It is bonkers that Homecoming shows up nowhere, despite legitimately being one of the great live albums ever recorded. Otherwise, it’s been a really solid year for music, and this is a good reminder of that.

The Dishwasher Pete segments on This American Life have always made me look to road trips.

Well, mission very much accomplished. 

This is good! The Bad Place would be to let the series go on forever, eventually tarnishing its own legacy. More series need to be shorter and end sooner. Flesh out a story as best you can, and then quit while you’re ahead. Too many shows go on for too long—looking at you The Office (U.S.). Allowing it a concise run…

B+ trolling.

I honestly cannot tell from the quote, but I think she is one of those folks that gets gluten-free things without having celiac disease. Which... goddamn it, Lake Bell. But also, it seems like she’s into Keto, because she mentions carbs, as well.

Yeah, this one really got me. The last act is way too messy to really work, but I appreciate the emotional complexity of Mother. Though they are ostensibly the antagonist, they’re thoroughly sympathetic. And yeah. Swank lends a lot to a really frustrating character, but I do appreciate the film’s commitment to how…

I’m with TheNerdyVixen on this one. I mean, Abigail’s no Malibu Stacy, but she’s got her charms.

I caught this at Sundance, and I really liked it up until the ending, which took it down a peg. I kinda wish it had gone into more of an Annie Hall direction, where it’s a bit tougher emotionally, without lacking any sweetness. 

As a ten-year-old, I loved H.G. Wells’s The War of the Worlds. So, I was pretty into the idea of a new film adaptation. Enter Steven Spielberg and Tom Cruise, whose modern take on a story about survival when aliens suddenly invade was, to me, such a profound bastardization of the original novel. I’ve not seen it…

I meant *Terry.

Everyone like how Sam became the new Jerry Gergich of Westeros for suggesting the invention of democracy?

I think “Hairpin Turns” is okay. Definitely the weakest of the lead-up tracks, but it is interesting for how it comes together. “Light Years” is my favorite the three, though. It’s maybe my favorite off the new album--which I am loving. 

I think I got into The National in high school, but they didn’t become an out-and-out favorite until my freshman year of college, when Trouble Will Find Me came out. I osculate between that and Alligator being my favorite albums of theirs. But the only two of theirs I don’t LOVE are their first two, which are…

The Strokes, naturally.

Without giving too much away, I will say that this actually finds a really neat angle to tackle an otherwise exhausted premise. A lot of the beats are similar, but they’re re-contextualized into something surprisingly resonant. Not a great film, or even an especially original story, but is quite a bit weightier than…

I saw this at Sundance. One of the better films I saw. And while it has problems, it’s actually far more thoughtful and emotionally complex than you might expect.

Okay, but now I want Natasha Lyonne and Bill Murray in a time loop rom com.

Only Yesterday and The Florida Project are up there.

Mmm... I’m pretty sure that was a season two episode with Maester Aemon’s backstory.