Everything we canât stop loving, hating, and thinking about this week in pop culture.
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This Week - I, for one, love [this And Just Like That reunion](. - When did people at the movies become heathens? - If Sarah Snook doesnât win the Emmy, [we riot](. - I saw Beyoncé, and still havenât recovered. - Ryan Gosling, [music superstar](. The Happily Ever After We Want to See I have a strange relationship with Sex and the City. It is one of my favorite shows in TV history, and I also think that one of the most important story arcs of Sex and the City is horrendous. Yet I still love the show. I donât understand how both things are true, other than that I guess everything else besides this one piece of the show that I hate is so good that it makes up for its terribleness: Big (Chris Noth) and Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker) should never have ended up together. I donât care to admit how many times Iâve rewatched Sex and the City, which I do often because thereâs something about the show that feels healing to meâthat is, until I again get to the final episode and again want to throw something at my TV screen when Big rescues Carrie from Paris. While, sure, I understand that Sex and the City is a romantic fantasy in which the single gal gets her happy ending in the form of the man she chased for years finally committing to herâbut I also hate that the man is Big! If you watched Sex and the City, you know: Big sucks. This aggravation is top of mind this week because, in the [latest episode of Maxâs And Just Like That](, thereâs revisionist history happening which some fans Iâve spoken to are annoyed by, but which I think is perfect. Carrie, seemingly out of the blue, emails her ex-fiance, Aidan (John Corbett), which leads to them [reuniting in New York](, now that theyâre both single. (Aidan is divorced; Carrie is a widow, following Bigâs [death-by-Peloton](.) Aside from Carrieâs willingness to overlook a [shockingly hideous coat]( that Aidan wears when they meet, their connection is electric, as if a spark from when they first met 23 years ago has traveled through space and time to light up their rekindled relationship. The speed of their intimacy is, on the one hand, ludicrous. Carrieâs grief over Bigâs death is still very much a dominant storyline; Aidan doesnât even live in New York; and then thereâs the small matter of Carrie having been an absolute piece of shit to him all those years ago. Aidan, to his credit, acknowledges this, with his refusal to go back into the apartment they once shared because itâs too painfulâleading to the bizarre twist in which the two of them sublet Cheâs (Sara Ramirez) Hudson Yards apartment as an urgently needed love shack. How could they so quickly move past that complicated history? On the other hand, thereâs the other major part of whatâs happened in these last two episodes since Aidanâs return: My god, Parker and Corbett have undeniable, irresistible chemistry. When her friends wonder if things are moving too fast, Carrie says, âIf it feels rightâand it doesâwhy slow it down?â Itâs a fair point in general, in that surrendering to any romance is inherently reckless. But itâs also gratifyingâat least to me, as a Sex and the City fan. Carrie and Aidan always felt right. Itâs why it was so maddening to see her treat him so poorly and make such sabotaging decisions. Aidan didnât deserve that; neither did their love. Ostensibly, Carrieâs behaviorâcheating on Aidan with Big; breaking up her engagement to Aidanâwas in the service of making sure Big and Carrie end up together. I hated that! Big was horrible to Carrie for so long, stringing her along in demeaning ways, until randomly he was ready to commit to her. So when Carrie, in a fabulously acted scene by Parker, admits years later, âIâve been asking myself, was Big a big mistake?â I reflexively clapped. Yes, itâs a sentiment thatâs tantamount to heresy within the showâs Bible. Itâs especially confusing in the [context of And Just Like That](, a sequel series that made the decision to portray Carrie and Bigâs marriage, all these years later, as very happy and healthy. I understand that a line that seems to fly in the face of what we know about these characters and this show can feel like a betrayal to some fans. But to other fans (me), who have differing, passionate opinions (Big is the worst!), itâs easier to forgive: It validates how Iâve always felt about the show. Thereâs perhaps an even more important line near the end of the episode, when Che meets Aidan for the first time. They see how much he and Carrie are swooning over each other, and how easy their new relationship already seems. What happened that they werenât together this whole time? âI made a mistake,â Carrie tells Che, devastated. Thatâs the series course-correction that we should get behind. She made a mistakeâyer darn tootinâ she didâwhich is easier to swallow as a fan (because itâs true) than the earlier dismissal of her and Bigâs entire history together. These last two episodes of the show have almost seemed like fan fiction for me, because Iâve always thought that Aidan and Carrie belonged together, but given everything that happened between them, it could never make sense. And just like that, though, it finally does. The Barbenheimer Bad Behavior It was such a soaring, invigorating experience to see the enthusiasm with which audiences attended [Barbie and Oppenheimer screenings]( in the last several weeks. Getting excited about movies! You love to see it! What you hate to see is that people have forgotten how to act while at the movies. Iâm not talking about displays of excitement. [Barbie](, for example, was made even better by watching it with an energized crowd reacting vocally and uproariously. When I saw it, people in my theater kept repeating some of the filmâs best linesâthe ones we all couldnât believe Mattel allowed in the filmâout loud, like a reflex born out of disbelief. It was fun. It was usually accompanied by a secondary giggle. Thatâs the fun of a communal experience. Not fun: everyone being on their damn phones. Phones glued to our hands like theyâre now a part of the appendage, like a new form of human evolution, is an inescapable-if-annoying new reality. But I feel like we all used to operate with an understanding that we donât use them during movies. Over the last few weeksâespecially during the filmsâ opening weekendâiPhone-filmed footage of Barbie and Oppenheimer was all over my social media feeds. Not only were people using their phones in the theaters, but they were also literally filming the screen. That violates, like, two social norms I thought we all had the common sense to abide by. Aside from that was the endless scrolling, made obvious by the glow of phone screens throughout both films and audience membersâ heads down looking at them instead of up at the movie they paid to watch. I sat next to four people at one Barbie showing who were dressed in pink outfits and posed for selfies before it started. Theoretically, they were interested enough in this movie that they had procured costumes to wear while watching it. Then, during two of the biggest movements, three of the four of them were scrolling and typing on their phones, their heads down. I know this because it was so distracting for me, but I also was confused by their behaviorâthese people missed the scenes that were kind of the whole point of the entire movie! This poor moviegoing etiquette isnât new; my colleague Coleman Spilde [wrote about it for Obsessed]( last year. But it all seemed super-charged during Barbenheimer weekend, in a way I hope doesnât become normalized. Anyway, Iâm going to pour myself some prune juice, open up my copy of AARP magazine, settle down for a marathon of Matlock or Murder She Wrote, and stop my old-man whining. But I needed to get it off my chest! Sarah Snook Really Deserves the Emmy Now I loved Kate Aurthurâs lengthy [profile of Succession Sarah Snook]( for Variety for several reasons. For one, I donât remember ever coming away from an article believing so strongly that a performer must win all the acting awards for their performance before. The feature had fascinating insight from Snook and collaborators about crafting her performance that made her work on the show seem all the more impressive. Itâs the kind of deep dive into an acting triumph that someone hoping to win an Emmy dreams ofâa good sign for Snookâs chances, should the Hollywood writing and acting strikes end and the Emmy Awards ever happen. (AMPTP, I will never forgive you if weâre denied a Sarah Snook Emmys speech because of your villainous behavior.) But thereâs one detail in the piece that really blew me away. Apparently, Shiv Royâs pregnancy was written into the show midway through the final season, when Snook herself learned she was expecting. Episodes and scenes had already been shot in which, when Snook performed them, there was never a plan for Shiv to be pregnant. Additional scenes were written and filmed for those episodes after the fact. Some of the most explosive exchanges, though, like the one where Tom (Matthew Macfadyen) tells Shiv that sheâs âmaybe not a good person to have children,â were filmed before there was the decision for Shiv to be pregnant. Itâs really interesting to read about, which you can [do so here](! How Does Beyoncé Do It? I saw Beyoncé perform last weekend at one of her shows in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Itâs unreal, even unfathomable, how good she is at this. Every element of the show operated on a different level from any performer Iâve ever seen live, from her vocals (stronger than ever) to the choreography (humans shouldnât be allowed to move that way) and the unbelievable stagecraft and costumes. (It is maybe the most unimportant observation, but she looked stunningly beautifulâand also just really happy!) Itâs hard to articulate how phenomenal the show was, other than to say that it was so good, it was worth the godforsaken journey to New Jersey. So Iâll let the one person most able to sound coherent and smart while also being wildly effusive do it instead. Take it away, Oprah: Ryan Gosling, Pop Star â[Iâm Just Ken](,â the hilarious ballad Ryan Gosling sings in Barbie, [debuted this week]( on the Billboard Hot 100 chartâan encouraging sign of taste in America! (Less encouraging: Itâs only at No. 87. Letâs get this straight to No. 1!) More From The Daily Beastâs Obsessed The Real Housewives of New York Cityâs reboot continues to be a sheer, silly delightâcomplete this week with discourse about popsicles in vaginas. [Read more](. Paul Reubens, who was Pee-wee Herman, never fully got the critical reappraisal he deserved after his arrests in the early â90s and â00s. [Read more](. The scariest scene in the new season of The Witcher on Netflix was also its bloodiest. [Read more](. [See This] - Passages: This movie is [sexy-as-hell](, and everyone should watch it. (Now in theaters) - Only Murders in the Building: Delightful show continues to be a delight! (Tues. on Hulu) - Heartstopper: [Swoon-inducing show]( continues to cause swoons! (Now on Netflix) [Skip This] - The Meg 2: The Trench: Jason Statham battling a giant shark [shouldnât be this boring](! (Now in theaters) - The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart: Sigourney Weaver [deserves better](! (Now on Prime Video) Like our take on what to watch?
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