Mockingbird

My local indie theater just held a few showings of RRR in honor of its historic Best Original Song Oscar nom, and it was the most fun I’ve had in a theater in years. If you’re looking for a movie to watch with friends, this is the movie you all are looking for. Here’s the synopsis that sold me: RRR is an exhilarating, action-packed spectacular mythologizing two real-life freedom fighters who helped lead India’s fight for independence from the British Raj, Komaram Bheem (N.T Rama Rao Jr., aka Jr NTR) and Alluri Sitarama Raju (Ram Charan). Set in the 1920s before their fight for India’s independence began, RRR imagines a fictional meeting between the two, set into motion when a young Gond girl is stolen from her village by British soldiers. With a powerful message, staggeringly choreographed action sequences, and an all-timer of a musical number, RRR is sheer big-screen joy from start to finish, and audiences have one more chance to see it big and loud as intended. It’s on Netflix. A spoiler-y trailer is below.

To figure out if Popcorn is Taylor Dayne, we could use Tig Notaro as a guest judge. (Taylor Dayne is a super solid guess.)

Show, you had frickin’ Renée Elise Goldsberry up your sleeve this whole time and chose to make up listen to Lauren Graham’s multiple musical numbers?? Her character is odd, but she’s going to kill whatever musical number they give her. The Sound of Silence and Fight Song were beautiful. I was sort of grimacing at the beginning of Fight Song, after being burned by too many years of “Archie dancing on Glee” or the equivalent, but that was lovely.

Oh, that was just what I needed this week. I was actually anxious that Doug Judy was playing Jake, and he totally was, but for such a good reason. Might have shrieked with joy at the best man mug at the end.

So is Daughtry going to win since he’s the only one the judges haven’t “guessed”?

Justine’s father is the sweetest, and I’m not crying; you’re crying.

I’m really loving Justine and Floyd this season. I adore Nick and Amy, and I’m a sucker for the Offerman giggle, so I don’t mind the goofy little pun-offs. I’m less fond of attempts to make Floyd produce “cute” results. (Khiem won without a “cute” aesthetic.) This show makes me very happy, so it’s a bit sad that NBC is clearly just trying to burn off the episodes and then cancel it, but I suppose I should be grateful for a second season at all.

That episode turned me into a big ol’ bucket of Glenn goo.

Sure, writers. We’re all on pins and needles about whether Rollins will survive this cliffhanger.

Kristen Bell did an excellent job directing this episode. Especially with William Jackson Harper.

I love Seth, but it would be more fitting for him to just let Marc Evan Jackson work his magic one last time.

Definitely in the minority because—while this definitely wasn’t my favorite episode—I still liked it and thought the ending especially was lovely. As was the framing with Michael setting Bad Janet free. Not sure of the timeline, but she had been around Team Cockroach for a bit, so they might have started to soften her up, too, the way they eventually won over Michael. Nothing was laugh out loud funny—maybe except Jason’s nickname and Bad Janet’s comment on getting books as gifts—but this show was still a bright point in my otherwise pretty rough week. The slower pace felt deliberate to me, in order to emphasize that even when the stakes couldn’t get higher, little attempts to do good and be better matter, too.

Tahani trying to close the curtains so that Chidi couldn’t see outside was the perfect bit of physical comedy in the background of the scene.

Did we actually see our Janet struggling to maintain the Janet babies? Or was that a lie from Bad Janet to explain why she was in such a bad mood?

They were magnets, which takes away Janet’s powers (so her Good Janet facade disappeared). And makes her drunk.