First Cums Love, a Very Erotic 3D Drama
Unsimulated sex flies at your face in Gaspar Noe’s explicit romance.
A sexually explicit film in 3D? You just know a penis will be in your face. Hey, it happens. And in Gaspar Noe’s aggressively provocative Love, it happens a lot.
Best known for the rape-revenge flick Irréversible, Noe, an Argentinean filmmaker in France, curbs his violent streak in favor of unsimulated penetration in this erotic drama. In fact, when his lens isn’t focused on labia, he even manages to find a heart.
Karl Glusman, recently seen in Stonewall, is magnetic as Murphy, an American filmmaker in Paris who becomes romantically and recklessly involved with two women, a wild junky and his relatively innocent neighbor. “I'm a dick,” Murphy says in retrospect. “A dick has only one purpose — to fuck. And I fucked it all up.”
Murphy also visits a sex club and tries a threeway with a trans woman, but the gorgeous, excessively long sex scenes become more exhausting than the navel-gazing between them. In a climactic moment, Murphy sobs in a bathtub, feeling trapped with a child and the wrong girl. That’s the real money shot.
Next, October 2015.
Ooohs and Aaahs for Pentatonix
The a cappella quintet is up to their old tricks, but there’s a welcome twist.
La la las. Oh way ohs. Wow wow wows. If there’s a noise your mouth makes, expect to hear it carrying a big chorus on Pentatonix’s eponymous fourth studio album. In fact, the album kicks off its boots with a country-kissed jam aptly titled “Na Na Na.”
It sure sounds like the Texas-bred a cappella quintet — including gay Superfruit duo Scott Hoying and Mitch Grassi — is up to their old tricks, but there’s a welcome twist. The Grammy winners have moved away from covers, wrapping their skilled tongues instead around original tunes both accessibly familiar and refreshingly innovative.
Packed with upbeat and beat-driven earworms that continue to showcase the group’s tight harmonies and impressive vocal percussion, Pentatonix includes soulful porch-stompers like “Cracked,” intimate grooves like “Take Me Home,” and Broadway-ready ballads like “Light in the Hallway” — all benefiting from lyrics as sassy as they are simple. It’s anchored by the shamelessly poppy lead single, “Can’t Sleep Love,” a retro charmer unlike anything on the radio right now.
Does this mean the end of a cappella covers from Pentatonix? Maybe not. The album’s standout track is actually a haunting interpretation of “If I Ever Fall in Love,” Shai’s 1992 R&B hit, featuring Jason Derulo.
Next, October 2015.
Bet on Bette Midler's A Gift of Love
The divine Miss M gives fans the holiday gift of her greatest love songs.
It would’ve been tough to top her 2006 holiday record, Cool Yule, so Bette Midler is spreading seasonal cheer instead with A Gift of Love, a thoughtfully curated collection of the Grammy-winning diva’s greatest love songs.
The early Valentine regifts 18 shamelessly sentimental highlights from albums she recorded for Atlantic and Warner Bros. from 1976 to 2014. It’s heavy on tracks from the platinum 1995 release Bette of Roses, but treasures include her infectious 1983 cover of Marshall Crenshaw’s “My Favorite Waste of Time,” the Diane Warren-penned For the Boys tearjerker “Every Road Leads Back to You,” and the sweetly doting “Let Me Just Follow Behind” from 1976’s Songs for the New Depression. The newest gems are fresh takes on “(Talk to Me of) Mendocino” and “The Hunter Gets Captured by the Game,” which both appeared on last year’s Target deluxe edition of It’s the Girls.
Of course, this collection wouldn’t be complete without two of the divine Miss M’s greatest hits, “The Rose” and “Wind Beneath My Wings.” Gotta love ’em.
Next, December 2015.
Fuller House Is Still Where the Heart Is
It’s good to be home again with the old gang in Netflix's nostalgic sitcom reboot.
"Damn, we all still look good,” says John Stamos as Uncle Jesse in Fuller House, the Netflix reboot of the beloved family classic Full House. He’s right, but not all original cast members have returned; when the Tanner clan notes that youngest daughter Michelle (played by the Olsen twins) is busy running her fashion empire in New York, the actors turn to the camera as if to say, “Really, bitches?” Full shade!
Built on entrance applause and catchphrases, the Fuller House pilot tugs heartstrings with nods to the original ABC series, which ran from 1987 to 1995. But at the end of memory lane is a typical throwback sitcom fueled by infectious chemistry between sweet D.J. (Candace Cameron Bure), wild Stephanie (Jodie Sweetin), and kooky Kimmy Gibler (Andrea Barber), as they band together to help raise the widowed D.J.’s kids. There are lessons learned, group hugs shared, and maybe even some harmless lesbian jokes.
Yes, sometimes you can go home again. But how long do you really want to stay there?
Next, February 2016.
This Character Actress Is Simply the Best
The documentary She's the Best Thing in It spotlights veteran Mary Louise Wilson.
Mary Louise Wilson is not a star. “A star is somebody who is promoting themselves, and my idea of acting is to disappear into roles,” she says at the start of She’s the Best Thing in It. “That’s just what character actors do.”
Directed with reverence by gay filmmaker Ron Nyswaner, Oscar-nominated for his Philadelphia screenplay, the documentary, debuting this month on VOD, follows the octogenarian as she returns home to New Orleans to teach a class on character acting at Tulane University. The kids don’t know what to make of her methods, but they respect her. After all, she won a Tony for playing Big Edie in the musical Grey Gardens.
Our education on Wilson is more successful. We learn, of course, that life hasn’t been a bed of roses for the woman who’d do anything for a laugh. We hear about how she was drawn to the campy humor of her gay brother, who struggled with his own demons and died of AIDS. “Most people that are funny are the saddest people in the world,” she tells her students. “Nathan Lane — oh, what a drag to be around him.”
Next, February 2016.
'70s New York Comes Back Loud and Clear
HBO’s rockin’ drama Vinyl will spin you right round, baby, right round.
Nostalgia for the glitter and glamour of New York’s 1970s disco scene has officially been replaced by grit. But Vinyl, a riveting HBO drama about the drug-fueled record industry, offers a no less gorgeous approach to the period.
Executive-produced by Mick Jagger, Martin Scorsese, and Boardwalk Empire’s Terence Winter, the series stars Bobby Cannavale at his best as Richie, a record exec trying to save his fading label and steer clear of cocaine. Richie’s suburban wife, beautifully played by Olivia Wilde, misses her life as a Warhol Factory girl. But it’s the era’s intoxicating music, etched like the grooves on a record into every scene, that makes the show really spin.
The epic two-hour pilot, directed by Scorsese as though he were blowing his paycheck at a stripper joint, could pass for an Oscar-caliber film, and it’s designed to burrow deep into your head like an earworm. If you aren’t addicted after its soul-shaking cliffhanger, you must be on something.
Next, February 2016.
Christmas Queens Is Naughty and Nice
Slay, belles! Drag Race faves stuff your stockings with a holiday album.
"T’was the night before Christmas and all through the whorehouse, every vixen was twerking and stripping to Deadmau5,” reads Violet Chachki on Christmas Queens, a nice and naughty holiday album featuring the talents of 16 RuPaul’s Drag Race alums.
If you asked Santa for chestnut-roasting novelties, this collection is the gift that keeps on giving. In “Christma-Hannu-Kwanzaa-Ka,” Ginger Minj toasts multicultural traditions with tidbits from Wikipedia. Katya puts a trashy Russian twist on “12 Days of Christmas,” in which she receives “five NuvaRings!” Jiggly Caliente’s “Ratchet Christmas” and Detox’s “This Is How We Jew It” are exactly what you’d wish for.
But it’s the more sincere carols you’ll add to your holiday playlist. Miss Fame plays it straight on “Toyland,” a surprisingly classy and haunting effort. Courtney Act’s “From Head to Mistletoe” is polished and catchy, kissed with sparkling wit, while Jinkx Monsoon’s “Red & Green” goes with anything.
That said, unwrap Willam’s “A Very Cozby Christmas,” a rapey reimagining of “Baby, It’s Cold Outside,” at least once. Because no Christmas family dinner is complete without a meaty tuck.
Next, November 2015.
Tyler Oakley Shows Off His Blond Ambition
The documentary Snervous introduces the young man behind the onesies.
He’s a gay YouTube sensation with more than 20 million followers on social media, but who exactly is Tyler Oakley?
“He has, like, a positive message and cares about other people,” as one young fan sums it up in a new documentary. Directed by Amy Rice, Snervous — scared and nervous, duh — tags along with the 26-year-old author and activist on his sold-out Slumber Party tour. But the film isn’t just for fans; it’s determined to make everybody and their grandma understand Oakley’s adorkable appeal.
It’s not all as bright as his hair and his collection of onesies. We learn about Oakley’s strained relationship with his conservative father. He cries when talking about his best friend and production partner, Korey Kuhl, with whom he’ll compete on The Amazing Race. After having a mini-meltdown when a meet-and-greet goes awry, he beats himself up for losing his cool. Guess what? He’s just a guy, sitting in front of millions of teens, asking them to love him.
“I don’t know why people watch,” he says in the film of his online videos. “Maybe people just want to be friends?” Tyler, consider yourself friended.
Next, December 2015.
Joyful, Jennifer Lawrence, We Adore
JLaw's latest Oscar bait is a Joy to behold.
Joy Mangano, divorced mother of three, invented the wildly successful Miracle Mop. Simple story, simple invention, simple gal. But the biopic Joy, out December 25, gives us a beautifully full-blown martyr and heroine for the holidays. Sorry, Virgin Mary.
Hers is a dirty business, and Joy, which reunites star Jennifer Lawrence with Silver Linings Playbook and American Hustle director David O’Russell, wrings out every obstacle and shady associate Mangano ever encountered — not to mention a crazy family, led by Robert De Niro and Virginia Madsen as her feuding folks. No surprise she has nightmares of getting sucked into a soap opera starring Susan Lucci. It’s immensely watchable.
There is one stain that just won’t lift. Early in the film, Mangano, who invented her mop at 34, is told she no longer has her whole life ahead of her. It’s the first of many times we’re awkwardly aware that, despite a compelling performance, Lawrence, at 25, is way too young for the role. But realism isn’t what she and O’Russell are selling here. They’re selling the American dream. And I bought it.
Next, December 2015.
Jane Lynch's New Sitcom Is Heaven Sent
The Emmy-winning Glee alum is worthy of praise in Angel From Hell.
Do you believe Jane Lynch is a comedy godsend? Lo and behold: Angel From Hell, a feather-light new CBS sitcom.
The out Emmy winner stars as Amy, a kooky, foul-mouthed street magician with a flask full of Crème de Menthe. No longer content to help from afar, she reveals herself to be a guardian angel to Allison (an accessible Maggie Lawson), a dermatologist with a cheating boyfriend and dead mommy issues. The premise might grow tiresome if Lynch were up to her old tricks, but her Amy is a closer relative to Best in Show’s Christy Cummings than Glee’s Sue Sylvester. Lynch is actually quite charming when Ryan Murphy isn’t making her a total bitch.
More than just an edgier Touched by an Angel, the promising show refreshingly encourages skepticism: Is Amy really an omnipresent protector or just some crazy lady with mad Photoshop skills? And at the end of the day, does it even matter?
“It’s not that I believe you’re an angel,” Allison tells Amy in the pilot, “but I could use a weird friend.” And maybe you could use a warmly weird little series this winter.
Next, January 2016.