Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Lisa Frankenstein, and Maestro.
Week 170.
Hello hello! Are we all paying attention to the stingray?? I cannot look away. Here’s a recap of my week:
Things I Read
Books
If you’re looking for a book to read, try this list of contemporary romance recs, this list of other fiction recs, or this list of non-fiction recs. I also track everything I read on Goodreads.
Glossy: Ambition, Beauty, and the Inside Story of Emily Weiss’s Glossier by Marisa Meltzer: I remember watching Emily Weiss on The Hills, I remember reading Top Shelf on Into the Gloss, and I remember when Glossier launched, so I was really the target demo for this book. I wanted this to be more about the brand, but it was really a book about Emily. The author did several interviews with Emily over the course of a couple of years. We follow her through her early career, starting Into the Gloss, and then starting Glossier. I found this interesting enough, but if you’re not already interested in Emily or Glossier this will do nothing for you. I listened to the audiobook and the narrator annoyed me a little bit…she kept pronouncing brand names wrong! Every time she said Diptique incorrectly I wanted to scream a little. Overall I wanted this to be more than it was…it could have just been a long Vanity Fair article honestly.
Articles
The Day I Put $50,000 in a Shoe Box and Handed It to a Stranger: I cannot get over this story about how this woman got scammed into giving away $50,000??? She is a FINANCIAL COLUMNIST. Extremely brave of this woman to admit this publicly. I’ve seen this all over the internet this week, with everyone arguing about whether or not this would happen to them, and I would just like to state for the record that this would never happen to me (because I don’t have $50,000). This is a wild read.
Things I Watched
TV
If you’re looking for a show to watch, try this list.
Mr. & Mrs. Smith (Prime Video): Uhhhhhhh this is so good??? It’s SO good. I have never seen the original movie and I didn’t really know what to expect from this but I loved it. This stars Maya Erskine and Donald Glover (HOT!!!!!) as two people who get hired to be secret agents for a mysterious corporation. They’re paired together as a married couple and get sent around the world to complete dangerous missions. This is like part rom com, part spy thriller and it was so fun. They are both so good in this and they especially good together, incredible chemistry. I’ve seen Maya do comedy in several things (Pen15!!! Incredible show) but I really thought she was great in this more serious role. I loved how they were styled, they just look so cool the whole time. Each episode has them on a different mission and they’re in all these amazing places so it was a really beautiful show to look at. This was so compelling, I could not turn it off, the ending had me on the edge of my seat, heart RACING. This was so good!!!! I hope they make more, I would absolutely watch more, this ruled.
Movies
Lisa Frankenstein (theaters): This is so absurd and I kind of loved it? Stick with me here: it stars Kathyrn Newton as a high school girl in the 80s who has a crush on a Victorian Era boy (Cole Sprouse) buried in the cemetery near her house. When his reanimated corpse inexplicably shows up at her door, the two of them go on a murderous journey to help him come back to life. This is like a horror rom com, and it honestly made me laugh. It’s written by Diablo Cody, who wrote Juno and then horror cult classic Jennifer’s Body. This is just a silly, goofy time. The aesthetic here is 80s neon bubble gum pop and it was so fun to look at. Kathryn Newton and Cole Sprouse both really lean in and commit to the bit and I appreciated that. This is probably not for everyone because it is quite ridiculous, but I thought it was funny and fun.
Maestro (Netflix): This was a bit of a snoozefest for me unfortunately. This has seven Oscar noms (Picture, Actor (Bradley Cooper), Actress (Carey Mulligan), Screenplay, Makeup, Sound and Cinematography) and is a biopic about Leonard Bernstein. I came in not knowing very much about him and I feel like I left over two hours later still not knowing very much about him! I like Carey Mulligan a lot, and I like Bradley Cooper too, and I think they are both decent here but I just don’t really care that much about anything going on here. This is the type of Oscars movie that I understand, because it is well acted and beautiful to look at and generally very well made, but I also don’t think it’s doing anything very interesting. The music is gorgeous, obviously, but this just felt so long. Just not really for me, this movie! I’ll never think about this again, honestly.
Pride & Prejudice (Peacock): A few weeks ago I found out that a movie theater near me was showing this movie and I screamed and bought a ticket faster than I’ve ever bought anything in my LIFE. This is my favorite movie of all time, I watch it constantly, over and over, but I haven’t seen it in a theater since it came out in 2005. I cannot put into words what this movie means to me other than to say that seeing it in the theater when I was 10 was a formative experience in my life. This movie is a foundational text for me. The way this movie makes me feel is why I love movies. I watch it when I’m sick, I watch it when I’m sad, I watch it almost every time it rains. When I went to London in 2022 I took a three hour train by myself to go to one of the houses where they filmed this. The composer of the score has been in my top artists on Spotify for the past decade. This movie means so much to me. Watching it on a big screen was the best. I laughed, I cried, it was the BEST. This is streaming on Peacock right now if you’ve never seen it. You must watch.
Things I Bought
You can read about my full skincare routine and favorite products here. If you need a sunscreen recommendation, try this list.
Sunday Riley Clean Rinse Clarifying Scalp Serum: I just bought my third bottle of this. I use this once or twice a month, and it really makes my hair feel so clean. I rub it into my scalp and let sit for 5-10 minutes before I get in the shower, and then I wash my hair like normal. This really helps get rid of the product build up that comes with the amount of dry shampoo I use, and when I use it consistently I notice a huge difference. I will repurchase this over and over.
One Last Thing…
I made a *giant* list of stuff you should read/watch/listen to if you, like me, are interested in cults. Have fun!!
That’s it for me! This week I am going to watch the new JLo movie (??) and see Dolly Alderton speak and maybe cry. I hope you all have a good week.
TTYL,
Emily
Holy shit. I just read that scam story 😮😮 That was insane!!!