What I'm Watching: Bones And All, Wednesday, Seconds, and More

On nine TV shows, three movies, three stand-up specials, and some podcasts.

Rock Hudson, Richard Anderson, Seconds, Paramount Pictures

Here’s what I watched this week, and what I thought about it.

The shows:

• I’m in the middle of an incredible work-adjacent opportunity that I’m not sure I’m meant to talk about yet, but as a part of it, I’ve been watching lots of stand-up specials lately. My favorite of the bunch so far is “Taylor Tomlinson: Look At You,” a frank and very funny Netflix set that talks about getting diagnosed bipolar, having a dead parent, and more. “Kate Berlant: Cinnamon in the Wind” (on Hulu) is impressive in a totally different way, with great direction from Bo Burnham and surreal comedian Berlant spitting out a relentless, seemingly-improvised set. “Fortune Feimster: Good Fortune,” also on Netflix, is another total winner. My friend and coworker BJ Colangelo actually just wrote about why that last one is so refreshing and enjoyable.

• I finally started the HBO horror-comedy series Los Espookys this week, and I’ve only caught the first couple of episodes, but I love it so far. Julio Torres has to be one of the funniest people alive, right? I also love that it includes Spanish subtitles over English dialogue.

• I’m still not done with it, but I’m a lot more mixed on Ramy season three so far than I expected. I’m glad that Ramy Youssef’s Hulu comedy about the spiritual, romantic, and cultural struggles of an American Muslim family has never been afraid to get really specific with its story, but boy, the lead character is so hard to root for sometimes. I still think Hiam Abbass and May Calamawy are putting in some of the most underrated performances currently on TV here, though.

• I’m also not all that enamored with Wednesday, Tim Burton’s teen mystery take on the popular Addams Family character. Jenna Ortega is great in the lead role and the Netflix show has moments that shine (or whatever the goth version of that is: darkly glisten? I dunno), but it gets bogged down by generic elements and sometimes feels like a clone of other just-okay shows like The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. Full review to come.

• Finally, I tried to crack open season two of the AMC meta-thriller Kevin Can F*** Himself, and despite being really into season one I just couldn’t seem to get on board beyond the premiere episode. If you have strong opinions on the show’s second season, comment and let me know if it’s worth giving it another shot!

The movies:

• I’m finally making an attempt to catch up with all the buzzed-about movies I’ve missed this year, starting with the cannibal love story Bones and All. Like so many of Luca Guadagnino’s works, it’s easier to feel this one than it is to talk about it, but in short: I liked it a whole lot. I expected to be swept away by the romance of it all, but I ended up even more taken by the world’s strange mythology. It also had more tension and suspense than I expected, and I’m not eager to rewatch it anytime soon because Mark Rylance’s great-but-scary performance is already lodged deeper in my brain than I wish it was.

• John Frankenheimer’s 1966 sci-fi film Seconds has been on my watchlist since Matt Zoller Seitz presented it as a part of Mad Men Weekend when I interned at the Roxie Theater back in 2016, and I’m so glad I finally got around to it. The black-and-white film about a man who undergoes a medical procedure to change his face and identity is an inherently freaky story that builds to a fever pitch and then keeps going. I saw shades of both Rod Serling and David Lynch (the latter obviously not an influence, but maybe an influenced) in the story and the gorgeously alienating cinematography, but I know there’s even more there, and I’m eager to read up on this one if anyone has essays to share about it.

• I know I just said I’m trying to watch the year’s biggest movies, but I’m clearly easily distractable because I also ended up catching up with Jackass 4.5 this week. If you haven’t seen a Jackass movie and don’t understand the appeal of the prank, stunt, and gross-out-heavy franchise, dear God, don’t start with this one. But if you’re curious about the whole wild phenomenon, you may like this NPR interview with Johnny Knoxville that I came across after watching. I also went long on the films’ weird (and weirdly deep) appeal at /Film earlier this year.

Odds and ends:

• My review of The Crown season five is up at Film School Rejects, but I recommend Roxana Hadidi’s pitch-perfect and personal essay about the new season for Vulture even more.

• I also reviewed the third and final season of the dark comedy Dead To Me at FSR, and I actually liked the show’s bold and bittersweet ending much better than its beginning and middle.

• I wrote a lot over at /Film this week as usual, including an introductory primer on the hilarious and impressively class-conscious sitcom Superstore, an eye-emoji analysis of last week’s party scene on The White Lotus (Ethan, buddy, are you okay?!), and a pretty emotional thought exercise about a show I stopped loving years ago, The Walking Dead. My editor said he could feel my heartbreak on the page with that last one, and he was not wrong.

• I promise I won’t waste everyone’s time talking about two of the most popular podcasts that exist each week, but I can’t help that the latest episodes of You’re Wrong About and Maintenance Phase were both so excellent. In the latest episode, You’re Wrong About delivered a dream team collaboration between host Sarah Marshall and Karina Longworth from You Must Remember This (this is my Avengers: Endgame!!), and the pair explained the complex and endlessly interesting history of movie ratings. 

• Meanwhile, the folks at Maintenance Phase, the podcast about debunking junk health science that I’m constantly describing as life-changing (it is!), dug into the equally complex and endlessly interesting history of the food pyramid. I don’t know about you, but I deeply internalized the messaging of that stupid government-sanctioned triangle from a young age, and it blows my mind to hear that (spoiler alert) our understanding of “healthy” food groups was created by lobbyist groups to sell us more stuff.

• I’ve been trying to kick my Twitter habit lately so I’m digging into more podcasts to keep busy. The latest I’m trying out is Crooked City: The Emerald Triangle. I expected it to be a straightforward re-investigation of a case involving a murder on a weed farm in California, but the episodes that are available so far feature some truly unpredictable, gonzo-style journalism from Sam Anderson. I’m not sure how I feel about it yet, but I’ll keep you posted.

Whew, that was a lot. Thanks for reading. I’m headed out to finally watch Tár now! What have y’all been reading, watching, or listening to?