deerstalker
https://nerdist.com/article/love-lies-bleeding-movie-review/
In queer circles, it’s a bit of a joke that many women-led movies with queer romances have a sort of fragile tragedy that clings to them. Often period pieces in nature, these works involve a lot of longing (but very little touching). They also include highly feminine protagonists who pine delicately and artfully engage with the tragedy of their lots in life. Of course, there’s a place for and importance to those kinds of movies. But like the rainbow that represents them, queer folk exist in many ways. Thus, they deserve more than one kind of movie to represent them. And that’s exactly what Love Lies Bleeding slams down on the table. With a fist, a gun, and a true depiction of the loves and lives of queer people, Love Lies Bleeding breaks through queer lady-shaped movie tropes and brings something delightfully messy and brutally real to our screens.
We first meet Kristen Stewart’s character, Lou, with her hand shoved down a full-to-the-brim clogged toilet. And while utterly gross, the sequence sets the tone for the movie to come. No sighing and swooning here, folks. Lou is also not even a bit interested in hiding her queerness, which makes for a refreshing change of pace.
Stewart’s character is an oddball happily rocking her messy shag cut and cut-off sleeves and “don’t talk to me if you’re a straight man” glare. It’s hard to quantify how well this movie delivers queerness without getting into what, on the page, feels like labeling the ways in which queer people exist. But suffice it to say Lou is queer. She wears it openly without having to talk about it too much. There’s also a delightful androgyny to her, which we don’t often see in our queer features. In short, Love Lies Bleeding is a movie that really transcends the notions of gender binary to offer us something deeper.
Lou and Jackie (played by Katy O’Brian) find one another quickly in the movie. While Lou offers us one kind of queer feminity, Jackie (or, notably, Jack) blows in with a whole other kind. Long montages of muscley arms and veins popping are usually reserved for hunky men in the movies. But hunky women are finally having their day. Katy O’Brian’s Jack is simply stunning. She knows it, and so does Lou. Love Lies Bleeding sets up their introduction with a long scene of Lou checking out Jackie and her rippling back muscles. This, again, should not be such a novelty, but unfortunately still is when it comes to queer films.
Much of the early parts of Love Lies Bleeding play like a pure romance movie. Jackie and Lou fall into bed after making eye contact. (As queer ladies deserve to do/can you blame them?) They then move in together at once, and while the days away working, kissing (among other things), and training for Jackie’s ultimate goal in life, winning a bodybuilding pageant in Las Vegas. But, of course, nothing good can last and dark specters lurk in the corners. For Lou, a troubled past haunts her, which revolves around her father and a strong love for her sister, who won’t leave her increasingly abusive husband. For Jackie, it’s a growing addiction to steroids which turn her spark and strength into something crueler and angry.
As the movie unfolds, it mixes gritty reality with surrealistic dreams to draw viewers into a suspenseful plot that involves murder, madness, and bashed skulls. At moments, the music and cinematography take us to an ethereal place, the movie casting its leads as goddesses. And then at others it descends into a realm so harrowingly real, it’s painful, a place full of blood and injustice. The duality of the two feelings, two very real queer experiences, blend seamlessly and never feel jarring. Instead, they take the audience on a journey that balances gritty and transcendent. Love Lies Bleeding is so brilliant because it once elevates our heroines into something mythic, goddess-like in nature. Then it also makes sure to show us their desperate fight for survival. (And then the amount of time they spend lying around in sweatpants.)
The movie also maintains a wonderfully dark humor throughout. Both Lou and Jack make huge messes of their relationship, themselves, and everyone around them in their attempts to find their way out of the beds they make. But hey, the path of true love never did run smooth.
In addition to the above, the movie avoids the cardinal sin of a production with queer characters: having the main queer characters be the only ones who are queer. It also side-steps focusing on other well-worn queer tropes, coming out and homophobia. But it does offer a hat-tip to the excellent notion of found family and cleverly highlights some of the toxicity straight couples can bring to life. Not to mention, it has a truly stellar cast. In addition to Stewart and O’Brian, who shine, the film includes an excellent performance by Ed Harris as Lou’s sly villainous father. It also perfectly captures a certain time and place in 1980s New Mexico.
Love Lies Bleeding is a triumph. As a queer person watching, I cried several times, just out of the sheer happiness of seeing such a wealth and breadth of queerness on display. The joy that the movie took in uplifting what some might deem “non-normative” truly moved me. There’s a scene (that does not resolve as planned, but nevertheless) where O’Brian’s Jack is on the screen, fully captivating in her gorgeous, muscly body, standing in the limelight, proud, brilliant. And it touched me so deeply. Because that is beauty, the kind that should be applauded but so rarely is in our society. Love Lies Bleeding elevates a queer tale not by focusing on queerness, but by understanding that queerness is simply a part of certain characters, embedded into them and the decisions they make in subtle but powerful ways. And through this understanding, it created a set of endearingly flawed characters making their way through the tribulations of life and reaching for the beauty of their truest selves.
Love Lies Bleeding Rating: ⭐ (5 of 5)
The post LOVE LIES BLEEDING Is a Beautifully Messy Triumph of a Queer Love Story appeared first on Nerdist.
In queer circles, it’s a bit of a joke that many women-led movies with queer romances have a sort of fragile tragedy that clings to them. Often period pieces in nature, these works involve a lot of longing (but very little touching). They also include highly feminine protagonists who pine delicately and artfully engage with the tragedy of their lots in life. Of course, there’s a place for and importance to those kinds of movies. But like the rainbow that represents them, queer folk exist in many ways. Thus, they deserve more than one kind of movie to represent them. And that’s exactly what Love Lies Bleeding slams down on the table. With a fist, a gun, and a true depiction of the loves and lives of queer people, Love Lies Bleeding breaks through queer lady-shaped movie tropes and brings something delightfully messy and brutally real to our screens.
We first meet Kristen Stewart’s character, Lou, with her hand shoved down a full-to-the-brim clogged toilet. And while utterly gross, the sequence sets the tone for the movie to come. No sighing and swooning here, folks. Lou is also not even a bit interested in hiding her queerness, which makes for a refreshing change of pace.
Stewart’s character is an oddball happily rocking her messy shag cut and cut-off sleeves and “don’t talk to me if you’re a straight man” glare. It’s hard to quantify how well this movie delivers queerness without getting into what, on the page, feels like labeling the ways in which queer people exist. But suffice it to say Lou is queer. She wears it openly without having to talk about it too much. There’s also a delightful androgyny to her, which we don’t often see in our queer features. In short, Love Lies Bleeding is a movie that really transcends the notions of gender binary to offer us something deeper.
Lou and Jackie (played by Katy O’Brian) find one another quickly in the movie. While Lou offers us one kind of queer feminity, Jackie (or, notably, Jack) blows in with a whole other kind. Long montages of muscley arms and veins popping are usually reserved for hunky men in the movies. But hunky women are finally having their day. Katy O’Brian’s Jack is simply stunning. She knows it, and so does Lou. Love Lies Bleeding sets up their introduction with a long scene of Lou checking out Jackie and her rippling back muscles. This, again, should not be such a novelty, but unfortunately still is when it comes to queer films.
Much of the early parts of Love Lies Bleeding play like a pure romance movie. Jackie and Lou fall into bed after making eye contact. (As queer ladies deserve to do/can you blame them?) They then move in together at once, and while the days away working, kissing (among other things), and training for Jackie’s ultimate goal in life, winning a bodybuilding pageant in Las Vegas. But, of course, nothing good can last and dark specters lurk in the corners. For Lou, a troubled past haunts her, which revolves around her father and a strong love for her sister, who won’t leave her increasingly abusive husband. For Jackie, it’s a growing addiction to steroids which turn her spark and strength into something crueler and angry.
As the movie unfolds, it mixes gritty reality with surrealistic dreams to draw viewers into a suspenseful plot that involves murder, madness, and bashed skulls. At moments, the music and cinematography take us to an ethereal place, the movie casting its leads as goddesses. And then at others it descends into a realm so harrowingly real, it’s painful, a place full of blood and injustice. The duality of the two feelings, two very real queer experiences, blend seamlessly and never feel jarring. Instead, they take the audience on a journey that balances gritty and transcendent. Love Lies Bleeding is so brilliant because it once elevates our heroines into something mythic, goddess-like in nature. Then it also makes sure to show us their desperate fight for survival. (And then the amount of time they spend lying around in sweatpants.)
The movie also maintains a wonderfully dark humor throughout. Both Lou and Jack make huge messes of their relationship, themselves, and everyone around them in their attempts to find their way out of the beds they make. But hey, the path of true love never did run smooth.
In addition to the above, the movie avoids the cardinal sin of a production with queer characters: having the main queer characters be the only ones who are queer. It also side-steps focusing on other well-worn queer tropes, coming out and homophobia. But it does offer a hat-tip to the excellent notion of found family and cleverly highlights some of the toxicity straight couples can bring to life. Not to mention, it has a truly stellar cast. In addition to Stewart and O’Brian, who shine, the film includes an excellent performance by Ed Harris as Lou’s sly villainous father. It also perfectly captures a certain time and place in 1980s New Mexico.
Love Lies Bleeding is a triumph. As a queer person watching, I cried several times, just out of the sheer happiness of seeing such a wealth and breadth of queerness on display. The joy that the movie took in uplifting what some might deem “non-normative” truly moved me. There’s a scene (that does not resolve as planned, but nevertheless) where O’Brian’s Jack is on the screen, fully captivating in her gorgeous, muscly body, standing in the limelight, proud, brilliant. And it touched me so deeply. Because that is beauty, the kind that should be applauded but so rarely is in our society. Love Lies Bleeding elevates a queer tale not by focusing on queerness, but by understanding that queerness is simply a part of certain characters, embedded into them and the decisions they make in subtle but powerful ways. And through this understanding, it created a set of endearingly flawed characters making their way through the tribulations of life and reaching for the beauty of their truest selves.
Love Lies Bleeding Rating: ⭐ (5 of 5)
The post LOVE LIES BLEEDING Is a Beautifully Messy Triumph of a Queer Love Story appeared first on Nerdist.
(Photo by Marcus Ingram/Getty Images) By Shelby Stewart ·Updated March 2, 2024
Black Heritage Day at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo is a celebration of African-American culture and their contributions to Western culture, from Zydeco music to herding cattle. According to HLSR, day-long festivities on Black Heritage Day included live entertainment on the Junction Stage from Houston’s finest bands, choirs, dance teams, cheerleader teams, and fine arts groups; special entertainment at the Champion Wine Garden and in The Hideout; and historical and educational displays around the grounds of NRG Park. This year’s nighttime concert was headlined by none other than Houston’s newest resident, Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson.
The concert marked on of the highest in attendance for a hip-hop act, with 74,729 concert-goers, following closely Cardi B’s record setting performance in 2019. The rapper and media mogul is no stranger to the yearly hoedown, as he’s participated in the rodeo’s Uncorked! Wine Competition. However, this year, he upped the ante with a performance of some of his biggest hits.
Before the concert began, guests enjoyed a brief set from the Jack Yates High School band, who set the tone for an electric evening, led by their fiesta drum major. The local Third Ward school also received a $5,000 grant to help students continue to follow their dreams.
As the lights went down in the stadium, the show was ostensibly well lit by camera phones in every section. Fans rose to their feet as everyone could hear the beat drop to 50 Cent’s opening song, “P.I.M.P.,” where he came out clad in a white suit and fedora – marking the first of many outfit changes for the Power creator.
The South Jamaica Queens native set the stage ablaze performing songs “I Get Money,” “Hate It or Love It,” “Many Men,” “Window Shopper,” “Magic Stick,” “Candy Shop,” and “If I Can’t.” He performed the majority of his set alongside his G-Unit family, Tony Yayo and Uncle Murda.
HOUSTON, TEXAS – AUGUST 24: Tony Yayo, 50 Cent and Uncle Murda performs on stage during The Final Lap Tour 2023 at Toyota Center on August 24, 2023 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Marcus Ingram/Getty Images) Though the rapper and mogul spends most of his time split between major cities for work and play, Fif showcased love for both his NY upbringing and newly planted Houston roots by donning sweatsuits and fitted caps along with an array of Astros gear, including custom jerseys and hats.
In between performing some of his biggest hits, 50 Cent brought out a handful of acts to support his set, including DaBaby, who performed “Rockstar,” and “Suge.” Flo Rida came out and performed “Low,” and “My House.”
While 50 and his guests weredir="ltr">50 Cent tore the house down at The 2024 HOUSTON RODEO and then rode off in a Ford F-150. pic.twitter.com/qwfPMdMadz
— IG: @DJKIDKREO (@DJKIDKREO) March 2, 2024His stage presence didn’t come as a shocker, as the rapper recently wrapped last summer’s The Final Lap Tour, performing alongside Busta Rhymes. Moreover, he’s still keeping his health up to par. In an interview with Bonsu Thompson for Men’s Health Mag last year, he shared the importance of staying fit. “It’s more important to get back in shape now than it was then,” he says. “Simply because I’m getting older. It’s harder.”
Now the 48 year old is after more business pursuits, though he isn’t afraid to show that he’s still got it. And, for what it’s worth, isn’t shying away from a night “In Da Club.”
TOPICS: 50 centThe post 50 Cent Set The Stage Ablaze At RodeoHouston appeared first on Essence.
Although it will be some time before we see David Corenswet in the full Kal-El regalia for James Gunn’s Superman (no longer Superman: Legacy) we did get a preview of a very important part of the costume — the ‘S’ shield emblem of the Last Son of Krypton. Although the photo released by James Gunn on social media on Clark Kent’s birthday doesn’t give us a full view of it, we have a pretty good idea of what the symbol looks like now. It draws inspiration from three distinct eras of Superman. Some from the pages of DC Comics, and some from other media. Here are the principal design influences on the new Superman ‘S’ shield.
Kingdom Come Superman
The first Superman ‘S’ Shield that the new emblem recalls is the one artist Alex Ross designed for the series Kingdom Come. That 1996 mini-series by writer Mark Waid was about an older Superman, one who retired from being a hero after a personal tragedy. This is a darker Superman, so the yellow in the emblem was replaced with black. But the very minimalist ‘S’ shape is present in the version of Gunn’s design. We actually have seen this design in live-action before. Brandon Routh used it in the Arrowverse Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover event in 2019. At first, it was a direct copy of the Kingdom Come look. By the end, it was a version in the traditional Superman colors. One of the first teases Gunn released on social media when he took over DC Studios was an image from Kingdom Come. Now we know why.
Golden Age/Fleischer Animated Superman
The yellow trim outside the ‘S’ shield goes back to the earliest days of the comics. About two years after Superman debuted in 1938’s Action Comics #1, his emblem began to be a black triangle with a big red ‘S’ in the center, surrounded by a yellow trim. The yellow trim didn’t last that long in print. But they used it in a major milestone in non-comics Superman media. We’re talking about the 1940s-era Fleischer cartoons, which ran as afternoon serials. These shorts were extremely popular, and a big influence on the look and design of Batman: The Animated Series. Although the comics quickly pivoted away from the yellow trim, it’s clearly present in the costume design David Corenswet is going to wear.
The Classic Superman Emblem
Finally, the color scheme for this Superman looks to be pretty classic. The iconic Superman emblem most people know, worn by Christopher Reeve and seen on countless pieces of merchandise, made its debut in 1944. And it mostly stuck around for decades after, undergoing only minor revisions. Red and yellow is how we mostly think of the Superman emblem today. So far, it seems that Gunn is sticking to that aesthetic. Although it’s hard to say, the color palette does look more muted than the classic version. It’s akin to the one worn by Henry Cavill in Man of Steel, or Tyler Hoechlin in Superman and Lois. However, that could be lighting. The actual suit colors might “pop” a lot more than what we see in the image.
Superman hits theaters on July 11, 2025.
The post The Comic Book Influences of Superman’s New ‘S’ Shield appeared first on Nerdist.