Three Things We’re Diggin’
A.J. - America the Beautiful?
Former Haunted Basement: The Podcast guest Blythe Roberson has a new book out titled America the Beautiful? One Woman in a Borrowed Prius on the Road Most Traveled, and I have been tearing through it this week. Similar to her previous book How to Date Men When You Hate Men, her new book is consistently funny and reflective. Blythe quit her job in 2019 to experience the freedom of a Great American Road Trip and also to collect a Junior Ranger badge from every US National Park. That’s the basic plot and it’s bolstered by honest and witty prose about the highs and lows of solo travel. She grapples with the idea of freedom through travel when hordes of tourists have the same idea as you, the often horrific history of how the land came under control of the U.S. government, and the paralyzing realities of climate change. If all this sounds like it might be too serious for you, I can assure you that every page is filled with jokes like “I decided on a trail called Thunder Knob simply because that’s what I call my dick.” If you love to laugh while you learn, give it a read.
Bubba - Andor
Look, if you’ve been listening to Haunted Basement: The Podcast lately, I’m going to sound like a real hypocrite here, but…I am loving Andor on Disney+. This series serves as a prequel to the spin-off, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016), and the overall designing principle, which I’d describe as intentionally-independent-film-esque (as opposed to most intentionally-blockbuster-esque Star Wars entries), remains the same. Like Rogue One, Andor offers a markedly different take on Star Wars, introducing realism (as much as possible in a science-fiction adventure) and subtlety to a galaxy that’s often felt far, far away because of its unintentional campiness. In Andor, you are treated to complex characters (played by an exceptional cast led by Diego Luna, Stellan Skarsgård, and Denise Gough) that don’t adhere to the light-side-dark-side binary. There’s actually a spectrum here that includes a murky gray area between the polar extremes. On top of that, we are treated to authentic moments and relationships that make an otherwise escapist fantasy feel relatable. For example, the average non-force-wielding person (or alien) has a day job in the Star Wars galaxy. They can get fired from those jobs. When they do, sometimes they need to move back in with their nagging mother while a random uncle calls in a favor to set up a few courtesy interviews. Banal stuff like that. I know it sounds ludicrous, but Andor proves that a cringey scene at the kitchen table between a mother and son can be just as delightful as a lightsaber duel.
Ashleigh - How It Ends
Earlier this week I watched a film I really enjoyed and would like everyone to watch. It is called “How It Ends.” I didn’t know much about it going in, but I am on a real Zoe Lister-Jones kick right now and she wrote and directed “How It Ends” with her ex-husband, Daryl Wein (they were together when they worked on this project), so I decided to give it a watch. The movie was fun, sweet, and comical, and also somehow deep and thought provoking, which is a combination that is extremely hard to pull off. The acting was spectacular and there were so many fun actors in it (do not look up the cast, it’s fun to be surprised by everyone who is in it). I felt like I was watching a reunion between ZLJ and all of her friends, and that feeling really came through to me as a viewer - one of love, nostalgia, joy, longing, conflict, all wrapped up in their brief interactions. No small feat - extremely admirable and hats off to everyone involved. I also had never seen Cailee Spaeny, who plays a young Liza, in anything before, but I found myself mesmerized by her performance. She came off so free and real, which really made me appreciate good acting. When you see good acting, it actually feels so real you forget you're actually watching someone perform. WILD! Anyways, you can find this movie on Amazon Prime or Paramount+. Let me know if you enjoy it as much as I did.
