Monthly Archives: July 2022

Heres our review for Thor: Love and Thunder, which opens in theaters nationwide on Friday, July 8

By Damon Martin Editor/Lead Writer

When Taika Waititi dropped Thor: Ragnarok back in 2017, audiences were understandably pessimistic about what could expected after the first two Thor movies failed to really break through the Marvel Cinematic Universe zeitgeist.

In fact, Thors appearance in The Avengers movie was far more beloved than either of the solo films before it with both the first film and Thor: The Dark World near the bottom of the list in terms of all time ratings for MCU movies.

But Waititi changed everything with Thor: Ragnarok, which was a wholly different take on the character as he injected a ton of humor and heart into his story that also involved some rather bleak moments including the death of Odin and Thors famous hammer Mjolnir being shattered into pieces not to mention having his eye gouged out. The film was praised for the perfect balance between action, story and comedy with Waititi quickly becoming one of the most sought out directors in Hollywood.

Fast forward five years and Waititi is back with Thor: Love and Thunder a follow up to Ragnarok but more importantly the first Thor film in a post Avengers: Endgame world where many of the original Avengers are gone. Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr. and Scarlett Johansson have all said goodbye to the Marvel films, which leaves Chris Hemsworth as the only original cast member from the 2012 blockbuster to still be around who had solo films out during that phase of the MCU (both Jeremy Renner and Mark Ruffalo are also still present in the current MCU but neither have had standalone movies before or after The Avengers was released).

Expectations were definitely high as Waititi, Hemsworth and company returned for a fourth film in the Thor franchise but sadly, Thor: Love and Thunder fails to deliver with the same kind of punch or punchline as previous film. Despite an all-star cast coming back along with some notable newcomers including Christian Bale, the latest sequel starring Thor feels more like a superhero parody than a movie that will anchor the next phase of Marvel films.

With that said, lets get to our full review for Thor: Love and Thunder

In the aftermath of Avengers: Endgame, Thor left Earth with the Guardians of the Galaxy and thats essentially where we find him when this movie picks up except hes grown far more despondent as a God amongst men, jumping in to save the day when things get a little bit too dicey for his new friends. After losing his father and his brother this film doesnt acknowledge theres another Loki somewhere in the multiverse Thor is starting to feel kind of lonely despite being surrounded by the Guardians and his old pal Korg, who came along for the ride as well.

Thats when he gets a distress call from his old friend Sif, who has been attacked by a creature called Gorr, who has vowed to kill all gods after his own family was ravaged on a desolate planet when the deity he prayed to never answered until it was already too late and then the god mocked him for his misery.

Wielding the powerful Necrosword, Gorr can actually slay the gods and hes already killed several when Thor gets the call from Sif. To make matters even weirder, when Thor returns to Earth to meet up with his friends at New Asgard he discovers that his ex-girlfriend, Dr. Jane Foster, has reforged Mjolnir and taken up the mantle as The Mighty Thor, which gives him a whole lot more questions than answers.

In many ways, the script and story are really the biggest issues with Thor: Love and Thunder and by extension that gives the actors less to work with during the performances.

Its great to see Natalie Portman back as Dr. Jane Foster along with Loki, she was arguably the best part of those early Thor movies but her story still feels somewhat disjointed and rushed. Tessa Thompson is fantastic as King Valkyrie but again shes just not given enough room to work, which is a shame after she made such an impact in Thor: Ragnarok as well as Avengers: Endgame.

As for Hemsworth, hes somehow managed to add even more muscle onto his frame because this version of Thor is apparently going to audition to become The Mountain on Game of Thrones when the movie is finished. Physicality aside, Hemsworth spends far more time in this film attempting to be funny that its actually exhausting by the time the film is finished.

Thankfully, Christian Bale does the heavy lifting when it comes to performances because his Gorr The God Butcher is definitely one of the most compelling villains in recent MCU history. He carries a real sadness behind his eyes thanks to the tragedies hes endured but Bale also expresses rage and anger in a seething matter than makes him look like a perfect foil to the gods.

This film could have used a lot more Gorr and a lot less Thor as it turns out because the script is just mired it bad quips, slap-stick jokes and just barely any real storytelling thats actually worth following. The plot is razor thin yet somehow stretched out including a middle section of the movie that just feels out of place in a sad attempt to duplicate the fun had with Jeff Goldblum in the previous Thor movie.

This time that role falls to Russell Crowe, who is an incredible actor, but its clear with this film that maybe comedy just isnt his thing.

The direction from Waititi isnt anything unexpected but it feels like he really leaned into the over the top, cartoon like effects from the last Thor movie and then injected all of that with an unhealthy dose of steroids. This movie feels like one giant Skittles bag exploded and Waititi really, really wants everybody to taste all the flavors.

The comedy in this film is just overwhelming.

With Thor: Ragnarok, it was a perfect blend of humor mixed with action, adventure and still plenty of story to propel the plot forward with every scene. This time around, Waititi abandoned the good story and just really put all of his emphasis on making the audience laugh and there are definitely some hilarious moments but this movie feels more like a Scary Movie parody of a superhero film than an actual entry into the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Even the dour moments when Christian Bale or Natalie Portman are given time to work feels completely overshadowed by the constant injection of jokes.

As someone who loved Thor: Ragnarok, this film somehow only took the funny moments from that movie and then left everything else on the cutting room floor.

Thor: Love and Thunder is just disappointing, especially when compared to the previous Thor film, which stands as one of the best MCU movies of all time. Waititis ability to blend humor with a really heartfelt or heartbreaking story see JoJo Rabbit as a perfect example is perhaps his best talent but somehow he just decided to just turn this movie into a full blown superhero comedy, which in the end doesnt work.

Thor: Love and Thunder gets a 2 out of 5 on the Skolnick Scale.

See more here:

'Thor: Love and Thunder' Review: A Sequel Heavy on Humor That Almost Feels Like a Superhero Parody - Nerdcore Movement

In recent years, the influence of political ideologies based on social justice and antiracism has extended far beyond academe to other professions, including law, finance, and medicine. One of the most insightful observers of radical and nonscientific theories disturbing influence on healthcare and medical training is Dr. Stanley Goldfarb, a former Professor and Associate Dean for Curriculum at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.

In his new book, Take Two Aspirin and Call Me by My Pronouns, Goldfarb explains how political ideologies have driven changes in medical education and practice that threaten traditional methods for the admission and training of medical students. With extensive clinical experience, he brings a compellingand soberingperspective to bear on what he sees as the decline of American medicine.

Goldfarb recently discussed his book with Public Discourse Contributing Editor Devorah Goldman. Their exchange has been lightly edited for clarity.

Devorah Goldman: Welcome, Dr. Goldfarb, and congratulations on your excellent new book, which is an important and sweeping indictment of the medical establishment. What inspired you to write it?

Stanley Goldfarb: After nearly a dozen years directing the curriculum at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, I began to detect a disturbing trend in medical schools around the nation. Directors of medical education, including a newly appointed director at Perelman, increasingly emphasized the so-called social determinants of health in school programming. They also implemented a range of initiatives that downgraded the value of academic achievement in both the basis for admission to medical school and the assessment systems associated with progression through the curriculum. After observing this for several years, I felt compelled to speak out about my concerns. I wrote an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal in September 2019 in which I highlighted my apprehensions about the direction of medical education, and proposed a restored focus on medical science and a limit on instruction in social issues.

The op-ed sparked a response from my school. The administration made it exceedingly clear that my opinions did not reflect the official positions of Perelman, and they affirmed the schools commitment to diversity and inclusion in determining its student body. The title of my article, provided by the Wall Street Journal staff, Take Two Aspirin and Call Me by My Pronouns, also elicited critical responses from the American College of Physicians and Penn alumni, as well as virulent commentary on social media.

It became apparent that I needed to more thoroughly detail my concerns and to identify the growing weakness of American medical education. That realization led to this book.

DG: You write in your book that those doctors who challenge the idea of systemic racism might as well exchange their white lab coats for white sheets, and that social-justice skeptics like you are on the run. These are strong words, but they point to the fact that theres a great deal at stake for dissenters. How has this played out in your professional life?

SG: Perhaps a bit hyperbolic, but clearly the prevailing zeitgeist of American medical education is an almost complete and unthinking acceptance of a woke mentality. The demonstrations at academic medical centers and medical schools throughout the United States following George Floyds killing led to widespread declarations of the need to purge systemic racism from American medicine and to adopt antiracism as a dominant aspect of the medical ethos.

In the words of Dr. Ibram X. Kendi, one of the prophets of anti-racism, future discrimination in favor of black individuals must help atone for past discrimination against black individuals. In medical care, this has come to mean discrimination against one group of patients to benefit another group, all on the basis of skin color. It also means discriminating against some applicants to medical school, as well as academics seeking career advancement.

I am at the end of my medical career so for me, the real impact relates to the concerns expressed to me, typically confidentially, by colleagues who agree with my positions but are afraid to speak out. Even the mildest dissent from the dominant narrative could mean losing a job. That is what happened to Dr. Edward Livingstone, formerly the deputy editor of the Journal of the American Medical Association. He had the temerity to suggest on a podcast that systemic racism was an unfortunate designation for a set of conditions that were more closely tied to poverty than to widespread oppression based on skin color. He was summarily forced out of his position.

DG: You also note in the book that the idea that physicians are responsible for correcting [health inequities] among different communities gained credence after World War II. As an example, you cite the World Health Organizations 1978 Alma-Alta Declaration, and contrast it with the Hippocratic Oath. Can you say a bit more about the conflict of visions here?

SG: It is basically the conflict between the idea that medical care should focus on large-scale prevention and population-level health measures, i.e., on group behavior, and the belief that we as physicians should channel our energies toward the particular problems of individual patients. The traditional Hippocratic Oath speaks to a code of conduct demanding loyalty without discrimination to each individual patient, unrelated to any social, economic or ideological factors at play. It defines the way physicians should focus on the care of the individual to the exclusion of any personal gain and to apply all of the physicians capacities to the care of that patient.

The Alma-Alta Declaration, as I wrote in my book, calls for a very different perspective. It puts forth a vision for primary health care that addresses the main health problems in the community, providing promotive, preventive, curative and rehabilitative services accordingly. The role of the physician in this scenario includes the following:

. . . education concerning prevailing health problems and the methods of preventing and controlling them; promotion of food supply and proper nutrition; an adequate supply of safe water and basic sanitation; maternal and child health care, including family planning; immunization against the major infectious diseases; prevention and control of locally endemic diseases; appropriate treatment of common diseases and injuries; and provision of essential drugs.

The Declaration expands the role of the physician into that of a public-health worker responsible for broad social and political conditions. It calls for physicians to insert themselves into issues over which they have scant expertise and control. Expending time, energy, and resources into such endeavors must detract from the time and effort required to provide the best possible medical care to individual patients.

DG: It should also be emphasized that real medical expertise is difficult to attain; it is the product of years of experience even after medical school. We shouldnt take it for granted or assume that layering on additional responsibilities will not affect the quality of medical care. On that note, why do you think woke medicine has gained the upper hand in so many medical institutions? What are some of the dangers you see as inherent in this approach?

SG: I think it is part and parcel of the leftward movement in undergraduate and graduate education in general. Dickens called the impulse to do good the sanguine mirage of good minds. No doubt there is such an impulse in practitioners of woke medicine, but they are fooling themselves. They see disparate outcomes in health care, and they feel guilty and blame themselves. Many academic doctors also see a willing cohort of impressionable students who are reared in Marxist ideas about power hierarchies, and they demand that the students adhere to their concepts of equity.

On the more cynical side, I see administrators and medical leaders who simply do not want to face the wrath of their woke students; they have decided that it is easier to talk the talk, while delaying actually doing anything substantively woke that would require massive expenditures. For example, it is easier to accept a few more minority students or hire a few more diversity specialists than it is to open outpatient facilities in black neighborhoodsa move that might actually improve outcomes for black patients.

We have already seen some of the dangers of woke medicine. Earlier in the COVID pandemic, a movement arose to reserve use of scarce drugs like monoclonal antibodies for black patients. An algorithm was used by institutions in New York and Utah, in which black skin color garnered two of the six points needed to qualify for use of the drugs. In this system, a relatively well black patient might receive the drug rather than a white patient facing a more dire clinical situation. This is pure racial discrimination and it has no place in medical care.

This is just one disturbing example, among many, in which the implications of woke medicine are clearand must be rejected. Physicians may not feel comfortable arguing against reduced standards for admission to medical school or to residency training programs. But they must at least stand up against active racial discrimination in health care.

DG: Another problem you point out involves zombie statisticsthe phenomenon whereby false or misleading figures, often from poorly conducted or fraudulent studies, take on a life of their own. They are widely cited and eventually turned into easy talking points or conventional wisdom. What are some notable examples of this, and do you see a viable way to push back against any of it?

SG: My book cites several examples, but it goes on and on. The problem is not only in the way the studies are designed and evaluated but also in the way the conclusions are drawn.

For example, one study that is cited extensively in the medical literature as proof of racism in medicine actually found no difference in the way clinicians would treat black and white men with heart symptoms after providing the physicians with similar clinical information about the two cohorts. Black women, however, were referred less frequently for invasive studies than white women with similar complaints. All the patients were simulated by actors on videos. This study does not explain the differing recommendations based on gender but it may have roots in medical information available in 1999, when it was conducted.

A very recent study in the journal Academic Medicine found that underrepresented in medicine residents, or URiM residents, received lower ratings than other medical residents at a number of academic institutions that pooled their data. The authors concluded that one of three possibilities explained the results:

Resident race/ethnicity was associated with assessment scores to the disadvantage of URiM residents. This may reflect bias in faculty assessment, effects of a non-inclusive learning environment, or structural inequities in assessment.

Incredibly, the authors could not bring themselves to consider the possibility that the assessments were accurate and that the URiM residents performed less well than their peers. Any inequality must be the fault of the school, the result of a power differential between white racists and black students. This is an amazing blind spot. It could be the poster child for all the problems with adopting antiracist approaches in health care and education.

The only way to combat this is to point out the flaws and use social media and other platforms to fight the disinformation. It is a long and slow struggle but we cannot give it up.

DG: Earlier, you mentioned the issue of medical school applications. In recent years, the Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT) and other admissions criteria have become politicized, as have many medical school courses. In particular, under the leadership of Dr. Darrell Kirch, the American Association of Medical Colleges has introduced sweeping changes to the MCAT, which now serves in part as a sort of screening mechanism for progressive orthodoxy.

What do you make of this, and do you think theres any possibility of reform here? What advice might you give young people considering a medical career?

SG: It is quite simple. To hide the fact that admission to medical school can now be based on factors other than academic achievement, one needs to reduce evidence of academic achievement as much as possible. Its not to say that there arent really bright people being recruited into medical school, but to create the highly valued D in DEI, its important to be able to skirt the issue of academic performance when that helps. It only works if you dont believe in meritocracy, a concept that brings rage to the woke elite.

Reform seems far off unless legal challenges to affirmative action, such as the Harvard case now before the Supreme Court, eliminate the unfair practice of race-based policies.

Medicine is a great career. I would never discourage anyone from pursuing it. Every sphere of life deserves examination and reform, if necessary. Medicine is no different.

DG: Your own medical career is obviously extremely impressive, but youve recently pivoted, and now run the nonprofit Do No Harm. Can you tell us a bit about Do No Harmwhy you launched it and your hopes for its future?

SG: I launched Do No Harm together with several colleagues in the hope of providing a voice for physicians who wish to point out racial discrimination in health care. Our aim is to employ social media, other forms of media, and even legal remedies to challenge the harmful trends threatening American medicine.

Do No Harm is a membership organization, through which physicians and others interested in health care can share information about discriminatory practices they encounter and the corruption of research into healthcare disparities. We helped support a lawsuit against the federal government after discovering that new Medicare rules propose that physicians who create antiracism protocols in their care of Medicare patients will be eligible for bonus payments. Such protocols suggest discriminatory practice based on race, and would therefore seem to be illegal and unconstitutional. We are helping two physicians who have been injured by this rule to sue the government to rescind the rule. Eight states have joined the suit.

We have also called out the University of Indiana School of Medicine for demanding that faculty create a DEI proposal if they wish to be considered for academic promotion. This flies in the face of academic freedom and the First Amendment.

We will be calling out institutions that have adopted discriminatory practices in hiring, promotion, and patient care.

We need to start the return to meritocracy and non-discrimination in health care. No doubt it will be a long journey but we will hopefully have some fun along the way.

See the article here:

Social Justice Ideology and the Decline of American Medicine: A Conversation with Stanley Goldfarb - Public Discourse

Time to Log Off is a weekly series documenting the many ways our political figures show their whole asses online.

Perhaps youve heard about the former NFL player-turned-MAGA candidate embarrassing himself in a vainglorious attempt to capitalize on his partys violent zeitgeist and propel himself into elected office. No, not that one. Im talking about one-time pro running back Jerone Davison, now a Republican congressional candidate in Arizona who has hopped aboard the Trump train with a new campaign ad all about murdering his political opponents.

Entitled Make Rifles Great Again, the 30-second spot is about as subtle as youd expect from its name, opening with a shot of a person dressed in Ku Klux Klan robes with a Democratic Party donkey sewn on the front.

Democrats like to say that no one needs an AR-15 for self-defense, that no one could possibly need all 30 rounds, Davison intones over crisp shots of himself drinking coffee, and then walking around in suit and tie, carrying an enormous rifle. But when this rifle is the only thing standing between your family and a dozen angry Democrats in Klan hoods,you just might need that semi-automatic ... and all 30 rounds.

Now, beyond the obvious issues that come with painting the most infamous white nationalist movement in American history as a patched-in wing of the modern Democratic party and then endorsing gun violence against them Davisons ad has a few other glaring (albeit slightly less, uh, murderous) issues. For instance, doesnt explicitly enumerating a dozen attackers definitionally negate his previous assertion that you need all 30 rounds? Also, given that the ads Democrats in Klan hoods are largely carrying things like gardening tools and other melee weapons, meeting them with a military-grade assault rifle seems, if youll forgive the turn of phrase, like a bit of overkill?

Ordinarily, I would say that a piece of media depicting Ku Klux Klansmen getting their just desserts is a good and righteous thing. But when that piece of media twists a message of standing up against historical racial intolerance into essentially endorsing of the murder of your political adversaries kind of a theme among the GOP these days! well, thats another thing altogether. Particularly, I should add, when its coming from someone whose campaign website wholeheartedly endorses the same stolen election lies that already prompted some of the worst political violence in the past century.

Davison is currently part of a crowded field of Republican candidates hoping to secure the GOP nomination to take on Democratic Rep. Greg Stanton in the fall. Before then, however, I can only hope he does us all a favor and logs directly and immediately off. Before someone gets hurt.

Stories that Fuel Conversations

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This political ad from Jerone Davison is pretty unhinged, even for the MAGA crowd - Mic

The first time I tried on a pair of Crocs, I was in study hall. This kid named Marlin slid them off and told me I had to give them a go. Marlin wasnt known for his sartorial choices. He liked to wear thick white socks with flip-flops; the thong wedged into the cotton between his toes. But curiosity got the best of me, so I slid the Crocs on. The sweat left over from Marlins bare feet lubricated the plastic against my own skin, and I felt nothing but repulsion. It was a no for me. But it turns out Marlin was just ahead of the times.

Now, more than ten years after I graduated from high school, I think Crocs are the coolest. I have multiple pairs, and I pine for more. And I am not alone in this. These days Crocs show up in paparazzi photos of Post Malone and on Balenciaga runways. Since the genesis of Crocs in 2001, the wearers of these clunky plastic clogs have shifted from clueless vacation dads to TikTok fashion girlies. What used to be corny is cooland whats cool to people is always arbitrary. All I want right now are big comfy shoes that look like cartoons.

Once, I had a friend with a Wrangler explain the Jeep wave to mea two-finger salute that Jeep drivers share when they pass each other by. My buddy was embarrassed by Jeep culture, and pretended to never see the bros gesturing through their wide front windows. Ive found a similar camaraderie among Crocs wearers, but I am not ashamed at all. When I am wearing Crocs, and I compliment a stranger who is wearing Crocs, we simply have the time of our lives. We talk about the pairs we have, the pairs we want, the sort of innate goofiness that accompanies wearing shoes that are objectively pretty ugly.

Its funny how owning certain things promotes this sense of community. Do PT Cruiser pilots have an arcane handshake? Do Converse wearers share secret glances? (Ill never knowmy feet are too wide for Converse.) To me, it seems like joining the Crocs club comes with a special kind of energy. Conversations with fellow Crocs freaks take place in the narrow valley between being in on the joke and not making a joke at all.

And if our conversation lasts long enough, I get to ask if theyve been to the Crocs shop on State Street: a smorgasbord of options, in every color you could ever name. The single storefront contains enough plastic to ensure the death of our planet, and my god, I need that lime green pair in the window. They also offer an obscene amount of Jibbitz (which are the charms that one can plug into a Crocss holes). Weed leaves and Diet Coke cans and a little propeller cap where the propeller actually spinsyou name it, theyve got a Jibbitz version of it. Whenever I hear someone say Jibbitz out loud, I feel like I should call the police.

I am not breaking brave new ground by declaring that Crocs are cool. Theyve been en vogue for a while, and Im just riding that wave. But I feel inspired by their evolution, because the shoe itself never actually changed. Its like the Ugly Duckling stayed homely but got way better at personal branding. It makes me think about the rapid movement of the trend cycles. One minute, youre at the top, and the next, youre in the gutter. Seeing the shift in public response to this one pair of absurd plastic clogs makes me see how pointless it is to try and keep up anyway. Better to focus on your own style, and cherry-pick the trends when they fit.

When I was in my 20s, I liked to try to be the coolest girl in the room. I dont regret doing this. Sure, it could feel a little shallow, but it was very fun. It was also a ton of work to keep track of what other people thought was fashionable, and measure myself against those judgments. Now that Im firmly in my 30s, I can see that being cool doesnt have to be a competition. Lately, it feels more like a little game I play by myself. Crocs are in right now. Maybe in a few years, theyll be on the outs. But I dont feel trapped by these cycles anymore. Id rather pick the fashions that fit my body and my style, and trust that if I think theyre hip, others can be convinced.

I just bought a pair of giant, white, orthopedic New Balances. They are decidedly corny, but I am at a point in my life where its necessary to launch arch support into the trend cycle. The other day, a man in his mid-60s got on the bus wearing the exact same shoes as me. We didnt exchange any secret handshakes or covert nods, but I think we both knew: were just ahead of the zeitgeist.

See the rest here:

Riding the wave of the Crocs - Chicago Reader

New Release Wall

At the midway point of 2022, it seems difficult to imagine how Everything Everywhere All at Once (A24/Lionsgate) wouldnt be figuring heavily in best-of lists and award chatter come December. The sophomore feature from The Daniels (Swiss Army Man) mixes genres and metaphysics with heart and soul to create a hard-to-describe but easy-to-love masterpiece, one thats not quite like anything else youve ever seen. Moving, funny, exciting, mind-bending and always giving you something to look at including extraordinary performances from Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan, Stephanie Hsu and Jamie Lee Curtis this is a one-of-a-kind film that will reward repeat viewings (and a deep dive into the extras on the DVD and Blu-ray).

Also available:

The Bobs Burgers Movie (20th Century Studios): Theres a mystery to solve, a sinkhole to fill, and a restaurant to save in the first big-screen outing for the long-running Fox animated sitcom.

Cinderella (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment): Charm and irritation do battle in this updated take on the legendary fairy tale (starring Camila Cabello), but it does have its moments.

Downton Abbey: A New Era (Universal Pictures Home Entertainment): This second film adaptation of the cozy, beloved series involves so many cast members (as British aristocrats and their servants) that they had to bifurcate the story to two locations.

The Duke (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment): Jim Broadbent stars as an unlikely art thief and Helen Mirren as his ever-patient wife in this true story of Brits being adorably criminal movie.

The Lost City (Paramount Home Entertainment): Sandra Bullock, Channing Tatum and (all too briefly) Brad Pitt employ their wattage to carry the day in this Romancing the Stone retread that goes down easily enough.

Reno 911! The Hunt for QAnon (Comedy Central/Paramount): Americas dopiest law-enforcement team meets its mental match as they set sail on a very MAGA cruise to hunt down the notorious internet influencer.

New Indie

Superior (Factory 25) stars twin actresses Alessandra Mesa and Ani Mesa as twins Marian and Vivian, who reunite under stressful circumstances in the stylish debut feature from director Erin Vassilopoulos. Marians on the run, Vivians stuck in their hometown, and their troubles really start when the two have to trade places in this unpredictable thriller thats earned comparisons to early David Lynch. The Blu-ray features a commentary, short film, and Q&A.

Also available:

Dual (RLJE Films): Karen Gillan must battle her clone to the death in a future society, there can be only one so she turns to Aaron Paul for coaching.

Final Flesh (AGFA/Drag City): Director Vernon Chatman wrote a four-part screenplay about a family living by ground zero of an apocalyptic event, then sent the chapters to four different adult-fetish video companies to see what theyd make of it, and the results are like nothing youd imagine.

The Righteous (Arrow): Henry Czerny stars in this black-and-white thriller who gets far more than he bargained for when he invites a stranger to stay the night.

New Foreign

Even after Drive My Car (The Criterion Collection) swept Best Picture from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, New York Film Critics Circle and the National Society of Film Critics, this powerful Japanese import shocked veteran awards pundit when it became a major Oscar contender. Rysuke Hamaguchis contemplation of grief, redemption and theatre is masterfully subtle (and yes, three hours long), so its an essential addition to your media library as a film that merits multiple viewings. (Criterion, of course, offers plenty of ancillary materials, including a new interview with the director, an extensive making-of documentary, the press conference from the films Cannes 2021 premiere and more.

Also available:

Apocalypse After (Altered Innocence): A collection of provocative shorts from director Bertrand Mandico (The Wild Boys, After Blue (Dirty Paradise)).

Mondocane (Kino Lorber): Not to be confused with the 1962 documentary, this 2021 Italian sci-fi film imagines a post-apocalypse of child gangs fighting for territory and resources.

Pompo the Cinephile (GKIDS): A producer takes a chance on her assistant and hires him to direct a film in this movie-mad anime hit.

Poppy Field (Film Movement): A closeted Bucharest cop sees his personal and professional lives collide in this acclaimed Romanian drama.

Ryoma! The Prince of Tennis (Eleven Arts/Shout Factory): The popular and long-running sports manga makes the leap to anime. (Seriously, American animation studios, why cant we have feature films about moviemaking and tennis?)

Sexual Drive (Film Movement): Filmmaker Kta Yoshida connects three disparate characters by their appetites for both sex and food in a film thats equal parts thriller, sex comedy, and gastronomic extravaganza.

The Sacred Spirit (Arrow): The debut feature from Spanish writer-director Chema Garcia Ibarra, shot in 16mm, follows a quiet office worker who comes to understand a shocking secret when he becomes the leader of a group of UFO enthusiasts.

New Doc

Just when we thought there was nothing new to learn or say about the Fab Four, along comes The Beatles: Get Back (Disney/Apple Corps), Peter Jacksons extraordinary assemblage of documentary footage originally shot in January 1969 by director Michael Lindsay-Hogg (Let It Be). The results are an exhilarating portrait of artists at work and the creativity and volatility of a band that is about to dissolve after changing the world.

Also available:

20,000 Days on Earth (Giant Pictures): A day in the life of legendary musician Nick Cave.

Accepted (Greenwich Entertainment): Students at a Louisiana prep school known for funneling students to elite universities must contemplate their futures after a New York Times article raises questions about the schools legitimacy.

Alaskan Nets (GDE): Examines the power of basketball to bring together the community of Metlakatla, Alaskas last Native reserve.

Fiddlers Journey to the Big Screen (Zeitgeist/Kino Lorber): Broadway success doesnt always translate to movies, but this joyous doc follows director Norman Jewison and the talented cast and crew that made Fiddler on the Roof a cinematic triumph.

Forbidden Love (Canadian International Pictures): This acclaimed 1992 Canadian documentary mixes interviews with cinematic flights of fantasy to explore hidden lesbian lives of the mid-20th century.

Invisible Valley (Kino Lorber): A look at one year in the Coachella Valley, from wealthy snowbirds to undocumented farm workers to music-festival attendees and the environmental forces that affect them all.

Museum Town (Kino Lorber): How did a dried-up Massachusetts industrial town become a mecca for contemporary art? Director Jennifer Trainer tells the tale (and Meryl Streep narrates it).

Poly Styrene: I Am a Clich (Utopia): This portrait of the X-Ray Spex vocalist (co-directed by the singers daughter) tells the story of the first woman of color to front a UK punk band.

The Silver Screen: Color Me Lavender (Kino Lorber): Documentarian Mark Rappoport (Rock Hudsons Home Movies, From the Journals of Jean Seberg) parses the queer underpinnings of classic Hollywood and provides new context for wildly gay moments that have been in the movies all along.

Stay Prayed Up (Greenwich Entertainment): This music-filled doc celebrates the legacy of 82-year-old gospel legend Lena Mae Perry and the South Carolina gospel combo The Branchettes as they record their first live album.

Summers with Picasso (Icarus Films Home Video): This two-disc set features a pair of films about the artists French period: Franois Levy Kuentzs On the French Riviera with Man Ray and Picasso and Christian Trans Picasso and Sima, Antibes 1946.

We Want the Airwaves (Gravitas Ventures): Go behind the scenes as a trio of first-time TV-makers try to hit the airwaves with their activist docu-series, Manifesto!

New Grindhouse

The killer alien disguised as a sexy human lady sub-genre has had many entries over the years, but Species (Scream Factory) ranks among the best, thanks mainly to Natasha Henstridges combination of ethereal beauty and commitment to the bit. It helps that director Roger Donaldson leans heavily on both sex and violence always a winning combo in exploitation fare and that the film features a top-drawer roster of character actors including Alfred Molina, Marg Helgenberger, Forest Whitaker, Michael Madsen, Ben Kingsley and, in one of her very first screen roles, Michelle Williams.

Also available:

11th Hour Cleaning (Screen Media): A crime-scene clean-up crew is tormented by a Nordic demon hanging around one of their jobsites.

Bigfoot or Bust (Coldwater): From director Jim Wynorski, so you know or bust isnt just an expression in this goofy comedy about curvy monster-hunters and time travel.

Cordelia (Screen Media): Antonia Campbell-Hughes is sent into a Repulsion-esque spiral by her handsome neighbor Johnny Flynn (Emma.).

Giallo Essentials: Black Edition (Arrow): This box set features some lesser-known but still essential entries into the popular Italian horror sub-genre: Silvio Amadios Smile Before Death, Francesco Mazzeis The Weapon, The Hour, The Motive and Giuseppe Bennatis The Killer Reserved Nine Seats.

Hell High (Arrow): Cruel high-school pranks lead to bloody horror in this 1989 film also known as Raging Fury.

Hellbender (Shudder/RLJE): A repressed young woman discovers that illness isnt the real reason that her mother has kept her locked away from the world in this witchy coming-of-age thriller.

Martial Club (88 Films): Rival fight school throw down in this Shaw Brothers martial-arts extravaganza.

Monstrous (Screen Media): Christina Ricci and Santino Bernard star as a traumatized mother and son who face new horrors when they move into an isolated house.

Planet of the Vampires (Kino Lorber Studio Classics): Sci-fi and horror collide in this Mario Bava classic, presented on this new Blu-ray in a new 2K restoration with lots of extras.

Slapface (Shudder/RLJE): With few other friends in his life, a withdrawn young boy strikes up an acquaintance with the monster in the local woods.

Steele Justice (Kino Lorber Studio Classics): Martin Kove (Cobra Kai) stars in a Rambo knock-off that nonetheless boasts an impressive supporting cast, including Sela Ward, Ronny Cox, Bernie Casey, and Sarah Douglas. New commentary on this Blu-ray release.

Terror Circus (Code Red) Fans of legendary director Alan Rudolph often cite Welcome to L.A. as his debut feature, but he got his start with a pair of early-70s horror movies, one of which was this saga of an unhinged kidnapper and trio of Vegas showgirls.

They Live in the Grey (Shudder/RLJE): The title suggests a meeting between Rowdy Roddy Piper and Liam Neeson, but its actually about a social worker whose investigation of a child-abuse claim leads to the discovery of a supernatural entity thats harassing an entire family.

New Classic

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Kino Lorber Studio Classics), making its 4K debut, probably represents the blip in Hollywood history where anyone would have thought to match up Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet. Theyre not an obvious choice as a romantic couple, but then little in Spike Jonzes direction of Charlie Kaufmans screenplay travels the past of least resistance. This story of love, loss, regret and memory butts up against any number of genres including rom-com, drama, and sci-fi yet ultimately manages to find its own distinctive tone.

Also available:

Adventures of Don Juan (Warner Archive Collection): This 1948 Errol Flynn vehicle looks better than ever in a 4K scan of the original nitrate Technicolor negative.

Desperate Hours (MVD Rewind): Mickey Rourke stars in this remake of the Humphrey Bogart thriller.

Doa Flor and Her Two Husbands (Film Movement Classics): Sonia Braga rocketed to international stardom in this sexy Brazilian farce about a woman torn between her nice-guy second husband and her neer-do-well first husband, even though the latter is a ghost.

El Cortez (Kino Lorber): Lou Diamond Phillips stars in this contemporary (2006) noir about an autistic ex-con who gets ensnared in a murderous scheme.

Film Noir: The Dark Side of Cinema VIII (Kino Lorber Studio Classics): This latest collection in the series features Street of Chance (1942), Temptation (1946) and Enter Arsene Lupin (1944).

The Frisco Kid (Warner Archive Collection): Gene Wilder as a westward-bound rabbi makes an unlikely pairing with cowboy Harrison Ford in this 1979 Robert Aldrich comedy-Western.

The Killing (Kino Lorber Studio Classics): Stanley Kubricks heist classic the movie that taught young Quentin Tarantino everything he knows about non-sequential narrative makes its 4K debut.

Last of the Dogmen (Kino Lorber Studio Classics): Barbara Hershey and Tom Berenger happen upon a previously undiscovered indigenous tribe.

Maria Montez & Jon Hall Collection (Kino Lorber Studio Classics): Fans of vintage colonizer camp would do well to pick up this box set featuring three movies (White Savage, Gypsy Wildcat, Sudan) from its most glamorous practitioners.

Marty (Kino Lorber Studio Classics): The Oscar wins (including Best Picture and Best Actor) for this adaptation of a Paddy Chayefsky teleplay (starring Ernest Borgnine and Betsy Blair) cemented the influence the small screen would have upon Hollywood.

Miami Blues (MVD Rewind): Film critic Curt Holman once referred to this sweaty comedy-thriller in which fugitive Alec Baldwin pretends to be a cop, using a badge stolen from Fred Ward as a four-star two-and-a-half-star movie.

Nathalie (Cohen Film Collection): Fanny Ardant, Emmanuelle Bart and Gerard Depardieu form an unconventional love triangle in this drama from Anne Fontaine.

Native Son (Kino Classics): Novelist Richard Wright stars as his own protagonist, Bigger Thomas, in this French 1951 adaptation of his classic 1940 novel. Censored upon its original US release, the film appears in the most complete form ever available in the United States on this new Blu-ray restoration.

Salt and Pepper / One More Time (Kino Lorber Studio Classics): Rat Packers Sammy Davis Jr. (hes Salt) and Peter Lawford (hes Pepper) teamed up amiably in a pair of comedic adventures, playing London nightclub owners who get pulled into capers and shenanigans. One More Time is notable for being one of the few films directed by, but not starring, Jerry Lewis.

Sampo (Deaf Crocodile): If you know this film only from Mystery Science Theater 3000 which screened the chopped-up version released by AIP in the 1960s youre missing out on an epic Russian-Finnish mythological adventure. The complete, restored version makes its US release, in a new 4K remaster, on this new Blu-ray.

Summertime (The Criterion Collection): Katharine Hepburn gives one of her most haunting performances as a love-starved school teacher having a summer fling on a trip to Venice in this David Lean drama.

They Call Me Mister Tibbs / The Organization (Kino Lorber Studio Classics): Sidney Poitier made such an impact with audiences in 1967s In the Heat of the Night that he played Detective Virgil Tibbs in two follow-up features, both making their Blu-ray debuts.

Time Out of Mind (Kino Lorber Studio Classics): Phyllis Calvert and Robert Hutton star in this noir-flavored melodrama from Robert Siodmak.

Where the Lilies Bloom (Kino Lorber Studio Classics): Four children fight to keep their family together after the death of their father; keep an eye out for a pre-WKRP Jan Smithers.

New TV

While The Twilight Zone deserves all the praise it gets, there hasnt been nearly enough adulation for Rod Serlings other major anthology show, which the new collection Night Gallery: Season Two (Kino Lorber Studio Classics) seeks to remedy. This gorgeous set features 2K restorations of every single episode of the season, and each one comes with at least one separate commentary track, including several from super-fan Guillermo del Toro as well as filmmakers like John Badham who worked on the original show.

Also available:

Ants! (Kino Lorber Studio Classics): This entertainingly ridiculous nature-gone-wild thriller (also known as It Happened at Lakewood Manor) will give you the creepy-crawlies.

Batwoman: The Third and Final Season (DC/WB): Oh Kate Kane/Ryan Wilder, you were just too awesome for prime time.

Im Dangerous Tonight (Kino Lorber Studio Classics): In this made-for-TV movie something of a precursor to In Fabric Mdchen Amick turns an ancient cloak into a dress that leads anyone who wears it to ruin. Directed by Tobe Hooper!

Rocco Schiavone: Ice Cold Murders: Seasons 3 & 4 (Kino Lorber): The irascible Roman detective continues to solve crimes in the remote Alps but can he solve the riddle of his own psyche?

SeaQuest DSV: The Complete Series (Mill Creek Entertainment): Steven Spielbergs submarine-themed show (like his LA submarine-themed restaurant) was not long for this world, but he gave it a good shot.

Starhunter Redux: The Complete Series (Shout Factory): The cult sci-fi series makes its Blu-ray debut with this 10-disc set.

Tarantulas: The Deadly Cargo (Kino Lorber Studio Classics): Another 1970s made-for-TV scary-bugs classic, this one stars Claude Akins, Tom Atkins (Halloween III: Season of the Witch) and Pat Hingle.

Terror Out of the Sky (Kino Lorber Studio Classics): Also known as The Revenge of the Savage Bees yes, another bad-bug movie this one has Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., Dan Haggerty, Tovah Feldshuh and the recently departed Philip Baker Hall standing between humanity and winged destruction.

That Dirty Black Bag: Season 1 (AMC/RLJE): How gritty is this Western series? The title refers to the receptacle a bounty hunter uses to carry heads of his quarry in.

Yellowjackets: Season One (Showtime/CBS/Paramount): One of the past years most addictive shows, a group of women are unwillingly reunited when a shared secret from their past comes roaring back to haunt them. Perfect for revisiting as we all wait for season two.

Excerpt from:

Whats New on DVD Blu-ray in July: 'Everything Everywhere,' 'Drive My Car,' 'The Beatles: Get Back' and More - TheWrap

(from left) Daisy Edgar-Jones and director Olivia Newman on the set of Where The Crawdads Sing.Photo: Sony Pictures

Where The Crawdads Sing, an adaptation of Delia Owens bestseller, is the kind of must-see movie that seemed to arrive every few months during the mid-1990s, and now director Olivia Newman is hoping her film can help bring that type of project back into vogue.

Newmans film, which beautifully merges the urgency of a soapy page turner and the unhurried familiarity of myth, stars Daisy Edgar-Jones as Kya, a self-taught outsider growing up in 1960s North Carolina. Kya spends her life surrounded by suspicious townspeople, and she gets accused of murder when a young man dies under mysterious circumstances. Newman, best known for her 2018 debut First Match, delivers an affecting character study, a complicated love triangle, and a juicy murder mystery that simultaneously tugs at viewers heartstrings and keeps them on the edge of their seats.

The director recently spoke to The A.V. Club about Where The Crawdads Sing, starting with the challenge of bringing this successful novel to life, the disparate threads of the books romance and mystery, the central characters search for self-actualization, and the films sad parallels with topics in the zeitgeist today.

The A.V. Club: Did the fact that this was a bestseller make it a no-brainer to direct? Or was there simply something about the book that resonated with you?

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Olivia Newman: First and foremost, it was the book that drew me to the project. I could not put the book down when I read it. I was really drawn to the character of Kya, who embodied this incredible strength and resilience, but is also a character Id never seen before. Her ability to survive under incredibly harsh circumstances and the way that she finds her own life and discovers her own sense of self-worth despite suffering from the worst rejection imaginable, that story really resonated with me. And then the landscape of the marshlands of North Carolina, and the forest and the swamps and those kind of magical landscapes really drew me visually to the project.

Kya (Daisy Edgar-Jones) in Olivia Newmans Where The Crawdads Sing.Photo: Sony Pictures

AVC: What was the biggest challenge in trying to condense a rich character study that also has the imprint of a Gothic murder mystery?

ON: I like to say that blending all of these genres was the delicious challenge of this movie. It is a murder mystery. It is a love story. It is a survivalist tale. For me as a director, being able to sink my teeth into all of those genres was a huge challenge, but also one that I welcomed with great excitement. And it starts with figuring out how to adapt such an amazing book into a movie thats also its own standalone medium that really pays homage and captures the spirit of the book but can weave the story together in a way that keeps audiences really engaged. So at the script stage, we decided to root us as much as possible with Kya, so leaving the courtroom throughout the film, anytime we were in the present in the murder mystery, we were with Kya. And any time we were in the past, we were also following Kyas survivaland romances. And so that was a way to weave those three genres, but also stay really connected to our main character and see the story unfold as much as possible through her eyes. I think having access to an experience like Kyas was, to me, the most exciting thing to offer the viewer.

AVC: Listening to you describe it reminds me of how excited I felt by the elasticity of the story, which is this murder mystery that draws people in to these many different ideasher survival, her romance, her education. How much of that balance was fully figured out in the script?

ON: Well, as a reader of the book, the ending was everything, the ending is the story. That captures the essence of what [author Delia Owens] is trying to say. So there was no version of this movie without that ending, because then its not telling Delias story. And so that was never a questionwe were always going to be absolutely faithful and honor the book, and the message of the ending. There was a lot of conversation throughout the writing process about the best way to tie it all up, and weave all those different storylines. Theres romances that need to be tied up. Theres a murder mystery that needs to be tied up. Theres also the trauma of Kyas childhood, of her mother leaving and her understanding why, and how that reflects back on her own sense of self and self-worth. To me, every time I think about that scene of her mother leaving makes me want to cry, because its the worst thing imaginable. And so that was also a really important thread for me to try to give Kya an understanding and some ability to reflect back and understand the cycle of domestic violence. So there was a lot of conversation throughout the writing process about the best way to weave all of these things. And I think we tried a lot of different things before we arrived something that was succinct enough to fit a two-hour movie, but still gave enough time to each of those different threads in order for them all to kind of have their own space and their own importance.

AVC: One of the other things the film does so well is draw these characterizations without overstating in the dialog, especially for her two suitors. How much did you rely upon Harris or Taylor or Daisy to draw out the tension of the attraction and the possible danger?

ON: I think the priority with all of the characters was that we really believe them as fully complicated human beings, for all of their strengths and all of their flaws. I dont really believe in good guys versus bad guys. In real life, its always a question of Who are you? rather than What happened to you? How did you become the way you are? And so for all of the characters, we had lengthy conversations with each of the actors about their characters histories, their family relationships, their sense of who they are, and what they were going through at each moment of the story. They all make mistakes. None of them are perfect. They all have their own soul searching to do. But what I loved about all of the actors is just how committed they were to really believing in their characters and finding some way to connect to and relate to them. And the actors are all so different from the characters they portray.

(from left) Tate Walker (Taylor John Smith) and Kya (Daisy Edgar-Jones) in Olivia Newmans Where The Crawdads Sing.Photo: Sony Pictures

I mean, Harris is one of the loveliest, most charming, wonderful, sweet humans youll ever meet. And so his portrayal of a guy who is really kind of a bit lost and complicated, I think is a testament to his acting abilities. And so it goes with their performance, of course, and their embodiment of these characters. And then in writing the script, that was also something Lucy and I talked about a lot. We wanted to make sure that they felt really three dimensional through the writing and that you believed in both of the relationships. You could understand why Kya was so taken by Chase. Delia does an amazing job in the book in describing the real physical attraction that she feels towards him and that need for human connection after being alone for so many years, and why somebody with the charm of Chase would be such welcome company. He gives her attention and he gives her company. And he can be very caring. And then the connection with Tate really grows out of their shared love of the marsh and of science and nature. That connection really blooms from a friendship and an intellectual connection. So it was the writing, and it was the performance.

AVC: What did Daisy bring to the character that made her the right choice for the role?

ON: When we were casting, I had seen Daisy in Normal People and it was a show that I binged during the start of the pandemic when I was desperately in need of romance. I wanted a romantic escape, and Normal People was the medicine for Covid melancholy. That was my discovery of Daisy, and I just thought, Who is this amazing actress whos so layered and so deep? And the role she plays in Normal People is quite different from Kya, so I had no idea what to expect when she auditioned, and I was just astonished at her very first read. She read the book in two days. She had the script for like 48 hours before she read for us, and I just was astonished by how quickly she was able to embody both Kyas raw vulnerability, but also that real inner strength. And in working with Daisy, I now know shes an actress who can do anything. The sky is the limit for her. And shes so committed to the craft and so committed to the work. She came down to New Orleans six weeks before we started shooting. She learned how to drive a boat. She learned how to fish. She did movement work to really kind of get into Kyas body and really get into what its like to walk around the marsh barefoot and be so at one with nature. Shes unbelievable with accents. So she learned the dialects with no problem. So now I know, of course, shes an actress who has just an incredible range. But it was an amazing surprise when she auditioned, to discover that in her very first read.

AVC: This film feels very timeless, but it also taps into some contemporary ideas. How much did current themes factor in?

ON: I felt like it was a real conversation about what it is to be marginalized and outcast that sadly continues to be incredibly urgent and part of the current zeitgeist. I wish it wasnt, to be honest. The film takes place during the height of segregation in the South. And its really sad to me that so many of these themes are still relevant today. And at the same time, I really felt like the story of the Marsh Girl had this very timeless quality. I read folklore from all over the world to my young children, and we read all of these different stories that have different variations depending on the culture that theyre from. And the story of the Marsh Girl sort of felt that way to me, that you could imagine there was a similar story about the Marsh Girl who was rejected and ostracized by society and had to overcome all these great challenges. And you can imagine that kind of story being told in many different cultures, many different time periods, many different societies. And so I did want to find a way to give it that sort of timeless feeling. And so that was part of the conversation in terms of the look of the film. It was a huge part of the conversation with my composer, Mychael Danna. I had loved the work he did on The Ice Storm. That is another example of a movie that is set during a very specific time period in American history, and yet the score sort of makes it feel like it is something much more universal, about the disintegration of the family. And so that was a big part of the conversation when we were talking about how we wanted the score to give it that feeling of folklore.

WHERE THE CRAWDADS SING - Official Trailer (HD)

AVC: There were a lot of bestseller adaptations in the 90s, and it feels like weve gotten away from that. How emblematic is this of the work you want to do?

ON: I hope this is emblematic of a return to watching great dramas in movie theaters. Im so grateful that this film was made always with the intention to be shown on the big screen, because it feels like a story and a palette and a landscape that needs to be experienced in that way. So Im very grateful that Sony always intended to release it theatrically. Its been a complicated time for moviegoing, for many reasons. But my hope is that people are craving this kind of story on the big screen again as much as I have been. Im working on another book adaptation now, so maybe that says something about me. I dont know. Im working on a limited series for Apple thats another adaptation of a bestselling novel, called The Last Thing He Told Me. I dont know what that says about me [Laughs], but Im drawn to, especially, stories that really highlight exceptional women and complicated roles. And Ive just gotten really lucky that Ive managed to get my hands on these incredible books that are being adapted.

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Where The Crawdads Sing director Olivia Newman on mysteries and myth-making - The A.V. Club

For many artists and illustrators, working on a new project can often serve as therapy, a way to escape or even deal with the stresses and microaggressions of everyday life. Take those stresses away, however, and it can be just as disconcerting.

Like many, local illustrator Morgan Miller III found himself to be both isolated and distressed at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. He attempted to make sense of it in his own way, creating slightly satirical cartoon-style illustrations that served as something of a diary, but also helped him deal with the new normal of quarantining and pandemic-related politicizing.

It started as something of a way of processing what was going on by drawing in my sketchbook, and then it turned into a way of documenting what was going on, says Miller, a fifth generation San Diegan.

In my life, Ive often had a hard time figuring out subject matter and everything that was going on was just perfect to draw, Miller continues. I just felt powerless over these major issues the pandemic, everything that Trump was doing, the authoritarian leanings of the Republicans, and the Black Lives Matter movement so it seemed like a good way to participate and to just personally understand what was going on. The best way to understand it was to do what I do best, which was drawing.

Before the pandemic, Miller was helping run the Athenaeum Art Centers print studio in Logan Heights, where he taught classes and helped maintain the presses. With classes canceled but still having access to the space, Miller says he began creating zine-style issues of his 2020 illustrations and releasing them. The responses were positive, but he says the writing portion of the project didnt come as easy to him as the drawing.

Yeah, it became too much for me to handle on my own, Miller says. I was sort of trudging through it. Id rather be spending my time on the drawing.

Morgan Miller III (left) and James Call

(Courtesy photo by Iran Arellano)

Enter James Call. The local musician, music writer and radio DJ had known Miller for years, the two having bonded over art and music after meeting at Krakatoa cafe in Golden Hill.

I was immediately impressed with his artwork, Call recalls. The cleverness and detail of his renderings, but it was mostly the cleverness. He was doing all these interesting things as well, like making and printing his own books, and making these unique bindings.

So when Miller asked him if hed like to collaborate on what he now saw as an ongoing project, Call says he immediately said yes. Little did they know that 2021 was going to be, in many ways, an even stranger year than the one before. This is clearly on display in 2021: January-June, their new graphic novel that chronicles everything from the Georgia Senate races and the January attacks at the Capitol to the end of mask mandates near the middle of the year.

We wanted to capture the feel of that year, how we felt in the moment of when these things were happening, says Call, who immediately wrote accompanying text as soon as Miller finished a new drawing. Its certainly a chronicle of a unique time, but its also a lament and an indictment.

The 2021 book was something of a continuation and extension of the blog-style website where Miller and Call would post new content (morganthe3rd.com). The initial printing of 50 sold out almost immediately, and Miller says that was extremely encouraging, further letting him know that people were responding to the work. He had it reprinted and made it available at the website, as well as local shops like Verbatim Books in North Park and Folk Arts Rare Records in City Heights.

You get into a bubble of sorts when it comes to Facebook and social media, so it felt great when people actually bought it, Miller says. It let me know that there was a broad audience for it.

Still, the book is not without its opinions and is decidedly high on satirical writing and renderings. Yes, its a highly original, even beautiful documentation of the zeitgeist of the time serving as a Robert Crumb-style visual and editorial snapshot of one of the strangest periods in American history but it can also be highly polarizing for those who may not agree, for example, that Sen. Ted Cruz is a seditionist or that universal health care is a good thing.

There were some people who were turned off by the politics involved, Call says, referencing his own sister as someone who didnt like what her self-described Bernie Sanders Democrat brother had to say about Trump or how they portrayed people who believed in conspiracy theories like QAnon. She didnt say anything at all at first, but finally she came back and said, I disagree on everything you had to say about Trump.

Both Miller and Call have no plans to stop, however, and regularly post new comics on the website with plans for new collections in the future. Whereas before Miller would produce an illustration and Call would add text after the fact, they both say that the process is much more collaborative. Both seem to want to continue with it for as long as they have something to say about current events and, judging by the news cycle, theres no reason to suspect that fresh inspiration will slow down anytime soon.

Well text each other and ask should we do this? and is this important? Miller says. And more often than not, it is.

Combs is a freelance writer.

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Local artist/writer duo document 2021 and beyond - The San Diego Union-Tribune

the first half of 2022 has been good to gamers. While the last few years have been filled with a woefully large reservoir of delayed games, the dam has burst and the first half of 2022 has been crammed with some absolute bangers.

Whether youre a fan of strategy, action or horror, the games industry has spent the last seven months ensuring theres at least one must-play title waiting for you. Games like Starfield and Breath Of The Wild 2 may have been pushed back to 2023, but have no fear: the amount of world-class games that have already launched this year means youll be kept busy for the foreseeable future. Without further ado, here are NMEs best games of 2022 so far:

Horizon Forbidden West. Credit: Guerrilla Games

Horizon Forbidden West is hardly a radical reinvention of the formula established in 2017s Zero Dawn, but Aloys jump to the PS5 has given developer Guerilla Games licence to expand, well, just about everything.

As you explore the sprawling domain of the Tenakth tribe on a mission to restore the terraforming AI GAIA youll get to play with more weapons and more melee options while you fend off more robotic wildlife, master more skills, gather up more collectibles, and tick off more side quests.

Not everything is an improvement the control scheme is strained to breaking point by the added combat abilities, and the convoluted RPG weapon system can absolutely get in the sea but the easy charm that made the original a winner is back in spades, bolstered here by deeper side characters and a few big heart-filled moments.

It helps that Guerilla has learnt from being left in Breath of the Wilds shadow, with a flexible new climbing system and open exploration that makes the Forbidden West feel far more free than Aloys old digs.

As Horizon expands into a VR spin-off and a TV adaptation, Forbidden West is a reassuring reminder of what all the fuss was about in the first place.

By Dominic Preston

Kirby and the Forgotten Land. Credit: Nintendo

Despite being one of the franchises that Nintendo is most eager to experiment with, most of Kirbys adventures have felt more than a little bit by-the-numbers since Kirby: Triple Deluxe arrived on the Nintendo 3DS back in 2014. Happily, this is not the case for Kirby and the Forgotten Land, which is probably the biggest switch-up for franchise since he first got his power copying abilities back on the NES.

Kirby and the Forgotten Land pulls its titular hero far from the familiar locales of Planet Popstar and drops him into what appears to be a post-apocalyptic version of Earth, adapting his familiar 2D gameplay into 3D for the first time. What results looks like something between a kid-friendly The Last of Us and Super Mario 3D World look, and what is presented gameplay-wise feels fresh and vibrant simply through the introduction of a third dimension. Add in Kirbys new Mouthful Mode powers, where the pink powerhouse takes on the attributes and abilities of real-world objects hes wrapped himself around, and theres never a dull moment to be had. Want to leather a bad guy while wielding the powers of a vending machine? You can do that here.

Forgotten Land wont be winning any awards for best story at the end of the year, but HAL Laboratory has proven once again that with stunning visuals, catchy music, and exciting enough gameplay, adding in long cinematics would just get in the way of us having a good time anyway. Got a Nintendo Switch? Dont skip this one.

By Vince Pavey

Elden Ring. Credit: FromSoftware

Elden Ring is so impressive, you really do have to feel sorry for any other AAA game release in 2022. The remarkable impact that this title has had, not only in bringing back returning FromSoftware fans but in attracting an entirely new, untapped audience, means that this fairly niche brand of action role-playing game is now well-and-truly in the spotlight, and with 13.4million sales and counting, it looks like its here to stay.

FromSoftware has been perfecting its craft for many years, complementing artistic, beautiful environments with seamless, methodical combat. Extravagant bosses have been a mainstay, peppering gameplay with difficult and rewarding challenges, and rich lore has forever run through its veins like marble through rock. Elden Ring is the apex of this design, taking those key elements and ramping them up to unprecedented levels.

The linear gameplay of past titles has been swapped for a breathtaking open world where the direction of your journey is entirely your own, and never has that sense of adventure felt so pure. It truly is FromSoftwares magnum opus, and despite over two years of relentless audience hype, somehow it delivered in every sense. As a result, weve been gifted with another unique FromSoft experience, a testament to studio confidence and the value of artistic vision above all things. Games just dont get better than this.

By Benjamin Hayhoe

Total War: Warhammer 3. Credit: Creative Assembly

Total War: Warhammer 3 may have hit a few speed bumps at launch, but that didnt stop Creative Assemblys latest fantasy outing from becoming one of the best strategy games of all time. The Total War series remains unmatched at bringing large-scale battlefield clashes to life, and Warhammer 3s ocean of unit diversity took that to new heights in February.

From hordes of plague-spewing demons to gun-toting Kislevites, no two factions in Warhammer 3 play remotely the same, and every single race brings at least one compelling reason to play them. Plus, an Outpost system allows players to recruit troops from other races, which means that army compositions can be shaken up and revolutionised to your hearts content.

However, the best thing about Warhammer 3 still lies ahead. A slew of major patches have already cleared up Warhammer 3s launch gripes, and the game is set to become unfathomably better when Immortal Empires arrives later this year. This gargantuan update will fuse Creative Assemblys Warhammer trilogy into one jaw-dropping map brimming with six years of factions and improvements, which should turn the studios already-unmissable gem into the undisputed Prince and Emperor of strategy games.

By Andy Brown

The Quarry. Credit: Supermassive Games.

The Quarry is the latest horror game from Supermassive Games and it manages to be a truly memorable experience. Featured in the game is an entertaining cast of characters who are brought to life with fantastic performances from the likes of Brenda Song, Justice Smith, and Ted Raimi.

As you progress through the story, youll take control of several characters. While playing as each character, youll be making choices that affect their relationships and, crucially, whether they live or die. Each choice you make feels important no matter how small it may seem. Even if you do mess up, you can always use the rewind system to save a characters life. I loved having this feature as games like this usually wont let you reload once a character dies.

As a casual horror fan, I found myself drawn to the mystery of Hacketts Quarry. Without spoiling too much, the games story features tons of shocking twists and turns like your typical horror movie and each one is more shocking than the last. The Quarry is a game I will certainly revisit to make different choices and view the different endings. If youre a horror fan like me, this game is for you.

By Brendan Bell

GhostWire: Tokyo. Credit: Bethesda Softworks

When playing Ghostwire: Tokyo, it doesnt take long for its creaky open-world design to show itself. Set in Shibuya where a supernatural fog has spirited away the citys usually dense and bustling population, its a map you can accurately decry as being empty or lifeless as you follow the formulaic structure of gradually opening up the spaces you can explore while more icons of quests and collectibles take up the real estate.

Yet these flaws never stop the games setting from being anything but compelling. Made even more immersive with its first-person perspective, this is perhaps the most detailed and authentic representation of Japans capital outside of the Yakuza games, and on a grander scale given the impressive verticality you have to traverse its rooftops to take in the breathtaking views while rescuing the citys inhabitants in spirit form.

But Tango Gameworks also looks closer to home culturally, imbuing its collectibles and quests with such a detailed specificity, from the yokai you encounter based on Japanese folklore to the seemingly random collectibles that have something to say about historical and contemporary Japanese culture. As a piece of virtual tourism, albeit one plagued by spooky visitors youll have to routinely defeat with your own supernatural powers, its utterly irresistible, especially when a trip to Japan post-Covid is still off the cards.

By Alan Wen

Neon White. Credit: Annapurna Interactive

Neon White is as good as the gameplay is rapid. Right from the get-go, you are experiencing the tight movement mechanics and interesting level design that make Neon White so enjoyable. The game is unashamedly built for speedrunning, with each of the gradually introduced mechanics adding a new form of movement. Neon White is not aiming for later replayability, it wants you to retry the stage you just completed immediately. It displays the stage leaderboard proudly beside a button asking you to replay it, Neon White knows you can go faster and whats more, it knows your friends have already gone faster.

Neon White is so much more than its stages, though. This game is plugged into the cultural zeitgeist of the modern age. The writing of the characters nails modern anime tropes, and makes fun of them in a tasteful and knowing way. The writing is equal parts nonsensical and intelligent, with endearing characters and a plot laced with just enough mystery to keep you hooked. In a fashion akin to dating simulators, youll find yourself going back to old stages to grab the collectable gifts just to unlock additional dialogue with the characters in the hub area. Thats not to mention the intoxicating rhythmic soundtrack. Neon White is high-speed, well-written and just a damn good time in general.

By Jack Coleman

Rogue Legacy 2. Credit: Cellar Door Games

Rogue Legacy 2, which began life as an Early Access title in 2020, is a genealogical roguelite according to developer Cellar Door, meaning that instead of upgrading one character, you progress your legacy and each new run sees you select one ancestor (of a possible three) of your previous character. Upon death, your character is retired, setting this sequel apart from other games of a similar ilk where the focus is placed upon upgrading one protagonist.

Hopping around 2.5D levels, attacking scoundrels that stand in your way with a variety of swords, bows, magic and other instruments of death contributes to your gold balance, which is put towards upgrading your headquarters. This giant castle base serves as a skill tree that the player will constantly unlock and upgrade before each run, or face losing gold previously acquired.

Cellar Door knew not to mess with anything that made the original Rogue Legacy so special, keeping everything that worked well and combining it with a plethora of new features, unlockables and upgrades for players to chase. On top of this, an adorable refined art style and incredibly tight controls round off the experience. The only unfortunate factor here is that youll lose hours to this black hole before youve realised.

By Cheri Faulkner

Sniper Elite 5. Credit: Rebellion.

Rebellions latest Nazi basher, Sniper Elite 5, is an exercise in levelling up. Previously the snipe-em-up franchise has been a schlocky affair, B-movie thrills for people willing to overlook some dodgy AI and slightly rough edges.

No longer. With Sniper Elite 5, Rebellion seems to have cracked the magic formula. The open-world levels are dense and interesting while enemies are just the right side of challenging to let you play however you want to play. With many of the giants of the stealth genre now hiding away,Sniper Elite 5has shown its capable of carrying the torch forwards.

By Jake Tucker

Looking to fill the rest of 2022 with even more fantastic games? Here are NMEs 20 best games of 2021.

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The best games of 2022 so far - NME

Review of The Case Against the Sexual Revolution by Louise Perry, 200 pages, Polity (June 2022) and Rethinking Sex: A Provocation by Christine Emba, 224 pages, Sentinel (March 2022)

The question of feminism and sex has been causing controversy for as long as feminism has existed, and has only intensified since the sexual revolution. In the 1980s, radical feminists, led by law professor Catharine MacKinnon and activist/writer Andrea Dworkin, regarded not only pornography but most heterosexual sex as male exploitation of women. This anti-porn faction clashed with pro-sex liberal feminists like Ellen Willis and Susie Bright, who focused on womens sexual liberation. In the 1990s, the feminist campaign against date rape on college campuses sought to redefine many ambiguous sexual experiences as nonconsensual. This galvanized critics like Katie Roiphe, whose 1994 critique of rape-crisis feminism, The Morning After, assailed the tendency to portray men as predators and women as helpless victims. In the 21st century, the feminist revival of the past decade combined a sex-positive celebration of enthusiastic consent and female sexual liberationin all its guises from kink to sex workwith the punitive spirit of #MeToo, which embraced MacKinnons dictum that feminism is built on believing women's accounts of sexual use and abuse by men. The unsurprising result has been confusion and dissonance.

Now, British journalist Louise Perry enters the fray with The Case Against the Sexual Revolution. It is, as the title suggests, a provocative book; so provocative, in fact, that radical feminist Julie Bindel contributed an effusive blurb to the dust-jacket (Brilliantly written, cleverly argued fresh and exciting) and then wrote a heavily negative review for UnHerd, in which she attacked Perry for endorsing pre-feminist sexual modesty and urging women to invest in a hypothetical chastity belt.

What, then, is Perrys controversial case against the sexual revolution, which was precipitated by the invention of reliable contraception but also challenged and dismantled a wide range of traditional cultural taboos? Her view is that, while women may have been freed to have sex without marriage and even without love, this freedom was and remains illusorybecause, to quote Perrys famous compatriot Kingsley Amis, girls arent like that. Or, as Perry puts it, Women did not evolve to treat sex as meaningless, and trying to pretend otherwise does not end well. Men, she argues, not only have a much stronger preference and capacity for casual and promiscuous sex; a substantial minority also have a propensity for violent predation and abuse. Thus, encouraging women to find liberation and empowerment in having sex like a man is to set them up to be hurt emotionally and sometimes physically: at best exploited, at worst raped, battered, or even murdered.

A true feminism that puts womens needs first, Perry insists, would take its cue from those 18th and 19th century feministsstarting with Mary Wollstonecraft in A Vindication of the Rights of Womanwho addressed the sexual double standard by advocating male chastity rather than female licentiousness. How would that play out today? Perrys ideal scenario is nothing less than restoring the normative expectation that sex must take place within a monogamous and preferably lifelong marriage. Short of that, she urges women to delay sex with a new partner for at least a few months and [o]nly have sex with a man if you think he would make a good father to your children (even if you dont actually want to have children with him).

Perry is at her best when deftly and savagely skewering the pieties, hypocrisies, and absurdities of modern progressive feminists. She is scornful of those who think the answer to the dangers posed to women by violent males is to teach men not to rape (now why didnt anyone think of that before?), or who invent pseudo-sexual orientations like demisexual to explain why a disproportionate number of women feel they need an emotional connection before they can feel sexual attraction. She is also compelling when she argues that post-1960s sexual liberationism, including its feminist incarnation, often ended up romanticizing some atrocious behavior and odious figuresa tendency that culminated in the cult of the Marquis de Sade.

Many of Perrys theses are not only convincing, they are commonsensical: consent cannot be the end-all and be-all of sexual ethics (there are a lot of sexual behaviors that are neither criminal nor good and about which the consent framework has very little to say); some desires are bad; denying that sex has some kind of specialness that makes it different from other acts ultimately doesnt work. She points out, for instance, that even liberals who insist that sex is morally neutral generally care if their partner has sex with someone else, and not only because doing so involves breaking a promise: polyamorist communities still struggle with sexual jealousy.

And yet, the picture Perry paints of the post-revolutionary sexual landscape is also unconvincing in several important ways. For a start, she vastly oversimplifies the treatment of sex and sexuality in mainstream culture. Has the view of adventurous, no-strings sex as empowering for women really been dominant in the post-sexual revolution era, with a near-taboo on the discussion of attendant risks from male violence to emotional attachment? Hit movies from the last half-century suggest otherwise. In Looking for Mr. Goodbar (1977), the heroines quest for sexual freedom leads to a string of disastrous relationships and culminates in rape and murder. In Fatal Attraction (1987), a single womans one-night stand with a married man plunges her into a destructive obsession that finally leads to her death.

Even the two television series Perry cites as paradigmatic vehicles of liberal feminism in which women affirm their agency through loveless, selfish sexHBOs Sex and the City (19982004) and the BBCs The Fall (20132016)are far more ambivalent than Perry allows. Yes, in the Sex and the City premiere, Manhattan sex columnist Carrie Bradshaw announced her intention to stop looking for Mr. Perfect and have funspecifically, by using an unlikable ex as a human sex toy. But ultimately, most of the show was about Carrie and her friends respective quests for love (except for the happily promiscuous Samantha, who was something of a caricature). The Fall introduced its protagonist, police detective Stella Gibson, as a sexually confident woman who enjoyed a guilt-free one-nighter with a married colleague; but later on, the show undercut its heroine as much as it glamorized her, finally suggesting that her liberated faade may be the mask of a lonely and vulnerable woman still hurting from the loss of her father.

Media coverage of real-life female sexual liberation has also been far more nuanced and less gung-ho than The Case Against the Sexual Revolution would have its readers believe. Perry appears to think that her critique of hook-up culture as a mans game in which women can only be the losers is revelatory, but its all been said before (and not just by countercultural conservatives like Wendy Shalit, who advanced the same thesis in her 1999 book A Return to Modesty). Washington Post reporter Laura Sessions Stepp, who chronicled the trend of buddy sex in high school and college in a 2003 article, warned that [w]omen have always shouldered the emotional burden of sexual behavior and to pretend that they can ignore their emotions easily is poppycock. She followed up with a 2007 book titled Unhooked: How Young Women Pursue Sex, Delay Love, and Lose at Both.

True, there was something of a feminist pro-hookup backlash in the early 2010s, when Hanna Rosin argued that casual liaisons are a savvy strategy for career-minded young women to avoid investing too much time in romance. Still, when the New York Times devoted a long feature to hook-up culture in 2013 under the apparently approving title, Sex on Campus: She Can Play That Game Too, the piece gave plenty of room to the downsides, from romantic disappointment to sexual assault.

As it happens, a lot of those reports greatly exaggerated the prevalence of loveless, uncommitted sex; Perry makes the same mistake. In fact, in a 2010 survey of nearly 30,000 American college students, fewer than one-in-five men and one-in-six women reported having had more than two sexual partners (using a definition that included oral sex), while 38 percent of men and 43 percent of women reported only one and over a third of men and women alike had never had sex. More than half of the respondents said they were in a relationship at the time of the survey. Other studies around that time came up with similar findings; more recent college surveys, albeit smaller, point in the same direction. Beyond college campuses, about one-in-10 American singles not currently in relationships say they are looking only for casual dating.

Another problem is that, in her eagerness to push back against dogmatic sex-difference denial, Perry lapses into massive and drastic generalizations about women and men, despite some pro forma disclaimers that these differences are averages, not absolutes. Yes, the evidence of a greater male preference for sexual variety and a greater female preference for sexual commitment is quite strong; however, not only are there numerous variations in this pattern, but the preferences are often a matter of degree rather than a stark binary. (There are many gradations between emotion-free hook-up and monogamous marriage.) Perry acknowledges the remarkable flexibility within male sexuality that allows it to manifest itself in cad and dad modes, depending on the situation. But is there a female duality, too? Perry seems to think that, with a few exceptions, women who have casual sex have been conned into it, either by men or by a feminist culture that has duped them with a false promise of liberation. However, the evolutionary psychologists she cites in support of her views, such as David Buss, argue that womens sexual strategiesalso depending on circumstancescan include short-term as well as long-term mating.

The result is that Perrys indictment of the sexual revolution is disappointingly simplistic and one-sided. It gives short shrift to the women who find uncommitted or adventurous sex enjoyable (and plenty do, at least sometimes, as surveys about campus hook-ups indicate). It also ignores men who find the casual sex scene empty and unsatisfying, or prefer committed relationships but feel strong peer pressure to hook up (as noted, for instance, in a 2016 Quartz article that Perry cites for its conclusion that most women dont like hookup culture). When The Case Against the Sexual Revolution invites readers to re-scrutinize their own sexual experiences, the questions are split sharply along gender lines: only women are asked if they have ever become attached to a casual sex partner but kept those feelings concealed, or felt disgusted about a consensual past experience; only men are asked if they ever ditched a partner after a sexual encounter or strung someone along despite sensing that she had developed an emotional attachment.

But in real life, things are more complicated. Sometimes, for instanceas journalist Peggy Orenstein found when interviewing teenage boys about sex and sexual normsboys and young men who are interested in pursuing a relationship with a hookup partner fail to do so because theyre afraid she may dismiss the encounter as just a party thing. I have been, for the record, at both ends of some of the experiences on Perrys lists.

Ultimately, for all her dissent from modern feminist orthodoxy, Perrys own feminism is stuck in the same woman-as-victim mindset. Its telling that one of the feminists she cites most approvingly is writer and activist Andrea Dworkin, who died in 2005 and was briefly touted as a misunderstood prophet during the rise of #MeToo. Dworkin may have been more correct about Sade than the sexual liberationists, but in her own way she was just as deranged and obsessed with sexual barbarism as the Marquis. (This is a woman who once wrote that Caesarian sections are a form of sadistic rape in which the doctors cut directly into the uterus with a knifea surgical fuck.)

Perry makes the self-evident point that the male advantage in size and strength makes women far more vulnerable than men in sexual encounters with someone they dont know well. But are women really trapped in the sexual hellscape she depicts in such lurid colors? Im doubtful. Perry makes much, for instance, of an apparent rise in British cases of men charged with killing women who have employed a rough sex defenseparticularly in deaths by strangulationand links this to the trend of normalizing kink. But were talking about a miniscule number of cases; overall, official statistics show, the rise in homicides in the UK after the 1960s was due almost entirely to male victimization, and British women today are safer from homicide than at any point since the mid-1960s.

Should it be concerning that three-quarters of British women under 25 in a 2019 poll reported at least some experiences of being choked (defined as any hand-on-neck pressure), slapped (on any body part), or spat on during consensual sex? Or that one-in-six reported at least one instance of being upset or frightened by such an act? Are women who say they find pleasure in such activities pathetically deluded? The answers may be, once again, complicated; but Perrys stubborn insistence that Girls Arent Like That can make her an unreliable narrator. She insists, for example, that women simply dont (with vanishingly rare exceptions) enjoy erotic asphyxiation, since there is no record of them practicing it on their own. Yet the article she cites discussing this fetish among men mentions comparable (though rarer) cases in women, as does other research.

Meanwhile, Perry hardly ever acknowledges that men also suffer injuries on the sexual battlefieldfrom false accusations of misconduct to (yes) unwanted sex to a wide range of humiliating, cruel, or otherwise toxic behaviors of which humans of both sexes are capable. Perhaps its true that, as the stronger and hornier sex, it is more important for men to exercise moral restraint; but that is not the whole story. As for the idea that the new sexual order is rigged in mens favor: Perry never even mentions the rather extraordinary fact that between 2002 and 2018, the proportion of men aged 18 to 24 reporting no partnered sex in the past year spiked from 19 percent to 31 percent.

(Sexual inactivity among women in this age group rose much more modestly, from 15 percent to 19 percent.) Thats a rather large share of young males who are clearly not on the winning side.

Perrys book spurred me to dig up a trenchant critique of the sexual revolution published almost 40 years ago: a 1983 Psychology Today essay by writer and psychotherapist Peter Marin titled A Revolutions Broken Promises. A secular liberal concerned that sex was being not only separated from love but emptied of generosity, Marin wrote about various casualties of the sexual revolution he had seen in his practicefrom young men and women who, barely out of adolescence, had slept with so many people that they found themselves frigid or unresponsive beside those whom they genuinely loved to middle-aged couples whose bonds had been shattered by the siren call of open marriage. Compared to The Case Against the Sexual Revolution, Marins examination of these pitfalls was remarkably sex-neutral, except for his observation that men are less articulate [and] feel less justified than women in their public complaints about the disappointments of sexual liberation. Perrys book is an illustration of this tendency, and it weakens her case against the sexual revolutions undoubted excesses.

For all its flaws, there is no doubt that The Case Against the Sexual Revolution taps into something in the zeitgeist. As evidence, one can look to another book with strikingly similar themes published just two months earlier. Rethinking Sex: A Provocation is by Washington Post reporter Christine Emba, and the echoes are downright uncanny, right down to the chapter titles: Men and Women Are Different (Perry)/Men and Women Are Not the Same (Emba); Some Desires Are Worse Than Others (Emba)/Some Desires Are Bad(Perry); Sex Must Be Taken Seriously (Perry)/Sex Is Serious (Emba, chapter section title). Emba speaks of the tyranny of chill, which requires people to pretend not to care; Perry, of the pressure on women to be the Cool Girl. Both authors stress that consensual sex isnt necessarily good or ethical. Both lament that equality for women seems to have been (mis)interpreted as acting like the worst sort of mancavalier about sex and disdainful of real feeling (Emba) or having sex like an arsehole, as Perry more pithily puts it. Both approvingly cite Dworkin.

Emba, who is in her early 30s, brings an interesting perspective to her book: a Catholic convert raised as an evangelical Christian, she spent her 20s as a virgin who rejected premarital sex on religious grounds. She admits that several boyfriends worth of on-the-edge encounters left me (and them, Im sure) furious at myself for my stance. Eventually, she changed her mind about premarital sex, but retained the belief that sex should not be trivialized, is not merely a private matter, and has a spiritual dimension. Her conversations with young adultswomen and some menbear this out: many admit, often with embarrassment, that they dislike casual sex, and even those who arent necessarily looking for long-term relationships are still looking for something beyond the physical.

We can now fuck without feelings, but lets be honestthe feelings were the fun part, Emba writes. The reality is that the dispassionate, disconnected, empty approach to sexuality was never what we wanted, and is barely even possible: engaging in intimate acts begets feelings, its natural. Total freedom was never a realistic goal, and the warped vision of freedom we celebrate now fails to satisfy.

Here, as with Perrys book, one may quibble about the generalizations: Who are the we to whom she refers in that quote? And how many people celebrate the feelings-free approach to sexuality? Is Emba confusing the lifestyles of a socially progressive knowledge class eliteor even a subsection of that elitewith the lives of the population at large? The answer to that last question is almost certainly yes. In a revealing scene that reads almost like a conservative parody, one of her interviews takes place at a downtown Le Pain Quotidien in Washington, DC, filled with men and women gesturing broadly over their lattes and wielding law firm-branded laptop bags, and the subject is a queer-identifying woman who does advocacy work for a womens health organization. The limitations of such a focus are obvious; but it doesnt invalidate Embas analysis, especially since the segment of American society to which she directs most of her attention has disproportionate cultural influence.

Like Perry, Emba deftly identifies some of the contradictions of the progressive sexual creed: for instance, sex means nothingat least, no more than any other fun activityuntil sexual identity, or ones status as a sexual assault survivor, means everything. Unlike Perry, however, she does not propose radical shifts in societal norms, such as a restoration of a marriage-centric culture; hers is a more modest plea to adopt an ethic of careor what Marin called generosityeven in short-term relationships. Can we not love each other for a single day? asks one of her interviewees, a woman who suddenly found herself wondering if her partner in a one-night stand respected her. (Perrys answer to both questions, no doubt, would be a curt no.)

Unlike Perry, Emba positions herself not as a dissident skewering progressive pieties but as a member of the progressive subculture urging fellow progressives to reconsider some of their views. This gives Rethinking Sex a certain anodyne quality; at times, Emba seems to be trying too hard not to offend, as when her discussion of sex differences stresses the structural constraints and social programming that come with our gender as well as biological factors. (That doesnt make the generalizations any less massive: is it really true, for instance, that women and only women in our culture are taught not to make a scene, not to be difficult, selfish, or rude, or to put up with discomfort?) Nonetheless, in at least one way, Emba departs from woke dogma more than Perry: she is willing, at least briefly, to consider that men can get hurt too, including by false accusations of sexual misconduct. Not every sexual misstep is a crime, she writes, but we tend to punish them as though they were, ignoring the fact that our rules are so impoverished that they are easy to misconstrue.

The insight that trying to separate sex from human emotions and human connection usually ends in disappointment and sometimes in disaster is not new. It even predates the modern age: the greatest literary legacy of 18th century libertinismarguably the first sexual revolutionis Choderlos de Lacloss brilliant 1782 novel Les Liaisons Dangereuses, whose charming and amoral protagonists are occasionally compelled to admit that their loveless exploits are deeply unsatisfying (Let us be honest: in our affairs, as cold as they are casual, what we call happiness is hardly even pleasure, remarks Lacloss antihero, the vicomte de Valmont) and are finally undone when their libertine principles clash with the reality of their feelings.

In the modern age, the upheaval of the sexual revolution, coupled with the womens movement and boosted by the unprecedented availability of reliable birth control, has undoubtedly had negative consequences as well as positive ones. The surge in divorce rates produced many casualties (children, first and foremost); the sexual free-for-all of the singles scene has left many scarred people (perhaps more women than men; perhaps roughly similar numbers of both, scarred in different ways); the feminist war on male sexual misconduct, which was arguably part of the fallout, claimed its own innocent victims. Nonetheless, the majority of peopleat least, people from the affluent and educated classes that both Perry and Emba primarily write abouthave still managed to adjust and lead reasonably happy lives. Truly brutal sexual disorder, including the near-total collapse of marriage, has happened primarily in the low-income, low-status communities that are off both authors radar, and where liberal beliefs about sexuality and sex roles are not commonly found.

This is not to say that we dont need to rethink some of todays sexual rules and norms. Sexual utopianismthe idea that the complete liberation of all sexual preferences, kinks, and predilections can bring about a paradise of tolerance and understanding with no jealousy or conflictneeds to be retired. The normalization of graphic descriptions of ones sexual experiences as part of mainstream discourse could stand some reconsidering (too much information is a concept that deserves a comeback). And, of course, reorienting ourselves toward kindness and generosity in our sexual lives is always a course worth pursuing. That generosity should be extended, among others, to men accused of sexual misconduct over trivial sins.

But should we reconsider sexual freedom itselfand, in a very real sense, sexual equality as well? The ideas of Perry and self-described reactionary feminists like Mary Harrington should, of course, be part of the conversation, but count me in the disagree column. Yes, biology matters, and women and men are not the same; but the interaction of nature and culture is still too little understood, and equality is still too recent (there are, even now, many places in the West where the traditional stigma against loose women retains its power) to make definitive pronouncements, not only about the way men and women are, but about the way they should be. In the absence of such knowledge, our only way forward is a sexual ethic that is cognizant of group differences, but ultimately approaches and judges people as individuals.

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Children of the Counter-Revolution - Quillette

As the 1979 general election campaign went on, it became increasingly clear that the Conservatives would likely win a significant majority. In the heat of battle, James Callaghan, then Labour prime minister, showed remarkable foresight. There are times, perhaps once every 30 years, when there is a sea-change in politics, he told his advisor. It then does not matter what you say or what you do. There is a shift in what the public wants and what it approves of. I suspect there is now such a sea-change and it is for Mrs Thatcher.

Thatcher went on to win not only that election, but the following two as well. Her successor, John Major, prevailed in 1992, and Labours Tony Blair won three consecutive elections by overtly embracing her policies. At the start of the 21st century, Thatcherism was for the most part the political common sense of the country. Thatcher would later comment that her greatest achievement was New Labour. She was, without doubt, the most successful British politician of the 20th century, and still casts a long shadow over British politics (as a cursory glance at Johnsons would-be successors will tell you). Not bad for someone who had just one supporter in the shadow cabinet when she launched her leadership bid in 1975.

While the rise of Boris Johnson was far more predictable his tilt at the top job less a meteoric rise than starting on the playing fields of Eton Callaghans words could just as easily have applied to his stunning win in 2019. Capturing Labours red wall, comprehensively settling the question of Brexit and accumulating the largest number of votes since 1992 should have meant Johnson was able to oversee another sea-change in British politics. He was a powerful, popular leader with big ambitions and a mandate to match. If youre a Tory, these are the moments that come along once in a political lifetime.

And yet in less than three years, Johnson squandered not only his own political reputation but this momentous opportunity. As Aris Roussinos wrote on the day he promised to step down: Fate had granted Johnson an appointment with History: but he missed it, lost in a diary clash with wallpaper merchants, lobby courtiers and the endless need to flush away the squalid mess he was compelled to smear around the highest offices of the state. While the calibre of Tory personnel was a factor in his downfall (certainly no business would survive such a litany of sexual assault and harassment cases), what wrecked Johnson, and his potential legacy, was himself.

Yet the scale of what has happened, and the opportunity missed, still seems not to have dawned on many Conservatives. Whatever else you think of him, Boris is a historic figure, tweeted Robert Colvile, director of the rightwing Centre for Policy Studies, two hours after Johnson announced his decision. Changed the course of the nation in both 2016 and 2019. (And the memory of that election night and the destruction of Corbynism is one I will always treasure.)

Besides the fact that being a historic figure is far from always positive (Pol Pot, Adolf Hitler and Fred West merit the label, billions of decent people dont), this, in a paragraph, reveals the extent of Johnsons failure. He was handed an opportunity on a par with that of Clement Attlee in 1945 (after which we got the modern welfare state and NHS) and Thatcher in 1979 (which led to the biggest transfer of wealth in the nations history since the Enclosure Acts). If Thatcher re-made the British psyche, and I believe she did, Johnson changed little more than the John Lewis decor at Number 10. In Brexit, he helped catalyse a political revolution which now hasnt the slightest idea where its going. Were constantly told by the media that Jeremy Corbyn was Westminsters answer to the Chuckle Brothers and yet Johnsons legacy is nothing more than defeating him.

Johnsons mandate to not only get Brexit done but level up the country could, and should, have led to a rupture every bit as seismic. With a disciplined top team, a shared vision and a party capable of at least minimal standards of probity, we would be looking at something similar. When Johnson won the Hartlepool by-election just last year turning a Labour seat won twice under Corbyn blue thats what the electorate still believed in: putting the constant rancour of Brexit behind us and building an economy no longer focused on London and the south east. It was always a brave pitch from the Tories, particularly given their base is in the home counties, but it seemed to be paying dividends. Relocating some Treasury jobs to Darlington was emblematic of how they had grabbed the zeitgeist, not only mitigating Labours powerful arguments over regional and income inequality but stealing their voters while doing so.

It was the same in Batley and Spen, where Keir Starmer was likely just several hundred votes from having to resign last year. When I was there it was clear that the Tories were competitive without really trying, their campaign decidedly low-key. Many constituents wanted to give Labour another bloody nose, but ultimately they either stayed with the party, because of Kim Leadbeater, or voted for George Galloway. Already it was becoming clear that the Johnson project didnt know what it wanted to do.

While Johnsons successor may win a future election (who can really tell after the last 18 months), an especially large margin feels unlikely. Whats more, it wont be on a populist platform for transformational change. Decades of activism and persuasion lay behind the Attlee and Thatcher supremacies. Johnson appeared to have enjoyed their mandate without the graft: no long march through the labour movement like in the 1930s, no neoliberal thought-architecture built in response to the triumph of Keynesianism. With Johnson, it was easy come, easy go.

In 2019, the electorate wanted a decisive break. What they got was a damp squib. For the Tories, that should prompt a reckoning. While Johnson is overwhelmingly to blame for his own downfall, perhaps the party simply doesnt have the ideas, personnel or institutions to execute meaningful change anymore. It has power, yes, but stuck in the intellectual world of the 1980s, it doesnt really know what to do with it in the 21st century.

Aaron Bastani is a Novara Media contributing editor and co-founder.

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Boris Johnson Could Have Been Another Thatcher - Novara Media