Issue #6: David O'Reilly and Fantastic Duo

Are you guys even reading this subtitles?

Wow, how crazy was March?

I went to two bachelorette parties, both in Miami (and barely survived them). Hannah Montana made a comeback. Something about the Mueller report. All very exciting and good things!

Here’s hoping that April bring with it at least one full-night’s sleep.

HIGHBROW

This week’s HIGHBROW is another case of finding out how young a person was when they made something of true creative genius and being very triggered by that. My creative outlet at age 23 was negging men in their 30s (I got very good at this). David O’Reilly’s creative outlet at age 23 was making a perfect animated short that went on to win a Golden Bear at Berlinale and other very cool awards (though not the Oscar, unlike Academy Award winning animator Kobe Bryant).

O’Reilly tells the story of troubled love between a cat and mouse set in an expansive, cold, and very windy metropolis. These cute, bobble-headed characters live a dark life in an austere world. There are no rounded edges, only sharp corners. Everyone seems to be just holding on, just trying to make it to the next day. i cri everytim.

The film is poignant and striking, both in its storytelling and in its visual choices. O’Reilly’s aesthetic voice is so confident and SO FUCKING LOUD, DUDE. Sorry, I’m still upset about the age thing. I’m a few weeks away from entering my early-late-twenties which is one of the worst things that can happen to me as a woman.

The film is Please Say Something. If you’re at work right now, save this one for later because it will fuck you up. But please promise me you’ll watch it. It’s too good to go unwatched.

I also highly recommend taking a look at the other work on O’Reilly’s website. He animated the A Glitch Is A Glitch episode of Adventure Time and all the video game graphics in the film Her. He also did this very cool one-minute video of a floating cat head.

(By the way, if you meet who thinks Her is a LOVE STORY????? Run).

LOWBROW

Ok, LOWBROW time. We’re circling back to Kpop this week.

There’s a bit of background to the clip I’m about to share with you. You need to know about two entities: Sistar and Fantastic Duo.

For Sistar, I will begin at the end. The darkest day: May 22, 2017. Starship entertainment announces that after seven years of non-stop bops, Sistar will disband. Its four members — Hyolyn, Soyou, Bora and Dasom — will be pursuing solo projects. And just like that, Kpop’s greatest four-person girl group* came to an end.

They were the queens of summer bangers, of toned legs and short shorts, of tan skin (by Korean standards), and of VOCALS. I mourn their disbandment every day.

The other part to this is Fantastic Duo— it’s a reality singing competition show. Each episode, three or so contestants are put through a series of singing challenges. The finalist then gets to sing a duet with that week’s celebrity guest.

My favorite challenge is the 1:3 Random Play Match. The three contestants must all sing a song together, but their parts are decided by a roaming spotlight. Basically, if the spotlight’s on you, it’s your turn to sing. On top of all this, they are singing the song of the celebrity guest to the celebrity guest.

But just because it’s wholesome, family-friendly content doesn’t mean it can’t absolutely SLAP.

Enter: Sistar. They appeared in an episode of Fantastic Duo in 2016, and of course my girls crushed it. But the added delight here is the normies. The non-celebrity contestants in the Sistar episode of Fantastic Duo blow it the FUCK up. Hyolyn’s face says it all.

You can watch the 3:1 Random Play Match here (if you’re gonna pick one clip to watch, make it this one). You can watch another, very cute challenge here, and the winner’s duet here.

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That’s all for this week! If you are liking this newsletter, tell your friends. Especially the ones giving out book deals. Or movie deals. Or your sugar daddy friends. It’s all the same to me.

xoxo,

Simone

*Yup, it’s Sistar. Not 2NE1. Absolutely not Blackpink. Literally name one BP member with a personality. Can’t do it, babe!