OPVAC RECS: September 23, 2016

OPVAC RECS is a weekly feature wherein your devoted OV crew shares the best, most provocative, and most interesting pop culture writing we've read in the past week.

Kids on Bikes: The Sci Fi Nostalgia of ‘Stranger Things’, ‘Paper Girls’ & ‘Super 8’ via NPR’s Monkey See
Now that the Stranger Things hype has calmed down and the unnecessary think pieces about Barb have faded in the cultural memory, it seems like a pretty good time to examine the recurring elements of the recent spate of nostalgic sci fi. - TK

“Morgan”, “The Girls”, and the Beautiful Cyborg via The New Yorker
Jia Tolentino’s review connects and reflects upon the themes of feminine beauty and human design. It’s interesting stuff, especially with HBO’s version of Westworld premiering in October. - TK

Driving and Dying in the Service of the Country Rap King via Gawker
Gawker may be gone, but luckily we can still read things like this extensive missive that chronicles something that feels like it could only happen in America in the mid-to-late 2010s: the rise (and not-quite-fall) of self-proclaimed country rap king Mikel Knight. His business model (recruiting a street team of young men to pounce on people going in and out of party stores, Walmarts, gas stations, etc. in small town America, and also some of them are alleged to be very aggressive not only toward potential customers but also each other) is absolutely ridiculous and yet makes perfect sense for the demographic he has decided to target (residents of said towns). Suffice it to say, the title of the article includes the word DYING. - AG

Noise. Church. Flesh.: Or, For Coltrane Church, For Pulse via the Los Angeles Review of Books
Ashon Crawley published this article in January of this year, and sheer coincidence has me recommending it on John Coltrane’s birthday, September 23. It’s a thoughtful and moving exploration of the role of noise in both performance and sound in black church settings and its connection to violence and the shape of today’s dominant political economy. - AG

BLOWUP: The Loneliness Behind the Camera via Birth.Movies.Death.
JM Mutore over at BMD astutely takes a look back at Michelangelo Antonioni’s masterpiece, Blowup. He examines the film’s place in British cinema, how an Italian director captured the zeitgeist of 60’s mod culture better than any of his peers, and how the film was a great influence on Francis Ford Coppola’s The Conversation and Brian De Palma’s Blow Out. -JT

The 15 Best Found Footage Horror Movies Ever via The Playlist
The Blair Witch remakequel came and went without much of a fuss in theatres. Prior to its release, Oliver Lyttelton of The Playlist posted this piece, citing the 15 best found footage horror films ever. The headline itself is almost enough to dismiss the article entirely, but Lyttelton actually includes several worthwhile films (and makes a valiant case for the others). Memorable highlights include Cannibal Holocaust, Man Bites Dog, [REC], Trollhunter, and What We Do in the Shadows. -JT

How Pop Culture Wore Out Leonard Cohen’s ‘Hallelujah’ via The New York Times
In honor of Leonard Cohen’s 82nd birthday, new single and the release of McCabe & Mrs. Miller on blu-ray, Nick Murray reflects on the use (and abuse) of Cohen’s career-defining ballad, “Hallelujah.” I’d like to dedicate this recommendation to my fellow Shrek fans and anyone who has a hilarious story of a douchey guitar bro trying to impress girls by busting out a Cohen cover. -SC

The Making of Lemmings: How DMA Design Created a Classic, and What Happened Next via Read Only Memory
Before unleashing the Grand Theft Auto series on the video game landscape in the late ‘90s, Rockstar Games (née DMA Design), scored their first major hit with the groundbreaking puzzle-platformer, Lemmings. Rich Stanton at Read Only Memories explores the game’s development and lineage. -SC

Young Thug’s Album Cover for “No, My Name Is Jeffery” Sparks Queer Appropriation Debate via Mic
The amazing cover of Young Thug’s mixtape (which is also good) has galvanized debate that I wish was even more robust. Is Thug’s proclivity for dressing in women’s clothes progressive? How does his lyrical treatment of women affect his queer fashion choices? -SG

The Slo-Mo Specificity of “Atlanta” via The New Yorker
The always stellar Emily Nussbaum captures the subtle makeup of Donald Glover’s new FX show, Atlanta, which is quietly amazing and everyone should be watching. -SG