Each week, Daily Arts writers evaluate the latest movies, shows, books, music, games and more. They watch, read and listen for the next standout artistic trends and then write about what that means for us in the art world and beyond. Come Friday, we highlight what Daily Arts loved most — here’s what will keep you captivated this weekend.
— Zoe Phillips and Elise Godfryd, Managing Arts Editors
Listen to: Echo from Indigo Sparke
“The songs often embark on mini philosophical quests, each anchored by Sparke’s languid, melancholy tones and simple guitar backings. Her sound evokes the centering gravity of Bedouine, or perhaps Angel Olsen at her most simple and haunting. Although the album is mostly Sparke and her guitar, with the barest touches of piano, percussion and bass here and there, these all come together to make a sum that is greater than its parts.”
Read more from Fia Kaminski here.
Watch: “The Great North”
“The plotlines are so strange, yet they are completely grounded by the characters’ innocence and love for each other. The best part about any good family, blood-related or otherwise, is the acceptance and even nourishment found in its weirdest quirks. In fact, one could argue that the thesis of this show, as well as its predecessor, might be that this is the only thing that makes a good family, as the members possess few other traits that are traditionally admirable.”
Read more from Ben Servetah here.
Listen to: Acquainted with Night from Lael Neale
“The final song, “Some Sunny Day,” leaves us with a glimpse of hope. The song’s instrumentation moves the listener forward — it feels like a drive-off song for the post-breakup ride home or a move to somewhere far away. The end of the song morphs itself by echoing the final chords of the song into distortion, then finally bringing back one more chord. She brings us to the liminal space of ending and beginning, the time neither wrong nor right.”
Read more from Katy Trame here.
Watch: “Minari” from A24
Dirt is dirt, and people seldom imagine their future in dirt, whether or not a few pretty things grow out of it. It’s a lonely, uncertain life for immigrant Koreans in the homogenous alabaster expanse of rural Arkansas. Culture shock runs rampant and goes both ways: Just as kids make fun of Anne and David’s language and faces, the Yis are endlessly put off by the locals’ Bible-thumping and reliance on things like dowsing wands — “Koreans use their minds,” Jacob reminds his son.
Read more from Jacob Lusk here.
Watch: “Young Rock” on NBC
The show proves that to be someone, you have to start from somewhere. The mechanisms of life aren’t meant to be easy to maneuver. From a young age, Johnson was given a plate of responsibilities that drove him to take care of himself and his mother. Family will always come first for Johnson and, importantly, Johnson has become successful enough to pay back his mother for all her struggles — and in this case, it created positive karma.
Read more from Jessica Curney here.