Hot Girl Dispatch: Beau is Afraid, Clock, Are You There God, Ted Lasso Features, and a New Series?

Are you there, Substack subscribers? It’s me, Lauren. Apologies for being relatively MIA on here recently, but I’ve got a busy month coming up, though one that I hope will bring a lot of exciting changes! I did, however, want to jump on here (before things get too incredibly hectic) for a little dispatch/update about what I’ve been up to lately—published work, notable watches, and even an idea I’ve been kicking around for a review/feature series I want to start!

First off—new watches! The FOMO finally got to me: I’m just finishing catching up on Succession so I can watch the series finale live—as I’m writing this, I’m watching 4x02, and aiming to be able to catch this weekend’s new episode as it airs. I also caught the last few episodes of Star Trek: Picard—as someone who wasn’t a particular fan of the first two seasons, I can give a hearty recommendation for season three to any curious readers. With the exception of one or two characters held over, season three functions pretty much like a standalone from the rest of the series, and feels much more like a proper TNG sequel—so if you’ve been debating giving it a shot, I’d say it’s worth your time.

I’m also making an effort to watch more films for leisure—one of my New Years resolutions (ha ha) that’s fallen by the wayside as I tend to generally prefer TV when I’ve got a few hours to kill. That being said, I’ve caught a couple movies this week: 1942’s Cat People, 1947’s Dark Passage, 1990’s Paris is Burning, and 2016’s Me Before You.

I thoroughly enjoyed three of the four: Cat People, in particular, has been on my list for a while, and I’m so glad that I wasn’t let down—from the effects to the lighting to the writing, it’s a stunning, sharp film with an incredible lead in Simone Simon. I was itching for Lauren Bacall last night, so Dark Passage (on Marya’s recommendation) was a welcome treat as well. Paris Is Burning is a gap in my viewership that i’ve been meaning to fix for a LONG time, and every bit the seminal documentary it’s touted as.

But, on to recent work! I’ve got a handful of reviews out: Clock (a feminist psychological horror flick starring Glee’s Diana Agron I adored) for The Spool, Beau is Afraid (which I really struggled with) for The DePaulia, and Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret for The Playlist. If I had to recommend any of those for your weekend viewing, it would probably be Clock I’d push the most for: it’s from a first time feature filmmaker and features some really interesting character work and themes.

Ted Lasso beneath a bisexual-colored fibonacci spiral while he’s “tripping” in last week’s episode

I’ve also been chugging along with features at The Mary Sue (where I’m a staff writer), and turned out a pair of Ted Lasso stories as well as some Star Trek and Disney stuff—you know, all the crucial interests. Last week’s Lasso saw a (long overdue) coming out on Trent Crimm’s part, as well as a seemingly mushroom-fueled drug trip sequence that saw Ted finally crack the code on Richmond’s strategy. We also got an *incredible* new trailer for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2 (read my many adulations for that one here) that featured Klingons, a new engineer, and an incredible Spock eyebrow from Ethan Peck.

Last but not least, I broke down Disney’s feud with Florida governor Ron DeSantis: what started over vaccines spiraling into LGBTQ+ policy, land disputes, and now a complicated legal battle for control over Disney’s fabled jurisdictional district, Reedy Creek. Disney brings me to the last thing I wanted to get to: I’ll be heading back to Disney World again this summer to do their Summer Alumni program, and have cooked up a little marathon/festival/series for myself while I’m down there.

I’ll probably do a full breakdown of this in another post, but I’m planning on watching/writing about each film featured in the now-defunct Great Movie Ride, which is my all-time favorite Disney park attraction, and had a glorious tenure at Hollywood Studios from 1989-2017. Its show building is still there and worth a post of its own: a full scale replica of the Grauman’s Chinese Theatre with dozens of celebrity handprints outside, including (my personal favorite) the cast of M*A*S*H.

I don’t have the time to properly get into the history of the ride, but it was a tour through the movies, featuring a live tour guide who would be kidnapped at gunpoint by either a Cowboy or a Gangster, and you’re led on a wild, star-studded tour. It features animatronics and scale recreations of over a dozen classic films, and I’m planning on watching them all as part of a Great Movie Ride film festival series!

That’s about all I’ve got for you (I say, 1.5k+ words deep) but I did have on question: should I watch the films in release order, or order in which they appear in the ride? Sound off in the comments or shoot me a message on Twitter—and if anybody is interesting in doing this watch-through along with me, definitely let me know!