Obsessions #18: Bart Summer
Everything I’ve been reading, watching and listening to this summer
Hello and welcome back to Obsessions, a quarterly newsletter-within-a-newsletter highlighting everything I’ve been reading, watching and listening to.
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What I’ve Been Reading
Dune by Frank Herbert
Since I’m such a big fan of the films, my summer goal was to finally read Dune. At first, I found this book very intimidating to tackle because I don’t read a lot of science fiction and it’s over 800 pages long. However, I quickly got in a groove and couldn’t put it down.
I think it helped me to see the films first because I could easily visualize the world and characters. I also found that Herbert’s writing style is quite straightforward and readable despite the abundance of invented terminology (gom jabbar, anyone?). Still, the novel’s greatest strength is that it gives you a lot more insight into the characters’ thoughts and motivations, especially Paul. The book shows how relationship-based the plot is, which I think is very cool for a genre novel.
However, there are weaknesses. Since it was written in the 1960s by a white dude, there’s some weird gender stuff, particularly when it comes to descriptions of Lady Jessica and the Fremen women. There are also a lot of fatphobic descriptions of the Baron Harkonnen that just feel gross. The last half is also not as strong as the first half, and a lot of important action at the end feels skipped over.
All in all, it was a truly epic novel and I loved reading about the Shakespearean-level drama of the Great Houses. Reading the book also made me appreciate how strong the film adaptations are, as Denis Villeneuve makes quite a few significant changes that enhance the story.
Dune Messiah by Frank Herbert
The sequel to Dune is weirder than I expected, and I already knew it would be weird. While the first book is a certified tome, Dune Messiah is a much shorter read (I finished it in less than a week). The sequel takes place twelve years later and follows Paul during his reign as Emperor, as well as a political plot to undermine him.
I was shocked by how much of the plot of Dune Messiah occurs in conversations, as there’s very little action in the novel compared to the first one. There’s also a strange romance subplot that will make the Internet go insane whenever the film adaptation comes out.
While I enjoyed it, I found that Dune Messiah lacks the specific je-ne-sais-quoi that makes the first novel so incredible. I’ve heard the rest of the series is diminishing returns from here on out, so for now, my Dune journey is complete.
Cue The Sun!: The Invention of Reality TV by Emily Nussbaum
The major non-fiction tome I read this summer was Cue The Sun!: The Invention of Reality TV by acclaimed New Yorker television critic Emily Nussbaum. I loved this book so much that I wrote a long review of it here, but here’s the TLDR.
Cue The Sun! is one of the first journalistic histories of reality television as a distinct genre. It traces how the roots of reality can be found in radio programs of the 1940s and 1950s, before it came of age during the 1970s and 1980s in shows like An American Family and COPS.
The book dives most deeply into the reality boom of the 1990s and 2000s with shows like The Real World, Survivor and Big Brother. I loved reading about the early seasons of these shows, which established the format and conventions of competition shows and docu-soaps for decades to come.
The book is incredibly informative but never boring, thanks to Nussbaum’s compelling writing style. Overall, if you love reality shows from the early 2000s or are a television history nerd in general, Cue The Sun! is essential reading.
What I’ve Been Watching
Summer Movie Speed Round
I SAW THE TV GLOW has great ideas with imperfect execution. Ditto for KINDS OF KINDNESS, although I love the sheer balls of it. THE BIKERIDERS looks cool, but I keep forgetting I saw it.
HIT MAN and LONGLEGS aren’t as good as everyone says they are. DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE is as bad as everyone says it is. ALIEN: ROMULUS made me wish I was watching the two original films instead.
Hot take alert: MAXXXINE is the best installment in Ti West’s horror trilogy. TWISTERS is not an amazing film, but a great summer movie. INSIDE OUT 2 made me cry in a theatre while I was surrounded by literal children.
Sing Sing (Dir. Greg Kwedar)
Is it too early to call Sing Sing the best film of the year? Directed by Greg Kwedar, this film focuses on incarcerated men as they put on a play through the prison’s Rehabilitation Through The Arts (RTA) program. While Colman Domingo stars, the rest of the film’s actors are men who participated in the real RTA program playing themselves.
Sing Sing is not only an incredible tribute to the power of the arts but also a testament to how true healing occurs through being vulnerable with other people. While the film could have just as easily come across as inspirational schlock, it wisely acknowledges the failures of the so-called “justice” system.
On a craft level, the performances are truly amazing, as is the gorgeous cinematography. However, the script itself might be the highlight for me: I haven’t encountered such beautiful writing in a contemporary film in a while. I cried multiple times, so make sure to bring some tissues.
Dìdi (弟弟) (Dir. Sean Wang)
Another contender for one of the best films of 2024 is Sean Wang’s directorial feature-length debut Dìdi. The film follows a 13-year-old Taiwanese-American boy named Chris during the summer of 2008 as he navigates friendships, romance and a lot of instant messaging.
The greatest aspect of this film is its specificity. The mid-aughts tone is captured perfectly through the characters’ clothing choices (DGK ALL DAY) and soundtrack (Hellogoodbye). I also really appreciated how the film showcases the strained yet loving dynamic of the family, particularly the relationship between Chris and his mom (Joan Chen’s Oscar campaign starts NOW!)
This film is likely to resonate most with the mini generation of people who are too young to be millennials, but too old to click with Gen Z. Overall, this would be a great “Middle School Hell” triple bill alongside Eighth Grade and Welcome to the Dollhouse. Go see it!
The Sympathizer (Dir. Park Chan-wook, Fernando Meirelles and Marc Munden)
I’m shocked that more people aren’t talking about The Sympathizer, especially considering the scarcity of good new scripted series airing right now. Adapted from the 2015 novel of the same name by Vietnamese-American writer Viet Thanh Nguyen, it’s one of the best mini-series I’ve watched in years.
The show focuses on a French-Vietnamese man named the Captain, who’s working as an undercover spy for the communist North following the fall of Saigon in 1975. He’s forced to flee the country to the United States, where he continues to send information back to Vietnam, but feels his loyalty tested between the two countries.
The show is amazingly shot, a fact that shouldn’t be surprising considering the first three episodes were directed by auteur Korean filmmaker Park Chan-wook. Robert Downey Jr. shines in multiple roles, playing all the main white characters in a form of meta-commentary on Hollywood casting. Still, it’s Hoa Xuande who completely steals the show through his electric performance as the Captain.
The show is incredibly politically complex and nuanced, a fact that I highly appreciated. I’m not a war history buff at all and I loved this series. While it dips a bit in the middle, the first and last episodes are some of the best TV you’ll see this year.
What I’ve Been Listening To
Brat - Charli XCX
As a longtime Charli XCX fan, I was looking forward to her sixth studio album, but I couldn’t have predicted the mainstream crossover appeal and meme-ification of it. On Brat, Charli sheds a more contrived version of herself to reveal a more real and raw one, both sonically and lyrically.
The main thing about the album that I love is the sheer energy of it. It’s impossible to hear “Club Classics,” “Talk Talk” or “Von Dutch” and not immediately start fist-bumping. Plus, the vulnerability of a song like “So I,” a tribute to her long-time collaborator Sophie who passed away in 2021, is a demonstration of the most authentic emotion in pop music currently.
While I think Brat contains some of Charli’s best tracks, I think it also features some real duds. Charli’s vulnerability works less well in songs like “Rewind” and “I Think About It All The Time” which lyrically go from confessional to cringe. Also, “Apple” is exceptionally mid (someone had to be brave enough to say it!)
Brat is definitely in the upper echelon of Charli’s releases, but I feel like some of the rougher and more interesting edges of her music were sanded down for it. The experimental vibe of How I’m Feeling Now and the nods to pop history past of Crash were certainly more complex musically, but who can deny the immediate appeal of sexy dance club bangers? All in all, I’m ready to work it out on the Sweat Tour when I get to see her live next month!
Screen Drafts
If you love movies and can’t stand being alone with your thoughts, Screen Drafts is the perfect podcast for you. With episodes that regularly span 3-4 hours, Screen Drafts is a podcast where guests competitively rank films in specific categories like actors, directors, subgenres and release years.
The most fun part of the podcast is that it’s a game. Guests are granted “blessings” where they are allowed to veto certain films if they want to. The mix of tastes leads to fun clashes, like in the recent 1994 episode where one guest defended Forrest Gump before another used a veto against it in a passionate diatribe.
While the episode lengths might seem daunting, I’d suggest starting with a topic you’re interested in to see if you like the energy. Recent episodes like “Booed at Cannes,” “Lesbians” or “Retail Hell” would also be great places to start. If you prefer chaos, check out the legendary 6-hour Pixar Superdraft.
Bandsplain
Bandsplain is another great multi-hour pop culture history podcast. Hosted by Yasi Salek, the show features a series of rotating guests (usually celebrated music writers, such as Rob Harvilla and Hanif Abdurraqib) who explain the history and appeal of a cult band. The show tends to mostly cover rock bands from the 1990s and 2000s, although there are exceptions.
What makes this podcast so great is Salek’s down-to-earth personality, enthusiasm for music and encyclopedic knowledge of alt-rock. It’s refreshing to listen to a music history podcast hosted by a woman, especially one who isn’t afraid to push back against standard Music Dude opinions. Search the podcast feed to find an episode about a band you like and go from there!