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May 24
Book: Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and ...
"How did a libertine who lacks even the most basic knowledge of the Christian faith win 81 percent of the white evangelical vote in 2016? And why have white evangelicals become a presidential reprobate’s staunchest supporters? These are among the questions acclaimed historian Kristin Kobes Du Mez asks in Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation, which delves beyond facile headlines to explain how white evangelicals have brought us to our fractured political moment." [more inside]
May 23
Better Call Saul: Plan and Execution Season 6, Episode 7
Jimmy and Kim deal with a last-minute snag in their plan.
[Mid-season finale - last six episodes start July 11th]
Top Chef: We're On A Boat Season 19, Episode 12
After saying goodbye to their loved ones and another fellow competitor, the chefs receive an ominous gift from Tom, who tells them to get up early and meet him at the docks. They’ll have to find their sea legs quickly because for their Elimination Challenge each chef must create two fresh fish dishes to hook their guest judges Stephanie Izard and Daniel Boulud. The catch? They’ll be fishing for all of their protein themselves. [more inside]
The Big Conn Season 1 (Full Season)
On apple TV+: Follows the story of Eric C. Conn, a Kentucky attorney who managed to steal over $550 million dollars* from the U.S. government through its Social Security program. [more inside]
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver: Subway Season 9, Episode 12
This week.... Pennsylvania gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano, who spread Trump's like about 2020 election fraud (and has said some very disturbing things about how he'd run their election) and marched on the Capitol on January 6, reached a near-tie in the Republican primary for that state. And Now: Some Things They Say In Texas. The main story is about the Subway restaurant chain and the terrible straits their franchisee agreements can put buyers through, which can include opening new stores surprisingly close to each other. On YouTube. (27 minutes) At the end, they present a short romantic drama about a Korean Subway franchisee. [more inside]
May 22
Love, Death & Robots: Season 3 Season 3 (Full Season)
The award-winning Netflix series of short, animated science-fiction-and-fantasy-adjacent films continues, with voice acting by Rosario Dawson, Joe Manganiello, Craig Ferguson, Mackenzie Davis, Dan Stevens, Joel McHale, Seth Green, Gabriel Luna, Jai Courtney, Elodie Yung, Chantelle Barry, Christian Serratos, Katie Lowes, and Jason Flemyng, with Josh Brener, Gary Anthony Williams, and Chris Parnell reprising their roles from season one. [CW: violence, with varying degrees of realism, and some sexual content.] [more inside]
Love, Death & Robots: Season 2 (Entire Season) Season 2 (Full Season)
The Netflix series of short, animated (in various styles) science fiction films (although some of them edge on fantasy) continues. The season two cast includes Michael B. Jordan, Elodie Yung, Nancy Linari, Emily O'Brien, Joe Dempsie, Ike Amadi, Nolan North, Fred Tatasciore, Peter Franzén, Jennifer Hale, Sebastian Croft, Brian Keene, Steven Pacey, Scott Whyte, and Zita Hanrot. [CW: violence, with varying degrees of realism, and some sexual content.] [more inside]
Movie: Until the End of the World
Set in 1999, Claire's life is forever changed after she survives a car crash with some bank robbers, who enlist her help to take the money to a drop in Paris. On the way she runs into another fugitive from the law Dr. Farber, an American who is being chased by the CIA. They want to confiscate a device his father invented which allows anyone to record their dreams and visions. On the run they travel the globe from Berlin to Lisbon to Moscow to Tokyo, ending up in Australia at his father's research facility, where they hope to play back the recordings Farber captured for his blind mother. [more inside]
Tomorrow: Tomorrow Season 1 (Full Season)
Made half-human and half-spirit by accident, a young man is employed by a company of grim reapers in the underworld to carry out special missions. [more inside]
Saturday Night Live: Natasha Lyonne / Japanese Breakfast Season 47, Episode 21
Season finale. [more inside]
May 21
Movie: Death Spa
Starbody Health Spa is a revolutionary facility. An advanced computer controls everything from air conditioning to the resistance on the stationary bikes. But suddenly things start going terribly wrong. Is it a saboteur or something far more frightening? [more inside]
Movie: Downton Abbey: A New Era
The Dowager Countess receives a surprising letter: she has inherited a villa in the south of France. At the same time, the Crawleys receive a surprising request: would they permit a moving picture to be filmed in Downton Abbey?
Some of the household don't approve of a movie being filmed in the house - but no worries, we'll just send them all off to France. The actors and crew invade and the staff go gaga over the stars in their midst. But the France-bound set find more drama at the villa than what is being filmed at Downton. [more inside]
Atlanta: Tarrare Season 3, Episode 10
We finally get an episode wholly centered on Vanessa, and it's the season finale. Van goes native in Paris and takes a few friends on a surreal adventure including the humiliation of Alexander Skarsgård, ritual cannibalism, and a big emotional reveal by the Seine. [more inside]
Movie: Sherlock Jr.
A film projectionist longs to be a detective, and puts his meagre skills to work when he is framed by a rival for stealing his girlfriend's father's pocketwatch. [more inside]
Movie: The Valet
Movie star Olivia (Samara Weaving) faces a PR disaster when a paparazzi snaps a photo of her with her married lover, Vincent. Hard-working valet Antonio (Eugenio Derbez) accidentally appears in the same photo and is enlisted to pose as Olivia's new boyfriend as a cover-up. This ruse with Olivia thrusts Antonio into the spotlight and unexpected chaos. [more inside]
Shining Girls: Series 1 - All Episodes Season 1, Episode 1
Shining Girls is an American thriller series on Apple TV+ based on the 2013 novel "The Shining Girls" by Lauren Beukes. [more inside]
May 20
Movie: Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers
"Decades since their successful television series was canceled, Chip has succumbed to a life of suburban domesticity as an insurance salesman. Dale, meanwhile, has had CGI surgery and works the nostalgia convention circuit, desperate to relive his glory days. When a former cast mate mysteriously disappears, Chip and Dale must repair their broken friendship and take on their Rescue Rangers detective personas once again to save their friend's life." [more inside]
Podcast: The Besties: The Sleeper Hits of Spring 2022
This week, we're circling back with some of the lil' guys you might have missed this Spring while you were traipsing in the bluebonnets, or collecting berries or whatever. Games discussed: Shotgun King, Vampire Survivors, Haiku the Robot, Mini Motorways on Switch, OlliOlli World, Dungeons of Dreadrock, Rogue Legacy 2, Peglin, Who Pressed Mute on Uncle Marcus?, Songpop Party, Forager, Fall Guys, Citizen Sleeper [more inside]
Book: The Fated Sky
Of course the noted Lady Astronaut Elma York would like to go, but there's a lot riding on whoever the International Aerospace Coalition decides to send on this historic -- but potentially very dangerous -- mission? Could Elma really leave behind her husband and the chance to start a family to spend several years traveling to Mars? And with the Civil Rights movement taking hold all over Earth, will the astronaut pool ever be allowed to catch up, and will these brave men and women of all races be treated equitably when they get there? [more inside]
Movie: The General
After being rejected by the Confederate military, not realizing it was due to his crucial civilian role, an engineer must single-handedly recapture his beloved locomotive after it is seized by Union spies and return it through ene... [more inside]
May 19
Book: All Boys Aren't blue
In a series of personal essays, prominent journalist and LGBTQIA+ activist George M. Johnson explores his childhood, adolescence, and college years in New Jersey and Virginia. From the memories of getting his teeth kicked out by bullies at age five, to flea marketing with his loving grandmother, to his first sexual relationships, this young-adult memoir weaves together the trials and triumphs faced by Black queer boys. [more inside]
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: Ghosts of Illyria Season 1, Episode 3
A mysterious disease sheds some light on a couple of the crew. [more inside]
Mystery Science Theater 3000: OVERDRAWN AT THE MEMORY BANK Rewatch Season 8, Episode 22
Re-rewatch! A supremely goofy movie that doesn't make much sense, with an excellent actor (Raul Julia), some sub-Doctor Who special effects, and great riffing combine to make a classic episode! It's the last episode of Season 8. Technically Pearl is still chasing the SOL but that's kind of forgotten to make room for one of the best sequences of host segments the show ever did, where Pearl creates a completely spurious public television telethon. And don't forget: get your monkeys, instantly, at Instant Monkeys Online! Previously and again.
May 18
Movie: Bubble
Netflix anime Bubble turns post-apocalyptic Tokyo into a colorful playground. After bubbles that broke the laws of gravity rained down upon the world. Cut off from the outside world, Tokyo has become a playground for a group of young people who have lost their families.
All Elite Wrestling: Dynamite: AEW Dynamite 5/18 & Rampage 5/20 Season 3, Episode 33
The Owen Hart Tournament jokers will be revealed! Wardlow takes his whipping! Jericho and William Regal meet face-to-face!" [more inside]
Agatha Christie's Poirot: Evil Under the Sun Season 8, Episode 1
Poirot takes a holiday at a stylish Devon hotel, only to find himself in the middle of another mystery when a guest is found murdered. Suspicion falls on the victim's husband and several other guests, and Poirot is forced to use all his powers of observation and human insight in order to solve the complex case.
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver: Electric Utilities Season 9, Episode 11
This week (episode taped on 5/14)... Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. was elected President of the Philippines as was feared in the previous episode, Norway presents a severely WTF entry to Eurovision. Alabama bans the use of hormones and puberity blockers to treat transgender patients under the age of 19, making it a felony punishable by 10 years in prison, a bill signed by Governor Kay Ivey. And Now: The Delightful Delight Of Allison Hammond. Main story: electric utilities: the incredible amount of power their wield, how weakly they can be regulated, and the damage that can do, which has resulted both in the creation of spurious and badly-managed projects in order to charge more on bills in profit, and in them attacking community-led solar projects that threaten their bottom line. In the end, John Oliver is killed by Reddy Kilowatt. On YouTube (24 minutes). [more inside]
May 17
Special Event: 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs 🏒 - Second Round
The second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs kicks off tonight!
The two-time defending champion Tampa Bay Lightning take on the best team in the regular season, the Florida Panthers. The Battle of Florida is a repeat of last year's opening round, which featured some incredibly entertaining hockey. In the west, the heavily favoured Colorado Avalanche take on the St. Louis Blues, who won it all just a few years ago.
Tomorrow night, the Carolina Hurricanes and their deep squad host the New York Rangers and the best goalie of the regular season, Igor Shesterkin. And in the final game, the first playoff Battle of Alberta since 1991 will be crazy; the Calgary Flames and the best line in hockey take on the Edmonton Oilers, who happen to have the best player in the sport, Connor McDavid. [more inside]
May 16
Better Call Saul: Axe and Grind Season 6, Episode 6
Kim and Jimmy enlist a knowledgeable contact; Howard scrutinizes Jimmy's business practices.
Servant of the People: S2: From Love to Impeachment Season 2 (Full Season)
Seasons 2 and 3 have dropped on Netflix, so we have the further adventures of Vasyl Petrovych Holoborodko.
Top Chef: Family Vacation Season 19, Episode 11
It’s time to hit the beach. The Chefs head to the Gulf of Mexico in Galveston Texas, but they won’t have any time to relax. Chef Shota Nakajima is here to present them with their next Quickfire Challenge: using the freshest gulf shellfish to create a seafood tower with one hot and one cold dish. Then, for the Elimination Challenge, Padma announces that along with alumni Sheldon Simeon and Adrienne Cheatham, the chefs will be feeding a family of special VIPs, who are expecting them to cater to some very specific tastes. [more inside]
Conversations with Friends: Full Season Season 1 (Full Season)
Two Dublin college students, Frances and Bobbi, and the strange and unexpected connection they forge with married couple, Melissa and Nick. [more inside]
Book: The Southernization of America
A series of essays by two noted left of center personalities in the South (Frye Gaillard and Cynthia Tucker) that looks at what went wrong in the US, and how we got to a place in the county where 40% of the electorate are flat out racists. [more inside]
Podcast: The Besties: The Definitive Power Ranking of Star Wars Games
In today's episode, we're exploring the absolutely pristine history of Star Wars video games, and assigning each of them a grade in an EXTREMELY scientific and deliberate manner. It's a journey, y'all. Also discussed: Nobody Saves the World on Switch, Death's Gambit: Ashes of Vados, Fortnite, Rogue Legacy 2 [more inside]
May 15
The Time Traveler's Wife: Episode 1 Show Only Season 1, Episode 1
In the clearing behind her home, six-year-old Clare Abshire encounters 36-year-old time traveler Henry DeTamble for the first time. Fourteen years later, an unexpected reunion at the library gives Henry the opportunity to meet Clare. [more inside]
Atlanta: Rich Wigga, Poor Wigga Season 3, Episode 9
High school student Aaron undergoes a test of his blackness as he tries to get college funding from an unusual source. Another standalone story. [more inside]
The Time Traveler's Wife: All Episodes Books Included Season 1 (Full Season)
Audrey Niffenegger's novel, previously adapted as a film, now a 6-episode series by Steven Moffat (HBO, HBOMax, Sky Atlantic). [more inside]
Movie: Them
Lucas and Clementine live peacefully in their isolated country house, but one night they wake up to strange noise. They're not alone, and a group of hooded assailants begin to terrorize them throughout the night. [more inside]
Book: The Chosen and the Beautiful
Immigrant. Socialite. Magician.
Jordan Baker grows up in the most rarefied circles of 1920s American society—she has money, education, a killer golf handicap, and invitations to some of the most exclusive parties of the Jazz Age. She’s also queer and Asian, a Vietnamese adoptee treated as an exotic attraction by her peers, while the most important doors remain closed to her.
But the world is full of wonders: infernal pacts and dazzling illusions, lost ghosts and elemental mysteries. In all paper is fire, and Jordan can burn the cut paper heart out of a man. She just has to learn how.
The Chosen and the Beautiful reinvents this classic of the American canon as a coming-of-age story full of magic, mystery, and glittering excess, and introduces a major new literary voice.
Stitch, Please!: Full Season 1 Season 1 (Full Season)
Legendary style on a tiny budget in a tight timescale? Shear madness. Blu Hydrangea challenges costume-crazy contestants to create iconic, inspirational costumes. Link to BBC3.
Saturday Night Live: Selena Gomez / Post Malone Season 47, Episode 20
Both first-timers! [more inside]
May 14
Candy: (Hulu miniseries) Spoiler inside All Seasons
Candy Montgomery is a 1980s housewife and mother who did everything right - but when the pressure of conformity builds within her, her actions scream for just a bit of freedom. Until someone tells her to shush. With deadly results. (IMDB) [more inside]
Special Event: Live Stream: The Grand Final (2022 Eurovision Song Contest)
Good evening, Europe! Good morning, Australia! The Grand Final will air on May 14 (today!), at 2100 CEST / 3:00pm EDT. Twenty-five artists are have made it through two semifinals, and tonight, we will find out who is the winner of Eurovision 2022! [more inside]
Book: Bad Actors
A governmental think-tank, whose remit is to curb the independence of the intelligence service, has lost one of its key members, and Claude Whelan—one-time head of MI5's Regent’s Park—is tasked with tracking her down. But the trail leads straight back to the Park itself, with Diana Taverner as chief suspect. Has Diana overplayed her hand at last? What’s her counterpart, Moscow’s First Desk, doing in London? And does Jackson Lamb know more than he’s telling?
Over at Slough House, with Shirley Dander in rehab, Roddy Ho in dress rehearsal, and new recruit Ashley Khan turning up the heat, the slow horses are doing what they do best, and adding a little bit of chaos to an already unstable situation… [more inside]
May 13
Movie: The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
Who will survive and what will be left of them? [more inside]
Movie: Firestarter
Parents Andy (Zac Efron) and Vicky (Sydney Lemmon) have been on the run, desperate to hide their daughter Charlie (Ryan Kiera Armstrong) from a shadowy federal agency that wants to harness her dangerous telekinetic powers. Andy has taught Charlie how to defuse her power, but as Charlie turns 11, the fire becomes harder and harder to control. After an incident reveals the family's location, a mysterious operative is deployed to hunt down the family and seize Charlie once and for all. [more inside]
Hacks: Hacks - Season 2 Season 2 (Full Season)
The dark mentorship between legendary Las Vegas comedian Deborah Vance (Jean Smart) and her young, entitled writer Ava (Hannah Einbinder) continues to evolve as the two travel across the country workshopping Deborah’s new stand-up act. [more inside]
Book: Badasstronauts
Melville, South Carolina was out of money, it was out of jobs, it was out of hope, and today it was out of astronauts. There were only two to begin with, and now one is stuck on the abandoned International Space Station after his mission went south. With NASA’s budget cut to the bone, there’s no one to bring him back home, so everyone is only too happy to ignore this embarrassing sign of American Failure and just let him die. But his cousin, Walter Reddie, isn’t going to let that happen. [more inside]
May 12
Mystery Science Theater 3000: TIME CHASERS Rewatch Season 8, Episode 21
Re-rewatch! A guy invents a time machine using a small airplane and an 8-bit computer, but sells the tech to EvilCo. Good job! It's quaint that the movie believes a person working on his own without vast resources could invent something that a huge corporate behemoth couldn't. The roman times subplot is over on the SOL, this and the next episode are just sort of "in space" before we reach Castle Forrester in Season 9. Previously and again.
Anatomy of a Scandal: Episode 1 Season 1, Episode 1
James scrambles to mitigate the scandal's impact, while a devastated but determined Sophie remembers happier moments and Kate weighs her next move.
The Great Pottery Throw Down: The Great Pottery Throw Down Season Five Season 5 (Full Season)
An assortment of potters come together at Middleport Pottery to compete in clay. Keith and Rich judge, and Ellie Taylor holds down the host spot until Siobhán McSweeney's broken leg improves enough to let her rejoin the crew. The show is streaming on HBO Max in the US.
Movie: The Sadness
A young couple in Taipei is pushed to the limits of sanity as they attempt to be reunited amid the chaos of a pandemic outbreak. The streets erupt into violence and depravity, as those infected are driven to enact the most cruel and ghastly things imaginable. [more inside]
Special Event: Live Stream: Semifinal 2 (2022 Eurovision Song Contest)
Good evening, Europe! Good morning, Australia! Semifinal 2 begins Thursday May 12th (today!), at 2100 CEST / 3:00pm EDT. Come on in to chat about the second round of performances and to express all your Eurovision-related feelings. [more inside]
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: Children of the Comet Season 1, Episode 2
While racing against time to save a planet somewhere beyond Antares, Spock and Uhura discover the diplomatic power of music. [more inside]
May 11
Top Chef: Dinner in Zero Gravity Season 19, Episode 10
The chefs get an early start as they head to the Houston farmers market to meet Padma and Quickfire guest judge Claudette Zepeda. For this Quickfire Challenge, the chefs have to put their own fresh take on fajitas, a Houston classic. The best fajita dish will win $10,000 courtesy of a sponsor. Next, the competition reaches new heights in the Elimination Challenge as the chefs voyage to the Houston Space Center to meet up with Melissa King and a few experts in space cuisine. If they want to blast off to victory, they’ll have to create a stellar new menu item that they would crave if they were on a multi-year mission to Mars that meets both NASA and guest judge Marcus Samuelson’s culinary standards. [more inside]
All Elite Wrestling: Dynamite: AEW Dynamite 5/11 & Rampage 5/13 Season 3, Episode 32
The Owen Hart Tournament begins tonight! MJF's secret contract requirements for Wardlow will be revealed! Danhausen has an actual match! I'm posting this a few hours early because I'm going to be IN ATTENDANCE AT THE SHOW! [more inside]
Movie: Time Lapse
Three friends discover a mysterious machine that takes pictures 24 hours into the future and conspire to use it for personal gain, until disturbing and dangerous images begin to develop. [more inside]
Movie: The Purge: Anarchy
One night per year, the government sanctions a 12-hour period in which citizens can commit any crime they wish -- including murder -- without fear of punishment or imprisonment. Leo (Frank Grillo), a sergeant who lost his son, plans a vigilante mission of revenge during the mayhem. However, instead of a death-dealing avenger, he becomes the unexpected protector of four innocent strangers who desperately need his help if they are to survive the night. [more inside]
Agatha Christie's Poirot: Lord Edgware Dies Season 7, Episode 2
The dapper detective investigates the death of Lord Edgware, husband of a famous actress who was seeking a divorce. The actress and the lord's butler, who disappears with a large sum of money, are only two of the suspects uncovered by Poirot, all with motives but seemingly watertight alibis.
May 10
Movie: The Purge
Given the country's overcrowded prisons, the U.S. government begins to allow 12-hour periods of time in which all illegal activity is legal. During one of these free-for-alls, a family must protect themselves from a home invasion.