Editorials
The Menu, Glass Onion, and the Limits of the Eat-the-Rich Satire
Over these past few years, the phrase “eat the rich” has been accumulating quite a bit of popularity in our cultural lexicon. Originally an anticapitalist slogan coined by political philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau, “eat the rich” has become more applicable than ever, used by the masses as a response to a growing dissatisfaction toward billionaires and other beneficiaries of the 1%. It’s also been thematized heavily in contemporary pop culture, gaining traction starting in 2019 with the advent of films like the riveting Best Picture winner Parasite, the cat-and-mouse thriller Ready or Not, the star-studded whodunnit Knives Out, and the stripper crime comedy Hustlers. Each of these stories attempted to critique the systems and ideologies that drive and preserve the ever-widening wealth gap...
Why Alien: Resurrection Is the Worst Alien Film — and Also the Most Fascinating
Twenty-five years ago, 20th Century Fox released the fourth Alien film, and with it brought its once-lucrative franchise to a screeching halt. Yet, despite the fact that Alien Resurrection is maybe the worst of the four original Alien films, it’s probably the one I’ve seen the most times. I keep coming back to it, over and over, as a fascinating mismatch between writer and director that, on paper, should have been legitimately amazing. I keep wanting to understand it. Every time, I fail. But I still come away fascinated by the sheer fact of its existence. Resurrection features the fourth (and to date final) appearance of Sigourney Weaver as Ellen Ripley, who we originally met as a humble space trucker in the first Alien, before she became one of the galaxy’s sole living experts on the terr...
Why We’re So Obsessed With A Christmas Story 28 Years Later
Suppose you’re a red-blooded American growing up anywhere near a television for the last thirty years. In that case, chances are A Christmas Story is at least a tangential part of your holiday memories. Regardless of your thoughts on the film itself — I think it’s perfectly fine, if exceedingly overplayed — there’s no mistake that it’s wormed its way into the American lexicon by sheer dint of its omnipresence on TV screens during the holidays. But how did such a small, independent holiday film — one with a decidedly jaundiced (and BB-pelted) eye towards the nostalgia of the 1940s — turn from a theatrical shrug into an unlikely American treasure? Let alone one that would spawn multiple sequels, with the latest, A Christmas Story Christmas, coming to VOD and HBO Max on November 17th. Let’s t...
I’m a Former Video Store Clerk and I Think Netflix’s Blockbuster Deserves to Go Bankrupt
It’s not a good sign that Blockbuster, a workplace sitcom set inside a literal metaphor for late-stage capitalism, feels the need to call out the problem with its premise seven minutes into the pilot episode. “Isn’t it ironic that the small business taking a stand against the big corporation in this scenario is actually a franchise of a once-huge corporation, named after the exact type of big corporate movies that killed off smaller movies?” Blockbuster employee Eliza (Melissa Fumero) says, as her boss Tim (Randall Park) tries to rally his underdog staff. I’m admittedly coming to the show with a bias, as a former video store clerk who spent about two and a half years behind the counter of independent stores — stores that always struggled to compete with the Walmart of the industry. But des...
Fan Chant: Can’t Talk, Busy Running Through a Garden in a Ballgown to This New Vitamin String Quartet BTS Album
Welcome to Fan Chant, a weekly column for K-pop fans, stans, and newbies alike. Each week, I’ll be rolling out interviews, lists, and all kinds of content to keep you in the loop on the latest and greatest from our friends in Seoul and beyond. Also, make sure to subscribe to my companion newsletter! As anyone who has even glanced at this column (or most of my writing) before can confirm, I absolutely love to love things. To that same end, I also adore people who love pop culture, film, fandom, and niche interests with all their heart. I’m obsessed with being part of the discussion around a cultural phenomenon, even if the product itself isn’t necessarily something I’m passionate about — I used to read Game of Thrones recaps regularly even though the show wasn’t my vibe, finding myself stan...
Fan Chant: Last Chance to Get Your Spotify Wrapped Under Control
Welcome to Fan Chant, a weekly column for K-pop fans, stans, and newbies alike. Each week, I’ll be rolling out interviews, lists, and all kinds of content to keep you in the loop on the latest and greatest from our friends in Seoul and beyond. Also, make sure to subscribe to my companion newsletter! Friends, believe it or not, we have almost reached the time of year when Spotify’s data collection period ends and the streaming service begins assembling the beloved Spotify Wrapped. It might feel super early, but the official deadline is the end of this month, October 31st. The company then spends November preparing the yearly breakdown to roll out at the start of December, which, more often than not, sends me into a yearly breakdown of my own. The thing is, when I love something, I love it e...
good kid, m.A.A.d city at 10: How Kendrick Lamar’s “Swimming Pools” Helped Me Get Over My Own Toxic Relationship
Great albums are about more than the music. When they really hit, just mentioning their names evokes memories and elicits “Remember when…” conversations. good kid, m.A.A.d city — released on October 22nd, 2012 — is one of those albums, which is why its 10-year anniversary is a very big deal. Kendrick Lamar became a household name on the strength of everything he did on this album, while possibly becoming the voice of a generation at the same time. He got into our bloodstreams through touching topics that meant a lot to him, while hoping we related. I related in a way I never predicted and 10 years later, I understand how important just one song was because it truly changed my world in a way no piece of music ever has nor probably ever will. Addiction sucks. I’m pretty sure I’m not blowing ...
Clerks III Is an Invitation Inside Kevin Smith’s Heart
Kevin Smith’s best films have always been his smallest and most personal works; as a filmmaker, his legacy is a fascinating one, as his attempts at more mainstream Hollywood flicks have never been as creatively successful as the films he increasingly makes specifically for his loyal fanbase. This comes out specifically in the Clerks series, which Smith seems to use as a way of processing big turning points in his life: The original Clerks, of course, was all about the malaise of being in your 20s and not being sure about what to do with your life (its success solving that latter problem for Smith, at least initially). Clerks II, arriving during the middle portion of Smith’s career, focuses a lot on what it means to settle down, get married, start a family, and embrace what you love doing, ...
Fan Chant: A Stray Kids MAXIDENT Breakdown and Beyond
Welcome to Fan Chant, a weekly column for K-pop fans, stans, and newbies alike. Each week, I’ll be rolling out interviews, lists, and all kinds of content to keep you in the loop on the latest and greatest from our friends in Seoul and beyond. Also, make sure to subscribe to my companion newsletter! It’s been a busy past week for STAY, as Stray Kids dropped their latest mini-album, MAXIDENT, and plenty of content has been rolling out around the eight-piece act. This, of course, includes our own interview with the group — in case you missed it, I sat down with Stray Kids recently to chat about the album, their ongoing world tour, and how they’ve been filling their time lately. You can find the full interview here! This is the second time I’ve had the joy of speaking with Stray Kids (wa...
A Love Letter to Derry Girls, the Show That Reminds Us Why Life’s Worth Living
Deep in the endless scroll of Netflix’s catalog, there exists a tiny little show called Derry Girls. It felt like something of an outlier when I discovered it in the fall of 2019 — just two seasons of six, twenty-minute episodes each — but I pressed play out of sheer curiosity. You know, the kind of curiosity that hits you when you’ve run out of anything to watch and decide on a whim to start something entirely new and entirely original. Set in the town of Londonderry, Northern Ireland, Derry Girls debuted in 2018 and tells the story of a group of teenagers coming of age in the 1990s. And yet it almost feels disrespectful to parse this lovely, little show down to a simple logline. Because at its heart, it’s so much more than that. I fell in love with the world of Derry Girls almost instant...
Fan Chant: The Perfect Fall Playlist, A Teaser for Minho of SHINee’s New K-Drama, and More
Welcome to Fan Chant, a weekly column for K-pop fans, stans, and newbies alike. Each week, I’ll be rolling out interviews, lists, and all kinds of content to keep you in the loop on the latest and greatest from our friends in Seoul and beyond. Also, make sure to subscribe to my companion newsletter! Friends, autumn is officially upon us. I know it’s been appropriately gloomy in NYC and dreamy as ever in Los Angeles, but here in Nashville (America’s former “It” city, if you will), I’m happy to say that we do get a truly lovely fall season. I have so many K-pop songs I tend to associate with summer — TWICE’s “Alcohol-Free” and ATEEZ’s “Wave,” for example — but it’s time for a shakeup on the local Spotify. Taylor Swift’s folklore and evermore are honestly the heaviest in my personal rotation ...
2022’s Biggest Fantasy Shows Are Struggling With Sex and Romance
[Editor’s note: The following contains spoilers for House of the Dragon, Season 1 Episode 7, “Driftmark,” and The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, Season 1 Episode 6, “Udûn.”] This week, the newest episode of House of the Dragon picked up some backlash this week, after viewers of the Game of Thrones prequel series complained that a few key scenes were so darkly lit, with so little contrast, that they were nearly impossible to watch on many screens. Speaking for myself, I initially did struggle to watch that scene, but the low lighting was perhaps a blessing. Because otherwise, my throat might have gone hoarse yelling “That’s your uncle!” at the television. Advertisement Right now, we technically have an embarrassment of riches to enjoy when it comes to fantasy television, with Dragon...
