Taylor Swift’s “Opalite” Video: Another Example of How Everything Has to Be a Reference (Especially to Something Esoteric, Like a Graham Norton Show Episode)
Maybe the only thing that “come[s] back stronger than a 90s trend” (as it was said on 2020’s “Willow”) is Taylor Swift with a new [Read More…]
Tame Impala’s “Dracula” Remix with JENNIE Kind of Bites
Sometimes, when one is alerted to an unlikely duo working together on a remix version of a song, the initial reaction is one of skepticism, [Read More…]
As If Truth or Dare, Spice World and Josie and the Pussycats Joined Forces to Spawn a Macabre Child: The Moment
In the still short amount of time (though not to no-attention-span Gen Z) since Brat was released on June 7, 2024, Charli XCX has systematically [Read More…]
The Jason Bateman/Charli XCX Exchange About Having a Child Speaks to a Continued Lack of Male Evolution in Terms of Expectations for Women
Very early on in the SmartLess episode with Charli XCX as the guest, it became clear that Jason Bateman didn’t seem to do much research [Read More…]
Kesha Turns Her Grammys Night on the Red Carpet into the Video for “Red Flag”
Even though Kesha has already released five singles from her eleven-track album, Period, “Red Flag” has lately become something of a favorite. Not necessarily even [Read More…]
The 2026 Grammys Was a Snapshot of America Now: Either Speaking Out or Remaining “Apolitical”
In the past, awards shows tended to be, at least to the more “pearl-clutching” types, a notorious opportunity for artists to get “hyper-political.” As it [Read More…]
If I Had Legs I’d Kick You: Another PSA for Why Motherhood is a Losing Battle
From the outset of Mary Bronstein’s second feature, If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, it quickly becomes apparent to the viewer that they are [Read More…]
Macaulay Culkin’s Home Instead Commercial Tempted the Reaper, Goddammit
Although Catherine O’Hara’s career has been filled with many iconic roles, it is still, for so many, the part of “Kevin’s mom” a.k.a. Kate McCallister [Read More…]
Madonna’s “Where’s the Party” Signaled a Reaction to the Rise of Neoliberalism
While Madonna has always herself been one of the most glaring examples of a capitalist (and, perhaps even more tellingly, of the baby boomer generation [Read More…]
A Few Years After the Pandemic, Mitski Makes Being a Recluse Fashionable Again in the Shirley Jackson-Inspired Video for “Where’s My Phone?”
Perhaps if there’s any “persona” best suited for the times we live in, it’s a recluse who can only ever feel like her authentic (read: [Read More…]
