Since it is the Friday after Thanksgiving and we are all still rather tired from overdosing on turkey dinner food, I figured I would just offer up some recommendations of things I have recently watched. Some distractions, perhaps, to help us forget for a minute about * waves around * all this that just happened earlier this month.

That is, if you are not reading this from a holding cell because you tried to strangle your Trumper relative yesterday – try to abstain from that because it’s what they want. You get enraged over something awful they just said about immigrants or trans people or Democrats, you try to strangle them, and the next thing you know they are a guest on some right-wing Youtube influencer’s show talking about how you tried to cancel them, literally.

This is a trying time, indeed. This is why I wanted to offer up some things I have recently watched, and enjoyed, as opportunities for a little escape.

Movie – Woman of the Hour, currently on Netflix: I admit I underestimated Anna Kendrick due to my own ignorance of her work. Then I saw her in the comic thriller A Simple Favor, and realized hey, this woman can act. With Woman of the Hour, she not only stars but makes her directorial debut in a movie that is based on a true story: one of the worst serial killers of the 20th Century managed to land a slot as a bachelor on the Dating Game in the late 1970s. Yes, this is true. Kendrick tells the story with a lot of style that feels at certain points like a Hitchcock thriller, except she is telling this story from a woman’s perspective. Kendrick plays an aspiring actress who crosses paths with the killer as a contestant on the show. Kendrick shrewdly shows you the murders and cuts it off right before the actual killing happens, as if to honor the hell these women went through in their last seconds without exploiting their deaths. A powerful statement about societal misogyny (including how women’s fears are often dismissed) and how it often ends in violence that also happens to be a gripping thriller.

Show – Rivals, currently on Hulu: Lotsa sex in Rivals, something to know right off the bat. It is a British show and quite the bawdy one at that. Outside of the shagging, this semi-throwback to the prime-time over-the-top soaps of yore tells a tale of the British TV industry in the 1980s, focusing on a liberal, opinionated presenter who is tapped to host a talk show that appears to be a cross between Phil Donahue and Tom Snyder. Irish actor Aidan Turner stars as Declan O’Hara, the aforementioned host, with a nearly unrecognizable David Tennant serving as the baddie, O’Hara’s Network president boss Tony Baddingham (yes, that’s his name, he’s a bad guy, you see). The rest of the cast is solid, including the always-fantastic Katherine Parkinson as one of the few characters with any morals. The show’s story, hence the name, focuses on the eventual war that breaks out between the headstrong O’Hara and Baddingham and is well-told. Along the way, there is plenty of delicious soapy ridiculousness and again, lots of sex, so much of it at certain points I had to ask myself a question: Do British people REALLY have this much sex outdoors?

Movie – The Endless, currently on Peacock: The acting/directing team of Aaron Moorhead and Justin Benson have carved a small niche for themselves in making these intelligent, quiet little slices of sci-fi/horror. While they are not household names, they do have a rather rabid little following. This 2018 film is a good example of why they are so revered, a story of two brothers who managed to escape from a UFO suicide cult. Despite getting out, their lives are total messes, unable to find gainful employment or any sort of meaningful relationships. One day they receive a video in the mail from the cult, and one brother enthusiastically suggests a visit, while the other only reluctantly agrees. Once back at the cult, they begin to have increasingly bizarre experiences that seem to be leading towards a singular event. I won’t say much more about what happens, as it is quite cleverly told. It’s similar to a 1970s film in that it patiently unfolds the story and expects the same out of the viewer. Definitely one to watch without any distractions, so put down your phone.

Show – What We Do in the Shadows, currently on Hulu: In my opinion, the film What We Do in the Shadows is one of the best horror comedies of all time, a hilarious mock-documentary tale of four vampires living as roommates in Stanton Island. The show shakes up this formula a little, making two of the vampires husband and wife, and making one of the vampires an “energy vampire” which means instead of feeding on blood he is sort of a psychic parasite. The energy vampire, Colin Robinson, is one of the funniest characters on television as played by Mark Proksch as one of those exhausting coworkers who won’t shut up and leave you alone to do your work. He refers to cubicle offices and being an Uber driver as his feeding grounds, causing people to slump over as he rambles on about what is the best version of Microsoft Excel or the latest episode of Antiques Roadshow. The show presents a hilarious version of vampire society, including how centuries-old immortals deal with modern life such as smartphones and clubbing. The show has some of the best comedy writing on television and is generally good for some solid belly laughs per episode, which is something all of us need at the moment.

The last word goes to Blur: