Welcome back, y’all!
THE QUEEREST THING I WATCHED THIS WEEK
In the most literal sense, We’re Here. But spiritually, Jawbreaker and Challengers could both take it. I’m gonna say Jawbreaker, honestly.
FILM
REWATCH
Jawbreaker
For the first third of this film, I thought that it was bad, but then I realized that it is high camp and it all made sense. I loved this when I saw it as a teenager, and I enjoyed it again this time around. It is so queer coded, it’s insane. It’s got all the things gays love: bitchy high school girls being catty to each other, a total makeover, hot shirtless jocks, and Judy Greer. I mean, the cast for this is really stellar. Rose McGowan, Rebecca Gayheart, Julie Benz, Pam Grier, and Carol Kane, to name a few. This film never got the love that others of its ilk did, but I think it does belong in the canon of films like Heather, Clueless, and Mean Girls. I did wonder about the fact that all the actors playing teenagers were in their late 20s, but this was intentional by writer/director Darren Stein as an homage to other films like Grease and Carrie. All in all, an enjoyable rewatch. 7/10. Queer Factor: 3/7.
Equilibrium
I’ve seen this a couple times before, and when it first came out, along with other films with clear inspiration from The Matrix, I loved it. It was cold and dark and cool and slick and felt fresh and new. Upon a rewatch, it doesn’t really hold up. The action sequences are still cool, but the filmmaking and story fall short. 3/10. Queer Factor: 0/7.
The Italian Job (2003)
I loved this movie so much when it came out that I almost wanted to get a Mini-Cooper. It had been over a decade since I’d last seen it, and it holds up really well. It’s got a great cast: Mark Wahlberg, Charlize Theron, Donald Sutherland, Edward Norton, Seth Green, Jason Statham, and Mos Def. It hits every point that a great heist movie should, with humor and panache. 10/10. Queer Factor: 0/7.
NEW ON STREAMING
The Idea of You (Amazon Prime)
This has been getting a ton of press lately, with stars Anne Hathaway and Nicholas Galitzine making the rounds together. They are both so charming and wonderful to watch, on and off screen. This rom-com about a 40-year-old woman meeting a 24-year-old pop star and starting a complicated relationship with him is more rom than com, but it is sweet. It’s not breaking any new ground, following the standard rom-com formula, but the script is good, the acting is top notch, and as I said, it’s very sweet. 8/10. Queer Factor: 0/7.
IN THEATERS
The Fall Guy
What an absolute delight this was. From the trailers, it looked funny and action packed, and it was all of that and more. Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt had great chemistry, and they understood all the ways to sell the jokes. Supporting players Hannah Waddingham, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Winston Duke, and Stephanie Hsu all added their own wonderful talents to the story, and everyone knew exactly what kind of movie they were in. This is the kind of movie that should get Oscar attention but won’t because it’s a comedy. You worry with these types of films that the trailers will have all the best bits, but there is so much more to this movie than what was shown. Additionally, it is truly a love letter to the stunt community, showing how hard they work and how much more credit they deserve. Hoping it will eventually lead to the inclusion of stunt categories at the Oscars. 9/10. Queer Factor: 1/7.
Challengers
Luca Guadagnino is a twisted man. And I love it. This movie completely lived up to the hype surrounding it. It is fucked up, and tense, and sexy, and horny, and fantastic. I had a few minor issues with it. The score is intentionally intrusive, but to the point where it is occasionally so loud that it makes the dialogue hard to hear. Luca uses an impressive amount of camera techniques, especially in the final sequence, but he uses slow motion a bit too much for my liking towards the end, so it undercuts some of the tension by prolonging the action. But otherwise, it was everything I wanted it to be and more, and I was eating it up. This is only the second film of his that I’ve seen, but I am already looking forward to watching it again. 9/10. Queer Factor: 3/7.
TELEVISION
STARTED SEASONS
Jessica Jones (available on Disney+), Season 1, Episodes 1-6
CONTINUING SEASONS
X-Men ‘97 (Disney+), Season 1, Episode 8
Password (NBC on Peacock), Season 2, Episode 7
House of Laughs (WoW+), Season 1, Episode 5
Palm Royale (Apple TV+), Season 1, Episode 9
Sugar (Apple TV+), Season 1, Episode 5-6
Under the Bridge (Hulu), Season 1, Episode 2
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (available on Paramount+), Season 3, Episodes 31-33
Top Chef (Bravo on Peacock), Season 21, Episode 7
Top Chef: Last Chance Kitchen (available on Peacock), Season 21, Episode 6
We’re Here (HBO on MAX), Season 4, Episode 2
CONCLUDED SEASONS
Fallout (Amazon Prime), Season 1, Episodes 5-8
This is a fascinating show. Based on a hit video game, it follows multiple characters as they deal with the fallout (hence the name) of nuclear blasts all over the USA. You’ve got Lucy (Emma Purnell), a young woman who has lived her entire life in a vault underground and leaves to rescue her father (Kyle MacLachlan). Then there’s Maximus (Aaron Moten), a member of the “Brotherhood of Steel”, a military organization on the surface. And we follow The Ghoul (Walton Goggins), a bounty hunter who looks like a corpse. They all have their own missions and agendas that overlap occasionally. Meanwhile we see flashbacks from the time before the bombs fell. Overall, I liked the show. It was a little sci-fi heavy for me, and there were times that they clearly could have spent more time and money on the graphics. A bunch of questions I had got answered by the end of the season, but I definitely will need to rewatch it before the second season. 7/10. Queer Factor: 0/7.
That’s it for this week! Grand total: 23 episodes, 5 films
Thanks for reading! Until next time, stay queer out there!