First of all, I have to acknowledge that this recap officially marks one year of Twink Peaks! I’m very proud of myself for keeping up with this newsletter, and I’m very grateful to anyone who has ever even perused one of these posts. Second of all, I regrettably have nothing special to offer you on this hallowed anniversary. In fact this will be the most scant recap yet, seeing as I barely watched any movies this month and I will be saving my (long winded) thoughts on a certain television show for a separate post coming soon. Until then, while you’re waiting with bated breath, sit back, relax, take a gander, enjoy the March recap.
Movies
Mickey 17 (2025)
dir. Bong Joon Ho
Coming on the heels of such a seismic success like Parasite, I appreciate that Bong Joon Ho went the route of getting as weird and messy with it as he possibly could. This is a really out-there sci-fi movie that attempts to juggle a lot and is maybe like 60% effective. For example, a subplot with Steven Yeun, while important exposition and backstory, always felt like an afterthought. And a much talked about, highly polarizing Mark Ruffalo Trump impression doesn’t amount to much more than, well, a Trump impression. But I will be so honest with you all, my biggest problem with this movie is that the two Robert Pattinsons didn’t kiss. We could’ve had a fantastic new entry into the Challengers canon (MMF). Instead we have a new entry in the pitiful Twisters canon (why do all that if they’re not gonna kiss?!). Sad.
Non-kiss aside, the things I enjoyed with this movie outweighed the stuff that didn’t work. For one, I was surprised at how genuinely moving and sweet this is as a love story. As Mickey’s love interest, Naomi Ackie is lethally charming and lovely. You really buy their relationship every step of the way, which is a feat for a movie juggling this much. Romantic relationships in movies like this tend to feel extraneous, like a studio-noted afterthought, but this relationship felt very full and genuine to me. And in terms of incredible performances, look no further than Robert Pattinson. It’s easy to take him for granted since so much of his public image is still that of a teeny-bopper heartthrob, but he really knows how to freak it like few others. He is such a fearless and strange performer, I could watch him in this role for hours. For as slight as I think this movie will ultimately be remembered in the broader cultural sense, real heads will look fondly back on this as one of the definitive Robert Pattinson performances. But I think my favorite aspect of this movie was how it contends with its central conceit of reprinting human beings. This is one of the things that I also love about Severance, when a sci-fi story takes its conceit and contextualizes it within the world, showing us how people respond to it, interact with it, use it and abuse it. Thinking about the ethics of these seemingly far-fetched advancements in technology hits so much closer to home than you may initially think; it forces us to think on a deeper level about our own worldviews and how we’re willing to treat others. This movie was at its strongest when it was about the minuscule differences between the Mickeys, about how they’re taken for granted, and about how they’re loved.
The Power of the Dog (2021)
dir. Jane Campion
This is one of my favorite movies of the 2020’s so far. There’s a lot to love and admire here, but I think the thing that keeps drawing me back in is this deconstruction of the cowboy archetype, reframing it through a homosocial and/or homoerotic lens. This isn’t necessarily a novel take, but it’s imbued with so much tension and danger here. Every character dynamic is such a rich text, but the intense chemistry between Phil (Benedict Cumberbatch) and Peter (Kodi Smit-McPhee), and the compulsion through displacement that pulls them together, produces a few of my absolute favorite film moments of the past several years.
Above all else I just find this to be a very watchable movie, which feels a bit patronizing to say but I really mean that as a compliment. Every moment, scene to scene, is so sharply realized and nothing lags. The character dynamics are constantly crackling and shifting in ways that aren’t always immediately evident but feel tectonic. It’s such a smart, incisive movie, and definitely one I will continue to return to. I feel like I get so much out of it on every viewing. (And not to make it about this, but as far as I’m concerned this movie losing Best Picture is one of the most obnoxiously stupid things the Oscars have done, certainly this decade, maybe this century).
Waiting for Guffman (1996)
dir. Christopher Guest
Basically just a perfect comedy. Filled to the brim with incredible bits. It’s bits on bits. Parker Posey is luminous. Catherine O’Hara’s vertical bang makes me laugh every time. “Stool boom” is one of the greatest fake songs ever written for a movie. This is kind of a beautiful tribute to Missouri? And of course a beautiful tribute to being a theater kid. But the real achievement is Christopher Guest’s all-timer gay performance. I consider myself a bit of a connoisseur of straight actors playing gay characters (one reason I’m so utterly enchanted by John Turturro in Severance) and Guest’s performance here is among the very best. Mount Rushmore level gay performance. Six words: My Dinner With Andre Action Figures.
Notes on a Scandal (2006)
dir. Richard Eyre
I was inspired to check this movie out after it was so glowingly recommended on Las Culturistas, and yeah, this has to be one of the campiest, most bonkers movies I’ve seen in a while. That feels distasteful to say about a movie that on every level is about sexual predation, but this film is just so surface level in such a hilarious and entertaining way. There were moments that would start to move me because of how intense and messily human they felt, but they would then immediately be undercut by the ridiculous score or some soap-operatic escalation of the characters’ conflict.
This film certainly invites comparisons to May December (or, rather, May December invites comparisons to this) as both play around with melodrama as a way to approach very similar themes of sexual predation, bargaining, possessiveness, etc. But whereas May December maintains the humanity of its characters at every second, there’s a point where this movie starts to feel like pure pulp. Probably not the best approach to this subject matter by today’s standards, but certainly an interesting and kind of hilarious experience. I think this screenplay is really good and probably could’ve been underplayed in service of a more subtle movie, but I actually don’t think I would change anything about the movie that this is. It’s a fascinating curio.
Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping (2016)
dir. Jorma Taccone, Akiva Schaffer
I can’t believe it’s taken me so long to get to this one, because this movie is so extremely my shit. Like, laughably my shit. It’s almost too on the nose that I would love this. One of the most joke-dense, balls-to-the-wall comedies I’ve seen in a while, that mainly scratches an itch for me because it’s literally just an hour and a half long Lonely Island sketch. It’s in that niche where it’s not technically an SNL movie, but nobody could get more out of this than an SNL fan. There’s a, truly, one second shot of Will Forte playing the bagpipes that made me scream aloud and immediately rewind. I think it’s also impressive how timeless this is. This was made ten years ago, clearly riffing on Justin Bieber’s documentary and pop idol-dom of the late 2000s and 2010s, the landscape of which is so different now. But every joke in this still hits like gangbusters. Not to mention the songs are so good. No one is better than these guys at making comedy music genuinely hit hard. Equal Rights (Not Gay) is one of the most perfectly executed throwaway bits I’ve ever seen. Also I have to shout out the lyric that Chris Redd’s character raps at one point: “I’m O.J. I’m Simpson. I’m Martha. I’m Plimpton.” Incredible writing. No notes.
TV
Severance — season 2
Alright I’ve already invoked Severance a few times so clearly it’s top of mind. I ended up having so much to say about this season, and as such my full thoughts will be published tomorrow in a new post. I’ve considered doing this before—separating my review of something from the recap when I’ve gone long on it. But it’s never felt justified until now, because, I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but Severance is fucking massive. Like highest viewership in its platform’s history, new tentpole of television massive. This was the success I knew the show deserved when I was one of the few people watching it back in 2022. Now that that success has arrived, the show to accompany it is… well, you’ll have to read my full thoughts to find out.
The Studio
Enjoying this so far! But of course I am; this show is like catnip for people who are nerds not just about movies but the entertainment industry. By which I mean, when Catherine O’Hara’s producer character first appeared and I immediately clocked her as the Amy Pascal parody, I knew I was the target audience for this show. The cringe comedy element felt a little bit on the nose in the first episode, but I thought the second episode was such a perfectly crafted cringe, mishap, pratfall comedy tour-de-force. I’m also loving the visual style of this show. It’s rare to see a show that is so nakedly cinematic, especially an ostensible workplace comedy. It’s clear that the people making this show genuinely love movies and want to create something that stands on its own feet cinematically, which so few other shows manage to do. Far be it from me to give credit to a multi-billion dollar corporation, but kudos to Apple for debuting their buzzy new show less than a week after the Severance finale before everyone has had the chance to cancel their subscriptions. It worked on me– I’m hooked and will be tuning in for the rest of the season!
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In general my movie watching got overtaken by my TV watching this month, so I’ll give you a little taste of what else is in the rotation. I’m all caught up on The Pitt, the surprise smash medical drama that I probably never would’ve thought twice about if it weren’t literally taking over my Twitter timeline, and it’s really great! I’m also finally getting into Sex and the City and am obsessed with it. This season of Drag Race is still excellent; the most recent family makeover episode felt like a high point for the series, not to be undercut by the juicy character-driven storytelling that the producers are pulling off really well this season. The new season of The Righteous Gemstones is as funny and grotesque as ever. And finally, I, like the rest of the world, am gearing up for The White Lotus finale. I am so bad at making predictions but I will just throw out there that I think Rick is in danger of dying, I can’t wait to see which member of the Ratliff family ends up defecting to Thailand, and I can only hope we get to see Parker Posey really let off the chain.
Music
MAYHEM - Lady Gaga
I elaborated on this a little last month, but Mayhem became my most anticipated album of the year—one of my most anticipated albums in a while, really—almost overnight. For a while it’s felt like pop music has become less central to Gaga’s identity as a culture fixture (which I thought was explained really well here by DJ Louie XIV, who also hosts my favorite pop music podcast), so I wasn’t sure what to expect from her next pop venture. Of course, we all know how much Abracadabra hooked me, and since this album was released I’ve been riding high on some of the highest highs of Gaga’s pop career. My take on the whole album is not quite as effusive as it seems like the general public opinion is; I absolutely love the first half, but the album falls apart a little bit for me in the second half. The ballads that conclude the album are a little bit of a snooze for me, and even the pure pop cuts hovering around there I find to be bland. Well, bland for Gaga, because if the excellent first half of the album proves anything it’s that she’s still one of the most forward-thinking, take-no-prisoners pop stars we have, even almost 20 years into her career. And like I said, some of these songs are truly some of the greatest of her entire catalogue.
After the two singles lead us in, we’re hit with Garden of Eden, the first sign that this album might be a little different than expected. It wouldn’t just be Gaga in “dark pop,” Born This Way deep cut mode, which Abracadabra felt like. This album is more expansive than that, more overt in its references, more vintage, more rugged, and more kaleidoscopic. Garden of Eden was a grower for me, but now I can’t get enough of it. I love the grimy guitars which totally feel like throwback Gaga. Like, embryonic Gaga. But if Garden of Eden hit me where I wasn’t expecting it, Perfect Celebrity sucker punched me. This was one that immediately jumped into the upper echelon of Gaga songs for me. I love how dark and gritty this one gets; the moaning groaning beat and her snarling belt perfectly match the unabashed angst and anger of this song. It’s giving Hole, it’s giving Nine Inch Nails, someone on Twitter said it’s giving How Soon Is Now? Incredible. The next highlight for me is Killah. This one is like if David Bowie’s Fame were written by Prince. Everything about it is sublime. This was a real “Gaga is so back” moment for me (even more than Abracadabra). Something that’s been missing from some of her recent pop output is that campy, overly theatrical, tongue-in-cheek element that she does better than anyone, and this song is literally dripping in that. It has some of the (I say this as a compliment) goofiest lyrics of her career, it’s sexy and off putting in equal measure, and I couldn’t ask for anything more. Also, when she performed this one on SNL, I literally screamed. I felt like a dad watching sports watching that performance. But I think my favorite has to be Zombieboy. It’s dizzyingly, deliriously fun. It feels like when you’re in the club and things are getting gross, you’re starting to sweat and your shoes are sticking to the floor, but you’ll die if you stop dancing! It’s that sped-up gif of Carrie spinning under the disco ball in Sex and the City. It’s shimmery and grimy all at once. The baseline is killer, the disco-inflected strings are infectious, and it has her signature theatricality on every line.
As a whole, I feel a little more conflicted on the album because quite a lot of the other songs are functionally skips for me; How Bad Do U Want Me, Don’t Call Tonight, the aforementioned ballads, none of these have really clicked with me. And yet, I think the highs are so high, and such a return to form for Gaga in terms of how confidently and meticulously she can execute some of the most high-octane pop songs out there, that I can hardly regard this as a total or even partial failure. She’s really in her bag here, and I can see the songs that don’t work for me growing in my estimation over time. Above all else it’s just so exciting to see her creating pop music and pop culture that reminds us all why she is one of the greatest to ever do it.
Relationships - HAIM
This month has primarily been about Mayhem, because it had to be, but I also want to give some shine to Haim’s new single Relationships, which I’ve absolutely been loving. Maybe it just hit me at exactly the right time, as I am unceremoniously entering yet another summer single, but I can’t get enough of this song and the accompanying video. I mean I’ve watched this video probably 20 times now, the vibes are so immaculate. (Between Queer and a Haim video, Drew Starkey has reached a new echelon of gay pandering, and I for one am eating it up). That being said I haven’t driven down the coast with the windows down blasting this song yet, which for me tends to be the test of a truly great Haim song. Gonna get on that.
Thank you for reading this month, thank you for reading for the past twelve months! Check out my Severance review coming very soon, if you’re into that sort of thing, and I’ll see you in the next one.
omg i was just thinking yesterday that its around time for an ella media recap… happy one year of twink peaks 🥹🥹🥹 its also so fun to read your voice and learn so much from your writing, both about media and also about what a good review-writing style is like!!! also omg i love pop pantheon its been a while since ive tuned in… and i need to watch severance finally since i know there will be an ella review 😤😤 also also is the pitt fun and episodic. i have been watching st denis medical and saw ppl comparing the two :0