greedy bloodsuckers
Welcome back to your wonderful, Monday goodness of things to check out for the week. I have to admit, I'm a bit checked out as my mind has started racing thinking about the NBA playoffs that kick off with the play-in games tomorrow before my streaking Bulls take on the Miami Heat on Wednesday as they try to stay alive to fight another day. Who knows, maybe we will stretch the bounds of things here and bring some basketball talk...
Anyways, some exciting things are on the horizon. I think we should have a new webcomic series, book review column, and political column coming to the pages of foofaraw, all in the next couple of months, in addition to all the wonderful stuff we already have going.
And I'm hard at work getting the last few submissions to our hardcover anthology together for a release in the second half of the year.
📺 New Shows
🧀 Government Cheese (Apple) — 15 Apr
This is a new Apple show starring David Oyelowo that fits in the mold, at least in my head, of The Big Door Prize and Hello Tomorrow!. Good actors, interesting concept and set design, set in a very specific time or place, but ultimately comes across as a bit cheap and lacks the execution to get you truly engaged in the story. I could be wrong, but I think this will fall into that category as well. I'm still going to give it a go though.
💰 The Dark Money Game (HBO) — 15 Apr
The new two-part Alex Gibney documentary about dark money as corporations get into politics with lobbying, campaign finance, and super PACs. The first part is out Tuesday night with the second on Wednesday. And it couldn't be timelier given some of the people who have profited millions during this current administration.
🎦 The Rehearsal S2 (HBO) — 20 Apr
Nathan Fielder is back... this is one that's an acquired taste—I know people who love it and people who absolutely hate it. There's no in-between with Fielder. I find it extremely cringy and anxiety inducing and only made it through two episodes in season one. Still, it's the kind of show where I toy with the idea of going back to it...
📝 What Else?
- The Diamond Heist (Netflix) — 15 Apr
- Ransom Canyon (Netflix) — 17 Apr
- The Narrow Road to the Deep North (Amazon) — 17 Apr
Tuesday
- Daredevil: Born Again (Disney) 1:9
- The Studio (Apple) 1:5
- Government Cheese (Apple) 1:1-4
- The Dark Money Game (HBO)
Wednesday
- Dope Thief (Apple) 1:7
- The Dark Money Game (HBO)
Thursday
- Your Friends & Neighbors (Apple) 1:3
- Hacks (HBO) 4:3
Sunday
- Righteous Gemstones (HBO) 4:7
- MobLand (Paramount) 1:4
- Lazarus (Adult Swim) 1:3
- The Last of Us (HBO) 2:2
- The Rehearsal (HBO) 2:1
💽 Release of this Week
🦉 Owls, Omens, and Oracles by Valerie June
I just really love Valerie June's voice. It hits me in my core with that soulful, scratchy voice, while being octaves higher than anything like Nina Simone. This record brings together a bunch of different genres in a really nice way. There's folk, country, rock, and soul. The back half of the album isn't as strong as the front, but it's still a record I plan on returning to again and again.
Current Favorite Track: All I Really Wanna Do
🏃 Runner-ups
🍥 SABLE, fABLE by Bon Iver
This is probably a more "complete" album, but it's not the kind of thing that I'd really return to over and over. It's classic Bon Iver so if you dig what he does, you'll dig this as well—although I'd like to see a bit more energy to make it more repeatable for me.
CFT: Everything is Peaceful Love
😈 Devil Ultrasonic Dream by Teen Mortgage
I hadn't heard of Teen Mortgage before now so this was a huge surprise and a ton of fun. It's an emo punk record that keeps the pace up without going to hardcore—it's basically the polar opposite of SABLE, fABLE, making for a good pick-me-up after that slower, smoother album.
CFT: Lose My Mind
📝 What Else?
- And The Adjacent Possible by OK Go
- Hex Key by Mamalarky
- Blush by There's A Tuesday
- The Healing Volume by Gong Wah
Really struggling to find noteworthy new comics to talk about this week...
🦸 No. 1's
🧸 Moonshine Bigfoot (Image)
This one comes from creators I'm not especially familiar with as it's the first book Mike Marlow is credited with, along with Zach Howard and Steve Ellis. It has the vibe of a dumb, fun, pop art kind of book as Bigfoot makes a living while avoiding cops and bigfoot hunters until a secret cabal starts to go after him.
🩸 Youngblood (Image)
Rob Liefeld is back writing and drawing his first Image book, Youngblood. I assume this is going to be an on-going, but I'm not entirely sure. Either way, if you want some muscly, pocket-filled 90's super hero nostalgia, there's probably no better place.
📝 What Else?
- Assorted Crisis Events #2 (Image)
- Mine Is a Long, Lonesome Grave #3 (Oni)
- Epitaphs From the Abyss #10 (Oni)
- Absolute Flash #2 (DC)
- The New Gods #5 (DC)
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #8 (IDW)
- ThunderCats #14 (Dynamite)
- Ultimate Wolverine #4 (Marvel)
🎥 New Movies
🧛 Sinners
This is the first big movie of the year for me. Ryan Coogler and Michael B. Jordan team up again in a old-timey vampire movie. I typically hate vampire movies and I especially hate when actors play multiple characters, but for some reason, I'm over both of those pet peeves and I'm all in on this one. Already have my tickets to go see this Friday afternoon.
👯♀️ The Ugly Stepsister (Limited)
A dark, horror reimagining of Cinderella from one of the step-sisters point of view as she goes to great lengths to overshadow her beautiful step-sister and catch the eye of the prince despite a lot of things going against her. It seems to have a little buzz building up around it and will eventually hit Shudder as well in the not too distant future.
📝 What Else?
- The Shrouds (Limited)
- The Wedding Banquet
🛍️ To Rent/Buy
- Captain America: Brave New World
- The Day the Earth Blew Up (Looney Tunes)
- Eephus
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