A Few of My Favorite Things

Featuring: Michelle Buteau, Steph Curry, "Blue Crush" and "Hot Dog."

Michelle Buteau as Mavis in Survival of the Thickest. (Source.)

One recent Saturday morning I passed through the farmers market in my neighborhood and eyed the harvest of strawberries, peaches and grapes so bountiful, the fruits spilled over tabletops. I was confused. Wait, I actually thought, strawberries are not in season. What’s going on here??? Oh yes, for a split-second, I forgot that it was July, but to be fair: July in San Francisco is like October everywhere else. There’s a reason we don’t have AC here; we don’t need it. (I’m not rubbing it in! I love a schvitzy summer.) Anyway, cool story, and here we are: It’s August already. How did that happen? And, oh my god, my book launches in four weeks?! As the pub date approaches, I’m scaling back this newsletter through mid-September, when I’ll return with the longer features and interviews that I love to post. Without further ado, my list of favorites, new and throwback:

Survival of the Thickest: I first heard Michelle Buteau’s expressive, Jersey-inflected voice on a podcast (I forget which one) a few years ago. The comedian was a guest and telling a very funny anecdote about dating a man she met while working at a superstore. I became an instant fan and wanted to know more about her. Why wasn’t this woman more famous? Since finding success in standup comedy, Buteau has appeared as a reality TV host (The Circle) and rom-com sidekick (Always Be My Maybe) but never the leading lady. Finally, with the Netflix series Survival of the Thickest, based on her essay collection of the same name, Buteau gets the spotlight she deserves. She plays Mavis Beaumont, a fashion stylist who must rebuild her life after dumping her long-term, unfaithful boyfriend. The episodes are short but sweet, bawdy and hilarious; in one memorable moment, Mavis persuades her high-strung supermodel client (Garcelle Beauvais) to loosen her corset and embrace her curves. The result? ICON STATUS.

Stephen Curry: Underrated: I love a basketball documentary and this one, centered on Golden State Warriors champion Steph Curry, is quietly riveting. It harks way, way back to Curry’s youth in North Carolina, and unearths rare footage of his humble origins as the scrawny but scrappy kid who led Davidson College — an obscure liberal arts institution that sensed his potential early on — all the way to the NCAA Tournament, sinking three-pointers like no big deal. With Curry-style finesse, the Apple TV+ doc, directed by Peter Nicks, pivots between the distant and recent past (in which the point guard weathered setbacks on the court and staged his 2022 NBA Finals comeback). The Last Dance this is not; where the former took the shape of Michael Jordan, and his swaggering drive to dominate, Underrated takes on its subject’s low-key, show-don’t-tell personality. I do wish that Ayesha Curry, whom we worship as a queen in the Bay Area, had sat down to talk about her husband; clearly Steph traded access to Nicks in exchange for his family’s privacy. In that sense, the portrait feels a tad unfinished.

Oldies but goodies: I rewatched the 2002 cult film Blue Crush and it still rules. In her defining role, Kate Bosworth projects steel and sunshine as a surfer braving the Banzai Pipeline competition — partly out of passion for the sport and partly as a financial lifeline. Giving a thumbs up, Roger Ebert opined, “Looking at the posters for Blue Crush, which show Bosworth, [Michelle] Rodriguez and [Sànoe] Lake posing with bikinis and surfboards, I expected another mindless surfing movie.” He must have missed the memo that women who surf wear bikinis! (CC: Jonah Hill.) Shifting gears completely, last weekend I flipped on Ratatouille, quite possibly the most perfect film ever made. Its message — “Anyone can cook!” — is one for adults and children and told without sacrificing elegance. My husband teared up at the stirring Anton Ego monologue (performed by the great Peter O’Toole), and my 2-year-old enjoyed Remy the rat’s Parisian adventures (in bite-sized, 30-minute installments).

A children’s picture book: I cannot recommend Hot Dog by Doug Salati, a 2023 Caldecott medalist, enough. Salati illustrates a day in the life of a woman and her Dachshund as they hop on a fast-moving train to Fire Island, seeking relief from the sweltering heat. The author paints evocative seaside scenes, writing, “here, a pup can run.” You can practically smell the salty air and hear the crashing waves.

I hope that, wherever you are, you’re keeping cool. And if you happen to be in Los Angeles on Wednesday, September 20, you can find me talking BASEBALL and CINEMA — and signing copies of No Crying in Baseball — at Book Soup. I also want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart for your support, posts and kind words these past few months. I am very, very lucky to have readers like you! Yours in bouquets of newly sharpened pencils, EC.