The Handmaid's Tale: Season 2 Begins

By Spencer Coile

What one word would you use to describe the first season of The Handmaid’s Tale? Bleak, visceral, angry… timely. Take your pick – they all apply. And returning for its second season, it becomes abundantly clear that the series is not shying away from its difficult subject matter.

Set in Gilead, a dystopian future where only a handful of women are capable of conceiving children, The Handmaid’s Tale (based on Margaret Atwood’s novel of the same name) is a grisly yet empowering exploration of femininity and feminism in a time when women’s bodies are viewed as mere vessels. Season one was righteous, searing, and highly acclaimed earning eight total Emmy Awards and a place in the cultural zeitgeist. Can the second season keep the momentum going?

The Handmaid’s Tale’s first season loosely followed the plot of Atwood’s novel, but the second must conjure a life of its own...

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"Sharp Objects" Teases

by Nathaniel R

Mmmmmhow we love a good teaser. One that tells you almost nothing about the movie or tv series other than an overal mood so as to preserve / prolong the pre-release excitement. Here comes the eight hour miniseries Sharp Objects starring Amy Adams and Patty Clarkson, two of the best actresses in the business, the latter of whom hasn't had a high profile great part in way too long...

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Drag Race: "Last Ball on Earth"

by Nathaniel R

You can't blame RuPaul for so many apocalypse jokes. It really does seem like the world is on fire of late. Last days, indeed. So if we're going out have a ball. Or throw one. Which is another way of saying bless this show for existing because FUN and a sense of humor are so needed and both are in such short supply. This week's maxi-challenge was runway based as the queens had to come up with three global warming end-days looks...

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HBO Pays Up

By Spencer Coile 

In addition to its already anticipated second season, the impacts of Big Little Lies are reaching far and wide – in this case, from the pocketbooks of its network. HBO executive Casey Bloys explains that in light of the Times Up Movement, as well as insistence from series star Reese Witherspoon, the network went through a process to ensure equal pay for each of its stars… from every single series. Bloys explains:

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Drag Race: PharmaRusical

Nathaniel R

A quicker look at the second episode, which featured the girls divvied up into two teams selling Ruco Labs pharmaceuticals... a chance to make lots of crude and intermittently funny jokes about gag reflexes, drag mouth (cliche utterances -- a very real problem!), and tucking. The episode was front loaded since the mini-challenge (a silly country dancing hoedown) was the peak. All in all a decent hour but relatively free of future classic moments so we'll have to call it a filler episode... 

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