The Monday Post Gets Tuesday
Contents inside include: Mental Health Awareness, Q & A with J.Balvin, Trailer Round-Up, and More
Youthquake here, your one and only source into the nostalgia of the pop culture elite (past & present).
On top of fun content, it’s my sardonic weekly wrap-up of all the week’s celebrity chaos and other current pop culture happenings like trailers/film announcements and more.
The need to constantly stay online to maintain social connections is a struggle. I lost count on quarantine burnout and pandemic burnout. Whatever the electronic draining feeling is the culprit behind my lack of online activity. Right now, I feel like I’m your follower in their flop era. Call it a case of the Sunday scaries or the mean reds, or perhaps it’s some pre-interview anxiety; regardless, the endless and mindless scrolling is exhausting. Despite my disassociative mood, I’ve not been connecting with others online as I used to. Primarily because between being a caretaker and writing, I’m putting in the long-overdue work on myself.
To improve my inner saboteur, I talk openly about and help evolve emotionally after my childhood trauma and lose the chosen family I thought I had in my corner. Since May is Mental Health Awareness Month, the focus on mental health is prevalent now more than ever and while I’m no expert, being able to write, and share is something very new to me, and I’m so grateful to have an outlet to do that. I frequently discuss my mental health in my writing to help anyone else who may feel similarly but cannot express themselves comfortably, much like I used to be.
Although my recent breakthrough helped me with my emotional grieving, just because I experienced the loss didn’t mean I had to make myself suffer like a Martyr to the previous friendship. I didn’t realize I was doing it, but with the help of therapy, I can make progressive steps to break out of the hardening shell I was enclosing myself off with.
For those who struggle, you’re not alone. Making yourself vulnerable isn’t easy; as previously mentioned, it took me years to decide to try therapy. I still grapple with the concept myself, but re-connecting has been the most struggling yet rewarding journey. My past trauma and emotional pain history is a part of me but not who I am; learning this the hard way was a big challenge. Finding closure on my own is the character development I’ve been waiting on and deserve.
a Q & A with J.Balvin
From Academy Award®-nominee and Emmy-winning filmmaker Matthew Heineman (Cartel Land, City of Ghosts, A Private War) comes an exclusive and intimate portrait of one of the biggest global musical entertainers in the business. The Boy from Medellín is an insightful behind-the-curtain documentary that follows J. Balvin preparing for the most important concert of his career— a sold-out stadium show in his hometown of Medellín, Colombia.
As the concert draws near, there’s political turmoil as the streets erupt with political unrest, causing the ever-popular Latin Grammy-winning musician to grapple with the decision and responsibility as an artist to his country and his legions of fans worldwide. From beginning to end, the doc is captivating; watching Jose's vulnerable retelling of his mental health journey is a reassuring and comforting escape that, despite such success, he also battles with the mental health that’s plagued him for years.
The Boy from Medellín gives us never before seen access to “Reggaeton’s Global Ambassador” while providing an immersive look into one of the most pivotal and emotionally charged moments of his life. Watch The Boy from Medellín, exclusively via Amazon Prime.
💣 Q&A with José Álvaro Osorio Balvín:
Why did you ultimately choose to work with Matthew?
JB: I always like working with the best people in whatever I do. My team told me how great Matthew was, and I did my research and everything. It was a privilege.
How did you connect with Matt?
JB: We first had conversations by cell phone and FaceTime. Matt wanted to be sure this was the right project, and I wanted him to meet me and catch up. When we had the opportunity at Madison Square Garden after I show I played, I was going through a bad moment of anxiety, and he taught me how to breathe. We were talking about meditation and everything. It was a special, cool connection. I didn’t know it was going to be so intense when he started filming the whole project because I met him as a person, not a director. When he’s working, he’s really passionate about what he does. It’s really different; it’s like me on stage. It’s different than when I’m at home.What was it like to be filmed in such an intimate way?
JB: They’re like ninjas. You forget that they’re there. That’s part of the magic of Matt as a director and the whole team. There’s moments I definitely forgot that they were around. And even if they’re around, I cannot act. I’m just me. I have good moments and bad moments, good energies, some bad energies, I have great happiness, and sometimes I’m kind of sad. I don’t feel bad about showing that I’m a human being.
Did the film turn out to be different than you initially thought?
JB: I thought it was going to be more like a “star” story, but because of the situations that happened when we landed in Medellín, everything changed. And that’s life. Maybe Matthew had an idea, but when he got to Colombia, everything changed for him too. It became something more real and deep.
What did you learn during the week of filming?
JB: I learned a lot about my life as an artist and my responsibility. It’s not something I’ve thought about a ton before this week. You know, you think you’re just an entertainer, you’re supposed to make music and make people happy, but you also have to show how you feel about things. For me, it’s a process, and I want to keep learning, to keep growing.
⚡ Instead of exploiting the frankly oversaturated celebrity culture and the American obsession with fame, CCS is our contemplation on why can’t we get enough and why we love not minding our own business.
Here’s a lightning round of the latest messy reports because we love not minding our own business.
Issa Rae, HBO Max, and Miramax are reviving the critically acclaimed docuseries “Project Greenlight,” which initially spotlighted first-time filmmakers on HBO. If that name sounds familiar, it was the two-season series produced by Ben Affleck and subjectively one of my least favorite Matt’s, Matt Damon.
Kathryn Hahn (WandaVision, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse) and Janelle Monáe (The Glorias, Hidden Figures) join newly cast Edward Norton and Dave Bautista in Rian Johnson’s Knives Out sequel for Netflix.
Continuously embarrassing himself and the women he dates, ARod mourns his breakup up with J.Lo on Instagram. Utterly fascinating to watch a serial philanderer live so delusionally. Peace be with your theatrics ARod because you’re doing the absolute most.
Robert De Niro injures his leg off-set while filming Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon in Oklahoma. I think it’s time to revisit Oklahoma. 👀
Here are the latest teasers and trailers for your unadulterated pleasure.
🎥 One Click.
Critically acclaimed actress Elle Fanning, star and executive producer of Hulu’s The Great, and journalist Jessica Wapner, former science editor of Newsweek, for One Click. The new documentary podcast franchise explores how a single click on the internet can change a life forever. The spread of information transcends borders, instant gratification reigns supreme, and toxic beauty standards permeate all aspects of online life.
Grasshopper Film announces the release of Slow Machine, a feature film co-directed by Joe DeNardo (of the drone duo Growing) and Paul Felten that features performances and music from Eleanor Friedberger and Carrie Keith, and Dylan Sharp of Gun Outfit. The film partly documents the recording of Friedberger’s song Your Word from her 2016 album New View.
Slow Machine opens on June 4th via Metrograph's virtual cinema and June 11th via Grasshopper Film's website Project. The film stars Stephanie Hayes, Scott Shepherd, Eleanor Friedberger, and Chloë Sevigny.
I’ve been waiting to see David Lowery’s adaptation of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, the classic Arthurian legend, since before SXSW last year. Unfortunately, the world changed, and SXSW got canceled. Now A24’s dropped a new date and trailer, my reaction is still the same. I cannot wait.
📢 Roku Originals (the new brand name for future original programming on The Roku Channel) will feature 30 titles, including award-winning and scripted series, documentaries, alternative and reality programming with notable talents such as Anna Kendrick, Joe Jonas, Chrissy Teigen, Adam Devine, Liam Hemsworth, Kiefer Sutherland, Kevin Hart and more— all available for FREE on the Roku platform for viewers in the U.S., the U.K. and Canada.
Beginning on May 20th, otherwise known as Streaming Day, as a way to celebrate the incredible premium entertainment that has breadth, depth, and diversity accessible to viewers. This content includes never-before-seen episodes of Punk’d featuring DaBaby, Machine Gun Kelly, and Tyra Banks, which will be available to viewers at launch.
So if you need me on May 20th, don’t; you can continue to catch me streaming all things Roku.
This week I’m keeping myself busy with a whole new Youthquake Time Warp feature for this Friday’s TGIF post; we’re going back to a parallel time of 1971.
With love, your noughties girl 💘