Pop Culture Rundown
Let's do a quick survey. Who likes Harry Styles? Who likes Phoebe Waller-Bridge? Who likes old-fashioned musicals? The rules of nature require that you've said yes to at least one of those questions. And I'm here to tell you there's a world in which all three of these elements are combined. On Friday, Harry Styles (check) released the music video for his song Treat People with Kindness and it's utter perfection. The video is beautiful, co-stars Phoebe Waller-Bridge (check) and gives you 50s movie-musical vibes (check).
In other news:
In the final moments of 2020, pop duo Aly & AJ released an updated version of the 2007 pop song Potential Breakup Song to say goodbye to the year. This version isn't incredibly different from the original (because it was already perfect), but it features more sophisticated vocals and some new explicit lyrics because these girls are Disney stars no more!
NPR's Linda Holmes put together an excellent list of 50 pop culture highlights from the past year and it reminded me of things that I could not believe possibly happened in 2020, like the finale of The Good Place.
The best way to ring in the new year is with a virtual performance of Ratatouille: The TikTok Musical, starring Andrew Barth Feldman, Tituss Burgess, Ashley Park, André de Shields and more. Yes, that's a real thing that happened on Friday. Wondering why Disney allowed an unauthorized production of their beloved work? The answer kind of comes down to it's been a really, really long year. Here's a look at how this virtual concert production came to life.
Wonder Woman 1984 is out on HBO Max, and I'm going to say something a little crazy if you've been following reviews. I liked it!! Sue me! The plot is absolutely nutty and yes obviously I think Diana should have more of a story arc, but it was a fun escape and I thought the four leads were pitch perfect in their roles. In my post-movie article dive, I found a great interview with WW84 director Patty Jenkins and Aaron Sorkin. Their conversation lends some additional insight into the movie production process and how they both got started in this business we call show.
