I don’t need to tell you too much about this because it’s been advertised to within an inch of its life and we have Zendaya crushing another press tour with DRAMATIC fashion lewks. Obsessed with her dropping the IRL marriage rumors just in time for this to premiere. That’s synergy baby!

The more time goes on, the more I have become a Soderbergh obsessive. To paraphrase Blank Check’s JJ Bersch in their podcast’s substack: anyone can be an auteurist about a guy who makes a good film every five years, but maybe true auteurism is the guy who makes a movie (or two) every year, who made a black-and-white, silent, Trent Reznor-scored version of Raiders for fun (you can actually watch it at the link), who pretended to be a little ghost, who made Ocean’s 12 AND Magic Mike, who shoots on an iPhone because he can, who directed, shot, and edited 20 episodes of a period medical drama. So yes, this is a movie where the luminous Michaela Cole and Ian McKellen talk about art, and life, and stuff, but it’s also another entry in the long, unhinged, and brilliant career of Steven Soderbergh. Let’s see your fav do that.

Hamlet is really having a moment thanks to 2025’s Hamnet. If he won’t be James Bond, then at least Riz Ahmed can have a go at another landmark character. Set in a modern day London and infusing the racial and social tensions of the city into the work, this Hamlet looks to freshen up the classic text. Also, Joe Alwyn cements his place as ‘best supporting brother’ in this as Laertes, and honestly love this career move for him.

Okay so those who know me, or have had any kind of loose conversation with me about actors, knows how I feel about Anne Hathaway (derogatory). So you KNOW I must be interested in this film to OVERCOME that little detail. In David Lowery’s newest outing, a Gaga-esque pop star reunites with her ex-bestie (once again, the luminous Michaela Cole) to make a dress for her pivotal upcoming performance. The vibes? Haunted. The songs? Charli XCX. The supporting cast? FKA Twigs….wait why isn’t she the lead of this…. The friendship? Toxic. The dress? A death metaphor possibly. But wait for real, why wouldn’t you make FKA Twigs the lead? Hello? David?

Something Old:

Okay while I wait for David Lowery to call me back about Twigs, let’s revisit his back catalogue with 2021’s The Green Knight. In this retelling of Arthurian story ‘Sir Gawain and the Green Knight’, Lowery blends fantasy with the very form of legend and storytelling. It’s a movie that feels like a dream you’ve had before, like a story that’s been told so often it begins to distort and overflow the banks of its original mold. Also absolutely incredible colors AND a little fox buddy. And Dev Patel rules (Skins hive stays winning).

Martha likes: confessional storytelling, cats, and Steven Soderbergh. She doesn’t like: New Jersey traffic patterns, not having an update on Dani’s love life, and Anne Hathaway.

Three years after Beef S1 became a runaway hit, we finally have a season 2. If you don’t feel like watching S1, it’s an anthology so you are free. Literally a show about two people who are having a disagreement, season 2 boasts a stacked cast, and even shorter episode count (complimentary!) We got Oscar Isaac, Carrie Mulligan, and Song Kang-ho in his first American TV series (I have a Sodey-level obsession monologue ready about him too!) 

Animated series about a housecat (the titular Kevin) who decides to break up with his owners after they break up, and strikes out on his own in NYC. We love cats but we also love Aubrey Plaza who co-produces the series with Joe Wengert (if you watched You’re Next after my recco last month, this will be a callback), and Jason Schwartzman is the voice Kevin, of course! All episodes drop 4/20, I wonder if that means anything?

My Something Old for TV has really turned into my apology space for failing to recommend a show I went on to not only watch, but love. This was really a miss for me, especially since it stars my romantic-obsession Daniel Radcliffe as a henley-wearing documentarian (sweat emoji). This is from the Tina Fey-verse of writers: Robert Carlock and Sam Means, and guys it is GOOD. Tracy Morgan is one of the funniest people to ever be on television, Erika Alexander (in a hilarious return to sitcoms!) and the always unhinged (complimentary) Bobby Moynihan. This show made me laugh real laughs. Like real actual lols. An lmao, even.

TV writer turned novelist, she is best known for her breakout novel “Where’d You Go, Bernadette”, a very funny and moving book, with a less good movie adaptation. Cone of silence admission: I have not loved her subsequent books BUT with her new book about a Stoicist divorcee who gets pulled into an international crime syndicate, I am READY to get hurt again!

In a home of smart appliances, a roomba self-actualizes after overhearing her owner read ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ to his dying wife. She/it names herself Scout, and along with her other sentient appliances, set out on an adventure. Kind of adorable, kind of ominous. The Brave Little Toaster for a new world order.

Another book I am evangelical about with sort of a Semple-esque tone (synergy baby!) Satirical author Nina Stibbe’s first book is in the form of IRL letters she wrote to her sister while acting as nanny to Stephen Frear’s children. If you like irreverent witty writing and commentary on day-to-day life (sound like any writing you know?) I cannot recommend this enough. Like “Angus, Thongs, and Full Frontal Snogging” for adults. Part diary, part look into the upper crust of London, part coming of age memoir, 10000% hilar.