Flashing Palely in the Margins
Media Diet: February and March 2025
A quick look at the movies, television shows, music, and books that have captured my attention over the past month.
Challengers
L asked me why I liked this movie so much and I wasn’t quite able to articulate why. Yes, the story is gripping and I haven’t been this invested in a sports movie in a long time. Yes, the acting is superb — Zendaya is truly a gift to all of us — and the cinematography and directing is sublime. (That under-the-court POV? Mesmerizing.) Yes, the music is percussive and pervasive and perfect. (How was this score not more widely lauded or given awards? It’s incredible!) But there’s something else, a certain je ne sais quoi, that makes this movie more than the sum of its expertly-made parts: it’s a film with tension and sensuousness and velocity and … well, I don’t really know what else to say other than Challengers is excellent. We need more movies like this.
James
What Everett’s James does, unlike Huck Finn, is give interiority to a character that has nuance, that has a family, that has aspirations, that knows how to navigate the world and isn’t just along for the ride. He is in control of his narrative, and is able to articulate his story to us without intermediary. (Read my full review here.)
Slow Horses, Season 2
The best thing about Slow Horses—aside from Gary Oldman, of course—is just how ridiculous every plot point is yet how plausible they make it seem. I’m totally bought into this world, no matter how ludicrous it all is, and can’t seem to extricate myself from the convoluted plot mechanics. All that to say: I love this show, and the second season was perhaps even better than the first? Plus, we’re going to spend some time in the Cotswolds this summer so it was nice to spend some time there in our tv series as well. It looks idyllic.
The Sex Lives of College Girls, Season 3
Renée Rapp’s absence from most of this season was felt deeply: Rapp was clearly the strongest of the actors on the show in the first two seasons, and her character’s storyline the most interesting. Without her, this season languished, and while it stayed entertaining enough to watch all the way through, it didn’t bring joy and laughs the way the first two seasons did. (The Kacey storyline was bad, but that girl sure can sing.)
The Order
Before we jump into the merits of this film, let’s get one thing out of the way: this movie hits close to home right now, with the rise of white nationalism and racist rhetoric pervasive in society, that it’s impossible to watch without getting extremely terrified that there are pockets of white nationalists out there right now plotting the same kind of destruction. And I guess that’s what makes The Order so compelling: it feels like it could be happening for real, not just on screen, and that it wasn’t based on past events but instead current ones. Jude Law is excellent as he always is, Nicholas Hoult is unnervingly good, and the photography is stunning. This is a good and unsettling film.
Yellowface
I’ve always been fascinated by the publishing industry so it’s no surprise that I was drawn to Yellowface. It’s an incisive text looking at identity, authorship, narrative-building, and creativity, but more than that, it’s a deep dive into the world of publishing and how it operates—as a business and as a cultural force—and eventually shapes the things we consume and talk about. The book is a quick read and quite propulsive despite much of it focused on the interiority of the main, unlikable, character. It will have you asking a question the next time you pick up a book: who had to do what in order for this to land in my hands?
Nickel Boys
The first-person point-of-view perspective of this film is jarring at first, but settles quickly, mostly because RaMell Ross deftly pairs it with gorgeous production design. He gives this film a brightness that didn’t come out as clearly in the novel, and between the sense of foreboding we have—it’s clear that things aren’t going to resolve themselves cleanly—we get moments of tenderness between the two principal characters that make the end even more devastating. Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor is predictably excellent, but the two lead actors hold their own as well. The scene between adult Chickie Pete and Elwood will stand out for me as one of the most wrenching scenes I’ve seen on film.
A few albums I’ve really been enjoying recently:
- Kelela, In the Blue Light: During Kelela’s set at the Blue Note Jazz Club, she tells a story that she first came to the Blue Note to see Amel Larrieux, and surreptitiously recorded the set on her minidisc player so she could listen to it on the long drive home. This is what Kelela is doing for us: recording a luscious set at the legendary club (what I would have given to be there) and presenting it to us as a gift for us to relish through our drives and quiet nights. The music is soulful, as you would expect, but has a vibrancy that only Kelela can project through her voice. You’ve heard all these songs before, but you’ve never heard them like this. Turn the lights low and experience them, reimagined beautifully.
- Khruangbin, A La Sala: I first heard Khruangbin some years ago and remember digging the vibe but then forgetting about them. It’s only now, after featuring prominently on The White Lotus soundtrack, have I rediscovered them again, and I’m glad I have. A La Sala is a groovy album, but also funky. It makes you want to get up and dance and then tells you that perhaps now is just a time to listen and not move. The music doesn’t ever fade to the background; it is meant to be heard, and heard well. Listen to this whole thing in the album’s order, as there is a story hidden in its whole.