The Bechdel Test, created by Fun Home author Alison Bechdel, is a measure used in critiquing works of fiction. The test asks a simple question: does this work feature at least two women who talk to each other about something other than a man? In 1985, when the Bechdel Test was published, this idea was a novel and radical thought. The test gained popularity and ultimately became a fast-handed way to loosely assess a works of fiction. And although there are critiques of the test—mainly, two women...

I was not a cheerleader in high school and I don’t regret making that choice. What I do regret, however, is spending literally any of my time over the past 21 years watching any film that doesn’t feature at least one high school football game. I miss drinking vodka out of a water bottle and pretending to know what's going on. I miss "spirit week" even though I hardly ever participated. Thankfully, there are plenty of films that feature cheerleading, a sport that is almost...

It should come as no surprise that Sofia Coppola’s newest project, On the Rocks, confirms her status as an eminently masterful and dynamic filmmaker. As it was with The Bling Ring, The Beguiled, and Marie Antoinette, Coppola’s range—from atmospheric, murderous melancholy to biting humor—is on full display, along with her laser-focused characterization.   Rashida Jones and Bill Murray star as a daughter and father at tenuous ends of a warm but complicated relationship. Murray, as Felix, is what can politely be called an incorrigible flirt—which, less euphemistically, means that he cannot...

Politically speaking, so much has changed recently that events from three years ago might feel like they happened in another lifetime. Or maybe, while preoccupied with Trump and Brexit, you missed the wild story behind the assassination of Kim Jong-nam, the onetime heir apparent to former North Korean leader Kim Jong-il. In February 2017, Kim Jong-nam was assassinated in a crowded airport terminal by two young women who snuck up behind him and rubbed the lethal VX nerve agent into his eyes. Many believed they...

Merry Christmas Eve Eve Busties! As we gear up for the last two days before the joyful holiday, you might find yourselves wrapping presents, setting up those Zoom links or finalizing those delicious holiday dinner meals. No matter what you’ll be busy with for the next few days, what better way to enjoy your festivity prep than with a classic Christmas movie. Here are some must-sees of the season.  How The Grinch Stole ChristmasNetflix is home to the infamous Dr. Seuss original brought to life. However,...

The feature debut of Tanzanian American writer/director Ekwa Msangi, Farewell Amor, follows an immigrant family from Angola that reunites 17 years after husband and father Walter (Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine) left for New York to work as a cab driver and establish a home for those he left behind. When he is finally able to bring over his wife Esther (Zainab Jah) and daughter Sylvia (Jayme Lawson) to share his small Brooklyn apartment, expectations shatter as he realizes he is as alien to them as...

Writer/director Ekwa Msangi’s feature film debut, Farewell Amor, follows an Angolan family as they attempt to reconnect after almost two decades living on different continents. Walter (Ntare Mwine) and Esther (Zainab Jah) met and fell in love in Angola during the Civil War. While Esther and their daughter, Sylvia (Jayme Lawson), stayed as refugees in Tanzania, Walter immigrated to New York City alone to create a home for the family. When the audience meets this family, Walter is picking up Esther and Sylvia from the airport...

Rachel Brosnahan and Arinzé KeneI’m Your Woman takes well-worn crime tropes and turns them on their heads by centering typically supporting characters—the meek wife, the stoic henchman—and offering them a chance to redefine themselves. Jean (Rachel Brosnahan) is a glamorous ’70s housewife who’s sleepwalking through life until her husband Eddie brings home a baby. He doesn’t offer an explanation and Jean doesn’t press him—after all, being married to a criminal is full of surprises. But after one of Eddie’s murky deals goes south, she and...

Clea DuVall is trailblazing queer Christmas rom-coms with Happiest Season (out on Hulu November 25), a coming out story that blends traditional home-for-the-holidays romance with the emotional depth of identity and self-acceptance. DuVall proves that both can exist, breaking away from a heteronormative love story while tapping into the season's cliché sappiness. When Harper (Mackenzie Davis) invites her girlfriend Abby (Kristen Stewart) home for the holidays, she fails to mention one thing - that her family thinks Harper is straight and that Abby is her “orphan...

As Greta Thunberg sits in front of the Swedish parliament with her now-iconic sign reading “School Strike for the Climate,” an older woman approaches her. The woman isn't coming to encourage the young activist.  Instead, she chides Thunberg for striking from school and says, “If you get an education. you can affect the future. That's what you're supposed to do, you young people.” Now, almost two years after her first school strike, Thunberg is tired of hearing these words. The Hulu original documentary I Am Greta, ...