The Frank 10

The week's culture: Horror marathons, Doja Cat, Jaja's African Hair Braiding

Introducing The Frank 10, where I’ll toss out 10 things I’ve been into this week (and a few things to avoid). These will be free for the first couple installments, then will be available only to subscribers.

Criterion’s High School Horror Series

It’s SPOOKY SEASON (despite my Keep It co-host hating that term) and I’ve been spending most of my time immersed in horror. The Criterion Channel added a bunch of horror films about the hell that comes with being a teenager and it’s full of several films I haven’t seen before, as well as a few of my faves: Massacre at Central High, Suspiria, Prom Night, The Slumber Party Massacre, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, The Craft, I Know What You Did Last Summer, The Faculty, Battle Royale, Ginger Snaps, Donnie Darko, Battle Royale II: Requiem.

Obviously, The Craft is a classic. And real horror fans know that I Know What You Did Last Summer is not only one of the slasher genre’s best films, but it’s got one of its best scripts (courtesy of Kevin Williamson) and the best cast next to the original Scream (another Williamson classic). The Faculty is a certified banger. It was the first film I watched on the list, and my first time watching since its initial release. I’d forgotten Robert Rodriguez directed this, but that’s why it’s such a fun, messy, wild ride. He took all of his From Dusk ‘til Dawn vibes and threw them onto a Breakfast Club send-up with aliens. Absolutely deserves to be on Criterion. My second watch was The Slumber Party Massacre which was incredibly stupid and very funny and a nice send-up of ‘80s horror gender tropes. And of course, I’d seen the original Prom Night before (I remember it being fine, we’ll see on rewatch). And Suspiria is one of the best films ever made. Period.

Here is where I’ll admit I’ve never actually seen Donnie Darko, or any of the other films on the list. Part of me wants to finish watching the initial run of Twin Peaks before I watch Fire Walk With Me, but I stalled somewhere in the middle of season two which was incredibly boring. I’ll revisit the collection once I’ve seen the other films.

Starfucker

You’ve probably heard the name Slayyyter before. She’s very pop rap hyper pop sleaze and her new album Starfucker is full of dance floor and fucking anthems.

Scarlet

I love Doja Cat down. Even when she annoys me, I love her. Even when I’m confused, I love her. I wasn’t quite sure what I thought about the singles leading up to the release of Scarlet but I’m now absolutely on board after her VMA performance and hearing the full album. There’s bangers. There’s bars. Nobody’s doing it like her. I can’t wait to see her in concert in November.

But also, as much as I love the hard rap songs, I’m just a vibes bitch. “Angora Hills” is so moody and Charli XCX coded that it’s my immediate fave. It reminds me a bit of “Options” from Planet Her, which I didn’t know until recently was co-written by one of my faves, Mayer Hawthorne.

Tension

Kylie Minogue’s new album Tension is one of her best in recent years. I’m still figuring out which songs are my faves but “Hands” is serving S Club 7 in the best possible way. The entire album is bubbly, sexy mid 2000s pop. Who could hate that?

The Saw series

I’ve only seen about two Saw films and I’m waiting for edits on my book so why not watch the entire Saw franchise before Saw X comes out? I rewatched the first film in the franchise, starring my king Cary Elwes (yeah yeah, The Princess Bride and Men in Tights, but also season 9 of The X-Files). And I re-confirmed that yes, Saw is that girl. A genre defining film that has a lot more going for than “torture porn.” I hadn’t seen this in years but the characters, the dialogue, the whole atmosphere of it all makes a moody, sardonic classic. The puppet is instantly iconic. Shrouded killers running around in cloaks doing martial arts is the real goofy part of this (that Wan made into a whole movie with the idiotic and perfect film Malignant).

Mystery and Manners: Occasional Prose

You can thank Brandon Taylor for tweeting about Flannery O’Connor as my impetus for picking up Mystery and Manners, a collection of O’Connor’s essays on writing. I carried it to dinner this week at Lulu & Po in Fort Greene (delicious as hell, get the beans and rice and put them in your bone marrow tacos) and then to a hookup’s apartment and spent most of the night explaining why Flannery is that bitch. I read him a few passages from the book, which despite the time they were written in, feel incredibly current. Imagine that, writers have always been fighting against the commercialization and basicifying of art.

“When He Missed a Beyoncé Concert, the Hive Went to Work”

I teared up reading this story! The Renaissance World Tour has meant so much to me this summer and I’ve had the privilege of seeing it three times. This story about a man who tried flying to see the show but couldn’t because of his electric wheelchair is more than just a feel good story it’s also a good story about how we need to make travel more accessible in America.

Donyale Luna: Supermodel

An excellent HBO documentary on the legendary, but largely unknown supermodel Donyale Luna. The documentary does a good job of explaining who she was, what she meant to the industry, and just how gutsy she was to be whatever the fuck she wanted to be.

Jaja’s African Hair Braiding

Jocelyn Bioh’s Broadway debut is Beauty Shop meets August Wilson, depicting the lives of women who work in a Harlem hair braiding shop. My friend Nana Mensah stars in it, also her Broadway debut, and I thought it was hilarious and moving and a great take on immigration in America. I could probably lose the final scene, however, which drives the point home a bit too hard, but also Broadway audiences are notoriously stupid so they probably need it.

Jaja’s African Hair Braiding opens October 3 at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre. It’s in previews now.

Connie Fleming’s The Alphas

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If you don’t know Connie Fleming (a.k.a. Connie Girl) you don’t know New York! A Mugler model turned iconic door woman who rules over the line at The Standard, she’s also become a friend after we did a Pride campaign together for LVMH. This week, she debuted her new art collection The Alphas at Calligaris in Chelsea. Visit Connie’s IG for more info.

Not on the List

I do not support the song “Bongos” because it is abysmal and has maybe Cardi and Megan’s laziest raps. BUT since it is a Jersey remix summer (well, yes!) and if you can’t get it out of your head (it is an earworm), then at least listen to the Jersey remix.

Here Lies Love

This musical from Fat Boy Slim and David Byrne has its fans. I am not one of them. The concept musical, about the life of former Philippine first lady Imelda Marcos is pretty muddled and speeds through bullet points in her life to tell everything instead of focusing on a singular important event in her life (which is my chief complaint against most biopics.) Also, the music doesn’t really build to any type of emotional resonance, it just feels like a collection of disco and pop songs. I also made the unfortunate decision to stand in the show’s pit, where you and the rest of the audience in the pit are continuously moving along with the stage. I did not have a great time.