Femcel Filmcast

In this episode, the femcels bring on special guest Elsa Servantez (DJ Elthuh) to discuss the 2021 body horror psychological drama film Titane (dir. Julia Ducournau). Discussion topics include True Detective, freaks and perverts, not-quite incest, car metaphors, and Alexandra Daddario’s boobs (respectfully!)

Elsa is a fourth year undergraduate studying Philosophy and English at UCLA where she met and became lifelong friends with your dearest co-host Bella Garcia. She is the Co-Head of FEM Newsmagazine’s Radio department, a member of UCLA Radio’s Comedy department, the founder of the notorious @uclabeers on Instagram, and an excellent valet driver. 

The femcels shed their usual chill-girl persona to regale old tales of their depressive adolescence and take a moment to see where life has gone during a well-deserved break from school and work and pod. Topics include bad therapists, attachment style theory, pharmaceuticals, unstable women from your wild past, and being normal. 

In this episode, the femcels throw on their condom coats to discuss the 2023 absurdist fantasy film Poor Things (dir. Yorgos Lanthimos.) Topics include the film’s extensive costume and production design inspiration, Lanthimos’ filmography, the adaptation of the original Alasdair Gray novel, and the narrative’s feminist themes. Along the way, they may delve into the Born Sexy Yesterday trope, pull up a certain paparazzi photo of Bradley Cooper and Suki Waterhouse, and recount the exact point they realized they couldn’t jack off at the dinner table. 

In this episode, the femcels bring on special guest Lilah Peck to discuss the 2012 coming-of-age film Frances Ha. Discussion topics include Noah Baumbach’s divorce tea, Adam Driver’s millennial fits, shitty men, omelets, and mutually fulfilling friendships.

Lilah is a second year undergraduate studying theater and is an entertainment writer for FEM newsmagazine. Some of her past articles include “No One’s Laughing: “Funny Girl” and an Accountability Crisis,” “Shiv or be Shivved: Siobhan Roy’s Guide to the Corporate Man Club,” and “Just to be Queer Here: “Bottoms” is Only the Beginning.”

For the last installation of our horror season, your favorite femcels take on another double feature for you needy listeners. In this episode, we discuss Ti West’s 2022 horror films X and its prequel Pearl. Listen to hear some musings on technicolor, hagsploitation, and the success rate of showing 1930s porn on the first date. From f*cking on a scarecrow to introducing friends to the family crocodile, get ready to discover your inner X factor on this episode…

Put on your flower crowns and zip up your bear suits…cause today the femcels are reviewing Ari Aster’s 2019 horror film “Midsommar!” As they take a cinematic trip to Sweden (with the worst men you’ve ever met), they discuss Aster’s unique filmography, the history of the folk horror genre, and the economic foundation of the post-horror movement. When they aren’t making fun of Christian’s inability to light a birthday candle, they also gate-keep the final girl label and analyze eugenics’ undeniable influence on the horror genre. Digressions may include Halloween festivities at lesbian bars and Elon Musk’s humiliation kink. 

In this episode, your favorite femcels discuss the 1978 indie horror classic Halloween (dir. John Carpenter.) Topics include the slasher rules as detailed by Randy in the 1996 slasher Scream with a closer look at the sex = death rite, revisiting the concept of the “final girl,” the use of the American suburbia, and the ways in which mentally ill serial killers are PURE EVIL!

The femcels are back for part two of Carol Clover’s 1992 film theory book "Men, Women, and Chainsaws: Gender in the Modern Horror Film." In this episode, they break down the evolution of the r*pe revenge genre and its modern iterations (I Spit On Your Grave, The Accused, Promising Young Woman), the assaultive and reactive gazes, and the S&M relationship between director and viewer, all the while exploring why we -- as the audience -- love to watch things that torture us (spoiler alert: it gets terribly Freudian.)

In honor of October and S3’s theme, the femcels take a retrospective look at the first half of Carol Clover’s 1992 film theory book "Men, Women, and Chainsaws: Gender in the Modern Horror Film." They discuss the similarities between slashers and classic folklore, the appeal of horror cinema to white male audiences, and how the final girl evolved during the genre’s golden (or bloodiest) age. Along the way, they unpack how transphobic film tropes found their home in slashers and discover that Freud’s bullshi*t is inescapable. Stay tuned to hear if Laurie and Michael have an intimate, queer relationship, and whether or not you need to shave your Terrible Place before a final girl enters it.

The femcels are back with a taste of the new season... In this episode, Kristin and Bella take a special treat before their discussion of the 2022 thriller Bodies, Bodies, Bodies (dir. Halina Reijn). Topics include the virtual reality platform Second Life, a check-in with Evangelical influencers, Gen Z cringe, and the love of the who-dun-it genre.