There’s a scene in Greta Gerwig’s adaptation of Little Women that goes down in history as one of my favorites in all of cinema.
In it, Saoirse Ronan, who plays the spirited and independent Jo March, gives a monologue about how women are expected to be one dimensional — either opinionated or loved, smart or pretty, dedicated to her career or to her husband.
In her frustration, she says: “Women … they have minds, and they have souls, as well as just hearts. And they've got ambition, and they've got talent, as well as just beauty. I'm so sick of people saying that love is just all a woman is fit for.”
It’s a powerful scene, carrying a powerful sentiment, but it doesn’t end there. After her triumphant declaration, Jo breaks down, revealing what she’s ashamed to admit to herself: “But I'm so lonely.”
This monumental scene is both emotional and political. Her poignant but vulnerable musings express the central tension of the film: the desire to be seen as a complex, capable individual while society tries to pin you down as the opposite.
What’s so special about that scene — besides Saoirse’s acting masterclass — is that Jo is putting language to something that so many of us can’t name. Although this is super relatable to most women, it’s difficult to accept that despite the advancement of women over the years, so much of this is still true today. Socially, women are taught to view themselves as less deserving and when they assert that they’re worth more, they’re often punished.
In most cases, sexism is so ingrained in society that it takes years to apprehend the unconscious biases that plague our daily life. This sexism gets reinforced by the media because until recently men created the representation of women.
This is why the presence of women in media is so critical. Telling female-driven stories help reshape how women see themselves outside of the strictures of the male gaze.
Directors like Greta Gerwig are more and more common — women telling dynamic, well-rounded stories about the diversity and expansiveness of the female experience.
In Gerwig’s podcast conversation with Barry Jenkins for A24, she discusses the monumental importance of being mentored by female directors. “I'd never met a young woman who said she wanted to be a director … I had fallen in love with film, but it just still felt out of reach. And all of a sudden I was like, Oh, wait, are we allowed to say we want to do this?”
From her undergrad days as a fledgling director to now, Gerwig notes how much has changed for female directors. And how revolutionary it is.
In the podcast, Gerwig continues: “People are like this year of “women in film.” And I’m like, not only do you have Sofia Coppola and Kathryn Bigelow, you also have Maggie Betts and Dee Rees and Valerie Faris and me and Patty Jenkins and Angelina Jolie. And those are all very visible films.”
It’s not just the number Gerwig is impressed by, but also the variety. She continues. “There's thousands more. And that is an extraordinary moment, I think. And those are all such different films from each other. It's not like, “Here is the kinds of films women make.” It's like, I can't think of two films more different from Battle of the Sexes to Mudbound to Wonder Woman.”
Gerwig is right. All these films vary greatly, but they’re equally reflective of a moment where women are rapidly gaining agency.
Here are just a few of the best female-directed films that are streaming now:
Lady Bird, Netflix
Because of my affinity for Greta Gerwig and Saoirse Ronan, it’s no surprise that Lady Bird is first on my list. In the podcast, Jenkins describes its magic saying: “you're watching this movie … and everybody's laughing their heads off the first 45 minutes and then you start to hear a few people sniffling in the back and on the side and then you realize, I'm watching a very, very heavy, sad kind of film. And it all coalesces into this very hopeful kind of thing that feels earned.”
Mudbound, Netflix
Every emotion you’ve ever felt is perfectly rendered in the award-winning feature, Mudbound. Director Dee Ross places the audience in the post-war South, watching the splintering of two families — one white, one Black. It’s more than worth all the heavy feelings it evokes.
Kajillionaire, HBO
Run, don’t walk, and see this unforgettable film. Miranda July’s feature is about many things — con artists, California living, a bubble factory, and waiting for The Big One. But mostly, it’s about tenderness. It’s likely the strangest movie you’ll ever see, but it’s one that will stay with you forever.
Promising Young Woman, HBO
One of the buzziest dramas in recent years, Promising Young Women is not another trite take capitalizing on the political moment. It’s a real meditation on pain, morality, revenge, and the worst parts of ourselves and the people around us. This is another heavy watch, but its fast pace and provocative questions will remain in your mind long after.
Clueless, HBO
This nostalgic 90s classic is the perfect example of what happens when women are in the driver’s seat. Based on Jane Austen’s Emma, this whimsical adaptation is as charming as Cher — based on the novel’s titular Emma Woodhouse — is handsome, clever, and rich. There’s a version of this film in which Cher is merely a shallow object built for our ridicule and to serve as comedic relief. However, Cher is complex, redeemable, and the center of a film ultimately about female friendships.
Nomadland, Hulu
Chloe Zhao is one of the industry’s best and brightest. She shot to fame after the success of Nomadland, a startlingly beautiful exploration of the American West. This award-winning feature made history when Zhao won best director. It’s the perfect balance of sweeping landscapes and displays of personal emotion.
Like most NYU students, Christine from Lady Bird needed therapy
It's a tale as old as time: the search for catharsis.
And since movies are the form of storytelling most apt for mindless escapism, film tropes have emerged to give us the satisfying feeling of catharsis through well-worn story structure and character formulations.
Every genre of film has seen iterations of the cathartic "hero's journey": violent blockbusters, fantasy epics, even charming indies. When executed well, you have a great film. But even a subpar movie can give that feeling of release if it follows some of the tried and true story elements — hence the endless Fast & Furious, Mission Impossible, James Bond sequels, and the like.
Most often, the exchange between tension and catharsis is played up every summer for major box office films. The majority of these star mysterious, jaded protagonists who are looking for catharsis through revenge or triumph. What draws us to these characters is often their rugged determination and their single-minded focus. These protagonists (mostly men) are often successful in their pursuits … but at what cost?
As we become more and more aware of the toxic messaging of culture and media, and more and more knowledgeable about mental health, some of the classic hero tropes are beginning to lose their aspirational luster. The proliferation of characters who are textbook definitions of toxic masculinity or male fantasies of "damaged" women no longer has the hold on us that it once had.
As filmmaking becomes more complex, different and diverse stories are making their way to the forefront, moving even mainstream movies away from contrived formulas and one-dimensional protagonists. And with increased access to and conversation about mental health, characters are getting more self-aware and films are increasingly exploring characters on journeys to catharsis through self-knowledge and therapy.
As we acclimate to a new era and move away from the overly familiar angst and aggressions of tropic protagonists, rewatching iconic films often begs the question: What if this character had just … gone to therapy?
Bruce Wayne in "Batman"
Pretty much every popular superhero should be in therapy. Most of their origin stories depend on some unresolved trauma that they work through by saving everybody else. Peter Parker feeling responsible for Uncle Ben's death? Therapy. Orphaned alien Clark Kent? Therapy. Bruce Wayne watching his parents die and inheriting billions of dollars as a kid? Therapy.
And because Bruce Wayne's origin story doesn't depend on any mutations or supernatural ability, his entire superhero persona is built out of a childhood fear of bats (more therapy) and money he could have used to fund community programs to reduce crime — someone should have given him a book on abolitionist theory, too — instead of engineering technology to fight it himself.
The Christian Bale iteration of Batman (because we don't talk about George Clooney's nipple-heavy batman suit, nor Ben Affleck's Zack Snyder version) sees the young Bruce Wayne searching for meaning and purpose in the wake of his parent's death. But instead of going on a stoic sojourn to learn hand-to-hand combat, he should have just talked to someone.
The fantasy genre is also ridden with orphaned children who turn their trauma into the pursuit for justice. The most popular example has to be Harry Potter. After a life of torment and mistreatment by his uncle and aunt, Harry gets to live out the fantasy of any neglected child: escape.
And somehow, going off to Hogwarts and coming into his parents' money seemed to solve everything for Harry — though who is going to talk about the fact that he squandered his obscene wealth on novelty candy, quidditch gear, and butterbeer while his best friend literally lived in poverty?
Sure, he endured years of abuse at home and watched some of his friends die in the war against the dark arts (RIP Cedric Diggory, Robert Pattinson's most iconic role), but everything turned out fine.
In reality, Harry's internal struggles about his parents, his childhood, and even his more Slytherin side could have been a lot less emotionally taxing if he had gone to therapy. And maybe he wouldn't have ended up becoming the magic world's equivalent of a cop, either.
The Narrator in "Fight Club"
The narrator in Fight Club is famously suffering from insomnia and probably anxiety from his dissatisfaction with his life — so much so that he lives in a disembodied state and creates an imagined version of himself. And though he seeks out sleeping medication and support groups, his unexamined life is the cause of his extreme dissociation.
Though he blames the monotomy of consumerist society (and he does makes some points, hence the cultish following the book and film have both garnered), looking for meaning through physical violence and hyper masculine aggression is not the answer — which was, in fairness, Chuck Palahniuk's point.
And while the narrator has a revelation about his mental state at the end, he never truly comes to terms with the deep-seated emotional unrest that started him on his downward path. He's a prime candidate for therapy, and so is every member of the fight club, as well as anyone in real life who tells you it's their favorite book and film for any reason other than Brad Pitt circa 1999. That's a cry for help.
Cliff Booth in "Once Upon a Time In ... Hollywood"
Speaking of Brad Pitt, he was undoubtedly the highlight of Quentin Tarantino's 2019 Once Upon a Time in … Hollywood. The film, a love letter to Hollywood and the '70s, starred Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt as an actor-stunt double duo, a combination which made for a glorious press tour and an even more glorious award season filled with Brad Pitt acceptance speeches that felt like a Mr. Congeniality tour, and we were here for it.
But, like any Tarantino production, Once Upon a Time in … Hollywood was deeply flawed. The classic Tarantino revenge fantasy played out a version of the '70s in which the Manson murder of Sharon Tate never happened becuase it was stopped in its tracks by Leo and Brad's characters. But despite the retributive ending, Brad's character, Cliff Booth, had a lot to answer for.
The repressed violence which he unleashed on the would-be murderers is moralized by his righteous victory but is more sinister than the resolution makes it seem. A key, but under discussed character point is that Booth was rumored to have killed his wife for being … annoying? There is also a scene in which he attacks a fictionalized, highly stereotyped version of Bruce Lee while on set … also for being annoying.
And while all is well that ends well for Cliff Booth, we could have done without the problematic violence that was one of the baselines of his character. Or, at the very least, he could have done with some therapy.
Barry Egan in "Punch Drunk Love"
Adam Sandler might be known for his goofy slapstick comedy, but his most celebrated roles are those in which he plays neurotic, anxious characters who get themselves into more trouble than they need to.
Most recently, 2019's Uncut Gems sees Sandler as a self-sabotaging jewelry merchant who comes into some luck and quickly loses it. But the precursor to this role is his role in Paul Thomas Anderson's Punk Drunk Love. Sandler plays Barry Egan, an anxious, shy man who is prone to the occasional violent outburst.
The movie follows Barry as he tries to pursue love while the pressure mounts from all sides — his overbearing family, his job, an extortionist, his own internal monologue. Egan's actions push him further and further into a spiral which could have been alleviated had he just gone to therapy, from finding the confidence to pursue his love interest to dealing with the pressures of his work and his family to addressing his violent bursts and self-criticism.
The Entirety of "The Breakfast Club"
Nothing has come close to capturing the suburban teen mood as well as the cultish charms of John Hughes films in the 80s. And while time has illuminated the way in which they were problematic and exclusive, they still have an appeal to even teenagers now.
What has kept them transcendent is their focus on teen anxieties, which make young people feel, in some ways, understood. The Breakfast Club is undoubtedly John Hughes's magnum opus for its timelessness. In a way, the characters act out a version of a support group and group therapy, finding catharsis through sitting on the library floor, talking out their feelings and writing a manifesto for the ages.
It's comforting, especially when you watch and marvel at The Breakfast Club for the first time as a trembling ball of teenage need, to think that you can confess all your secrets to a group of friends and suddenly be healed. Unfortunately, this is not the case.
Though they practice some of the pillars of therapy, talking about their lives, thoughts, feelings, and upbringings, each of the characters is a prime candidate for actual therapy, more than a moment of tenderness with a group of strangers can provide.
Jamie Rellis in "Friends with Benefits"
It's not just men that are thrust into tropes that think "complexity" is interchangeable with "emotionally stunted, repressed, and in desperate need of professional guidance." However, women are usually portrayed this way by men who don't give them the same agency as their male counterparts. Instead of the rescuer, they're the rescued. Instead of powerful and calculating, they're seen as heartless and unlovable — until they can finally open up again for the right man.
A lot of the time, this is the formula for romantic comedies in which stressed out, career-obsessed women need only one thing to solve their problems: a man. Even in self-aware romantic comedies which try to subvert the genre fall into the same trap. In Friends with Benefits, Mila Kunis plays Jamie Rellis, a fast-talking, brusk New Yorker who wants love but settles for an entanglement with J*stin T*mberlake's character, Dylan.
Jamie is supposed to be "not like other girls" because she's "realistic" about love, despite being a romantic at heart … which scares potential partners away. But her backstory, which is dropped into the film during conversation to establish her character without doing any of the work, reveals that she still hasn't processed her childhood trauma — an absent father, an unreliable mother, an unstable living situation.
But all of these details are just fodder for her quirkiness, and despite the ways they come up in her life and continually leave her disappointed, they are never addressed beyond her search for romance. Like most romantic comedies, what eventually completes Jamie is, you guessed it, love and grand gestures.
The romantic-comedy industrial complex has primed so many of us to think of relationships as the solutions to our problems, and that the "right person" will either accept us as we are or fix us. But bringing trauma into relationships will never end well, no matter what the end of Friends with Benefits tells you.
Every Manic Pixie Dream Girl Ever
Perhaps the most ubiquitous therapy-ready trope that women are thrust into in films is the manic pixie dream girl who is defined as a woman who "exists solely in the fevered imaginations of sensitive writer-directors to teach broodingly soulful young men to embrace life and its infinite mysteries and adventures."
The term was coined in reference to Kirsten Dunst's character in Elizabethtown and is pretty much everywhere. Often, what makes these characters so quirky and full of disdain for the conventions of life is their own trauma. These women, all alone in their white girl pain (a phrase used by Safy-Hallan Farah), are defined by their own vague sadnesses, which never get the chance to be addressed because they're not the focus of the movie.
So take all the MPDGs to therapy, give them their lives back, and free them from the clutches of these boring white men — who all need therapy, too.
Amy Dunne in "Gone Girl"
In an attempt to give back female characters' agency and subvert many of the tired tropes of women, Gillian Flynn wrote Gone Girl to give women a good villain. In a 2006 essay, Flynn wrote: "I've grown quite weary of the spunky heroines, brave rape victims, soul-searching fashionistas that stock so many books … I particularly mourn the lack of female villains — good, potent female villains."
With this in mind, Gone Girl, both the book and its film adaptation, gives us Amy Dunne, who fakes her own murder and watches her husband take the blame, only to end up forced back with him when her plan backfires. The saga is no doubt entertaining, and though it has been interpretated as feminist by some and mysoginistic by others, what can not be doubted is that Amy Dunne was in need of therapy.
The seemingly perfect wife claims in the infamous "cool girl monologue" that she, as women everywhere do, tailored herself into a version of the woman her husband wanted. The cool girl trope has been endlessly used — and some say it has evolved into a version of "cool girls" on social media who exist not to satisfy the male gaze but for social validation from other "cool girls" — but if anyone is out here changing their whole personality for external approval, this is your sign to attend therapy.
And if anyone is planning to frame their husband for their murder because they found out he is cheating, also time for therapy.
Lady Bird in "Lady Bird"
An instant cult classic, 2017's Lady Bird is the journey of a '90s era high school senior trying to escape the suburbs and her life on "the wrong side of the tracks." She tries her hand at escape tactics of the imagination: reinvention through her new name, theatre, relationships, and straight out lies about her life.
But Lady Bird (nee Christine) cannot actually escape her home, her circumstances, or her tumultuous relationship with her mother. The Greta Gerwig picture is tender, emotional, and artfully complex, painting a complicated picture of a complicated life. It seems for a moment that Christine won't get the escape she wants, and she will reckon with her life in some other way, but at the last minute, she is whisked away by an acceptance to NYU and goes off to the big city.
Promptly, she becomes that kid who gets rushed off to the hospital with alcohol poisoning at her first college party. After that experience, she has an epiphany and sends a letter to her mother which hints at reconciliation. But Christine is still reconciling with so much, and her penchant for drama and avoidance of her real life really ought to be addressed beyond her nostalgia.
Lady Bird is part of the zeitgeist of women-led stories which are unflinchingly intimate with flawed, lovable characters. But some of them could be spared a world of trouble by attending therapy. Here's to hoping.
All the events clogging up our calendars and "wanna grab dinner?" texts waiting to be answered, we're feeling a little overwhelmed. And even though theaters are open and we're happy to support all our favorite local cinema spots, sometimes you just want to sit in the sweatpants that held you through quarantine and stream something from home.
The Summer Blockbuster of yore is a thing of the past now that there is a steady stream of new, exciting content on streaming sites seemingly every day. It can be hard to sift through all the new content, so we've picked out the best for you.
Here is the best new content coming to streaming platforms in July 2021.
July 2: Summer of Soul — Hulu
Questlove's Summer of Soul unearths forgotten footage from the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival, a six week summer event celebrating Black music — with sets from Stevie Wonder, Nina Simone, Sly & the Family Stone, Gladys Knight & the Pips, Ray Baretto, Abbey Lincoln & Max Roach and more. Despite the big names and the incredible performances, the festival went largely forgotten, overshadowed by Woodstock which happened the same year, until now.
Through archival footage and historical commentary, the documentary revives the brilliance of the summer of soul through celebration of Black art, culture, music, and joy. Questlove's directorial debut has already garnered rave reviews for this must-watch feature.
July 8: Gossip Girl — HBO Max
Attention Upper Eastsiders, it's almost time. The long awaited Gossip Girl reboot premieres on HBO Max on July 8. The new series picks up nine years after the last one left off, exploring how New York and NYC high schoolers have changed in the intervening years through political change, new social norms, and the prominence of social media.
The reboot also promises another slate of infuriatingly attractive cast members to watch galavant around New York in beautiful clothing, including: Thomas Doherty (who got to make out with Zoe Kravitz in High Fidelity, therefore a man we are supremely jealous of), Tavi Gevinson (former style blogger and editor of Rookie), Whitney Peak (darling of Chilling Adventures of Sabrina), and Evan Mock (the pink-haired skater who got famous from a Frank Ocean Instagram story so obviously we're already obsessed with him).
The show also promises to be more "socially conscious" this time around so we're waiting around to see what that looks like.
July 9: Black Widow — Disney+
Sure you could watch Black Widow in theaters, but skip the crowds, lines, and exorbitant popcorn prices and stay in to see it instead. The long-awaited Marvel film has been delayed for long enough, so you deserve to watch it the second it comes out from the comfort of your room. With Disney+ Premier Access, you can do just that.
The trailer has been living in our minds since the first teaser was released in 2019. The origin story promises all the Marvel action, alongside the anticipated telling of Natasha Romanoff's backstory. Florence Pugh also co-stars, which is always a good sign.
July 15: Never Have I Ever, Season 2 — Netflix
The highly anticipated second season of Mindy Khaling's semi-autobiographical series Never Have I Ever is back on July 15th. The show's first season got rave reviews for its diversity and irreverence, a whimsical example of exactly how television in 2021 should look — inclusive without feeling forced.
The coming-of-age comedy series follows Devi, a high schooler balancing the expectations of her Indian immigrant parents and her burgeoning sexuality. In season 2, Devi has her cake and wants to eat it too: trying to choose which of her fledgling romances to pursue. The show became a hit during quarantine and is back now as the perfect comfort binge watch. The only question: Team Ben or Team Paxton?
July 23: The Last Letter From Your Lover — Netflix
Based on a book of the same name, this Netflix romantic comedy looks like the perfect watch to ignite your desire for romance and perhaps make you shed a few tears. Watch it with your significant other or put it on your summer vision board, The Last Letter From Your Lover promises to be a saccharine feast for your romantic senses.
The film stars Shailene Woodley, Joe Alwyn, Callum Turner, Felicity Jones, and Nabhaan Rizwan in a story of two couples, one in the past and one in the present. It follows the emergent romance between one couple as they read the letters of a couple who were separated decades earlier. If you're a Nicholas Sparks lover, this one's for you.
BONUS: July 23: Ted Lasso, Season 2 — Apple TV+
Jason Sudeikis might have been the cursed, chaotic element of the 2021 awards season — his awkward acceptance speeches, his tie dye hoodie… we almost didn't survive it — but his award winning show Ted Lasso is a fan favorite and Season 2 premieres on July 23.
The show follows an American college football coach who transitions into coaching British football … aka, soccer. With no experience in the game (white men stumbling into a job they're unqualified for, classic) Ted Lasso makes it work with not much more than like, surprisingly heartwarming enthusiasm.
So you finally caved and got a Disney+ account. Or maybe you finally convinced your roommate/friend/parent to give you their password.
Whether you needed access to the exclusive content to watch Beyonce's Black Is King, Taylor Swift's Long Pond Sessions, Marvel's WandaVision (no, there will not be a Season Two unfortunately), or even High School Musical: The Musical: The Series because you're regrettably into that "drivers license" song (this is a safe space, you can admit it), you have it now, and it can be overwhelming to figure out what to watch when your series binge is over.
So between waiting for each new episode of Loki to premiere, the appeal of Disney+ is the wealth of nostalgia it offers. From the Disney Channel Original Movies you watched in your childhood and haven't thought about in years to family friendly slapstick comedies to watch as background noise, and not to mention all the Marvel, Pixar, and Star Wars films, there's so much to watch but luckily we have the time.
Aside from making your way through the Marvel catalogue, here are some of the best forgotten deep cuts buried in the Disney+ archive.
Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella (1997)
What a timeless duo
We've said it once and we'll say it forever: Rodgers and Hammerstein's 1997 Cinderella was lightyears ahead of its time, and still holds water.
So much of the film was revolutionary. Brandy's role as Cinderella was a big moment for Black girls everywhere and for Black culture, and the supporting cast of Whoopi Goldberg, Bernadette Peters, Paolo Montalban, and not to mention Whitney Houston is still the only good example of colorblind casting.
After months of pleading from fans, the film recently made its way onto Disney+ and is delighting a whole new generation just as much as the old ones. You never grow out of the feeling of effervescent joy and almost juvenile hope you get from hearing Whitney Houston sing that "impossible things are happening every day," and now more than ever that's something we all need to hear.
The Mighty Ducks (1992)
Like so many classic Disney films, The Mighty Ducks got a remake. The new version, The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers, shows a present day version of the titular team which is no longer a home for misfits and underdogs but an exclusive, competitive powerhouse — we all become the things we hate, I guess. Naturally, the new series follows a new team made of underdogs to reinvent the classic sequence of the original in a new context.
Whether you're catching up to gear up for the reboot or disavowing the new version completely, the 1992 film is the kind of movie you can watch on repeat. Starring a young Joshua Jackson as Charlie and Emilio Estevez at his peak, you can't go wrong with the feel-good coming of age story — or even with the sequels, which are also all available to stream.
The Princess Bride (1987)
Over the 30 years since its release, The Princess Bride has endured. Each rewatch is a reminder of how much of its language and how many of its jokes are embedded so deeply into our cultural lexicon. The casting also feels like a minefield of memory, remembering what younger versions of household names looked like when they were only sort-of famous.
What makes The Princess Bride a classic is that it is, at its heart, a classic story. But its self-awareness makes it more than just a fairytale or even just a slapstick adventure story. It's a little bit of everything for everyone. (Thank God Quibi failed before it could manifest its Joe Jonas and Sophie Turner remake.)
Sky High (2005)
Peep Cousin Greg in the back
Sky High somehow only gets better with age. For example, we couldn't appreciate then that the angsty Warren's name was literally a play on War and Peace. And who could have predicted that the then awkward and nerdy Nicholas Braun would now be known as the still awkward but even more beloved Succession character Cousin Greg?
Disney may have all the Marvel films on deck, but Sky High doesn't take itself so seriously. It's like a goofier version of X-Men, less concerned with the grit and the angst and more so with the characters' coming of age.
Cool Runnings (1993)
The ultimate feel-good film, Cool Runnings tells the story of the first Jamaican bobsled team. Based on a true story, the film follows a team of Jamaican sprinters who miss out on qualifying for the Olympics as runners so instead take on the winter Olympics as bobsledders.
Cool Runnings is all heart. It executes the underdog formula at its best with a cast of memorable characters, a constant stream of jokes, and a team that keeps us rooting for them on every rewatch.
Sister Act (1992)
Whoopi in the '90s didn't miss. When the GameStock thing happened, I rewatched The Associate (despite its unfortunate Donald Trump cameo) to pretend to understand Wall Street and, like, stocks. And to me, her Oscar-winning role in Ghost eclipses even the scene where Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore make the pottery or whatever.
But without a doubt, the Sister Act films are the best Whoopi Goldberg features — so good it's hard to choose a favorite between the original and the sequel with a young Lauryn Hill. But since they're both on Disney+, we don't have to choose.
Remember the Titans (2000)
Sorry Sandra Bullock in the Blind Side, Remember the Titans was the sports movie that fixed racism — or at least made the most enduring attempt. The post-racial fantasy, ubiquitous in the late 90s and early 2000s, imagines that good will and football are enough to change the world, and I almost believe them.
The Super Bowl: redundant. Denzel Washington: at his best. Remember the Titans might, admittedly, be overly simplistic about the causes and effects of racism but the chemistry between characters is compelling enough to carry the film and make it into something heartwarming and triumphant.
Home Alone (1990)
Home Alone plays seemingly on repeat on every cable network every Christmas, but in the off season it's nowhere to be found. Now that the series is on Disney+, there's no need to wait until December to watch it. There's no wrong time to watch Macaulay Culkin run around his house setting booby traps and laughing in delight.
Let's forget for a moment that the Hanks currently in the spotlight is Chet Hanks for his White Boy Summer and return to simpler times: when Tom Hanks immortalized the character of Woody in Toy Story.
The saga lasted four movies and fourteen years, culminating in the 2019 Toy Story 4 which had audiences of children and grown ups alike in tears, but the first is still the best to recapture that childhood feeling instantly.
Happy Pride to everyone who is still going to sit inside and rot while watching TV all month (read: us)!
But what to watch?
HBO has established themselves as always on the cutting edge of television, always pushing the boundaries of representation and chronicling the lives of underrepresented groups — not always, however, but where else would we get our fix of terrible rich white people if not for Succession?
From breaking boundaries in their representation of female friendship in Sex and the City at the turn of the century to doing so again with the now-dated, once revolutionary (for white women) Girls, to other dramas and thrillers and comedies, it makes sense that HBO Max is a hub of queer stories.
Their original content in recent years has produced a wealth of queer content and continues to move in that direction, boding well for both the future of representation and for our Pride Month watchlists.
Genera+ion
Starring rising queer icon Justice Smith (previously of Netflix's The Get Down and All The Bright Places), Genera+ion is one of the most honest portrayals of Gen Z on television. Disposing of the TikToking caracarures of other portrayals and the millennial-lite depictions found even in shows like Euphoria which get close, Genera+ion was intentionally researched and written to depict the increasingly queer generation Z.
The show follows a group of friends as they go through life and love, normalizing queer relationships on television without the overplayed narratives we've become accustomed to. And its fresh cast gives us a new, diverse representation of teens to empathize with and adore.
It’s A Sin
The smash British mini series It's A Sin premiered in 2020 to rave reviews for its careful blend of celebration and mourning of queer lives during the height of the AIDS crisis. Though many of the stories about the crisis show the devastation of the era, not many take care to show it through as diverse a lens.
Following a group of four friends in London, the miniseries boasts incredibly rendered characters with lives outside of their sexuality and their diagnoses. Perfect for an emotional June binge, it's both heartbreaking and heartwarming at once.
Legendary
After FX's Pose dazzled the screen with its look at the '70s ballroom scene, Legendary emerged to show the current stars of the scene. The reality show features both mainstream celebrities and legendary mainstays of contemporary ball culture.
With its diverse cast and dynamic energy, it offers a real life glimpse at ball culture to celebrate the persistence of the scene and its stars.
We Are Who We Are
By the director of 2017's Call Me By Your Name,We Are Who We Are is an achingly intimate portrayal of contemporary coming of age. The show follows two American high schoolers growing up on an army base in Italy, navigating their emergent queerness within the rigid structure of the base.
The series is an unflinching portrayal of their stumbling attempts to find themselves, to talk to their crushes, to figure out who they are. And, as you can expect from Luca Guadagnino, it's also a gorgeous cinematic experience that will have you astral projecting to a seaside town in Italy.
The Lady and the Dale
Based on a true story, The Lady and the Dale is a sumptuous feast of '70s aesthetics which tells the dramatic true story of Elizabeth Carmichael, who started a company to release a fuel-efficient car during the 1970s gas crisis.
The docu-series blends interviews and narrative to craft a compelling character study that shows the wild story of a thrilling, stranger-than-fiction saga.
Betty
Based on the real lives of female New York skaters, Betty is a dramaticized series and follow up to the 2018 indie feature film Skate Kitchen. The show walks us through the lives of a diverse group of skaters, not blinking an eye at their different backgrounds, aesthetics, or their queer relationships.
Ultimately, it's a chronicle of female friendship and an ode to a niche of some of the coolest girls is New York. You want to be them, you want to be with them — you know the deal.
Veneno
This Spanish-language drama is an instant cult classic. If you're not watching Veneno, what are you doing? Veneno has captured a niche and predominantly queer American audience for its compelling characters and captivating true story.
Based on the memoir Not a Whore, Not a Saint: The Memories of La Veneno by Valeria Vegas, the series illustrates the life of '90s trans icon Cristina Ortiz. A chronicle of kinship, the show is a feat of representation and inventive storytelling in how it portrays the multiplicity of all of its characters and asks how we are seen, how we want to be seen, and how we see ourselves.
Even with vaccines for everybody on the horizon, we're always looking for new movies to fill our time.
Over the past year, HBO Max has done a great job of appeasing our insatiable film addiction. From Hollywood classics to new releases, the subscription service is proving to be a wonderful investment for movie and TV junkies.
While HBO Max is probably best known for original series and documentaries, there are plenty of underrated films to check out. Below, we've listed just a few of our favorites.
Never Rarely Sometimes Always (2020)
In this independent drama, a 17-year-old named Autumn (Sidney Flanigan) ventures from her native rural Pennsylvania to New York City in order to get an abortion. As her journey becomes increasingly more complicated, Never Rarely Sometimes Always acts as a sobering commentary on modern healthcare and reproductive rights.
The Player (1992)
The Player, a landmark black comedy by Robert Altman, is perhaps one of the best-executed examples of satire in film history. It stars Tim Robbins as Griffin Mill, a Hollywood studio executive who begins receiving death threats from an anonymous screenwriter whose pitches have been rejected.
Persona (1966)
Swedish psychological drama Persona revolves around a nurse (Bibi Andersson) who begins caring for a famous stage actress who has suddenly stopped speaking (Liv Ullmann). As the pair spend time together, the nurse begins having difficulty differentiating herself from her patient.
Beginners (2010)
Beginners stars Ewan McGregor as Oliver, a young man struggling to navigate his own love life while he mourns the death of his father (Christopher Plummer). Plummer won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, making him — then 82 — the oldest actor to have ever won an Oscar.
Christopher Guest directed this goofy mockumentary in which an array of colorful characters show their ugly sides at the prestigious Mayflower Kennel Club Dog Show. The stacked cast includes Eugene Levy, Catherine O'Hara, Jane Lynch, Jennifer Coolidge, and Parker Posey.
My Night at Maud’s (1969)
Directed by French new wave icon Éric Rohmer, My Night at Maud's follows four characters — two devout Catholics and two atheists — throughout a series of chance encounters and an unlikely one-night stand.
Eraserhead (1977)
While it might not be the most well-known entry in David Lynch's filmography, his feature-length debut, Eraserhead, has held up over the past decades. The dystopian, surrealist drama stars Jack Nance as Henry Spencer, a fearful and skeptical man who is left alone with his grossly deformed newborn child.
In the Mood for Love (2000)
In the Mood for Love follows a man and woman who live in the same apartment building in Hong Kong. After realizing their respective partners have been having an affair with each other, the man and woman begin developing feelings, too.
Shoot the Piano Player (1960)
Another piece of critical viewing in the French new wave canon, Shoot the Piano Player follows a man named Charlie, a former classical pianist who has changed his name and now works in a divey Paris jazz bar. The crime drama unfolds when Charlie's brothers, on the run from a mob of gangsters, ask him for help.
Lady Snowblood (1973)
Based on the manga series of the same name, Lady Snowblood is about a young woman named Yuki (Meiko Kaji) who seeks vengeance against the villains who brutally assaulted her mother and murdered her other family members. The Japanese film served as a major inspiration for Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill.
Smithereens (1982)
Smithereens stars Susan Berman as Wren, a narcissistic young woman who's run away from her native New Jersey in hopes to be swept away by the punk subculture in New York City. When she realizes Los Angeles is more her speed, she begins engaging in parasitic relationships in hopes that someone will be able to help her achieve her dream lifestyle.
