It's another week for us to stave off boredom while we all spend way too much time at home. To help figuratively keep you company, we've assembled a list of recommended entertainments. Most of these are free, and all of them will help take your mind off of the heavy things in life.
Blank Check with Griffin and David
Being that they've just celebrated their five-year anniversary, now is the perfect time to do a deep dive into Blank Check with Griffin and David, the ideal podcast for both comedy nerds and film buffs. Blank Check is a podcast about directors, with each of their miniseries covering the entire filmographies of directors who had massive success early on in their careers and were given a series of "blank checks" to make whatever crazy passion projects they wanted. They recently wrapped up a miniseries on the late, great Jonathan Demme, but you can jump into the show by starting with any director whose work you know: M. Night Shyamalan, Christopher Nolan, Michael Mann, Ang Lee, Nancy Meyers, and Hayao Miyazaki are among the many directors they've covered. You don't need to have seen the film they're talking about to enjoy the show, but since we all have a whole lot of free time right now, you might as well watch along with them.
Blank Check with Griffin and David can be found on every major podcast platform.
If you choose to follow along with Blank Check, many of the films they've covered can be found on Netflix. Sometimes, though, it's just more fun to watch movies with friends. An impossibility at this time, you say? Not so! Provided you have a Netflix account (or access to someone else's Netflix account), there is a browser extension that will allow you to have movie parties with your buddies, without ever getting close to them. Netflix Party is a Chrome extension that enables people to sync up their movies or shows with each other so they can watch together in real time. Anyone watching can pause the video whenever they want, so no one misses out on the action, and Netflix Party even comes with the ability to enable group chat so you can check in with each other. If, like us, you most enjoy watching bad movies with your friends, you're really gonna need that group chat so you don't miss out on any zingers.
Find the Chrome extension at netflixparty.com.
Winchester Mystery House Virtual Tour
There are plenty of museums offering virtual tours, at the moment. If you're in the mood for something spooky, though, we recommend taking a tour of the Winchester Mystery House. The Winchester Mystery House, once owned by Sarah Winchester -- widow of a man who made a fortune off of guns -- is famous for its cavernous, labyrinthine, and nonsensical design. Some say Sarah Winchester designed the house like she did to confuse ghosts, but that's probably just an urban legend. Right?
A free online tour can be found at winchestermysteryhouse.com.