A.C. and Kat experienced Andrew Ahn's remake of The Wedding Banquet across somewhat of a generational divide. He finds it relies on a millennial aesthetic portrayal of queer identity, with inauthentic politics. She (who watched it with Gen X family members) thought it was sweeter and more satisfying than he did. But, having also seen Ang Lee's 1993 original, Kat thinks the movies might be trying to accomplish two different things. Overall, we both wanted higher stakes and a lot more of the incredible maternal characters played by Youn Yuh-jung and Joan Chen.

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It was an absolute joy to spend time in the world of Spike Lee's 1994 bildungsroman Crooklyn. Co-written by Lee and his siblings Joie and Cinqué, the film follows nine-year-old Troy navigating herself, her neighborhood, and her extended family in 1973. We're refreshed to see Lee's rich visual language as the backdrop for a young girl as the hero of the story of growing up. Especially when so many other auteur's attempts at this have left us feeling unimpressed. It's a messy movie, sure, but beautifully shot by Arthur Jafa (Daughters of the Dust) with knockout performances from the kids to the parents—played by Alfre Woodard and Delroy Lindo.

Discussed in this episode: Common Sense Media's Crooklyn review, RuPaul's Starrbooty

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Kat and A.C. go through the films that will be fêted at this Sunday's Academy Awards. We feel a big shift in our relationship to Oscar movies, and aren't sure how much of that is the disintegration of the entertainment industry, and how much is just growing up. Plus, we play a new game all about The Relentless Diane Warren's 17 Oscar-Nominated Songs. (Don't laugh: her career trajectory has been a real cultural bellwether!)

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Our "Focus on the Family" season is back after an unexpected hiatus! [Once again: sorry for the interruption; a member of our team had an ongoing family medical situation, but we're happy to be with you again.] It was a big nostalgia kick for Kat to revisit Patricia Cardoso's 2002 Sundance darling Real Women Have Curves, but this was a first-time watch for A.C. We talk about how America Ferrera's body has been perceived by Hollywood over the years, from this and Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants to Barbie. It's a hyper-realistic and occasionally difficult to watch portrayal of a fraught mother-daughter dynamic, and well worth its place as a modern classic preserved by the National Film Registry.

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For the first episode of our "Focus on the Family" season, we're taking it back to 2010—a time before Prop 8 when a Sundance movie could really make a big impact on the widespread film landscape. Lisa Cholodenko's The Kids Are All Right is a great example of a specific early 21st-century portrayal of queer families with a "coastal elite" filter, and how it straddled the line between caricature and accuracy.

Discussed in this episode:

• Patti Harrison's Annette Bening impersonation
• Focus on the Family's "Plugged In" review

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FFR is going to be back soon with a new season focusing on the family... just in time for the holidays! Listen to our mini preview ep where we'll explain the theme in more detail, and give a little teaser of the special bonus segment each episode will include. From festival favorites to reality TV, we're looking ahead to discussing onscreen portrayals of all different kinds of families, and what Hollywood thinks it's saying about any of it.

Discussed in this episode:

• Focus on the Family's "Plugged In" review of The Fast and the Furious

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"Bingo." As the epic conclusion to our season of Musical Mayhem, we watched Jacques Audiard's 2024 extravaganza Emilia Pérez. Did we hate it? Kinda! Did we love it? Kinda! We also have a teaser of next season on Feminist Frequency Radio, coming soon. This full episode is a special bonus for upper-level Patreon supporters, but also available as a one-off purchase for non-subscribers.

>> Listen to the full episode HERE <<

Discussed in this episode:

• Focus on the Family's "Plugged In" review
• Protest parody film Johanne Sacrebleu

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It's Andrew Lloyd Webber week in our Musical Mayhem season, and to turn the volume all the way up, we've selected Joel Schumacher's most renowned superhero flick, The Phantom of the Opera. And for those of you who couldn't care less about musicals, but have been along for the ride with us on this journey... this episode concludes the season!

Next week we're bringing a special bonus episode for Patreon supporters at the Fearless Feminist tier and above. Yes, we're finally watching Emilia Pérez...

Discussed in this episode: Antonio Banderas as the Phantom, and the animal kingdom's own Christine Daaé

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Watching the 1968 film adaptation of the Broadway musical The Wiz, we can't help but feel that director Sidney Lumet and screenwriter Joel Schumacher deeply underserved their stars, craftspeople, and source material. It's impossible not to be captivated by the performances, especially as the movie is such a memorable intersection of the careers of Diana Ross and Michael Jackson, but the staging and writing continually let us down.

Discussed in this episode—the September 1975 Essence article by Sharon Stockard Martin: "The Tanning of Oz: Reflections on the Usurpation of a Myth," which is available for Patreon supporters to read at patreon.com/femfreq.

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We couldn't do a whole season about movie musicals without watching a Barbra vehicle. There are so many elements of 1968's Funny Girl that elevate the form, from William Wyler's direction taking a stage show to the screen, and Streisand's performance as her character Fanny Brice evolves from fame-hungry teenager to worldly star and wife. We found a lot of nuance in the film's exploration of labor and gender dynamics, and can't help but watch this as a memetic piece of a puzzle with Postcards from the Edge, All That Jazz, A Star Is Born and countless explorations of insecure men struggling in romantic relationships with successful women.

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