their creator as a husband who might be gaslighting his wife. It’s almost unbelievable that something this narratively arty is being released as a mainstream horror movie, but the filmmaking ranks as some of Aronofsky’s most skillful.”
Read the rest of our review here.
The comic to read
Yuichi Yokoyama, Iceland
“Comic books are a silent medium, but that doesn’t mean they can’t be loud. Yuichi Yokoyama’s comics are a prime example of this, and he creates gekiga (his preferred term over ‘manga’) that are fixated on the relationship between sound, images, and time. Iceland is a new translation of Yokoyama’s 2015 sequel to World Map Room, but readers don’t need any prior knowledge to jump right in: These are not books driven by plot or character. Iceland’s vague story provides some semblance of a journey—the characters end up in a different place than where they started—but it mostly serves as connective tissue between abstract sequences that will elicit different reactions from different readers.”
Read the rest of our review here.
The show to watch
The Vietnam War
“‘No one wanted to talk about it.’ So begins Ken Burns and Lynn Novick’s magnum opus The Vietnam War (premiering Sunday, September 17 on PBS; new episodes will air Sunday-Thursday until September 28). In talking about it now, a half-century after the height of American involvement, Burns and Novick have engineered a staggering feat of filmmaking ambition, so overwhelming and raw it’s sure to rip open still-fresh scabs of those who lived through it. More importantly, it’s a film made for those born after, for whom their comprehension of that era—grainy snippets of late-’60s war iconography—will be supplanted by the incomprehensible tragedy of it all.”
Read the rest of our review here.
The video game to play
Metroid: Samus Returns
“For all its minor failings, Samus Returns fundamentally feels like Metroid in dozens of little ways that add up to an aesthetic satisfaction that easily overcomes its flaws. It’s all in the little details: the handling of Samus’ spin-jumps, the way she aims her arm cannon, the irresistible musical sting that accompanies every hard-won new toy. It’s been a while since anyone made a real Metroid game, and for all its minor faults, that’s what Samus Returns is. For the first time in years, she’s back, and finally, so are we.”
Read the rest of our review here.
The podcast to listen to
Groomzillas, “Food” with Andrew Sleighter
“Groomzillas is a podcast ‘by grooms, for grooms, and everyone in between’ hosted by grooms-to-be Dan Gill and Eric Dadourian… This show has an easygoing charm that comes from both a simple format (funny guys talking sincerely about love and marriage) and the chemistry between best friends Dadourian and Gill. A podcast with genuine friendship at its core is a guaranteed endearing listen, and these groomzillas have a positive banter that clearly comes from a true love for each other, their fiancées, and the Dodgers. Perhaps not in that order, but either way, it adds up to some delightful podcasting.”
Read about the rest of the week’s best podcasts here.
The album to listen to
Dedicated To Bobby Jameson, Ariel Pink
“It’s not hard to see why Ariel Pink would be fascinated with forgotten pop singer—and fellow Los Angeleno—Bobby Jameson. Jameson found minor success in the 1960s, only to see his career derailed by bad business dealings, substance abuse, and mental health issues… It’s a classic underground story, and Ariel Pink has long been focused on what lurks in the shadows of his sunny hometown, creating music that brings that murky past to life in vivid, psychedelic hues. There’s nothing ironic about Pink’s investment in Jameson. And with an album dedicated to the recently deceased singer, Pink has managed one of his most heartfelt and gorgeous works.”
Read the rest of our review here.