You are reveling in CultureWag, the best newsletter in the universe, edited by JD Heyman and written by The Avengers of Talent. We lead the conversation about culture: high, medium and deliciously low. Drop us a line about about any old thing, but especially what you want more of, at jdheyman@culturewag.com “If you aren’t reading the Wag, you’ll never get anywhere when it comes to quantum electrodynamics.” —Richard Feynman
Dear Wags, Movie stars are thin on the ground. Wag has written an awful lot about this. For more than 30 years, humanity has hashed over the facts of Tom Cruise’s very public life. He’s carried on just the same. In July, he’ll turn an improbable 60 years old. It appears he will go on running, jumping and dangling from things until he drops. Speculating about Cruise may be a global hobby, but one truth about him isn’t so complicated: He fell in love with movies, and in some ways, he merged with them. An actor delivers a performance, a star projects an eternal persona. Tom Cruise is forever Tom Cruise, not a hodgepodge of lesser characters, and he’s very committed to the project. In 1986, some critics slammed Top Gun for being jingoistic pap, but audiences were swept away by its verve, and the charisma of a real leading man. Wag Chris McQuarrie delivers something better in Top Gun Maverick — a smarter movie, and a more human, if still reassuringly superhuman, Tom Cruise. What is a big, silly popcorn flick, packed with desert vistas, adonis volleyball and barrel rolls, if not a comfort? If you can’t love it, love that such frothy things are still possible. Sometimes, we all feel the need, the need for bang-zoom escapism. How nice to have a dash of it back. Yours Ever,
SeriesConversations with Friends (Hulu). Wag Sally Rooney does love in a mossy climate better than anybody. In 2020, she teamed with smarties Lenny Abrahamson and Alice Birch to bring her novel Normal People to television, and it was a smash. Now, the trio return with an adaptation of another Roonifesto, which features a Dublin student (Allison Oliver) who falls for a married actor (Joe Alwyn), who is married to a famous writer (Jemima Kirk), who is having a thingie with the student’s American pal (Sasha Lane). It’s very messy, and very pretty, because the shenanigans take place in Croatia, and Ireland, which is Rooney Country. Let’s call it a ménage à travelogue. Slow BurnThe Essex Serpent (AppleTV+). The Essex Serpent sounds like something Essex Man boasts about on Love Island, but it’s not…quite. It may also be a slimy sea monster swishing around Victorian marshes! A widowed natural history buff (Dame Claire Danes), goes snake hunting, while getting longing looks from a married pastor (Viscount Tom Hiddleston). Is the monster real, or an overheated temptation metaphor cooked up by repressed yokels? Know this: vicar and blue stocking will be drawn together out on those wild, windy wastes, and corsets will be loosened. DocOur Father (Netflix). Dr. Donald Cline, prominent Indianapolis fertility specialist and fundamentalist Christian, inseminated dozens of unknowing patients with his own sperm. Years later, Jacoba Ballard, an only child, takes a DNA test and discovers she has a huge number of blond, blue-eyed half siblings in the same community — all of whom share a twisted megalomaniac for a father. Now that’s a real horror show. Proper Piss-UpHacks (HBO Max). The Odd Couple — brittle Boomer Deborah Vance (Emmy Magnet Jean Smart) and Gen Z brat Ava (Hannah Einbinder)— are back, and on the road for a national comedy tour. Deborah is trying to push herself outside her standup comfort zone; her whiney joke writer is trying to find a spot in the RV fridge for her kombucha. Laurie Metcalfe signs on as the road manager. Scary/funny. The Kids in the Hall (Amazon Prime). Canada’s greatest contribution to civilization reboots, with sketch comedy from Maestros Mark McKinney, Bruce McCulloch, Dave Foley, Kevin McDonald, and Scott Thompson. There will be dress-up, silly wigs, and guest stars. A documentary, Kids in the Hall: Comedy Punks follows on May 20. — Edith Prickley
FictionThey were careless people, Tom and Daisy … We know all about them, of course, and that wealth made their messes possible. Benjamin and Helen Rask are another ritzy 1920s pair, who amass a fortune from others’ losses. Unlike F. Scott Fitzgerald’s destructive couple, they don’t quite get away with it. For one thing, they may be exposed in a novel Bonds, published a decade after their rise. Trust by Hernan Diaz is about greed, marriage, fact, fiction, and of course, money. Those who have it can bend reality to their will. Do we seek truth, or merely crave power? It’s a good question, in the Jazz Age, or any other. NonfictionDavid Sedaris was once a snarky Macy’s elf. Now he keeps house, dotes on his loved ones, frets about the passage of time. Happy-Go-Lucky isn’t that, of course. It’s about somebody who’s weathered quite a lot—sadness, death, a pandemic, funny teeth—and can still make the world laugh. Just the ticket. — Vivian Harmon
The point of Snooze is simple: All of us have dreams, but sometimes we get stuck. In those moments, we need somebody to give us a little push. Enter Megan Tan and her Snooze Squad, who help flummoxed guests get closer to meeting their potential — whether it’s getting a driver’s license or making a relationship commitment. All of it is meant to help you stop hitting the snooze button and become the hero of your own life. Worthies such as Rosario Dawson also dole out advice.—Hugo Hollingshead
Think as soon as I wake up in the morning/ Can I be a new me/Who's different from yesterday? If you wake up listening to Around You, by Korean surf rockers Say Me Sue, we can’t see why not. They’re so sunny, they’ll make you feel like anything is possible. Catch this wave from Busan. You can rely on the Black Keys for blues-inflected rock, and Happiness, is a fuzzy, funky dive bar sort of song. Here’s their prescription for 2022: Worry is gonna kill you/Don't let it win in the end/Find a lover who can thrill you/Maybe you begin again. Make that a double. — Bleek Gilliam
CultureWag loves nothing more than to tap a creative genius for 3 gifts from the Muses. How delighted we are to have the wisdom of Maestro Jonathan Adler, potter, designer, and sensei of the sublime. These are gifts that must be shared, and our Jonathan has teamed with Wondrium to teach a new course, Decorate Like a Designer, which will have you feathering your nest like a pro. Surround yourself with beautiful things and witty people, and Adlertopia will open its doors to you. And now, a few of his inspirations:
Questions for us at CultureWag? Please ping intern@culturewag.com, and we’ll get back to you in a jiffy. For Covid-safe hosted events, contact JDHeyman@culturewag.com. CultureWag celebrates culture—high, medium, and deliciously low. It’s an essential guide to the mediaverse, cutting through a cluttered landscape and serving up smart, funny recommendations to the most hooked-in audience in the galaxy. If somebody forwarded you this issue, consider it a coveted invitation and RSVP “subscribe.” You’ll be part of the smartest set in Hollywood, Gstaad, Biarritz and Noma in Copenhagen, where you can’t beat the boiled brown crab on flatbread. “Behind every attractive newsletter there should be a very good Wag.”―Sister Parish
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