Category: Media Diary

As usual, here are some things I’ve enjoyed lately, in no particular order, and not necessarily only recent stuff:

Phantom Thread (Movie): Really enjoyed the pacing and general precision of the world he created

Masters of Scale (Podcast): Some truly amazing guests talking about their companies/origin stories

A.P. Bio (TV): Solid gold, basically just Dennis Reynolds letting loose on high school kids

Black Panther (Movie): Definitely up there as one of the best Marvel movies (maybe the best)

Patty Has a Gun (Podcast) and The Radical Story of Patty Hearst (TV): I wasn’t alive when this all went down, and it’s fascinating to hear the details

Wormwood (TV): Haven’t finished it yet, but an extremely interesting story

Bridge of Spies (Movie): Never saw this when it first came out, but thumbs up (I think this Spielberg guy might be one to watch)

Business Wars (Podcast): Interesting tales of great business rivalries throughout history (Netflix vs. Blockbuster, Nike vs. Adidas, etc.)

Last Week Tonight With John Oliver (TV): So glad he’s finally back

The Fog of War (Movie): Part of my recent Errol Morris odyssey (see Wormwood above as well)

Baskets (TV): Years in, I continue to marvel at Louie Anderson’s performance

I, Tonya (Movie): Super energetic, and Allison Janney is amazing

Portlandia (TV): Still great as it enters its home stretch

Some stuff I’ve enjoyed lately (as with last time, these are in no particular order, and not necessarily just recent stuff):

Atlanta Monster (Podcast): Granted I was a toddler at the time, but I’d somehow never heard about this fascinating case

The Post (Movie): All-around fantastic and important, and it even included a Mr. Show reunion

Waco (TV): So far, so good, especially since you know I’m not gonna pass up any cult-related offerings

Ogilala (Album): Nice album from my favorite Big Thunder Mountain Railroad passenger

Nothing But Trouble (Movie): I had dim memories of how super dark, weird and horrible this was, but re-watching it really brought the magic back

American History Tellers (Podcast): An interesting new series that starts with an extended Cold War arc

The Thin Blue Line (Movie): I’d somehow never watched this, and was really captivated (enough that I’m now going on a bit of an Errol Morris binge)

Hysteria (Album): One of my favorites growing up, and now available to stream thanks to Def Leppard working through some shenanigans

My Next Guest Needs No Introduction (TV): I mean, duh

Fire and Fury (Book): Again, duh

Zodiac (Movie): I’m fairly sure I’d seen this back in the day, but man is it fantastic

Texture (Magazines): Really enjoying this service for access to tons of magazines on tablet or phone, my favorites generally being Entertainment Weekly, Wired, Newsweek, Rolling Stone, The Atlantic, The New Yorker, Time and Vanity Fair

I’ve spent years obsessively “checking in” to movies and TV shows on Facebook, and while that’s been helpful for reference when writing up “Best of The Year” posts, it’s also full-on insane. Since I’m throttling down my Facebook presence, I’m going to start doing an infrequent “media diet” roundup, which is a concept I’ve shamelessly stolen from the great Jason Kottke.

Anyway, for those interested, here’s the first in an ongoing series that will spotlight a few things I’ve been into recently (in no particular order and not necessarily just recent stuff):

Mindhunter (TV): I’d probably rank this in my all-time top ten shows

Curb Your Enthusiasm (TV): It didn’t miss a beat after so much time off

‘Til Death Do Us Blart (Podcast): A bunch of guys (including the McElroy brothers) that hate-watch Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 once a year until the heat death of the universe

Lady Bird (Movie): From the performances to the overall vibe/early-2000s setting, I enjoyed this tremendously

Alias Grace (TV): Haven’t finished it yet, but loving what I’ve seen so far

The Good Place (TV): One of my favorite comedies of the past few years

Dirty John (Podcast): An amazing/horrifying story of deception

The Room (Movie): I finally watched this (in anticipation of The Disaster Artist), and I’m now reevaluating reality

Mr. Robot (TV): Really picking up steam as the series progresses

Slow Burn (Podcast): A fascinating look at what it felt like to live through the events surrounding Watergate

Thor: Ragnarok (Movie): Loved the tone, reminded me of Guardians

Godless (TV): I’m only a few episodes in, but it’s stellar