Wes Anderson is making white movies again, thank God
Wes Anderson is making white movies again, thank God
On Asteroid City, Mariah Carey, and Lady Gaga
Just this week on Keep It, I was mourning Gwyneth Paltrow’s film career. Yes, her ski trial has been endlessly memeable (and Louis and I discussed it on the podcast so I won’t get into it here), but Gwyneth is an ACTRESS. Enough of this GOOP nonsense. She’s made her empire. We need the art again. And I truly, truly loved her in The Royal Tenenbaums, which is still Wes Anderson’s magnum opus to me. Anderson, a director I love, is a purveyor of what I’d call white excellence. He’s best when he’s writing about white people’s business and when he strays from that, like the weirdly racist Isle of Dogs set in Japan, I’m far less interested. Sofia Coppola is another such director — I wrote about the time people insisted she make The Beguiled about race and I was like hmmm, Idk about that one, let Sofia mind her business!
I think the industry should be doing more to elevate non-white voices than insist white creators make their work about non-white people. There’s a reason The Ladykillers is the Coen Bros’ worst film. Anyway, while I was hoping that Gwyneth would return to play with Anderson sometime soon, I had no idea there was an Asteroid City trailer dropping this week. And look at this cast! Jason Schwartzman. Tom Hanks. Bryan Cranston. Edward Norton. Adrien Brody. Liev Schrieber. The cream of the crop of white actors. And to further push my theory, you’ve got Tilda Swinton and Scarlett Johansson in here too, two white actors who’ve played Asian before to messy results, and I am very happy to see them back in their own lanes.
Re: Gwyneth Paltrow
I realized that I have a couple blind spots when it comes to her films. I’ve never seen Sliding Doors or Hard Eight, the latter is especially surprising since Paul Thomas Anderson is another of my favorite directors. I’ll report back once I’ve seen them.
Mariah Carey and Lady Gaga recently celebrated their anniversaries (birthdays) and what better time to rank my top five songs from two of my favorite artists.
Mariah Carey
Bonus: Someday (New 12” House Shep Pettibone Remix), I Still Believe (Morales Classic Club Mix)
Mariah has some of the best house remixes around and I’d be remiss to not include two of my favorites that I love hearing spun (usually at Paradisco in New York), alongside my actual top five. The first three are just classic singles from three different Mariah eras that are so important to me. “Alone in Love” is a recent obsession, from when I rediscovered Mariah’s debut album during 2020. There was also a beautiful scene set to it in Pose. And then there’s “Stay the Night,” one of the sexiest songs ever created.
Lady Gaga
I’ve been a “Judas” stan from the jump and I don’t care that it sounds like “Bad Romance,” it’s the one I prefer. “Summerboy” is a classic and it’s criminal that this is the only video we have of her performing it live. “Applause” is a Leo anthem. “So Happy I Could Die” fits my emo side and “Plastic Doll” is such a perfectly constructed pop song that also doubles as a commentary on her relationship with her fans. The latter deserves a bit more love!!
Puth gets it.
On this week’s Keep It: We discuss Gwyneth Paltrow’s ski trial, Taylor Swift’s Eras tour, “Cuff It” dethroning “Halo” as Beyoncé’s longest charting single, Jonathan Majors’ arrest, and White Lotus’ season three location. Plus, Jasmin Savoy Brown joins to discuss her roles in Yellowjackets and the Scream franchise, her love of Broadway, and more.
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I was listening to Keep It, heard you talk about Wes Anderson getting back to his roots of making weird movies, and then I open Twitter to see a trailer for a trailer for a weirdo Wes Anderson movie. The synergy!