i have a theory that the new ellen special is a dry run for taylor swift finally releasing reputation tv and the click bait headlines opening kind of cements it for me
could not come a moment too soon, if so! but mostly I think it's a symptom of the Ben Winston production which is an extension of James Corden/Harry Styles/Kardashian-Jenner family stuff that has a very kindness/forgiveness-forward almost neo conservative aesthetic these days
so excited for Nickel Boys based on these reax, I respect but do not love the novel, which is the only Whitehead I’ve been able to finish. His style just does not work for me at all
I forget which cut it is but I showed Margaret to my roommates when I got the blu and the scene where Paquin and Thirlby mock Broderick’s delivery of “smokin’ a JAYYY” became an enduring gag
Broderick is so good in there... we were laughing and laughing at "smokin a jay"
I read/loved Underground Railroad at time of release but tried to revisit alongside the Jenkins adaptation and could not get through even 50 pages (nor could I finish the Jenkins miniseries... maybe there was just a time/place to the whole thing when it came out that I can't really delve back into. I liked but did not love Nickel Boys novel.. I felt like the whole thing was kind of reverse engineered from its final reveal which annoyed me in retrospect. I think Ross's film finds an interesting workaround/thru with that whole part of it. I'll be curious to know what you make of it. We did have a couple of walkouts in the P&I screening from people who seemed bored/tired of the whole thing but I was totally rapt.
The smokin a jay scene is really funny, and one of the few times we get the inverse of “following Lisa while dialogue from somewhere else continues to play,” and we see that it really gets to Broderick, who was just trying to be cool and relatable and not too harsh on these girls. A really succinct and not-brutal synecdoche of the movies whole deal
oooh, great question! how did you like Naked? Thewlis also pops up in Life is Sweet, which is one of my favorite but one of the more divisive Leigh films. I think if you're following the line of present day-set Leighs, you should definitely make time for Happy Go Lucky, Meantime, Another Year, and Secrets and Lies. if you're curious about his period pieces, you should definitely do one of them but I know Topsy Turvy can be a tough sell if you're not into, like, musicals or the "putting on a show" aspect in which case I would say to check out Mr. Turner!!
It was definitely a bleak watch but I loved the voice of his writing and watching Thewlis’ insufferable destructive force interact with different people he comes across. Also loved the score.
Amazing list!!! I can’t wait to check them out—I had a putting on a show themed weekend watching New York, New York (aka Damien Chazelle’s urtext) and Amadeus (so much fun) so Topsy Turvy is definitely high on my list.
oh amazing - I mean I love Topsy Turvy and am happily throwing it on for 15-60 minutes if I'm doing something in the room. It is the most pleasant white noise to me and definitely not a musical but has those elements to its text in a way where, well, if people don't like musicals, I think this one is kind of a tough sell. (In the Leigh commentary, he goes "if you don't like musicals... you should just think of this movie as people going to work to do their job" which - yes!). Lmk what else you watch and how you enjoy it!
fran…me and seth are so fucking obsessed with megalopolis i’ve been waiting with bated breath and we finally saw it and. i will probably see it three more times. and idk what the fuck shia is on in that movie but i love him especially in the colosseum sequence
there are very few things which could get me to watch megalopolis, but if fran mag says it’s actually good and not just a kaleidoscopic late masterpiece (the world has enough kaleidoscopic late masterpieces), i will happily be seated.
i have been beating my head against ds2 by future for a long time and this week it finally let me in…very good record, not quite great and certainly a trifle rockist for my taste, but at least i get why people are always comparing future to a bluesman now. “i serve the base” remains scintillating.
i always had a problem with earnestness in movies, unfortunately i was never a wachowskis woman myself, but i am hoping that my heart can be open to adam driver and maybe i'll take his famous advice about "[going] back to the cluub."
"groupies" is really good (if problematic[TM])...future was obviously like The First (or one of the first) people to use Auto-Tune as he did, so i think his status as a pioneer can often obscure that he really wields it much differently from song to song. sometimes he's high and breathy and heartbroken, sometimes (as on "groupies") he's guttural and unstoppable.
(if you like that song i hope it's not presumptuous for me to recommend "big fish theory" by vince staples also...shares the strange electronic sonics with ds2 and it is also a breakup album, but staples is slightly more contemplative and thoughtful [and less misogynist] than future is. really underrated artist and i think you might like "745" in particular.)
he's so funny and i think a lot of people expect his music to be as energetic as he is and are disappointed. fwiw he's one of the last mainstream rappers still talking about romance and bringing in R&B girlies for the hooks which makes him a precious commodity.
I love DS2, still probably my favorite Future project. Have you checked out the rest of Future's mixtapes around that time? Monster, 56 Nights, and Beast Mode are all great as well. You wanna talk modern day blues, Future is going THROUGH IT on "Throw Away".
I love 56 Nights and Beast Mode's Zaytoven keys (and the collab with Juvenile who tbh kind of murders him) but Future has never been a throw-on-casually artist for me, I need to be in the right headspace for the music to hit me. I genuinely find him more difficult than Moor Mother. I will revisit "Throw Away" though and I hear the new tape is fun...
I feel you on that front! Not someone I'm always listening to but will get deep into for a few days at a time. I liked the new MIXTAPE PLUTO a lot, he's really rapping and doing a lot of weird stuff with his voice.
i thought the ellen clip was a parody lol
very sadly real
i have a theory that the new ellen special is a dry run for taylor swift finally releasing reputation tv and the click bait headlines opening kind of cements it for me
could not come a moment too soon, if so! but mostly I think it's a symptom of the Ben Winston production which is an extension of James Corden/Harry Styles/Kardashian-Jenner family stuff that has a very kindness/forgiveness-forward almost neo conservative aesthetic these days
so excited for Nickel Boys based on these reax, I respect but do not love the novel, which is the only Whitehead I’ve been able to finish. His style just does not work for me at all
I forget which cut it is but I showed Margaret to my roommates when I got the blu and the scene where Paquin and Thirlby mock Broderick’s delivery of “smokin’ a JAYYY” became an enduring gag
Broderick is so good in there... we were laughing and laughing at "smokin a jay"
I read/loved Underground Railroad at time of release but tried to revisit alongside the Jenkins adaptation and could not get through even 50 pages (nor could I finish the Jenkins miniseries... maybe there was just a time/place to the whole thing when it came out that I can't really delve back into. I liked but did not love Nickel Boys novel.. I felt like the whole thing was kind of reverse engineered from its final reveal which annoyed me in retrospect. I think Ross's film finds an interesting workaround/thru with that whole part of it. I'll be curious to know what you make of it. We did have a couple of walkouts in the P&I screening from people who seemed bored/tired of the whole thing but I was totally rapt.
The smokin a jay scene is really funny, and one of the few times we get the inverse of “following Lisa while dialogue from somewhere else continues to play,” and we see that it really gets to Broderick, who was just trying to be cool and relatable and not too harsh on these girls. A really succinct and not-brutal synecdoche of the movies whole deal
Did Fran Magazine visit the Mobile Criterion Closet?
no <3
What if I see Megalopolis despite having never seen a Francis Coppola movie before……..
You should
Just watched my first ever Mike Leigh movie—Naked. Which of his other movies would you say are the most must-watch for somebody getting into his work?
oooh, great question! how did you like Naked? Thewlis also pops up in Life is Sweet, which is one of my favorite but one of the more divisive Leigh films. I think if you're following the line of present day-set Leighs, you should definitely make time for Happy Go Lucky, Meantime, Another Year, and Secrets and Lies. if you're curious about his period pieces, you should definitely do one of them but I know Topsy Turvy can be a tough sell if you're not into, like, musicals or the "putting on a show" aspect in which case I would say to check out Mr. Turner!!
It was definitely a bleak watch but I loved the voice of his writing and watching Thewlis’ insufferable destructive force interact with different people he comes across. Also loved the score.
Amazing list!!! I can’t wait to check them out—I had a putting on a show themed weekend watching New York, New York (aka Damien Chazelle’s urtext) and Amadeus (so much fun) so Topsy Turvy is definitely high on my list.
oh amazing - I mean I love Topsy Turvy and am happily throwing it on for 15-60 minutes if I'm doing something in the room. It is the most pleasant white noise to me and definitely not a musical but has those elements to its text in a way where, well, if people don't like musicals, I think this one is kind of a tough sell. (In the Leigh commentary, he goes "if you don't like musicals... you should just think of this movie as people going to work to do their job" which - yes!). Lmk what else you watch and how you enjoy it!
fran…me and seth are so fucking obsessed with megalopolis i’ve been waiting with bated breath and we finally saw it and. i will probably see it three more times. and idk what the fuck shia is on in that movie but i love him especially in the colosseum sequence
I can't wait to see it again I am practically begging friends who are on the fence to please go see with me I love it
there are very few things which could get me to watch megalopolis, but if fran mag says it’s actually good and not just a kaleidoscopic late masterpiece (the world has enough kaleidoscopic late masterpieces), i will happily be seated.
i have been beating my head against ds2 by future for a long time and this week it finally let me in…very good record, not quite great and certainly a trifle rockist for my taste, but at least i get why people are always comparing future to a bluesman now. “i serve the base” remains scintillating.
I am finding I'm in the minority of my pals on Megalopolis! but I do love it in genuine earnest!
Phil played DS2 in the car last fall and the main song I remember is Groupies which I loved!!
i always had a problem with earnestness in movies, unfortunately i was never a wachowskis woman myself, but i am hoping that my heart can be open to adam driver and maybe i'll take his famous advice about "[going] back to the cluub."
"groupies" is really good (if problematic[TM])...future was obviously like The First (or one of the first) people to use Auto-Tune as he did, so i think his status as a pioneer can often obscure that he really wields it much differently from song to song. sometimes he's high and breathy and heartbroken, sometimes (as on "groupies") he's guttural and unstoppable.
(if you like that song i hope it's not presumptuous for me to recommend "big fish theory" by vince staples also...shares the strange electronic sonics with ds2 and it is also a breakup album, but staples is slightly more contemplative and thoughtful [and less misogynist] than future is. really underrated artist and i think you might like "745" in particular.)
I mostly know Vince Staples from interviews (LOVE) but need to finally sit down and listen to his tunes...
he's so funny and i think a lot of people expect his music to be as energetic as he is and are disappointed. fwiw he's one of the last mainstream rappers still talking about romance and bringing in R&B girlies for the hooks which makes him a precious commodity.
I love Vince! Fran I agree you'd dig on Big Fish Theory, it's Vince diving into house and techno sounds. SOPHIE produced two tracks, including one with a bananas Kendrick Lamar verse. Vince's tribute to her is very sweet: https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/vince-staples-sophie-tribute-1122824/
I love DS2, still probably my favorite Future project. Have you checked out the rest of Future's mixtapes around that time? Monster, 56 Nights, and Beast Mode are all great as well. You wanna talk modern day blues, Future is going THROUGH IT on "Throw Away".
I love 56 Nights and Beast Mode's Zaytoven keys (and the collab with Juvenile who tbh kind of murders him) but Future has never been a throw-on-casually artist for me, I need to be in the right headspace for the music to hit me. I genuinely find him more difficult than Moor Mother. I will revisit "Throw Away" though and I hear the new tape is fun...
I feel you on that front! Not someone I'm always listening to but will get deep into for a few days at a time. I liked the new MIXTAPE PLUTO a lot, he's really rapping and doing a lot of weird stuff with his voice.
wish I liked Megalopolis but boy was I bored. and I love the Wachowskis! *gritting my teeth* good to see Shia back onscreen though.