🪖 good for absolutely nothin' — s3e3
this is...
/ˈfo͞ofəˌrô/
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a great deal of fuss or attention given to a minor matter
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The Media Guide - a weekly report out of all the new tv, albums, comics, and movies worth checking out
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Weekend Edition - a weekly zine featuring contributions of criticism, essays, webcomics, fiction, art, and more
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Review of Links - a twice weekly analysis and commentary of the news across tv, albums, comics, and movies for paid [+] subscribers
Published by The Independent Variable
Well hello there, aren't you looking sharp on this dreary Monday afternoon.
There's actually some pretty exciting stuff to touch on in this issue, which always makes it more fun to put together. Movies are the only area really lacking; last Friday's albums were surprisingly great and I'm pretty confident there's some stuff that will be new to you and worth checking out. Plus one big new show and two big new comics along with some returning favorites.
This Friday will also be the debut of our third contributor with a pretty epic piece of art. I'll wait to introduce our new artist in that issue. So until then, enjoy the bounty of this weeks media.
New Shows
Griselda (Netflix) — 25 Jan
From the people behind Narcos and starring SofÃa Vergara. Interesting... Netflix is always hit or huuuuuge miss when it comes to shows like this, imo...
Expats (Amazon) — 26 Jan
Including this here, just to say I won't be watching it. I don't really have any interest plus it's on Amazon. That being said, if you do end up checking it out and liking it, let me know. It does at least have Nicole Kidman.
Masters of the Air (Apple) — 26 Jan
This is the big release of the week. Apple is starting to prove they own Friday's in the same way HBO owns Sunday's and I think this is only helping to cement that. If you aren't familiar, this is the latest show in the Tom Hanks / Steven Spielberg Band of Brothers war series'.
The Schedule
Days based on streaming availability for the majority of people
Tuesday
Criminal Record (Apple) 1:4
Death and Other Details (Hulu) 1:3
Thursday
Griselda (Netflix) S1
Friday
Hazbin Hotel (Amazon) 1:5-6
The Woman in the Wall (Showtime) 1:2
Masters of the Air (Apple) 1:1-2
Sunday
Monsieur Spade (AMC) 1:3
True Detective (HBO) 4:3
This week is a great example of why music is the one section of this newsletter that looks backward instead of forward. If I had to talk about these albums last week, I would've maybe been able to mention three of them and would have completely missed all three of my favorite releases. All of the first three albums listed below had been the "release of the week" at one point or another while putting this together.
Release of the Week
💽 Melt the Honey — PACKS
Chill, laid-back, jazzy, modern alternative psychadelia? Yeah that's a lot, but all I really know is this is a terrific album. The perfect kind of record to sit in your favorite chair, put on your nice headphones, close your eyes, and just vibe out for awhile.
Other Releases
Going Through It — Eliza Mclamb
Eliza Mclamb feels like a good mix of Waxahatchee and Olivia Rodrigo, albeit a bit more on the soft, airy side of things. I really dig Eliza's sound and it's very much worth checking out. Mythologize Me almost has an early country-esque T-Swift cadence to it's chorus—so that's as good a place to start as any.
It's Sorted — Cheekface
Never heard of Cheekface before checking this out, but they have a fun Cake meets Mountain Goats vibe.
Little Rope — Sleater-Kinney
plastic death — glass beach
The Joy of Sects — Chemtrails
Saviors — Green Day
EKKSTACY — EKKSTACY
No. 1s
Crashdown (Whatnot) #1
I'm a huge Ben Templesmith fan so I'm so exicted to see his art grace the pages of comics again, even if it comes from Whatnot Publishing...
Ghost Machine (Image) #1
Ghost Machine is the new Image imprint from Geoff Johns, Gary Frank, and many others. They are launching a little superhero universe on the back of their previous Image effort, Geiger, which I finally read recently and it was pretty great.
Quested (Massive) #1
the best
Rumpus Room (AWA) #5
Final issue of this absolutely terrific mini-series from writer Mark Russell.
Bone Orchard Mythos: Tenement (Image) #8
Continues to be some of Lemire and Sorrentino's best work.
Newburn (Image) #14
Dracula (Skybound) #4
Zawa + The Belly of the Beast (Boom) #3
Faceless and the Family (Oni) #3
Hexagon Bridge (Image) #5
Damn Them All (Image) #12
The Holy Roller (Image) #3
the rest
Detective Comics (DC) #1081
G.O.D.S. (Marvel) #4
Batman: The Brave and the Bold (DC) #9
The Immortal Thor (Marvel) #6
The Penguin (DC) #6
Harley Quinn (DC) #36
X-Force (Marvel) #48
Miller's Girl
Not sure it is really worth mentioning any movies this week, but this one has a pretty solid cast, led by Jenna Ortega and Martin Freeman. It has a bit of Secret Window meets Wild Things vibes, maybe? So do with that what you will.
Hopefully you found this week as exciting as I did.
Also, if you've made it this far, let me know if including trailers in the email are actually worth it for you. I've been thinking of doing one image (like I do with comics and albums) for tv and movies instead and just linking out to the trailers instead of the "embed" Buttondown offers. I don't think they actually play within the email anyways...
Apologies for any typos, the spellcheck on my mac doesn't seem to want to make an appearance...
That's a wrap!
Stay sane,
—humdrum