💋 ‘I Want Your Sex’ scores big

by Sammie Purcell

The waiting game

Friday, July 31 — Let’s kick Friday off with some merger news – it seems I think about nothing else these days.

In light of a lawsuit from 12 states attempting to block Paramount’s acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, Paramount has halted the merger until five days after a trial ruling or June 1, 2027 – whichever comes first.

Paramount could have chosen to fight, going back and forth in the lengthy legal battle that usually precedes the scheduling of a trial (which would have frozen the merger anyway). A preliminary injunction hearing was scheduled for Aug. 3, where Paramount’s lawyers would have tried to convince Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California that she should not pause the deal indefinitely while she considered the lawsuit. Instead, they volunteered to pause the deal of their own accord.

Paramount’s lawyer Jeffrey Kessler said he thought going through the trial would help the deal finalize faster, according to the New York Times. But the Times also mentioned that Paramount has already suffered a number of setbacks here – maybe they thought they couldn’t win the Aug. 3 hearing, and decided to skip all the rigamarole and freeze the deal themselves.

So, what happens next? Both sides are supposed to propose a trial schedule by today. Paramount wants November, while the states want 2027. Now, we wait.

Without further ado … Action!

Adesola Thomas, the Atlanta Film Society’s filmmaker-in-residence, is shortlisted for the Sofia Coppola Short Film Award with her movie “Marigold Leaves Her Body,” and today is the LAST DAY to vote! Learn how you can do that here.

Georgia native Danny McBride will be honored with the Flannery O’Connor Award later this year at the Rome International Film Festival.

The film community is rallying around Courtney Drewes, a Woodstock resident and camera technician, as she recovers from cancer.

The Georgia Latino International Film Festival will run this year from Sept. 30 to Oct. 4. Tickets go on sale tomorrow.

The Coca-Cola Film Series at the Fox Theatre has announced new screenings for the year, including 1920’s “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” on Oct. 20 and “The Ring” with a live orchestra on Oct. 21. Tickets go on sale today.

The pilot episode of an Atlanta-made web series called “Homegrown” is having its premiere at Finca to Filter @ Side Saddle this Sun., Aug. 2.

BronzeLens’ summer Encore Series has its last installment on Thurs., Aug. 6 at the Center for Innovation & the Arts at Spelman College.

Tickets just went on sale for a meet and greet conversation with the stars of David Lynch’s “Twin Peaks” scheduled for early next year at City Winery.

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association has filed a lawsuit accusing Jay Penske, his company Penske Media, the Golden Globe Foundation and its CEO Gregory Goeckner of violating antitrust laws in an attempt to consolidate power over Hollywood’s awards ecosystem.

Academy Award-winning Irish singer-songwriter Glen Hansard, who starred in the film “Once,” died in a motorcycle crash in Dublin earlier this week. He was 56.

This week’s newsletter is a review-heavy one – we’ve got my review of the Noah Kahan concert earlier this week at Truist Park, as well as a review of the new Gregg Araki film “I Want Your Sex.” Jim Farmer was able to interview Araki, so you’ve got that to look forward to as well, along with my interview with Athens Film Festival Executive Director Chuck Griffin. We’ve also got a peek into the art I’ve been taking in this week, what’s playing at theaters, and some reading and listening recommendations for your lunch break.

Thanks for reading, and remember – “take this sinking boat, and point it home.”
Sammie

Soak up the sun with Midsummer at ArtsXchange for a two-day festival of art, community, and family. Enjoy an evening art auction and dancing today, July 31, then return tomorrow, Aug. 1 for free workshops, live entertainment, vendors, food, crafts, and games for all ages. More details.
SPONSOR MESSAGE

*Photo courtesy of My Global Presence PR*

Athens Film Festival returns for third year Aug. 27-30

Heading into its third year, the Athens Film Festival will hit the college town over four days at the end of August.

The festival will run from Aug. 27-30, featuring over 130 films from more than 30 countries, according to the festival’s website. Chuck Griffin started the festival in 2024, spurred on by the number of film festivals he’d seen come and go to the city over the years. Born and raised in Athens and an alumnus of the University of Georgia, Griffin thought he had the know-how to make it work.

“Why not me?” he remembered thinking. “I have a love for this town and an understanding of what this town represents as far as what a festival could be and what its identity is.”

Read more about the festival here.

Taste, sip, and celebrate!
SPONSORED BY GRAND TASTING ALPHARETTA

Raise your glass on Thurs., Aug. 27 at The Hotel at Avalon for the Grand Tasting Alpharetta.

Experience a one-night-only celebration of Alpharetta’s top restaurants with unlimited tastings, wine, craft beer, and cocktails. Enjoy live music, chef demos, and more during this unforgettable night of flavor and fun.

VIP entry begins at 6 p.m., general admission at 7 p.m. Get your tickets today!

Noah Kahan makes small-town anxieties feel fit for a crowd of thousands

A few songs into his show, Noah Kahan introduces himself: “My name is Noah Kahan. And I’m here to make you very, very, very unhappy!”

Well, you wouldn’t know it by the screams and the smiles on everyone’s faces. And we had every reason to be unhappy, when you think about it! The singer-songwriter’s July 27 concert at Truist Park started in the middle of an ongoing heat advisory, over 40,000 people stuck in a boiling pit of a stadium – sweaty, sticky, dehydrated beyond belief. The clothes I wore are still on my floor, and I may never get the stench of that dirty baseball field off of them.

And yet, despite the heat – and despite Kahan’s penchant for singing honestly about addiction, loss, anxiety, anger, loneliness, and everything in between – all 40,000 people in that stadium were happy. Through the sadness, we found catharsis.

Read my full review here.

Gregg Araki explores young people’s sexual anxiety in ‘I Want Your Sex’
WEEKLY FILM REVIEW

“You’re all dying to f*ck. But you’re just too chicken sh*t to admit it.” When Erika Tracy (Olivia Wilde) says this in “I Want Your Sex,” you can almost feel filmmaker Gregg Araki screaming into the abyss. Erika, a contemporary artist whose work focuses on the pleasures of sex, says this to her assistant-turned-BDSM-playmate (he’s the sub) Elliot (Cooper Hoffman) well before their sexual relationship begins, berating him for the ways in which his generation relates to sex – that is to say, for the fact that they don’t really relate to it at all.

Elliot tries to explain his peers’ hang-ups – lack of socialization, too many phones, the whole nine yards – but Erika just can’t understand. The sex she’s had over the years – the good, the bad, with women, with men, with anyone! – has made her who she is. She doesn’t understand nor does she sympathize with an entire generation’s paralyzing fear of connection.

Araki has been vocal about how this aspect of “I Want Your Sex” (which he co-wrote with Karley Sciortino) came into the film when he read an article about how Gen Z was having less sex than previous generations. Erika, then, serves as a bit of a mouthpiece for the director (although he doesn’t condone all of her behavior – and thank god), and “I Want Your Sex” channels Araki’s frustration over that fact into a satirical take on a noir where farce and erotica make for a potent combination.

Read my full review here, and make sure to check out Jim Farmer’s interview with Araki about the movie too.

At the Movies!

If you’re looking for a movie to see in theaters this week, here’s what you’ve got to look forward to!

Movies releasing this weekend:
“Spider-Man: Brand New Day” (pictured)
“I Want Your Sex”
“Arrest the Midwife”

Special Events:
“Cats Don’t Dance” @ The Plaza (Saturday-Thursday)
Michael Myerz Presents: “Beyond Courage: The Animated Films of John R. Dilworth” @ The Plaza (Saturday)
“Boyhood” 12th Anniversary @ The Tara (Saturday-Tuesday)

Soak up the sun with Midsummer at ArtsXchange for a two-day festival of art, community, and family. Enjoy an evening art auction and dancing today, July 31, then return tomorrow Aug. 1 for free workshops, live entertainment, vendors, food, crafts, and games for all ages. More details. SPONSOR MESSAGE

What I’m reading … and watching … and listening to

Reading: I’ve been catching up on the work of the great Pauline Kael, one of the seminal film critics of the 20th century. I don’t always agree with her (often don’t, in fact), but her voice is undeniable – biting, incisive, sometimes unhinged in the best way. Learn about some of her most notorious reviews here, including “The Sound of Music” review that – according to legend – got her fired.

Watching: I’ve finally started watching “The Pitt” (pictured above), and I finally get the hubbub around Dr. Robby (tortured, soulful, kind of mean – I get it!). However, he needs to stop being so mean to my queen, Dr. Mohan – God forbid a girl care about her job!

Listening to: Some of my favorite pop girlies have been putting out new music, so I’ve been jumping all around the pop spectrum. My faves? “Persona” by Charli XCX and “the light in the painting” by Lizzy McAlpine.

Lights, Camera, Action!

One of the performances I’ve through a lot about in the wake of “The Odyssey” – brief however it may be – is Lupita Nyong’o’s dual turn as Helen of Troy and her sister, Clytemnestra. Roxana Hadadi’s piece for Vulture captures just what I love so much about the stony, almost haughtiness that Nyong’o brings to Helen, and the simmering anger she brings to Clytemnestra. Check it out here.

Film festival season is in full swing, and the folks at the “Little Gold Men” podcast are breaking down the lineups, discussing which films have legs and which festivals actually matter. Take a listen here.

If you’re of a certain age, “Jackass” holds a very special place in your heart. And yet, for as long as we’ve known Johnny Knoxville, have we ever really learned why he loves the death-defying, often beautifully stupid stunts that he does? This New Yorker profile from Molly Young tries to find the answer.