A Beyoncé RENAISSANCE Concert Movie; WGA Wins Big; Celebrating FilipinOctober
Issue No. 7: Beyoncé is really changing the world with RENAISSANCE, isn't she?
The Beyoncé RENAISSANCE Diaries: A Moment, Movement, Homecoming… And CONCERT MOVIE!
It was truly A DINO-RAYNAISSANCE.
I traveled to Houston to not only see Beyoncé perform in her hometown, but also reunite with chosen family that I haven’t seen in forever (she’s a Texas gal, remember?).
Beyoncé’s RENAISSANCE concert was nothing short of astounding and awe-inspiring. The queen makes sure she performs for every single goddam soul in that arena. So when it was announced (or the announcement leaked) that a RENAISSANCE concert movie was set to be released later this year, I wasn’t surprised. No one should be.
Beyoncé has probably been planning this since she praised her Uncle Johnny at the GLAAD Media Awards.
Read whether or not Houston won the “mute challenge” and my insightful RENAISSANCE diaries here.
WGA? More like WGA-SLAY!
As of 12:01 am PT/3:01 am ET on Wednesday, September 27th, the WGA ended one of the most intense, divisive and landscape-changing strikes in Hollywood.
As Law Roach would say: “YOU DID… WHAT NEEDED… TO BE DONE.”
The WGA reached a tentative agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) on a new three-year Minimum Basic Agreement. The Negotiating Committee, the WGAW Board and WGAE Council voted unanimously to recommend the agreement. Next step: it will now go to both guilds’ memberships for a ratification vote. Voting will take place between October 2-9.
Let’s keep this party going with SAG-AFTRA!
Lead negotiators for SAG-AFTRA (in case you haven’t heard, they are on strike too) and the AMPTP are set to meet October 2… that’s today!
Let’s make it happen, folks!
Read more deets on the tentative WGA and AMPTP agreement here.
‘Tis The Month To Celebrate Filipinos In Your Life!
What do Olivia Rodrigo, Vanessa Hudgens, Bruno Mars, Jo Koy, H.E.R., Dante Basco, Nicole Scherzinger, Eugene Cordero, Darren Criss, Tia Carrere, and Dave Bautista have in common?
They have all been on television!
And in case you didn’t know, they are also of Filipino descent!
It is Filipino American History Month and my civic duty to celebrate and bolster my beautiful culture. I mean, by default, I celebrate being Filipino American ant the culture every day by simply existing but I am more than happy to do it in the spookiest month of the year. As legendary Filipino American stand-up comedian would say, Mah-BOO!-hay!
A little history about FAHM:
The Filipino American National Historical Society (FANHS) proposed the first annual Filipino American History Month, which officially kicked off in October 1992.
Why October? It marks the recorded arrival of the first Filipinos who landed in what is now Morro Bay, California on October 18, 1587.
In November 2009, Congress passed the resolution to officially recognize October as Filipino American History Month.
If you know any Filipino Americans or Filipinos, make sure you tip your hat to them and ask them to go to karaoke some time this month.
I want to give some shine to some amazing Filipinos and Filipino Americans doing some incredible work. This includes author Melissa Chadburn and gripping novel A Tiny Upward Shove as well as playwrights Bernard Badion and Nicholas Pilapil with their plays Monkeys and The Bottoming Process, respectively.
Kristian Kabuay not only designed three of my tattoos, but he is an artist and scholar of Baybayin who has been educating everyone all around the world about prePhilippine scripts. He recently teamed with writer Lauren Lola for the graphic novel Dasig which tells a coming-of-age story of a young warrior-in-training struggling to focus on her pursuits.
Known as the “queen of sensual cinema”, filmmaker Isabel Sandoval’s career continues to flourish after her critically acclaimed drama Lingua Franca debuted in 2019 at the Venice Film Festival. She also directed eps of the FX series Under the Banner of Heaven starring Andrew Garfield.
Director Maria Jamora has been doing the thing, creating a robust resume as a TV director on shows like Queen Sugar, The Cleaning Lady, and Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies.
There has been an impressive roster of storytellers creating amazing cinema for a minute including documentarian PJ Raval, who directed the incredible film Call Her Ganda as well as HP Mendoza whose film The Secret Art of Human Flight debuted earlier this year at the Tribeca Film Festival. There is also a huge roster of visionaries that fuse Western storytelling techniques and ideals with Filipino iconography and symbols to create mind-blowing genre films such Paris Zarcilla’s Raging Grace and Martika Ramirez Escobar’s Leonor Will Never Die.
Asian American Girl Club Celebrates Hayley Kiyoko And Denim!
On September 27, I attended not one, but two queer-focused events and was more than excited.
First stop was Levi’s Haus of Strauss where Ally Maki’s Asian American Girl Club hosted a night celebrating actor and singer, author Hayley Kiyoko and the release of her New York Times best-seller “Girls Like Girls”.
Based on Kiyoko’s hit song and viral video of the same name, the book is exaclty what the title says: girls who like girls. As her first novel, Kiyoko tells a coming-of-age summer romance between Coley and Sonya.
Stand-up comedian and actor Sherry Cola moderated a conversation (it got really emotional) with Kiyoko as they talked about the book, being queer Asian women, and how personal the story was.
Afterwards, Kiyoko performed “Girls Like Girls” as people donned their monogrammed Levi’s jackets and noshed on Open Market sandwiches.
Cheryl Hole And Blu Hydrangea Debut Drag Race UK Season 5 In Hollywood
Second gay event of the night: A RuPaul’s Drag Race UK season 5 premiere party.
The night included a premiere of the first episode of the new season of Drag Race UK as well as performances from Cheryl Hole and an inspired performances of “Bohemian Rhapsody” from first season winner Blu Hydrangea.
This season of Drag Race UK has 10 competing for the crown including Alexis Saint-Pete, Banksie, Cara Melle, DeDeLicious, Ginger Johnson, Kate Butch, Michael Marouli, Miss Naomi Carter, Tomara Thomas, and Vicki Vivacious. RuPaul, Michelle Visage, Graham Norton, and Alan Carr all return as judges.
The new season of Drag Race UK is now streaming on World of Wonder Plus.
Heartbreak Feels Good In A Place Like The Trailer For Andrew Haigh’s All Of Us Strangers
I was a huge fan of Andrew Haigh’s Weekend as well as the HBO series Looking so when I first got word of All of Us Strangers, I was girding my loins for an emotional roller coaster that will eventually devastate my heart in the most beautiful way possible… and the new trailer is testimony to that.
In the dramatic feature out in theaters December 22, Andrew Scott stars as Adam who lives in a near empty building in London. While emotionally unpacking the death of his parents (Claire Foy and Jamie Bell), he has a chance encounter with one of his neighbors, Harry (Paul Mescal). As a relationship develops between them, Adam finds himself drawn back to his hometown which results in a hyperrealistic dream of love and loss.
ICYMI…
Read all about went down at TIFF; my take on the Here Lies Love discussion, and catch up on episodes of the Problematic Fave podcast while it’s on hiatus!