Happy 21st night of September, y’all!
🎺 Do you remember… 🎶
Need a ~vibe~ for your day? This unexpected mash-up of MGMT’s “Kids” with Earth, Wind & Fire’s “September” is kind of a bop, not gonna lie.
Shifting gears to a very different kind of music: I thought this New York Times piece on how the New York Philharmonic is staying afloat and active during the pandemic was really fascinating stuff. New Yorkers, this is a bit more useful for you as it does detail what sounds like a pretty awesome app that takes you on a sonic journey through every acre of Central Park!
Wrapping up the first fall festival, here’s what looks like the final two reviews I’m filing out of TIFF: David Oyelowo’s family-friendly adventure The Water Man and Neon’s new prison drama Night of the Kings, both for /Film.
Ok, now quickly back to today! I don’t know what kind of rock I’ve been living under since 2016 where I got all the terrible political news but didn’t know about this yearly dance video series on September 21st by comedian Demi Adejuyigbe … but I’m glad I saw it this year!
If you watched the video, you will be happy to know that he’s already topped $50,000 for the charities of choice! But at $100,000, he’ll make another video. So if you liked what you saw, vote with your wallet!
Now, what you came for…
DAY 193: Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion (available for free with ads on IMDb TV)
It’s kind of funny how quickly Facebook and social media at large rendered the premise of Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion quaint. The two titular characters, played respectively by Mira Sorvino and Lisa Kudrow, want to live out the fantasy of showing up to their 10-year high school reunion as all-stars who their popular classmates underestimated. The only problem is … as two ditzy twentysomething Angelenos bopping around aimlessly, they have little in the way of professional or personal success to tout.
But the dynamic duo are not the type to let reality stop them, so they decide to simply dress the part and lie about their accomplishments when they roll up in style to their former Tuscon stomping grounds. It’s a story rendered impossible outside their analog world, but it’s still fun to watch how their duplicity makes an impression on their classmates — and divides Romy and Michele against each other. We might leave high school, but it never really leaves us. The film’s chief tension comes from wondering which might unravel first, Romy and Michele’s fake story or their real friendship.
Over the course of a raucous 92 minutes, Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion makes a hilarious and heartfelt case that comparison is truly the thief of joy. As the main characters discover, you don’t need popularity or material success to find fulfillment. All you need is that one person who makes you feel like a million dollars — and the ability to tune out the rest of the noise.
Be good to yourselves and to each other,
Marshall