The Suggestion Box #129: Zombies, and Actors, and Jenny Nicholson, Oh My!

Posted on by Lauren

Wondering what to do with your upcoming free time? Good thing we have some suggestions for what you should be watching, playing, reading, listening to, etc.

Ben’s Short Film Pick: Resident Evil Requiem: Evil Has Always Had a Name – I have yet to play Resident Evil Requiem, but this short film/ad is easily better than all of the Resident Evil films I’ve seen, and somehow also better than most of the RE games I’ve played. It’s just over three minutes long, so why not give it a shot? I mean, it stars It Follows / Long Legs scream queen Maika Monroe!

Lauren’s Quick 2nd Opinion: It made me cry. And then I had to go rewatch the cinematic trailer for the first Dead Island game, which only compounded the sadness. 10 outta 10.

Ben’s TV Pick: Wonder Man – Considering the first (and only) series under the Marvel “Spotlight” umbrella was 2024’s Echo miniseries — my least favorite thing in the MCU — I did not have high hopes for Wonder Man. And then when I heard all of its episodes were going to drop on the same day, just as Echo’s had, I wondered (not sorry) if I should even bother watching it. With that in mind, you can probably imagine how glad I was when Wonder Man turned out not only to be a breath of fresh air, but the most unique entry in the MCU to date; a wonderful (still not sorry) bromance between an unlikely pair of friends brought to life by two wondrous (last one) performances, in a show that keeps the Marvel-ness of it all at arm’s length. Instead of an action-heavy adventure, it’s a character driven drama about the struggles of a young actor trying to make a name for himself and an aging thespian who keeps finding himself in trouble due to poor choices from his past. The former is Simon (played by Yahya Adbul-Mateen II), a superhero cinema veteran who already made a name in the genre with performances in HBO’s Watchmen series and the Aquaman films. The latter is Ben Kingsley’s Trevor whose last big performance as the Mandarin in Iron Man 3 has done no favors. This is a show that absolutely lives or dies by its leading duo, so the fact that their chemistry is believable from their very first shared scene and only gets better throughout the miniseries’ eight episodes means Wonder Man is extremely fun to watch. Here’s hoping there’s more to come for Simon and Trevor, as well as more attempts from the MCU to branch out further into new directions and genres!

Lauren’s YouTube Channel Pick: Jenny Nicholson – When it comes to background noise while working, I usually bounce between relying on podcasts when I tire of music and music when I tire of podcasts. I’ve avoided visual stimuli because I’m prone to being easily distracted, but during this current era of being tired of both music and podcasts, I figured it was time to finally tackle the intimidating 4-hour-long Star Wars Hotel video — it was time to delve deeper into just how grievously this experience wounded this beloved content creator, starting with that cursed, infamous dinner-show-view-impeeding support column that I’ve heard so much about. Long story short, though I love a good teardown of a cash-grabbing juggernaut, I was beyond impressed that Jenny’s complaints weren’t just vitriolic rants about how she was wronged, but actually extremely well-researched breakdowns of just how (and why) this hotel failed the Star Wars fanbase. From there I delved into Jenny’s backlog of other content (which I am still working my way through), and no matter the length of the video — from another 4 hour theme park exposé (someone check in on the emotional wellbeing of the ex-employees of the now closed Evermore Park), to an hour long trip down memory lane that finally taught me (for better or worse) what a Brony actually is, to a 20 minute exploration of a sarcastically contentious dynamic between two hosts featured on Hallmark’s YouTube channel — it is impossible not to be entertained thanks to her prep work and genuine enthusiasm for everything she spotlights. For the record, my absolute favorite video so far has been her lambasting the film adaptation of Dear Evan Hansen.

So what do you think about these picks? What content did we miss over the past two weeks while we were spending time with these? Be sure to leave a comment below letting us know about everything (both current and simply new to you) you’ve been consuming lately!

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