media update: May

Asterisks denote something I particularly enjoyed or found especially worthy of my time; double asterisks are reserved for the creme de la creme.  As always, your mileage may vary.

When applicable, this page will be published as a work in progress and continually updated so I can provide timely feedback for advance reader copies.  Receiving an ARC does not affect my reviews in any way.

FICTION

1. I Want You More by Swan Huntley: When Zara moves in with cooking star Jane Bailey to ghostwrite her memoir, she finds herself being drawn into Jane's charismatic web.

2. Honey by Isabel Banta:  In the late 90s, Amber Young discovers that pop stardom comes with a hefty cost.  It didn't go as deep into certain topics as I would have liked, there is some weird phrasing (WTF is a "crystalline bodyguard"?), and I hate the cover, but it's a quick and enjoyable read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Celadon Books for the ARC!  The book will be released on June 25th.  

2024 TOTAL SO FAR:  19

NONFICTION

1. Hell If We Don't Change Our Ways* by Brittany Means:  A memoir about the author's very fucked up (to put it mildly) childhood and how she learned to break the cycle of abuse and addiction.  Not an easy read---in fact, at times it's excruciating---but beautifully written.  Look up content warnings if you have any triggers, though, because pretty much all of them are in here.

2024 TOTAL SO FAR:  10

MANGA/GRAPHIC NOVELS

1. When I Arrived at the Castle by Emily Carroll

2. We're New at This vol. 16 by Ren Kawahara

3. My Lovey-Dovey Wife Is a Stone Cold Killer vol. 6 by Donten Kosaka

2024 TOTAL SO FAR:  18 volumes of manga and 1 graphic novel

MOVIES

1. The Beekeeper:  When scammers rob his friend of her life savings, Adam Clay (Jason Statham) sets out for revenge.  Is it goofy?  Absolutely!  But sometimes you just want to see a hot bald dude utterly destroying bad guys, and as usual, Jason Statham delivers the goods. 

2. Love Lies Bleeding:  Lou (Kristen Stewart) is working at a gym when Frankie (Katy O'Brian), a female bodybuilder, arrives in town.  They quickly fall in love, but steroid use leads to an explosion of rage that leads to some very unfortunate events.  A sexy, ultraviolent queer noir.

3. Lisa Frankenstein:  Lisa (Kathryn Newton) is a lonely teenage girl in 1989 who's mourning the murder of her mother.  She's obsessed with a nearby graveyard, especially a headstone with the bust of a handsome young man (Cole Sprouse), and when he is reanimated by a bolt of lightning, she might just find true love after all.

4. Drive-Away Dolls: Best friends Marian and Jamie accidentally get a car meant for someone else that has a severed head and an incriminating briefcase in the trunk.  I hoped this would be a fun caper, but it sucked.  It's only 82 minutes long, but you will feel every one of them.

5. Madame Web:  JFC, this awful superhero movie makes Morbius look like Avengers: Endgame.  My expectations were Mariana Trench low and it was still even worse than I expected.  I think it may be one of the worst movies I've ever watched in its entirety.

6. All of Us Strangers*:  Adam lost both his parents in a car accident when he was young.  He finds himself drawn back to his childhood home, where he has visions of and conversations with his parents. An absolute gut punch of a movie with excellent performances by Andrew Scott as Adam and Paul Mescal as a man he falls in love with.

7. Immaculate:  A nun (Sydney Sweeney) moves to Italy to join a convent, but when she becomes pregnant despite being a virgin, she learns that the convent has some bad intentions.  Standard fare that's slightly redeemed by one great line and a shocking ending.

8. Late Night with the Devil:  A talk show's Halloween broadcast goes horribly wrong in this clever horror movie.

9. Poor Things:  After jumping off a bridge, Bella (Emma Stone) is resurrected by a mad scientist (Willem Dafoe) who replaces her brain with that of her unborn child.  This means that Bella has the body of a grown woman and the mental capacity of an infant, but that doesn't stop her from wanting lots and lots of sex...and lots of men from wanting to oblige her.  Why yes, it's as disturbing as it sounds!  Completely baffled by the critical acclaim and awards this received.  It has its moments, and it does redeem itself somewhat by the end, but it just made me feel gross.

10. Dune Part 2*:  This is a direct sequel, so I can't review it properly lest I spoil its predecessor.  I liked it way more than the first one, though.

2024 TOTAL SO FAR:  41