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Hari Nef recommended Tiny Furniture (2010) in Movies (curated)

 
Tiny Furniture (2010)
Tiny Furniture (2010)
2010 | Comedy
(0 Ratings)
Movie Favorite

"Full disclosure: Lena is one of my best friends, but this was a film that I latched onto and loved long before I even met her. I see it as The Graduate for my generation of girls. The first time I watched it, I felt so dragged and so seen, as though my post-collegiate neuroses were just laid bare and my illogical chaotic feminine misbehavior just strung up for everybody to see. Dead-end jobs, complicated mother-daughter relationships, complicated sister-sister relationships: Dunham explores these things with a mix of levity and fearless vulgarity that makes her work feel so true and so to the gut."

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Full disclosure about my review of this book: I have always just liked Lena Dunham and harbored secret fantasies of us becoming friends. I'm sure this influenced my review somewhat. I'll admit that I would have liked to have read a bit more about how she got into the business, versus just random thoughts, but I also recognize that wasn't really the purpose of this particular book.

I also had to remind myself that Lena comes from the oversharing generation. There is a lot in this book that could potentially make you cringe, but if you know her work on <i>Girls</i> or anything else, it won't really come as a surprise. Overall, I found her writing style easy to read, and interesting, if not particularly amazing. I also enjoyed the chance to see any parallels between her life and <i>Girls</i>.

If this hadn't been an ebook I borrowed from the library, I definitely would have dog-eared some of the pages where she talks about how a woman deserves to be treated. There's certainly a lot to be learned from many of her pages, and I found a lot of what she said to be fascinating, if not disturbing, at times.

It was an easy, quick read and gave me some good insight into her life. (And I still want to be friends with her. And Lamby.)
  
American Horror Story - Season 7
American Horror Story - Season 7
2017 | Horror
Season 7 of American Horror Story, subtitled Cult, is a weird one. Instead of focusing on the supernatural, ghosts, witches, haunted houses, Cult is a trip through the delicacy of the human mind. It instead looks at fears, real world issues, and of course, the presence of an all too familiar cult like family.
This makes for some of the best and worst aspects of AHS Cult. The plot leans heavily into politics this time around, originally airing not long Donald Trump was sworn in. I personally like that this season takes this real world event, and explores the horror that some people experienced during this time. Others would argue that it's very on-the-nose, which is somewhat true. Some of the political leanings carry all the subtlety of a stampeding cattle herd, andnat times can feel heavy handed.

Underneath all of the IRL shit that's going on, we also have a plot of intrigue and mystery, as the main character Ally (Sarah Paulson) is being apparently being stalked and pursued by clowns - her worst fear. We are given reason to believe that perhaps Ally is losing her mind, off her meds, upset with the election result, but as the season continues, you find yourself questioning whether she is in fact being gaslighted. Manipulation of what you believe to be true or false is a terrible horror all on its own, and a big reason why I rate this season highly.
The star of Cult for me though was of course Evan Peters. Playing a deranged political candidate called Kai Anderson, it's not long before his extreme right views Garner him a following, and the titular cult is created. To say anymore would be considered spoilers, but rest assured that all of these plot strands weave together by the time the story climaxes.
Evan Peters role in Cult is my favourite performance if his to date. His character is simultaneously charming, terrifying, smart, and unhinged, and he does a fantastic job in bringing him to life.

The plot also touches upon other real world figures, such as Charles Manson. Those parts were pretty interesting, but when the show flashes back and focuses on Valerie Solanis (Lena Dunham), it lost me a bit. I like when AHS includes real life characters, and it's always fun to see how they are interpreted in this kind of media, but it goes a bit overboard with it's hammy stuff (again) at times - the whole Andy Warhol plot was a massive eye roll in my book - and the Solanis stuff is just plain unenjoyable to watch.

This whole side plot really drags down the quality of cult to me, but the strong performances by Sarah Paulson and Evan Peters is enough to keep it in a higher placing for me.

Certainly not my favourite, and certainly not my least, Cult sits somewhere in the middle, and I can only praise the writers for trying something new with the horror element. Good stuff.