finding cain

I should have better things to do—but I have to admit to splurging an excessive amount of time and attention last week on an Italian confection strangely titled Baby . It's about a bunch of kids in Rome who deal with domestic strife and school bullies by selling drugs, getting really wasted and "seducing" older men with their youthful beauty. Baby gives you the perpetual, skin-crawling reminder that you're sitting and staring at young women's bodies, enjoying the way you can set foot into their lives and then turn away when the scenes do not interest you any longer. Oh my god. Chiara. Chiara is so hot. The series has a contagious misery, and may remind you of your younger, brasher, more energetic self. Here's another fact: It was inspired by the real-life Baby Squillo (Baby Prostitute) scandal, in which a group of young girls became involved in a prostitution ring. In many of the episodes, sex and teenage romance get mixed up without much effort and I never s...

The music you love may not necessarily be the music you want to listen to every day. There are songs that you know are phenomenal (or at least that's what Pitchfork tells you), but which you also know will give you nightmares. A good example came up about two weeks ago, while I was watching an episode of Losing Alice .

Last week, having walked home from the market—a nice, effortless stroll but for the danger of contracting coronavirus—I cleaned the house, fed the dogs, showered, and played with my kids to watch four episodes of Cruel Summer . Set in a small town in Texas in the early nineties, Freeform's new series tells the story of two teen girls: the dorky Jeanette Turner (Chiara Aurelia) and the popular Kate Wallis (Olivia Holt). It reminds me of Pretty Little Liars , but when I first heard the title I thought it was a biopic of Bananarama in their prime years. Cruel Summer is just so-so, but it has enough charm to keep me interested. The secret is to make things that appeal to my inner teen without equating youth with stupidity. It's also loaded with iconic throwback hits, including songs by The Cranberries, INXS, Mazzy Star, and 4 Non Blondes. If you were a kid in the '90s, the soundtrack will likely take you right back.

Those of you who are interested in The Queen's Gambit will be thrilled by this. The rest of you just skip to the next post.

During the heyday of MTV, when the channel actually stood for Music Television, there was an edgy animated sitcom called Beavis and Butt-Head . Created by Mike Judge, the show premiered in 1993 and featured a pair of teenage dimwits. They became pop culture icons, and the show spawned a big-screen spin-off. In 1997, after four years and 209 episodes, the original series went off the air. But Beavis and Butt-Head survived. There were reruns and a one-season revival back in 2011. Just recently, Judge signed a deal with Comedy Central to bring them back to television. Details of the new series are few right now but, according to The Hollywood Reporter , the King of the Hill director will write, produce and voice a reimagined version of the show for two seasons. "Beavis and Butt-Head were a defining voice of a generation, and we can't wait to watch as they navigate the treacherous waters of a world light-years from their own," said ViacomCBS' Chris McCarthy. Plus, ...

The name Anne Rice is synonymous with vampire novels, gothic fiction, and erotic literature. She's the author of over thirty-five books, which have sold nearly 100 million copies worldwide and have been translated into different languages. When I was in college, there were times when I went to bookstores and thrift shops almost every month to buy a copy of her work. Those were years in which books were my world. It's been said many times before that literature is a form of escape, and Rice's anti-heroes certainly served that purpose for me back then. Recently AMC announced it had purchased the rights to 18 Rice novels from the Vampire Chronicles and The Lives of the Mayfair Witches series, which will be adapted in whatever way the network deems the best fit. Producers have been adapting literary works for the screen since the 1890s. The results vary widely. Film adaptations usually ruin the book, as the filmmakers take so many liberties, from small things, lik...

I'm a creature of repetition when it comes to movies and television programs. When Fight Club appears in the TV schedule, I sit through it for the nth time, already knowing every line of the screenplay. I have been rewatching The Sopranos from my quarantine couch. And believe it or not, the HBO series made its debut 21 years ago. On the surface, it's about crime, hate, and philandering mobsters, but it's more than that (as most mafia stories are). It's also about family, love, loyalty, and people standing up for themselves and each other. There are three moments from The Sopranos that stand out clearly in my memory. First, when Adriana got whacked. Second, when Dr. Melfi, was raped in a parking garage. Third, and my favorite, was the scene in which Chris and Paulie Walnuts got lost in the woods. What began as a simple task for the two - killing someone from the Russian mob - fell apart when the guy escaped and vanished into the snow-covered forest. Before Chris ...

National Geographic's The World According to Jeff Goldblum starts on November 12, and I am looking forward to it almost as much as my daughter is looking forward to FROZEN II . Thanks to technology, watching programs like this is no longer an activity that requires you to immerse yourself in front of the TV screen at a specific time. Set to stream on Disney+, the 12-part series sees the veteran actor exploring the worlds of anything and everything⁠. Here's how the streaming service describes the show: "Through the prism of Jeff Goldblum's always inquisitive and highly entertaining mind, nothing is as it seems in this new series. Each episode is centered around something we all love - like sneakers or ice cream - as Jeff pulls the thread on these deceptively familiar objects and unravels a wonderful world of astonishing connections, fascinating science and history, amazing people, and a whole lot of surprising big ideas and insights." Check out the trai...

With the advent of social media, the tradition of sending postcards to friends and family back home has sadly declined. But before Facebook and Instagram came along, the humble postcard was the ultimate holiday brag. These pop culture postcards from Gallery1988 are so clever and creative you'll want to frame them and keep them for yourself. The collection features dozens of original pieces paying tribute to your favorite movies and TV shows with impressive artwork from the gallery's favorite artists. The postcards are inspired by the likes of Jurassic Park , Adventure Time , Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind , Friday the 13th , Game of Thrones , Midsommar and much more. Here are some of my favorites:

Mad Men fans now have the chance to own Don Draper's wallet, Peggy Olson's typewriter, and Roger Sterling's sunglasses. ScreenBid and the show's producer, Lionsgate, are auctioning off more than 1,500 props and memorabilia from the TV series to commemorate the one-year anniversary of its finale. The online sale begins June 1st and closes June 15th. Other items in the auction include Peggy's moving banker box, Joan Harris' office ice bucket and tumbler set, Harry Crane's AR coated eyeglasses, Bert Cooper's antique ashtray and Don's 1964 Chrysler Imperial that he used in episode 3 of season 4. According to ScreenBid's notes, the convertible is one of only 922 ever built. It has power steering, brakes, windows and antenna, and features "the iconic 413 V-8 wedge engine mated to the smooth-shifting 727 TorqueFllite push button automatic transmission." The initial bids for most of the items will start at under $100. [h/t: Th...

"Think back to the first time you heard a song that made the hairs on the back of your neck stand up, made you want to dance, or go out and kick somebody's ass!"

When Will Lee, the actor who played Mr. Hooper in Sesame Street, died of heart attack in 1982, he had already shot several episodes set to air the next year so his absence did not have to be immediately explained. One year after, the producers decided that no one would replace him and that it was time young viewers learned one of the saddest facts of life: Death. Farewell, Mr. Hooper aired on November 24, 1983, Thanksgiving Day. Thirty-two years later this episode still makes me weep.