First of all: Thank you to everyone who has signed up for the newsletter since I announced that I would be moving it here to Substack! If you’re new: I’ve been writing short, spoiler-free reviews of movies for nearly three years now — first on Instagram, then in the previous incarnation of this email.
As I told the old-timers last week, I’m using this relaunch as an excuse to broaden my horizons a bit. I’ll be less rigid about how I review what I watch, and I’ll talk about more than just movies.
For example …
“Sugar and tea and rum”
For once, I think I was early to a cultural moment: Specifically, the 2021 resurgence of sea shanties.
(Credit for that is owed to Ryan Broderick, who mentioned The Longest Johns in his excellent newsletter Garbage Day back in September.)
In case you have no idea what I’m talking about: On TikTok, users can “duet” each other’s videos, reposting them with their own audio and video added side-by-side. This feature has enabled all kinds of visual and musical creativity, and the fad de la semaine is an increasingly layered performance of the 19th century shanty “Wellermen.”
In other words, a video of one guy singing becomes two guys, and three, and four, and on and on until you have an entire chorus and several instruments, all working off of that same original video of the one guy. Anything each new person adds has to fit with (and ideally add value to) his original timing and that of the people who have already duetted the video.
I absolutely love this and have been humming “Wellermen” in all my spare moments this week. No complaints.
If you are also into this weird nonsense, then I highly recommend basically anything by The Longest Johns (especially their video for Randy Dandy-O), and/or this shanty adaptation of “All Star” by Smash Mouth:
If you’re not into this weird nonsense, then I suggest you take a cue from this man, who knows a bop when he hears one:
Other stuff I’ve watched recently
Avengers: Endgame ★★★★ - Not everything in this film works, and it wouldn’t make a lick of sense to a viewer who has not done the “homework” of watching previous movies, but the parts of it that do work are an extraordinary magic trick. A significant improvement on Infinity War (see below) and a very satisfying conclusion to an era in blockbuster history. On Disney+ and DirecTV.
Avengers: Infinity War ★★★½ - Does a lot of things right: A gutsy entry in the series with a good mix of fight scenes and humor. But there are too many damn characters, who barely get a moment to breathe. Still, I’ll never forget how it felt to be in the theater on opening weekend when the credits rolled. On Disney+, DirecTV, Sling TV, TNT, and TBS.
Ant-Man and the Wasp ★★★½ - A marked improvement over the first film but not Marvel’s best. Better script, better action scenes, and a slightly better villain (although the bar for that was very low). Key takeaways: Michael Peña is still criminally under-used, and Paul Rudd and Randall Park need a TV series together. On Disney+, Sling TV, and USA.
Captain Marvel ★★★½ - A promising introduction for one of Marvel’s coolest characters, but the villain is atrociously boring, and the rest of the production lingers in an uncanny valley of awkwardness. I think most of the budget was spent on the (impressive) special effects, including some jaw-dropping de-aging work on Samuel L. Jackson; the rest of the film is merely “good enough” for me. On Disney+ and DirecTV.
The Great Pottery Throw-Down ★★½ - Tried watching one episode of this and I had high hopes; another feel good reality show made by the same people who make the Great British Bake-Off? Sounds good! Except, no. The challenges were duller than watching clay dry and the hosts’ attempts at humor missed 90% of the time. On HBO Max.
P.S.
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Leave your reactions, questions, recommendations, and links to favorite shanties in the comments below.