Welcome to hell on earth! Does voting matter? Do children matter? Do women matter? Survey says no!
Lucky for us, we can escape into our silver screens and either process the world through art or just ignore reality and watch Tom Cruise clench his jaw and smile for 2+ hours. I’ve watched many a movie in the last couple months, of course, and this week I’ll be sharing words on CITIZEN RUTH, CHARLIE’S ANGELS, TOP GUN, and TOP GUN: MAVERICK.
Apropos of nothing (ha) here’s a New Yorker piece from a few weeks ago about teens (and others) who travel for abortion access.
Would you rather eat your feelings? Meet friends at the beach and dunk in the lake every time you feel lightheaded? I’ve got recipes to help you beat-the-heat.
Everything listed above is below:
Before he made sadsack white guy movies like THE DESCENDENTS and SIDEWAYS, director (and noted Sandra Oh-ex-husband) Alexander Payne gifted the world two stellar feminist satires, CITIZEN RUTH and ELECTION. While the latter is considered a classic, the former is lesser known but no less barbed and biting. Laura Dern stars as Ruth, a vapid, paint-huffing woman who gets pregnant. Houseless and desperate, she piques the interest of both an Evangelical family and a pair of radical lesbians, who compete for her allegiance and treat her as a pawn in their highly publicized battle for and against abortion. The film is ruthless (no pun intended), funny, and makes an upsetting statement on what’s lost when we dehumanize women (hint: their humanity). Laura Dern is so excellent.
WATCH IF YOU LIKE: women, the darkest of dark comedy, movies that couldn’t get made today
In other feminist news, we watch 2000’s CHARLIE’S ANGELS, a movie I probably watched once or twice when it came out, but then listened to the soundtrack on repeat for two years. Oooooooh…BARRACUDA! This movie is a pretty chaotic mess, with such quick, jolting edits and “random” jokes it honestly feels almost like watching a bunch of reels on TikTok. It’s racist, rude, and ridiculous, but if you’re feeling nostalgic there are some moments that bring joy and the cast is having a lot of fun, so. ?!
WATCH IF YOU LIKE: “Independent Woman” by Destiny’s Child, making jokes about “The Chad” while running around at recess, cringing and putting your head in your hands but then laughing
I’d never seen TOP GUN! So we watched it. Would hate to miss out on a cultural conversation. It’s…a lot. I think it is not a good movie. But as someone who loves a lot of probably not-good movies just because they make me happy, I can definitely appreciate a movie that lights a lot of people up and have that be enough of a reason to call it a classic. I loved the campy elements—the soundtrack, the volleyball scene, the old-fashioned Movie Star-ness of Tom Cruise—but the movie was almost comically lacking in stakes. I also half-jokingly identify as a “Tom Cruise apologist” simply because I like the Mission Impossible movies and think it’s cool that he does his own stunts, but the truth is I find him a bit creepy and distressing, not to mention entirely unsexy. So to see him so doted upon and oiled up is a bit off-putting. All that said, I was still pretty amped to see the sequel.
We had a pal in town so a crew (if you will) of us, including Neighbor Nat, whose favorite movie is the OG, went to see TOP GUN: MAVERICK in theaters, Father’s Day weekend. We got Skittles from the special Skittles machine and everything. They cost $6. I liked the movie! The flight sequences are a thrill to watch, the new young bucks are all cute and hot and play touch football shirtless, and the Lady Gaga song is the Lady Gaga song. While I think one reason people enjoy the original is for its total lack of stakes, I was grateful that Joseph Kosinski added a bit of tension and suspense in this sequel. I’m not gonna lie, I laughed, I was moved, etc. And I remembered how tasty a nice Skittle can be.
WATCH IF YOU LIKE: greased up young (and old!) men, things that go vroom!, zoom!, and boom!, the Air and Water Show
Tell em, Ray Mak!
Summer heat means no using the oven!!! Or Allison will come home from work and be like “???!??!??!?! Did you use the oven??!?!?!” and you will have to be like “Only for like a few minutes?!????”
So here’s some recipes to help you cool off and not have to lie to your partner about how long you had the oven set to 350.
MARGARITAS FOR FOUR
Makes four margaritas, of course, although, you know, no judgement, be safe
1 cup plus a splash tequila
1 cup plus a splash orange liqueur (I like Pierre Ferrand dry curacao)
1 cup plus a splash fresh (fresh!!!) lime juice (10ish limes)
6 ounces water
Combine all ingredients in a pitcher and stir to combine. Chill and serve over ice in glasses with salted rims, if you like.
Headed to the beach? Pour into individual lidded jars or bottles, add a dash of sea salt to each vessel, and freeze for a bit. Enjoy the melting cocktail under the hot sun.
FRITTATA SANDWICH
Makes as many as you want, max of 4
For the frittata:
6 eggs
1 cup shredded parmesan (ahem, parmzzhyano-rezzhyano)
fresh ground black pepper
salt
2 tablespoons butter
For the sammy:
White sandwich bread (i like soft, floofy bread, but whatever you fancy will be fine)
Mayo
Pickled Calabrian chiles and/or giardiniera
Set an 8-10” oven-safe pan (like a cast iron) on low heat. Meanwhile, whisk together eggs, parm, salt, and pepper (I like a lot of pepper! Turn up the flavor!). Add the butter to the pan. Once it starts foaming, pour in the egg mixture.
Let cook on low until it’s just short of set—you want the middle to be wet and raw, and you don’t want any color on the bottom of the frittata. This might take some time, don’t feel the need to rush it! This low-and-slow cooking yields a custardy (as opposed to rubbery) texture.
Turn on the broiler (quietly, so your partner can’t hear, and you can say you’re just using the stove, not generating too much heat, etc.) and transfer the pan to the oven. Broil until the top is *just* set. Keep an eye on it, this won’t take long, maybe even 30 seconds. Remove from heat and let cool completely. Once room temp, cut into wedges and use for the sandwiches or chill for later.
To assemble the sandwich: Raid your fridge for spicy and/or pickly things, such as Calabrian chiles and giardiniera. Chop up the spicy pickly things (as many as you want! How much kick do you like? Follow your heart, this is YOUR sandwich after all) and mix with the mayo to make what we can now call an “aioli.” Oui, chef.
Spread the aioli on both pieces of the sammich bread, then top with the frittata wedges. Slice on a diagonal, to prove you’re not a sociopath. Wrap tightly in wax paper or a sandwich bag and nestle in your cold pack for later.
All for now! Enjoy your weekend as best you can, hang in there.
<3 Nina
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Got thoughts? What are they???