Why isn’t Lana Condor in more movies?!
Dedicated To All the Lara Jeans I’ve Simped Over Before
‘Tis been a chaotic week in pop culture! This isn’t even a fraction of it, really. Honestly, it was all a bit too overwhelming for our shared brain.
This week, Hannah discusses the power of movie trailers and her feelings about the Cruella and “Kevin Can F Himself” trailers and Daysia talks To All the Boys: Always and Forever and social media posts that have haunted her over the past few days.
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Days and Hannah
This Week’s Fixations
What’s taking up our brain space this week?
Hannah: This week I’m thinking about the power of a trailer and how for me they can sometimes make or break my opinion of a movie. There is nothing like going to the cinema and watching four good trailers in a row—sometimes I end up wishing I was watching what is coming soon instead of the actual movie I paid to see. Obviously, now more than ever the experience for watching trailers is different. Now I’m usually watching a tiny version on Twitter, sound optional. There are certain trailers that just hit different in a theater: when I saw the trailer for the upcoming Batman I got legitimately hyped to see it in 20-whenever (and I’m famously not a DC fan). Watching the trailer for Promising Young Woman was a similar experience for me (even though I ended up having mixed feelings about the film once I watched it). It was also one that I would frequently pull up and force my friends to watch, if only to make them listen to the instrumental version of “Toxic.”
The trailer that was taking over my Twitter timeline this week was for Cruella, Disney’s origin story for Cruella de Vil, the villain from 101 Dalmatians. I don’t necessarily think this is a film that is needed—or wanted—but I’m intrigued mostly because of the excellent outerwear and Emma Stone’s extreme accent. However, the overall vibe of the trailer is giving me Harley Quinn vibes, which makes me a little hesitant and a lot confused. It’s more in the choices they made with the music, the treatment of the “Hello cruel world” tagline, and how some of the shots are cut together. I’m hoping this is one of those cases where the trailer is one way but the actual film is more straightforward. Guess I’ll just have to wait until May Zozi—sorry May 2021— to find out…
Speaking of similar trailers the trailer for AMC’s “Kevin Can F Himself” is giving me (and a whole bunch of YouTube commenters) “WandaVision” vibes. It’s definitely going to join the canon of “white women processing their trauma in unhealthy ways.” I am really excited to see a different side of the incredibly talented Annie Murphy and continue to secure the bag as the lead of a new TV show.
Daysia: For starters, Dionne Warwick took me out with this one:
Second, I could write many love letters to Jenny Han for gifting us the To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before series. While the last film was my least favorite—it had a few clunky conflicts that didn’t feel true to the protagonists’ personalities—I thought it delivered a sweet, tender ending to a love story that really stole my heart over the past few years (I’ve cried during every movie because I love love). Lana Condor and Noah Centineo still have the electric chemistry that drew us in during the first movie, and I am sad to see this chapter end. But what I hope this trilogy leads to is more romcom roles for the captivating and charming Condor. People on Twitter have been talking about this all week, but it’s incredibly disappointing (and predictable) that she hasn’t been offered more work in Hollywood after her performances in the TATB movies. They’ve already given Centineo several major parts in upcoming big budget movies, despite the fact that his filmography post-TATB1 is full of flops.
Anyways, this tweet has been living in my head all week. I’ve been waiting for the romcomissance to begin in earnest after TATB and the subsequent wave of B-tier romcoms were released on Netflix. When it does, I hope that execs knock on Condor’s door first because she has an unmatched ability of communicating love and affection on screen.
Lastly, I saw this monstrosity of a Valentine’s Day post, so now you have to:
Has Lorde dropped a new album?
All is quiet on the Ella Yelich-O’Connor front.
In the meantime, Lara Jean Covey and Peter Kavinsky’s song, “Beginning Middle End” is the perfect soundtrack for your imaginary (or real life) romance. Or, listen to the new HAIM remixes, starting with “Gasoline” featuring Miss Taylor Swift!
Too Many Tabs
Our fav reads of the week
The Framing Britney Spears documentary has sparked a lot of discussions, especially around conservatorships and why Spears is one at all. In Bitch, s.e. smith outlines how the documentary makes a case to #FreeBritney and reevaluate the entire conservatorship system.
As the publishing world became an increasingly difficult industry to make a living in, authors like Charles Yu, Sheri Holman and Walter Mosley translated their skills from book to small screen, Meredith Maran reports for the Los Angeles Times.
“A series whose long-term mission has been making ordinary people into celebrities now seeks to convert a celebrity into an ordinary person, and to borrow some of her ability to spark conversation along the way.” The series is “American Idol” and the celebrity is Claudia Conway and Daniel D’Addario in Variety explains how and why this approach is shady.
For PAPER, Evan Ross Katz discusses how the Notes App apology format demonstrates the intentions of a celebrity’s apology.
If you’re not already familiar with writer-director Chloė Zhao, director of Oscar favorite Nomadland and the upcoming Marvel movie Eternals, then you will be after this year. Alison Wilmore profiles the Chinese filmmaker who is “the most-sought-after director in Hollywood.”
Plus… this wild ride of a headline about Paris Hilton (we love a local angle), Demi Lovato’s documentary trailer reveals the effects of her 2018 overdose, an interview with Morgan Freeman’s voice double, and the gradual—but necessary—evolution of how autistic adults are portrayed on TV.