Every Sunday, Literally, Darling brings you “Best In Entertainment,” where you’ll find links to interesting articles, funny websites and the occasional subreddit. We bring you the music we’ve been turning up too loud in our headphones that week; reviews for movies, books, TV shows, and games, both classics and new releases; and the best apps we’ve tried out in the past few days. Tired of being bored online? Have no fear—LD’s “Best In Entertainment” is here.
[divider] [/divider]Best of the Internet
Millennials: We Suck and We’re Sorry: Millennials apologize for sucking so hard and being lazy, narcissistic and entitled, and vow to be better and more like the generation that so clearly got it right: The Baby Boomers. Hah.
NoiseTrade: NoiseTrade is a site that offers “thousands of albums, completely free, completely legal.” In a world where exposure is increasingly as valuable as sales, NoiseTrade helps potential fans find new indie artists to love, as well as content from favorites like Dr. Dog and The Hush Sound. If you have a few dollars to spare, you can “leave a tip” for the artist. If not, try to catch a show when you can or spread the love by introducing a friend to some new tunes.
The Alien’s Guide to the Ruins of Washington, D.C.: Brooklyn-based artist Ellen Harvey did oil paintings depicting what D.C. would look like to aliens. For instance, the Capitol is called “The Really Complicated Pillar Thing.” It’s awesome.
Swants Tutorial: Why yes, I do want to learn how to make pants out of a sweater and see lots of men doing lunges.
James Franco and Seth Rogan—Bound 3: James Franco and Seth Rogen do an amazing spoof of Kanye West’s “Bound 2.” With Rogen as Kim Kardashian. What a time to be alive.
32 Easy Nail Art Hacks For The Perfect Manicure: An awesome collection from BuzzFeed for some really creative ways to make your nails look fantastic. Many twenty-somethings don’t have the money to get fancy-schmancy manicures, and this way you can make your’s shine—using bobby pins, nail tape, and more!
British Friends Describe Thanksgiving: Does it need any more of an explanation? It’s hilarious and well worth the two minutes and seven seconds of your time.
[divider] [/divider]Best in Movies
“Trainspotting,” (1996,) starring Ewan McGregor: Try rewatching this movie from Danny Boyle, which follows the mishaps of a heroin junkie named Mark Renton (a rail-thin McGregor still in the early days of his acting career) as he repeatedly tries to get clean. Packed with memorable characters like Sick Boy, Spud, and Begbie, the film explores a darker side of Edinburgh in alternating doses of the surreal, horrifying and hilarious. If you’re still mourning the end of “Breaking Bad,” this film might be for you. And if you still need one more fix of movies about drugs, try “Winter’s Bone” (2010) next. Jennifer Lawrence, a.k.a. Katniss Everdeen, plays the lead.
“Romeo and Juliet,” (2013), starring Douglas Booth: This is one of the more beautiful reiterations of the famous Bard’s work. While it’s still a ridiculously fast-paced love affair, it was filled with good acting and beautiful music. Hailee Steinfeld was a great Juliet. This adaptation was penned by Julian Fellowes, the brilliant mind who brought us “Downton Abbey,” so you’re sure to appreciate the flair for the dramatic.
“The Nightmare Before Christmas,” (1993): Tim Burton’s stop-motion movie is definitely a Thanksgiving classic. Yes, Thanksgiving, not Halloween, not Christmas. It fits perfectly in between the two holidays! There’s just enough of autumn left over from Halloween and the ending gets you really excited for Christmas. And, let’s be honest, there aren’t a whole lot of good Thanksgiving movies anyway, so we’ll take what we can get.
[divider] [/divider]Best in Books
“Brick Lane”—Monica Ali: “Brick Lane” tells
the story of Nazneen, a Bangladeshi woman who immigrates to the U.K. to marry the man her father has selected for her. As Nazneen adjust to life in London’s Brick Lane, she experiences the challenges of marriage and motherhood, the tension between heritage and assimilation in the wake of 9/11, and an affair that threatens to upset the life she has built for herself. The book is an insightful and vibrant example of postcolonial lit, but Nazneen’s husband, Chanu, threatens to steal the show; in Chanu, Ali creates a character so hilariously irritating that you won’t be able to stop turning pages.
“Neverwhere”—Neil Gaiman: Neverwhere tells the story of a guy who finds himself with the “overlooked” people, the homeless. It’s a riveting story of a make believe world most of us would like to ignore. As usual Gaiman tells a magical fantasy land where tube stations are home to kings courts and all the myths we ignored are real and true. If you enjoy any of Gaiman’s work you should definitely pick up “Neverwhere,” and let the magic continue.
Best in Music
“Waltz About Whiskey”—Mandolin Orange
“Broken Heart”—Dr. Dog
“Mother We Share”—CHVRCHES
“With Love”—Christina Grimmie
“Let Her Go”—Passenger
“If It Hadn’t Been For Love”—Adele
Best in TV
“Dracula” (2013–,NBC): This is one of the best new shows of the year. It stars Jonathan Rhys Meyers, best remembered for his excellent portrayal of Henry VIII in Showtime’s “The Tudors.” Here he takes on the role of the most feared and beloved vampire of all time, the Count himself, disguised as American entrepreneur Alexander Grayson. Meyers is convincing, sexy, and his American accent isn’t half-bad.
“The Day of the Doctor,” Doctor Who (2013, BBC One/BBC America): If you saw the Internet explode this past weekend, then you’re probably aware something happened on some weird timey-wimey, spacey-wacey TV show. Well, it turned 50, had an anniversary special with not one but THREE Doctors, and changed the entire history of the show in one episode. Not bad eh? While we don’t want to spoil it, just know that for once the impossible happened—Steven Moffat wrote an episode in which EVERYONE LIVED.
[divider] [/divider]Best in Games
Endless Ocean 2: Blue World: A “sequel” to the original “Endless Ocean,” though the plots don’t
relate to each other and they are both standalone games, it’s packed full of fish, scuba diving and more underwater salvaging than you can shake a stick at and it’s amazing. This is probably one of the best and most educational (not to mention relaxing) video games I’ve ever played. It’s definitely still a challenge though, and it has some of the best and most time consuming side quests I’ve ever played, but if you want to complete the game 100 percent, be prepared to log hours like crazy. Finishing the main plot doesn’t take an excruciating time; however, I’ve logged more than 80 hours on this game and I still haven’t completed all the side quests.
[divider] [/divider]
Best in Apps
Google Hangout: Finally there is a non-terrible Google chat app that lets you do all your chatting straight from your phone and unlike older ones, it pushes notifications to you so you know when your buddies have messaged you.
Shazam: Want to know what that song is on the radio, or in a TV episode or movie? Push the Shazam icon, hold your phone up, and the app will tell you what the song is! But it does not recognize in-person singing or humming—let’s just say some of us here at LD tried it…