Content Consumed: Killers of the Flower Moon, Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake, and more

Hey, hey! It’s the best time of the yearrrr! And my birthday is next week. Good times ahead!

In today’s edition of Content Consumed…
🩸 You need to watch Killers of the Flower Moon
📣 F*ck Justin Timberlake (and long live Britney Spears)
🎥 Theater Camp and more zillennial comedy
🏴‍☠️ I couldn’t get into Our Flag Means Death

P.S. Don’t forget to check out the Content Consumed fall cozy-spooky watchlist! The season won’t last much longer and I’ve got all your favorite Halloween episodes listed for you.

Killers of the Flower Moon [Spoiler-free!]

Yes, I had to go to the bathroom halfway through the movie. To be fair, it is 3 hours and 26 minutes long. But guess what?

Every single minute was brilliant.

I won’t say too much, because there’s no reason to spoil anything. I will say that I am glad I saw this in theaters: no phone, no distractions, on a big screen in a tiny theater with only thirty other people. True cinema. Plus, I went with a long-distance bestie who’s the biggest cinephile in my life, which made it more special.

Here’s what I have to say:

• Don’t expect to have fun with this film. You’re not supposed to. It’s a breathtaking epic about a nation of Native American people being taken advantage of and murdered by colonizing white American men. It’s exhausting, unsettling, stomach-churning, heartbreaking, and very worthwhile.
• Leo’s still got it and Scorcese has created yet another masterpiece. DeNiro is obviously one of the greatest of all time, as this movie only reinforces.
• Lily Gladstone should get the Oscar. It’s the easiest Best Actress nom I’ve seen in a long time. Okay, actually, Michelle Yeoh was also 100% the top choice last year. Anyways, those blood-curdling screams when confronted with yet another tragedy… a shiver raked through my body just thinking about it again. Just, wow.
• My only issue — and, to be fair, I also struggled with this in Oppenheimer — is that there were so many characters to keep track of and the majority of them were white men in their forties wearing the exact same outfit.
• The ending was very daring—and I think they pulled it off brilliantly. It’s a self-aware, transparent perspective on our societal obsession with American crime, wealth, and entertainment.

Watch it. ASAP. In theaters. And make your bathroom break quick. I think I clocked in at 45 seconds. I was sprinting.

All my girls hate Justin Timberlake

Britney Spears’ memoir is on the shelves and it is everything that people wanted and more. I haven’t read it yet, but I listened to Celebrity Memoir Book Club’s two-hour episode on it, so I basically did.

What everyone’s talking about:

• Britney got pregnant—and then an abortion—while with Justin Timberlake. He asked her to get an abortion, and she agreed, but he didn’t want her to go to a hospital or doctor’s office because they’d be in trouble. So, she took the medication at home and had a miserable, extremely painful at-home abortion. And you know what this fucker did? He ignored her for the most part, and then thought he could help by playing his guitar and singing to her.
• AND THEN he broke up with her (via a two-word text).
• AND THEN perpetuated the narrative that Britney was to blame for the breakup during the press tour for his 2002 debut album, Justified. He even cast a Spears look-alike in the music video for its single “Cry Me a River.” Monstrous.
• And let’s talk about the way he spoke to Black people… just click here. Actress Michelle Williams narrated the audiobook and hearing her say “Fo shiz fo shiz, Genuuuwiiiiine, wassup homie!” cracks me up every time.
• He gifted her a framed break-up letter. I shit you not. The audacity!!

And you know this is all true because Timberlake and his reps are dead silent right now and a lot of this was already confirmed.

Ugh. Ughhh.

That’s just the stuff about Justin Timberlake in the book. But there’s so much more—the horrific details of her 13-year conservatorship (did you know she spent months in solitary confinement? I didn’t), the history with her wicked family, and so on.

Usually when CMBC covers a book I don’t buy it after. But I might be buying Britney’s book. She deserves to have every detail of her story heard by all.

Theater Camp and zillennial comedy

I’ve written about my love for zillennial comedy before in another edition of Content Consumed.

And you know what! I’m gonna keep talking about it!!

Because I watched Theater Camp and I loved it. First of all, Ben Platt and Molly Gordon have unmatchable comedic chemistry. They are true theater kids in their perfect setting: a theater summer camp. I can’t imagine a role coming more naturally to either of those two actors.

Really, it could not be more obvious that a Gen Z / millennial wrote this. The references, the attitude, the chaotic vibes. Jimmy Tatro is so good in a way I didn’t expect. I kind of forgot he existed… so, so sorry. I will not make that mistake again. His scene dancing to Post Malone killed me.

It’s short, fun, a goofy good time, and my fave Ayo Ebebiri’s in it too.

I couldn’t get into Our Flag Means Death

You know when you start a show, and it’s just not what you thought it was, and you have to decide whether it’s worth sinking time into? I watched two episodes. I gave it a good go. But I had two problems:

• I didn’t love the style of comedy. It’s like The Office, but more of a rip-off than an homage, and set on a wannabe pirate ship rather than a paper company. Don’t get me wrong: I like The Office and I’m not afraid to admit it. But each joke of OFMD fell flat. Like it was trying too hard.
• I didn’t love the main character/actor. He’s a relatively unknown actor from New Zealand and I just didn’t find him that entertaining, funny, or intriguing. Hard to center a show around a person without much star power.

I don’t know… should I try a third episode? I’m just not feeling it. But I know Taika Waititi will make an appearance soon as Blackbeard. Maybe that will turn things around.

And that’s it for today! Thanks for reading. Love ya.

Cheers,
Casey

P.S. Don’t forget to check out the Content Consumed fall cozy-spooky watchlist! The season won’t last much longer and I’ve got all your favorite Halloween episodes listed for you.

👉🏼 Read the most recent Content Consumed (about Bad Bunny, Drake, body horror books, Julia Fox, and Iron Claw) over here.

👉🏼 Explore more content over on the Content Consumed Instagram.

👉🏼 Find out what I’m reading at my Goodreads profile.