Paula Irmschler about “yes, and?”, KIZ, Sprints, “Good Grief”, “Para” & the “Mean Girls” remake.
Call me a boomer, but winter used to just be called winter and not an ice front or a snow roller. Maybe that’s not true, maybe that’s what they used to call it, but at least it didn’t come to your cell phone as breaking news and send you into a panic. But it doesn’t matter, we’re all always excited about everything these days, so it continues at this pulse rate, even in pop culture.
Song of the week: “yes, and?” by Ariana Grande
Already one of THE hits of 2024: “yes, and?” by Ariana Grande. Every pop star needs a song in which they complain about the annoying chatter of the media (Lindsay Lohan – “Rumours”, Lady Gaga – “Paparazzi”, Bobby Brown – “My Prerogative”, Britney Spears – “Piece of Me” , REM – “Bad Day”). Now it’s Ari’s turn, who has been criticized in recent months for her choice of partner, and now promptly counters with: “Why do you care so much whose dick I ride?” For me it’s already the “Flowers” or the “Padam Padam”. year, let’s see. Above all, this beautiful sentence will remain: “Boy, come on, put your lipstick on”.
Ari’s album is scheduled to come out on March 8th. On Women’s Fight Day! Dua Lipa and Lady Gaga are also in the studio right now – POPFRONT.
Video of the week: “Peace” by KIZ
I know, I know, KIZ’s new song “Frieden” is not great for everyone, but also totally problematic for some. We have all learned by now that calling for peace in some conflicts is at least counterproductive, if not even dangerous, because of course the right to defense must apply. And yet I’m glad that the peace song genre is not dead. In 2024 it seems to have really stuck. But music’s job is not to offer real political solutions and KIZ are not a party. Music, literature and art can be abbreviated and undifferentiated. I think so. Her song “Peace” is about something fundamental that needs to be checked at all times: Are we humans actually totally crazy? In the video you see kids playing war and it’s pretty painful to watch, so yeah.
Album of the week: LETTER TO SELF by Sprints
For the angry, or at least more jagged part of you, there is finally, finally, finally the debut album from Irish band Sprints. We fans have been waiting forever. Since 2019 we have been fed singles and EPs, the impressive, cool voice of Karla Chubb and the strumming of her band types. And it’s as expected: It’s a hectic blast for eleven songs, without any slow incidents. Before you then frantically think about what “was” this year for your best lists again in December. This record was definitely worth noting now!
With the song “Adore Adore Adore” there is now a new feminist anthem (“They never called me beautiful / They only called me insane”):
Movie of the week: “Good Grief”
Actually, I’m only showing you this, more recent, film to accommodate an advertisement for an older film. The new one is called “Good Grief” (Netflix) and is by and starring the great Daniel Levy (the sweetest person, right? I want to look like Daniel Levy!) I suspect the film should come out sooner, at least the whole Christmas setting lets you know believe in. It would definitely have been a big Christmas hit, but you might still need nice things afterwards.
At first it’s of course not so nice: the protagonist Marc (Levy) loses his long-time partner Oliver in a car accident. Together with his best friends Sophie and Thomas, he spends the next year in mourning until he finds out that his deceased friend had an affair. He then travels to Paris with Sophie and Thomas; they live in Oliver’s secret apartment, where he, so to speak, indulged in his affair. There it turns out that Marc’s friends also have serious problems, and conflicts among themselves also come to the surface. This is where the film actually becomes exciting because the three really interesting characters and the actors are very well cast. Unfortunately, the other two don’t get enough space. I hate to say that because everything is now always made into a series that could have been a film, but in this case it’s the other way around. It could have at least been a miniseries!
It’s still worth it:
In any case, the film reminded me of another film that came out in 2022 and is now streamable on WOW. It is “Spoiler Alert”, a film by Michael Showalter, based on the book “Spoiler Alert: The Hero Dies: A Memoir of Love, Loss, and Other Four-Letter”. Words” by Michael Ausiello, who writes about the death of his husband. He is played by Jim Parsons, his partner Kit Cowan by Ben Aldridge. It has become one of the most beautiful love films ever – and one of the saddest. Because you know from the beginning that Kit will die of cancer and you know that all the hopeful moments the two of them have had will be dashed. Nevertheless, it is not a bleak film, love flows from every corner and detail, and not an embellished story of it, but a real one, with all the problems that can arise in long-term relationships. I don’t want to give too much away, you have to watch it and get lots of tissues. I have to cry again just thinking about it, move on quickly!
Series of the week: “Para – We are King”
Okay, it’s not particularly new either, but I’ve only now managed to finish watching the second season and I’m going to go out on a limb and say that “Para – Wir sind King” is the best German series of the last few years . The only point of criticism right up front: There’s a bit too much shouting and sometimes there’s perhaps a bit much drama in every single episode, but if you can handle that, then go for it. In case anyone doesn’t know the series (it’s on Prime): It’s about four friends who live in Wedding and are trying to get along. It is perfectly cast with Soma Pysall (Hajra), Roxana Samadi (Rasaq), Jobel Mokonzi (Fanta) (you also know her from “DRUCK”, the second best current German series) and Jeanne Goursaud (Jazz).
They mess up, fall in love, go to parties, do crooked things, have to save each other again and again and still try to plan their future through all of this. The second season is even better, especially aesthetically, it’s been stepped up a notch, there’s even singing at some point. For me “Para” is simply the better “Euphoria”, that’s what I said. To the makers: Woe betide you, there is no third season, then I’ll finish you off!
Anticipation of the week: “Mean Girls”
The new edition of “Mean Girls” (as a musical!) is finally coming to German cinemas next week and I’m already bursting with anticipation for bullying, slim, white girls. “Mean Girls” (2004) was of course a satire on that – and on all the high school films of the time. Let’s see how much humor is left of this in the age of Y2K romanticization trends. But the great singer and actress Reneé Rapp (who plays Regina George) gives hope. When asked if she would rather go to school in the 2000s or today, she replied: “Well, I’m gay, so I’m gonna go with now.”
What happened until now? Here is an overview of all the pop column texts.