hello darling readers,
i hope you’re having a cozy weekend!!! my back is very sore right now so i’m laying in bed and alternating between watching big mouth and reading kate zambreno’s heroines.
if you’re looking for something new to read, or watch, or eat after work or during the holidays, i’d absolutely love to hear from you! just write to me by replying to this email or filling out the form here. i’m open to any request and i’ll do my best to give you a thoughtful response.
onto today’s recommendations…
hi lindsay,
i thought about this question a lot! i love teen movies, but i think that it’s very rare that they center friendships that are all three of the things you’ve described (beautiful, not eye-roll inducing, and not pandering). some i love specifically because they are eye-roll inducing.
my favorite teen movie is fast times at ridgemont high. this is a classic so i won’t go on for too long, but if you haven’t seen it, you’ve absolutely gotta! it’s based on cameron crowe’s book of the same title that he wrote after going undercover in a real high school. if you love the broad cast of characters in booksmart, i think you’ll definitely be satisfied by fast times, though it admittedly doesn’t have a core friendship.
possibly an obvious one, but for something more recent, blockers was also a lot of fun! i avoided it when it first came out because it seemed like icky paternalism to me but i enjoyed watching it when i got around to it.
other, also maybe obvious, ideas:
ghost world (entirely different in tone, but a very strong core friendship)
the package (silly “late night” humor, but i like this one + eduardo franco from booksmart is in it)
cruel intentions (famously perverted)
american vandal (a tv show, but i think you’d definitely be into it!)
hi, lovely maggie!
it’s great to hear from you. right after i received your message i tried to convince myself to be someone i’m not. i really dug and dug for movies that fit this description, but even when i would click into the little trailers on netflix or wherever i would get too freaked out and have to close the previews after only a few seconds. i have an incurable aversion to the type of scary movies you’re describing. blood and guts i can deal with, but i can put them for the same reason you don’t want to watch them—they’re not truly scary.
that being said, my partner todd watches a lot of scary movies and he thinks you’d like antrum.
readers, if you have any suggestions that fit this description, please write in!