The Sydney Sweeney Films and Britney Spears Animations That Got Us Through the Week

I stopped watching The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel a few seasons back. I was burned out on the spectacle of it. I think others petered off as well—for a minute there, you could score social media points by disavowing it, and others rightly called out how it stars a non-Jewish person as a Jew and gets Jewish culture “wrong.”

What I will say is that last month, I picked up where I had left off and stuck around until the series finale, which dropped on Prime last week, and I am glad I did. In its last season, the cast and crew lean harder into the spectacle—the sets are massively impressive, there’s a musical number, the costumes astound—and it is newly magical. Just as magical is the chemistry Midge maintains with Lenny Bruce (a perfectly rendered character), as well as a new guy: Gordon Ford, a late-night show host played by Reid Scott with a slightly more tortured, smoldering take on his “hot asshole” thing from Veep (whew). And unfortunately, I will always carry a torch for Midge’s charming, cheating ex-husband Joel—and so will she!

I guess my point is: The final season of Maisel is enchanting and also horny. I laughed and yes, I did sob (thanks for that, Tony Shahloub). But its final note is one of deep, lasting friendship, the kind in which we find peace. —Sarah Rense

Few things feel more celebratorily and obsessively queer than dedicating hundreds of hours of your life to recreating a Britney Spears Instagram video with colored pencils. Artist Laura Collins, whose paintings of reality stars and pop-culture feminist anti-heroes are severely iconic, drew 524 frames of a video of Britney Spears chaotically wishing her LGBTQ fans a Happy Pride.

The short animation is hypnotic and perfectly encapsulates Spears’ recent uncanny and choppy internet presence. It’s like an unhinged singing telegram for this most holy of months.

“You guys bring so much heart, and passion and articulate everything that you do. Because of you, I’ve had the best nights of my life. I love you so much that it hurts,” the pop star says in the video and in Collins’ animation. May all the beautiful queers reading this continue to articulate everything you do. Happy Pride! —Kady Ruth Ashcraft

I missed this at Sundance, but I’m glad I caught a screening this week. Celine Song’s debut feature floored me. It concerns Nora (Greta Lee), who moved from Korea to Canada as a girl (and then from Canada to New York as an adult). When her childhood crush Hae Song (Teo Yoo) from Korea contacts her, they begin a virtual situationship of sorts, only for her to pull back when she finds herself getting too invested in the long-distance relationship.

At a writer’s retreat, Nora meets a white guy, Arthur (John Magaro), and ends up marrying him quickly. This is at least in part for her green card, but we never really know how much. Hae Song comes back into her life, and Nora’s quietly torn between him and her husband. This is a movie about fate (specifically the Korean concept of in-yun, which suggests that connections made in past lives reverberate through the present and future), but it’s never vague. In fact, its clarity is stunning, even though the narrative is mired in the protagonist’s ambivalence. Though existential meditations on immigration are rare in cinema, the characters in this movie nonetheless could be deemed ordinary people. They are not particularly successful or remarkable or even clever. This could have easily been banal, but the performances that are full of life and the script that is poignant without being sentimental really make it sing. A gorgeously balanced and completely engrossing movie. I love it so much. —Rich Juzwiack

More than half of my TikTok algorithm consists of food content. There are recipe suggestions exclusive to the aisles of frozen shit at Trader Joe’s, weight-loss remedies, and all manner of chefs—from the live-ins of elites to prison cooks. Recently, a new account has entered the blend: A culinary catastrophe called the Lazy Pot Noodle.

There is no face behind Lazy Pot Noodle, nor is there any real brand identity. Basically, viewers see little but a disembodied hand preparing anything from wagyu burgers to octopus to deep-fried Oreos in a little handheld pot. Weirder still is that these occasionally appealing meals are apparently being made in a dorm room. More specifically, atop a twin bed…

The Lazy Pot Noodle account is under-produced. No. It’s slapdash. And frankly, some of the recipes—a generous term—are downright disgusting. Regardless, I am currently considering ordering one of my own. —Audra Heinrichs

Just over a year ago, former Bachelor contestant Becca Tilley hard launched her then-four-year-long relationship with pop star Hayley Kiyoko. The two had publicly appeared together for years, and many had speculated they were more than friends, and Tilley’s sweet Instagram video confirmed the rumors. But it was quickly usurped by an even better video: Kiyoko’s “for the girls,” which has a Bachelorette-esque plot and some hilarious performances and ends with Tilley arriving and sweeping Kiyoko off her feet. If only we all were so lucky to share our love with the world in this extremely well-produced way!

The song itself is an absolute banger; I remain shocked it didn’t immediately get crowned song of the summer. But there’s always this year! It’s got a catchy hook and is eminently danceable. I put it on repeat the first day it felt even a little bit like spring here in New York. Though Kiyoko assures us that summer is “for the girls who like girls” as well as “the girls who like boys,” it feels especially appropriate to play this bop by a queer artist on full blast this weekend, the first of Pride Month. Happy dancing! —Nora Biette-Timmons

As spring turns to summer, I find myself needing to slow down. In New York, a warm, sunny day often throws the entire city into mania, and as a Highly Sensitive Person, it’s enough to send me crawling back to my cave (my windowless bedroom). The idea of taking care of yourself, especially in a hyperactive metropolitan area, often falls into the woo-woo self-help trap. Instead, when I need a dose of love, I turn to the bible: All About Love by bell hooks.

Originally published in 1999, it’s astonishing what the celebrated feminist writer and thinker was able to predict nearly two decades ago. Throughout its sharply written chapters, hooks calls for an urgent retreat from “secular individualism” and “hedonistic consumerism” for fear of outcomes not unlike our current Trumpian dystopia. Whether it be societal decay or individual discontent, hooks argues that the act of love—the verb “to love”—is the only thing that will restore our spirits and communities. For me, that looks like spending extra time tending to my kittens’ eye gunk, hosting my loved ones for a Shabbat dinner, or delivering friends “just because” trinkets. Acting out of love on an individual level won’t change the world; hooks knows that, and so do I. But at the very least, it’ll set off a chain of loving events—a reminder that we are all connected, even at our loneliest. —Emily Leibert

I have never felt so anxious and in-their-shoes during a film than I have during Reality, Max’s new film about Reality Winner—the NSA contractor and former Air Force member who served four years in federal prison under the Espionage Act after leaking documents about Russian interference in the 2016 election—starring an unbelievable Sydney Sweeney as Winner.

For starters, the script (which originally premiered as a stage play that the playwright then adapted into her directorial debut) is pulled entirely from the official two-hour transcript of the FBI’s visit to Winner’s home in Augusta, Georgia, on June 3, 2017—25 days after she printed out a top-secret document, snuck it out of the NSA building in her pantyhose, and sent it to The Intercept. The interactions and dialogue between the FBI agents as they begin to search her home are jarring and disquieting, all heightened by the fact that this is what actually happened.

Seventy-five percent of the film takes place inside one barren white room in the back of Winner’s house, where she gets interrogated by two FBI agents, played by Marchánt Davis (who is so hot I’d pay to have him interrogate me) and Josh Hamilton. The build is painfully suspenseful, even while knowing the outcome. Sweeney is masterful, the Fox News montages are maddening, and you’re left feeling deeply uneasy and wondering whether or not you should have first demanded a lawyer.—Lauren Tousignant

As the NBA Finals begin in earnest, I recommend Netflix’s Untold: Operation Flagrant Foul, which I admit I watched just yesterday despite its release a year ago. Amid the ongoing Twitter frenzy and admittedly hilarious jokes about what different referees might mean for the outcomes of different games (Scott Foster, for instance, is nicknamed “The Extender” because his officiating prolongs playoff series between even mismatched teams to six or seven games), I can think of no better time, really, than now to bear witness to the alleged corruption and sneaky maneuvering among NBA officiators—including one, Tim Donaghy, now a convicted felon for simultaneously betting on and officiating games.

Operation Flagrant Foul centers around the federal investigation into Donaghy in 2007 that rocked the entire league, and leaves lingering questions to this day despite Donaghy’s removal, as well as the role referees play—if any—in elongating playoff series. The documentary certainly feels relevant as one officiator, Eric Lewis, is currently under investigation for an alleged burner account, all after his controversial appointment to officiate game 7 of the Celtics-Sixers series in May despite how his immediate family members are openly Celtics fans. After watching Operation Flagrant Foul, I, for one, will also be tuning in for the rest of this year’s arguably mismatched NBA Finals match-up, if for no other reason than to suss out the refs. —Kylie Cheung

I’ve been in a style funk for a few months now, and while I’m not a huge thrifter, watching KG build out curated Second-Hand Style Boxes of vintage finds from clients’ style boards has been deeply inspiring to me. KG feels like your fun, no-bullshit, big vibes best friend who will tell you if you look like shit and hype you up at the same time.

“I love myself for being so fucking good at this,” she says in the above video. “And I love you because you’re going to look at it.” It’s too early to tell how enjoying these Toks will actually influence my own closet, but check back with me in August.—LT