Newsletter: Sexy Tennis, 160 Days of Summer & Civil War

Holy shit, we made it to May! April was so crazy, we even got new Alex Garland and Luca Guadagnino movies. My full reviews below. We also got a nice, surreal, existential Julio Torres movie in Problemista. If you haven’t seen it and enjoy magical realism, I highly recommend checking it out. It's so nice getting a unique, artistic take on the immigrant experience, Tilda Swinton may be the greatest actor to ever live, and Julio Torres' writing is a reminder that we can always find humor, no matter how bleak things can get. That's probably why I enjoyed Los Espookys on HBO so much. Hey, that's a good show to keep in mind for the 30 Day Challenge. On that note, here’s what’s up for our coven in May!

DJ Bruja Radio Hiatus 🎧
Are we sad about the break? The good news is I will be popping up on Mixcloud for some random DJ sets, because no one wants to miss a good PRIDE party. I’d love to know, what were your favorite Season 1 episodes? What genres do you want me to do in the fall?

Coven Events & Patreon Things 💃
Even though the main show is on hiatus, our Coven will keep things busy this summer. We’ll still be doing movie watchalongs, dance parties, Discord hangs (thanks Ryan!) and more. Starting with our May Listening Party this Tuesday May 7th at 6 pm PT. So please add 3-4 of your favorite Guilty Pleasures to our playlist.

30 Day TV Challenge 📺 Y’all have been loving the challenges and I’ve loved getting to know you more, so it’s time for Witch Brittney’s month of TV. Shout out to High Priest Bryce for the huge help on the categories!

Did you check out the April vlog? Did you know I’m still doing Tarot readings? More of my original music is coming soon. In the meantime, expect the full Suspiria & Volk Remixes next week! If you’re worried about missing an event or benefit, I’ve organized my Patreon Collections to easily find posts 🔮

The Patreon Offer still stands. Wanna upgrade tiers but money sucks? Refer a friend to join our coven and you'll be upgraded a level for an entire month. If you're at the top tier, you get an extra sparkly charm. Conjure up a cool friend and get some mojo back ✨

Challengers Review by a Non-Monogamous Woman 🎾
Was it sexy? Sure. Could it have been even sexier? Definitely. Luca Guadagnino can do no wrong when it comes to the art of filmmaking, especially as he continues to hire Sayombhu Mukdeeprom to shoot his movies (I still wish we had a behind-the-scenes look at that crazy last act in Suspiria.) Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross continue to deliver the musical goods in every project they sign up for and the 3 main actors are not just nice to look at, but do their job well. With all those goodies in mind...

I was hoping to be more challenged by Challengers when it came to the writing. I'm used to Luca's movies being more thought provoking, so I was a surprised to find a pretty generic telenovela-like love triangle as the story. I was promised hot-and-heavy and, instead, received lukewarm-and-traditional. We've seen the tale of hot girl can't choose between “Fire and Ice” many times, especially with two dimensional characters. I find it kinda funny that Justin Kuritzkes' wife Celine Song brought us such a unique, realistic human story about one girl and two guys in Past Lives. No shade to Justin, but I really missed David Kajganich's writing. Suspiria and Bones and All had a lot more stimulating stories about the human condition, and James Ivory's Call Me By Your Name was so much sexier and gayer, it still shocks me it stars that teenage looking Kardashian fuckboy plus the cannibal.

I'm not saying every movie has to teach us something, and if you enjoyed the chemistry I did not see (except for that sauna scene!) I'm happy for you. But as someone who thinks not all humans need to follow social constructs when it comes to monogamy or sexuality, I was disappointed to not find more interesting commentary on relationships or the different ways humans can love each other outside of the nuclear family box, especially as we're living in evolutionary times. My main thought while sitting through this movie was: why can't they just be a throuple?

Civil War Review by a Mexican-American Foreigner 🪖
Ay, ay, ay. That's what my brain was thinking as the credits rolled. Alex Garland isn't usually interested in telling audiences what to think. He shows us what humans can be capable of. So I wasn't surprised when I heard how many people on Film Twitter were annoyed that there was no specific political ideology behind the conflict in Civil War.

Were people hoping for a linear fictional story with a happy ending or a "winner"? We don't need to be told why there's a Civil War. We know what the United States has been going through the last few decades. The dangerous us-versus-them mentality. The polarization through establishment media and propaganda. The numbing of Americans, like we saw in the jarring shopping scene, which was frustratingly familiar as we watch how many try to ignore what's happening in Gaza and other places affected by decades of awful American foreign policy. It was so effective to see American cities reduced to rubble and making this country look and feel like what others have been going through in other parts of the world.

I have some dumb nitpicks when it comes to the music and screenplay. Similar to Challengers, the acting was better than the dialogue. The "Antifa massacre" made me LOL. But, overall, Civil War is shot beautifully and I haven't been that stressed out at the last act of a movie since I can remember.

I hope that anyone looking for validation in their morally superior bubble takes a hard look at themselves and remembers there are literally no winners in war. And you can spend all day trying to debate historical facts or foreign policy from an academic point of view, but the cold truth is that, at the end of the day, war is just humans trying to kill each other. The biggest stances the movie takes are against war, polarization, deliberate ignorance, and lack of compassion. It's also clearly a love letter to journalists and war photographers. So I hope people watch this movie leaving with more respect for real journalists and more empathy for all humans, not just some.

According to the stars, April was so chaotic, the advice is to rest as May starts, in order to get ready for some good energy (finally!) in the middle of the month. So make sure to sleep and hydrate, as you think about what you want to do for yourself and your community. Then make like Ellen Ripley, take some action mid-month, and tell nihilism to "Get away from her, you bitch!" Her being your soul, because I think you’re fucking great and I can’t wait to see what beautiful things you’ll do.

Thanks for being here. As our High Priestess, Sam, said: may the April showers bring us plenty of May flowers ❤️