#EDITORSNOTE: CHECKING-IN WITH TEAM MR. WILL

We’ve missed you guys so much and thought we’d do a quick check-in with Team Mr. Will to let you know how we’ve been doing!  We hope you’re all keeping safe and well.  Every day is one step closer to a return to life uninterrupted and we’ll be waiting at the end of the tunnel when this is all over! 

We asked our Team a few questions:1. What does your average day look like in isolation?2. What do you miss most about your life before this?3. Can you give us some of your best streaming recommendations, TV or Movies?4. What Movie are you most excited to see after this is all over? 

And here’s what they say!  

JUSTIN WALDMAN (@DubsReviews)
1. Outside of walking Donnie (his Shorkie) and work, we watch a lot of TV. Binged Fringe in a week, half way through my countless re-watch of Community and Netflix is adding some great content so that keeps me entertained.

2. I miss being able to go outside and not worry about being outside.

3. Fringe minus Season 5, if you’re into trash Too Hot Too Handle, Disney+ has everything your childhood or adulthood consisted of in terms of classics like Kim Possible, Recess, X-Men the Animated Series. At the end of May they’re fixing the aspect ratio on The Simpsons, so there’s 11-13 quality seasons of Television, with another 17 seasons sprinkled in.

4. Tenet. Nothing short of it. It’s also one of two movies that is still tentatively opening this year that I can remember. Haha

 

NICHOLAS PORTEOUS (@NoveltyHat)

1. Most of my days involve checking current turnip prices in the morning and reporting them to my close circle of Animal Crossing confidants while tending to my island, going for an indoor bike ride while Pokébattling, attempting to make some progress on a 1000-piece Mexico Tourism puzzle I bought for $3 long before the Pandemic–hardest puzzle of my life–developing personal projects like sketches, shorts and video essays, working the odd gig that comes my way whether that’s editing or virtual hosting, a round or two of Fortnite, and an unhealthy amount of streaming.

2. I miss people. People were fun. I miss not being even a little selective about where I went or who I saw. Thankfully, I still have a girlfriend (for half the week)! I miss Theatre and Film. I miss the streetcar! I miss thinking about going on a trip, even if I didn’t actually go.

3. For my money, COVID-viewing is all about finding the lengthiest entertainment:

– When the Levees Broke is a fantastic four-part HBO Documentary Series by Spike Lee about Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath. It feels awfully relevant right now, and makes me extremely thankful to be Canadian, and to be dealing with a crisis that hasn’t come anywhere close to unraveling my life.

– OJ: Made in America is another towering long-form Doc that leaves American Crime Story in the dust–IMO–by putting the trial in its much needed, painfully ironic civil rights context. This must be the fifth time I’ve watched all seven-ish hours and it never ceases to astound me.

– Middleditch and Schwartz is a Netflix experiment in long-form improv, and I hope it becomes a long-term part of their programming! Each of the three specials is comedy magic. Two best buds making impressively elaborate nonsense over a single sustained narrative.

– Survivor: Winners at War is a flawed, but fantastic season of one the all-time great shows. And there’s a cool bonus feeling of normalcy from tuning in live, only to be reminded of the virus by EVERY commercial masquerading as a PSA.

– The Pop Culture Detective is a YouTube channel featuring longer essays about unsettling trends in mainstream masculinity. It’s eye-opening, exhaustive and genuinely entertaining to unpack. For any Creator, it’s fun to imagine what Film, TV and Video Games might look like if these ideas were taken into account.

– Finally, there’s a lot of excellent, free theatre on offer right now. Check the YouTube channels for National Theatre, Shakespeare’s Globe and Stratford Festival.

4. Post-COVID anticipations:

– I’m very excited to see A Quiet Place Part II because it was supposed to be my first assignment for Mr. Will Wong as a Contributor! If it’s not streamed, going to see it will signify some kind of return to the things I’ve missed.

– I’m Thinking of Ending Things is Charlie Kaufman’s next. If it comes into existence after this tragically low-output period in his career, that’ll be a major win in itself.

– Who WASN’T excited for Tenet, the next Chris Nolan madhouse?? It looks to be the purest expression of his timeplay aesthetic.

– Barbie, Greta Gerwig‘s next, co-written by Noah Baumbach and starring Margot Robbie as, yeah, BARBIE. No explanation needed.

– Annette, Leos Carax’s first film since Holy Motors eight years ago, easily one of the top movies of the 2010s.

– The Tragedy of Macbeth, with a surprisingly solo-directing Joel Coen.

– The Many Saints of Newark. It’s theoretically another couple of episodes of The Sopranos. I’ll be there.

I’m excited for all the virus-related Filmmaking we’re in store for generally. Processing this moment in history through any lens–whether it’s a personal narrative, Doc, or demented Sci-Fi extrapolation–will be an essential part of our collective recovery. I made a Short Film in isolation and it certainly helped. This is the dawn of a genre.

 

AMANDA GILMORE (@GilmoreAmanda)

1. My average day in  isolation mainly consists of reading a lot of books. If anyone is looking for one I HIGHLY recommend The Wives by Tarryn Fisher. I do some at-home workouts to keep my energy and spirits up. And I’ve been doing some free online courses to keep my brain stimulated.

2. What I miss most about my pre-isolation life is being able to go out for dinner and sitting in a cinema.

3. Let’s be serious though, I’ve been watching a lot of TV and Movies! If you are looking for some recommendations mine are below:

NETFLIX: Watch or re-watch THE OFFICE. I watched it from beginning to end for my third-time while in quarantine and it brought me so much joy.

TV: Sunday’s just got better because the Third Season of KILLING EVE has finally begun. If you haven’t watched before, please do so! The Show’s phenomenal.

MOVIES: BOOKSMART and THE INVISIBLE MAN are outstanding!

4. I have a gigantic list of movies I can’t wait to see in the cinema, once it’s safe to do so! One at the top of my list is A QUIET PLACE: PART II.

 

GEORGE KOZERA (@PartyG)

1. Since self-isolation, I have been vacillating between hyperactivity and heavenly sloth. Case in point: I have just shy of 1500 titles on DVD and Blu ray. When the precariously-stacked hundreds of movies inevitably fulfilled its destiny and tumbled, leaving my living room floor carpeted in a psychedelic kaleidoscope of plastic covered movie art, I damp wiped, dried, reorganized, re-shelved and documented 1500 movies. Since then, freshly showered but unshaven (rueful that my beard will never attain Michael McDonald or Dave Baldwin greatness), I lounge on my sofa and have movie themed days…French language cinema, trilogies of movies I’m embarrassed to admit I own (50 Shades), sequels I’ve never seen to movies I enjoyed (Now You See Me 2, Maleficent 2). Today, as I transform five pounds of stewing beef into Hungarian Goulash, it will either be the last three Star Wars movies or the best of Xavier Dolan or finally start watching Downton Abbey.

2. What I miss, the few times I venture out to get provisions, is the energy I always get when walking the streets of Toronto. The vibrancy of living in Canada’s most diverse city is curtailed. I also miss dinner parties. And hugs…man, do I ever miss hugs!

3. I was quite impressed with RESISTANCE (VOD), the true story of famed Mime Artist, Marcel Marceau and how he saved hundreds of Jewish orphans during WWII. In what could have been a disastrous casting choice, Jesse Eisenberg (in real life, 36 years old) gives an awards-calibre performance as Marceau (who wasn’t even 20 years old when the Movie evens took place). I also really enjoyed Hugh Jackman in BAD EDUCATION (Crave). On the TV front, I am a big fan of CTV‘s latest Drama TRANSPLANT with its many Toronto location shots and the powerful work from its lead actor, Hamza Haq. Lastly, I am obsessed with ZOEY’S EXTRAORDINARY PLAYLIST and TOP CHEF (both the Canadian and American versions).

4. Once it will be safe to savour movies again on the big screen, there are three movies I am salivating to see: MULAN, IN THE HEIGHTS and Spielberg‘s version of WEST SIDE STORY.

 

DAVE BALDWIN (@DaveMABaldwin)

1. Average day the past six weeks has revolved entirely around feeding, changing and calming down baby Quentin. Not much I can do outside of watch TV/Movies — there’s no time for anything else!

2. I miss having conversations inside my house with family and friends, as opposed to standing six feet apart in my driveway. I’d also prefer to not have to wear gloves and a mask when I leave the house.

3. I’ve been enjoying watching Feel Good and The Last Dance on Netflix, and Run on Crave. Fleabag as well on Amazon Prime, so good! And spent way too much time watching repeats of The Big Bang Theory.

Movie-wise, I enjoyed The Half of It on Netflix and re-watching Once Upon a Time in…Hollywood on Crave. Looking forward to watching Blood Quantum and The Assistant on VOD in the coming weeks!

4. Toss-up between Tenet and No Time to Die.

 

JONATHAN GODFREY (@ff_cottage)

1. My average day follows my normal routine as much as possible. Get-up at seven and get ready for work, only now I don’t go into the office. Washed and caffeinated, I plug away on my computer at home for eight to ten hours. Then it’s time for my daily walk before I jump on Xbox. After gaming, I close out the day with Netflix and a book in bed. Lately, I’ve been reading Victor Hugo’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

2. As the French term it, “joie de vivre.” That cheerful enjoyment of life — en masse — is missed.

3. Netflix has been killing it lately with great TV like:

• Tiger King
• The Last Dance
• Never Have I Ever
• Nadiya’s Time to Eat
• Ghost in the Shell SAC_2045

I’ve also been loving Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Prop Culture on Disney+, and finally got around to watching His Dark Materials… it was amazing. I can’t wait for Season 2.

2. I’m excited for movies in general. I miss the theatre. Despite building myself a great home theatre, I still prefer the traditional experience. It makes movie watching an event, and I miss that level of depth to the experience. That said, as for specific films I’m looking forward to, definitely Mulan. I haven’t been excited for a Disney “live-action“ ever, but that movie looks beautiful. In addition, I’m itching for Tenet. I need the sublimation that comes from films like Nolan’s.

 

MR. WILL (@mrwillw)

1. While Covid-19 has halted many aspects of my life, my work life remains really busy as we are supporting people impacted at work.

On the website, I am more focusing on streaming releases and running promotions for digital and on-demand versus theatrical releases right now.

Luckily, I get to work from home, so I can be there with my parents right now who are at risk and elderly. I enjoy keeping them excited about food, helping with errands, household tasks, groceries and cooking. I look forward to making new things all the time (which I’ve been posting on my Instagram: mrwillwong). I also enjoy singing and have been posting covers of songs I adore too!

While I don’t have the gym access I normally do, I try to fit-in long walks (sometimes just to take-out Bubble Tea!). That helps clear my mind. I have literally run out of things to watch on Netflix and Amazon Prime!

2. I miss my movies in the theatre and pumping everyone up about new releases, but that will come again!

I miss seeing my coworkers, team and friends in-person but thankfully feel like I haven’t skipped a step with chat platforms and Social Media.

I miss also seeing my godchildren (Mr Will & Princess) and can’t wait to go on adventure to the country to see them. I miss seeing the horse races live and photographing them, which has been my weekend love for years.

And going to Starbucks.

3. FX’s Mrs. America is mindblowingly-good. I love great acting at the Cast is sublime. The characters are so well-written and acted and I love that everyone is grappling with complicated conflicts.

I have watched a lot of cooking and baking shows like all seasons of The Great Canadian Baking Show, Nailed It! and The Chef’s Line and those are awesome, quick watches.

I zipped through Hollywood and Season 3 of Ozark quickly too. Just saw A Secret Love (about two real-life Rockford Peaches from A League of their Own) and am half-way through Never Have I Ever.

4.  I need to see Mulan. It pains me I was literally three days away from attending a press screening for it when isolation started. Also, West Side Story and Top Gun: Maverick.

 

Stay in-touch with us at Mr. Will on Facebook and comment on this post some of your recommendations and what you’re looking forward to post-isolation!