📺 The Media Guide S5E14

HUGE week for TV! And I saved over 30 albums to check out from Friday... it's safe to say I wasn't able to give each as good of a look as I would've liked, but I think we still found some gems.

Before we get into things, I wanted to share a couple things.

First, Zach Lowe is back! I’ve missed him all season and I’m so glad he’s back to podcasting about the NBA again.

And then I came across this Substack from one of my neighbors, who is also a journalist, that you should check out. It fits the vibe of some of the more political stuff I’ve tried to bring into the fold here.

The Sloth and The Bear | Keith Cousins | Substack

A series of meditative musings diving into personal passions, coupled with fierce explorations of self and society. Click to read The Sloth and The Bear, by Keith Cousins, a Substack publication. Launched 7 months ago.

SubstackKeith Cousins

On with it!

📺 New Shows

🪞 Black Mirror S7 (Netflix) — 9 Apr

Newest season of the dystopian tech anthology from Charlie Brooker. This newest season includes the sequel to the USS Callister from S4 with Cristin Milioti. Other episodes in this six episode season include the likes of Chris O'Dowd, Rashida Jones, Issa Raw, Awkwafina, Paul Giamatti, Tracee Ellis Ross, and Peter Capaldi.

💎 Your Friends & Neighbors (Apple) — 10 Apr

Jon Hamm is everywhere. Landman, Fargo, The Morning Show, Curb, Good Omens, fiction podcasts, big budget movies, small movies, everywhere. This is his newest show from creator Jonathan Tropper, who previously did 30+ episodes of Warrior and Banshee. This one is about Jon Hamm as a hedge fund manager who loses his job and turns to robbing his neighbors. Feels like a good mix of Fun with Dick and Jane and The Morning Show.

🤣 Hacks S4 (HBO) — 10 Apr

It's back. Just like with The Bear, S3 felt like a bit of a transition season where not too much happened except set up S4. I'm stoked to see how they pit Ava and Deborah against each other this season as it feels like it's ripe for both hitting the good ol jokes of previous seasons in a new and different environment.

🧟 The Last of Us S2 (HBO) — 13 Apr

And our big new Sunday HBO show now that White Lotus has wrapped up. I'm surprised they aren't making us a wait a little bit to extract every penny they can out of subscribers with a few weeks of no Sunday show.

📝 What Else?

• Game Changer S7 (Dropout)
• Doctor Who S2 (Disney/BBC)
• Dropout Presents S2 (Dropout)
• Godfather of Harlem S4 (MGM)
• The Handmaid's Tale S6 (Hulu)
• The Clubhouse: A Year with the Red Sox (Netflix)

Tuesday

• Daredevil: Born Again (Disney) 1:8
• The Studio (Apple) 1:4

Wednesday

• The Pitt (HBO) 1:15
• Dope Thief (Apple) 1:6
• Black Mirror (Netflix) S7

Thursday

• Your Friends & Neighbors (Apple) 1:1-2
• Hacks (HBO) 4:1-2

Sunday

• Yellowjackets (Paramount) 3:10
• Last Week Tonight (HBO) 12:8
• Righteous Gemstones (HBO) 4:6
• MobLand (Paramount) 1:3
• Lazarus (Adult Swim) 1:2
• The Last of Us (HBO) 2:1

💽 Release of this Week

🩼 The Crux by Djo

I did not expect to be picking this when I saw it on the list this week. Joe Keery aka Steve Harrington from Stranger Things made waves with his wispy, poppy End of Beginning, but this album does so much more. You can feel the influence of pop punk and oldies along with the pop sound he made waves with.

Current Favorite Track: Gap Tooth Smile

🏃 Runner-ups

🫨 Ginkgo by Panchiko

Some glittery, shimmering indie alternative. It's fun, it's bright, it's upbeat, and it has a surprising feature by billy woods!

CFT: Shandy in the Graveyard (feat. billy woods)

🐺 Forever Howlong by Black Country, New Road

I had completely forgotten their singer left the band after the last album and wasn't sure what I was getting into when I started this. It felt like a mix of their old stuff with the theatrical nature of Fun. or Panic! at the Disco with a female vocalist. A lot of their sound before came from their previous vocalist who was reminiscent of Squid, Shame, and black midi. It's a whole different ball game now as they've reinvented themselves and are pretty successful at it too.

CFT: Happy Birthday

📝 What Else?

• Welcome to My Blue Sky by Momma
• All the Right Weaknesses by Brown Horse
• Malcolm Todd by Malcolm Todd

🦸 No. 1's

👵 Golden Rage: Mother Knows Best (Image)

The follow-up to the original Golden Rage, which was a fun book by Chrissy Williams and Lauren Knight.

⛪ Vatican City (Dark Horse)

Mark Millar's new book with artist Narwhal, who I've never heard of before. I'm not a huge Millar fan and don't expect much here, especially since the premise isn't up my alley either, but maybe it's for you: the world is overtaken by a vampire apocalapyse and the only survivers are the 2000 tourists and residents within the walls of the Vatican City as they try to hold out as long as they can.

🤸 Adventure Time (Oni)

And lastly, Oni relaunches Adventure Time as a new on-going book from Nick Winn as both writer and artist. Nick previously did Bloody Mary from Silver Sprocket, so I'm actually really excited to see how he tackles this.

📝 What Else?

• The Moon is Following Us (Image) #8
• Phantom Road (Image) #11
• Absolute Batman (DC) #7
• Transformers (Skybound) #19
• Geiger (Image) #13
• TMNT: Nightwatcher (IDW) #7
• The Ultimates (Marvel) #11

🎥 New Movies

🪖 Warfare

The new Alex Garland movie following Civil War. He's definitely found a niche with his last few that isn't quite my lane, but still feels like a worthy experiment here as he writes and directs with Ray Mendoza, a former Navy Seal as they attempt to retell a situation he found himself (as best as he can via memory) in real time. It also has a pretty great young cast led by D'Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, Will Poulter, Joseph Quinn, and Finn Bennett.

🏙️ Sacramento (Limited)

A new indie film written, directed, and starring Michael Angarano, who always gives me pretty big John Magaro vibes. It also features Kristen Stewart, Michael Cera, and Maya Erskine as the four of them take an impromptu road trip from LA to Sacramento.

✉️ The Uninvited (Limited)

I featured this in RoL awhile back and it's a bit of an odd looking movie from writer/director Nadia Conners, but it's got a cast that includes Walton Goggins, Pedro Pascal, Rufus Sewell, and Elizabeth Reaser.

🕵️ The Amateur

The other big budget movie of the week features Rami Malek as an introverted decoder working for the CIA and when his wife his murdered and the agency doesn't do anything about it, he has to take matters into his own hands. Rachel Brosnahan and Jon Bernthal are also in it so the cast isn't half bad at all.

📝 What Else?

• The Teacher (Limited)
• One to One: John & Yoko (Limited)
• That They May Face the Rising Sun (Limited)
• Drop
• Gunslingers (Limited)

🛍️ To Rent/Buy

• The Accidental Getaway Driver
• The Assessment