Review: Drive-Away Dolls

Be lesbian do crime.

If there is one word that describes the filmography of the Coen brothers, it is ‘quirky.’ They are almost instantly quotable. There is always some character with an outlandish accent. There is an endlessly weird plot that nevertheless says something intelligent and profound about America (and it’s always America) by the end. Now, Ethan Coen sets off with his debut as a solo director, the lesbian crime film Drive-Away Dolls, written by Coen and Tricia Cooke, released in February of 2024.

This film is set at a very particular junction in American history: the late 1990s, the turn of the millennium, the dawn of the digital age, the time when America bestrode the world like a colossus with no equal (and I must admit, it is strange that a time that I was alive in, although was too young to remember, being born in the last days of 1996, is becoming the object of these somewhat nostalgic period pieces, as has been done with the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s - Madame Web, being set in 2004, was something that made me feel very old, despite not being that old). In this regard, it feels like an odd throwback to older crime films, albeit with a Coen-esque quirkiness and an unrepentant queerness.

When I was describing this movie to my sister, I called it ‘be lesbian do crime,’ to echo the internet meme. This is a movie that is about lesbians, primarily a pair of characters whose inner journeys parallel the very real physical journey on which they have embarked. This voyage starts in Philadelphia, where Jamie (Margaret Qualley) and Marian (Geraldine Viswanathan) rent a car that happens to be carrying precious cargo for organized crime. They are pursued, and hijinks ensue. I would understand if viewers are worried that a straight man would not write or direct lesbian characters well, as there are so many of them in the ensemble, but it bears noting that Ethan Coen’s wife Tricia Cooke, who is a lesbian (they have a relationship where they each have sex with other partners but are involved romantically with one another, from what I can tell - an odd arrangement, but if it works for them, more power to them), co-wrote the film. I accept that, as a straight man, I am utterly not the best person to judge the representation of lesbians in this film, but at least one lesbian was intimately involved in its production. Make of that what you will.

As you would expect from its director, this is a gut-bustingly funny film; my lungs were tired by the end of it. It has the trademark razor-sharp wit that results in lines that are eminently quotable. This is punctuated by perfect delivery, especially by Qualley’s Jamie, the designated ‘funny woman’ to Viswanathan’s ‘straight woman’ (in the comedy sense, not the sexuality sense, of course). Qualley is the designated character with the funny accent, a Texas twang that emphasizes what a fish out of water she is on the East Coast, and what a foil she is to Viswanathan.

What really shines in this film are the performances of Qualley and Viswanathan. They are, as I said, a traditional comedic duo; one is bubbly and extroverted, and the other introverted and intellectual (she spends much of the time reading Henry James, and describes him as long winded; as someone who recently read The American Scene I found her complaints amusingly relatable). So much of the film is Jamie trying to break Marian out of her shell, be it at skeevy lesbian dive bars or swanky Florida hotels or college parties. It’s a delightful contrast of characters that the writing gets a lot of mileage out of. They are yin and yang, so different and yet so necessary for each other.

Something should also be said for two of the hired guns the mob sends after them, who in some ways parallel the two leads. They are Arliss (Joey Slotnick) and Flint (C. J. Wilson), another comedic duo. One wants the other to live a little, while the latter thinks the former is a nag. It is a blunter, more physical partnership, one more concerned with brawn than brain, and is in many ways a funhouse mirror of the protagonists. They likewise bumble through the American South, including multiple juke joints. They have that same clash and yet complement of personality, of contradictory but congruent goals, but the congruence only lasts so long before it heads south in a way that the protagonists never did.

There is a lot of sex in this film, to an extent that somewhat shocked me, even with some idea that it was there. To my straight male eyes, the cinematography and the writing of these scenes did not strike me as written for the male gaze, as so many scenes of lesbian intimacy have been over the years, although I am the first to admit I am not the most qualified person to judge that. Every sex scene in this film has a meaning to it, a purpose to it, and all of them involve character development in an artful way. Indeed, there is a warmth and intimacy to some of these scenes that have the role of more chaste scenes in more reserved films, to the point I cannot help but suspect that a degree of parody of more serious dramas is involved. Ethan Coen, so far as I can tell, views his two leads as proper characters and not merely objects of lust, and it enriches the film.

Drive-Away Dolls is fun, good fun. It is yet another great film produced by a Coen in Hollywood, although interestingly one that is only helmed by one of them (I wonder why Joel was not involved, but that’s ultimately his business). I don’t know where it fits in the history of queer representation in Hollywood, but that’s not my call to make. All I can say is that it is really funny, and quite touching in just the right parts. I highly recommend it.

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The Math

Nerd Coefficient: 9/10

POSTED BY: Alex Wallace, alternate history buff who reads more than is healthy.

Hail, Caesar: A Love Letter to a Love Letter to Old Hollywood

I love old Hollywood.

I love it for the movies, of course, but also the bigger-than-life personalities, the amazing contradictions it contained, the fact that it was essentially a stage magician manufacturing illusion, and the behind-the-curtain rigging that made it possible. I'm also fascinated, of course, by the lives it destroyed, and the seedy tabloid underbelly. But to be honest, I grow easily tired of that. Hollywood Babylon was enough; I didn't need Hollywood Babylon II and the rumors of Hollywood Babylon III. But people love to fixate on that. The current podcast You Must Remember This is a perfect example, telling some of the most grim and depressing, little-known stories from days of Hollywood gone by. I felt like I needed to take a shower after listening to the Gloria Grahame episode. I get it, though. After living in LA for over 10 years, and working in and around Hollywood, I recognize that it's an unfair system that pays out rewards at random, and somebody's whim on a Tuesday after a disappointing lunch can ruin somebody else's career or life.

It's easy to be cynical, and it's easy to find, and to tell, the stories that support that position.

It's harder to be what The Coen Brothers' new movie, Hail, Caesar! is: affectionate and funny. This is a movie with very, very low stakes. We're not what you'd call worried about the outcome. It's not full of what you might call narrative rigor. Yet, I found the movie utterly transfixing because it took all the things I love about old Hollywood and amplified them, and it took all the seedy, nasty stuff, and made jokes out of it. In the opening scene, when Josh Brolin's character secrets a starlet out of a bungalow at 5 am on a rainy night and pays hush money to cops, you know that in the real version of that story, the starlet was making porn movies or worse. In this version, she's dressed in some kind of lederhosen and churning butter.



I got a lot of the in-jokes, and the (not so) veiled references to real people, but I felt like for every one I got, five more went past in the background. People will write books about the references hidden in this movie. Hail, Caesar! does with old Hollywood what The Big Lebowski did with 1940s noir pictures. The casting was amazing, as in most everything the Coens do, but so often in their movies they seem to treat their characters with contempt (see Burn After Reading or Intolerable Cruelty), but in their best work they let their weirdos be weirdos and show us how we might love them in spite of everything. In this movie, that may be most true of Alden Erenreich's Hobie Doyle, who comes across at first as an idiotic movie cowboy, but becomes much more as the movie goes on. I've seen movies in the theater in the last couple of years that made me happy, and that I thought were good movies, but I haven't seen anything that made me fall in love with movies themselves as much as this did in a long, long time.

As a film nerd, hands down, Hair, Caesar! is my favorite movie about movies since Ed Wood, and that's high praise, indeed.

Also, check out this great interview with Josh Brolin about the movie.

Peggle 2

the council of peggle masters

I realize I was a little bit behind the times with my review of Peggle 1, so I decided to jump on the ball and get my Peggle 2 review out in a timely fashion. This sequel is as fun and addictive as the original without feeling like a re-tread. There are new Peggle Masters, funnier dialogue, and more or less effective powers, depending on the current master for the levels you're on at the current time. Bjorn Unicorn is the only returning character. For those who missed the first Peggle review, the gist of the game is the same. You have ten pinballs and you have to shoot them at 25 red pegs. Hit all 25 pegs and you clear the level. Miss any and you have to start the whole thing over.

While I don't think there's anything here that wouldn't have been capable using the Xbox 360's hardware, there are definite improvements in the graphics in this game. They have come up with new and interesting ways to make hitting the red pegs more difficult to hit. There are expanding and contracting groupings of pegs. They also have double-pegs that require two hits to remove from the board. All-in-all, I felt this was a slightly more difficult game than the first, but also more enjoyable for the depth of character it offered in the Peggle Masters. In that vein, let's get to the Peggle Master breakdown.

who's the master? sho 'nuff!

1. Bjorn Unicorn

Bjorn's power is the same in this game as it was in the first. His ability is to show you where your peg will bounce after it hits its first target. This is easily the weakest power, but it's also the opening level, so what do you expect? Atomic bombs? I don't think so. 

2. Jeffrey the Troll

Jeff is a less-than-subtle homage to the Coen Brothers' classic character, The Dude. His special power includes firing a huge bowling ball that wipes out entire swaths of pegs. It's one of the more potent special powers in the game. Jeff recounts many quips that will be instantly recognizable to fans of the film, along with being a lazy drunk (as opposed to a pothead), and a huge fan of bowling. "There's a beverage here, man!"

3. Berg the Yeti

(Ice)Berg is a friendly fellow with a penchant for going pantless. His power is known as Ice Breath and it can be either the most or least useful power in the game, depending on your shot. When you hit his green power peg, Berg begins to blow. This North wind causes all pegs that are hit to move rather than disappear. Any other peg they hit will also begin to move with the wind. It doesn't blow in any particular direction, just causes the pegs to slide across the board. Hit a good shot and you can wipe out nearly half the board. Hit a bad one and there might as well not be a power peg there at all. Still, Berg's sparkling personality and his bare-bottomed dance make him one of the most likable characters in the game. 

4. Stormin' Gnorman

Gnorman the Gnome is a robotic master of small stature but great power. Once Gnorman's power is activated, each peg that is hit will electrify and wipe out three corresponding pegs. Even though he appears to have a Napoleon complex, building a robotic suit to increase his stature to a whopping 3'4", Gnorman's power is extremely useful and rarely leaves pegs unpunished. Although he is quite a way into the game, I found his boards some of the easiest to clear due to his electrical powers. He isn't as amenable as some of the other characters, but what he lacks in personality he more than makes up for in Peggle Power. 

5. Luna the Ghost

Although Luna is adorable, her powers are quite strong. Once you strike her green pegs, she makes all the blue pegs on the board disappear, leaving nothing but red targets for you to hit. While some might say this takes all the fun out of the game, her boards were difficult enough that they would be neigh impossible without a little help from Luna. Her adorable little visage belies one of the most powerful Peggle Master powers in either game. 

Summarizification

While Peggle 2 doesn't make any great strides from the first iteration, it doesn't really have to. Why mess with a winning formula? This game is just as fun and addictive as the original. The new masters are quite enjoyable and the powers that they've come up with are different enough from the first while still remaining useful that they make this sequel a welcome addition to the Peggle universe. 

the math

Objective Score: 8/10

Bonuses: +1 for not messing up one of the better gaming formulas. They could have gone all "Galactic Puzzle Quest" and ruined a good thing, but they didn't. Instead, they simply added new characters and managed to create new, useful powers that keep a fun game just that...fun. 

Penalties: -1 for not adding more Peggle Masters. I was a bit disappointed that there were fewer masters in this game than in the first.  I mean, this came out on Xbox One so it's not like they don't have the computing power to make it work. Oh well...

Nerd Coefficient: 8/10. Well worth your time and attention. 

Cult Films 101: The David Lynch

Welcome back to Cult Films 101, where we are continuing our discussion about the three main types of cult films. Last week, we discussed the Guilty Pleasure -- films that are objectively bad, but nevertheless have something worthwhile that redeems them or makes them entertaining. This week, we will discuss the second type of cult film, the David Lynch, films that take an unconventional approach to narrative or subject matter.

This week, we'll be screening Joel and Ethan Cohen's 1998 film The Big Lebowski.

When we think of cult movies, many times we think only about films that are "gloriously bad" or "so-bad-they're good." The image of Edward D. Wood, Jr. comes to mind. The other side of the coin, however, has a picture of David Lynch on it. See, films made by folks like David Lynch are far from incompetent, like our Guilty Pleasures. They are in fact staggeringly accomplished in their execution. It takes an uncommon control of filmmaking tools and vernacular to be able to tell an utterly idiosyncratic story in a way that makes it comprehensible to a mass audience.

In the Black Lodge, you will probably see midgets, and they may dance.
But they'll definitely talk backwards. So you just need to deal.

For those of you who have watched the entire run of Twin Peaks (and for those of you who have not, what are you waiting for?), consider for a moment that the final episode, in which Agent Dale Cooper visits the Black Lodge with all of its midgets, backwards talking, and general level of Dali-esque insanity, aired in prime time on a major American network before most people had cable. Stop and really think about that. This is clearly a piece of art that is in total control of its mode of expression, and is not at all for everybody.

That brings us to this week's film, The Big Lebowski, which has spawned a festival, several books, a spike in the sale of White Russians (the drinks, not the humans), and at least one religion. In this film, which appropriately tanked at the box office (an unwritten rule of cult films), the Coen Brothers essentially remake the 1946 Humphrey Bogart/Lauren Bacall movie The Big Sleep, except with pornographers, Vietnam vets, feminist artists, cowboy narrators, bowling, pedophiles, In N Out Burger, and 20+ years of insider Hollywood stories. What about this doesn't spell "Box Office Goldmine"?

Clearly, we have strayed off the beaten path, here. But to put all of this stuff in a pot and make a gumbo that doesn't just immediately make you ill, the Coen Brothers required total command of their filmmaking faculties. They subsequently tried more straightforward remakes, like The Ladykillers and True Grit, which were substantially less effective films, so this is no mean feat they pulled off. What they were able to accomplish was to use Hollywood studio money to tell an extremely personal story (i.e., one that they found interesting with no assurance anyone else would), that eventually found an audience with which it could resonate.

And resonate, it did. The Big Lebowski is a David Lynch par excellence, and here are three keys to its success:

1. It was made by competent, professional filmmakers, who
2. Possess a clear and idiosyncratic vision, and
3. Did not set out to make a cult film.

That last one is key. People love cult films, and sometimes they try to make them. This is usually a mistake. If you set out to make a cult film, you are almost inevitably doomed to fail, because:

1. You don't know what you're doing, and
2. You're spending your own money, and
3. You're far more likely to make a Guilty Pleasure than a David Lynch, even if you're successful

These are problems. But fear not, next week we will discuss the kinds of films young filmmakers may hope to accomplish, given their own limited means.