Queer.Horror.Movies

The curated portfolio of film journalist Joe Lipsett

[Pose Recap W/t Gayly Dreadful] Ninja 3: The Domination Is The Best Part Of “What Would Candy Do?”

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Each week Terry (@gaylydreadful) and Joe (@bstolemyremote) discuss the most recent episode of FX’s Pose, alternating between their respective sites – gaylydreadful.com and queerhorrormovies.com.

Episode 2.05 “What Would Candy Do?”: Competition gets the best of Damon (Ryan Jamaal Swain) and Ricky (Dyllon Burnside) as they audition for a spot on Madonna’s Blonde Ambition tour.

Joe

Well Terry, I’m not going to lie: I found this week’s episode of Pose, “What Would Candy Do?” to be a complete and utter snooze fest. Perhaps it’s that my cultural connection to Madonna’s Blonde Ambition tour and Solid Gold are nearly non-existent, but this felt like a series of dance videos in search of a plot.

Let’s back up: the episode opens with the context that Queen Madge’s “Vogue” is now in its third week at #1 and she’s casting authentic Ball dancers to go on tour. Naturally both Ricky and Damon want it and naturally both of their house mothers think that they’re a shoo-in. “What Would Candy Do?” tries to get a lot of mileage out of the contrasting approaches to motherhood that Elektra (Dominique Jackson) and Blanca (Mj Rodriguez) employ, but we’ve always known that Blanca  is supportive and inspirational whereas Elektra is a tough bitch who refuses to coddle. That’s not new, in spite of what the writers seem to think (and repeatedly try to hammer home here).

My biggest issue with the episode, though, is the structure is all over the place. Nearly half of the runtime is dedicated to the preparation for the first audition, then there’s a brief Ballroom showdown (involving a fucking Tonya Harding-like attempt to take Damon out of contention?!?!) and then we don’t even see the callback audition, and then we’re literally on the set of Solid Gold with an exteeeeeeeeended (read: boring) dance sequence as the week’s top 10 songs are counted down. I honestly fast-forwarded when we got to song eight because it started to feel like Pose was padding the run time!

Yes, I’m obviously being a bitch, but this was a 25 minute episode wrapped in a 45 minute shell and I. WAS. BORED. Terry, what did you think of all of this dancing? Were you invested in the “will they/won’t they” antics as Damon and Ricky kept circling each other romantically? And what evokes stronger memories for you: the Blonde Ambition Tour or Solid Gold?

Terry

I don’t know, Joe. This episode made me jump for joy. Like I literally gave a surprised…well, squeal doesn’t sound very flattering…but I made a happy noise and laughed because my two loves collided: queer programming and off-the-wall movies!

Yes, I’m talking about the fact that Pose name-dropped one of the more bonkers movies I’ve seen. It turns out that one of the solid gold dancers would go on to star in Ninja III: The Domination. This is a true story! Her name is Lucinda Dickey and she had a brief stint on Solid Gold. Ninja III was about a telephone line woman/aerobics instructor who gets possessed by the evil spirit of a ninja after she comes to his aid. It’s pretty bonkers and a great movie to watch with a group of friends.

Unlike this episode of Pose, which I found to be the most boring episode of TV I’ve seen since that episode of Stranger Things where Eleven goes to Chicago and completely killed S2’s momentum. The only positive that I can really come up with, outside of name-dropping a bad cult flick, is that it was only an hour long.

But oof, what a long hour that was. I also found the dancing at the end to really be padding. And it’s not as if this is going to go anywhere. I hate to break it to Ricky and Damon, but unless Pose is set in a different multiverse, Solid Gold ain’t getting picked up for another season. The show petered out in 1988.

I know you mentioned this, but it deserves repeating: what threw me for a complete loop is that there’s all this build up, dancing, auditions and drama and then there’s no callback audition! Joe, that’d be like cutting your favorite movie Jaws right as they’re about to go into The Orca to hunt the shark and then cut to them swimming home. How you going to cut out the climax of the episode?! Who does this?

I’m also completely over the Damon/Ricky sitch. Like this episode, it has gone on too long. Though I will say that I’m officially in your camp that Ricky could “get it” (It being me, though I still hold a candle for Angel Bismark Curiel’s new and improved Papi).

I’m glad you mentioned the Blanca/Elektra comparisons. We get it. They’re different people. But then Elektra brings out Candy’s hammer?? Dominique Jackson already chews the scenery, we don’t need her swinging a hammer around, as well! Her de-evolution into a campy cartoon has already been more pronounced this season. At this rate, I’m waiting for her to bring out a vat of dip and a shivering shoe.

But, Joe, I’m just going to say it: the most egregious moment of this episode is that Janet Jackson’s fantastic “Alright” was fourth place. I got nothing else, Joe. This episode didn’t give me anything to think about. Are you a Madonna fan? I know this season is all about the idea of the mainstream appropriating ball room culture, but are you still on board with the constant Madonna-ness of it all?

And…I don’t know, do you like pancakes? I seriously got nothing here.

Joe

AHHHH I’m so glad that you brought up Ninja 3 because that bizarro little cult film is a goddamn gem! Ugh, if only we had of got to see clips of that film instead of what we ended up with!

As for hurting for things to say, it’s a serious problem isn’t it?! There was just no reprieve in this episode for folks who aren’t completely fascinated with the Ricky/Damon drama. Typically in a drama series, and especially one with a bench as deep as Pose, you’ll have at least a B-plot to distract you if you’re not on board with the main storyline. Here the closest thing we get is that throwaway scene between Angel (Indya Moore) and Papi where she mentions that she’s successfully booking other modelling gigs and he compliments her look

Sidebar: show, don’t tell, Pose! Take 5 minutes out of this 60 minute fiasco to give us a montage of Angel running around town, taking meetings.

But yes, I’m still kind of on board for Madonna, though I don’t really know how much further the writers can take this now that there are no more spots on the tour. You’ve got to imagine that all of this talk about the Ball going mainstream has now been squashed so it’s unclear whether Pose will pivot back to its other residual storylines – AIDS drama and Blanca’s battle with Patti LuPone – or introduce something else for its few remaining episodes.

At this point though, something has to happen. Two out of five episodes this season have been flat out disasters, which is a pretty miserable batting average for a series that just picked up a bunch of Emmy nominations (for last season obviously).

But yes, at least we’ll always have pancakes (Preferably banana chocolate in the shape of dinosaurs)

Back to you, Terry: do you think the Madonna stuff is dunzo? Do you think there was enough reference to Candy (considering the episode literally includes her name in it)? Are you eager to get back to a particular lingering plot line? And whose lewk was best in the episode: Ricky’s lime green striped pants or the Solid Gold outfits?

Terry

Omg. I completely forgot about Patti! My immediate thought was “who???” But you’re right, WTF happened to that story?

I think you hit on the biggest problems of this season. It’s lacking a strong episodic through line. Narrative threads pop up and then vanish. We’re halfway through this season and I don’t even know what this season is about. Pose is struggling to find its voice and the result is starting to feel like a bunch of sitcom episodes. Here, we have two characters who are apart, get together and then end the episode basically where they started it.

And yes! Same thing with Angel. Her story just feels blasé, now. She’s getting everything she wants and it’s all off screen. Where’s the conflict? Where’s the drama? I’ve never been a Madonna fan. She’s fine. Got a couple bangers but she’s just not for me. And while I hope we move on from this, I just don’t think we will. I think she’s coded in this season’s DNA. I guess that’s it for this week. Let’s hope next week is better.

Oh, and Joe? Lime green striped pants all the way.

Next week: “Love’s in Need of Love Today” looks to bring both AIDS and Patti in a big way. We’ll hop back over to Terry’s site, Gayly Dreadful for episode six!

[Fantasia Review] Paradise Hills Offers Beauty, But Misunderstands Its Own Appeal

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A beautifully maintained island full of young women that need to be “fixed.” A rebellious princess with a tragic past. A fantasy world with a mildly dystopian undercurrent, complete with a financial caste system. This is the world of Paradise Hills, the feature film debut of Alice Waddington. [Read more…]

[Review] ‘Scream: Resurrection’ Kills With Boredom

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The long-awaited third season of MTV’s Scream debuts under a revised miniseries moniker and new channel (Scream: Resurrection and VH1, respectively), but the issues that plagued the first two seasons remain a killer problem. [Read more…]

[Fantasia 2019] Five Films To Get Excited For At This Year’s Festival

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You know that it’s summer when you start getting emails about Fantasia Film Festival. The largest genre film festival in North America is celebrating its 23rd year in Montreal, QB this summer. 130 features from the globe will be playing the fest, which runs from July 11 – Aug 1, 2019. [Read more…]

Queer Horror Director Showcase: Yann Gonzalez on Gregg Araki’s ‘Nowhere’, Making His Mom Cry, And Being Understood in the US

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Photo: Ella Hermë

Name: Yann Gonzalez

Age:  42

Birth Place: Nice, France

Sexuality: Gay

Notable films: You Are The Night (2013), Islands (2017), Un Couteau Dans Le Coeur/Knife+Heart (2018)

[Read more…]

[Pose Recap w/t Gayly Dreadful] Bodies In The Closet in ‘Butterfly/Cocoon’

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Each week Terry (@gaylydreadful) and Joe (@bstolemyremote) discuss the most recent episode of FX’s Pose, alternating between their respective sites – gaylydreadful.com and queerhorrormovies.com. Missed last week’s recap? Click here to read it.

Episode 2.03 “Butterfly/Cocoon”: A fatal mishap with a client leads Elektra (Dominique Jackson) to seek out the counsel of Blanca (Mj Rodriguez) and Candy (Angelica Ross). Meanwhile, moving from friends to lovers proves to be a challenge for Angel (Indya Moore) and Lil Papi (Angel Bismark Curiel).

JOE

Well Terry, much like House Ferocity, they can’t all be winners, can they?

‘Butterfly/Cocoon’ is easily the worst episode of Pose’s second season and by far my least favourite of the four that I’ve seen.

This is the third episode of the series written by Our Lady J (after 1.03’s ‘Giving and Receiving’ and 1.07’s ‘Pink Slip’), but there’s something demonstrably off about it. It’s as though Lady J is struggling to capture the tone or spirit of the series, so that even while there are fascinating elements about how the queer, and more specifically the transgender community, is treated by the police, ‘Butterfly/Cocoon’ never quite comes together.

Part of this may have to do with the episode’s focus on Elektra. As much as I love Dominique Jackson’s performance as the brash and bossy Mother, Elektra has never been the series’ main character…for good reason. Elektra is that key utility player that you sprinkle into scenes to liven them up. Here she’s the MAIN EVENT and while I would argue that it’s the plot that she’s surrounded by that ultimately dooms the episode, it is challenging to suddenly thrust a supporting character into the spotlight for 50+ minutes out of the blue.

Ultimately, though, it’s a lamentable plot that sinks the episode. We’ve seen accidental murders that require covering up a billion times on TV and it requires a deft touch and a certain amount of finesse to pull off. ‘Butterfly/Cocoon’s handling of the material is most reminiscent of the ill-fated (and extremely ill-advised) plot of Friday Night Lights S2 when Landry murders a man who tries to sexually assault Tyra and they spend the rest of the season in a completely different show.

Everything about Pose‘s attempt at the same story line – from Candy’s casual dismissal to the reintroduction of the odd back alley silicone injection woman to the montage of covering the body in lye and packing him up in the closet – just…doesn’t feel like Pose.

Terry, what – if anything – worked for you about this plot line?

TERRY

Oh, Joe, Joe, Joe. Nothing about this episode worked for me, I’m sad to say.

Skimming through my notes from last night, there’s just a lot of “this is a filler episode” and “what is happening right now.” I think you deftly hit the mark with the major problem with this. I know Elektra is a fan favorite and, like you, I enjoy her brash quips…but she reminds me of Coach Sue Sylvester on Glee, whose withering bon mots could tear even the thickest skinned person down. Seeing her meteoric rise in fan popularity, they leaned hard into her character to the detriment of the main storylines.

I hinted at this before, but I’m afraid this is what they’re doing with Elektra. Like you, I enjoy Dominique Jackson’s performance…but she kind of operates only at one level, as if she’s shouting to the people in the cheap seats at a theatre. So an entire episode of that was a bit much for me.

But my biggest issue was also something you touched on, Joe. It feels weirdly disconnected from the rest of the series, as if we were dropped into the middle of a (long) melodramatic sitcom. It was kooky character hour with the back alley plastic surgeon and the always reliable Candy. But then it gives the usually villainous Elektra a “pet the dog” scene…where Dead Paul is the dog. Her suddenly praying over the body and then making metaphoric comments about how his body will always be with her feels disingenuous. I’m no expert, but I’ve watched a lot of horror movies and I just kept thinking that there has to be a better way of getting rid of him than their very elaborate scheme, right?

Continuing the sitcom theme, Angel is (again!) on the apparent fast track to modelling stardom…except then she’s not…and then she ultimately is by the end of the episode. Everything is back to the status quo. Her brief relationship with Papi also came out of nowhere for me. The only chemistry they’ve had between them involved him shooting photos of her earlier this season. Their final scene this episode confused me because it felt like the actors were in two completely different scenes. Angel Bismark Curiel’s Papi is tearfully ripping his heart out while Indya Moore’s Angel is just sort of…smiling brightly? Did we even get a resolution with their relationship? I’m not even sure.

I don’t know, Joe. It’s too early in the season for a filler episode of this magnitude. Do you think this is the last we’ll see of Paul or will he become Chekhov’s body and cause more drama for Elektra later this season? And what about the explosive break-up last episode of a series-long relationship that didn’t get any resolution or fallout?

JOE

Oh the show is FOR SURE doing Ryan Jamaal Swain’s Damon (and to a lesser extent, Ricky) dirty. It’s the most substantial “fall from attention” plummet for a main character I’ve seen in quite some time and while Damon has never been my favourite character, it’s still very odd to see him essentially disappear from the narrative.

As for Chekov’s Body (née Paul), I would be happy never to revisit this story line. The minute Elektra left the room to file her nails and chill in the break room I knew where this was going and it played out exactly the way I feared, so if we never had to address the chest in the closet again, it would still be too soon!

Then there’s that Angel/Papi storyline. UGH. I’ll confess that I never bought this relationship (it simply feels shoehorned in, as though characters circling each other in close quarters must invariably fall in love or sleep together). There’s a legitimate lack of chemistry between Bismark Curiel and Moore and their romance feels like it was constructed out of thin air. When he tells her early in the episode “I’ve been waiting for a girl like you”, I may have literally exclaimed aloud “Since when?!”

I haven’t loved the Angel/modelling stuff, but I did think that the montage of her photoshoot set to Neneh Cherry’s “Buffalo Stance” was a bit of fun and the entire House Evangelista’s reaction to her Duane Reade campaign (which apparently IMMEDIATELY happened?!) is very cute. With that said, we’re now 2/2 for modern references in a 90s-set series, following Mrs. Ford use of “Consider it handled” to end her phone call.

I don’t need Olivia Pope/Scandal references in my Pose, Terry!

TERRY

Since we’re at confessional, I’ll mention that I didn’t pick up on the “Consider it handled” line because *whispers quietly* I’ve never seen Scandal. But for a show that’s lauded as an examination of queer culture in 1980s/90s NYC, the anachronisms are a bit much.

The only positive thing I can say about The Bizarre Case of the Mummified Body (née Paul) is that they at least pulled from a real life incident. The episode wraps with a quote from Dorian Corey, a famous drag performer and fashion designer who also, coincidentally, had more than just clothes in her closet. I don’t want to beat a dead mummy, but the way it was brusquely handled this episode just felt so out of character for the show.

Oh well. It looks like we’re taking a break next week, Joe. But when Pose returns in two weeks, I’m hopeful the show course corrects and returns us to more of what makes Pose so interesting.

In two weeks: Pose returns with “Never Knew Love Like This Before” as Pray Tell and Candy escalate their feud and we jump back to Gayly Dreadful for episode four!