Everything we canât stop loving, hating, and thinking about this week in pop culture.
[Manage newsletters]( [View in browser]( [The logo for Daily Beast's Obsessed] Everything we canât stop loving, hating, and thinking about this week in pop culture. with Kevin Fallon Everything we canât stop loving, hating, and thinking about this week in pop culture. with Kevin Fallon This Week - That movie (and that butt) [is how old](??? - My totally accurate Oscar predictions. - The movie I canât wait for. - My favorite performance on TV right now. - My single [Traitors finale]( take. A Perfect Movie for a Perfect Generation Even the Marcia fucking Brady of the Upper East Side gets gray hair. At least thatâs what Iâm saying to comfort myself upon learning that Cruel Intentions, one of the rare instances of an absolutely perfect filmâkeep your rosebud, [Orson Welles](âturned 25 this week. Celebrating this quarter-century milestone might be an occasion to feel unfathomably oldâunless of course, like me, you werenât even born yet when the film originally came out. Ha! Iâm so young! Definitely wasnât of a formative age such that this movie, its performances, delectable dialogue, and one [monumental set of butt cheeks]( imprinted on me forever! Nope, no sir! Does it help matters that the beholder of that aforementioned luscius rump that shaped the libidos (and, for a certain subsetâhi!) sexualities of a generation still [looks like this]( at age 49? Well, itâs at the very least inspiring. After seeing those photos, I may take the weekend to refurbish the clothing rack in my bedroom back into its intended form as an exercise bike. Anniversaries of beloved films breed a kaleidoscope of emotions, a blurred collage of nostalgia, wistfulness, joy, and some notes of bitterness; itâs a cruel world in which a piece of art attached to such vibrant, fond memories has aged to the point it reminds us of how old weâve gotten. Thatâs certainly the case with Cruel Intentions. It canât be possible that [Sarah Michelle Gellar](, [Ryan Phillippe](, [Reese Witherspoon](, and [Selma Blair]( opened that film 25 years ago. But the occasion of its birthdayâcongrats on being able to rent a car!âis apt for exploring what it was about the campy teen psychosexual drama that pierced the zeitgeist like a lightning bolt in 1999, with a jolt thatâs kept its fans charged for the two-and-a-half decades since. Cruel Intentions was a reimagining of Pierre Choderlos de Laclos' 1782 novel Les Liaisons dangereuses, set at a fancy high school where Manhattanâs richest and most privileged attendâa concept so bizarre that it was either a stroke of a genius or an indication that a development exec was having a stroke. (Obviously, the creative gamble paid off.) Sarah Michelle Gellar was Kathryn, the schoolâs social chess master who used everyone in her orbit as pawns in devious schemes that were often meant to hurt, and typically for no reason other than her own amusement. Ryan Phillippe was her stepbrother Sebastian, a dreamboat who earned his reputation as a cad, and whose desire to bang the âonly person he canât haveââhis stepsisterâis the catalyst for Kathrynâs tangled web of plotting. Kathryn wants Sebastian to seduce cartoonishly naive incoming freshman Cecile (Selma Blair), a deflowering that would appall Cecileâs mother (Christine Baranski, a key casting in elevating Cruel Intentions to gay iconography) and exact revenge on Kathrynâs ex, Court (Charlie OâConnell), who is now dating Cecile. Sebastian is on his own sex-motivated mission, though: The schoolâs new headmasterâs daughter, Annette (Reese Witherspoon), published an essay in Seventeen about the virtue of teens saving themselves for marriage, and he wants to rebut her piousness by getting her to sleep with him. Save for his stepsister, itâs the ultimate conquest. For the younger set, the filmâs acid-tongued, frank talk about sex and relationships presented a danger-tinged fantasy version of what being a grown-upâi.e. a high schooler who looks a twenty-something Hollywood celebrityâmight be like: a little scary, but an edgy thrill. For the target set the same age or slightly older than the characters, the film had a hilarious, smutty filter that exaggerated what were otherwise relatable concerns about social politics, self-consciousness, betrayal, and different, warring moral compasses that are a very real part of the high school experience. And for everyone else, including the audience that aged with the filmânow sharing a demographic with the charactersâ parentsâthe film was and is alternately shocking, salacious, ridiculous, and just plain fun. The film only works because of its perfect cast, one of the finest examples in modern movie history where a roster of âItâ actors assembled at the exact time their Hollywood quotient was skyrocketing. Writer-director Richard Kumbleâs dialogue drips with Shakespearean snark thatâs only as delicious as it is because the cast played the humor with surprising humanity. Each character is a familiar high-school archetypeâthe mean girl, the dreamy player, the goody two-shoesâbut the central trio of Gellar, Phillippe, and Witherspoon mine impressive, riveting depth from them, to the point that the movie almost graduates from being utterly silly to serious. Also, theyâre all so hot. So, letâs talk about the butt, because you canât talk about Cruel Intentions without talking about the quick flash of Ryan Phillippeâs butt in the pool scene. I feel sheepish being so crass and objectifying, but this isnât just a butt. Twenty-five years later, [it is pop-culture canon](, woven into the fabric of our very culture. It is such an important butt. The scene is both entirely gratuitous and the single most necessary and consequential frame in cinematic history. Watching it is akin to seeing color for the first time, discovering what it means to feel, or learning how to breathe. Gay men of a certain (my) age talk with each other and post on social media constantly about how the scene was an a-ha moment in their sexual awakenings, and have for 25 years. Do you know how perfect an ass has to be for that to be the case? But the bum is just one ingredient in creating Cruel Intentionsâ indelible legacy. Thereâs the performances, the soapiness, the devastating use of The Verveâs â[Bitter Sweet Symphony](,â the spitty same-sex French kiss, the unapologetic acknowledgement that teens have sex and do drugs, and the whole weird sort-of incest vibes. Iâd rather roll naked down a hill littered with pinecones and poison ivy than reignite the [Saltburn]( discourse, but there was something to the filmâs blackmailing and erstwhile naughtiness that managed to be both winking and sophisticated, which I think audiences missed in Saltburn. It understands the trauma of growing up, and how we manipulate how others see us because weâre so afraid of how we see ourselves. It has the romance of young love and young sexâboth the optimism of it and the doomed nature of itâall while being absolutely outrageous. The film has lasted for all of those reasons. And also Ryan Phillippeâs butt. Advertisement
Fill Out Your Scorecards This is a rare year for the [Oscars](. Not only are the nomineesâthis never happensâactually good, but every detail weâve heard about the show [makes me excited](. (Former winners as presenters! Ryan Gosling performing!) Weâre so conditioned to complain about the [Academy Awards]( telecast. This year, it might actually be fun! Iâm an awards gay, which means that I track all this silliness way more seriously than anyone should. So I thought Iâd offer my take on what will win this year, and also what I think should win. There are obviously a lot of projects and actors that I wish were in the conversation instead, but these are what I make of the actual nominees (so that I donât write a [400th post]( [advocating for]( [All of Us Strangers](). Best Picture Will Win: Oppenheimer Should Win: The Holdovers; A perfect movie about imperfect people. Best Director Will Win: Christopher Nolan - Oppenheimer Should Win: Christopher Nolan - Oppenheimer; That bomb going âboomâ was legitimately thrilling, and I used to want to press charges on directors of movies over two-and-a-half hours. Best Actor Will Win: Cillian Murphy - Oppenheimer Should Win: Paul Giamatti - The Holdovers; A treasured actor gets his perfect role, and we might get to see his statue at a [fast food restaurant]( as a bonus. Best Actress Will win: Lily Gladstone - Killers of the Flower Moon Should win: Sandra Hüller - Anatomy of a Fall; This is the only race thatâs not pre-ordained, and I think Emma Stone could take it for Poor Things. But when I think of this last year in acting, Sandra is what I keep going back to. Best Supporting Actor Will win: Robert Downey Jr. - Oppenheimer Should win: Ryan Gosling - Barbie; Every time Iâve rewatched this movie, Iâm more impressed by the huge swings he took with this role. And âIâm Just Kenâ will live forever in movie history. Best Supporting Actress Will win: DaâVine Joy Randolph - The Holdovers Should win: Danielle Brooks - The Color Purple; There is no category more sewn up than this, and DaâVine Joy Randolph is brilliant in The Holdovers. But the turbulent journey from joy to trauma and back again that Danielle Brooks takes in The Color Purple is my favorite performance of the year. Anne Hathaway Never Misses I donât normally let trailers make me more excited than I should be for a movie, but I canât wait for The Idea of You. The trailer shows a mom, played by [Anne Hathaway](, who accidentally meets a major pop star at Coachella, and the two start a romance despite their age difference and her skepticism. The movie is based on the book, which is essentially [Harry Styles]( [fanfiction](. I havenât been this giddy about a movie in a long time. It might be brilliant; it might be terrible. I have no idea. But Anne Hathaway doing reverse Julia Roberts in Notting Hill? That is pop-culture porn to me. I also am obsessed with Nicholas Galitzine after [Red, White & Royal Blue](, because I am nothing if not basic. But the fact that theyâre doing actual fake pop songs for his One Direction-inspired band, and that Hathaway is fully committed to this in the trailer (I got weepy at one point), sells this for me. [Watch it here](. Give Her an Emmy As a noted grouch, cynic, and generally annoying person, Iâve always found [Curb Your Enthusiasm]( to be an inspiring television program. I feel seen. This season has been uneven, but the standout by far has been Tracey Ullman, who plays a woman weâre supposed to think is so off-putting that Larry (or any human) would never want to be with her. And yet, after each of her episodes, I think, âI get her.â So line right up to date me, but also give Ullman her accolades for an award-worthy performance. The Traitors Finale Was Brilliant I donât want to fully spoilâonly lightly spoilâ[The Traitors]( [finale](, but justice is owed to Shereé Whitfield on behalf of all of us who donât listen when someone reads the rules of the game and plans to just vibe while everyone else plays. More From The Daily Beastâs Obsessed Whatever you think of Feud: Capote vs. The Swans, we can all celebrate how great Naomi Watts is in it. [Read more](. Weâre helping you fill out your Oscars Bingo card with deep dives into the bathroom-break categories. First up: Documentary short. [Read more](. A very gay insight into Dune: Part Two. [Read more](. [See This] - Supersex: But, like, watch it for [the dialogue scenes](. (Now on Netflix) - The Oscars: I really think itâs going to be a [fun show]( this year. (Sun. on ABC) - Girls5eva: The 30 Rock successor [we all need](. (Thurs. on Netflix) [Skip This] - Ricky Stanicky: Bring back dumb comedies that [are actually funny](. (Now on Prime Video) - Damsel: You could probably predict every [beat of this movie]( by its plot description. (Now on Netflix) - Imaginary: Iâm sorry, but a killer teddy bear/imaginary friend should [be more fun](. (now in theaters) Like our take on what to watch?
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