Welcome to another round of things that I think are worth your time! This time around I have things worth clicking and watching, including a roundup of all the Best Books of 2025 (So Far) lists, a traumatizing childhood film, Mafalda, vampires, and so much more!

Last weekend the HBO Max app added the films Sinners and Showgirls and in the spirit of the title of this newsletter I am the audience for both of these wildly different, opposite spectrum films. I chat about Sinners below and while I’m not out here recommending Showgirls necessarily I did add it for a rewatch because the pool scene in that film has never failed to make me laugh until I can’t breathe. I can’t explain it, but if you know you know—and I will always defend things that are so “bad” they turn the corner into good, cult worthy entertainment.

I also randomly came across the romcom What's Your Number?, which I hadn’t seen since it came out so I decided to rewatch it. 1. It is everything that was wrong with the early aughts in one film 2. Anna Faris is always hilarious, she has perfect comedic timing 3. This movie should absolutely be a trivia quiz answer to “Which film has a lot of Marvel heroes before the Marvel studios reign?” 4. From top to bottom, wardrobe included, Chris Evans starts out like such a douche canoe in this  5. I watched the whole thing in one sitting—it was more entertaining than most of the recent things labeled romcoms—and I miss when we had tons of romcoms coming out all the time.  6. I forgot how much I loved Ari Graynor and feel like I just stopped seeing her in things.

And now onto this week’s list!

Click 🖱️

Shocking to absolutely no one, I was a huge Mafalda fan when I was itty-bitty.

“She was a little girl who read the newspaper and had opinions on current events. She cornered her parents with uncomfortable, often bewildering questions, and approached life with bemusement, pondering the mediocrity of the adults crafting the world she would inherit, people who, for the most part, disappointed her but whom she was still generous enough to love.” The Argentinean Comic Strip That Galvanized a Generation

The More You Know

“Which brings me to another core, cruel truth about data. It doesn't give a shit about your original intentions. Your data collection program may be operating with intentions purer than the driven snow, with a degree of moral purity that could stun a biblically-correct angel from 50 yards away.

All of this can be true, and yet, simply because your data exists, that means it can be exploited by a sufficiently motivated bad actor. Call this the Second Law of Data Minimization.” A Brief Ode to Data Minimization

Hands down one of my favorite childhood movies that also terrified and traumatized me! (I once used the Nothing as an explanation in therapy, is all I’m saying.)

“For most millennials [GenX], the scene in which Atreyu’s horse, Artax, sinks and drowns in the Swamps of Sadness—clearly a take, as my viewing partner pointed out, on Bunyan’s Slough of Despond—is an elemental nugget of our collective childhood trauma (just admire this incredible cosplay). And, while it holds up as an unsettling scene, it’s striking to me how much of the rest of the movie is equally frightening and suffused with unnameable sorrow: the Rockbiter’s speech about his ‘big, strong hands’ and his despondent wish for oblivion after he’s unable to save his friends from the Nothing; the laser-eyed Sphinxes at the Southern Oracle, bare-breasted and perversely serene, turning an armored knight to slag and cinders while the twitchy gnome, Engywook (Sydney Bromley), cackles in delight; and of course, the very concept of the Nothing, depicted through darkening skies and howling winds, shredding the scenery while Deep Roy, decked out in Victorian country finery and seated atop a delightfully canine racing snail, cries out in mortal fear.” The NeverEnding Story: Childhood Trauma and the Stories That Change Us

Variety did a nice long profile on Bad Bunny.

“It’s that interrelationship that’s made him a cultural icon among communities long overlooked, including queer Latinos and generations of immigrants who see their complexities reflected in him. As the number of deportations continues to rise in the United States under the Trump administration, Martínez has used his social media following of 49 million to report sightings on the island, posting a video that referred to Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents as ‘sons of bitches’ who can’t seem to leave ‘people alone and working.’ Whether it be dressing in drag for his Yo Perreo Sola music video in 2020, or shedding light on neocolonialism in Debí, Martínez represents these communities unapologetically, denouncing the injustices and patriarchal values historically found in reggaeton and broader Latin culture.” ‘My Job Is to F—ing Sing’: Bad Bunny on the ‘Pride, Pain and Love’ Behind His Massive Puerto Rico Residency and the Relationships That Define Him

JFC

“‘Around 50 to 55 percent of the general population has health insurance through their employer. In music, it’s about 19 to 20 percent,’ says Theresa Wolters, vice-president of health and human services at MusiCares, the Recording Academy’s charitable arm. While acts on the three major labels are eligible to get SAG-AFTRA coverage, the only options for most artists are expensive plans from the Affordable Care Act marketplace, usually with high deductibles and little preventative coverage. ‘They have health insurance — they just can’t use it because they can’t afford the deductible or the out-of-pocket costs,’ Wolters says.” The Health-Insurance Horror Stories of 7 Musicians

And to finish this section, a roundup of The Best Books of 2025 (So Far) lists

• (I contributed to this list) Book Riot

• NPR

• Vulture

• Time

• AV Club

• Amazon

Watch 📺

My Mom Jayne (HBO Max)

What really makes this documentary is its layers: yes, it’s about Jayne Mansfield but it’s far from a regular biography. Her daughter Mariska Hargitay is at the center of this project and she’s finally ready to process growing up disliking the only image she had of her mom (the ditzy blonde) and a family secret she’s kept for decades that she asked others to also carry, which came at a cost.

There’s a lot that people probably didn’t know about Jayne Mansfield, her death, and her family which is worth watching but the true heart of this documentary are Mansfield’s children, lead by Hargitay, who are still navigating the tragedy of their mom’s death and the complication of growing up with a parent who was boxed in by fans/Hollywood and only allowed to be who they designated her as.

Sinners (HBO Max)

I love Blockbusters, vampires, when one actor plays twins, and entertaining films with depth—and Sinners delivered. There is especially one big scene (zero spoilers) where I knew there was going to be jump scares, as everything was revving up, but the cinematography, performance, and the music was amazing so I could not look away even though I always close my eyes in jump scares (yes, hi, I am chicken shit.).

Hollywood keeps throwing all their time/energy at “remakes” no one is asking for when we have plenty of creative artists ready to deliver. I’d say may they finally learn their lesson but willful ignorance is a hell of a drug. Anyways, I will absolutely be watching Sinners again!

F Marry Kill (Hulu)

If you like a silly blend of comedy/murder-mystery/romance this was an entertaining one-time watch about a young woman, whose life is a disaster, who decides to finally start dating again. Enter news reports of a serial killer (she’s obsessed with a true crime podcast) and her and her friends becoming convinced that one of the men she’s dating may be the serial killer. Mild hijinks ensue. My very weird quibble: it was not believable that Lucy Hale would be that thirsty for most of the men in this film and I’d like a do over with a different final love “match” but your miles may vary.

That’s all for now! Thanks for reading, and as always feel free to shout out anything you’ve been loving lately!