HEY, YOU KNOW WHAT YOU SHOULD DO?

In which we tell you about awesome things that you must look into and enjoy

Watch “House of Cards”

I know that we have reviewed this on the podcast, but fuck that. I didn’t get to heap quite enough praise on this show in February so I will not take the time to do so. Kevin Spacey is spot on, Robin Wright is sleekly and sneakily a dangerous player in this game and each and every bit player does everything that they can to make this show awesome. The craziest part? It totally works. From the underlings to the leaders to the POTUS himself, this show is compelling drama that will sink its hooks into you. And frankly, once that’s done, you are fucked. Enjoy the next 13 hours of your life! – JRN

Hey, You Know What You Should Do? is an reoccurring article we have here at YPF where instead of giving practical advice like you should eat your veggies and floss, we take something from the world of entertainment that we really like personally and feel is underrated for you to watch, listen to (or much less often….no seriously never) read. It’s totally subjective and we rely on you, our readers, to view us as pop culture connoisseurs and defer to our expertise. And you should, we have solid group of writers, some of which have written screenplays, directed, earned degrees in film, some are musicians and songwriters, and some are just straight pop culture junkies. I belong in that last category. I watched the first season on Game of Thrones in approximately three chunks over a two-day period. I decided not to sleep for something that was infinitely more awesome and necessary. I routinely spend my free time rewatching whole seasons of shit, forgoing any kind of social life, because I think a better use of my time is to watch Arrested Development, the best sitcom of all time (go ahead and argue with that, I fucking dare you) over and over again. It is with this fanatical dedication to watching television that I recommend to you the Netflix original serious House of Cards. It hasn’t been too long since whole seasons of shows were available for viewing. It use to be that the only way to watch shows was week to week, or if a show was lucky enough to be sold into syndication, you might get an opportunity to see reruns and occasionally an episode you missed. They were very dark times. Then DVDs came along and they were able to put a lot more content on a much more compact medium and they started selling whole seasons in DVD packages. So from anywhere between $30-$100+ dollars, you could purchase entire seasons, even entire series. But you had to already be a fan. Then a little company called Netflix came around and completely revolutionized the way we watch television. They thought we should be able to stream video live using our televisions, computers, smart phones, and tablets. Suddenly you didn’t have to spend $50 or worry about scratching up the DVDs you borrowed from your buddy Jeff to check out a show you weren’t even sure you liked. And you didn’t have to wait a week for the next episode, you could just hit the “Next Episode” button and BAM! You’re fuckin there. Which brings me to the my recommendation, “House of Cards.” The entire season was released at once on Netflix, which means it has never been aired on television. This is a new kind of show. There is no god-awful pilot to sit through and tt’s designed to be watched multiple episodes at a time. The opening scene of the second episode picks up exactly where the last scene from the previous episode left off. The rhythm and they way suspense is built are very different than a typical drama. Each episode doesn’t close with a cliffhanger, or some question that you need to tune in next week to find out the answer to, the next episode is right there for your viewing pleasure to watch whenever you feel like it. There isn’t pressure to keep those Nielsen’s up, a pressure which inevitable effects the quality of a show because studio producers show up with their notes on how to appeal to the common man, a.k.a the idiot population, to boost ratings. Perhaps because of this House of Cards more closely resembles a very long play with a very high production value than a television drama. The show stars Kevin Spacey who is brilliant, especially given the Tennessee Williams level of dialogue he is given which I’m sure is damn near impossible to pull off, and Robyn Wright as his wife (and daaamn, Princess Buttercup is aging reeeeeeally well for a white lady.) Spacey plays a nearly sociopathic Senate Whip who is slighted by a president he helped get elected. The show is about his ability to play puppeteer to the legislative and executive branches of government. You should probably watch this show, as I think it is the beginning of a complete change of landscape in the way shows are produced and viewed. So go do that.-SR