Happy Friday! Welcome back to Jacob’s Letter, a pop culture newsletter with bad puns and funny dog photos.
A lot happened this week and I ran out of time to cover it all, so we’ll just hit the highlights today.
Review: Much ‘Undoing’ about nothing
It’s easy to write reviews for things you hate. It’s hard to write reviews for things you love. It’s hardest to write reviews for things you think are fair-to-middling, but have the potential to be great. Fair-to-middling is where I fall on HBO’s “The Undoing,” but I’m still glad a prestige legal drama is somewhat of a hit in 2020. Read my review of the first three episodes here.
Winter Wonder Woman
“Wonder Woman 1984” will come out in theaters and on HBO Max this Christmas, Warner Bros. announced this week. This is a big deal — it’s the first time a major studio has ever released a tentpole film on streaming and in theaters simultaneously. Read more about the implications for film distribution here.
It’s the Public Broadcasting System, Charlie Brown
After causing a minor controversy in October when it put “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” behind its streaming service paywall, Apple TV+ announced this week that it will partner with PBS to continue to air the remaining two Peanuts holiday specials ad-free. This year was the first time in Peanuts history that there was no public broadcast of “Great Pumpkin.”
Read more here about Apple TV+’s acquisition of the Peanuts properties and why the constant shuffling of streaming titles is terrible for consumers.
Islands in the Stream
“Islands in the Stream” is where I’ll discuss any and all happenings on the streaming front every week, since there’s so much of it now. While you’re here, read my deep dive for WFAA about how diverse the streaming landscape is becoming and read my in-depth analysis of Disney+ and take a look at my reviews of Quibi (R.I.P.), Pure Flix and HBO Max.
This week:
Conan O’Brien is leaving TBS for HBO Max next year. This caps an 11-year run on TBS after NBC handed him Jay Leno’s spot and then…gave Jay Leno his own show again.
A little company called Sony has acquired Pure Flix, the “Christian Netflix” responsible for films like “God’s Not Dead.” I never want to hear about how the American Christian has been “persecuted” and “marginalized” in the entertainment industry ever again.
Read my in-depth look at Pure Flix here.
Letter of Recommendation
What I’m reading: “The Only Good Indians”
Taylor and I just finished reading “The Only Good Indians” by Stephen Graham Jones. It’s a grisly horror novel, but it uses the horror genre to comment on the lives of Native Americans in a compassionate way. The ending especially is very touching and hopeful. It was perfect to read aloud — Jones’ prose has a way of making you slow down and read carefully and ponder his turns of phrase and unique sense of humor. It’s great for this time of year.
Friday News Dump
A list of online writing I really liked this week:
I remember reading this a long time ago, but a Pearl Jam fan group I follow shared it again and I did an archive deepdive. I love the Honolulu Advertiser and I love this story about how Hawai’i’s own Boom Gaspar went from Eddie Vedder’s surfing buddy to a touring keyboardist (and now studio musician) for Pearl Jam. (via Derek Paiva in the Honolulu Advertiser, now the Honolulu Star-Advertiser)
Martin Scorsese turned 78 this week. It always irks me when people write his filmography off as nothing but gangster movies, because his whole career has been about the ways we try to find God in different places. (via Alissa Wilkinson in Vox)
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!
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!
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See you next week,
Jake