Here are five things that UrbanDaddy editors will be getting into this weekend. We call it... the UD
Five.
A Bigger Splash
“You’ve seen I Am Love, right? Tilda Swinton casually speaking fluent Italian, playing the Russian-born matriarch of a rich, generously cheekboned family that comes together for her husband’s birthday party, which is what undoes them all, slowly and then spectacularly? And the whole movie was written around swelling bits of music by John Adams? And there’s that one scene when her life changes when she has a bite of prawns, and you know this because of the lighting and her eyes? If no, you haven’t seen this, Netflix shall provide. If yes, please proceed to A Bigger Splash (pictured), the next film from I Am Love director Luca Guadagnino and Ms. Swinton about rich people falling beautifully apart in Italy. I’ll be catching it this Friday night, the perfect antidote to summer-blockbuster buffoonery. (Then I’ll see some summer-blockbuster buffoonery.)” —Lonny Pugh
Bloodline on Netflix
“Season 2 of Bloodline premieres this weekend on Netflix, and I’m pretty excited about that for a few reasons. The first of which is that it’s Bloodline, and Bloodline is a great show. Another is that either Danny comes back from the dead, or the whole thing is filled with flashbacks (hopefully the former, probably the latter), because Ben Mendelsohn is all over the trailer. I’m sort of pissed though, too, because I’m going to be out of town this weekend, which means that I’ll have to catch up long after everyone else has already binged on it and spewed spoilers everywhere. It also occurs to me that that last part was a pretty sad societal commentary on many levels. Oh well. Worth it.” —Kelly Larson
Hystopia by David Means
“I’ve got a long flight ahead of me on Saturday, and I’ve been looking for just the right book in which to lose myself for a few sweet hours before I manage to fall asleep. Means’s first novel has remained high on my summer reading list since it came out a little more than a month ago, so it seemed like the natural choice. The hook (I’m hesitant to say ‘gimmick’) is the eponymous book-within-a-book that presents an alternative version of American history, wherein JFK survives his assassination and goes on to win two more terms, only to establish a ‘Psych Corps’ to deal with our national trauma following the Vietnam War. Impatient reader/person that I am, I dipped in for a little taste last night—and found it difficult to stop. Here’s to hoping I’ll be able to save at least 150 pages or so for the trip...” —Sam Eichner
“Whatever I Want” by Classixx Featuring T-Pain
“I’m a Smiths nut. Ask anyone who knows me. They’ll tell you. ‘Shut up about the Smiths already.’ At least that’s what they tell me. So it’s exciting that LA electronic DJ duo Classixx have recreated a classic Smiths video for their new single, ‘Whatever I Want.’ The song features T-Pain doing his Auto-Tune crooning, and it’s as far from the Smiths as you’d think. But the video, directed by Daniel Pappas using a GoPro, is nearly shot for shot ‘Stop Me if You Think You’ve Heard This One Before,’ with T-Pain playing the role of Morrissey and sunny East LA playing the role of rainy Salford, England. If that isn’t worth three minutes of your time this weekend, nothing is.” —Chris LaMorte
Night Sky with Exit Wounds by Ocean Vuong
“I first read a poem by this rising young poet last week—something I had come across in the Times’ ongoing series ‘A Picture and a Poem’ (which, if you haven’t already, you should check out). I was immediately transfixed by Ocean’s way with words. Just really devastating and beautiful. This is his first full-length book of poetry, a still-relatively-short collection that centers on themes of love, violence, war, memories, all that good stuff. I read half of it whilst blocking the checkout at the bookstore because I couldn’t tear it away from my face. When I did tear it away from my face, I was crying. So, yeah, I guess you could say I recommend it. And that I need to learn how to conduct myself in public.” —Ilana Dadras
A Bigger Splash
“You’ve seen I Am Love, right? Tilda Swinton casually speaking fluent Italian, playing the Russian-born matriarch of a rich, generously cheekboned family that comes together for her husband’s birthday party, which is what undoes them all, slowly and then spectacularly? And the whole movie was written around swelling bits of music by John Adams? And there’s that one scene when her life changes when she has a bite of prawns, and you know this because of the lighting and her eyes? If no, you haven’t seen this, Netflix shall provide. If yes, please proceed to A Bigger Splash (pictured), the next film from I Am Love director Luca Guadagnino and Ms. Swinton about rich people falling beautifully apart in Italy. I’ll be catching it this Friday night, the perfect antidote to summer-blockbuster buffoonery. (Then I’ll see some summer-blockbuster buffoonery.)” —Lonny Pugh
Bloodline on Netflix
“Season 2 of Bloodline premieres this weekend on Netflix, and I’m pretty excited about that for a few reasons. The first of which is that it’s Bloodline, and Bloodline is a great show. Another is that either Danny comes back from the dead, or the whole thing is filled with flashbacks (hopefully the former, probably the latter), because Ben Mendelsohn is all over the trailer. I’m sort of pissed though, too, because I’m going to be out of town this weekend, which means that I’ll have to catch up long after everyone else has already binged on it and spewed spoilers everywhere. It also occurs to me that that last part was a pretty sad societal commentary on many levels. Oh well. Worth it.” —Kelly Larson
Hystopia by David Means
“I’ve got a long flight ahead of me on Saturday, and I’ve been looking for just the right book in which to lose myself for a few sweet hours before I manage to fall asleep. Means’s first novel has remained high on my summer reading list since it came out a little more than a month ago, so it seemed like the natural choice. The hook (I’m hesitant to say ‘gimmick’) is the eponymous book-within-a-book that presents an alternative version of American history, wherein JFK survives his assassination and goes on to win two more terms, only to establish a ‘Psych Corps’ to deal with our national trauma following the Vietnam War. Impatient reader/person that I am, I dipped in for a little taste last night—and found it difficult to stop. Here’s to hoping I’ll be able to save at least 150 pages or so for the trip...” —Sam Eichner
“Whatever I Want” by Classixx Featuring T-Pain
“I’m a Smiths nut. Ask anyone who knows me. They’ll tell you. ‘Shut up about the Smiths already.’ At least that’s what they tell me. So it’s exciting that LA electronic DJ duo Classixx have recreated a classic Smiths video for their new single, ‘Whatever I Want.’ The song features T-Pain doing his Auto-Tune crooning, and it’s as far from the Smiths as you’d think. But the video, directed by Daniel Pappas using a GoPro, is nearly shot for shot ‘Stop Me if You Think You’ve Heard This One Before,’ with T-Pain playing the role of Morrissey and sunny East LA playing the role of rainy Salford, England. If that isn’t worth three minutes of your time this weekend, nothing is.” —Chris LaMorte
Night Sky with Exit Wounds by Ocean Vuong
“I first read a poem by this rising young poet last week—something I had come across in the Times’ ongoing series ‘A Picture and a Poem’ (which, if you haven’t already, you should check out). I was immediately transfixed by Ocean’s way with words. Just really devastating and beautiful. This is his first full-length book of poetry, a still-relatively-short collection that centers on themes of love, violence, war, memories, all that good stuff. I read half of it whilst blocking the checkout at the bookstore because I couldn’t tear it away from my face. When I did tear it away from my face, I was crying. So, yeah, I guess you could say I recommend it. And that I need to learn how to conduct myself in public.” —Ilana Dadras
