February: it's been a weird, cold month, full of award season shenanigans, romance and extraordinary testimonies to congress. But now, it's time to say goodbye.
March begins tomorrow. And, if you're like us—i.e. mostly full of existential angst—you need some good stuff to look forward to. Below, we've rounded up 19 things to watch, read, listen to or otherwise distract yourself with.
We promise we didn't mean for this to sound so depressing...
March 1st
Rap or Go to the League
Leave it to 2 Chainz to secure LeBron James as his informal A&R rep. In addition to the album release, the Atlanta-based rapper is also releasing a lineup of...interesting merch, including bobbleheads of his dog.
The Black Album
The sometimes-fun, sometimes-annoying '90s alt-rock band, Weezer, generated some buzz this winter with the release of The Teal Album, which mostly featured half-jokey covers, of indelible pop hits like Toto's "Africa," TLC's "No Scrubs and A-Ha's "Take on Me." The Black Album is a return to form—of sorts.
March 3rd
Leaving Neverland
The early word on the forthcoming HBO Michael Jackson docu-series promises fans won't ever look at the pop star the same way, again.
March 8th
Captain Marvel
The first big superhero movie of the year stars Brie Larson as the titular Captain and Samuel L. Jackson as—we're just going to stop pretending like we know anything about this shit.
South by Southwest
The annual film, music and all-around cool stuff festival returns to Austin, Texas, from March 8th to March 17th, should you want to book any last-minute flights...
There Will Be No Intermission
This is the first album in more than six years from the prodigious singer, songwriter and occasional motivational speaker, Amanda Palmer. NPR calls it "unfathomably ambitious" and a "cyclonic effort to run down the meaning of life and death." Which is, uhh, high praise. (Take a first listen here.)
March 12th
Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed by Men
The title kind of says it all here. In this perception-altering work, Caroline Ciado Perez explores all the ways in which data—you know, the kind that governs how we live—treats men as "default" and women as "atypical."
March 15th
Catastrophe, Season 4
The fourth and final season of the brilliant, moving, acerbically witty series, starring Rob Delaney and Sharon Hogan as a fortysomething couple thrust into parenthood, returns to Amazon Prime this month. If you haven't seen the first three, you can still catch up: each season is only about three hours long in total.
March 17th
Billions, Season 4
The latest installment of Showtime's increasingly compelling drama, about a billionaire hedge fund manager (Damian Lewis) and a crafty district attorney (Paul Giamatti), finds our former enemies joining forces to take down their rivals. Hey, it was bound to happen sooner or later...
March 19th
March Madness
And so it begins, again. Fill out your bracket. Make your bets. And prepare to scream at your TV.
The Parade
The new novel from the prolific (and prolifically verbose) writer Dave Eggers centers on two foreign contractors sent to an unnamed war-torn country to construct a highway, and appears to build on the themes explored in his previous work, like The Monks of Mokha and Hologram for a King.
Lot
One of the most anticipated debuts of the season, Bryan Washington's collection of stories amount to an insightful vision of his native city, Houston—and the country-at-large.
March 22nd
Us
In director Jordan Peele's much-ballyhooed follow-up to Get Out, a family returns to its matriarch's beachfront hometown and is terrorized by a tribe of evil doppelgängers. The score in the trailer is enough to scare the hell out of us. Plus: it stars Lupita N'yongo as the aforementioned matriarch (and the aforementioned evil doppelgänger).
March 26th
On Cussing
The writer Katherine Dunn pens a funny, if genuinely informative history of swear words, as well as a kind of guide to their usage. She also delves into their physiology, thus providing some practical insight on why some impact people more than others—and how to most effectively utilize them. Try not to let this book fall into the wrong hands...
March 27
What We Do in the Shadows
The eponymous movie, from beloved Kiwis Jemaine Clement (Flight of the Conchords) and Taiki Waititi (Thor: Ragnorak), was something of an ingenious cross between a Christopher Guest mockumentary and Interview with a Vampire. The subject matter and format was ripe for serial storytelling, so needless to say, we're very much looking forward to FX's television adaptation.
March 29th
Beach Bum
A kind of spiritual sequel to Spring Breakers, Harmony Korine's latest stars Matthew McConaughey as a "rebellious stoner named Moondog," in what must be his most Matthew McConaughey role since Dazed and Confused. The rest of the supporting cast should be enough to get you to the theater; Jonah Hill, Zac Efron, Isla Fisher, Snoop Dogg and the long-dormant Martin Lawrence all make appearances.
Norman Fucking Rockwell
If the full album is anything like smoky pop songstress Lana Del Rey's already-released singles, "Venice Beach" and "Mariner's Apartment Complex," well...let's just say our expectations are high. (If nothing else, it's a great fucking title.)
March 31st
Barry, Season 2
Without giving too much way, the season finale of Bill Hader's surprisingly effective serial killer dramedy (?), left our protagonist in a pretty untenable position. It'll be interesting to see how the writers wriggle him out of the corner they've backed him into—and where they take him next.
Veep, Season 7
No comedy could match the utter absurdity of the current administration. But the cutting, no-holds-barred Julia Louis-Dreyfus-starring Veep comes closest to capturing the childish egotism of the political class. It's pitch-perfect, featuring some of the sharpest writing and most precise acting on TV. This is its final season. We can't wait.
