Movies
A Bigger Splash (2015)
dir. Luca Guadagnino
For a movie this louche and vibes-forward, I was surprised at how complex and socially/politically engaged it was. I don’t know if it all came together as neatly as I’d hoped, and I didn’t come away from this movie feeling as rapturously as I usually do about his movies, but it still proves that Guadagnino is one of our most versatile directors. I mean, yes, this movie is ultimately about people being horny in Italy, like I Am Love and Call Me By Your Name, but it’s different! This is probably the most “eat the rich” kind of movie he’s ever made, but even that description feels way too generic and reductive. He explores the narcissism and indulgence of these characters through all the different permutations and expressions of their desire, which Guadagnino is better at than anyone else.
And I’d be remiss not to mention that this is Dakota Johnson’s best performance. The sexually dangerous young girl, peering around corners at older men, speaking only in what sound like Lana Del Rey pull quotes could be so boring and one note, but she feels so dangerous, devilish, and other-worldly. My favorite scene in this movie was when she seems to psychically compel a lizard climbing on the walls to fall onto the dinner table, shocking and frightening the whole party, like a portent. Only Guadagnino could make a movie about beautiful rich people on vacation feel both sumptuous and enviable and also genuinely dreadful and frightening.
The Devil Wears Prada (2006)
dir. David Frankel
Watching this movie for the first time didn’t feel all that dissimilar to when I watched The Godfather for the first time, in the sense that this movie has become so subsumed by the culture and every line is endlessly referenced and regurgitated that hardly any of it felt new. Which, of course, is not the movie’s fault, but it does just make for a less exciting experience, you know? And also similar to The Godfather, I did feel a bit like I was watching this movie to check off some box, which, again, not a criticism! But movies like this are classics for a reason. There is some genuinely incredible character work in the screenplay (basically only the female characters though, because the men are abysmally written tbh), anchored by what may be some of the most iconic performances in film history from Hathaway, Streep, and Blunt. Women! Love them.
Mikey and Nicky (1976)
dir. Elaine May
Utterly devastating. I can’t think of another movie that depicts a friendship like this, the kind of life-long friendship that isn’t always reliable or even really enjoyable but you know will always be there, where you resent the other person for how well they know you, for how much of your life they’ve been privy to. I love how nakedly emotional and raw this movie is. Not to get all male characters written by a woman about it, but, like, that is the case here and I think it’s very evident! A very emotionally mature and insightful story about two very emotionally immature and unexamined people. Yeah I love this movie. I’d watched it a while ago but it really clicked for me this time. I think Mikey and Nicky are at the top of the list of people who need to work it out on the remix (I’m sorry).
The Long Goodbye (1973)
dir. Robert Altman
So cool and so sad and so LA. Made an excellent double feature with Mikey and Nicky. I don’t have a lot to say about this movie right now but I do think it’s basically perfect and makes me feel melancholy in a way few other films do.
Rye Lane (2023)
dir. Raine Allen-Miller
This movie was a delight! It felt like a true homage to the golden age of romcoms while perfectly managing to retrofit the genre and its conventions for this generation. Some of the dialogue felt a little bit cringey and it took a second for me to get invested in the character dynamics, but once it got going I was hooked. The chemistry between the main characters was so compelling, and the performances by David Jonsson and Vivian Oparah were so charismatic in their own ways. Also, the direction was delectable… that’s a crazy word to use but idk how else to describe it! Every frame was so vivid and rich with detail, and there were so many little background gags that made me laugh out loud. I loved this movie and can’t wait to continue to revisit it over the years. It feels like a quintessential movie about being a twenty-something.
Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (1969)
dir. Paul Mazursky
Again, what a delight. Ever since being charmed by Elliott Gould when I first saw The Long Goodbye back in January, this has been at the top of my list, and I loved it! I love movies that feel simultaneously modern and completely of their time. Obviously this is a quintessential movie for the age of the sexual revolution, but it also feels very relevant to conversations people are having today about polyamory and swinging, which is fun to see in a movie from the 60s. I appreciated that it treated all the characters and their varying perspectives on each other's relationships with an equal amount of empathy, which feels rare.
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)
dir. Stanley Kubrick
I don’t know where to start with trying to write about Dr. Strangelove, and honestly who gives a fuck what I have to say. It’s hilarious and it’s brilliant. I will say that I love when people who are known for their precision and intensity, like Kubrick, push themselves to make comedy. The result feels like a deconstruction of comedy, stripping it down to its bare essentials, presenting it in a way you’ve never thought of before.
Trap (2024)
dir. M. Night Shyamalan
I think people are either being way too harsh on the (intentional) campiness and archness of this movie or way too effusive in their praise of its supposed genius. But not me, I have the fairest, most perfect, most balanced take on this movie, which is that it was fun. At the end of the day it was fun. The things that are good are good, not incredible. The things that are bad are a little silly, not awful. This was fun! And far be it from me to say “let people enjoy things” or “let people just have fun,” because to me, these are very dismissive ways of interpreting or experiencing film. But with this movie, I think M. Night Shyamalan was deliberately trying to make something enjoyable and entertaining that also functions as a meditation on being a Girl Dad, and frankly he accomplished both in spades.
What I will say about the actual content of the movie (spoilers ahead), the entire first half that took place in the concert arena was a little limp and repetitive, and it never quite gripped me. I was sitting there thinking… this is supposed to be a thriller? Because I’m not thrilled in the slightest. I didn’t even really understand what Josh Hartnett was going for. However, the second the concert ended and they left the stadium (in broad daylight, mind you, which really just added to the campiness), I was hooked. It entered much more exciting, uncertain territory in a way that genuinely had me on the edge of my seat. The writing, particularly in trying to explain how the concert wound up being a “trap,” got a little messy and convoluted, but by that point I didn’t care, I was just happy to be along for the ride. Even Josh Hartnett’s performance eventually revealed itself to me and now I’m firmly in the camp of people saying it’s one of the best performances of the year.
Also, for all the talk of unrealistic touches used as screenplay trickery, like physical ticket stubs and daytime concerts, a pop diva going on Instagram live and asking her fans to locate the hostage of a serial killer so that they can save him, and her fans immediately carrying out this plan successfully, proves to me that Shyamalan has his finger on the pulse of pop culture and Gen-Z stan antics much more than people are giving him credit for. Lady Raven, please come to LA!
Eraserhead (1977)
dir. David Lynch
Absolute masterpiece and one of the few movies that has actually managed to burrow itself under my skin. I’d seen this movie before, but that first time I was definitely making the rookie mistake of trying to “crack” whatever was going on. This time though, I think I really just let myself get swept up in it, which is always the best way to experience anything Lynch. As a result, this really disturbed me! Even more than I expected. As time has gone on, I’ve become much less interested in trying to decode these abstract, expressionistic images that Lynch presents. More than anything I’m grateful that we get these glimpses into the dreams, musings, anxieties, and meditative revelations of one of our maddest geniuses.
All About My Mother (1999)
dir. Pedro Almodóvar
I genuinely can’t think of another film that loves women this much. I had this same feeling when I watched Women On The Verge Of A Nervous Breakdown: I don’t think any other filmmaker loves women and has as much reverence for women as Almodóvar. That’s not to say that his depictions of women are flawless; I don’t think I would ever draw the conclusion that a male filmmaker is better at writing and filming women than a female filmmaker. But I’ve never seen another filmmaker so joyfully revel in all the idiosyncrasies of being a woman and the ways women relate to each other. This movie is clearly a love letter to the women who have shaped him. Every character in this film felt simultaneously like one of the most realistic and truthful female characters I’ve ever seen on film and a loving homage to divas and actresses and drag queens, to images of women that are completely heightened. And there’s so much love and care and shared understanding among all these characters that you rarely ever see on screen. I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to watch this! I feel like this is the kind of movie I’ve always wanted to see.
TV
Veep
A longer piece on Veep is coming, I promise! So I will save my thoughts until then. But for now, I do have to say that witnessing the Veepaissance has been a truly beautiful thing. This show is one of the all time great comedies and the way everyone seems to be so locked in on it right now is well deserved.
Ren Faire
I kind of don’t know where to start with this show. It’s so unlike anything I’ve ever seen. For one, I don’t watch many docu-series, so I’m not sure I can speak on how transgressive (or generic, for all I know) it really is, but I loved how audacious and bonkers it felt. It did such a good job of fleshing out all the main “characters” and why they’re all so passionate about this industry they’re in. One thing I often wonder with documentaries is how the filmmakers land on interesting subjects to tackle, and it seems like the filmmaker, Lance Oppenheim, struck gold with this and was really able to match the insane wavelength his subjects are on. I think if Succession proved anything to us it’s that there are few story structures more compelling than a power struggle (yes I will always find a way to bring it back to Succession).
Industry
I’m only a few episodes into the first season so I don’t have much to say yet (especially because I’m still trying to get used to the language of the show). But so far I’m really enjoying how this show melds high-stakes, intense corporate drama with messy Gen-Z drama and attitudes. It feels like it has the potential to be the first truly great Gen-Z centered workplace drama.
What’s coming up in September
English Teacher (premiering September 2)
If I end up loving this show, I could see myself writing a whole tribute to Brian Jordan Alvarez, because he has produced some of my absolute favorite comedy over the past several years. The Gay and Wondrous Life of Caleb Gallo (in fact, a late cut from my list of formative media birthday post extravaganza) is an absolutely all-timer series, and his Instagram has become a treasure trove of hilarious characters.1 The fact that he’s getting his own show is massively well-deserved and feels like a long time coming.
The Substance (releasing September 20)
dir. Coralie Fargeat
This was probably my most anticipated movie after following all the news from Cannes. If this movie doesn’t make me vomit in my seat I want my money back!
Will & Harper (releasing September 27)
dir. Josh Greenbaum
Megalopolis (releasing September 27)
dir. Francis Ford Coppola
Oh I’m scared for this one.
Sorry this one is a little late and a little short. Quite simply I’ve been on vacation! But as always thank you all for reading. As a treat here is a silly little picture of me at my birthday party. Ciao divas.
Last year, TJ Mack went a bit viral for his original song “Sitting,” but I’m partial to the unnamed grad student with a vaguely European accent who has been chronicling his internship as well as his bad luck with meeting girls on Hinge… when I tell you Brian Jordan Alvarez is a genius.