After a week full of 60+ degree weather in New York, I'm officially read to slam the laptop shut and enter the weekend. I'm bathing suit shopping online, I'm spending time basking in the short-lived early spring weather, and I'm absolutely gearing up to make another playlist to get through the weekend.
Since this weekend is St. Patrick's Day, I'm sure many of you are traveling to hotspots like Boston and New York for parades and soul-crushing crowds. The only way to get through this weekend of horrors? Lots of music, and even more green beer. Doctor's orders.
But, you can't keep replaying your same old playlist with songs your friends have heard come over your speakers time and time again. People will stop letting you get aux if you can't deliver a dance-worthy playlist that's both refreshing and timeless. That's where I come in, dear reader.
I love to deliver a playlist filled with new music releases today, March 15, 2024. So get your Spotify accounts ready, because it's time to see what's in store for this week! Let's get listening.
ZAYN- "What I Am"
He's baaaacckkk. Former member of One Direction, Zayn Malik, left the band (and should be paying my therapy bills for this) in 2015 and completely switched direction (pun intended). Now an R&B soul god, ZAYN has found his stride with "What I Am."
“I think just being where I was at that time, staying away from things and living with my own thoughts inspired me to want to write something from that place. I’ve got to put this out as a whole body of work, it’s something for myself, not even just for the world,” says Zayn.
I worried at first that ZAYN wouldn't be able to create a stylistically different track without sounding repetitive. "What I Am" highlights his vocals without going overboard, conveys yearning, longing, and melancholy all in one. It's an easy listen. Zayn Malik, you'll always be famous.
Cardi B- "Enough (Miami)"
If you've been missing Old Cardi, she's here. With "Enough (Miami)", Cardi goes back to her roots: classic rap, biting lyrics, a hook that gets you out of your seat. It's reminiscent of classics like "Bodak Yellow", where Cardi tells it as it is: you can't beat her, you can't even be her.
Kacey Musgraves- "The Architect"
With one of the most satisfyingly crisp voices in country music, Kacey Musgraves delivers "The Architect" on a silver platter. It's introspective, beckoning the listener to really look inside themselves and wonder who's the architect of their lives. A song about not fully understanding someone, something, or everything, "The Architect" is one-of-a-kind.
Ahead of her new album, Deeper Well, which she promises to be a "cleanse" of sorts for listeners, "The Architect" is a great intro.
Zack Bia, Teezo Touchdown- "DAMN"
Any weekend should be met with house music, which is why Zack Bia and Teezo Touchdown's "DAMN" is a perfect fit. Something light and easy, "DAMN" is the perfect track to lead off a night out, or to help you get hyped up while getting ready. Zack Bia is known for his commitment to the nightlife scene, so it's no surprise that this track embodies a night out with your friends.
Sydney Sherrill- "Boy In The Blue Cadillac"
Alongside her debut album, 17 Young and Stunning, Sydney Sherrill releases vocal powerhouse single, "Boy In The Blue Cadillac." Few singer-songwriters can belt out a commanding chorus riddled with guitar trills and have such an impact as Sydney Sherrill does.
Singing from the perspective of her 17-year-old self, 17 Young and Stunning, takes us through the throes of adolescence. From finding your first love to figuring out who you really are in the world, Sherrill knows how confusing growing up can be. "Boy In The Blue Cadillac" sends you back in time in the best way.
Cloonee- "Sippin' Yak (We Like)"
Cloonee is in high demand: with both weekends of Coachella booked, a headline LIV Beach Las Vegas residency, a show at the Brooklyn Mirage, and more, fans flock to see a performance no matter where he is. After teasing "Sippin' Yak" on socials and in live sets, Cloonee is finally releasing the track ahead of all of these major performances.
"Sippin' Yak (We Like)" is an instant hit for fans of tech house with an intricate eye for production and style.
Eight years after the viral success of "Sweatshirt," Jacob Sartorius has evolved into a contemplative singer-songwriter. Recent tracks like "homebody" and "luv" reveal a more mature musician facing grownup issues.
His latest single, "Lonely," is a duet with friend Audrey Mika. The piano-driven song explores the fallout of a failed relationship. It's relatable, sad, and super catchy.
Known for collaborations with artists like Tate McRae and Gryffin, Mika gained famed by posting covers of hit songs on YouTube. She's focused on original music the last few years, but continues to perform songs by Billie Eilish and Ariana Grande.
Watch Jordan Edwards and Demi Ramos talk to Sartorius and Mika about how they met, their collaboration, and how to get over a breakup.
Jacob Sartorius and Audrey Mika | It's Real with Jordan and Demi
For more from Jacob Sartorius, follow him on Instagram and TikTok.
For more from Audrey Mika, follow her on Instagram and TikTok.
Neil Young, formerly part of iconic folk rock supergroup Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young, is hailed as one of music's greatest. He's blended folk rock with country in innovative ways for decades, his music the blueprint of budding artists today. Loved by millions, Neil Young's music could be found on streaming platforms the world over...until 2022.
When Joe Rogan's podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience, spread misinformation about the COVID-19 vaccination, artists like Joni Mitchell and Neil Young called for the removal of their music from Spotify. In a short-lived movement, these artists hoped to make a statement. To "stick it to the man", if you will.
Many of the artists who pulled their music from the platform have since returned. Because, at the end of the day, Spotify is the #1 streaming platform in the world. With the most users and traction, thousands of artists thrive on the app. Artists like Neil Young became popular at times when revolutionizing through music was the edgy, popular thing to do...however, Spotify is a misdirected target in this situation. Get mad at Joe Rogan for saying it.
And recently, Neil Young announced he is returning to "low res" Spotify via his website, Neil Young Archives. He states,
"Spotify, the #1 streamer of low res music in the world - Spotify where you get less quality than we made, will now be home of my music again. My decision comes as music services Apple and Amazon have started serving the same disinformation podcast features I had opposed at SPOTIFY. I cannot just leave Apple and Amazon, like I did Spotify, because my music would have very little streaming outlet to music lovers at all, so I have returned to Spotify, in sincere hopes that Spotify sound quality will improve"
As the #1 streaming platform in music, that means you lose a lot of streams from removing your discography from the app. Coincidentally, Neil Young is releasing an album with Crazy Horse on April 20, 2024 called F##IN' UP -- a perfect time to return to the app if you ask me.
Green beer is passé, trite, and, frankly, shameful. So is any kind of headgear featuring glittery shamrocks.
This Saint Patrick’s Day it’s time to shake things up musically. We put on our thinking caps – sans shamrocks – and compiled a Paddy’s Day Playlist with 10 tunes that are sure to please connoisseurs of Irish-inflected music.
Sheila Chandra - Speaking in Tongues II (live at World In The Park 1992)
Of Indian and Irish descent, Chandra fused eastern and western musical traditions. Initially, with the group Monsoon and then in a distinguished solo career, which was sadly brought to an end by a rare illness called Burning Mouth Syndrome. Fortunately, Chandra recorded extensively, and we have fantastic recordings like “Speaking in Tongues II” to enjoy.
Rónán Ó Snodaigh – Cad eile le rá | Live by the Sea (2016)
Ó Snodaigh is a diamond in the rough, a wild and wooly percussionist and singer/songwriter who can drive a crowd wild with the sheer force of his personality. This is a fine example of his skill as a bodhrán player, and please note he’s singing in Irish.
SOAK – B a noBody
Bridie Monds-Watson, better known as Soak – a combination of “Soul” and “Folk” – hails from Northern Ireland. Dreamy, contemplative, flecked with darker tones of sorrow, their music has struck a chord with fans around the world.
John McCormack – The Rose of Tralee
McCormack (1884-1945) was at home in the opera and on the concert stage. He’s best remembered today for his renditions of Irish folk songs and popular tunes. Admittedly, the material is old-fashioned and sentimental, but McCormack’s depth of feeling renders such distinctions moot.
Susan McKeown – No Jericho (Live - 2012)
Grammy Award-winning, Dublin-born McKeown is a first-class singer equally at home with contemporary and traditional material – just as she divides her time between Ireland and the States. This self-penned number is a lovely intro to a luminous musical presence.
The Dubliners – The Wild Rover
The original bad boys of Irish Trad music. They may look like your great-granda but they partied like the business. The Pogues would be nowhere without them. The Dubliners are the band that launched a thousand pints...
Sinead O'Connor – Nothing Compares 2 U (Live)
O’Connor’s public wrestling with personal demons tends to overshadow her music. Which is a shame because, at her best, she’s a powerful and transformative singer. Nothing Compares 2 U was written and composed by Prince and helped catapult Sinead to international superstardom when it was released in January 1990.
The Pogues – A Man You Don’t Meet Every Day
You knew these lads were going to show up, right? Shane MacGowan is the poet laureate of the guttersnipes. But we’d rather focus on the group’s less raucous side, epitomized by their erstwhile bass player Cait O’Riordan’s version of this traditional number.
Elvis Costello and the Voice Squad – Full Force Gale
Costello – ne Declan Patrick McManus – and friends cover this number written by bard & mystic Van Morrison. They slow it down, use no instruments...and make vocal magic.
Hozier – Jackie and Wilson
Andrew John Hozier-Byrne and friends record under the first part of his surname. Whatever you call him, this boy from Bray struck it big in 2013 with “Take Me to Church.” Those with a taste for great riffs coupled with idiosyncratic lyrics will relish Jackie and Wilson.
There 'tis, lads. However you celebrate St. Paddy’s Day, do it safely. And let this playlist lift you into the mystic.
Last month, Allie X performed a secret show to celebrate her new album Girl With No Face. The Canadian singer-songwriter performed tracks like "Black Eye" and "Off With Her Tits" at 1720 Warehouse in Downtown Los Angeles. The industrial setting matched the dark synth pop of her set.
Since her debut EP in 2015, she's continuously evolved musically and aesthetically. Her latest recalls the sleek early '80s sound of acts like Eurythmics, Gary Numan, and The Human League.
We caught up with Allie X to talk about the new album and creating her striking visuals.
Congrats on the new album! How did making this compare with previous projects? Much more insane process. And probably more fulfilling.
Where did the concept of Girl With No Face come from? Well it’s the name of one of the songs. Then I decided it sounded right for the album name. I think of the Girl With No Face as the entity that was in the room with me. Something I conjured up in the isolation of the experience.
Which track from the album was the most fun to make? Maybe "Galina." That one came together the fastest. Or "Hardware/Software." Those were probably the only two that weren’t torturous to complete.
A lot of recent pop has leaned on the late ‘80s and early ‘90s. Lately, your music has more of an early ‘80s synth-pop influence. What draws you towards that era? The experimentalism. The attitude. The sonics. The limitations. It’s my fave.
Visuals are a big part of your work. How do you collaborate with designers, stylists, videographers, etc. to bring your ideas to life? I am good at curating and making mood boards. Selecting the right people and instructing them is what I do. Then their talent shines through. It’s about having a vision and taste.
One thing that’s remained consistent with your music is really cool synth sounds. Do you have a favorite synthesizer? Umm of the ones I’ve used, maybe a Jupiter? Or a Prophet. But there are so many divine ones I haven’t used. Or so many complicated ones I don’t have enough knowledge to get a sound out of.
How much of a perfectionist are you in the studio? The production and mixing on this album is really great. Wellll I actually think perfection in music is boring. But I need it to be right. And trying to get this album to sound right was incredibly hard. But I kept going and going till it clicked in my head.
You grew up in Ontario. Who’s your favorite Canadian artist? Hmm, Neil Young is pretty cool.
Now that the album is out, what’s next? Just announced a tour. Putting that together will be my focus.
Nicholas Galitzine in SXSW Closing Night Film, "The Idea of You"
Courtesy of Prime Video
All the cool film girlies just came back from Berlin. Specifically, they are fresh from the 74th Berlin International Film Festival, and they still smell like cigarettes to prove it. Between anecdotes about how Berghain is ruined, they’re telling me how they watched Cillian Murphy (my father, emotionally) give another masterful, award-worthy performance in the Enda Walsh adaptation of Claire Keegan’s novel Small Things Like These. This is apropos of nothing, except that I was not in Berlin, so I will have to wait alongside everyone else to see one of my favorite books on screen later this year.
But how can I be bitter? This week, half of Los Angeles will flock to Texas for South By Southwest in Austin, and I’ll be delightfully distracted by a whole new slate of upcoming releases premiering at this year’s festival. There are so many new films to be excited about premiering at the festival — even without Cillian Murphy’s cheekbones.
Let’s get into it.
What is SXSW?
I’m in for a week of acronyms: SXSW in ATX FTW - LFG!! South By Southwest (aka SXSW or SX or South By) is a film festival, music festival, and industry conference all rolled into one. Fueled by Texas BBQ and Torchy’s Tacos, creative people in the tech, film, music, education, and culture industries swarm from theater to concert hall and conference room networking (allegedly), writing pretentious reviews about the future of culture (guilty), and being menaces to the residents of Austin by causing even worse traffic jams than the city is used to— and I can’t wait.
When is SXSW 2024?
SXSW 2024 will be held from March 8 - 16 2024. Highly anticipated events include Rolling Stone’s Future of Music Series (my artists to watch are Flo Milli and Faye Webster), and the SXSW Music Festival (which, this year, includes The Black Keys, Bootsy Collins, and many more). Of course, the highlight is the insane 2024 SXSW movie lineup. I can’t wait to laugh, cry, and contemplate my very existence while staring up at a screen at SXSW. In the words of Nicole Kidman, “We come to this place to dream.” And this week, the dreamers are all in Austin, Texas.
Here are the films at SXSW 2024 we’re most excited about – starring an assortment of all our favorite actors (even though Cilian won’t be making an appearance). Still, we’re excited to see new performances from faves like Ayo Edebiri, Jake Gyllenhaal, Ryan Gosling, Aaron Taylor Johnson, Jonathan Groff, Hunter Schafer, Rachel Zegler, Anne Hathaway, Nicholas Galitzine, and a whole lot more.
SXSW 2024 Official Opening Night Selection
Road House
This is not Patrick Swayze’s Road House (1989) — but by the time Jake Gyllenhaal is done with you, you’ll love it as much as the original. Gyllenhaal stars as an ex-UFC fighter-turned-bouncer at a Florida Keys roadhouse, owned by Frankie (Jessica Williams). Facing threats from a criminal gang led by Brandt (Billy Magnussen), Dalton's violent past emerges. When he is confronted by Knox (Conor McGregor), a lethal gun-for-hire, the escalating brawls and bloodshed become more dangerous than his days in the Octagon. Fans of real-life, ex-UFC fighter Conor McGregor are excited to see him in this film, even if he is the villain. Road House is coming to Prime Video on March 21st.
SXSW 2024 Official Closing Night Selection
The Idea of You
This film is like if your mom stole your Wattpad moment. Created by two-time SXSW Audience Award Winner Michael Showalter, it’s his great return to SXSW and it’s sure to be a riot. Allegedly based on Harry Styles (and a little bit of Prince Harry, too), The Idea of You is the salacious story of a 40-year-old single mom who begins an unexpected romance with her daughter’s favorite popstar. She goes from begrudgingly chaperoning her daughter to Coachella to meeting, and falling for, 24-year-old Hayes Campbell, the lead singer of a band based on One Direction. This odd couple romance promises to be more than meets the eye. The couple is played by Red White & Royal Blue’s Nicholas Galitzine alongside Anne Hathaway so I am ready and willing to go on this ride. I’m expecting something that feels like a mix of After, A Star is Born, and How Stella Got Her Groove Back. Watch the trailer HERE. And listen to the first song from the Original Soundtrack by fictional boy band August Moon HERE.
Other films to watch at SXSW 2024
I Wish You All The Best
I am unspeakably excited for Tommy Dorfman’s queer coming-of-age drama. Written and directed by Dorfman and starring Corey Fogelmanis, Miles Gutierrez-Riley, Alexandra Daddario, Cole Sprouse, Lena Dunham, Amy Landecker, Lexi Underwood, and more (wow!) it’s an adaptation of Mason Deaver's novel of the same name. A queer tale of chosen family, it follows Ben DeBacker, a non-binary teen who is thrown out of their house and forced to move in with their estranged older sister, Hannah, and her husband, Thomas. Struggling with anxiety, they come out only to Hannah, Thomas, and their art teacher, Ms. Lyons, while trying to keep a low profile at their new school. Ben's attempts to survive junior year unnoticed are thwarted when Nathan, a funny and charismatic student, decides to take Ben under his wing. With the help of Nathan, and his friends Sophie and Mel, Ben discovers themselves, and what started as a disastrous turn of events looks like it might just be a chance to start a happier new life.
A Nice Indian Boy
A Nice Indian Boy
I’ll watch Jonathan Groff in anything — and this original odd-couple comedic drama would have taken me no convincing anyway. Self-effacing doctor Naveen Gavaskar meets Jay Kurundkar, a white man adopted by two Indian parents, when Jay takes his picture at the hospital. Despite initial skepticism on Naveen’s part, the two quickly fall in love. Naveen avoids telling his traditional family—parents Megha & Archit and sister Arundhathi—who accepted his sexuality years earlier and are close to him but increasingly don’t know much about his life. Eventually, inevitably, Jay, with no family of his own, has to meet the Gavaskars, who have never met a boyfriend of Naveen's.
The Fall Guy
The Fall Guy
Don’t fret, Barbie fever is over, but Ryan Gosling will be back on your screens soon enough with this comedic action blockbuster. Ryan Gosling stars as Colt, a stuntman who, after a near-career-ending accident, is drafted back into service when the star of a mega-budget movie—being directed by his ex, Jody (Emily Blunt)—goes missing. Now, this working-class hero has to solve a conspiracy and try to win back the love of his life while still doing his day job. Certified heartthrob Aaron Taylor Johnson is also in this — giving me something to look forward to as I wait patiently for his role in Kraven: The Hunter later this year. I’m sat.
Omni Loop
Omni Loop
The more Ayo Edebiri in the zeitgeist, the better. Alongside Mary-Louise Parker, Steven Maier, Eddie Cahill, and more, she stars in this existential sci-fi feature. Zoya Lowe, a 55 year old woman from Miami, FL, has been diagnosed with a black hole inside her chest and given a week to live. But what the doctors and her family don’t know is that she has already lived this week before. She’s lived it so many times, in fact, that she doesn’t even know how long it’s been. Until one day she meets Paula, a young woman studying time at a lab in the local university, and together they decide to try and solve time travel so Zoya can actually go back— back into her past, back to a time before she settled, back to when her whole future was still wide open in front of her—back so she can do it all over again, and finally be the person she always wanted to be. It’s this year’s Everything Everywhere All At Once so I have high hopes.
The Greatest Hits
The Greatest Hits
Harriet (Lucy Boynton) finds art imitating life when she discovers certain songs can transport her back in time - literally. While she relives the past through romantic memories of her former boyfriend (David Corenswet), her time-traveling collides with a burgeoning new love interest in the present (Justin H. Min). As she takes her journey through the hypnotic connection between music and memory, she wonders if she can change the past. Think Yesterday, but … no, pretty much just exactly Yesterday.
Y2K
Y2K A24 Movie
The children are our future! This A24 disaster comedy, Y2K, stars Rachel Zegler, Jaeden Martell, Julian Dennison, Lachlan Watson, Daniel Zolghadri, Mason Gooding, The Kid Laroi (yes, from that Justin Bieber song), and more as high schoolers who crash a NYE party in 1999 and end up fighting for their lives. But doesn’t all high school feel like that?
I Love You Forever
I Love You Forever
Directed and written by Cazzie David and Elisa Kalani and starring Sofia Black-D'Elia, Ray Nicholson, Jon Rudnitsky, Cazzie David, and Raymond Cham Jr, this film portrays the sad reality of the dating landscape. It follows Mackenzie, a disillusioned 25-year old law student tired of the apps — because who isn’t. When she has a “real life meet-cute” with a charming journalist who makes her believe true love may actually exist. Ultimately, it starts to go left and Mackenzie finds herself trapped in a tumultuous and depleting cycle of emotional abuse.
I Don't Understand You
Like our beloved White Lotus, this is about an Italian vacation gone wrong. Starring Nick Kroll and Andrew Rannells as an American couple, it's about a babymoon turned nightmare. On the verge of adopting a baby, they go on an Italian vacation — an opportunity to reconnect before the new addition arrives. Everything is picture-perfect; the epitome of a European baby moon, when things begin to spiral out of control. On the way to dinner, they get their rental car stuck in a ditch and are stranded in rural nowhere in a downpour. These two Americans, who are used to being catered to, are now in a foreign land without service, an Italian language comprehension of about zero, and clear relationship turmoil that could explode at any minute. Fear obviously takes over.
Doin It
Doin It
Starring internet sensation-turned-host-turned-actor Lilly Singh, Doin It is a comedy of errors about an Indian woman trying to lose her virginity. Fans of Never Have I Ever, which also starts with that premise, should flock to this film. After teenage Maya is caught in a sexually compromising position, her mom moves the family back to India so Maya can learn proper discipline. Years later, she returns to the US to find funding for her teen-focused app, and gets a job as a substitute high school teacher so she can research her target demo. But when the principal assigns her to teach sex ed, Maya —who’s still a virgin— sets out on a quest with her best friend to make up for the high school experience she lost out on. It also stars Ana Gasteyer, Sabrina Jalees, Stephanie Beatriz, Mary Holland, Utkarsh Ambudkar, and Sonia Dhillon Tully.
Civil War
Civil War
No, not the Marvel film. Much more chilling and dystopian — especially since it’s set in a plausible, near-future. It stars Kirsten Dunst, Wagner Moura, Cailee Spaeny, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Sonoya Mizuno, and Nick Offerman taking us on an adrenaline-fueled thrill ride through a fractured America balanced on the razor’s edge, going through a civil war.
Birdeater
Birdeater
A bride-to-be is invited to join her own fiancé’s bachelor party on a remote property in the Australian outback. But as the festivities spiral into beer-soaked chaos, uncomfortable details about their relationship are exposed, and the celebration soon becomes a feral nightmare. I’m imagining part Saltburn and part Get Out from this feature debut.
Babes
Babes
After becoming pregnant from a one-night stand, Eden leans on her married best friend and mother of two, Dawn, to guide her through gestation and beyond. Starring lana Glazer, Michelle Buteau, John Carroll Lynch, and Hasan Minhaj, this comedy about friendship and motherhood is sure to be both belly-busting and heartwarming
Musica
Musica
Based on writer, director and star Rudy Mancuso, Música is a coming-of-age love story that follows an aspiring creator with synesthesia, who must come to terms with an uncertain future, while navigating the pressures of love, family and his Brazilian culture. Alongside Mancuso are Camila Mendes, Francesca Reale, Maria Mancuso, and J.B. Smoove.
Freaknik: The Wildest Party Never Told
Freaknik: The Wildest Party Never Told
If anyone else has heard about Freaknik endlessly without hearing about Freaknik, your time has come. This documentary feature is a celebratory exploration of the boisterous times of Freaknik, the iconic Atlanta street party that drew hundreds of thousands of people in the 80s and 90s, helping put Atlanta on the map culturally. At its height, Freaknik was a traffic-stopping, city-shuttering, juggernaut that has since become a cult classic. This documentary will, too.
The Black Sea
The Black Sea
Immersive and inspired by Derrick B. Harden’s travels to Bulgaria, The Black Sea details the transformative journey of a man who finds unexpected connections in a small coastal Eastern European town even as he finds himself to be the only black person around.
Pet Shop Days
Pet Shop Days
I love a very serious thriller with a whimsical title. Starring Jack Irv, Darío Yazeb Bernal, Willem Dafoe, Peter Sarsgaard, and more, you know this one’s going to be good. In an act of desperation, impulsive black sheep Alejandro flees his home in Mexico. On the run from his unforgiving father, Alejandro finds himself in New York City where he meets Jack, a college age pet store employee with similar parental baggage. Together the two enter a whirlwind romance sending them down the rabbit hole of drugs and depravity in Manhattan’s underworld.
Toll
Toll
This Brazilian feature is definitely going to chill me to my core, I’m calling it now. Suellen, a Brazilian toll booth attendant and mother, falls in with a gang of thieves in an attempt to keep her family afloat. In doing so, she realizes she can use her job to raise some extra money illegally for a so-called noble cause: to send her son to an expensive gay conversion workshop led by a renowned foreign priest.
My Dead Friend Zoe
My Dead Friend Zoe
My Dead Friend Zoe follows the journey of Merit, a U.S. Army Afghanistan veteran who is at odds with her family thanks to the presence of Zoe, her dead best friend from the Army. Despite the persistence of her VA group counselor, the tough love of her mother and the levity of an unexpected love interest, Merit's cozy-dysfunctional friendship with Zoe keeps the duo insulated from the world. That is until Merit's estranged grandfather—holed up at the family's ancestral lake house—begins to lose his way and is in need of the one thing he refuses... help. It stars Sonequa Martin-Green, Natalie Morales, Ed Harris, Morgan Freeman, Utkarsh Ambudkar, and Gloria Reuben.
A House Is Not a Disco
A House Is Not a Disco
Directed by Brian J. Smith, this documentary shows a year-in-the-life in the world’s most iconic “homo-normative” community: Fire Island Pines. Situated fifty miles from New York City, this storied queer beach town finds itself in the midst of a renaissance as a new generation of Millennial homeowners reimagine The Pines for a new, more inclusive era. Filmed like a Wiseman movie on magic mushrooms, a large cast of unforgettable eccentrics, activists, drifters, and first-timers reflect on the legacy of The Pines while preparing their beloved village for the biggest challenge it has faced since the AIDS crisis: rising seas caused by climate change.
Brandy Hellville & the Cult of Fast Fashion
Brandy Hellville & the Cult of Fast Fashion
My eighth-grade self, experiencing all the stages of grief in the Brandy Melville changing room, is ready for this expose. It examines how Brandy Melville developed a cult-like following despite its controversial “one size fits all” tagline. Hiding behind its shiny Instagram façade is a shockingly toxic world, a reflection of the global fast fashion industry. Fast fashion isn’t all glitz and glamor – it’s a business that sacrifices humanity and pollutes the planet for the sake of profit.