Madwomen & Muses

Watching “Cool Hand Luke” at Music Box This Month Was a Spiritual Experience

An essay about Paul Newman as one of cinema’s greatest star-auteurs, soulful cinematic masculinity, and the kind of faces I miss watching in movies.

Apr 22 • Angelica Jade Bastién

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Watching “Making Mr. Right" (1987) Reminded Me of Why I Currently Have A Conflicted Relationship with the Romantic Comedy Genre

Watching Susan Seidelman's Miami-set sci-fi rom-com brought up questions about what makes a good love story & Hollywood's failure to capture the truths…

Apr 14 • Angelica Jade Bastién

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March 2026

Today I Watched An Amazing Pre-Code Film I Hadn’t Heard of Before

“Heat Lightning” (1934) is an engaging portrait of an unconventional woman that Hollywood doesn’t portray anymore, which examines desire and sisterly…

Mar 26 • Angelica Jade Bastién

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What is a “Sinner” to an Oscar? and other Questions on the State of Black Film with Angelica Jade Bastién

A recording from Angelica Jade Bastién and Maya Cade's live video from March 13th, 2026.

Mar 26 • Angelica Jade Bastién and Maya Cade

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The Oscars Needs "Sinners"

More than Ryan Coogler’s movie needs 16 Academy Award nominations, or a Best Picture win

Published on Black Film Archive by Maya S. Cade • Mar 13

Film Is In Its Own Existential and Material Crisis, Timothée

Timothée Chalamet’s comments about opera and ballet are condescending. But there’s an anxiety underneath the surface — about the film industry’s future…

Mar 9 • Angelica Jade Bastién

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January 2026

Personal Reflections and Creative Epiphanies at Sundance Film Festival

I attended the Sundance Film Festival for the first time as a critic representing Vulture. Talking with filmmakers and actors opened up creative…

Jan 30 • Angelica Jade Bastién

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November 2025

The Feminine Grotesque No.2: The Ugly Stepsister (2025) and What Women Mean When We Say Beauty Is Pain

It’s a gross, aesthetics-obsessed treatise on beauty as currency and trap for women. I may not love the movie but I can't stop thinking about it.

Nov 14, 2025 • Angelica Jade Bastién

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October 2025

A Wild Letterboxd List for Horror Lovers

If you're a paying subscriber you get to check out this private Letterboxd list I made of what I am watching for this year's spooky season and beyond…

Oct 21, 2025 • Angelica Jade Bastién

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September 2025

Movies That Fuck No.1: Juraj Herz's Beauty and the Beast (1978)

Sometimes the hottest moments in the film rest at the level of suggestion.

Sep 16, 2025 • Angelica Jade Bastién

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August 2025

Superhero Movie Fandom Is Diseased—and It's Destroying Our Understanding of What Film Can Be

On "Superman" (2025), the problem with treating film as a mirror, and the moral absolutism of the modern fandom crisis.

Aug 6, 2025 • Angelica Jade Bastién

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July 2025

Is It Time For The American Movie Star To Die?

In an era of Palestinian genocide funded by the US, ICE raids, and the curdling of celebrity glamour in the face of economic strife, is it time for the…

Jul 7, 2025 • Angelica Jade Bastién

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