NO NONSENSE #26

Hey dolls,

Welcome back to NO NONSENSE, our recommendations newsletter featuring the Polyester team’s current pop culture favs. This time alongside our usual picks, we’re spotlighting a couple of movies from MUBI’s new neo-Westerns edit (S'ouvre dans une nouvelle fenêtre).

We recently hosted a watch party for Pedro Almodóvar’s Strange Way of Life in partnership with the best film streaming service in the biz, and we’re currently also raising funds for Mermaids (a charity which supports trans youth and their families) via the sale of this frankly stunning cowboy-themed t-shirt, with an exclusive illo by Amy Jean:

Elsewhere, as we go into proper hibernation mode, we’ve got some extra films for you to add to your Letterboxd, as well as some telly and music for good measure. And if you need some extra inspo for your duvet days, click through here (S'ouvre dans une nouvelle fenêtre) for 30 days of MUBI free <3

Enjoy!

XOXO,

The Polyester Team

Lauren O’Neill – Copy Editor

Film - Strange Way of Life

This short is the latest release from director Pedro Almodóvar, and it stars Pedro Pascal and Ethan Hawke as gay cowboys – I feel like that sentence in itself should be enough of a ringing endorsement. Our watch party was a fab excuse to watch a genre I wouldn’t normally go for.,PLUS, if like me you have a terrible attention span, it’s only 30 mins long!

Music: Paint My Bedroom Black by Holly Humberstone

I definitely don’t think I’m alone in doing that thing where, when I like a song or an album, I just relentlessly play it into the ground. Admittedly I do this partly out of laziness (I can’t be arsed to think of anything else to listen to), but it’s usually also because I like how the music makes me feel, and that’s especially the case with Paint My Bedroom Black. I’ve really liked Holly Humberstone’s music for ages but I hadn’t had a chance to dive into her debut album until very recently. It’s such a sleeper hit – no skips at all, loads of really cute teen movie soundtrack style songs that indulge my main character delusions, and super specific, well-observed lyrics. If you like boygenius I’d strongly recommend giving it a spin!

Charlotte Landrum - Platform Editor

Film: Zero Fucks Given
Really great film starring Adèle Exarchopoulos as a depressed flight attendant who's just trucking along in life with not much direction. It’s a good representation of what life can be like in that state when you're just kind of 'there'. Also Adèle is beautiful and very talented and I want to see her in more films!

Gina Tonic - Deputy Editor

Film: Cecil B. Demented
This was a John Waters I hadn’t seen yet but felt so relevant for right now, especially with so much coming out about how movie studios are fucking it!! So many good Halloween costume ideas in it too, deffo an underrated Waters flick.

Ione Gamble - Editor-in-Chief

Film: First Cow
After the Strange Way of Life watch party I wanted to see what else was in the neo-Westerns edit on MUBI, and I ended up watching First Cow, which I unexpectedly really loved. The film has a female director – Kelly Reichardt – and I thought that her take on the genre put a spin on it that I’d not really seen done before.

TV: Murder At The End Of The World
This is Brit Marling's new show – Harris Dickinson is really fit in it but thats not that main point lol. A silly 'Gen Z' detective show / apocalyptic drama that three episodes in is still veering on the right side of ridiculous.