Coming soon...
the newsletter is back!
Greetings from Day 127 of working from home. This is just a quick note to say that I am still working on this newsletter…just a little less frequently than before. I am currently working on an all-“Fast and Furious”-themed edition featuring words from some of my friends (and family). It’s gonna be fun.
Also on the docket: an “Avatar: The Last Airbender” newsletter, a “Sahara” newsletter and a country music newsletter.
I’ve been staying busy. Doing a lot of introspection about race and power and privilege and how I can combat the racial injustices of this world through my work and in my everyday life. Been wearing masks and washing my hands and making sure I still have a day job to go back to whenever we can all go back to the office. Trying to go easier on myself and others.
I’ve also been writing a lot at work and freelancing, though. Here’s a little bit of what I’ve written in the last few months:
At the beginning of the pandemic, I talked to local drive-in theaters about how they’re the only moviegoing game in town
I’ve been flexing my affidavit/lawsuit muscles more frequently. I’m covering an ongoing discrimination lawsuit against my alma mater and I wrote this article about why 8 Dallas-area bars are suing Texas Gov. Greg Abbott
I helped cover the first night of protests against police killings in Dallas and Forth Worth (remotely)
The editors of two of my favorite film publications, Birth.Movies.Death. and Fangoria, went on strike in retaliation against their Dallas-based parent company's inaction against sexual assault allegations and are now defunct. I covered the Dallas angle on that story for work.
Over at Book & Film Globe, I wrote about why streaming service Quibi is a bunch of nonsense, even in these pandemic times; reviewed the intriguing new HBO show “RUN'“; examined the VOD vs. theatrical release debate and looked at why it’s just history repeating itself from 1948 with the Paramount Decrees; chronicled the long road “Tenet” must travel before it gets released (now slated for an Aug. 12 release- we’ll see); took a look at all the new shows on HBO Max (which you still can’t get on Amazon Fire or Roku, because capitalism); wrote about why I was deeply disappointed in Netflix’s “Space Force”; made the argument that you should view John Krasinski’s feel-good “Some Good News” as a start-up and not a happy news show; pondered what a primetime free of police procedurals might look like; covered the latest mask controversies at AMC and other movie theater chains; made a list of films and TV shows made by Black directors or starring Black actors that aren’t traumatizing and don’t explicitly make race the main focus of the movie, because Black peple deserve to have pop culture that highlights all parts of their lives, not just the parts that deal with racism and polcie brutality; and finally, I did a deep dive on the many privacy failings of TikTok.
Anyway, hope everyone’s staying safe. To paraphrase Dom Toretto, money comes and goes, but the most important things in life will always be the people you love. Be on the lookout for that “Fast and Furious” newsletter in your inbox soon!
This newsletter is written by me and edited by my favorite person, Taylor Tompkins. Views expressed here are my own and don’t reflect the opinions of my employer, yadda yadda yadda.
If there’s anything you want to see covered in a future newsletter, let me know!
You can find me in other corners of the internet as well, if you so choose. There’s my personal website (which focuses on pop culture, faith and my journalism clips), a Twitter account and a Letterboxd account. Subscribe away.
See you soon,
Jake