Witchy Aubrey Plaza Prophesies “Happiest Season 2” ‘Cause Riley Needs Love Too
Sometimes you wake up and open Slack, thinking it’s gonna be a pretty normal day of normal business, but find instead that Valerie Anne has posted a TikTok of Aubrey Plaza in a full and entire witch costume, signing books, and saying there’s gonna be a Happiest Season 2 ’cause “Riley needs love” also.
@evilhag4ever NO IM SO EXCITED I CANT (from @ electrop0p on ig)
To be quite honest, nothing makes more sense to me than this prophecy of Happiest Season 2. First of all, Aubrey Plaza was hands down the fan favorite of the original, to the point that most lesbians watching this HOLIDAY ROM-COM wanted to see Mackenzie Davis’ Harper get mowed down by a snow plow so Riley and Kristen Stewart’s Abby could live happily ever after. And second of all, thanks to the huge success of Happiest Season on Hulu, there’s about ten new queer Christmas movies this year. Feels like an insta-Holiday Classic to me! Or should I say… AutoClassic.
Now, according to holiday movie lore, what needs to happen here is that Riley needs to meet someone who is full of optimism and Christmas spirit, to the point that it makes her absolutely bonkers, being a misanthrope and all, but for some reason — maybe the reason of: body heat to stay alive??? — this happy hopeful queer wins Riley over. Riley’s like “Ugh fine, I’ll go to the stupid tree farm!” And “Ugh gross but sure I’ll drink this hot cocoa under the stars with you while the sound of children caroling fills the air.” Next thing you know, there’s SMOOCHING. And happily ever afters.
Clea, call me! And ho ho ho, homos!
“The World to Come” Exclusive Clip: Just a Couple of Frontier Lesbians Hungry for Food and Each Other
Mona Fastvold’s Venice International Film Festival Queer Lion Award-winning film, The World to Come, which played at Sundance last week, lands in limited release, and will be available on demand in early March — and we’ve got an exclusive clip for you! The World to Come follows Tallie (Vanessa Kirby) and Abigail (Katherine Waterston), two neighbors in upstate New York in the 1850s as their families battle the sparseness and harshness of the land and they battle their feelings for each other. When they begin to explore their desires, they realize they’ve been hungry in more ways than one — hey-o!
For more, check out The World to Come‘s official website.
“Two of Us” Exclusive Clip: Two “Old Dykes” Fight for Love in France’s Oscar Entry
Two Of Us, the romantic drama that France submitted to the Oscars this year, will be available on demand on Friday, and we have an exclusive clip for you! Two of Us follows neighbors Nina (Barbara Sukowa) and Madeline (Martine Chevallier), who have been in a relationship for years, as Madeline struggles to finally come out to her adult children, and Nina grows weary of waiting. Unlike most movies starring women in their 60s and 70s, Two Of Us is full of passion and tempestuous emotion and anger and love and desperation. It may look like something you’ve seen before, but you haven’t, and I’ll have a full review of it up on Friday!
We also have an exclusive look at the film’s alternate poster.
For more, check out Two of Us’ official website.
Rosamund Pike Is a Sociopathic Lesbian F*cking Lioness in The “I Care A Lot” Trailer
Rosamund Pike is back up to her strutting and deep-voiced cooing and general sociopathy in the trailer for Netflix’s I Care A Lot — but this time Gone Girl is gay, girl. (Is that the worst lede I have ever written? Maybe, but I’m leaving it because it made me laugh.) J Blakeson’s dark comedy thriller, which premiered to rave reviews at the Toronto International Film Festival last year, stars Pike as Marla Grayson, a con artist who scams wealthy elderly people out of their life savings. Her partner in crime and also her partner-partner is Eiza González’s Fran. She seems unstoppable until she overplays her hand and ends up grifting a woman with crime boss pals.
When I asked Kayla if she’d review this, she responded “yes!” in less than a nanosecond. It drops on February 19th.
Netflix’s Official “The Prom” Trailer Is All Glitter and Gay
The time for Prom is approaching faster than actual Prom does your senior year of high school and we know this because the full trailer is finally here!
I’ve been feeling so conflicted about this because the Broadway show was SO so great and my feelings were a little hurt when Caitlin Kinnunen and Isabelle McCalla weren’t tapped to reprise their roles in the film version of their musical, and frankly I didn’t know if I could trust Ryan Murphy to not shift the focus to the adult characters instead of the teen lesbians, but I adore Ariana DeBose, and Jo Ellen Pellmen sparkles in this preview, and honestly if the balance in the movie is similar to the balance in the trailer, I think this is going to be a great movie. A glittery, glamorous, gay time full of fun and feelings. Plus with stars like Kerry Washington, Nicole Kidman, and Meryl Streep…it can’t be anything less than dazzling right?
I won’t lie, I went into this trailer with low expectations, but by the time Keegan-Michael Key said, “Okay, I admit, that got to me” I was feeling the exact same way. I got fully swept up in it and finally, finally allowed myself to get genuinely excited about this movie.
Kristen Stewart’s “Happiest Season” Trailer Makes the Yuletide Gayer Than Ever
The trailer for Clea DuVall’s lesbian Christmas rom-com, Happiest Season, starring Kristen Stewart and Mackenzie Davis, just dropped and wow wow wow the yuletide has never been so gay.
In case you haven’t caught the Happiest Season hype yet, here’s the official synopsis: Meeting your girlfriend’s family for the first time can be tough. Planning to propose at her family’s annual Christmas dinner — until you realize that they don’t even know she’s gay — is even harder. When Abby (Kristen Stewart) learns that Harper (Mackenzie Davis) has kept their relationship a secret from her family, she begins to question the girlfriend she thought she knew. Happiest Season is a holiday romantic comedy that hilariously captures the range of emotions tied to wanting your family’s acceptance, being true to yourself, and trying not to ruin Christmas.
I think I can tell you this at this point without getting in trouble — we’ll see! — that I visited the set of Happiest Season in Pittsburgh in February. It was the last thing I did before COVID lockdown, actually. I met everyone making the film, except Dan Levy, and I’m so excited to tell you about it later this week!
Happiest Season lands on Hulu on November 25th.
Viola Davis Is Iconically Queer Again in “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”!
When we are talking movies, there is nothing that I am more excited about this year than Netflix’s adaptation of August Wilson’s Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. And sure, there have been times when writing for this queer website, I’ve been prone to hyperbole in the in name of… well… hype.
But NO — this is not one of those times.
I am a black queer woman and bonafide history nerd, the kind of person for whom the only thing she loves more than books is theatre. So the countdown clock to Ma Rainey falls directly at the intersection of all my Venn diagram circles. Please let me fully break this down for you:
1) August Wilson is arguably (and for me — there actually is no argument) the most significant Black playwright to have ever lived. His series of ten plays, collectively called “The Century Cycle,” chronicle the lived experiences of Black American communities across the 20th century. Those plays in the include: Fences (for which Viola Davis won a Tony Award for her performance as Rose Lee Maxson in the 2010 Broadway revival and then won her Oscar for the same role seven years later when the play was adapted to film), The Piano Lesson (both Fences and The Piano Lesson won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama), and yes — Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,.
2) In Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, a film adaption of Wilson’s play, Viola Davis will play Black queer blues foremother and absolute legend Ma Rainey. Remember when Mo’Nique played Ma Rainey in Dee Rees’ 2015 Bessie (one of my already documented top ten lesbian movies!!)!?! Well, now we’re switching one Oscar winner for another! A Black queer historical icon so great that not one, but two Oscar Winners Will Have Played HER??? Send me directly to my fainting couch.
3) In the play Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, you sure can bet that Ma Rainey is queer!! The central plot surrounds, in part, her band’s trumpeter Levee (seen here as Chadwick Boseman) catching feelings towards Ma’s girlfriend while the band is cooped up in a recording studio and Ma is dealing with her racist white manager.
4) The film is coming to us from a venerable treasure trove of Black talent! Obviously we have none other than Viola Davis. This was also the last film production that Chadwick Boseman worked on before his heartbreaking and untimely passing last summer. Glynn Turman, someone who’s built quite a reputation of late playing fatherly figures in Black queer productions (Queen Sugar, How to Get Away with Murder), is one of my favorite actors in his age bracket. And if you spend enough time around Black Broadway circles then you know that Ruben Santiago-Hudson (who adapted Wilson’s script for the screen) and George C. Wolfe (the film’s director) both have reputations that enter the room far before they do. They’ve each left indelible marks on the genre; now they get to play in perhaps the greatest sandbox.
5) DID. I. ALREADY. MENTION. THAT. VIOLA. DAVIS. — Fresh off six years as Annalise Keating, the most important Black queer woman character on television — IS. BACK. AND. ONCE. AGAIN. PLAYING. GAY!!!
Ok wonderful, we are all caught up here. Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom hits Netflix on December 18th. And I, for one, cannot wait.
“Ammonite” Trailer: Kate Winslet and Saoirse Ronan in “Portrait of a Lady on Fire” Meets “Gentleman Jack”
If you woke up this morning thinking to yourself, “Dang, I sure would like to see Gentleman Jack meets Portrait of a Lady on Fire, starring Kate Winslet and Saoirse Ronan, with a side of dinosaurs” — well, friend, you are in luck! The trailer for Ammonite, Francis Lee’s Mary Anning biopic, dropped this morning and it has all the hallmarks of a lesbian classic: an independent spinster who’s competent at her job and wants to be left alone, a melancholic young bride who hates her husband’s guts, the ocean, homosexually charged violins, erotic piano, longing looks, and forbidden touches.
Also I’m not sure if these fossils are dinosaurs; I just keep saying that because I like to Photoshop Kate Winslet into images with dinosaurs and no one has stopped me yet.
Supposedly we will be able to see this movie on November 13th! I for one cannot wait! 🦕
Pop Culture Fix: Ali Liebert Is Making the Hallmark-y Lesbian Christmas Movie of Your Sugar Plum Dreams
Welcome, welcome to another Pop Culture Fix!
+ “Jane [played by Bomb Girls‘ Ali Liebert] is a farmer in rural Michigan and a single lesbian mom, about to be the ‘best woman’ for her ex-husband who is planning a Christmas wedding to his new bride. They remain best friends. A woman called Sue is his wedding planner, but he doesn’t have much time to plan anything, so leaves the wedding cake tasting and everything else to Jane. And when Jane and Sue’s eyes meet, the real romance begins… Yes, there is snow, and there are copious Christmas lights, scarves, and gloves. And a super-happy, super-gay ending.” Sold? Let’s hope Netflix is too!
+ This is honestly the most exciting movie news I have seen in a very long time: Gina Prince-Bythewood will direct Viola Davis in Woman King: “The film is a historical epic inspired by true events that took place in The Kingdom of Dahomey, one of the most powerful states of Africa in the 18th and 19th centuries. The story follows Nanisca (Davis), general of the all-female military unit, and her daughter Nawi, who together fought the French and neighboring tribes who violated their honor, enslaved their people and threatened to destroy everything they’ve lived for.” (Last we heard, Lupita Nyong’o will play Viola’s daughter.)
+ Speaking of Viola Davis.
Viola Davis for V.F. July/August 2020. Photographs by Dario Calmese. The cover marks the first V.F. cover shot by a Black photographer. https://t.co/izJBKTFrt7 pic.twitter.com/SeUdZkQwoO
— VANITY FAIR (@VanityFair) July 14, 2020
+ Glee‘s cast remembers Naya Rivera. Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk, and Ian Brennan also released a statement about her death, saying her greatest Glee legacy was the humor and humanity she brought to Brittana.
+ The best and worst of The Chicks, according to Natalie, Martie, and Emily.
+ She-Ra showrunner Noelle Stevenson came out as non-binary on International Non-Binary People’s Day!
a comic about searching, and the space between pic.twitter.com/D6IYzcXYOD
— ND Stevenson (@Gingerhazing) July 3, 2020
+ HBO Max is developing a film adaptation of Camille Perr’s When Katie Met Cassidy.
+ Velma was a lesbian (but not confirmed on-screen) in Scooby Doo: Mystery Incorporated. Enough of that! Make it visibly gay!
“The Half Of It” Trailer: Alice Wu is Back With the Lesbian Teen Romcom of Your Dreams
Alice Wu’s Saving Face is one of the best lesbian romcoms of all time. Sorry, excuse me – Alice Wu’s Saving Face is one of the best movies of all time PERIOD.
It’s hard to explain why Saving Face is so special, which is why I usually just insist that people watch it. The last week alone I’ve convinced two people to watch it and both of them responded with something like: HOW HAD I NOT HEARD OF THIS MOVIE BEFORE??
One reason Saving Face is special is for many years it was Alice Wu’s only film. But now – almost 16 years after it first premiered at TIFF – that’s about to change. Alice Wu’s The Half Of It is coming to Netflix on May 1st.
AND OH MY GOD I AM SO EXCITED.
The trailer dropped today and you really must watch it. Leah Lewis stars as Ellie Chu, a shy, introverted, Chinese-American, straight-A student who accidentally falls for the girl she’s helping a school jock woo. Yes, this is a coming-of-age lesbian teen romcom, and, yes, I did cry tears of joy in the first minute of the trailer.
When Wu was trying to make Saving Face, studios tried to convince her to make it straight and white. Then just white. Then just a little white. Wu refused and refused and refused maintaining the integrity and specificity of her script. Maybe that’s why it’s taken so long for Wu to make another movie. She’s willing to wait to make movies the way she wants to make them with the types of characters she wants to see on-screen.
And now here we are just a few weeks away from a new Alice Wu movie!! I’m obviously very excited and, hey, I think you should be too. Watch the trailer below!
The Half Of It arrives on Netflix on May 1st.
“Misdirection”: Carly Usdin’s Magical Queer Short Film Is Free to Stream Right Now!
I had the great good fortune of watching Carly Usdin’s short film, Misdirection, first by myself and second in a room full of queer folks at a screening at A-Camp. The first time, I laughed and had such a sweet little cry. The second time, I guffawed watching everyone react with such familiarity to the main character’s romantic plight. Yes, go for it! No… don’t! Don—I mean, maybe? No! But … yes?
Misdirection, which Carly wrote and directed as part of AFI’s Directing Workshop for Women in 2019, follows Camilla (Vico Ortiz), a college freshman recently diagnosed with OCD and in unrequited love with her roommate, as she discovers close-up magic and then loses and finds herself inside it. The film has been touring on the LGBTQ festival circuit, claiming trophies at qFlix Philadelphia, FilmOut San Diego, SENE Film, the Los Angeles Diversity Film Festival, the Hamburg Queer International Film Festival, and the Buenos Aires Film Festival. You should watch it, is what I am saying. It will make you laugh and swoon, I promise. (There’s a surprise therapist I won’t spoil for you, but you’ll love that too.)
Stay in touch with Carly on their Twitter and Instagram for more information on their upcoming projects!
The Final “Birds of Prey” Trailer: Lesbians, Bisexuals, Misandry, Oh My!
The final trailer for Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) landed today and it is everything I hoped for, including (finally!) some good footage of Rosie Perez as Gotham PD Detective Renee Montoya. The swagger, the sunglasses, the casual disregard for any man trying to tell her what to do! It also potentially maybe hopefully indicates that The Joker is dead??? Goddess bless! Renee Montoya is, of course, one of the most famous lesbian characters in DC comics and Harley Quinn is canonically bisexual — both of those things better come up in this movie. For now, enjoy this brilliant introduction to the Birds of Prey set to Björk’s “It’s Oh So Quiet.”
Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) hits theaters Wednesday, January 29th.
Netflix Promises at Least 4 Lesbian and Bisexual Movies This Year
One of the biggest shifts in gay lady movies last year — and let’s be honest: there are still so few gay lady movies that even subtle shifts seem seismic — was that a third of the widely available films were Netflix originals. (By widely available, I mean: not confined to the LGBTQ film festival circuit.) This is actually indicative of a broader trend going on in Hollywood. It started in 2016, when Netflix and Amazon showed up at the Sundance Film Festival with bottomless pockets and big dreams, stepping over major studios that have been reluctant to sign on to distribute any film that won’t be a sure thing at the box office. Streaming services can take more chances with indie films because they don’t have to worry about selling an expensive trip to the theater or appealing to everyone. “The key for both platforms,” Wired wrote at the time, “is making sure they offer enough of everything to attract anyone.” And hey guess what, that includes gay people.
Last year, Netflix distributed Amy Poehler’s buddy comedy, Wine Country, which starred IRL lesbian Paula Pell as a middle-aged lesbian recovering from a knee replacement and falling in love with a young artist; Someone Great, a girl power rom-com starring DeWanda Wise as the queer BFF of Brittney Snow and Gina Rodriguez; and Let It Snow, a legitimately delightful Christmas movie that includes a queer love story starring real life queer humans Liv Hewson and Anna Akana.
Netflix tweeted a thread of some of their upcoming movies for 2020 and it looks like the gay ol’ trend will continue this year! The most exciting thing, to me, is news about Saving Face writer/director Alice Wu’s new film, The Half Of It: “Shy, straight-A student Ellie is hired by sweet but inarticulate jock Paul who needs help wooing the most popular girl in school. But their new & unlikely friendship gets tricky when Ellie discovers she has feelings for the same girl.”
We’ve also got Director Ben Wheatley’s adaptation of Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca; Ryan Murphy’s adaptation of lesbian Broadway musical,The Prom; and a Dee Rees adaptation of Joan Didion’s The Last Thing He Wanted, which isn’t queer but Rees sure is and she deserves some dang awards season love for all the work she’s done elevating Netflix’s film canon.
Here’s the full thread! Did I miss anything?
Another year of movies is ahead of us! We’ve mentioned a lot of these films already, but here’s a handy list of all the films coming to Netflix this year…so far. (thread)
— Netflix Tudum (@NetflixTudum) January 3, 2020
Kristen Stewart Kicks Ass, Looks Gay as Hell in the First “Charlie’s Angels” Trailer
The trailer for the new Charlie’s Angels just landed and I’m more convinced than ever that Kristen Stewart is going to be gay as all hell in it. First of all, why are you dropping it the very day World Pride starts, on the 50th anniversary of Stonewall, if that’s not true? Second of all, her hair. Third of all, her swagger. Fourth of all, the way she says to another woman, “How did that feel, because it looks like it felt really good.” Fifth of all, the trailer kicks right off with Janelle Monae’s “Make Me Feel,” the gayest song ever recorded. Sixth of all, half of all gay women over the age of 30 are gay because of Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle, so the only place to go from there is maintext. Seventh of all, it’s 2019 and it’d be bananas to have three women on-screen together without one of them being queer. Eighth of all, I want what I want.I REST MY CASE.
See you in the theater in November, ya queers.
“Booksmart” Preview: Watch the First 6 Minutes of Olivia Wilde’s Queer High School Buddy Comedy Right Now
Olivia Wilde’s teen buddy comedy, Booksmart, a film about two feminist friends named Molly (Beanie Feldstein) and Amy (Kaitlyn Dever), one of whom is queer, trying to live it up before they graduate high school — because it turns out they spent so much time studying, they forgot to be teenagers — opens in sneak peek form around the country tonight, before landing in wide release next week. The reviews are starting to trickle in, and they’re almost all positive! And don’t worry, we’ve got a review coming at you ASAP. For now, though, what we’ve got is the first six minutes of the movie, uncut, for your viewing pleasure!
Are you excited? Cautionary optimist? Do you think this will make Janis Ian retroactively come out?
Netflix’s “Wine Country” Exclusive Clip: Paula Pell’s Lesbian Val Falls For a Younger Woman
Tomorrow, Amy Poehler’s punch-drunk gal pal comedy, Wine Country, lands on Netflix. The cast includes a whole host of SNL acting and writing alums, including Paula Pell, who plays a middle-age lesbian vintage shop owner named Val who just had knee-replacement surgery, is ready to fall in love again, and catches feelings for a server when she and her friends descend upon Napa Valley for a 50th birthday weekend.
And, hey, we have an exclusive clip of Val just for you!
You can read my review first thing Friday morning!
“Saving Face” Director Alice Wu Is Bringing a Lesbian Teen Rom-Com to Netflix
It was just this morning that we here at Autostraddle were talking about Netflix’s latest entry into its quickly growing POC-led rom-com canon, Someone Great, which features a black lesbian BFF in the laugh out loud comedy. Two summers ago, Netflix added a lesbian BFF to yet another POC-led rom-com, this time The Incredible Jessica James. We wondered, when was Netflix going to finally move all these lesbians from the requisite “best friend role” and let them be the leading lady ready to woo other ladies that we all deserve?
Well, praise the queer heavens, ask and you shall receive! This very afternoon Netflix has announced the production of its newest teen comedy Half Of It, a modern take on Cyrano de Bergerac where a hapless high school jock hires the nerdy girl in school to write love letters to the girl they both secretly love.
If you remember your own high school or college English classes and are already familiar with Cyrano de Bergerac, then you know how this tale ends – in the original, the object of their affection falls for the letter writer instead. Which means we have a real teenage lesbian love story on our hands!
BUT WAIT FOR IT BECAUSE THERE IS MORE!
The two lead girls in question? Both are going to be played by women of color! Leah Lewis will play Chinese American Ellie Chu and Alexxis Lemire will play her potential love interest, Aster Flores.
So, now we have two girls of color falling for each other on the big (errr, streaming) screen.
BUT WAIT AGAIN BECAUSE WE’RE NOT DONE YET!
The director of this film? None other than Alice Wu. Why do you feel like you’ve heard that name before? Because she’s the director of the iconic lesbian film Saving Face, a 2004 romantic comedy about two Asian American 20somethings falling in and out of love in New York that’s already burned out the DVDs and streaming queue of every young gay pop culture nerd who’s looked to find herself on screen.
That means we are looking at: A LESBIAN TEEN LOVE STORY COMING TO NETFLIX STARRING TWO WOMEN OF COLOR AND DIRECTED BY AN ICONIC LESBIAN OF COLOR DIRECTOR!
I have nothing left to say. I can only speak in skull emojis. Because I am so overwhelmed with joy at this news that I am surely no longer speaking to you from this earthly plane.
Watch out 2019 – lesbian, bisexual, and queer women are coming for you! We’re coming for your feature films, your television series, and yes your Saturday afternoon “watch in my PJs with a homemade mimosa in a coffee mug” Netflix original movies. We are taking no prisoners.
Rejoice, Rejoice! Kristen Stewart Will Star in the Lesbian Christmas Rom-Com of Your Wildest Holigay Dreams!
But baby it’s cold outside.
This evening I was snug in my bed like so many Christmas poems, snoozing away under the influence of the sedative my doctor gave me for the small outpatient procedure I had earlier in the day, when lo! An angel of the Lord appeared! And her name was Natalie and she said unto me, “Fear not! For, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. Kristen Stewart will star in Clea DuVall’s lesbian Christmas rom-com.” I startled awake, thinking it was just a holy dream, but upon checking Autostraddle Slack I saw the real-live link that Natalie had pasted right there the TV Team channel.
According to The Hollywood Reporter:
Kristen Stewart is in talks to star in Temple Hill Entertainment and TriStar Pictures’ Happiest Season, a same-sex romantic comedy from director Clea DuVall and writing partner Mary Holland, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed. Happiest Season portrays a young woman whose plan to propose to her girlfriend while at her family’s annual holiday party is upended when she discovers her partner hasn’t yet come out to her conservative parents.
There are no real details on Happiest Season yet. Variety reported that TriStar had acquired the rights to it back in April when DuVall told them: “Mary [Holland] and I are beyond thrilled… Happiest Season is extremely important to us, and we could not ask for a better team to collaborate with to bring it to the screen.” And Holland said, “Teaming up with Clea to write Happiest Season has been a highlight of my life!”
THIS IS REAL. THIS IS A REAL THING. A REAL LESBIAN CHRISTMAS THING! Oh, how we have suffered endlessly in these cold winter months as Hallmark tells story after story of successful women who reluctantly return home for Christmas and bump into some Will Schuester prick of a lumberjack who convinces them a woman’s ambition is the the enemy of Christmas magic. Well, ho ho ho! Not anymore!
So sip your secular Starbucks peppermint latte, jingle your bells, and make room beside Carol on your DVD shelf: KStew Claus is comin’ to town!
VIDEO: Lesbionic “Lizzie” Trailer Drops, Features Kristen Stewart and Chloë Sevigny Loving Each Other and Patricide
“Lizzie is brutal, historically attuned, and committed to exploring effeminate trauma and retaliation,” wrote Sarah Fonseca in her review of Craig William Macneill’s reimagining of the infamous 1892 Lizzie Borden murders, in which Lizzie was accused of axe murdering her own family.
“Macneill… refrains from watering Lizzie into a mischievous bombshell,” Fonseca continued. “Grappling with health issues, reading books aloud to her pets, and living under her father’s thumb, she’s anything but cool. Perhaps this is what makes this movie so alluring: there’s a little of Lizzie in all of us.”
Today, Roadside Attractions dropped the first trailer for Lizzie, which stars Chloë Sevigny as Lizzie Borden and Kristen Stewart as Bridget Sullivan, the maid who Lizzie may or may not have, in real life, had a thing with. Luckily this isn’t real life, it’s a movie, and they definitely have a thing:
This looks way better than the truly unfortunate Lifetime mini-series Lizzie Borden Took An Axe.
Anyway, Happy Friday!
Good for Cate Blanchett and Sarah Paulson Getting Hammered Before Their Today Show Appearance
Blessed be the fruit, a holy day is upon us! Finally, after what seems like years of gay anticipation, Ocean’s 8 has crashed onto U.S. shores. I guess, technically, that means it’s only a holy day in the United States, but for those of you who have to wait a few more days, weeks, or months (sorry Japan!), allow me to offer up this bit of condolence: at least you’re not in the United States! Please help us!
Perhaps it’s felt like years and not months of anticipation because of the marketing for Ocean’s 8, which has felt borderline threatening. Based on the quantity and composition of the Ocean’s 8 billboards on every corner in L.A., it’s as if this movie is signaling the End Times and these eight women are the horsemen. Even we’ve (read: me and Kayla) gotten in on the fury, writing about this movie a full six months before its release date based on a single trailer and some production photos.
We’ve been passive recipients, so imagine what it’s been like for the film’s cast. Nonstop promotion for a cherished franchise and film on which the future of women-centered media sort of hinges for half a year cannot be easy on one’s soul. Not to mention the kind of promotion. I saw an Ocean’s 8 Instagram ad where the stars had to pretend to text each other about the movie’s release date and had their likenesses juxtaposed with text bubbles filled with emojis and internet lingo. How gauche! Cate Blanchett next to cry-laugh emojis? Calling Rihanna “Ri”? Right in front of my salad? In the immortal words of Valerie Cherish, I don’t wanna see that!
Surely neither did Cate Blanchett. Or Sarah Paulson. It’s why regarding their unhinged interview promoting Ocean’s 8 on the Today Show I’m saying: good for y’all!
It’s six minutes of what Carly Usdin, Autostraddle alum and esteemed writer/director, called “gay chaos,” and folks, I’ve gotta agree. It’s a frantic, frantic take on the early morning press junket interview, and I salut not just them, but the chyron writer for “A Quarter of ‘Eight,’” something l’m still thinking about two days later.
Nothing I describe about the video above will compare to it unfolding in front of your eyes and ears, so like Sarah Paulson at one point in the interview, I’m encouraging you into action by gently caressing your butt forward. Sit back, do the opposite of relax, and enjoy.
https://giphy.com/gifs/14O9QPAghwYmYTQgY0