Happy Saturday!
The Oscars are done and award season is officially over. But I'm still catching up on all the great films that came out this year. I was so excited to see Parasite win Best Picture (more on that below) and I would watch hours more of Bong Joon-ho giving awards speeches. But I almost didn't watch Parasite at all because it looked scary and, as a rule, I refuse to watch horror movies. Or even movies that are remotely scary. I can't handle them. I don't even like to see scary trailers or posters.
Right now, I'm being chased around the internet by ads for The Invisible Man and I hate it for so many reasons. (Are they seriously going to steal the name of Ralph Ellison's novel and turn it into a crappy horror film? It's appalling. But also I'm very scared every time I see that stupid trailer while I'm trying to watch my comedy videos. Let me live in peace!!) Anyway, long story short, I saw Parasite and it wasn't scary but it was amazing. Fellow wimps: you can safely watch it and you should.
Upcoming Events
LOS ANGELES
Wednesday, March 25th at 7 pm at the Lyric-Hyperion Theatre. Matt Porter and I are hosting another edition of Powerful Points, where comedians give presentations. Link
This week’s list
GREAT:
Ron Padgett's father was a bootlegger in Tulsa, Oklahoma. As a poet, Padgett says he tries to emulate his dad's law-breaking and do his best to refuse to follow the poetry rules. "The only consistent plan I've ever had is to try to break my patterns, my habits, my knee-jerk tendencies in writing." I really like Padgett's work. His writing is funny and beautiful and doesn't take itself too seriously. Here's one of my favorites: How to Be Perfect
FUNNY:
Karen Chee is such a delight. She's smart, funny, kind, and so enthusiastically positive. After Parasite won big at the Oscars, Karen took over on Late Night with Seth Meyers to let the world know how big a deal it was for her and other Korean-Americans. She also made sure to let everyone know she has a very photogenic grandfather. It's the important news America needs. Karen Chee on Parasite
INTERESTING:
I learned from Ann Friedman's newsletter this week that St. Valentine is also the patron saint of beekeepers. Yesterday wasn't just about love, it was also about bees. Never forget that. And one film that I was bummed didn't win an Oscar was Honeyland, an incredible documentary about a beekeeper living in rural Macedonia. It's one of the best docs I've ever seen. I think it may have suffered from having a very similar name to Honey Boy, Shia LeBeouf's only okay movie that also came out this year. But this is the one about the rural beekeeper, not the former child star. If you're only going to watch one, pick the bees. Honeyland
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Enjoy the long weekend,
Chris