Best Weekend
Best Weekend: ‘Wet Hot American Summer,’ Jill Scott’s ‘Woman,’ + More
What we'll be listening to, watching, and reading to sate our pop culture needs.
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Bust out your tube socks and booty shorts ’cause we’re spending the weekend at Camp Firewood with the high-larious goofballs we first fell in love with nearly 15 years ago. We’re also singing along to Jill Scott, reacquainting ourselves with Shirley Jackson, and so much more.
‘Wet Hot American Summer’ on Netflix
It’s the summer camp reunion we’ve all been waiting for. Except, in this 8-episode reboot of the cult classic film—which hits Netflix today—it’s technically the precursor to the two hours we’ve (repeatedly) spent with our favorite Camp Firewood counselors. Wet, Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp brings back all of the original’s weirdoes, played by stars exponentially more famous than they were when the movie came out in 2001 (including Bradley Cooper, Amy Poehler, Paul Rudd, and Elizabeth Banks). Does Banks’s Lindsay still (already?) taste like a burger? We can’t wait to find out.
‘Woman’— Jill Scott
This long awaited new album from the R&B great reminds us why we have been missing her so hard for the past four years. In March she teased us with the song “You Don’t Know,” a straight-up blues number that cuts right to your core, and it was a swoon-worthy harbinger of the beauty to come. With hints of country, rap, and vintage soul, Woman let’s Scott’s voice soar, and it is music to our ears.
‘Let Me Tell You’ by Shirley Jackson
Shirley Jackson, whose “The Lottery” is probably one of the most haunting short stories you’ve ever read, died far too young at the age of 48. This collection was compiled by her children, and contains previously unpublished stories, reviews, and humor pieces by the beloved author. Unlike the hype and disappointment of the long awaited Go Set a Watchman, Let Me Tell You simply gives Jackson fans a larger scope of her work to partake in. And now is the perfect time, to sate our interest until Ruth Franklin’s biography on this enthralling writer comes out next year.
‘Jenny’s Wedding’
It’s been mere weeks since same-sex marriage was legalized in the U.S., but already we’ve got one unfolding on film. Jenny’s Wedding stars Katherine Heigl (we know, we know) breaking the news to her conservative family that her roommate (Alexis Bledel) is actually her partner and they’ve decided to get married. The trailer looks a bit like a Hallmark movie with bigger stars and has an early-’90s feel tolerance-wise, but a mainstream movie that celebrates this new era of acceptance is one we’ll give the benefit of the doubt.
‘Y Dydd Olaf’—Gwenno
Ex-Pipette frontwoman Gwenno Saunders left her girl group behind for the solo life, and her debut album, Y Dydd Olaf, is well worth the separation pains we endured in the process. A dark churn of electro pop that beautifully ebbs and flows, this aural dystopian exploration was inspired by a ’70s sci-fi novel, and the Cardiff native sings most of the songs in Welsh, adding another layer of intrigue to the swirly synths.
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