ChristianButterfield

patty hearst as neely o’hara… possibly the most enjoyable performance in acting history?!?!? if this movie just cut out every scene with anne wilkes except the half-scene where she develops/overcomes a pill addiction in like 75 seconds max… it’d be a classic!

underrated gem! not geared for kids! randomly wanted to learn about international co-productions of sesame street and i had to HUNT to find this documentary abt making sesame street in bangladesh and kosovo.  i was ready to watch and be like “waah waah waah cultural imperialism” but lwk sesame workshop seems to work very hard to offer a framework/funding to allow hyper-localized versions to thrive! the throughline follows the creation of sesame street in bangladesh and kosovo and i was genuinely gripped by whether or not the bangladeshi government would let sesame street air on the one state-run broadcasting network. sometimes the narrative got a little weirdly paced (mainly bc the kosovo project seemed to unceremoniously flop) but overall i REALLY adored this and i think it should lowkey be more popular. it’s muppets and geopolitics this is basically autism-bait some of my highlights  — all discussions of kami (south africa’s HIV-positive muppet)… curtis sliwa makes a cameo??? — the kosovo production meeting being tense asf between the albanian and serbian team-members. the curriculum is talking abt empathy and the room goes silent and the lead producer later is like “damn it’s like the israel and palestine sesame street all over again” — bangladesh creates a segment with their own style of puppet (based!) and the puppeteer takes forever to make the puppets which delayed production (camp!) — production on kosovo and bangladesh halting due to political violence and general strikes… whoa! — in kosovo, they bring up needing to teach kids how to identify grenades and not pick them up — the excitement and talent of the bangladeshi crew! they all just cared so deeply abt the children of bangladesh unlearning deep class/gender divides and also bangladesh’s artistic identity like whoa!!! — apparently big bird isn’t in most countries bc he’s too american except china was resolutely and immediately like “why can’t we have big bird??? — there’s a whole saga abt trying to court the bangladeshi minister of women and children affairs and on the elevator to the meeting the producer is like “damn that lady is intimidating” — one quick interview with a bangladeshi kid who’s like “the tv is full of sin and makes you blind” and then asked if he watches tv he’s like… “yes” and grins a little grin a very low-budget PBS documentary but i just really loved the subject matter and the heart of it all.

oh what a stunner! jacob elordi is the beating heart of this movie & ngl i think i’m a sucker for del toro’s sappy no-subtext style. at times the first half dragged just a teensy bit + i think i like this movie more bc i haven’t read the actual book (which from what i understand really muddles up the frankenstein-evil, creature-good moral dynamic). mia goth was great. syphilis guy was fine. i have the type of father issues that really made me fw this. from a critical autism studies perspective, it’s VERY fascinating the way the creature is rendered inhuman bc of limited speech (literally told he’s parroting a word), disciplined into speech by viktor versus hand-on-throat taught by elizabeth (feels very ABA vs speech language specialist lol)… then when he does talk, he speaks in this overly elevated register and vocab (relative to his surroundings) that he learned from books! some interesting interplay between the creature’s disabled (???) body and the blind old man and viktor’s prosthetic leg.

ok so here is a LONG list of songs i want producers to consider for the inevitable slate of M3GAN sequels * you make me feel like a natural woman / carole king * man i feel like a woman / shania twain * nobody / mitski * fetch the bolt cutters / fiona apple * run away with me / carly rae jepsen * nothing compares 2 U / sinead o’connor * not a lot, just forever / adrienne lenker * silver springs or landslide / fleetwood mac * believe / cher (ballad) * memory / elaine page * heaven or las vegas / cocteau twins * the trolley song / judy garland  * i am woman / helen reddy * we don’t need another hero / tina turner * you oughta know / alanis morrisette * i am not a robot OR valley of the dolls / marina and the diamonds * what was i made for / billie eilish * hope is a dangerous thing for a woman like me to have but i have it / lana del rey * don’t make me over / dionne warwick * i’m every woman / chaka khan (ballad) * fade into you / mazzy star * they long to be close to you / karen carpenter * make your own kind of music / cass elliot * can’t get you out of my head / kylie minogue (ballad)