Highbrow/Lowbrow: Rosenbach/Wrestlemania

Welcome to Highbrow/Lowbrow, where Rachel S. talks about all the culture she's consuming, from the thoughtful to the trashy and all things in between.

This Week's High: The Rosenbach Museum and Library

I've lived in Philadelphia for most of my adult life, and like to think of myself as someone who knows a lot about our city and its culture. One landmark that took me way wayyyyy too long to finally go and spend some real time with was the Rosenbach Museum and Library. Tucked away on 20th and Delancey Streets in Rittenhouse Square is a lush estate-turned-museum filled wall-to-wall with the rarest of rare books. In short, it's the perfect place to take yourself on a date if you love literature, old houses/architecture, and very charming tour guides.

I walked past the Rosenbach roughly one bajillion times since living in Philly. I've sat outside and listened to readers during their famous Bloomsday events, but it took me until last winter break to actually spend time inside. I was basically the same as all the people I shake my fist at who run up the "Rocky stairs," but never actually go inside the Museum of Art. A SHANDE!

Nevertheless, I can't recommend spending a few hours gazing through the shelves and marveling at the collection. There's a first edition of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein! A version of Don Quixote with lithographs by Salvador Dali! One of Ernest Hemingway's actual bookcases! I don't even like Hemingway and I still thought it was rad as hell! I was also pleasantly surprised to learn some deep Philadelphia Jewish history through the tour as well. There are just endless surprises around every dang corner.

Do yourself a favor, go to the Rosenbach, treat yourself to lunch at K'Far, and have a delightful damn day!!!!!


This Week's Low: WRESTLEMANIA!!!!!

I would say I know as much about the WWE and Wrestlemania as much as someone who hasn't seen a Star Wars film all the way through knows about the franchise. There's enough in the lexicon to have a grasp of the basic concepts and stars, but please don't ask me to delve into any major plot points. So why write about something I'm only remotely piqued by because it happens to be taking place less than two miles from my house? Well, it's a spectacle, and I'm a theater kid at my core.

Speaking of theater, I was a production assistant on a live wrestling comedy show at the Edinburgh Fringe many moons ago. Pro-wrestlers took on the festival's biggest comedy stars for a night of total meatheads throwing around total navel-gazers. Truth be told, the wrestlers were the most professional people I've ever worked with. They always knew their cues and were never late. Comedians, on the other hand... well, decidedly less so. Suffice it to say, I have a lil soft spot for pro wrestling ever since that show.

As an outsider witnessing the Wrestlemaniacs flock to my fair city, here are my observations:

• Wrestling is a drag show through and through
• Wrestling fans dress up like their favorite stars, often in glitter and spandex, with their favorite catchphrases emblazoned on their shirts. IDK sounds like the Eras Tour vibe to me!!!
• The Rock is the heel, it seems. He said some mean things about his opponent's mom! AND SHADED JALEN HURTS! I like the Rock even less now after he went on Fox News and took back his endorsement of Joe Biden. BOOOO!
• The lines at Pat's and Geno's were equally long when I walked by on Saturday. And I think that's beautiful. And disgusting.
• It's cute as hell seeing all these dudes and dudettes go absolutely apeshit for their favorite wrestlers when they walk on stage and their songs play. Again, it's a drag show.
• They really play up the relationships! It's not just getting in the ring and supplexxing all day. There are storylines here. There's revenge to be had!
• Jason Kelce and Lane Johnson showed up in the ring, and honestly that makes so much sense.
• Vince McMahon seems like a real POS, and I hope justice is served.

Overall, it's nice to see so many people this excited and happy over something that's ultimately pretty low-stakes. IDK the world is often on fire, and Wrestlemania seems like a real "Let people enjoy things" sort of affair to me. I know throughout its history there have been plenty of problematic folks, but what industry doesn't? Especially in entertainment and sports. From what I gathered seeing the Wrestlemaniacs all over town this weekend was that it attracts people from all walks of life, all different kinds of backgrounds. And to that I say: "Hell yeah, brother."

Highbrow/Lowbrow: Poor Things / Lisa Frankenstein

Welcome to Highbrow/Lowbrow, where Rachel S. talks about all the culture she's consuming, from the thoughtful to the trashy and all things in between.

This Week's High/Low: Poor Things / Lisa Frankenstein

We're doing a monster mash this week, y’all! Since both films are about reanimated corpses, I figured I should Frankenstein these reviews together.

Lisa Frankenstein tells the story of high school freakazoid Lisa (Kathryn Newton) who is trying to fit in at her new school after her mom gets axe-murdered and she moves in with her dad's new wife and stepsister. Naturally, the only "person" she grows close to is the grave of a young man in an abandoned cemetery—who, after one fateful storm, comes back to life. Classic stuff! Poor Things is the story of Bella Baxter (Emma Stone), a woman who took her own life (her choice!) and is brought back to life (not her choice!) with the brain of the child she was carrying via a mad scientist whom she calls "God." From there she goes on a wild journey of self-discovery, pleasure, and humanity. Even more classic stuff!!!!

After watching Lisa Frankenstein (streaming on Peacock) this weekend, I was mulling over how it compared to Poor Things, the much more "Criterion Collection" take on Mary Shelley's masterpiece. The former, an ode to '80s horny teen comedies with a darker Heathers twist, written by Diablo Cody and directed by Zelda Williams. The latter, an Oscar-winning Victorian fantasy by Yorgos Lanthimos. One clocks in at a breezy 90 minutes, the other nearly 2.5 hours.

Sure, the vibes and overall, shall we say, aspirations of these films are quite different. Lisa Frankenstein is not trying to be serious, and thank Hot Topic for that. But at the black heart of them both is a gothic tale of an undead being seeking love and understanding, begging the same question that Barbie made famous, "what was I made for?"

Perhaps my favorite common thread of these two macabre films is the importance they both put on physical acting. My boy Cole Sprouse, who plays Creature in Lisa Frankenstein, has nary a line until the very last scene (we love a man who doesn't speak!). His whole story is told in grunts, through a body that's trying to un-remember rigor mortis.To delightful comedic results, natch. Meanwhile Emma Stone develops from infancy in an adult body, unlocking the magic we all had as babies discovering our toes for the first time. This is all happening while the men surrounding her place their wills and desires on top of her. No easy feet.

Oddly enough, one of the more striking differences (other than, basically everything except for the Frankenstein source material tbh) is the level of agency said undead beings possess from the moment of reanimation. Sure, we watch Bella come into herself, but her existence is initially void of any agency whatsoever (I know, I know, that's the point!). Over in Lisa Frankenstein land, Creature comes to life because of a storm that sent a lightning strike through his grave. Mother nature was the only one who had any hand in that.

And I don't think it's a coincidence that one film is written and directed by a man while the other is written and directed by two women. I'M JUST SAYING!!!! I know there was a lot of controversy around Poor Things and the whole question if Bella was mentally a child while experiencing sex for the first time. I don't exactly have the answer for that, I think we can comfortably assume she's reached mental puberty by the time that moment arrives. But my bigger gripe with the film is that the male gaze is all over it. Alllllllll over it.

On a technical level, yes, of course Poor Things is a "better" movie. Emma Stone is really put through the acting paces via Lanthimos, and the trippy production design adds a dimension of surreality that is singular to its director. Lisa Frankenstein is a silly movie with some style problems (how hard are we going for parody or reality?) and more than a few plot holes, but it is hella fun. It's a movie that's winking at you 95% of the time and being utterly sincere the other 5%, and those moments really land. Sitting in bed with Creature, talking about the grief of losing her mother, Lisa laments, "They say time heals all wounds. But that's a lie, time is the wound." Diablo Cody's pen strikes again!

So what's the big takeaway here? I'm glad both of these films exist at the very same time. There's room in Hollywood, and our own cinematic tastes, for auteurs and their muses along with "let's have some fun" indie genre films. I would be so bored otherwise.

Highbrow/Lowbrow: Philly Food Scene / Road House

Welcome to Highbrow/Lowbrow, where Rachel S. talks about all the culture she's consuming, from the thoughtful to the trashy and all things in between.

This Week's High: The Philly Food Scene

In the words of Frank Costanza, "I got a lot of problems with you people, now you're gonna hear about it." This is the sentiment I have towards the Philly dining scene at the moment. What I felt was once a treasured secret, that you can get amazing meals in our city without paying New York City prices, is now a long gone remnant of the past. Sure, there are still plenty of cheap and delicious neighborhood spots these days, but the amount of buzzy "I read about this in GQ" joints makes my skin crawl.

I don't mean to be a gatekeeper here. I know it's great that our city finally gets the recognition it deserves as a dining powerhouse. It drives tourism, creates jobs, and is overall good for the economy. But what made our dining scene so special for so long was that you had the food matched with unbeatable vibes and fair pricing. No pretension, just chefs making shit authentically and people feeling sated physically and spiritually.

If you've lived here for more than ten years, you know what I'm talking about. We rejected the white-gloved service of Jean-Georges and dug into the impeccable flavors of some little up-and-coming chefs back in the day known as Mike Solomonov, Jose Garces, Marcie Tierney, Valerie Saffron, and Ellen Yin. Ah, youth!

What really chaps my ass is how many restaurants now require a complicated reservation system (per my post on Disney, I hate that shit!). I understood when it was JUST Zahav that was like that. It was our rare crown jewel that people genuinely traveled far and wide to enjoy. But that's slowly become par for the course for any big/famous restaurant. Pizzeria Beddia was impossible for years to get a table, Kalaya is also a "set an alarm to try and get a table" kind of space, and RIP your chances for Friday, Saturday, Sunday.

And don't get me wrong, I am HAPPY these places are thriving. They're all so goddamn good. It's just a culture shift, and makes it a little harder to have an impromptu night out. BYOBs have also fallen to the wayside in favor of cocktail menus that rival pricing of our more cosmopolitan (pun intended) sister cities.

Another thing I won't forgive are the prices at Mish Mish. It's a "IYKYK" kind of restaurant that was launched by a previous food editor at Philly mag. It's like your Instagram food feed came alive and offered you an $18 glass of "skin touch" wine. I went once, paid too much for very small plates, and wound up getting fries and onion rings with friends at the P.O.P.E. because we were still hungry.

I suppose to me it feels like our dining scene is at a bit of a crossroads. Are we all just settling into choosing between $100 pp prix fixe menus or $10 tacos? We can and should absolutely have both. What I'm missing is the great stuff that used to happen in between. You know?


This Week's Low: Road House (2024)

(Spoilers if you haven't seen it, but not that it matters this movie has no plot)

I'M NOT DONE RANTING!!!

If you're unfamiliar, the 1989 cult classic Road House was recently remade by Amazon Studios. According to IMDB, in the original, "A bouncer hired to clean up the baddest honkytonk in a Missouri town. Armed with a black belt in karate and a Ph.D. in philosophy, Patrick Swayze sets out to tame the Double Deuce for its owner." And the new version? "Ex-UFC fighter Dalton (Jake Gyllenhaal) takes a job as a bouncer at a Florida Keys roadhouse, only to discover that this paradise is not all it seems."

So we've traded the midwest for Florida, Swayze for Gyllenhaal, and total zen with UFC. Aside from ABSOLUTELY enjoying a shirtless and extremely ripped Jake Gylenhaal, the remake left much to desire. Let's break down where the new Road House missed the mark:

• In no Road House universe should there be a precocious child sidekick. Ever.
• Swayze's famous training montage was traded for just a few seconds of Jake doing crunches on a boat. I'm not mad at those crunches. I'm mad at the run time. I need this segment to be comically long like it was in the original.
• Connor McGregor should not be on film. Not everyone can be the next Rock or John Cena. And it's definitely not him.
• The remake was entirely sexless!!! Sure, the original had what I would call "gratuitous boobies," but this new one only shows one butt and one kiss. THAT'S IT!!! THAT IS NOT ROAD HOUSE BEHAVIOR!
• Absolutely no bodily organs were ripped out in 2024. SMH.
• The fights used CGI!!!! Give me practical effects or give me nothing.
• Not that there aren't crocodiles in the Florida Keys, a gator is just a little more believable.

I really wanted to love a total smooth-brained testosterone-fueled romp, but this was just no fun. It took itself way too seriously for a movie that was famous for its campiness.

In closing, Swayze forever.

Highbrow/Lowbrow: The Sopranos Finale / The Traitors Finale

Welcome to Highbrow/Lowbrow, where Rachel S. talks about all the culture she's consuming, from the thoughtful to the trashy and all things in between.

This Week's High: The Sopranos series finale

*****Spoilers ahead, I guess???

Well dear readers, it's been a few weeks, and I finally finished my first full watch-through of The Sopranos, and BOY HOWDY did it live up to the hype. The show regularly appears on every single "best of all time" list only to sometimes swap the top spot with The Wire or, every once in a while, Mad Men. There's a lot of legacy here. The show just celebrated its 25th anniversary, and I wondered if all the laurels were due to nostalgia. I was thankfully very wrong there. The show really was that good.

It wasn't perfect by any means. A few episodes meandered, and some creative choices were very... of its time. I think "Employee of the Month" was entirely unnecessary—you can write complex women without them having to be brutally assaulted, thanks! However, the overall impact, which has already been written about ad nauseam by every television critic of the last 2.5 decades, is nearly flawless.

I decided I'm going to focus on endings here, since both The Sopranos and this season of The Traitors are all over, both (and one very famously) went out with a whimper, rather than a bang. Again, the series finale of The Sopranos has been written about and poured over a million times over—it was the blackout heard 'round the world. AND I FUCKIN LOVED IT.

Tony said time and time again that a guy like him will either end up behind bars or dead. The whole season, the RICO case was building up against him. The New York family was ready to take him out. The end was lurking over his shoulder at every single step. And the showrunner made a huge choice in the final season to show that Tony was never actually redeemable. It was a deeply existential finale for a show that deals heavily in, well, existentialism.

My read of the show was that it was never about mob violence and "heavy is the head who wears the crown" of the boss. It was about psychology. I mean, half of the series takes place in a therapist's office. For viewers to expect it to end in a big bloody showoff, well, I think they missed the point. The fear, the unknowing, the blackness. That was it. And that was how it ended. I thought it was brilliant.

I also never sit with my back to the door in restaurants because of this exact reason. My dad, who may or may not have lightly known a few mobsters in his day, taught me that from childhood. You know, normal things to pick up as a kid!

Speaking of endings, of all the deaths (and there were plenty), the hardest to watch was Adrianna's. Even though I saw it coming the whole time she was working with the FBI, it was still so painful. I wanted bettah fah her. I was also surprised at how quickly the show moved on from Christopher. I mean, that is a HUGE death, and it barely came up after the episode (other than the cat who loved staring at his photo). I suppose that's the point though. But Tony was haunted by taking out Puss all those years. But Christopher? Maybe it was the relief that made it easier.

In closing, whaddaya gonna do?


This Week's Low: The Traitors season finale

Spoilers afoot!!!

MAAAAAAAAAN, I was so disappointed in this finale! Sure, I don't mind that CT a.k.a. Castle Daddy walked away with half of the loot, but it was his partner in crime Trishelle who I was most frustrated to see win. It just never sat well with me the way she treated Peppermint, AND the fact that, in the final episode, all three remaining women of color were taken out with Trishelle and Kate leading those charges. White women really showed their asses this finale.

Sure, I know that "this is a game," but it's also a game filled with reality TV stars whom I have a lowbrow vested interest in!!! I wanted to see Phaedra* win so so hard, but Dan really boofed it for all the traitors during his swan song. She could have maybe worked it out if she had chosen a better player to recruit. Sandra was RIGHT THERE, and I'll never understand why she picked Kate. Someone who is very famously ambivalent about the game and winning money. Meanwhile, Sandra doing game theory with pool balls was some of the most riveting television of 2024.

And that's where I think the cast needs better alignment between the "gamers" and the Bravolebs. The gamers are there to win the money. They're more likely to work harder for the loot and do the most to bring up the pot. The Bravolebs are better at social dynamics and winning the roundtable. Rather than creating cliques around your pre-determined orders, find someone on the other side who sees what you don't. GET OUT OF YOUR OWN WAY!!!

As always, the real winner of the show is Sir Alan Cumming and his impeccable wardrobe. And I simply can't wait for season three.


*She's still my winner for calling Dan a "piece of shit" at the reunion. Housewives never drop character!

Highbrow/Lowbrow: Oscars/Oscars

Welcome to Highbrow/Lowbrow, where Rachel S. talks about all the culture she's consuming, from the thoughtful to the trashy and all things in between.

You had to know this was coming right? I've said it before and I'll say it again, the Oscars are my Super Bowl. And there is nothing quite as simultaneously highbrow and lowbrow as the Oscars itself. Now that the big event has come and gone, I'm dedicating my column this week to it because IT'S MY COLUMN, BABY!

As many predicted, it was an Oppensweep, with few surprises. The only wins I had wrong on my scorecard were sound and adapted screenplay. I figured those would both go to Oppenheimer, but I was pleasantly surprised to see them go to The Zone of Interest and American Fiction respectively. I wanted the Best Actress so badly for Lily Gladstone, but I kinda saw it going Emma's way once Poor Things started pulling the wins for production design, costume, and hair/makeup.

With the champagne glow behind us, here are some takes:

This Week's Last Night's Highs:

• Ryan Gosling belted out "I'm Just Ken" in all his himbo glory. A Marilyn Monroe motif, massive singalong, karate chops, and Slash on guitar. High camp, perfect execution, no notes. As Ken would say, SUBLIME!
• Da'Vine Joy Randolph easily had the best acceptance speech of the night. The Philly OSCAR WINNER reminded us that being yourself is always enough. I hope her star continues to skyrocket.
• MESSI THE DOG!!! I was so happy to see him get his flowers. The paw-formance of the year!
• Nicolas Cage went full Nicolas Cage in his introduction to Paul Giamatti, and I wouldn't have it any other way.
• AN EARLY START TIME! I was in bed by 10:30, that never happens on Oscar night!
• An unexpectedly delightful Twins reunion included a Batman standoff with Michael Keaton. We love a bit that works!
• Sandra Hüller got so much attention! As she should. A total powerhouse year for her.
• The performance of "A Song for My People" was simply stunning.
• GODZILLA MINUS ONE AND ALL OF THEIR GODZILLA STATUETTES!
• The winners of Documentary Feature and International Feature used their acceptance speeches to highlight the ongoing wars in Ukraine and Gaza. Both were sobering moments in a night that can seem frivolous.

This Week's Last Night's Lows:

• RDJ was a total jerk in his acceptance speech. He came across as smarmy and self-aggrandizing. Plus he kinda snubbed Ke Huy Quan when he actually accepted the award from him.
• That being said, I didn't love that Jimmy Kimmel made jokes about his past addiction problems. I know the '90s are back in fashion, but not like that.
• Those long-ass panel intros to the acting categories. Just show the clips!
• Oppenheimer's Best Picture acceptance speech was so meh. It's the biggest award of the night, and even though it was expected, you can show a little excitement. Your movie is about an explosion, people!!!
• Barbie only took home one statue, for Best Original Song. The Academy will never take comedies seriously, and it will be to their own detriment! That movie saved the industry in many ways, you pretentious goons.
• I love Kate McKinnon, and it's not her fault that the writers gave her a joke about being horny for Steven Spielberg. Let gay people be gay! Anyway, I did like her dinosaur bit.
• Killers of the Flower Moon was totally shut out! TBH I found that really surprising. Perhaps it could have done with some tighter editing, but still. I guess we only had room for one movie based on history, and Americans don't look quite as bad in Oppenheimer as they do in KotFM. Still team Lily over here!

This Week's Last Night's Not Sure What to Make of These of the Night:

• Naked John Cena. The bit actually kind of worked. I just can't say I had that on my bingo card.
• Jimmy Kimmel reading Trump's review live. Don't get me wrong, I love the idea that having a room full of Hollywood elite laugh at you probably drove the man insane. However, I just want to enjoy my smooth brain award show watching in peace without a reminder that he exists.
• John Mulaney's Field of Dreams bit. It was genuinely funny, it just felt shoehorned into the sound category. Like he was going to do that no matter what he was announcing.
• In Memoriam. It's always kind of a mess. Good song choice though.
• Al Pacino announcing best picture very disheveled and not following the teleprompter. I guess by this point he's earned the right. A woman could never, that's all I'm saying!

That's all, folks! Another Oscar year has come and gone. The films that I'll actually want to return to were all created by women: Barbie, Past Lives, and Anatomy of a Fall. Are any of us really going to watch Oppenheimer again? Zone of Interest, anyone? Killers of the Flower Moon for your Saturday night? Important movies? Yes. Rewatchable? Hard pass! We can appreciate incredible films for what they are and then never ever watch them again because they're too long and/or depressing. We all contain multitudes!

Highbrow/Lowbrow: Anatomy of a Fall / Love Is Blind

Welcome to Highbrow/Lowbrow, where Rachel S. talks about all the culture she's consuming, from the thoughtful to the trashy and all things in between.

This Week's High: Anatomy of a Fall

I've written roughly 536 times that movies need to be shorter (and that still holds true). However, Justine Triet's Anatomy of a Fall clocked in at two hours and thirty-two minutes, and it didn't actually feel like it. A rare accolade in the era of three-hour-plus masturbatory magnum opus directorial choices.

ICYMI, Anatomy of a Fall follows the murder trial of Sandra Voyer (played by the magnificent Sandra Hülller), who is a suspect in the death of her husband Samuel (played by Samuel Thier). Their blind son Daniel (played by Milo Machado-Graner) comes upon his body laid out in the snow after a walk with his seeing-eye dog Snoop (the real star here). Did he fall from the attic of their chalet? Did he leap? Was he pushed? How do prosecutors navigate a trial when the only witness is blind?

Ultimately the trial becomes an inquisition into a turbulent marriage and a study in memory. One filled with professional and sexual jealousy and immense guilt. Oh, and one extremely hot French lawyer. Shot almost like a news doc, camera-on-the-street style, you get drawn into the story, trying to put the pieces together yourself. Who do you actually believe versus who you want to believe. I was utterly consumed watching it. And just when it gets a little too true-crime-y, the movie reels back and reveals its devastating human core.

The only thing that ever took me out of the film was this choice in haircuts:

Why on God's green earth would you give an adult character (Marge, who is Daniel’s court-assigned guardian) the exact same haircut as the child with whom nearly all of their scenes are together? Unhinged!

Regardless, if it were up to me, this gets the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay, and Sandra Hüller gets the Olivia Coleman Award for Eating Up a Script.

4.5 out of 5 French wines

This Week's Low: Love Is Blind

I haven’t tuned into Netflix's juggernaut dating show since Season 2, after which I felt an already loopy concept had jumped the proverbial shark. And YET! I was drawn back in, because everyone who shares my lowbrow taste in reality television was like, "Rach, you have to watch."

And watch I did.

In no particular order, some LIB S6 takes:

• No way in hell Jimmy and Chelsea are making it out of this one. I've never seen so much toxicity and insecurity in one pairing! Heterosexuals are not okay!!!
• I want to root for AD and Clay, but I lowkey think if this was F Boy Island, AD would actually be a secret F Girl! (I imagine if you don't watch reality TV, that sentence was utter word soup.)
• I can't tell if the whole "drama" around Johnny being so afraid of pregnancy that he thinks about a vasectomy is manufactured or not. Regardless, take a klonopin, my dude, and put on a condom, sheesh!
• Brittany and Lauren deserved so much better!!!!
• Kenneth is a master gaslighter. He clearly wanted to break up with Brittany, but took her words and framed it so she was dumping him... then left her alone to cry while he sat on his phone? Something is OFF here.
• Jeramy (stupid way to spell your name bro) is a Grade-A Douchemaster who deserves to ride off into the sunset on a jetski with his "Country-loving patriot" of a side piece Sarah Ann
• Sarah Ann is the "what you got" to The Bachelorette's Gabby Windey "what you ordered"
• Jury's out on Jessica. She seems like a good mom with a lot of baggage and a penchant for stirring the pot.
• I didn't expect Netflix to actually air conversations these folks had about race and politics in the pods, but they did! How can you marry someone and NOT know their feelings on those kinds of things? Take that, ABC!
• I think the only couple sticking together or saying yes at the altar is Johnny and Amy. MAYBE maaaaybe AD and Clay if his parents' marriage and father's infidelity don't get in his head.
• I still don't understand where these people live. Are these their real homes? Do they all live in the same city? Help!
• In the end, it's the friendships you make!!!!

Highbrow/Lowbrow: Oppenheimer / SNL Host

Welcome to Highbrow/Lowbrow, where Rachel S. talks about all the culture she's consuming, from the thoughtful to the trashy and all things in between.

This Week's High: Oppenheimer

If I were a betting woman (I'm not, casinos give me anxiety), I'd put a lot of money on Oppenheimer winning Best Picture at this year's Oscars. It won best ensemble at the SAG Awards this weekend, so it's a shoe-in, considering SAG is a near-perfect barometer for the Oscars. Plus, the Academy is famously HARD for biopics, WWII, and biopics about WWII. Needless to say there's a lot of buzz about Oppenheimer, but in my opinion not a whole lot of bang (I HAD TO DO IT I AM SO SORRY!).

Going in, I was already warned that it's pretty boring, considering the fact the movie is about something so... explosive (I'll stop!!!). But it had enough going for it on a technical scale that it's still worth the watch. On some level, I do agree here. The last time I was so impacted by sound editing and mixing was in 2019's Sound of Metal. It's simply the best work out there.

Interestingly enough, I found the visual impact of the film a bit lacking other than the big bang that happens about ⅔ of the way through. It's horrific, grotesque, and everything a movie about making the largest weapon of mass destruction in human history ought to be. Followed by the mix of awe, fear, and disgust that follows, sometimes all at once. But other than that, I was surprised by how flat most of it felt, especially considering it's a Christopher Nolan film. I  remembered the way the camera hung on Cillian Murphy, maybe a few too close closeups on RDJ in black and white, and the explosion. Oh, and a Rami Malek jump scare. Otherwise, a shocking lack of stuff to look at.

Now coming back to Cillian Murphy, I'm not mad that he'll also likely take home a little golden man for his performance. It's good. He gives so much in his face and eyes that it makes a rather, dare I say, schmaltzy and predictable screenplay come to life. He is the nucleus of the film, the plutonium core, if you will.

Like many viewers, I found Florence Pugh's screentime to be an utter waste of her talent. She spends about eight of her ten minutes on screen topless or entirely nude and always adoring Oppenheimer's brilliance. Every word out of her mouth is so exhaustively and obviously written by a man. And to add insult to injury, Emily Blunt (who plays Oppenheimer's wife Kitty) also gets a completely flat storyline. All we know about her is that she's kind of a mean drunk and maybe also smart?

I'm not entirely trashing the film. There's a lot going on here between the Einstein frenemy relationship, communism, Russian spies, the hearing of Lewis Strauss, and the human toll in Japan. And I have to say, I did appreciate that the film didn't shy away from Oppenheimer's Jewishness. (Sidebar: Did Hitler's antisemitism really keep him out of the atomic weapon race? WOULDN'T SURPRISE ME!). Unlike Bohemiam Rhapsody, which forgot that Freddie Mercury was gay.

The one scene that will stick with me, beyond the big boom, is where a room full of men sit around and determine which Japanese city to drop the bomb on. Osaka gets passed over because it's "culturally important," but more importantly, because one of the war room guys had his honeymoon there and thought it was beautiful. It's so crass and cold. But entirely believable. The movie spends a lot of time on the mental gymnastics and compartmentalization these scientists had to do in order to complete the Manhattan Project. Where's morality in war anyway?

I'm glad I waited to watch it at home. Three hours of hearings and conversations between brilliant men academically jerking each other off in a movie theater would have been too much for my fair constitution!


This Week's Low: Sh*ne G*ll*s hosts SNL

As I've written before, I watch Saturday Night Live almost every week as a sort of "keeping up with comedy" homework. The only times I really skip are when Lorne Michaels decides to be a septuagenarian edgelord and brings on really polarizing guests à la Trump, Elon Musk, Kim K., Dave Chappelle, etc. To... appease conservatives? Make headlines? Who knows. This week was another one of those weeks when I simply could not be bothered to tune in because (unfortunately) Philly's own Sh*ne G*ll*s was hosting.

In case you're unfamiliar with the recent SNL drama, the dude was hired in 2018 and swiftly fired because the Internet is forever. Soon after the announcement of his joining the show came out, so did a torrent of instances in which the eDgY "comedian" made racist, sexist, and homophobic comments all over his podcasts and bits. We're talking full on slurs here people! And even more swiftly, he became some niche icon of bored white dudes on the internet who love to "own the libs."

This all happened at the same time Bowen Yang was brought onto the show. He also happens to be gay and Chinese, so when all of the G*ll*s bits full of homophobia and Asian slurs came to the surface, Bowen became the G*ll*s brigade's target. Even though he lit-terally had nothing to do with the dude's firing. He's remained mum on the subject. All the while his star has continued to soar. Karma, if you will.

So in the grand tradition of Bowen's Las Culturistas podcast, I'm ready to give my I DON'T THINK SO HONEY this week. IDTSH is a 60-second segment in which you rant against something in culture. My IDTSH starts... NOW:

I DON'T THINK SO HONEY STRAIGHT WHITE MALE ONLINE STAN CULTURE. Do you really think DADDY Elon is going to give you a kiss for stroking his ego in tweets? Will he give you some of his millions? I DOUBT IT! Do you REALLLLYYYY actually believe what Joe Rogan is saying because it just feels SO GOOD to be in on the "truth" no one else knows??? Go off, Fear Factor host queens. Are you so obsessed with a mid-tier stand up comedian that you lit-terally troll Reddit threads and Instagram accounts of Bowen Yang's work entirely un-provoked? Do you think DADDY SH*NE will finally tell you that you're so RIGHT and you're his very best boy? I really don't think so honey spending all of your time this week jerking off on the SNL accounts about how ThIS is ThE fuNNiEst the ShoW has EVER been!!!!!! YOU'RE UNHINGED! And no I don't think so honey it's the same as Swifties or the BeyHive because 1. Women don't hold the same power in our broader society and 2. It's categorically true that Taylor and Beyoncé are indeed THAT talented. Y'all are really out here obsessing over the worst kind of guy from your high school while remaining the worst kind of guy from your high school. This is actually why women hate you.

AND THAT'S ONE MINUTE.

[AUTHOR'S NOTE: I have bleeped out said host's name because his stans are actually that obsessed they'll find our safe little blog and start trolling it. I'm not kidding!]

Highbrow/Lowbrow: Cy Twombly / Drag Race

Welcome to Highbrow/Lowbrow, where Rachel S. talks about all the culture she's consuming, from the thoughtful to the trashy and all things in between.

This Week's High: Cy Twombly's Fifty Days at Iliam

From the Philadelphia Museum of Art:

In the summer of 1977, Cy Twombly began working on a "painting in ten parts" based on Alexander Pope's translation of Homer's Iliad. Completed in 1978 and collectively titled Fifty Days at Iliam, the works evoke incidents from Homer's epic poem in Twombly's characteristic synthesis of words and images. The ten large canvases follow one another much like a developing narrative. They are ordered as follows: Shield of Achilles; Heroes of the Achaeans; Vengeance of Achilles; Achaeans in Battle; The Fire that Consumes All Before It; Shades of Achilles, Patroclus, and Hector; House of Priam; Ilians in Battle; Shades of Eternal Night; Heroes of the Ilians.

This is perhaps my favorite room in the whole Philadelphia Museum of Art. Tucked away in the back of the modern wing, all the way to the left, just next to what I lovingly call the "hall of dicks*," I love to sit in the Twombly room and take in Fifty Days at Iliam each time I visit.

However, I often find Cy Twombly, and this series in particular, to be a bit of a "Marmite" test when I visit the museum with friends. You either love it or hate it. Like, really really hate it. The pieces evoke the same "why is this art?" conversation much like Rothko and even Pollock. It’s just a bunch of crayon scribbles, isn't it? Couldn't my kid do the same thing?

I mean, I guess if your kid has a deep fascination with ancient Greek history and mythology and a penchant for cryptography, then sure, I guess.

But I think that's too easy. It's dismissive. 

When I stand in front of each piece, I am moved by the sheer emotion burning through the canvas. The furor. War is horrible. It's unnerving. It's a mess.

And yes, it's all there in crayon. But that's what I love about it. All around the museum, you see masterpieces by the greatest artists in history in the classic oils and watercolors. Ink and pencil. The rawness of the crayon, the rudimentary nature of it. It's so un-serious that the medium says as much as the work itself. A "fuck you," perhaps, to the snobs watching their paint dry in next gallery over. Why not wax? Maybe that's just the Philadelphian in me jumping out.

Twomby isn't giving direct anti-art Dadaism like Duchamp's Fountain two rooms over, but still. There's something pretty punk rock about it.

And hey, I was one of those people who thought Rothko's work was just one plain color on a canvas. Seems like a grift, no? But then I spent time with his work at an exhibit at the Tate Modern, and found myself moved by the depth of the blues, the slightest movement in shades. So the next time you visit the PMA, go spend some time in the room and see what moves you. And if all you get is a bunch of crayon scribbles on canvas, I invite you to stop in next door at the hall of dicks!!!!

*I'm not kidding, it's a gallery full of phalluses!

This Week's Low: RuPaul's Drag Race Season 16

We're just about at the halfway point of this season of RuPaul's Drag Race, so it's time to do a check in on the queens and the season thus far. In no particular order, here are my takes (IF YOU'RE NOT CAUGHT UP, THERE ARE SPOILERS AFOOT!):

• Obviously I am team Sapphira. LET'S GO PHILLY!!!
• I know everyone was sad to see Amanda Tori Meating go. She's definitely in the run for Miss Congeniality. However, Plane Jane wasn't exactly wrong about the aesthetic.
• However, that doesn't mean I ride hard for PJ either. There's fun shady and then there's just being a calculated TV villain. She's playing the game (and the judges) like someone who has studied "how to get the most screen time on Drag Race" for years. Boot!
• I'm pleasantly surprised by Dawn's antics! Usually the "artsy" queens aren't as down to shade, but she's messy! I live!
• Nymphia Wind is just on a whole different level, and universe, from the other girls. 10/10 would let her abduct me on her banana-shaped spaceship!
• I'm still bummed about Mirage. I WANTED MORE HEEL CLACKS!!!
• That one felt like an especially bad loss since some middling queens keep making it through and Mirage had so much more Charisma Uniqueness Nerve and Talent!!! But you just can't skip the words when you're lip syncing for your life. A cardinal sin.
• I really enjoyed the Rusical! Where most acting challenges and improv challenges get harder to watch as the years go on, the Rusicals get better and better.
• Likely Top Four: Sapphira, Q, Plane Jane, and Nymphia. Mayyyybe Plasma squeaks in if Q's inner saboteur gets in the way.

ICYMI, this week's episode is going to be THE SNATCH GAME!!! I've spent too much time pondering who I would play in the Snatch Game considering it's a scenario I will literally never have to face. AND YET!!! I've narrowed it down to Phoebe Waller Bridge / Fleabag (a bit dated / past the zeitgeist now, which could present some problems); Patsy from AbFab (right in Ru's cultural reference wheelhouse, and you just have to be drunk and British! But then Michelle would complain about being one note); or perhaps Betsy Ross (I'd just give her a disgusting South Philly accent and make up lies about the founding fathers).

So dear readers, who would YOU play in the Snatch Game?

Highbrow/Lowbrow: Joni Mitchell / Super Bowl

Welcome to Highbrow/Lowbrow, where Rachel S. talks about all the culture she's consuming, from the thoughtful to the trashy and all things in between.

This Week's High: Joni Mitchell

As I've said many-a-times, Awards Season is my favorite time of year. Though I never really consider the Grammys a "must-see" on my viewing schedule. The recording academy is predictable, and the ceremony airs like five actual awards and about 20 performances. I get that it's "music's biggest night," but it's still an awards show... shouldn't we see the awards? Plus, the ones that get aired are reserved for the "big" categories. So I didn't get to see boygenius revel in their well-earned win in prime time.

Still, I flipped it on after coming home from a nice dinner at Laser Wolf last Sunday night. I watched Taylor win for pop vocal album and make an awkward album announcement. All things were fairly ho-hum at that point. And then, something otherworldly happened.

Joni Mitchell took the stage.

Seated in a lush throne, among chandeliers and candles with Brandi Carlisle by her side, Joni gave a haunting, heart-wrenching performance of "Both Sides Now." There she was, a living legend, singing perhaps her most famous song to a room full of the most famous musicians on the planet, and every single person was rapt by each breath. Each note. Each and every word.

Watching Joni perform is like witnessing the truth of living captured in real time. All of her age and wisdom gave her voice and the song a whole new meaning. I wanted to try and hold it with my hands, but it's ethereal. You listen to Joni Mitchell and you feel in your gut and your bones, yes, the pain of time passing by is beautiful.

And what really sung for me was that she held her power in that room. Women, especially as we age, are made to feel invisible. Inconsequential. Eighty years old and a brain aneurysm survivor, Joni Mitchell proved that the stamp she has made on this earth is timeless. And what an honor to get to live in the same timeline.

I know Joni Mitchell holds a special place for women (which isn't to say that anyone of any gender can't or shouldn't listen, her work is universal). She makes our feelings, our complicated relationships with ourselves, matter. She lifts us above the mundanity of the everyday and sanctifies all the things we're told are frivolous. Like our inner lives. And oh, how she did that with the quiet force of being an old woman with plenty left to say.

Joni forever.

This Week's Low: the Super Bowl

I suppose part of the boredom surrounding this year’s Super Bowl can be attributed to living in Philadelphia. Our team went out in painful fashion, absolutely boofing it the last half of the season. So to see the team who beat us in last year's Super Bowl play against the team who blames us for all their shortcomings made it a total "meh" of a matchup. At mehchup, if you will.

Still, the Super Bowl is the most-watched television event all year every year. You have to expect SOME spectacle. Some drama. Something worth watching. This year just didn't really deliver (other than Usher, who STILL GOT IT after all these years. FIGHT ME IF YOU DISAGREE!!!).

Here are my lowlights of the game:

• A mostly scoreless first half. You can't even call it good defense, it was just sloppy football.
• Whole lotta Jesus ads. Seems like the big guy upstairs is the crypto of this year's Super Bowl ad push. I know I'm not the first to say it, but uhhh, if you got all that money to spend on those ads, shouldn't you be doing the Christly thing and housing or feeding the poor? Not to mention the "He gets us" folks are major anti-LGBTQ pushers. No thanks.
• Too much Tom Brady on my screen. That creepy-ass MAGA freak who loves to cheat was all over ads. Don't want it!!!!
• Funny ads that had good premises but fumbled the punchline. The Michael Cera CeraVe ad was a prime example. The line "Human skin is my passion" was gold. Why not just let the clearly satirical ad just run as is? We didn't need you to explain it at the end!
• I'm mostly writing about ads! I hate capitalism!!! I hate myself!!!!
• People complaining about Taylor Swift. Ultimately, cutting to her in the crowd hurts no one. Who cares!
• However, I would have liked more cuts to Paul Rudd.
• Travis Kelce screaming at Andy Reid on the sidelines. Unsportsmanlike conduct!

Minimal highlights:

• New Beyoncé album everybody! It's a country album, and white people are furious! STAY MAD, HATERS!
• The Nickelodeon broadcast made viewing exponentially more enjoyable. We put it on after halftime and did not regret it.
• We got takeout from my favorite Mexican place, Los Gallos. For such a busy night, the quality did not falter one iota!
• URRRRSHER MAKE THE BOOTY GO 👏

Highbrow/Lowbrow: CBS Sunday Morning / The Today Show

Welcome to Highbrow/Lowbrow, where Rachel S. talks about all the culture she's consuming, from the thoughtful to the trashy and all things in between.

This Week's High: CBS Sunday Morning

Most of my Sunday mornings start the same way: My husband delivers a cup of coffee to me in bed along with a few Trader Joe’s vanilla meringues for dipping. My cat Millie curls up on my lap and I listen to a podcast, maybe play a crossword on my phone, do some scrolling on the 'gram. I enjoy this smooth-brain comforting bliss until 8:59 AM, because at 9 o'clock, the trumpets sound and it's time for my other ritual: CBS Sunday Morning.

If you're unfamiliar with the show, Jane Pauley hosts, while anchors and cultural commentators dive into the big news of the week, often focusing on one or two major stories along with a series of people features, arts reviews/interviews, and too often a perplexingly cringe segment by David Pogue (I get over it because Mo Rocca usually does a piece so good that it helps me forget about whatever Pogue engineered). 

Just this week (Sunday, February 4), the broadcast covered the transformation of Las Vegas from a seedy Sin City to a major sports destination; Truman Capote's famed Black and White Ball; an interview with the women of American Fiction; the crisis at the US/Mexico border; and the story of a Vietnam War veteran who became a handyman after becoming a widow. 

It can be a real mixed bag, and that's what I've always loved about the show. I'll never forget one broadcast that featured an interview with the photographer who captured the harrowing "Falling Man" photo from 9/11*, followed by a piece on butter sculptures in a Midwestern state fair. Somehow it kind of... worked. If nothing else, I find that CBS Sunday Morning does a good job of covering the wide swath of interests that is America. And the anchors do a mighty fine job of presenting the news and the stories in a way that feels humane and, dare I say, balanced. Sometimes it even gets some pretty radical ideas through, in a way that doesn't isolate or shame older adults who aren't in my urban liberal bubble.

Or in the reverse, one time the show even opened my urban liberal brain up to thinking about something in a different perspective (shocking, I know!). And not in a "you're bad and wrong if you think/do xyz" sort of way à la Fox News or MSNBC. The segment compared 1968 to 2020, as two of the worst years in modern American history. It aired in 2020, when we all felt like we as a nation had hit rock bottom. And I listened to Colin Powell (whose politics I vehemently disagreed with) offer up some sobering and powerful context for Trump's horrifying presidency. I felt like I really learned something from the guy. The feature stood as a reminder that our collective memory has been here before, in horrible seemingly hopeless times. What sets them apart? What can we learn from it? How do we not repeat our mistakes? Good journalism should do that! 

AND BUTTER SCULPTURES!!! Sort of a highbrow/lowbrow presentation in and of itself, no?

CBS Sunday Morning has been a staple of my family's household for as long as I can remember. And when I came into my own adulthood, my fingers just knew what to press on the remote on Sunday mornings. 

*In case you're wondering, this story taught me that ELTON JOHN owns the original now.

This Week's Low: The Today Show

Most of my weekday mornings start the same way: I repeatedly hit the snooze on one of my three alarms until I finally force myself awake around 6:45 AM (If my cat hasn't already started gently scratching me to get up and feed her). I look at my phone in anguish, knowing another workday is ahead of me. Maybe I check Instagram, or Reddit in hopes the news will tell me something like youknowwho choked on a burger. A girl can dream. Eventually, I roll out of bed and drag my feet downstairs to greet the two things** that keep me going on a weekday: 1. My cat who is hankering for the sweet sweet sound of the wet food can opening, and 2. The Today Show.

Much like my weekend ritual, I also grew up in a Today Show household. I've tried watching Good Morning America, but it just doesn't scratch the same itch even though ostensibly, one could argue, they're the exact same show. But what can I say? I need my Al Roker fix as bad as my coffee. It's where the British Royal family updates are big news stories! Where I get a Pop Start every morning keeping me up on T. Swift's latest moves! Where Larry David attacks Elmo!!! It's a fever dream of a morning show, and I wouldn't want it any other way.

Though I've never actually bitten the bullet and bought anything from their shopping segments (OFTEN TEMPTED!!!), I have participated in many of their audience brackets because I'm a what? GERIATRIC (millennial). And sometimes these "competitions" to pick America's favorite Thanksgiving side or holiday song require the one and only STEVE KORNACKI to make an appearance. I don't get what's not to like here.

Did I mention they drink a lot? Sure, we all remember the days when Kathy Lee and Hoda got lit on late morning wine, but these days Carson Daly brings the frat boy energy to Studio 1A in Rockefeller Center. They're chuggin' beers at 7:42 AM. Not to promote heavy drinking in the morning, but there is something to seeing the ever-professional Savannah Guthrie get a little loosey-goosey. It also helps me forget how many times per episode Craig brings up his faith/religion (it's a lot!!!!) or that Jenna Bush Hager's dad is a war criminal.

But the brightest star for me is the one and only Hoda Kotb. I can be a bit (a lot) cynical when it comes to politics and the news. But I'll be damned if she's not one of the most sincere television personalities out there. It's hard not to feel what she feels. When I so often have to be a Savannah in my workplace, it's nice to wake up and feel a little like Hoda. 

Last but not least, my Today Show girlies are big fans of my number one comedy duo, Bowen Yang and Matt Rogers of Las Culturistas. It's called TASTE, okay? WAKE UP AND LIVE A LITTLE!!!!

**Muh hubs gets to sleep in because he works from home. I’m not a monster, okay!?

Highbrow/Lowbrow: Oscar Nominations / D*sney World

Welcome to Highbrow/Lowbrow, where Rachel S. talks about all the culture she's consuming, from the thoughtful to the trashy and all things in between.

This Week's High: Oscar Nominations are Announced!

To start, let's just establish that the Oscars are my Super Bowl. You might think awards shows are frivolous, Hollywood is a sick cult (more on those later), and that winning an Oscar is because of popularity PR contests. You wouldn't be completely wrong. 

But you have to understand, I came of age during the golden era of the little golden man, raised by a father who was a total movie buff. We're talking about the time when Billy Crystal hosted and opened with spectacular and genuinely funny opening numbers. When stars didn't have Instagram to build their "brand." When Cher won Best Actress for Moonstruck and wore THAT dress. It was a simpler time. 

And much like my lifelong love of Saturday Night Live, I know the Oscars aren't at their best right now. But I still have to watch. It's like homework, almost. Homework that literally no one other than me is making me do. And watching awards shows is the only time I actually miss Twitter. Oh, to live tweet again!

I write all of this because later I am going to absolutely dunk on something I know a lot of people love. We have personal connections to pop culture. It's not all about having Criterion Collection taste. The films, TV shows, plays, and music we like has more to do with memories and our guts than rationality. I get that.

Without further adieu, here are my Oscars (likely not-so-hot) takes:

• Jimmy Kimmel is such a lame boring host.
• However, I am glad to be past the Ellen era where they did those weird "let's make celebrities interact with normies from the street" segments.
• There's a lot wrong with Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie getting snubbed for their respective categories. Plenty of people have written ad nauseam about the sexism already. So I don't need to go much further. What I don't understand from the Academy's perspective is... do you not want viewership? Do you not want a younger audience to engage and care? The snobbery is just bad for business.
• However, I am not at all surprised. The Academy never takes comedies all too seriously. What Barbie did get nominated for seems more obligatory rather than earned. 
• If you can treat Joker like a real film, with Joaquin Phoenix as a serious actor giving a serious performance...
• Ryan Gosling 10000% deserved his nomination though.
• I really really really hope he performs "I'm Just Ken" at the ceremony.
• Maestro is pure, boring campaigning, winning spots in the nomination list over more deserving films and performances. Like Andrew Scott.
• No one saw Nyad. Why are we here? Greta Lee >>>>>
• The Best Actor race is a dead heat between Paul Giamatti and Cillian Murphy. I don't really have a horse in this race. I enjoyed The Holdovers but didn't fawn over it as much as others because it feels like a movie I've already seen. Cillian Murphy is a brilliant actor. So, go for it dudes.
• Best Actress is between Emma Stone and Lily Gladstone. I am pulling for Lily here. Emma has already had her moments, and Killers of the Flower Moon does deserve recognition.
• ICYMI: Leo was supposed to be portraying a 21-year-old in that film!!!!!!
• Supporting Actor is probably going to RDJ, maybe with a DeNiro or Ruffalo upset.
• Supporting Actress is a lock for Da'Vine Joy Randolph. She deserves it.
• Best Director and Film will be Christopher Nolan (who is overdue) and Oppenheimer. The Academy loves a historical biopic. Almost as much as they love movies about movies (See: Argo, La La Land, The Artist, etc.).
• International feature is very likely The Zone of Interest, with maybe a surprise win for Society of the Snow. 
• As much as I know, I should see Zone of Interest, but I'm having a hard time wanting to watch a Holocaust film, considering the current state of the world.
• Anatomy of a Fall might get some surprise wins or steals in. It's gaining a lot of buzz, but overall, I think it's going to be a pretty Oppenheimer-heavy predictable year

I love movies. I love the Oscars. Let's go girls.

This Week's Low: Disney World

Trigger warning: if you're a Disney person or Disney adult, this post might (definitely) not be for you.

I was at a work conference earlier this week that happened to be held at a Disney hotel. The facilities were of course nice and clean, and the staff (who Disney calls "cast members") were all excellent. From a standard hotel conference perspective, 10s across the board.

But what I simply can't get past is the Disney of it all. I've never understood the obsession. And after staying at one of the resorts and spending one evening in EPCOT (courtesy of the conference, I would never pay), I understand it even less. I don't have children, so I'm sure some of the supposed "magic" gets lost on me there. But even so, from what I witnessed, dragging kids around Disney seems miserable. So much screaming. So many lines. So. Much. Money.

Nothing actually seems "fun" or "vacationy" about a Disney "vacation." You have to pay extra on top of an already exorbitant ticket price to "skip ahead" in the lines for rides. But some rides are so popular that even if you have said pass, you have to wake up at 7 AM to enter some convoluted online registration which gives you a timed ticket to... wait in an actual line. And to high five Mickey? There's a line for that too. Hard pass.

You can't just eat at a restaurant, even in your hotel. Everything, everything has some bullshit registration system. How does that work with children who are known chaos agents? I’m just a girl, going to a conference, asking a hotel to let me sit alone and eat at the bar.

I also witnessed a lot of parents and adults that seem to be way more into the experience than the actual children who these parks are made for. There's some arrested development happening there, and I simply don't have the bandwidth to analyze. I just... why would you spend THAT kind of money to do so much waiting and schlepping? Why not go to an all-inclusive resort with a water park or some shit? 

But I think the Disney of it all really leans into that whole stat about the amount of Americans who don't have a passport. It's not cheaper than going to Europe or South America. Or even bloody Australia. Disney just dupes you into believing it's easier when truth be told, after what I saw, it absolutely is not. 

Lastly, the capitalism and consumerism of that place is just gobsmacking, and in my opinion, morally sick. I don't claim to be above it here. I participated in it by going to a conference. I went to Universal Studios like ten years ago and lost my mind wandering around Springfield, because The Simpsons are so core to who I am today. But that was one day, with one admission ticket, and a few Duff beers. It's different at Disney. When you look around and see how much everything costs, all the extras they make you feel you have to do for a "magical" experience, it's hard to feel anything other than unease. How many people here are in credit card debt? How many are choosing this over making rent? All in service of a CORPORATION that is capitalizing on your memories, your childhood, your children. 

I feel kind of guilty actually for participating in that place truth be told. But hey, that's me and my gut. I'm not saying you can't enjoy any Disney movies or not let your kids watch The Little Mermaid. I loved Disney movies as a kid. Some of my most cherished memories are watching those films. Do you, but maybe not at the cost of bankruptcy for a company founded by a guy who welcomed Nazis to his studio. Just saying!!!!!!!!!!

Highbrow/Lowbrow: Past Lives & All of Us Strangers / The Traitors

Welcome to Highbrow/Lowbrow, where Rachel S. talks about all the culture she's consuming, from the thoughtful to the trashy and all things in between.

This Week's High: Past Lives & All of Us Strangers

Two of the best films I've watched lately are Celine Song's Past Lives and Andrew Haigh's All of Us Strangers. Both films wrestle with trying to cope with your past when it makes an unexpected visit to your present, and how we grieve letting go of the life we never got to have. It sounds dreary, I know. However, Past Lives lets in a lot more light than AoUS. 

I'll dive into the light in a moment, but I also want to touch on a few of the other similarities both films hold: delicate tenderness and vulnerability and bringing singular small stories to a wider audience. With the juggernaut of "Barbenheimer" this summer, it seemed like filmmaking in 2023 was here to say "Go big or go home."

But that's not the case with either of these films, both of which have sat with me and stayed in my gut long after first watch. Both filmmakers bring you into uncomfortably intimate spaces where you, the viewer, feel almost voyeuristic in taking part. Whether it's a personal conversation between two childhood soulmates and one left out husband, or a postcoital exchange of more than sweat and hot breath. 

Both films also tackle identity: being a Korean American and switching between two cultures; and a gay man pushing 50 whose young lover never understood the fear of the AIDS epidemic in the '80s and '90s. 

With all their thematic ties, the films' greatest departures are in their tone. Though both are quite dreamy, AoUS veers more into the nightmare territory. Which frankly surprised me when I got about ⅓ into the film. The marketing had me believe that yes, there was a sad story about a man who lost his parents as a child, but it would be padded by a lush love story. That's not exactly the case. The whole film is quite eerie and unsettling, where even the most tender of moments are cast with an ominous cloud. You never really know what's real, what's madness, or what's pure desperation.

Despite its deep, deep sadness, I simply can't say enough about Andrew Scott’s performance. It's a small film with only four actors (including Paul Mescal, Claire Foy, and Jamie Bell), and he is the sun around which they all orbit. The slightest gesture or movement of his eyes really tell a whole sea of emotion. As a member of the Dead Parent Club, the film and its metaphysical depictions of grief hit almost too close to home. How I wish I could tell my dad all the things he hasn't known in the years since he left. Oof. The last times I've felt as haunted by a film and a performance were Riz Ahmed in Sound of Metal and, interestingly enough, Paul Mescal in Aftersun. 

Past Lives is just as small of a cast, with the vast majority of the film focusing on the exquisite Greta Lee alongside her love triangle partners, the charismatic Teo Yoo and the deeply warm John Magaro. What I loved most about Celine Song's and the actors' choices is that they never seem to judge these characters, caught in a complicated but beautiful place. I too have mourned the person I used to be, the life I used to have when I lived in London. But what the movie teaches you is that's okay. You're allowed to cherish your past life, your past loves, and who you got to be and it doesn't dishonor the person you are today and the people you love. 

Either way you go here, bring the tissues and let it out.

This Week's Low: The Traitors

Someone at Peacock deserves a big ol' smooch on the lips, because The Traitors Season 2 is here, and it is DELIVERING!!!! For those uninitiated, The Traitors is a reality competition series much like the game Werewolf. There are traitors, who "murder" a competitor each night, and "faithfuls" who are trying to sniff them out before they meet their doom. To up the ante, there's a big pot of money to win at the end, and each week there are Challenge/Survivor-like games to add money to the pot. Plenty of mischief and twists and turns along the way. Backstabbing afoot! 

But here's where Rachel's Television Dream Journal really comes into play:

It is hosted by Alan Cumming, who gives high camp drama and impeccable fashion each and every week. The competitors are all reality TV stars! We're talking Housewives, Survivor, Big Brother, Love Island, Drag Race, The Challenge, and beyond! This is a huge improvement from last season, when half of the cast were reality TV stars and half were normal people. And they are BIG ones. We're talking THEE Phaedra Parks, Parvati, CT, Johnny Bananas, She by Sheree, and Peppermint, people!!! It's filmed in a Scottish castle!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THERE'S A GROUNDSKEEPER CALLED FERGUS!!!!!!

It's just an absolute blast to watch. It's a show that knows exactly what it's doing and having the absolute most fun with it. I simply can't recommend The Traitors enough if you're looking to turn your brain off. Let go and let Alan Cumming.

Highbrow/Lowbrow: The Shape of Time / The Real Housewives

Welcome to Highbrow/Lowbrow, where Rachel S. talks about all the culture she's consuming, from the thoughtful to the trashy and all things in between.

This Week’s High: The Shape of Time: Korean Art after 1989 at the Philadelphia Museum of Art

Would you believe me if I told you that the images above aren't photographs, but works of embroidery? In their scale alone, the images are affronting, moving, mesmerizing. They're massive, glittering, in motion. Upon further inspection, I was utterly gobsmacked to see not printed pixels, but unbelievable hand-crafted stitches. My dear friend Nick and I stood in amazement looking up and closely at the magnitude of the craft. 

One of my favorite parts of museum-going is seeing the artist at work, The thick globs of Monet and the scratched out, repainted, erased and redrawn fury of Cy Twombly. I like standing in front of a piece of art and seeing how it was made. That it was made. 

It's a wonder, isn't it? You see these masterpieces in cheap poster prints on college dorms and then all of a sudden, there you are, right in front of it. You see the paint strokes and the pencil lines and the art is real. It's not some image you can recall, but time and genius captured on a canvas. It was real, they made that. 

And so, seeing the handiwork of Kyungah Ham's "What you see is the unseen / Chandeliers for Five Cities" at the PMA, I was again reminded of the wonder of the craft. The movement and light she was able to create through fiber is nothing short of spectacular.

It's worth the price of admission* to have your breath taken away by one singular gallery wall. But stay for the whole exhibit and don't skip the audio companion to "Eulji Theater " by Yeondoo Jung or spotting the first Philly gay bar's name you recognize in a sea of incense powder in Inhwan Oh's "Where He Meets Him in Philadelphia."

*The PMA offers a $40 yearly artist membership. If you do comedy, theater, painting, drawing... anything, you can get a membership! 10/10 recommend

This Week's Low (that's actually a high): The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City season finale

Would you believe me if I told you this wasn't a Renaissance painting?

I promise my lowbrow cultural consumption won't always be Housewives related, but this week I simply had no other choice!!! Be forewarned, there will be of spoilers ahead, so if you haven't caught up, grab your Lisa Barlow-approved Taco Bell and dirty soda of your Mormon choice and get thee to a television!

I think we can all agree that Heather Gay earned her center snowflake for at least the next 2-3 seasons going forward after her riveting performance in this week's explosive finale. From the beach meeting of the "core four" to the fourth-wall breaking when she kicked out the producers from filming in her room to the final RUVEALING of Monica's true identity as Reality Von Tease and firing her from the cast, HEATHER GAY PUT IN THE DAMN WORK.

That doesn’t mean we didn’t have great supporting acts. 

Exhibits A-C:

This finale was PHENOMENAL TELEVISION. A writer's room WISHES they could come up with these stories and directors wish they could get performances like these out of their actors!

Now if you haven't watched a moment of RHoSLC and have not a clue what I'm talking about here, take a trip over to Vulture, where they're truly putting in the work on these recaps.

I don't think there will be much debate as to whether or not this episode will join the pantheon of Great Housewives Episodes a la Scary Island and Dinner Party from Hell. HEATHER LITERALLY ASKED MONICA TO PACK HER BAGS AND GO LIKE SHE WAS PADMA LAKSHMI. A CAST MEMBER POSED AS A HOUSEWIFE WHEN SHE WAS ACTUALLY AN ONLINE TROLL REVEALING THEIR SECRETS ON SOCIAL MEDIA!!! WE FOUND OUT IT WAS JEN SHAH WHO GAVE HEATHER THE INFAMOUS BLACK EYE!!! MONICA WITH ICE IN HER VEINS SAYS SHE MADE THE ACCOUNT TO TAKE DOWN JEN SHAH AND ALL THE OTHER WOMEN WERE "COLLATERAL DAMAGE."

So much happened. 

I'll be sad to see Monica go. She was a gold-star first season housewife, but there's no way she can return from this. 

Finally, Housewives are well overdue for an Emmy nomination. Give these editors their dues!

Amen.