I kind of wish the Mysterious Benedict Society show had taken off a little more. It pings a lot of the same notes (special kids growing up together in a world of villains they must slay, alongside a series of mentors who must leave the real work to the kids), but different enough to feel new and it’s own thing. More…

Ironically, I use the non-champagne designation as a badge of honor. I used to be in trademark law and I have nothing but contempt for IP-based capitalism (as a result? IDK, chicken-egg thing probably). So I’m always super specific about never drinking champagne and always making sure to designate what I am drinking…

And bonus, if you can find Julie Brown’s show, it’s also a riot. Stupid and delightful, basically teen party girl Pee Wee.

It’s more of a thing in Japan as far as I can tell. You might actually have watched the Japanese Liar Game (which was a manga and then a show). the Kdrama was based on the Japanese one. I don’t think it did that well in Korea while the Japanese one was kind of a sensation.

Really, that’s the other side of it: either crispy, or pureed.

The Great, and Kevin Can * Himself, were by far my faves this year. But I like shows with a bit of a surpising, unusual element.

Squid Game is the Kdrama that Korean producers think Americans would like: Violent, dark, grimy. 

The New Patty episode from Kevin Can F Himself was a real standout for me this year. They did a great job with the upping the sinister nature of Kevin while upping the laugh track too, and I think that’s where we begin to get Patty, and why she is the way she is.

I’ll be the outlier. I come from a sarcastic family where the holidays really are kind of like The Family Stone. When I saw it the first time, I could see the weaknesses, but also, it was like going home: the hippie parents living in a charming, snowy Northeast town; mom with a black sense of humor and dad trying to…

I was just going to say that this is a Christmas movie that acts like a Thanksgiving movie, which in my book makes it good. I tend to hate Christmas movies (often cloying), but THanksgiving movies are often about how difficult family is, with the built-in issue of making and eating a bunch of food, a la Pieces of…

I’m with you on this. I threw out all my old cocktail shakers after I got the Elevated shaker, and I got an extra for my best friend. For a home drink, it’s as good a shaker as I’ve ever used. I do find I often strain the drink twice because otherwise I lose a lot of the drink. But otherwise, yeah. If all it did was…

I was speaking specifically of Korean drama, which has made up probably 90-95 percent of my TV viewing for the past 10-12 years. I also follow ratings in Korea, which do not entirely match what US viewers of Kdrama watch. I actually don’t care that much about remakes; obviously you can do a lot with a general idea,…

Those are the exceptions though. Remakes have been rare and typically haven’t done all that well.

I watched that movie in the theater and it took maybe a half hour for me to entirely forget it. Like, to the point where I probably could only just now tell you Naomi Watts was in it, after having read this article.

It’s so weird too. Effeminate men are pretty much an ancient tradition in Chinese media.

 I just ran out of Campari, which is one of my usual cranberry sauce additions, but I still have amero, so that’s currently bubbling in the berries. So far seems like a good idea.

Really, I would go one further and suggest skipping air freshener. That stuff is disgusting at the best of times, and keeping it put away is a nice gesture toward those with chemical or smell sensitivities.

She was really after my time (I got furious to Bjork’s vocals with the Sugar Cubes and Siouxsie’s great Peepshow record, and then ended up in Drum & Bass), but I think Jagged Little Pill holds up nevertheless. You can tell it’s her record because of what’s on it; whatever nitpicks of the patriarchy, there is definitely…

One of the worst things about the death of gifted classes is that now gifted kids are meant to spent the schoolday with their bullies. I am so grateful I escaped that by being born early enough.

My brother followed your advice and was never able to shake the bullies. They knew he wanted to fit in badly, and it made him an easy target.