Movie Review: Alex Strangelove

Alex Strangelove (2018)
Starring: Daniel Doheny, Madeline Weinstein, Antonio Marziale
















I had some free time, and I've been on a bit of a Netflix teen dramedy kick, so I thought I'd check this one out. The basis for the movie is a pretty good one. Alex, a medium handsome, fairly nerdy kid explores a first love, Claire. Along the way, he chalks up his sexual hesitance to nervousness until he meets Elliott, a confidently gay young man, at a party. The two become friends and Elliott immediately questions Alex's sexuality. After some questionable relationship choices (he IS a teenage male after all), he finally comes to the conclusion that he is gay. Claire, his friend-come-girlfriend-come-friend again, cheers him on.

So, I'm touchy critiquing this, because I think it a SUPER positive thing to have teen movies showing characters questioning their sexuality and coming to terms with being whoever they are. I thought the movie showed great respect for his internal struggle and confusion, as well. However, the Claire character was still a manic pixie dream girl. She loved all the same stuff as him! She was super into the idea of sex and guided him through what he needed! We even got to see her topless for some reason! Then, after he angrily admits he likes someone else, catches him hooking up with another girl, and he admits it's Elliott he likes, she gets mad for five minutes and then forgives him and supports his sexuality. Now, the Elliott character seemed similarly only there to make him question his sexuality, so perhaps just secondary character development is the real issue here.

I thought the actors did a good job, and I'm happy to see gay coming of age stories. I'm just sad it has to perpetuate other problematic features along the way.

A Record a Week: Cannonball Adderley - Phenix

Recorded in 1975 only 4 months before his death, Phenix was Adderley's second-last studio recording.

SIDE 1.
High Fly
Work Song
Sack O' Woe

SIDE 2.
Jive Samba
This Here
The Sidewalk of New York

SIDE 3.
Hambi Nami
Domination
74 Miles Away

SIDE 4.
Country Preacher
Stars Fell on Alabama
Walk Tall
Mercy, Mercy, Mercy

When I turned on the first side, this sounded entirely like a lounge-style record. I wondered what I had gotten myself into, because it was at this point I noticed it was a double record. However, after the soft jazz/lounge feel establishes itself, Adderley lets loose.

Picture yourself in a smokey jazz club past midnight and the headliner comes on. The backup band starts playing and as they get into it, the spotlight lights up the centre of the stage. You had not previously noticed an unlit portion of the stage, but now that the main performer's presence is filling it up, you wonder how you never saw it. Then the music starts really going. As my dad would say: "the band was cooking". That's where this record takes you.

Using a host of guest performers, Adderley covers a lot of ground on this double LP. It flows through the various styles he covered in his 20+ years of making music and fits as a perfect retrospect, even though it wasn't intended as such.

Posthumous, his music lives on through Dr. Dre's "Bar One" and numerous other samples in hip-hop music.

It took me a while to get into it, but I really got into Country Preacher and Mercy, Mercy, Mercy. I think a second listen would let me appreciate some of the songs I maybe didn't give the best chance the first time around.

A Record a Week: Abba - Greatest Hits

I went to the basement this morning, wondering which record was first on the shelf, brimming with much excitement to get this project started.

Well that was short lived. What I forgot is that like many people, I have my record collection alphabetized...which under normal circumstances can be very helpful.

Ergo, the first record I pulled out was this:




Before love songs came out as power ballads or pop-punk songs, ABBA was writing songs in a post-hippie style that held with them throughout the disco era. Released in 1975, this was their first 'Hits' album and was released years before they finished writing new material.

SIDE 1.
SOS
HE IS YOUR BROTHER
RING RING
ANOTHER TOWN ANOTHER TRAIN
HONEY HONEY
SO LONG
MAMMA MIA

SIDE 2.
I DO I DO I DO I DO I DO
PEOPLE NEED LOVE
WATERLOO
NINA PRETTY BALLERINA
BANG-A-BOOMERANG
DANCE (WHILE THE MUSIC STILL GOES ON)
FERNANDO

The whole album, as expected, had the same snap-your-fingers stuck-in-your-head-even-though-you-may-not-want-it-there style that made them famous worldwide. Although it's not my thing, I can see how the mass appeal that carried them through the 70s and their recent revival.

If I had to pick some favourites, I would say Mamma Mia and Fernando stick out. However, I feel it imperative to mention that my 2 month old daughter really liked Nina Pretty Ballerina.