A Thriller, an Eternity, and an Encore

This weekend was a solo run, mostly—Chris was out of town, so I doubled up on the movies.

First up was The Housemaid, starring Sydney Sweeney and Amanda Seyfried. It was a great movie. I really enjoyed it. I try not to spoil things, so I won’t get into specifics, but the movie does not turn out the way you’d expect, which was refreshing—especially since some movies tend to give away the ending either through extreme context clues or, well, in the trailer itself. The basic setup is simple: a young woman is looking for work as a housekeeper—Sydney Sweeney’s character—and things don’t go as expected. It’s very much not a typical housemaid job, or at least not what I imagine the typical job to be.

There was a moment in The Housemaid where I was genuinely confused. I remember thinking, wait—this is supposed to be a psychological thriller… what is happening right now? It suddenly felt more L Word, or at least what I imagine The L Word would be like (you could probably watch it with the audio off—which sounds great, but would be awkward in a theater), and that’s when the movie shifts and starts pulling the rug out from under you (thankfully). From there, the twist lands hard, and the tone shifts completely. Highly recommend.

The next movie up this weekend was Eternity, starring Elizabeth Olsen. The premise is given immediately: she dies, and she’s faced with choosing how she wants to spend her eternity, or with whom. The primary setting exists in a sort of in-between space that strongly reminded me of the TVA from Loki—clean, controlled (mostly), slightly surreal, and detached from normal time. What’s interesting is that despite the stakes, you’re allowed to take your time deciding where to spend eternity. The TVA is not as nice.

Eternity leans toward romantic comedy, but much more on the romance side than the comedy. It’s less concerned with jokes and more interested in the thought experiment underneath it all—what happiness actually is, how we define a life well lived, and what really makes up a meaningful existence. It’s quiet, reflective, and it stuck with me more than I expected.

Two very different movies. Both worth seeing—but if I had to choose one, I’d choose The Housemaid for sure.

After Eternity, I grabbed the weekly donut, this time from USA Donuts—off Burbank & Kester (there are about a hundred of these with the same name). I stuck to the donut ritual because, speaking of existential things, I did the math and realized I probably have somewhere around 2,000 donuts left in my lifetime if I average one a week until I reach my own TVA-like in-between place. There might even be a donut-filled eternity, which would be amazing.

Anyway, I went with the classic Simpsons donut, because why not? I wrapped up what I thought was the end of the run with dinner, celebrating my buddy David’s birthday at Tipsy Cow. I kept it pretty tame and didn’t try their milkshakes—which honestly look pretty dang amazing based on review images—but restraint won out this time. I highly recommend Tipsy Cow if you’re looking for a local spot in Sherman Oaks to grab a quick burger that’s really delicious.

Chris unexpectedly ended up back in town on Sunday, so I swung over to his place, and we decided to hit a couple more spots. First stop was Urban Skillet, which is actually one of the places that helped kick off these runs before I ever started writing about them. It’s a small, no-nonsense spot near CSU Northridge, and the reason we keep coming back is simple: they do a Beyond smash burger. A lot of places offer vegetarian options nowadays, but very few actually pull off a proper smash burger that way. Urban Skillet does. It’s solid every time. I will say, though—I don’t recommend their skillet fries. First time trying them, and it’s basically just a piece of melted American cheese tossed on top. Not a proper way to do loaded fries.

After Skillet, we were in the mood for something sweet—ice cream or donuts—and ended up near Northridge Mall at The Funnel House. That place is legit. I went with a churro sundae, and I have zero regrets. None. It was ridiculous in the best way possible and exactly what it needed to be. No overthinking, no restraint, just straight indulgence.

So yeah—what started as a quiet, solo weekend with two movies and a donut ended with a surprise encore. Same theme, same rules, just a bit more chaos.