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, It’s our Memorial Day Weekend Edition! Wag is excited for you to have a lazy, lovely summer, a sultry season of low expectations, of dozing on screen porches, and escapes to refuges where the only assignments are splashing around and avoiding tick-borne scourges. A human being with no talent for leisure is somebody to avoid. Now, we understand that chilling out doesn’t come easily to you moguls. We suggest you get into the swing of it by reading this missive in a supine position. Perhaps you are already under an umbrella somewhere, feeling groggy. We do hope so. If you nod off, we’ll be here when you get back, ready to serve up all kinds of diversions. Take it easy, Wag Legion! You’ve earned it. Yours Ever,
It’s summer, just like in the 1980s: Top Gun: Maverick is Cruising to a $150 million opening (a career best for The Last Movie Star), and otherwise sensible people are wearing big white sneakers with high-waisted jeans. Consider taking Pippa and Huck to see Maverick in something called a movie theater — it will be educational, like a trip to Colonial Williamsburg! More good news: the sad roadshow that is Deep v. Heard is coming to an out-of-town close, so we won’t have to think about mishegoss anymore. Let’s put Netflix agonies out of our minds and focus on the fact that the Cannes Film Festival, loopy as as ever, produced a few films to genuinely look forward to. Namely: Charlotte Wells’ emotional Aftersun and James Gray’s wistful Armageddon Time. They offer a flicker of hope for cinema. — Christopher Strong
SeriesStranger Things (Netflix). It’s been three years since the last season, but Hawkins Ind., is still a portal for scaries from the Upside Down, and the new gargoyle in town is a doozy. Meanwhile, in real life, scary things have happened to Netflix and the world. The Duffer Bros. are just what the doctor ordered, but we’re going to need more than smart pop culture references and telekinesis to get us out of this pickle. That Damn Michael Che (HBO Max). If you are a decent person, people will figure it out eventually. So says Wag Michael Che, who gets battered this way and that for making observations. He’s doing just fine, both on SNL and the new season of his sketch comedy series. Brace yourself for the Texas Abortion Dojo. DocsWe Feed People (Disney+). Ron Howard teams up with Chef José Andrés to tell the story of how the renowned cook helps disaster victims and first responders with World Central Kitchen, a humanitarian organization that provides sustenance to thousands. Food for the soul. George Carlin’s American Dream (HBO Max). Wag Emeritus George Carlin was the most courageous performer of his time. A philosopher more than a joke teller, his observations about American life and politics remain trenchant today. Sir Judd Apatow tells Carlin’s life story in two parts, each packed with observations from comics who admired him and loved ones who shared his rollercoaster life. Galaxy Far, Far AwayObi Wan Kenobi (Disney+). Lord Ewan MacGregor returns as the title Jedi, on the run from the the baddies led by an intergalactic Javert known as the Third Sister (a menacing Moses Ingram). May the Force, and encyclopedic knowledge of Star Wars trivia, be with you.—Joseph Campbell
NovelReaders of Smarty Elif Batuman’s bestselling novel The Idiot will be acquainted with her heroine Selin, the daughter of Turkish immigrants who finds herself at Harvard, not quite prepared to navigate the grownup world. In Either/Or, we are back in Cambridge as she pursues Ivan, the mystery man of her dreams, while trying hard to make herself into a sophisticated person. Endearing, funny, ands a hopeful sign that youth is not at always wasted on the young. MemoirsWag Selma Blair was always too smart for the work she was given, and then her life took a real cinematic turn. Mean Baby, her memoir of growing up in Hollywood, battling addiction, and coping with multiple sclerosis, is a testament to her intelligence and grit … Tasha: A Son’s Memoir, by Brian Morton is a darkly hilarious story of a difficult mother and a wary son…Stepping Back from the Ledge by Laura Trujillo is a story of a mother, a daughter, suicide and the long path to self forgiveness. All are worth your time. Past the BreaksJuli Berwald loves coral reefs, and understands the complex set of environmental threats these beautiful ecosystems face. Difficult as these challenges are, there are reasons for hope. Life on the Rocks is the story of people who are working ingeniously to preserve and even expand coral reefs around the world, interwoven with another complicated journey —Berwald’s daughter’s struggle with anxiety and OCD. Dive in. —Ned Land
Hollywood has given us very glamorous ideas about espionage, but actual spying can be dreary bureaucratic work. In The Spying Game, Resourceful Rory Bremner introduces those who have created spy fiction to real life masters of covert operations, so they can compare notes. For example, actor Alistair Petrie (The Night Manager) chats with Jonna Mendez, who was the CIA’s Chief of Disguise. Now that’s a cool job. — Toby Esterhase
If the stars were edible/And our hearts were never full/Could we live with just a taste? No, we could not. Wag Harry Styles is the greatest pop star of this era, and getting better all the time. Music for a Sushi Restaurant, the lead track off his monster record Harry’s House, is a funky, hazy day in L.A. summer song. We are driving up to Malibu in 1978, with the top down, and Harry’s behind the wheel. Happy days. I've been through hell/On my way to hell. I only fought with myself/ So I'd have a story to tell. Haven’t we all been there, Jeff Tweedy? Wilco is back, with Story to Tell, a tune about getting a little beaten up by life, having regrets, and trudging on. It will keep you going. —Rosa Lee
There was a moment when Ray Liotta was poised to become one of Hollywood’s biggest stars. Abandoned as an infant, he was raised by adoptive parents in Union, New Jersey, found stage work after college in Miami, and at 30, landed a career-making part as the heavy in Jonathan Demme’s Something Wild (1986), opposite Melanie Griffith. In the comedy thriller, he is terrifying, engaging, and somehow vulnerable — working magic that led to a string of memorable roles. In Phil Alden Robinson’s Field of Dreams (1989), he was the spirit of baseball player Shoeless Joe Jackson, but it was Martin Scorsese’s Goodfellas (1990), that defined Liotta’s career. He is the heart of a masterpiece, swanning into the Copacabana with Lorraine Bracco on his arm. Liotta passed on a meeting with Tim Burton, who wanted him to star in Batman. That role went to another great talent, Michael Keaton. Liotta’s career went in another direction — he worked steadily for decades, playing dads, cops and mafiosos, including twins in the 2021 Sopranos prequel The Many Saints of Newark. By his own description, he was journeyman actor, happy simply to work. “You do as many different parts as you can,” he once said. “I've done movies with the Muppets. I did Sinatra. I did good guys and bad guys. I did a movie with an elephant…that’s what a career should be.” Liotta, only 67, died while on location. He had that kind of career, and eyes like twin glaciers. He will be terribly missed.— Ray Sinclair 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 the POP pier in Santa Monica, where the Zephyr Surf Team made history. “Advances are made by the Wag, which has a touch of irrational confidence in what it does.―Lillian Hellman
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