To ring in the new year, we watched It’s a Wonderful Life. It was our first time seeing the film, and now we understand why it’s a classic.

Videos Referenced:

• The Ultimate Antidote for Cynicism: It’s a Wonderful Life
• It's a Wonderful Life -- What Makes This Movie Great?
• It's A Wonderful Life: Individual vs. Community

Track: Your Gentle Touch — Artificial.Music & Syiphorous [Audio Library Release]
Music provided by Audio Library Plus
Watch: https://youtu.be/5ThbUjaIiDg
Free Download / Stream: https://alplus.io/your-gentle-touch

Besties Rating: 9/10

Happy Holidays everyone! What better way to start the Christmas season with two horror movies? Yes, we're reviewing Black Christmas 1974 and 2019. ⁠

⁠

This episode may be distressing for some individuals. 

Videos referenced in this episode:

• Black Christmas 2019 is good, the internet is just full of babies.
• Black Christmas 2019 Isn't What You Think
• The Commendable Failure Of BLACK CHRISTMAS (2019)
• Black Christmas (2019) - Movie Review
• Black Christmas (2019) Come With Me : Movie Review Reaction
• The Politics of Black Christmas 1974
• 19 Things You Missed In Black Christmas (1974) | Analysis of Billy

Silent Night (Dark Piano Version) by myuu https://soundcloud.com/myuu

Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported— CC BY 3.0

Free Download / Stream: https://bit.ly/_silent-night

Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/UFpuFyzy1L8

1974 - Besties Rating: 9.5/10

2019 - Besties Rating: 3/10

Not gonna lie, Black Dynamite was the funniest movie we’ve seen this year. It’s a parody film that pays homage to the blaxploitation genre of the 1970s. Join us for lots of laughs as we review Black Dynamite.

Movie Summary: An ex-CIA agent, Black Dynamite, sets out to avenge his brother’s death and clean up his neighbor from drugs that are ravaging his community.

Items referenced in this podcast:

• https://youtu.be/EoJV26trSpU
• Blaxploitation Definition/Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blaxploitation

Track: Your Gentle Touch — Artificial.Music & Syiphorous [Audio Library Release]
Music provided by Audio Library Plus
Watch: https://youtu.be/5ThbUjaIiDg
Free Download / Stream: https://alplus.io/your-gentle-touch

Besties Rating: 7.5/10

Halloween may be over, but that's not stopping us from reviewing Vampires vs The Bronx. 

Movie Summary: A group of friends from the Bronx discovers a sinister plot to destroy their neighborhood. They band together to save their community from vampires and gentrification.

Film analysis referenced in this podcast:

• https://www.highlandernews.org/75202/vampires-vs-the-bronx-utilizes-a-frail-plot-that-even-its-humour-cant-redeem/
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhlmifSE74A
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ai9CmXxWwMc

Track: Your Gentle Touch — Artificial.Music & Syiphorous [Audio Library Release]
Music provided by Audio Library Plus
Watch: https://youtu.be/5ThbUjaIiDg
Free Download / Stream: https://alplus.io/your-gentle-touch

Besties Rating: 8.25/10

From the words of director Céline Sciamma, Portrait of Lady on Fire is a "patient look how love and desire are born; how it grows and how it flourishes." Reptile and I couldn't agree more! 

Movie Summary:
Marianne, a painter, is hired to do the wedding portrait of Héloïse, a reluctant bride-to-be. Since Héloïse refuses to pose for her portrait. Marianne must paint her in secret. As the pair spend time together, intimacy and attraction grow.

Film analysis referenced in this podcast:

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMUC584ppNQ
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wq09zsqgFOc
• https://youtu.be/Y5S4PyBR364

Track: Your Gentle Touch — Artificial.Music & Syiphorous [Audio Library Release]
Music provided by Audio Library Plus
Watch: https://youtu.be/5ThbUjaIiDg
Free Download / Stream: https://alplus.io/your-gentle-touch

Besties Rating: 10/10

We review another dark film, The Love Witch. It centers Elaine Parks who is determined to get a men to fall in love with her. She uses magic and potions in her quest, but her spells lead to deadly consequences.

Film analysis references in this podcast:

• https://jynarro.com/2020/10/30/feminist-film-analysis-the-love-witch/
• https://generallygothic.com/2019/05/02/enamoured-with-the-love-witch/
• https://www.syfy.com/syfywire/fangrrls-on-film-gender-norms-make-everyone-miserable-in-the-love-witch
• https://www.vox.com/culture/2016/11/18/13641412/the-love-witch-review-anna-biller-horror
• https://www.anothergaze.com/crazy-love-transgressive-femininities-anna-billers-love-witch/

Track: Your Gentle Touch — Artificial.Music & Syiphorous [Audio Library Release]
Music provided by Audio Library Plus
Watch: https://youtu.be/5ThbUjaIiDg
Free Download / Stream: https://alplus.io/your-gentle-touch

Besties Rating: 9/10

In this episode of Cinema Besties, we discuss the 2016 psychological thriller, The Handmaiden. ⁠It focuses on Sookhee, an orphaned pickpocket, who teams with a con man to steal the inheritance of a Japanese noblewoman, Lady Hideko.⁠

⁠

This episode may be distressing for some individuals. Please skip this episode if you find the themes discussed difficult to hear.

Film analysis referenced in this episode:

• https://www.washingtonpost.com/goingoutguide/movies/the-handmaiden-a-sexy-feminist-thriller-undermined-by-puerile-voyeurism/2016/10/27/78e3ef24-9873-11e6-bb29-bf2701dbe0a3_story.html
• https://washingtoncitypaper.com/article/194024/in-the-handmaiden-objectification-undermines-a-feminist-flick/
• https://www.sinema.sg/2020/10/16/handmaiden-feminism/
• https://www.anothergaze.com/review-the-handmaiden/
• https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.newyorker.com/culture/jia-tolentino/the-handmaiden-and-the-freedom-women-find-only-with-one-another/amp
• http://berlinfilmjournal.com/2016/12/review-the-handmaiden-reframes-lesbian-sex-and-queer-feminist-cinema/
• https://www.straight.com/movies/824071/handmaiden-averts-male-gaze-its-portrayal-women
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XF0K1-0tpew
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLjqFWfZVIA
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4sK4KB7sDE

Track: Your Gentle Touch — Artificial.Music & Syiphorous [Audio Library Release]
Music provided by Audio Library Plus
Watch: https://youtu.be/5ThbUjaIiDg
Free Download / Stream: https://alplus.io/your-gentle-touch

Besties Rating: 6/10

This week, we're keeping things short and sweet with our review of queer cult classic, Death Becomes Her. It's a black comedy film starring Meryl Streep, Goldie Hawn, and Bruce Willis.

Since childhood, Madeline Ashton (Streep) and Helen Sharpe (Hawn) have been fierce rivals. When Madeline steals Helen's fiancé, she descends into a downward spiral. Years later, she vows to get revenge by winning her ex-fiancé back and killing Madeline. Unknowingly, Madeline and Helen take the same elixir of youth and soon discover that it comes with a price.

Track: Your Gentle Touch — Artificial.Music & Syiphorous [Audio Library Release]
Music provided by Audio Library Plus
Watch: https://youtu.be/5ThbUjaIiDg
Free Download / Stream: https://alplus.io/your-gentle-touch

Besties Rating: 9.5/10