Hot men and bad-ass women

I've been in the throes of holiday sloth for 10 days, which means I skipped writing last week and have consumed an enormous amount of media. So you get Five Things today.

🎥 Gladiator II (in theaters)
I'll be blunt—I primarily went to see this to stare at Paul Mescal and Pedro Pascal for 2.5 hours. And I was richly rewarded for it. The rest of the movie is just fine, exactly what you need it to be. Denzel is having the time of his life, and will likely get an Oscar nomination for it. Also - sharks!

🎥 Wicked (in theaters)
There is probably 10% of the US population who know nothing about the plot or songs of this musical and I am one of them. (Did all that grammar come out correctly? It may not have.) I loved it! Ariana Grande is a freaking star and was most definitely born to play this role. And Cynthia Erivo - holy cats. She is astounding. The whole thing was an absolute joy to watch and I can't wait for part two.

🎥 The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (Prime)
Two gods of mid-century American cinema - John Wayne and Jimmy Stewart - team up in a Western that manages to deconstruct Western mythology and comment on the evolution of the American frontier. I do not care for John Wayne but jeez he's good in this, and there's a strong chance you might cry at the end.

📖 All Fours
Based on all the press around it, I thought I knew exactly what this book was going to be, and I was wrong. It's in an intricate roller coaster of a middle-aged woman's journey through desire, menopause, parenting, and marriage. At times it felt like she'd stormed into my head and stolen my thoughts. Every woman should read it.

📖 Rebel Girl: My Life as a Feminist Punk
Kathleen Hanna is an idol to a very specific group of women, of which I am a member. One of the founders of the Riot Grrl movement and lead singer of two of its seminal bands - Bikini Kill and Le Tigre - she also coined the phrase 'Smells Like Teen Spirit" and is married to Adam Horowitz of the Beastie Boys. A screenwriter could not invent a more Gen X woman. She's had quite the life, as you can imagine, much of it spent as a starving artist, and the latter part of it struggling with Lyme disease. This is a great read with lots of fascinating anecdotes, several of which are now added to the "Courtney Love is not a good person" list I keep in my head.

And now, we begin December. Stay strong, friends.

xoxo,
Carla