Thanksgiving Faves, Upcoming Movies, & the Beauty of "Passing"

What I'm Watching, Reading, & Listening To This Week

Happy almost Thanksgiving Week! Adele has a new album out today and House of Gucci* comes out Wednesday! Meaning if you are a blonde megastar with once-in-a-generation talent adored by gay men worldwide, IT IS YOUR TIME!!!!!!!! [Your move, Streisand!!!]

*[Super excited to watch House of Gucci next week since Lady Gaga’s press tour fashion has my limbic system whipped into an absolute frenzy. Also what better way to celebrate family than watching a rich family do murder?]

Also scheduled for this week: panic-buying French’s Fried Onions and pre-made pie crusts so we can whip up our favorite Thanksgiving dishes. As a kid, claiming your favorite Thanksgiving dish was a sacred tradition. Mine was always the chocolate-chip pecan pie my mom made.

So, dear Reader, I want to know: What is YOUR favorite Thanksgiving dish? Is it one of the classics? A unique family tradition? Any weird ones that don’t make any sense to anyone else? Any you’re making this year?

Drop a comment on the post and let’s hear ‘em! I have my money on sweet potato casserole taking the win, but y’all might surprise me.

On to the week’s content.

New Trailers

In the place of my usual “In the News,” section, we’re gonna do a rundown of the ZILLIONS of new trailers that have me feeling feelings! Some of my feelings are “excited” and some are “gift receipt, please”!

Let’s react together:

• Lightyear: The phrase “Nobody asked for this” has clearly never been reason enough to not make a movie.

• The Book of Boba Fett: I know I’m gonna get canceled by the true Star Wars heads but this looks boring and dusty as hell.

• The Tragedy of Macbeth: Denzel, Frances McDormand, and a Coen brother!? YES, great gods of theatre, YES!!! And if you think this is Denzel’s first foray into Shakespeare, let me introduce you to a little confection known as 1993’s Much Ado About Nothing, in which Keanu plays Denzel’s evil brother and Emma Thompson, Kate Beckinsale, Michael Keaton, and Kenneth Brannagh romp around half-nude in the Italian countryside.

• Stranger Things Season 4: Stop when you’re ahead, maybe? [But yes I will be watching this, yes.]

• 8-Bit Christmas: I will watch literally anything about Christmas even this ugly stepchild of “A Christmas Story.” Which to my great annoyance actually looks kind of fun? No?

• J.Lo’s new rom-com, Marry Me: Immediately no. Even Owen Wilson can’t save this. Why didn’t she just make Hustlers 2: Hustlers Gotta Hustle or something??

• Being the Ricardos: The movie in which Nicole Kidman plays Lucille Ball, to which I politely say, “I guess that’s a wait-and-see for me.”

• Don’t Look Up: The new Adam McKay comedy with all the Cool Actors in it. I have several thoughts, including A) The trailer is basically a feature-length film as if we have endless hours of daylight on our hands—rude. B) If this isn’t as funny and amazing as it looks like it will be, I don’t know if we as a society can come back from that. C) Timothée!!!!!!

• Station 11: As dramatic action shots unspool over a track of “What the World Needs Now,” we might wonder if What the World Really Needs Now is a show about a civilization-ending pandemic. To which I say: ABSOLUTELY YES. I read Station 11 during lockdown and it’s the best book I’ve read in years.

Honorable Mention: No trailers out yet, but I am eagerly anticipating more information on these upcoming films:

1) A Peter Pan adaptation with Jude Law as Hook, Yara Shahidi as Tinkerbell, and Jim Gaffigan as Smee! I had a s*xual awakening with the 2003 Peter Pan starring Jeremy Sumpter and it seems like we’ll get a whole new (age-appropriate) sessy experience with Captain Jude Law? I’m here for it!

2) Not one but TWO adaptations of Persuasion??? Really, guys? Jane Austen’s most boring book? [lol I’m in danger.] One will be a “modern adaptation” starring Dakota Johnson, the other will star Sarah Snook, aka Shiv from Succession!

Saturday Night Live Highlights

This past week’s host was incredibly talented actor Jonathan Majors, currently starring in the Netflix banger The Harder They Fall (highly recommend!!), and the musical guest was none other than Taylor Alison Swift who performed one set, but it WAS the 10-minute version of All Too Well, so.

• Highlights: (1) “Man Park,” (2) “Three Sad Virgins”—when Taylor pops up at the end! (3) Newcomer Sarah Sherman serves an elite roast of Colin Jost on Weekend Update—when she describes herself as looking like “Chucky went to Sarah Lawrence”! 😆 (4) Ego Nwodim is, as Bowen Yang said, “In her Charizard Era.” I asked Ben to explain that to me and he said, “powerful and popular.” She is becoming one of the strongest cast members and was the highlight of a few of the weaker skits.

• Lowlights: Honestly the lowlight was just that they generally underused or didn’t seem to know how to use Jonathan Majors, who is a wildly charismatic actor/Yale alum. They just attached him to Keenan in most skits which just felt…a little icky? Dare I say bordering on *White Nonsense*?

Watching - Passing on Netflix

Y’all want the God’s-honest truth? The real thing I’ve been watching all week is classic Fall Comfort Watch, Friday Night Lights. Clear eyes, full hearts.

But I also managed to fit in a deep-thinker film, Passing. Passing is a female-led project starring Tessa Thompson and Ruth Negga, based on a book from 1929 about two Black women, one of whom has chosen a life “passing” as a white woman.

Passing is about race and gender, yes, but it’s also about female perception and control. We watch the two women’s constant mental and emotional calculations of just how much of themselves they have to sacrifice, and how much they have to conceal or reveal, in order to remain secure. In the end, the battle for control takes a toll that might prove to be unsurvivable.

Keep an eye out for Oscar noms, it’s a beautifully made film. Overall, it’s very slow but very rich, and it’ll leave you lying awake at night pondering what you think really happened and what it all means.

Note: A lot of people are discussing how Thompson and Negga don’t really seem like they could “pass.” But the director said the casting was intentional because she wanted the viewer to be constantly aware of their experience as Black women. I buy it.

Listening - Pantsuit Politics’ Episode on the Infrastructure Bill

Didn’t that heading just send a thrill of excitement up your spine!??? NO????

Okay fine, whatever. But if you’re interested in current events even a TEENSY bit, you probably heard that a historic, *bipartisan* infrastructure bill just passed. You might also be like, “Infra-wut???”

This is the podcast you’re looking for. My friend Blair turned me onto Pantsuit Politics several years ago. The hosts are two former Kentucky lawyers who represent both sides of the political spectrum. They break down current events with grace, humor, and zero meanness.

In their episode this past Tuesday — Why All of Us Can Be Thankful for the Infrastructure Bill — they bring in an expert and discuss what the bill will mean for real Americans [ie, us], what to expect in the coming years, etc. It’s SO simple and SO interesting and SO helpful.

Here’s a quote:

“Each one of these [infrastructure] categories are transformational for the communities in which they’re built and for the whole country. We really could look back on this moment as the time we turned the ship and built the country for the coming century.”

Hooray for broadband and goodbye to potholes!!!!

P.S. 🗣 I’ll listen to Adele when I listen to Adele!

Reading — One Book & Three Articles

In addition to watching the movie Passing, I also read the book this week! It’s a short 150 pages so I finished it in a day or two, and it was excellent. I bought this beautiful version at the recommendation of my friend Alison, who works for the publisher. [DON’T READ THE INTRODUCTION, it has spoilers all over it! But in the back they have questions to help you process the layers of meaning in the story.]

I also dug into a few interesting reads online:

• Can This Man Save the World from Artificial Intelligence? - The Times

• One woman’s hilarious reaction to That Proposal at the Adele concert - “Hung Up” by Hunter Harris

• The Elephant Who Could Be a Person - The Atlantic

That’s all! Hope you have the loveliest Thanksgiving and I’ll see you again after the holiday! Drop me a comment [it helps!] and let me know your thoughts and opinions!