Featuring "Gladiator II," Father John Misty and more
| Welcome to See/Hear, InsideHook’s deep dive into the month’s most important cultural happenings, pop and otherwise. Every month, we round up the biggest upcoming movie, TV and album releases, ask some cool people to tell us what they've been into lately, make you a playlist we guarantee you'll have on heavy rotation and recommend a classic (or unduly overlooked) piece of pop culture that we think is worth revisiting. In addition to Election Day and plenty of turkey, November traditionally brings a slew of awards contenders, and this year is no different with Gladiator II, a Forrest Gump reunion of sorts and a new Clint Eastwood movie. Beyond that, this month will treat us to a buzzy new Billy Bob Thornton drama, the latest from Father John Misty and plenty more — so let's get to it. — Bonnie Stiernberg, Managing Editor p.s. — As always, feel free to hit me up here with comments, suggestions or recommendations of your own. |
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| Gladiator II in theaters Nov. 22 It’s a sequel 24 years in the making: Ridley Scott returns with Gladiator II, and he’s bringing a stacked cast with him. Paul Mescal, Pedro Pascal and Denzel Washington will all step into the arena this time around, and Connie Nielsen and Derek Jacobi reprise their roles from the original Gladiator. The film centers around Lucius Verus (played by Mescal), the former heir to the Roman Empire and son of Maximus, who becomes a gladiator after his home is invaded by a Roman army led by Marcus Acacius (Pascal). And this could be the start of a franchise: Scott is reportedly “toying with the idea” for Gladiator III. Plus: Clint Eastwood returns with a new legal drama, Netflix drops a new Elvis documentary, Hugh Grant plays against type in the creepy Heretic and more. Check out our complete list of upcoming November movies here. | |
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| Landman Nov. 17 on Paramount+ Based on the popular Boomtown podcast, which chronicled the 21st century Texas oil boom, Landman boasts a pretty impressive cast. Billy Bob Thornton plays Tommy Norris, a crisis executive at an oil company, and Jon Hamm plays one of the billionaire executives so often tied up in the industry. Demi Moore, Ali Larter, Andy Garcia and Michael Peña also star. Paramount+ seems confident that they’ve got a hit drama on their hands with this one: it hasn’t even premiered yet, but the show has already been renewed for a second season, which is slated to start shooting in early 2025. Plus: Ted Danson plays an amateur private investigator who goes undercover in a retirement home in A Man on the Inside, HBO drops its Dune prequel series and more. Check out our complete list of November TV release dates here. | |
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| Father John Misty, Mahashmashana Nov. 22 2022’s Chloë And The Next 20th Century was a pretty strong sonic departure for Father John Misty, full of strings and horns and nods to Old Hollywood. It was a great record, but it was challenging for fans who had become a little too attached to the FJM persona and shtick — both of which were scaled back significantly. Based on what we’ve heard so far of his sixth LP, Mahashmashana, it finds him back in his wheelhouse. “Josh Tillman and the Accidental Dose” feels like a sequel of sorts to 2015’s “The Night Josh Tillman Came to Our Apartment.” If Pure Comedy-era Father John Misty is more your speed, you’ll dig the seven-minute epic “Screamland,” which features Low’s Alan Sparhawk on guitar. “I Guess Time Just Makes Fools of Us All” sees him firing on all cylinders and dropping a few self-referential jabs like “Go and serve your client notice/That of all young gods I have known/Yours is easily the least famous/To turn down the cover of The Rolling Stone,” and “She Cleans Up” feels like it could fit right in on 2012’s Fear Fun. Plus: The Cure return with their first album in 16 years, Kim Deal goes solo, Jon Batiste reinterprets Beethoven and more. Check out our complete list of November album releases here. | |
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| 🎧 Nov. 22 will always be remembered as the day JFK was assassinated, but it also marks a significantly less morbid anniversary: the day the Beatles released the White Album. The double album sees the Fab Four bouncing from genre to genre across its 30 tracks, so naturally it has inspired a wide array of covers by artists of all stripes over the years. So to celebrate the anniversary of one of the most influential and well-known albums of all time, we’ve put together a lengthy playlist of our favorite cover versions of White Album songs. It’s got a little bit of everything, from Billy Joel and Peter Frampton to Siouxsie and the Banshees and The Breeders and, yes, Beyoncé. Whether you’re craving a jazz interpretation of “Back in the U.S.S.R.” or a twangy take on “While My Guitar Gently Weeps,” we’ve got you covered. |
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| “I’m currently finishing her autobiography right now, and I couldn’t have loved reading it more while being on tour. I’ve been sinking in her stories about playing in the same venues we have been playing night after night. Her whole life is so inspiring and has given me strength for the tough days I’ve had on the road. She has always been so unapologetic while also showing her vulnerability. This resonates with me and the kind of job we have. Being a girl in a band, doing things differently and not being studio musicians that have been playing instruments since they can walk can be tough. A lot of people hate it and don’t get it, but we change things. At least 25 girls on this tour have come after shows to tell us they started playing music ’cause of us. I’ll quote a genius part of her book that sums up the big impact of representation; this is from when she saw The Go-Gos at age 14: ‘Charlotte Caffey played lead guitar like it was a totally normal thing for a girl to do, which made it a totally normal thing for a girl to do.’” |
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| “Discovering this album is like discovering a secret you immediately know should not be a secret but actually a well-known fact in an encyclopedia book with a statue dedicated to it and a ribbon-cutting ceremony for people to attend so they can express their joy and gratitude. Joh Chase is the type of songwriter you would call one of the greatest. When the first track on the album, ‘Gone,’ starts, you feel like you’ve already heard it before. It’s familiar and comforting to hear again, if not somewhat distressing to learn their ‘dog is nowhere.’ (I checked, and it’s a shared custody situation, not a lost dog situation.) Joh is, simply put, a star. Their voice is powerful, tender and carries with it the weight of the ocean. When it wants to fuck you up, it will. When it wants to take you on a gentle drive, you’re riding shotgun. Their lyrics are smart, delicate, reminiscent and classic-feeling. Joh will punch down into your throat, grab your heart and take it with them throughout the record without you being able to stop or wanting them to. I am labelmates with Joh, and the pitch that hooked me into this album was ‘Sheryl Crow but make it queer.’ Welcome to your new favorite record.” |
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| “This weekend I took a deep dive into Sly Stone’s memoir Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin). Since my early teens, Sly’s musical voice has in large part shaped my own. The energy and perspective in his music remains gospel to me, and it is such a pleasure to hear from the man himself. His writing style is also unsurprisingly immensely appealing to me as well. I am absolutely loving this book!” |
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| “I just finished reading my friend Florence Given’s new book Women Living Deliciously. It is the most girl power book ever. She encourages us all to relish in the tiniest joys in life and gives us reminders like when people are haters it is like a public exhibition of how they feel about themselves and that it’s really hard to be mad at people once you learn not to take anything personally. I wish I had read these books when I was a teenager. Her first book Women Don’t Owe You Pretty is also a must!” |
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| Veep, “Election Night” (2015) Streaming on Max, Hulu and Prime Video Whether it’s a testament to the show’s spot-on satire or an illustration of just how ridiculous the past decade or so of American politics has been, there have been many instances of Veep predicting the future. The most obvious example, of course, comes in the show’s third season — which aired way back in 2012 — when Selina Meyer (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), the nation’s first female vice-president, finds out she’s about to become leader of the free world after the president decides to step down to tend to his wife’s failing mental health. It’s not exactly the same thing as Kamala Harris finding herself at the top of ticket after Joe Biden was convinced to drop out of the race this summer, but the similarities were strong enough to cause a 350% spike in Veep viewership in the days after Biden’s announcement in July. But like her real-life counterpart, Selina still had an election to win. After finishing out the remainder of her predecessor’s term, she found herself in a hotly contested race against her rival Bill O’Brien (Brad Leland) in Veep‘s fourth season — one that comes to a head in its finale, “Election Night,” with an unprecedented Electoral College tie. Given that Harris and Trump are virtually deadlocked in the polls just days before the election (not to mention the recent failed bid to change the way Nebraska allots its electoral votes and potentially cause a tie), now is a good time to revisit this Emmy-winning episode and brush up on what might unfold in a few days. (Although it’s worth noting most experts believe a tie is highly unlikely.) Veep very wisely never disclosed which party its main character belonged to, opting instead to poke fun at the absurdity of our nation’s politics as a whole, and “Election Night” is a perfect example. After all, what’s more absurd than an archaic system that allows for a tie (as one of Selina’s aides asks, “Why make the amount of electoral votes an even number?”) and a scenario in which a candidate could potentially lose the presidency to their own running mate? “Election Night” sets up an entire season’s worth of plot, in which Tom James (Hugh Laurie) secretly lobbies members of the House to abstain from their tie-breaking vote so that neither candidate gets the required 26 votes and he’s able to become president through a loophole. But even as a standalone episode, it’s extremely funny. The slapstick humor of Mike McClintock (Matt Walsh) dropping an armful of vending machine sodas and sprinting down a hallway to tell Selina not to concede is complemented by an impressive amount of the rapid-fire one-liners the show made its calling card. Regardless of where your political allegiances lie, you’re going to find yourself stressing over every potential election outcome this week — so you might as well laugh while you’re doing it. |
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| "I don't know where I'm going from here, but I promise it won't be boring." - David Bowie |
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