Sacrebleu! For the deuxième semaine of Criterion Collection month, Claire selected this 1960s French musical, famous for its restrained recitative accompagnato and it's bleached-blonde beauty. Before we get to the movie, June shares her Catherine Deneuve phase, and the whole group mentions all the French we've forgotten. Then we talk about how the beauty of this musical isn't just in it's protagonist but the "saturated supercolor" of the backdrops and outfits. Afterwards we discuss what the movie says about soulmates, the framing of romantic stories, and Debussy's turn-of-the-century operatic innovation. And last but not least, we touch on the film's greatest achievement, which is not the 99% Rotten Tomatoes score but it's attainment of the hot woman trifecta.

Episode 54 - MILF (Mère I'd Like to French) or: Love, Song, and The Umbrellas of Cherbourg

Let it be known that a cis cohost (Nick) selected the movie about the cross-gender performer. This stylized Japanese film covers the exploits of a kabuki onnagata, the term for MtF (but only when on the stage). June covers the history of boys (and femboys) playing women in Japanese theater, makes a lot of jokes about a cis man's mannerisms, and presents her thesis about how why HRT should be free. We also talk about the expectations of men being strong and women being sneaky, which Nick attempts to explain by talking about swords. And if June's Japanese language teacher from ten years ago is watching this, she wants you to know she's sorry about all the bad pronunciation in this episode.

Episode 55 - Misogyny All Around or: Gender, Performance, and An Actor's Revenge

We conclude our Criterion month with a film all hosts agreed on: the Scorsese adaptation of the Vatican-banned novel by Greek Socialist Nikos Kazantzakis. As good comparison with the hateful depiction of 2000s masculinity in The Passion of the Christ, this controversially human 1980s portrayal of Jesus might not appeal to Carmela Soprano, but it's definitely won over all hosts. Between the philosophy about the dual natures of Christ, Nietzschean ideas about theodicy, and the material conditions of Roman-occupied Judaea, we also talk about men kissing men, the gay Passion Play that June remembers, and a guardian angel who took the red pill. Lastly, we mention our hiatus for the pod, but like JC himself, we will return (albeit after more than three days).

Episode 56 - Failson Jesus or: Hierarchy, Monophysitism, and The Last Temptation of Christ

God made the sci fi novel to train the podcasters. That's because we're looking for the first time at a complete book: Frank Herbert's aesthetic melange, Dune. We cover all the surface-level topics such as failed movie adaptations, STEM nerds, whether knives are swords, controlling jizz, and magazines that rejected June's writing. Then we talk about the book's bad politics, how to read it contrary those politics, and why the characters are so stupid (all these topics are related). Come for the mispronounced names, stay for the hot take from Nick that "Twilight is a very effective book."

Episode 34 - Trans Icon Kwisatz Haderach or: Great Man Theory, Ecofashism, and Dune (1965)

The leftist podcast where we do art & media criticism from a trinity of religious (Catholic, syncretist, atheist) perspectives.

Episode 34 - Trans Icon Kwisatz Haderach or: Great Man Theory, Ecofashism, and Dune (1965)

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