DIE MY LOVE
In Die My Love, Katniss Everdeen goes up against her biggest adversary yet: postpartum depression and Edward Cullen as a husband who just doesn’t get it. Lynne Ramsay’s latest can be seen as a dark fever dream of a comedy or just a straight-up unraveling drama. But above all, Ramsay’s signature is burned into this narrative that follows Grace (Jennifer Lawrence) and her husband Jackson (Robert Pattinson), who move to Montana to move into a home that his uncle left him after his death — and it’s a real fixer-upper.
After Grace gives birth to a baby boy, she slowly travels down a rabbit hole of mental anguish and psychosis in the most aggressively beautiful and tragic way that only Ramsay could illustrate.
This movie doesn’t need men to understand it — and that’s what I love about it; that and Lawrence’s liberating, feral performance. Ramsay pushes her and Pattinson to their limits, which is worth the watch. Sissy Spacek acting in anything is always a joy to watch, but I very much question LaKeith Stanfield as the object of affection, which is giving Black male fetishization.
FRANKENSTEIN
Frankenstein is a fun, visually striking, and haunting watch, but my love for the production design doesn’t quite match my love for the movie.
Guillermo del Toro’s take on Mary Shelly’s “Who’s really the monster?” fable sings with lusciously saturated Gothic production design by Oscar-nominated Tamara Deverell, while Emmy–nominated Kate Hawley’s costume design flows in perfect harmony.
When the movie turned into a “he said/he said” story, the visuals were no longer enough for me to be invested in Oscar Issac’s unhinged, scene-chomping portrayal of Victor Frankenstein or Mia Goth’s dual performance as Victor’s late mother and whip-smart and empathetic Elizabeth. This continues the actress’s affinity for double-duty acting as seen in the X cinematic universe — or as I like to call it, “Goth’ing”.
And yes, Jacob Elordi is super duper hot as the creature, but he also delivers the best performance of the bunch. That almost forgives the Prometheus-esque creature design.
That said, Frankenstein had me saying “beautiful gowns”… literally and figuratively.
STOP THE INSANITY: FINDING SUSAN POWTER
Here’s a documentary you didn’t know you needed.
Zeberiah Newman’s documentary spotlights Susan Powter, who became the queen of infomercials, barreling through pop culture with her signature bleach-blonde buzz cut. She was a fitness and wellness influencer before these TikTok wellness girlies were even a zygote.
But after becoming a New York Times bestselling author, having a talk show, appearing on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, and establishing a brand identity, her media empire came crashing down.
The documentary catches up with Powter as she works as an UberEats driver in Las Vegas — but her energy is still exactly the same as we watch her guide us through the ups and downs of her life.
Newman’s lens on Powter is kind, humbling, and trustworthy, with minimal talking heads that include RuPaul’s Drag Race judge Ross Mathews and Jamie Lee Curtis, who also serves as a producer. The majority of the doc leaves Powter vulnerable as she tells her own story and doesn’t hold anything back. From trying to find healthy food at the Dollar Store to crying through her recollection of her fall from grace, Stop the Insanity is another cautionary tale of sharks in the world of entertainment and media business taking advantage of a talented voice who can sell her brand. And to no surprise, this happens to women.
The doc is a strong declaration of Powter reclaiming her voice and agency over life and career… as well as her beach-blonde ‘do.
LAKEVIEW and ROCK OUT at OutfestNEXT
OutfestNEXT brought back a beloved LGBTQ institution to the fold, bringing queer films to the community, two of them being Lakeview and Rock Out.
Tara Thorne’s Lakeview is equal parts Bridesmaids and The Big Chill with a major injection of queerness. Set in a picturesque cabin in the woods, the comedy introduces us to Darcy (Lesley Smith), who is hosting a post-divorce weekend getaway with her friends, Julien (Kathryn McCormack) and Julie Anne (Stephanie Clarke), who are expecting their first child, and Lauren (Nicole Steeves) and her new, much-younger girlfriend Phoebe (Faly Mevamanana).
Many of the ladies have slept with each other at one time or another, but it is their indie musician friend Dax (Canadian singer-songwriter Hilary Adams) who is essentially the “Samantha” of the group. After achieving new fame, her arrival at the cabin shakes things up for everyone.
Lakeview is a queer delight, giving us humor and heart while the ensemble works together like a well-oiled machine. Adams is stunning to watch while Steeves is giving Carrie-Anne Moss energy — which I love.
Lakeview feels like good ol’ fashioned, intimate indie filmmaking.
In Dustin Lance Black’s Rock Out, the Academy Award winner infuses a personal story of his relationship with his late brother Marcus in an exploration of the queer influence on some of the masterminds in the music industry who shaped culture.
With cultural icons like Little Richard, The Beatles, Elton John, and David Bowie, Rock Out uncovers seldom-told stories about queer disruptors who changed the game and whose influence remains strong. Set to a drum soundtrack by Patty Schemel of Hole, Black finely educates audiences about the queer rock-and-roll legacy that has been buried under hetero rubble.
Although Black’s personal narrative is touching, it felt disparate from the elements of rock and roll history. Rock Out felt like two different movies. Black’s story about his brother needs to be developed more into a stand alone doc. The strength of this documentary lies mostly in the stories about queer figures in music who were unable to live their lives out loud, including “The Velvet Mafia,” a group of managers who were responsible for the wild success of musicians at the time. The Velvet Mafia included Beatles manager Brian Epstein, Bee Gees manager Robert Stigwood, Yardbirds manager Simon Napier-Bell, and David Bowie’s manager Ken Pitt.
Black works best when he interrogates queerness in rock and roll history, shining a light on the homoerotic swivel of Elvis’s hips to the colorful super-gay age of glam rock. The amount of knowledge and history dropped in the doc is staggering and is yet another example of how queer people run pop culture.
