Hey guys,
Welcome to the winterest winter! I do not do well in winter, even though I am born in the thick of it, I cannot function when the weather drops under 15 degrees. I hope you are keeping warm, keeping safe (at home and masked up) and for the oldies don’t forget to register for your vaccine xx
reboots upon reboots
This week we got two pieces of reboot news: firstly, the Gossip Girl reboot started and secondly, we got the first pic from the Sex and the City reboot.
I’m not as opposed to reboots as most people, mainly because if I’m not a fan I just choose not to watch and watch something else. It’s disappointing when you know it could have been something better but within a few weeks there will be another show to pass the time with. Anyways you can always go back and rewatch the original.
I watched the first episode of the new Gossip Girl (don’t ask me how) and now, I loved the original, download onto my phone, watch the episodes in bits on youtube type obsessed with it. Blair Waldorf is still one of my favourite fictional characters and the complicated and convoluted storylines are stuff of legends. Now I was reticent to judge the new reboot too quickly, and what I saw was enjoyable, entertaining, it was nothing to obsess over but I’m keen to see the next episode. My trick is always seeing the reboots as new shows entirely. It’s nice to hear the references to the previous versions but that’s more like an added bonus. That’s what I enjoyed about 90210 and Degrassi: The Next Generation. Many people on Twitter also noted that Buffy the Vampire Slayer was a reboot of the film, and even though I have not watched these myself, but One Day At A Time, and Dynasty are also popular ones
Sex and the City is a revival though, in a similar lane to Murphy Brown and Will and Grace whereby the original actors come back to carry on with the story. These I have more of a problem unless a show was crudely cancelled and the showrunners could not end it properly, I don’t see the point of going back. And even though I watched every episode of the new seasons of Will and Grace just because I loved the original so much, I still think I would have been fine without it (especially since I loved the original ending).
But I understand the appeal of recreating the magic, and I always feel like there is probably an audience who is eager for this type of content. So I try not to judge too quickly, I’m willing to give them all a shot, you never know what might surprise you.
must-read pieces about free britney
Reading about Britney Spears’ experience has been a harrowing experience. The evidence that about how damaging the conservatorship she has been under has been for her is painful to read. I do suggest watching the documentary, Framing Britney Spears by The New York Times. But if you want to learn more, I suggest reading the full transcript of Britney Spears’ testimony, this investigative piece about the conservatorship by Ronan Farrow and Jia Tolentino, and this great article by Bitch Media about how conservatorships often restrict the reproduction rights of disabled people.
celeb couples worth talking about
The most important one for me is that Tom Holland and Zendaya confirmed that they are BACK ON (true Tomdaya fans know they previously dated during the press tour of the first Spider-Man movie). They were spotted making out in his car by the paparazzi.
Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez are apparently maybe thinking of moving it together, but not yet. They are however donning matching beige athleisure wear.
Black Widow star Scarlett Johansson and her SNL husband, Colin Jost are preggers with their first child together.
recs
Film: The High Note: I don’t why I enjoyed this film so much but I did. It stars Tracee Ellis Ross as a famous singer and Dakota Johnson as her assistant who aspires to be a producer. And it’s just lovely and warm and fuzzy, with like an amazing cast. You can watch it on Showmax.
Podcast: WTF With Marc Maron: This was one of the first podcasts I listened to back in the day and I’ve continued to astounded by how amazing it is ever since. Marc Maron is an actor and comedian and he has interviewed some of the biggest names from Barack Obama to Lorne Michaels to Mavis Staples. He has such interesting in-depth convos that it is unlike anything I’ve heard before. He releases episodes twice a week, and I’m still catching up but a few recent ones I can recommend are Stanley Tucci, Sam Neill, Kate Winslet and Jodie Foster.
Podcast: Almost Perfect: An excellent South African podcast in similar vein as WTF, Almost Perfect is hosted by Bob Perfect who chats to creatives about their careers and thoughts etc. I was on episode 101 of the show talking about the many crazy detours I’ve been on to get to the point I am at now. You can listen to my ep here.
what i’ve been writing
For Channel24, I reviewed Wish Dragon, Good on Paper, Too Hot to Handle S2 and Sex/Life (which I hated).
For Tagged Online, I wrote about how South African TV shows tend to kill off the father figures in the first episodes in order to let the women shine. But do we really need that trope in order to have strong female leads. You can read my article here.
what’s ign crushing on
In the final episode of season 2, we were joined by South African actor Neil Sandilands who has been making waves overseas in productions like Sweet Tooth, The Flash and News of the World. We chatted about his upcoming album, playing the villain and more. We also chatted to the cast of the new South African Netflix series - JIVA! - Noxolo Dlamini, Candice Modiselle, Sne Mbatha, Stella Dlangalala and Zazi Kunene to chat about their ambitions, dancing and what their all-time favourite dance movies are. Listen to the episode here.