Ad Astra Takes Brad Pitt On A Thoughtful Voyage To Space

Judging by the basic plot and tone of Ad Astra, it appears that writer/director James Gray is a big fan of both Apocalypse Now and 2001: A Space Odyssey. Can you blame him? Both of those movies are, like any Lizzo album, flat-out excellent. Taking the story structure of Apocalypse Now concerning an internally tormented man making a trek to a mysterious legendary figure isolated from general society and then mixing it with the slow-paced cosmic aesthetic of 2001: A Space Odyssey is already an interesting framework for a somber exploration of Astronaut Brad Pitt's daddy issues. Much like how last weekends Hustlers used a clear love for Scorsese to make something new, so too does Ad Astra take two beloved films from decades past as a springboard for its own distinct feature film.

All Hail The Visually Stunning Comedy But I'm A Cheerleader

The only real downside to watching But I'm a Cheerleader for the first time is stumbling onto the initial reviews for the film where seemingly everyone but Roger Ebert (God bless him) just seemed to totally miss the point of the film. Most aggravating among these reviews is a common refrain from primarily heterosexual reviewers about how the film is just "preaching to the choir" and doesn't do enough to appeal to viewers who are against the LGBTQA+ community. The idea that art about members of an oppressed community of human beings is obligated to make an effort to reach out to privileged populations suppressing said oppressed communities is staggeringly stupid. The humanity of LGBTQA+ people is not some debate where "both sides have a point" like a debate over Star Wars movies, a film like But I'm A Cheerleader is not lesser than because it decides to exclusively focus on queer characters and their struggles.