My now non-active pop culture blog called “Watching Pop Culture With My Parents” (archived here on this blog) used to be filled with my pop culture exploits (with my parents since I now live with them). After I decided to stop actively blogging on that site I still watch a lot with my parents. In fact we spend a lot of time together. I’ve always been a pop culture curator for them. They tend to like a lot of what I do (what can I say, I’m an old soul). So this pop culture recommendation harkens back to blogs of pop culture days gone by.
On a recent Friday night we ordered pizza from a favorite local restaurant and I picked out the movie. I didn’t ask for input or anything. I just knew they’d like it. So we watched “Murder Mystery” a Netflix original movie starring Jennifer Aniston and Adam Sandler. It was a fun and light and silly watch. Perfect for our Friday night. In addition to discussing “Murder Mystery”. I will also mention a few bits of pop culture on the horizon for watching (with my parents).
Aniston and Sandler starred in another movie together a few years ago, “Just Go With It.” I never saw that one but this one was conveniently on Netflix so it was on my radar. (Not a laziness thing for me but I prefer to watch movies at home after my accident and TBI and hearing loss. That way I can have the captions on screen and control the sound and other sensory input.) I also liked the murder mystery format since I’ve always been a fan of Agatha Christy, etc. (so are my parents).
The cast of this movie is nice and not as peppered with Sandler regulars as I feared it may be (Rob Schneider would’ve stuck out like a sore thumb). For more on the cast, check out this article.
As I alluded to, Adam Sandler has had the habit of casting his movies like he’s inviting people over for a kegger. Now that he’s older and his friends are booking their own gigs, he’s instead making movies like he’s planning a vacation. In “Murder Mystery” he and Aniston prance around Europe. This sounds like I’m critical of Sandler and his style. I’m really not. He managed to make a movie that he wanted to make that appealed to me and my parents as a viewing audience.
I also really enjoyed seeing Jennifer Aniston in her comedic form similar to her time on “Friends.”
Other Parental-friendly Pop Culture
Catherine The Great (HBO)- a four part miniseries that begins airing tonight (October 21). Starring Helen Mirren and Jason Clark. (Read more about it here.)
The Laundromat (Netflix)- A movie original to Netflix available now. Starring Meryl Streep, Gary Oldman and Antonio Banderas. It’s about The Panama Papers (how the rich hide their 💴) and the two real life lawyers portrayed in the movie sued Netflix to try and stop the film from hitting Netflix. They didn’t succeed because the movie is still available. Read more about the real life case in this New York Times article.
Modern Love (Amazon Prime)- Based on the popular weekly column in The New York Times, these are little stand alone pieces (8 total) with each running 29-35 minutes. Starring people like Tina Fey, Anne Hathaway and John Slattery. (Wikipedia article.)
Writing Memoir Update
No headway. No update. Don’t worry. I haven’t given up!
Writing By Laura 
When the Handmaids’ Tale came out, my girlfriend at the time selected it to watch on family movie night with her parents and grandparents. I spent the entire movie trying to shrink into myself , I don’t really have any pop-culture overlap with my father or my in-laws. Their interests just seem to be in another era.
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I understand. I have had plenty of uncomfortable moments watching things with my parents. I distinctly remember watching “The Kids Are Alright” with them and THIS kid was NOT alright during some scenes! I’m also wondering about “Catherine The Great” on HBO. Because it’s about a romantic relationship in her life so I am worried it might be uncomfortable! I do watch stuff by myself that I feel would border on uncomfortable or drive me nuts to try and explain! But we usually do OK!
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