What I'm Watching: Barbie, They Cloned Tyrone, Last Call, and More

Margot Robbie, Barbie, Warner Bros.

Here’s the rundown on everything I watched, read, and wrote about this week:

The shows:

• The third and final season of How To With John Wilson hits HBO this Friday. If you haven’t seen this eccentric, funny, free-association exploration of New York City, weird American subcultures, and the entire human condition, definitely start back with season one (and be warned: there are a few images in here you can’t unsee). The new season is still great and clever, but has a slightly more alienating, less cute edge than its predecessors. I’ll have a full review to come.
• The HBO true crime docuseries Last Call is quite good, although it dwells on the gruesome details of the murders in question a bit more than I’d have preferred. In general, though, it’s a thorough, heartfelt reclamation of the story of a vibrant community that was threatened by the killings of several gay men in New York in the ‘90s.

The movies:

• I caught up with Kelly Reichardt’s directorial debut River of Grass this week, and was more into it than most critics I know seem to be. It’s a low-budget, very ‘90s drama about a listless couple bound together by little more than their desire to get out of town. If you haven’t seen Reichardt’s work, I highly recommend starting with some of her more recent, polished stuff – Certain Women and First Cow are two favorites of mine – but I will say, I dig River of Grass’ ending a whole lot.
• The new Netflix movie They Cloned Tyrone is smart, fast-paced, and held together by an excellent cast. The sci-fi film follows a drug dealer, pimp, and sex worker as they try to uncover the full story behind a freaky conspiracy in their predominantly Black neighborhood. It’s funny and surprising, and theme-wise, it complements the works of Boots Riley and Jordan Peele.
• I got dolled up in hot pink to go see an early showing of Barbie this week, and I’m sorry to say I’m not exactly ready to book a one-way ticket to Barbieland. There were quick flashes of things I liked in this movie – including some of the comedy, the amazing production design, and the strong ensemble – but its script was maddening to me on several different levels. I’m bummed I ended up disappointed with this one.
• Don’t ask me why I watched 1994’s Scooby-Doo in Arabian Nights this week. Also, don’t watch Scooby-Doo in Arabian Nights. Most of Mystery Inc. isn’t even in it and even Shaggy and Scooby are only there to tell stories about other Hanna-Barbera characters. It’s a blatant misfire that came just before some of the best Scooby movies ever made – which makes me wonder what will come next now, given that we just suffered through a similarly off-base movie with Scoob.

Odds and ends:

• I can’t recommend Chris Payne’s emo oral history book Where Are Your Boys Tonight? enough. If you loved bands like Midtown, Thursday, Fall Out Boy, My Chemical Romance, or Panic! At the Disco in the mid-aughts, this is an essential if not sacred text detailing the ins and outs of that era of music and culture from the perspective of the people who lived it. If you didn’t “get” any of those bands at the time but still consider yourself a music-lover, it’s also pretty essential, as it does the work of meticulously and convincingly canonizing a genre of music that was once looked down on. Personally, I’m in a constant state of wishing I could travel back in time to become a Scene Queen, so I ate this book up and can’t stop talking about it.
• Speaking of things I can’t stop talking about, here’s my full review of Justified: City Primeval, which you can now watch on Hulu if you’re a cord-cutter like me! I also wrote a quick, bare-bones recap of the show’s original run for anyone who wants to tune in but is afraid they’ve forgotten something important. Finally, I think Candice Frederick’s interviews with the cast and crew about how the show made the move to Detroit (and adapted to fit the reality of 2023) are a must-read.
• A while back I contributed my votes for the 25 best movies and TV shows of the past 25 years for Rotten Tomatoes. Four of my five TV picks (Mad Men, The Sopranos, The Leftovers, and Bojack Horseman) ended up on the final list while two of my movie picks (Parasite and Whiplash) made the cut on the films list. Both aggregate lists are well worth a click!
• I was so excited to see that Marya Gates’ Directed By Women Viewing Guide shone a spotlight on Indigenous filmmakers this past week! I highly encourage clicking through and adding something to your watchlist: I just added Slash/Back to mine.

There are more shows I’m itching to talk to y’all about, but they’re still under embargo for now, so I’ll zip it until next week. In the meantime, let me know what you’ve been watching!