What is up YouTube, it's your girl Evelyn
and today I want to discuss what I think are some overrated lesbian films.
To be clear, overrated does not mean bad.
Most of these films are excellent
but maybe don't quite live up to their own hype.
So sit back, enjoy the video and as always there will be spoilers so proceed with caution.
"You're sleeping with him, aren't you?"
"What?"
"Just be honest with me, okay?"
"Don't make me feel crazier, than I feel right now."
"Where's this coming from?"
"Um, well I found your hair in his drain."
"Because I was working and I got dirty and I took
a shower." "Yeah?"
"Did you take a nap, too?"
What do you get when you introduce a lesbian couple to the super cool
sperm donor who fathered their kids nearly two decades ago?
An aggressively average movie.
'The Kids Are Alright' was alright.
Julianne Moore and Annette Benning play a believable, if not unlikable, lesbian couple
while Mark Ruffalo plays a character so cool,
I also low-key wanted to sleep with him.
And then there are the kids...
who are apparently alright.
Don't get me wrong,
I love average movies.
But what I don't love is when average movies win best picture at the Golden Globes
are nominated for a best picture at the Academy Awards
and become the Sundance darling of the year.
And although the cast of this film was absolutely stacked with talent,
that talent felt criminally underutilized in
what is essentially a two hour long episode of 'The L Word'
And that's no shade to 'The L Word'
but if that's the case
where's Jen's Golden Globe?
"Carrie asked me to marry her. And I said yes."
"Oh"
[talented, brilliant, incredible...]
I will admit, 'The Kids Are Alright' was easily the best LGTBQ film of 2010
but they were also up against
"I lost some 17 children."
"Some were born as blood, some without breath and some were with me for very brief time."
"Oh, my dear."
I'll admit I like 'The Favourite'
It's a witty, darkly comic and well-acted film
but that doesn't mean it's not overrated
or at the very least a highly acquired taste.
What I'm not going to do is hate on Olivia Soleman's Oscar win
because in my opinion, she absolutely deserved it.
But I'm also not going to pretend like 'The Favourite' isn't a hella weird movie.
[I didn't need to see that]
'The Favourite' is set in 18th century England and centers around Queen Anne
and her dual relationships with her close friend, Lady Sarah
and her servant, Abigail
and let's just say,
things get a little gay.
'The Favourite' is 100% an art house film
that tries to pretend it's not really an art house film.
Like if someone were to serve you what is clearly caviar
but tells you it's just tiny blueberries and they're supposed to taste that way.
I don't have a problem with weird movies getting shine
and like I said, Olivia Coleman definitely deserved the Academy Award.
She was easily the best thing about the film
but that's the thing
she was the best thing about the film.
But for 'The Favourite' to be nominated and win so much shit
it was ultimately kind of underwhelming and definitely overrated.
"Pretty country around where I live."
"Would you like to come visit me this Sunday?"
"Yes."
"What a strange girl you are."
"Why?"
"Flung out of space."
'Carol' or as I like to call it,
style over substance
[they ask you how you are you
just have to say that you're fine when you're not really fine]
'Carol' a period film about a May/December lesbian love affair
might be the most controversial choice on the list,
but it's also the one that comes the closest to living up to its hype.
No one can deny that visually 'Carol' is an absolute stunner.
It looks the part but it just doesn't quite feel the part.
In fact, it doesn't feel like much of anything at all.
I understand the 'muted, subtle tone' the film was going for
but it came at the expense of creating
real connection between the audience and the characters.
At best, I felt a tenuous connection to Carol
and only because her custody storyline pulled at my heartstrings.
Therese, on the other hand, could have been run over by a bus
and that would have been fine.
What makes me sad about 'Carol' is it didn't have to be on this list.
It had all of the ingredients it needed to be great.
Amazing actors.
A compelling storyline.
A big-ass budget.
But alas, here we are.
[Llorando by Rebekah Del Rio]
If after you watch a movie, people have to tell you the movie is good
to make you realize the movie is good...
maybe the movie isn't-
'Mulholland Drive' is considered to be a masterpiece by many,
many people who are much smarter than I am.
And I love that for them.
Betty is an aspiring actress in Hollywood who meets Rita
a woman who's recently lost her memory.
So Betty decides to help Rita out and the two women embark on a shenanigans-filled
Hollywood adventure in search of Rita's memory.
I won't try to convince you that
'Mulholland Drive' isn't a clever film, with a brilliant plot twist
because it is.
But the execution of that plot twist is a lot.
It's like an enigma, wrapped in another enigma wrapped in weirdness for the sake of weirdness.
I don't begrudge anyone who loves 'Mulholland Drive' and thinks it's a masterpiece.
I just think it's a tad overrated.
Last week, over on the community page,
I asked you guys which film you thought was the most overrated
and this one was by far the winner.
'Blue is the Warmest Colour' is a French coming-of-age film about Adele and
who she is prior to a relationship
who she is while in a relationship
and who she is after the relationship.
This is a strange overrated film in the sense that it's overrated
not because it's thought to be amazing as a whole,
but because of the way it depicts queer female sex in a full-length feature film.
And for those who haven't watched it,
it includes a pretty graphic six-minute long sex scene between the two leads.
So I'm actually torn about 'Blue is the Warmest Colour' being overrated because yes,
overall I thought it was a long ass, sometimes uninteresting and low-key objectifying movie
but there were also some straight-up brilliant scenes that I cannot deny.
I also respect how the movie basically warns you in the beginning that it's going to be this
super close, uncomfortable view of every minute detail of this woman's existence.
I'm also a sucker for 'anatomy of a relationship' type films...
So, yeah I'm not 100% sure that I do think 'Blue' is overrated.
That is it for the list, I want to give a quick shout out to my newest patrons,
Planet Love, Gwen and Nightmare Maven.
[Wonderwall by Oasis playing]
[Breaking News Theme playing]
Friday, May 21st your girl will be live on Instagram
chatting with my home girl Jenn, who is the owner of Citizen Ruth
an amazing company that sells high quality feminist art,
books, clothing, jewelry you name it.
Jenn and I will be discussing our upcoming partnership as well as this video,
so if you have been triggered by this video or you just want to see my ugly mug,
please come hang out with us on Instagram live.
And you guys already know, you can catch me every single week over on Patreon,
where I review the most random ass lesbian movies I can get my hands on.
Plus books.
As always, thank you so much for watching and I'll see you in the next one.