1. Watch Turning Red with your kids
CHRIS DROSNER, EXECUTIVE EDITOR
I’m a huge softie when it comes to kids’ movies. I cry at pretty much all of the good ones, at least the ones with any semblance of heart – Despicable Me, Incredibles, Inside Out, Coco, The Book of Life, holy crap, The Book of Life. I bawled. Anyway, I come bearing a recommendation for Turning Red, a new coming-of-age movie from Pixar that dropped on Disney+ last weekend. It’s the story of a 13-year-old Canadian girl of Chinese descent struggling to contain her emotions, struggling to belong, struggling to have a healthy relationship with her mother … you know, struggling the way 13-year-olds do. This relatively advanced age for an animated movie clearly directed at kids comes out in its themes – puberty is talked about openly, and of course some people are going to be mad about that. But it’s smart, funny and cute, and my sixth-grade boy loved it even though the only male characters were bit roles at best. And, of course, my eyes were leaky water balloons for the entire last 20 minutes.
2. Listen to Moon Pix by Cat Power
ARCHER PARQUETTE, MANAGING EDITOR
This album is a Top 5 album for me. Maybe a number one, depending what kind of mood I’m in. Singer-songwriter Cat Power delivers a powerhouse performance with the backing of just a drummer and a guitar player. It’s not a happy album, by any means, but it is a beautiful one.
It’s time to pick your Milwaukee favorites for the year!
3. Eat at Heaven’s Table BBQ
CHRIS DROSNER, EXECUTIVE EDITOR
Holy smokes, it’s days later and I’m still thinking about this. Our family split a “Mosley” combo meal (named after municipal judge and gadfly foodie Derek Mosley), and I could not get enough of chef Jason Alston’s creations. We had the pulled pork – succulent but not fatty, a perfect base for the smoky, tangy sauce – and brisket (intensely flavorful, with an occasional chunk of peppercorn on the bark giving an extra spicy kick). The creamy, jalapeno-spiked mac and cheese is not to be missed again. The $35 meal says it feeds 3-4, but we had a lot of very welcome leftovers at that number. 5507 W. North Ave.
4. Watch Mr. Jones
ARCHER PARQUETTE, MANAGING EDITOR
In 1933 journalist and foreign advisor Garth Jones traveled to Ukraine and witnessed firsthand the Holodomor, Stalin’s famine, which killed around 3.5 million Ukrainians. His reports were directly contradicted by Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Walter Duranty’s pro-Stalin stories in The New York Times, which were later revealed to be false. This dramatic retelling of that time tells an extremely important story about evil, and the willful blindness that comes from following a totalitarian ideology.
5. Get Some Soup At Sendik’s
ALLI WATTERS, EDITOR, DIGITAL AND CULTURE
There’s a nasty bug going around, and this time I’m not talking about coronavirus. I had the unfortunate experience of coming down with it last week, and it was awful. But what got me through was lots of sleep, Vitamin C and tons of soup. And while a homemade pot cooked with love is always preferred, the variety at Sendik’s is a close second. I highly recommend the chicken noodle with saltine crackers whether you’re perfectly healthy or coming down with a seasonal cold. The chili is noteworthy, too.
