Hail Hydra: Cut one cord, and another one shows up
We're about to enter the Silo Age of Streaming
A new streaming service for dogs, coming this fall: OpalVision, starting at $7.99/month
Welcome back to Jacob’s Letter, a free pop culture newsletter full of puns and badly-PhotoShopped dog photos. This week’s issue will feature more country music news, a “Toy Story 4” review, a recap of the Jason Isbell/Father John Misty show I saw Thursday night, and the big news: Everybody’s getting a streaming service, and the consumer is who’s going to lose in the long run.
But first, some housekeeping. This newsletter will now be published every Monday morning, in an attempt to reach more people and to give myself more time to write throughout the week.
And, second, a question: How do y’all relax or mentally prepare yourselves for the day? If I don’t spend a little bit out of each day alone in contemplation or prayer, whether that’s reading the Bible, going for a long walk with Opal, journaling my thoughts, listening to a homily, praying the Examen (I highly recommend Fr. James Martin’s Examen podcast), using a meditation app, or some combination of the above, I can definitely feel a difference in my mindset throughout the day. (What a concept, I know.) This past week I’ve been better about being more consistent with that aspect of my life, and I feel more calm and peaceful.
What do you do to tend to your mental health? Let me know!
Cut the cord, and three more strands show up
“The Office” is leaving Netflix in 2021, much to the chagrin of fans who somehow haven’t finished a show that ended in 2013. There’s a lot to unpack with this news, from the decline in DVD sales to the rise of entitled fan culture to the growing siloed landscape of streaming networks to the high cost of streaming networks, and I went long on all of it for work over at WFAA.com. Check out that link to read more!
Movie review: Toy’s search for meaning
I saw “Toy Story 4” in its opening weekend, and while I can’t say it’s my favorite of the franchise, I am still thinking about it. In my review at jakeharrisblog.com, I tie the whole thing back to the work of Viktor Frankl and what it means to search for meaning. Click the link to read more.
My rating: 3 Duke Caboom jumps out of 5.
‘Jason Isbell's here as well/And he seemed a little worried about you’
Taylor and I saw Father John Misty and Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit Thursday night in Irving at the Toyota Music Factory. The venue didn’t really impress me that much. The hybrid amphitheater-arena setup confused me. Just pick whether you want to be outside or inside, it ain’t that hard. But we had good seats, and we were far enough away from the speakers that the sound didn’t blow our ears out, so I’ll call that a win.
Related: Jason Isbell, Amanda Shires, Shinyribs and John Moreland shine in Day 1 of Old Settler’s Fest
Seeing both FJM and Isbell and his band on the same bill reminded me a lot of when I saw Hank Williams, Jr. and Chris Stapleton together back in Austin. Again, here are two acts that don’t have a lot in common with each other, save for the fact that FJM mentions Isbell in passing on a song (“Mr. Tillman”) and that the perils of alcoholism factor into their music. But it worked, with FJM’s tongue-in-cheek pretentiousness balancing out Isbell’s earnestness.
Highlights of the show: Hearing “Pure Comedy” and “I Love You Honeybear” live; seeing Amanda Shires playing the fiddle (previous reports indicated she wouldn’t be here for this show); hearing a new Isbell song, “Overseas”; the 400 Unit’s cover of Fleetwood Mac’s “Oh Well.” I’ve seen them four times live now, and it never gets old. If this tour is coming through your city, go see it.
Long time gone
The trio is teaming up with producer Jack Antonoff for the new tunes, which they announced via the Snapchat baby filter on an Instagram post June 25. (What a wild sentence to type, lemme tell ya.)
More: ‘Woman Walk the Line’ book highlights the influence of women in country music
All they said is that the new album is coming “someday,” so it might be a while. But if “Taking the Long Way” was a biting commentary, imagine what they’re going to do today.
I miss the old Miranda, straight from the go Miranda
Speaking of new country music releases, Miranda Lambert has confirmed she is hard at work on her follow-up to her 2016 album “The Weight of These Wings”— and she’s shaking things up on the producer front for the first time in her career.
Per Saving Country Music, she’s parting ways with longtime producer Frank Liddell and tapped Jay Joyce to produce her next album.
More: 11 acts, 4 hours, 1 big party: The 2016 iHeartCountry Festival, featuring Miranda Lambert
Liddell’s output has mainly focused on independent, less mainstream artists, sez SCM:
Frank Liddell specializes in producing the women of country music, as well as Texas artists, and others that are a little right or left of center of the country mainstream. Liddell helped produce the Pistol Annies records as well, early material from Brandi Carlile and stepdaughter Aubrie Sellers, his wife Lee Ann Womack of course, and the last two records from Kellie Pickler, including 100 Proof. David Nail, Stoney LaRue, Chris Knight, and Wade Bowen also have worked with Liddell. His style is thought to be less sales pitch and pastiche, and more substance, making him unique in Nashville.
Joyce, on the other hand, produced all of Eric Church’s albums, Ashley McBryde’s “Girl Going Nowhere,” Brandy Clark’s “Big Day in a Small Town” and both Brothers Osborne records, among others. This is part of an effort to go back to her rock-country roots, with a producer known for being a bit of a rocker outlaw on Music Row.
Expect her next album to be more “Kerosene” and less “House That Built Me.”
Trailer Park
Want more trailer news for all the movies coming out this summer? I have just the thing: Read my summer movie preview here at jakeharrisblog.com.
“Queen and Slim”
It took me two watches of this trailer to recognize Sturgill Simpson as the cop who gets shot because I was so captivated by Daniel Kaluuya and Jodie Turner-Smith.
(Speaking of Kaluuya, what a run of films this guy has had. “Sicario.” “Get Out.”" “Black Panther.” “Widows.” And now this, which looks like a singular vision.)
Melina Matsoukas makes her feature film debut with a script from Lena Waithe and James Frey (yes, that’s fabricated “A Million Little Pieces” James Frey) about a first date that turns deadly in a modern-day update to “Bonnie and Clyde.” This whole thing reads like a Mad Lib that shouldn’t work, but I hope it does.
“Stranger Things: Season 3”
I wasn’t as sold on season 2 as most people were, but I still enjoyed it. From the looks of this trailer, it seems that season 3 will be the most fully aesthetically realized of the series, for better or for worse.
More: Some Internet genius combined Childish Gambino and ‘Stranger Things’
Someone smarter than me has probably written a treatise on this show’s mashup of Stephen King and Steven Spielberg and the way “Stranger Things” has exasperated our current culture’s fascination with ‘80s culture and our relentless need to wax nostalgic about a decade that wasn’t as fantastic as this show would have you believe, but hey, the show is fun. I’ll probably watch a lot of it on my upcoming flight to Tennessee. Hopefully poor Will Byers catches a break this season.
“The Current War”
“It’s not currents…it’s currency!” Tom Holland with sideburns! Michael Shannon! I love everyone involved in this (and will watch pretty much anything Shannon is in) but I liked this better when it was called “The Prestige.”
“The Good Liar”
A thriller/con artist caper starring Sir Ian McKellen and Dame Helen Mirren and directed by Bill Condon. I’ve heard there are more twists that this trailer lets on. Color me intrigued.
“Charlie’s Angels”
Oh boy, another remake. (I also think it was kind of messed up that this was released during the week of the 10th anniversary of Farrah Fawcett’s death.)
Letter of Recommendation
Movie: I love noir films. Sunday was the last day of availability for the Criterion Channel’s “Columbia Noir” series, which highlighted 12 noir films from Columbia Pictures from 1942-1965 in one easy-to-access package. The grouping was a starter collection when the streaming service debuted in the spring, and I’ve enjoyed watching these short, powerful crime films. Some of my favorites of the bunch include “My Name is Julia Ross,” “So Dark the Night,” “The Big Heat,” “Drive a Crooked Road” and “In a Lonely Place.”
Music: The bucolic Kentucky songsmith Tyler Childers just signed a new record deal and has a new album, “Country Squire,” coming in August. “All Your’n,” the second single, is a departure from Childers’ normal sound. There’s piano, organ and a lazy R&B groove hanging out in the background as Childers fills out the song with his familiar drawl. This album’s one of my most anticipated music releases this year, of any genre.
Video game: It’s been almost a year since I got it for my birthday, and I’m still finding cool things to do in “The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.” It’s the perfect game to pick up and play for a few minutes and set aside, then come back to later. A sequel was recently announced; I’ll probably still be playing the original by the time the second is released.
Friday News Dump
A list of online stuff I really liked this week:
This oral history of the “Not great, Bob!” line from “Mad Men” that has since turned into a meme brought me so much joy (via Whitney Friedlander in Vulture)
This longform essay on leaving the Catholic Church is potent and moving (via Kathleen McKitty Harris in Longreads)
Men should talk to each other on the phone more, and I’m including myself in that grouping (via Scott Greenstone in the Seattle Times)
I had always enjoyed Demi Adejuyigbe’s Twitter jokes and Vine videos and appearances on podcasts, but had never known much about him until I read this profile of him in The Ringer, which also makes me feel a kindred spirit in how I consumed pop culture as a kid (via Brian Raftery in The Ringer)
To bring everything in this newsletter full circle, someone spent two years shooting a live action version of “Toy Story” on home video. It’s available to watch on YouTube. I haven’t watched the whole thing but I admire the dedication. (via JP and Beyond on YouTube)
That’s all, folks. If you liked what you saw here, click that subscribe button (promise I won’t send any annoying emails) and tell all your friends!
If there’s anything you want to see covered in a future newsletter, let me know!
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See you next week,
Jake