Howdy y’all- happy Easter, Trans Day of Visibility and happy Cowboy Carter release day/week/month to all those who celebrate!
Did you OOHHH and AAHHHH over the takedown of Andrew Huberman? Have you spent hours online "saving the environment while scrolling” trying to ring the fish doorbell? Are you too now a country girl (never knew this day would come) learning about all the Black country singers on Beyoncé’s new album?
As always here’s my round up of movies/shows that brightened my month/left a mark on me- I look forward to hearing yours!
Movies/TV
Four Daughters- Oscar nominated doc four daughters is finally out for streaming and will be engrained in me for a while. It follows Olfa Hamrouni, a Tunisian mother of four daughters, who in trying to discipline them the way she was, leads two to rebel and become radicalized by extremists. These events shake up their family and in an effort to tell their story, director Kaouther Ben Hania brings in two actresses to play the missing two. The film becomes half a rehearsal and grieving process, half a documentary and stands out in the complex questions in brings up around how to undo the ways we were raised in, the limits of the government in keeping us “safe” from extremist movements and how grief can show up differently for people.
Eternal Memory- This Oscar nominated documentary is also streaming and to me at least- one of the most romantic films/documentaries I’ve seen in a while. Augusto and Paola, he a journalist and author and she an actress and ex-minister of culture, deal with the growing heartbreak of Alzheimers as she tries to keep him grounded to who they are as a couple and the world surrounding them. The irony of his illness as a published author on the importance of tragic memory in a national historical context makes this documentary even more meaningful- they open us to it all, the laughs, the intimacy, the pain and constant shifts between all these states of being. Their love is one of the most beautiful ones to see unfold.
On a less tragic note…
Problemista- was SO good and it gave me so much joy to hear so many people from work and friends who weren’t familiar with Julio Torres’ work appreciate it on its own. A fantastical retelling of his personal story with Julio touches including but not limited to- object work, physical theater and the company of friends in REALLY hilarious roles (River Ramirez and Larry Owens for example). But the biggest surprise is probably how central Tilda Swinton is to the story and how this somehow has become, in my eyes, one of her best roles?
Loves Lies Bleeding- a lesbian movie from the 80s featuring a power lifter? This movie was created in a lab specifically for me lol. But actually is REALLY good and surprisingly funny? It’s doesn’t fall into cheesy tropes and is more Kill Bill and But I’m a Cheerleader than Blue is the Warmest Color. Lots of blood and weird effects which will likely have an impact on fashion, halloween costumes and hair dos for months to come.
Quiet on Set- The new documentary about Dan Scheider and the sets he governed over at Nickelodeon- including but not limited too All That and The Amanda Show will ruin your childhood memories of those shows and truly question how Nickelodeon has still not issued a statement about this. A coworker of mine brought up if children should be acting on TV at all based on the track record we have now of how we’ve treated them thus far. I honestly don’t know. Watched his 19mn apology video but feel like the network is still the elephant in the room.
Visual Art
Alissa Eberle
And Ever an Edge/Studio Museum Artists 22-23 at MoMA PS1- Is an incredible retrospective featuring Leslie Martinez’ no waste process with diluted paints and rags and dried acrylics onto the surface or Devin Morris’ constructed landscapes from foraging around the city.
Alissa Eberle at Urban Glass- I ran into this window installation and became an Alissa Eberle superfan- I love the worlds she builds through neon and lighting and wish I could just hole up and work from there all day.
Sharig Farrag- I am always looking for new ceramic inspiration (forever a student till i die!!) and discovered Sharif’s incredibly playful and ornate ceramics after reading his wedding announcement.
Books
Come and Get it by Kiley Reid: This book was a very fun light read around a gay writer who teaches a semester and collects stories from college kids down south. In the process she adds some literary exaggerations and let’s that slip too far. The beginning is a bit slow but it picks up real fast.
Biography of X by Catherine Lacey: About to finish this one but irresponsibly REALLY recommend- is a fictional biography by the wife of a famous feminist artist who learns a lot about her partner and has to reckon with the lack of knowing following her death.
Listening
Not going to list Beyoncé because if you haven’t listened then.. top faves are 16 Carriages, Tyrant, Ya Ya and Riiverdance.
Costumbres by Celest: This song came on when Rich, Sarah and I were eating Mexican and we started bopping with our mouths full- the owner told us it was his daughter’s favorite song.
Podcasts
The Rise and Fall of Ruby Franke: Though we distribute this show I’ve been completely sunken into this story for the pleasure (?) and horror of following this mormon mommy blogger’s abuse of her family and downfall of her YouTube brand.
Imperfect Paradise: The Stripper’s Union is a four episode miniseries and how a group of strippers came together to form a union at the heart of Covid and confront issues with their own inner politics- so interesting as a piece about unions in general and racial justice issues.
Videos of Music (not all music videos)
Magdalena Bay’s Secrets: It’s a bit mind boggling to watch a “nostalgic video” for the early 2000s- the details, the screen savers. It feels futuristic in how jarring it looks now, in its awareness of itself.
Vin Diesel singing Rihanna at Karaoke: Watching Vin Diesel cry because of the emotion he feels from Rihanna’s songs is too much for me to hold.
Cha cha now yall,
Allie