what does your fave fictional couple say about you?
also i'm extremely here for emma stone's cruella
Hey guys,
It’s been a rough couple of weeks. I have more work (yay!) which I hope to share with you once it’s published but that also means that I’ve had to prioritise my paying gigs. So going forward the newsletter will be published every second week, one week the podcast, the next week the newsletter and so on and so forth.
This week we are talking about fictional couples, that Cruella trailer and, as always, my recs for the week:
this one is for you, klaus and caroline
This week in a bonus episode of the podcast, I was joined by Zama Gxarisa. Zama hosts the podcast, Starring Cupid, which is all about fictional couples (I recommended it in a previous newsletter). Starring Cupid is all about discovering what it is about certain couples that makes your heart ache for them. In the episode, Zama and I discussed the patterns that we noticed in the couples we swooned for.
Like I pointed out in the episode between Klaus and Caroline in The Vampire Diaries, Emma and Knightley in Emma, and Dan and Blair in Gossip Girl, I noticed I tended to like fictional couples that have a fair amount of arguing (does not have to be enemies to lovers) and especially a pair that are continually pushing each other to be better. I mean, this is not always the case, but this was the biggest thread I could point out.
Since the conversation with Zama, I’ve been analysing what couples in TV and movies I’ve become obsessed with. I spent the last 24 hours bingeing the upcoming Netflix series, Ginny & Georgia, I’m still under embargo, but I can say that my favourite ship in there caught me completely off-guard. I do like a good surprise, nothing should be too predictable. It also has plenty of longing and angst, just as I like it. Ginny & Georgia comes out on Wednesday, after you watch drop me a message on here or on social media and let me know what couple you liked.
cruella
This week the trailer of Emma Stone’s Cruella film was released and while lots of people had lots of opinions, I am quite keen for it. I was obsessed with 101 Dalmatians when it came out in 1996/7, it was even the theme of my 8th birthday party. And a lot of that was owed to how much I love Glenn Close’s Cruella de Vil.
Cruella De Vil is the perfect villain, there is nothing redeeming about her, she just wants to do bad shit, and apologise to no one. You got to respect the hustle. There are no two sides to the story, she’s just high fashion and pure evil. The reason why I think Emma Stone could be an excellent Cruella is that Emma is a strong comedy actor who can lean almost completely into camp, similarly to what Glenn Close did. I have no idea what the film is about, this trailer just showed us chaos, but I am cautiously optimistic.
recs:
Film: Prisoners - A shoutout to The Movie Club Club on Instagram who recommended this film or might never have seen it. A thriller that kept me guessing until the end, it was so well-paced and written, and Jake Gyllenhaal did the things that had to be done. I would highly recommend this. You can watch it on Showmax.
Series: The Bay - If you are looking for a short crime drama series to pass the time with, The Bay is a new British one on Showmax. It’s nothing terribly spectacular but it will scratch your itch for mystery and drama. You can read my review for Channel24 here and watch it on Showmax here.
Film: Malcolm & Marie - This film that was all the rage is worth it for Zendaya’s acting, the cinematography and to get a lot of the acting jokes. I had a lot of opinions about it in my review for Channel24. You can watch it on Netflix.
Film: To All The Boys: Always and Forever: I loved the conclusion to one of my favourite teen movie franchises. I felt that they perfectly balanced ending the series while still making it realistic for the characters. You can read my review for Channel24 here and watch it on Netflix here.
Documentary: All In: The Fight for Democracy - This is such an interesting documentary about the history of voter suppression in the USA, and framed against the Georgia narrative and Stacy Abrahms campaign for governor. You can watch it on Amazon Prime.
Film: I Care A Lot: I was obsessed with this film. Rosamund Pike did such an amazing job with a juicy juicy role. If you are looking to be entertained and on the edge of your seat, you should give this a watch. Read my review for Channel24 here and you can watch it on Netflix here.
what’s ign crushing on
Our latest episode of the podcast was all about Fate: The Winx Saga. Sloan and Zayaan Schroeder Mollagee joined us to discuss the show – what we enjoyed, what we didn’t, our favourite characters and what we think they should change in season two.
And then I spoke to the cast of the show – Abigail Cowen (Bloom), Danny Griffin (Sky), Elisha Applebaum (Musa), Hannah van der Westhuysen (Stella), Precious Mustapha (Aisha) and Eliot Salt (Terra). We chatted about their hope for season 2, what they loved about their characters and my hopes for a Musa and Riven endgame.