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BGN interviews the cast and director behind the A24 film Love Lies Bleeding.
Featured in the interviews are: Kristen Stewart, Katy O’Brian and director Rose Glass.
Lou is a reclusive gym manager who falls hard for Jackie, an ambitious bodybuilder who’s heading to Las Vegas to pursue her dream. Their love soon leads to violence as they get pulled deep into the web of Lou’s criminal family.
Interviewer: Jamie Broadnax
Video Editor: Jamie Broadnax
Love Lies Bleeding premieres March 8th.
Hyoung Chang / Contributor / Getty Images By Rayna Reid Rayford ·Updated March 3, 2024
It is rare for a medical responder to be prosecuted and sentenced, but on Friday, Peter Cichuniec, the paramedic responsible for killing Elijah McClain in 2019, received a five-year prison sentence.
Cichuniec authorized the fatal dose of ketamine, which is “a powerful sedative ultimately blamed for killing the 23-year-old massage therapist.”
As CPR News notes, Cichuniec made this decision despite that fact that he “had never forcibly administered ketamine before,” and “knowingly” gave the unarmed young Black man an “overdose of the sedative.”
During the December 2023 trial, an Adams County forensic >The New York Times reports.
McClain’s mother, Sheneen addressed the judge during Friday’s sentencing hearing, stating, “My son’s murder was 100 percent avoidable.”
“I am here to witness that Peter Cichuniec will receive some form of accountability in the American justice system for his participation in my son’s murder,” Sheneen continued. “The truth is he did not even try to save my son’s life when he had so many chances to perform his exceptional skills.”
Sheneen also disclosed, “I have always looked at firefighters as local heroes until the day they assisted in murdering my son, Elijah McClain.”
Before Judge Mark Warner issued Cichuniec’s sentence, he said, “Should there have been a better medical assessment of Elijah McClain prior to the administration of ketamine? The answer is simply yes.”
The judge did make sure to add that “[t]he court does not find [Cichuniec] is an ongoing risk to the public.”
But this wasn’t the only news this week surrounding Cichuniec and Jeremy Cooper, the other paramedic who was also convicted last December of criminally negligent homicide and will receive his sentence in April. Denver7 Investigates recently discovered that “the City of Aurora used taxpayer funds to give Aurora Fire Rescue firefighters and paramedics a retention bonus that was then taken out of their paychecks to go to a ‘benevolent fund’ supporting the families of the paramedics… a donation fund totaling more than $150,0000 for the families of Cooper and Chichuniec.”
Since the news was made public several Aurora firefighters have come forward to relay their displeasure with this decision, in addition to how the optics of these payments look.
“I don’t think it looks good,” stated one Aurora firefighter. “The city unilaterally decided to donate money to the families and to the individuals who were convicted. As far as optics are concerned, these folks were convicted for their involvement in the death of Elijah McClain.”
TOPICS: aurora police department Colorado Elijah McClain Police BrutalityThe post Paramedic Responsible For Killing Elijah McClain Receives Five-Year Prison Sentence appeared first on Essence.
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.