What the hell I was thinking?

Spoilers! Is there a way to discuss this finale without spoilers? I don’t think so. This show exploded. I never expected the dark twists and turns at the end of the witches' road. Such a clever nod to Wandavision with how they connected Wanda’s power set and mental health journey with that of her own son. And the dark realization that the road was created by Billy, who, just like his mother, created a reality—one that killed several witches who were searching for a new life. Thinking of Rio taking Alice from Billy’s mind, while Alice realizes it’s over, begging to continue, not ready to face the end. How dark this show went and how well it stuck the landing was mind-boggling. The song of Agatha, created with her then-living son on a cheerful walk, only to become what lured witches to their trap for centuries. Her son Nicholas Scratch, slightly evil, walking with that creepy goat—given who his mother is, I thought, “Yeah, that tracks.” But I kept going back to what his mother put h...

Gaga's Disease just dropped. I really loved the Harlequin album , and yesterday I couldn’t stop listening to her live performance of Happy Mistake , where her vocals just cut through the air. I also loved Die With A Smile ,  the song with Bruno Mars, but this new direction is exactly what I need right now.  Since the beginning, Gaga's music serves a purpose and points out a direction, like a compass in the never-ending tornado of life. Now, we have a new path to follow, and it sounds infectious. I woke up 30 minutes ago, and ever since, there’s nothing else I want to play but this song. I was so excited yesterday—after a damaging breakup, this dark techno rollercoaster of a new song, Disease , is exactly the boost of energy I needed to overcome the cluster of emotions in my heart. Gaga's voice channels those emotions and streamlines them into a scream. The lyrics are made to be shouted—and I’ll make sure my whole neighborhood hears them. Every time the song ends, Spotify ...

Which is it? Is the show wispy or is it kooky? To be honest, the last couple of episodes, even Billie's origin story, felt a little soulless and emotionless—just an exposé of information. But this episode revived the whole series and put it back on the radar, up there with Wandavision . I can transport myself like Lilia back when Wandavision began, and we were all swept into a tornado of mystery. Here, we have such a full circle of a role that kept us guessing for the past six weeks, that it felt like we took that journey, we understood, and we discovered the gaps that had kept us guessing. "Death comes for us all." "You say it like it's a comfort." "It is what we all have in common." I understood Joe Locke when he said this is his favorite episode. We guessed many things correctly, but that didn’t kill the excitement created by the excellent cinematography, plus the marvelous performances throughout. Patti LuPone came onto my radar during Coven ,...

Recently, I started educating myself on emotional intelligence to better control and balance my feelings, which had been out of control. It's imperative for one to understand themselves in order to gain clarity about why things happen the way they do and develop tools to guide themselves in a better direction. Why were these tools missing from my inventory? Of course, over the years, you pick up various methods that sometimes work. But eventually, as you dive deeper into the subject, you start recognizing patterns that may have served you before but no longer work in today's environment and daily life. If only I had experienced this conversations as a child, with someone helping me to name the explosive feelings I had, I wouldn’t have to struggle with learning it now. Emotions are like a language, and we all know that languages are much better learned when we’re young. Just as I’ve struggled with learning German for the past four years—or how I would struggle with Arabic or oth...

European cinema is evolving and finally receiving the well-deserved recognition. Sandra Hüller plays a significant part in this, injecting fresh, fresh, fresh blood into the aging corpse of cinema with her roles in 'Anatomy of a Fall' and 'Zone of Interest.' At the last Oscars, even Hüller's dog Messi, a French Border Collie, was celebrated. He could have swept the awards if there were categories for animal actors in film, whether drama or comedy. His incredible portrayal of Snoop, the overdosing dog, which I finally saw after so much buzz in the media, proved that European cinema is not dead but rather experiencing a renaissance never seen before. For a while, it seemed like only America had murder cases and trials that shook nations—OJ Simpson, the Menendez brothers, Dahmer—so it was refreshing to see the mystery return to the old continent, portrayed in a more realistic, raw style. I loved the entire movie. I waited so long to find the right time, and finally, th...

Unfortunately, after giving it some thought, I was able to kill with one shot the book, the movie, and the latest installment, Netflix's streaming show Ripley . That doesn't mean that if you read this you won't be able to enjoy them; you can even try to dismiss the problems the story has and just suck it up in the name of entertainment and the other themes that are tackled in it, of course. But for me, I will never look at the story with the sophistication it presented. Let’s acknowledge that, before the show, I really enjoyed the movie. It was one and done, but it was an interesting watch, not only to discover where those careers kicked off but also the story itself. A gay psychopath terrorizing the straights and the bisexuals? Sigh me on.  Although the movie feels more real due to not only the color pictures, acting, and style, I love Andrew and I loved him as the Ripley character. Marge, played by Dakota Fanning, has more depth, even though that depth painted her as an o...

You should stop smiling at me, it is disturbing! But what about the movie? I loved it. I saw it late yesterday, and I am still thinking about it. In fact, I almost didn't sleep because I was alone, super scared, with my dog, who I believe is Gen Z—very sensitive, loud, and needs protection. So, I had some time to think about it, and some of the sequences will stay with me to haunt me probably forever. The first movie was very good; I remember going to see it, and after it ended, my friend stood up and did the smile at me in the movie theater. I almost hit him, cursing him not to do it ever again. I did it to him when we got back home that same night, and I am waiting for him to come back from his Saturday fiasco to remind him how I feel about him repeating that tradition yesterday. I understand when some of you say that this movie wasn’t it, because of the raw gore, creepy images, and the hundreds of jump scares throughout the movie, but for me, this was the best horror movie exper...

It is such a bummer to see the hate literally destroy my most anticipated movie this year so viciously. What a whiplash we experienced watching Joker: Folie à Deux crumble under the aggressive attack of the fandom that built the cult around the first one. Although some, like me, didn’t realize at first where all the hate came from, now, after the second weekend drop, we can all agree that it was a bad business decision. Losing the studio around 200 million and further hurting the DC brand was not part of the equation when the film was greenlit, I assume. And Gaga was such a cool choice for the role, but I understand how the singing could be off-putting for the crowd that made the first movie possible in the first place. Listening to the reviews that came out before I watched the movie lowered my expectations so much that I ended up loving the film. Unfortunately, this movie didn’t represent the audience that made the first one such a hit, which was an incredibly risky and, as it turne...

  Those two shows are among the best television I have seen in my entire life. I was hooked from the first episodes, even though, as a gay person fascinated with murderers and criminal cases, I already knew the stories well. Ryan Murphy, however, managed to provide a fresh perspective on these legends within our community, adding dramatic twists and turns that weren’t available to this generation. The gruesome murderers once again had their time to shine, portrayed through incredibly powerful performances by everyone involved, leaving us to decide whether we could sympathize with them or not. The amount of work Ryan put into his shows and the accuracy of the stories is mind-boggling. I assume most of the material is well-documented and adapted for the screen with that special Murphy flair that takes it to another level. He knows his audience, and since American Horror Story , where Jessica Lange, Sarah Paulson, Evan Peters, and Angela Bassett blew our minds, he has consistently ama...

Look, I could write for hours about what Gaga and her art mean to me, but I will not defend her anymore; she is good. The one thing, though, about Gaga is that you will remain disappointed if you try to put her in a box, as she often doesn’t match your expectations. A true fan will go on this journey with her wherever she decides to take us. Over the last couple of days, I’ve felt like I prejudged her last album. It didn’t match the vibe of "Joker," nor did it meet what I was expecting, and on top of that, the album cover didn’t really fit the album’s vibe. I expected punk; she went solo jazz etc.. But what’s more punk than giving them zig when they were expecting zag?  It’s almost like she’s punk through her music, subverting what even punk means.  This morning, when I heard the live version of "Happy Mistake" as the first thing when I opened my eyes, my opinion changed. Did you hear her voice in that live Jimmy Kimmel performance ? I judged too quickly, because t...