Welcome back! Thank you to everyone who has subscribed so far. I’ve had a busy January and I’m flying to New York next week (!) so getting a schedule together for this newsletter hasn’t come together as I had hoped. My plan is still to have Culture Rundown go live on Fridays but we’ll see. I’ve some fun ideas for pieces I’d like to write here too. But for now, a bumper edition of culture rundown awaits!
LISTEN Ariana Grande “yes, and?”
Ariana has been teasing some kind of new single in the last month or two after a year that saw her weather gossip about her love life and finish filming Wicked (the movie musical is split into 2 parts, the first of which is out at the end of the year). I wasn’t sure how a return to pop would factor in but thankfully Ariana has made it happen. “Yes, and?” is a pop dance gem with a heavy nod to 90s dance music blended with the kind of talky, hyper personal approach to pop lyrics that Ariana excels at. Swedish pop supremo Max Martin co wrote the track alongside ILYA another prolific Swedish songwriter and it’s a testament to Ariana’s ear as a writer and producer that it takes the best of that Swedish pop polish while also having personality and a feel unique to Ariana’s particular POV. The video channeling theatre girl dance energy, Paula Abdul’s Coldhearted amongst others is a lot of fun too. Welcome back Ari!
WATCH: “MEAN GIRLS”
The original Mean Girls movie (which is … twenty years old this year) has become such a core millennial text that it’s easy to forget just how great the original is when as it has been quoted to death. Understandable then why a trailer for the remake met a mixed response when it dropped last year. The movie is actually based on the stage musical that debuted in 2018 but the trailer neglected to mention that leading to confusion as to why this remake was happening in the first place. I went into an early screening cautiously optimistic but not quite sure what to expect. Thankfully, this 2024 take on Mean Girls is more hit than miss. The story follows the beats of the original with the musical numbers bringing the new perspective any remake needs to stand out. Those numbers for the most part are funny and well staged and translate well to the big screen. The cast are strong enough to add their own spin on well known characters too. Not least Reneé Rapp, a breakout star of Sex Live of College Girls with an online audience and burgeoning pop career, who has seen her turn as Regina George lead much of the marketing for this film. It’s a true star-making moment with Rapp, reprising her role from the Broadway run, bringing a sinister and glowering take to Regina. Special mention to Avantika whose timing and physical comedy made her take on Karen a true scene stealer. The film falters when it simply repeats lines from the original film but when it nestles into its own rhythm (musical and otherwise) Mean Girls makes a case for itself as a sharp, clever comedy.
LISTEN: Jennifer Lopez “Can’t Get Enough”
To say “JLo is back!” feels pointless because between film, TV, red carpets and pop culture in generally she is rarely not around. Although a proper chart hit has eluded her in recent years she’s going all out for her new album, This Is Me…Now a follow up to her 2002 (!) album This Is Me…Then and her first studio album since 2014. JLo has been talking up this album for awhile and how it’s another musical look into her relationship with now husband Ben Affleck after the pair rekindled their early 00s love. Lead single Can’t Get Enough nods to the breezy pop and R&B lane she often found herself in during Bennifer 1.0. The chorus is built around a sample of dancehall tune I’m Still in Love With You (which Sean Paul also used for a 00s hit) and that is doing a lot of the heavy lifting here but this is truly an ear-worm. Whether it’ll cross over to land JLo on the charts a la Kylie with Padam Padam last year (Both of them are releasing new albums with BMG who have become a solid home for big pop stars working outside the usual major labels) is hard to call. The video is a blast too. There’s a full length musical movie of some kind dropping on Prime Video the same day as the album and the video is an interesting tease for that project. It’s tongue in cheek, well shot and features JLo nailing the choreography as per usual.
READ: “Song of Spider-Man: The Inside Story of the Most Controversial Musical in Broadway History” by Glenn Berger
Before I saw the Mean Girls musical in cinemas I gobbled up this non fiction book about the ill fated Spider Man musical. Author Glenn Berger co-wrote the book for the musical working alongside famed theatre director Julie Taymor and U2’s Bono and The Edge who wrote the songs. What could have been a surefire hit using such a recognisable character become a production marked by delays, injuries, bruised egos and lots of money lost. Berger has a lot of insight given how involved he was with the production but does a good job of being fair in his assessment of what was working and what didn’t. And even when Taymor and the U2 lads are clearly annoying him he’s careful not to turn things into a hatchet job. The way the show spirals out of control throughout production is grimly fascinating. Even as someone with no background in theatre I was utterly gripped. A juicy, jaw-dropping look at art, creativity and commerce that is truly impossible to look away from.
WATCH: Aftersun
With All of Us Strangers hitting cinemas here at the end of the month I was playing catch up with another Paul Mescal awards fave recently. Aftersun came out here last February garnering headlines for Mescal’s Oscar nominated performance. Mescal is Calum, a young dad taking his 11 year old Sophie on holiday to Turkey in the late 90s in a film that takes small moments and makes them compelling and heartbreaking. Mescal is undeniably brilliant offering a note-perfect Scottish accent, subtle details and depth to the role. His ability to be so naturalistic and convincing while also radiating leading man energy reminds you why he’s become such a big name so quickly. Frankie Corio as Sophie is also excellent, the kind of lived in performance an actor twice her age would struggle to achieve. The late 90s setting and soundtrack are evoked in a clever way that doesn’t feel obvious but sums up a certain moment so well. I would have been the same age at the time and found it almost uncomfortable how the film perfectly nails the awkwardness and yearning of that stage in life. Writer and director Charlotte Wells creates beautiful imagery and ties the story to the present day with some clever artful choices. This isn’t an obvious schmaltzy film nor is it some removed glacial arthouse piece. It blends styles and moods perfectly to create something unique and suggests that whatever Wells does next will have plenty of eyeballs on it. (I streamed this on MUBI a week before it was leaving their library, it’s rentable on iTunes at the moment but may pop up on streaming somewhere else soon).
WATCH: Bound
I rewatched this gem recently and if you’ve never had the pleasure I can’t recommend it enough. The first film directed by the Wachowskis before they took on The Matrix movies, it’s a film that came out in 1996 but still feels fresh and inventive today Jennifer Tilly plays Violet, a mobster's girlfriend who is keen to leave him and begins an affair with Corky (played brilliantly by Gina Gerson) the ex-con who appears next door to works a painter and plumber. The pair hatch a plan to swindle Violet’s boyfriend of millions of Mafia money and start a new life. The film is a neo-noir that takes the tropes of that genre and spins them in a way befitting the best of cutting edge 90s movies. Skillfully shot and riddled with tension, even on a repeat viewing I found myself swept up in the plot. The chemistry between Tilly and Gershon is incredible too and the way their sex scenes and relationship are treated still feels progressive in a time when queer female sexuality is so rarely depicted in mainstream movies. In the years since the film came out The Wachowskis have both come out as trans women which allows you to look at the film through a whole new lens. Even if you didn’t know about that you can’t be but swept up in this thrilling, smartly made story, one that is both a true cult classic and a landmark in queer filmmaking. (This was another MUBI watch for me but it’s since left their library. There seems to be a low res copy floating around YouTube but if it pops up for streaming in HD it truly looks gorgeous!)
Aftersun 🥺