Welcome back, y’all!
THE QUEEREST THING I WATCHED THIS WEEK
A Discovery of Witches
FILM
REWATCH
Red (available on Netflix)
Plot: When his peaceful life is threatened by a high-tech assassin, former black-ops agent Frank Moses reassembles his old team in a last-ditch effort to survive and uncover the assailants.
The last time I watched this, I loved it so much that I put it on my regular rewatch list, but this time, it wasn’t doing it for me as much. The relationship between Bruce Willis and Mary-Louise Parker was kinda creepy, and I found John Malkovich more annoying than funny this time around. Helen Mirren is the best part of the film, but that was always true. 5/10. Queer Factor: 0/7.
The Crow (available on Paramount+)
Plot: The night before his wedding, musician Eric Draven and his fiancée are brutally murdered by members of a violent gang. On the anniversary of their death, Eric rises from the grave and assumes the mantle of the Crow, a supernatural avenger.
A perfect film for spooky season, and ever since hearing a terrible review of the new version, it was wonderful to enjoy this classic again. There is so much to love about this dark revenge tale and I’m looking forward to watching it again for sure. 9/10. Queer Factor: 0/7.
IN THEATERS
Speak No Evil
Plot: A family is invited to spend a whole weekend in a lonely home in the countryside, but as the weekend progresses, they realize that a dark side lies within the family who invited them.
I had a feeling that I’d like this film, but I actually liked it even more than I expected. It reminded me of Midsommar in that it has this underlying tension for most of the film as you’re waiting for the shoe that you know is coming to drop. It’s not as successful as Midsommar, but it has a few surprising twisty moments, and the final action sequence is truly heart pounding. The real reason to watch this, though, is James McAvoy’s performance. He is charming and terrifying by turns, carries the terror through to the end of the film, and yes, he is very hot. I’ve heard that the original Danish film is even better and has a completely different ending, so I’m looking forward to checking that out as well. 8/10. Queer Factor: 0/7.
TELEVISION
COMPLETE SEASONS
A Very Royal Scandal (Amazon Prime)
Plot: This miniseries explores Emily Maitlis’ journey as a NewsNight journalist and Prince Andrew's disastrous interview with her.
This is the third series revolving around a huge scandal in the UK, and one of very recent interest, since there was a film exploring this same topic earlier this year. I’ve seen the first of these and found that one to be more interesting, mainly because it was about a scandal in the 1970s that I knew nothing about, but this was about an interview in 2019 that was everywhere when it happened, so it doesn’t feel like it unearths very much. The performance by Michael Sheen as Prince Andrew is superb, but other than the interview itself, I found much of the season fairly boring. 6/10. Queer Factor: 0/7.
STARTED SEASONS
Agatha All Along (Disney+), Season 1, Episodes 1-2
Dancing with the Stars (ABC on Hulu), Season 33, Episode 1
How to Die Alone (Hulu), Season 1, Episodes 1-6
A Pup Named Scooby-Doo (available on Max), Season 1, Episode 1
CONTINUING SEASONS
Press Your Luck (ABC on Hulu), Season 6, Episode 7
Futurama (Hulu), Season 12, Episode 8
Only Murders in the Building (Hulu), Season 4, Episode 4
Lingo (CBS on Paramount+), Season 2, Episode 16
Suits (available on Netflix)
Season 3, Episodes 13-16
Season 4, Episodes 1-11
CONCLUDED SEASONS
13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo (available on MAX), Season 1, Episodes 8-13
Plot: Shaggy and Scooby and friends must return 13 ghosts to a magic chest which they inadvertently released.
I’ve been curious about this show for a long time, since it has something of an ongoing storyline, but unfortunately it wasn’t a hit for me. Once again, no Fred or Velma, and you’ve got Scrappy-Doo tagging along. Joining them is a kid named Flim Flam and they are working with Vincent Van Ghoul (Vincent Price) throughout. Some of the individual episodes had enjoyable storylines, but overall I didn’t like the series as a whole. 3/10. Queer Factor: 0/10.
A Discovery of Witches (available on Netflix)
Season 2, Episodes 6-10
Season 3, Episodes 1-7
Plot: Diana Bishop (Teresa Palmer), historian and witch, accesses Ashmole 782 and knows she must solve its mysteries. She is offered help by the enigmatic Matthew Clairmont (Matthew Goode), but he's a vampire and witches should never trust vampires.
I love most fantasy involving witches and/or vampires, and I’ve been waiting to watch this one for a long time. I blazed through it pretty quickly and devoured it. The writing and acting are… not great. But, I liked the overall story enough to push past that and did ultimately enjoy the show. It falls into a lot of romantasy tropes, but it’s a rich world and ends in a satisfying way. 6/10. Queer Factor: 3/7.
ABANDONED SEASONS
Twilight of the Gods (Netflix), Season 1, Episodes 1-3
Plot: Animated series inspired by Norse Mythology. The Twilight of the Gods refers events that led to the destruction of Midgard and Asgard, then the death of most of the Æsir and Vanir gods in an ultimate battle against evil, the forces of nature and the Giants.
After really enjoying Blood of Zeus, I was excited for an animated series about the Norse pantheon. Zach Snyder produced and did some writing on the series, so I was a little apprehensive, since I don’t really like his work. Unfortunately, this falls into his style of spectacle over substance. By episode 2 I was already confused about the motivations of certain characters and by the end of episode 3, I had lost the plot. It’s very adult, with lots of violence and cartoon nudity that was odd to see, and I had to nope out of it. 1/10. Queer Factor: 1/7.
That’s all for this week! Grand total: 53 episodes, 3 films
Thanks for reading! Until next time, stay queer out there!