The Arts Desk’s weekly picks for music, movies and more
By SAVANNAH BURGER — arts@theaggie.org
Video Game: “Kitty Powers’ Matchmaker” (2014)
Dying to test your prowess as the world’s premier matchmaker? This 2014 dating-simulator game is unlike any other! Made by drag queen personality Kitty Powers, “Kitty Powers’ Matchmaker” puts you in the shoes of a town’s newest matchmaker of the Kitty Powers enterprise. This game is oodles of fun: I used to watch YouTubers play it all the time way back when, and I play it whenever I need a laugh with friends or by myself. In the game, you have multiple clients that come to you in dire need of love, and you match them based on aesthetics, careers, habits, horoscopes and more. Once you set two people on a date, you coach your main client through a secret mic, having to navigate the conversation and complete mini games to get the pair to fall deeply in love! It’s ripe campiness, British puns and sappy romance. The game is also extremely inclusive in its diversity of characters, featuring same-sex couples with no discrimination. A new, updated version of the game is coming out soon, now with nonbinary characters as well.
Show: “Our Flag Means Death” by David Jenkins (2022)
“Our Flag Means Death” is a hilarious, touching and campy rom-com set in the early 1700s, during the Golden Age of Piracy. The show follows Stede Bonnet (Rhys Darby), also known as the Gentleman Pirate, and Edward Teach (Taika Waititi), otherwise known as Blackbeard. Both pirates are of opposite aesthetics and natures. The Gentleman Pirate grew up rich and lavish, and decided to become a pirate for fun, abandoning his family for his new lifestyle. Blackbeard, on the other hand, is a genuine, cold-blooded killer with a checkered past and a terrifying reputation. Both pirates and their more-than-alternative crews get stuck with one another, and over the course of two seasons, a beautiful and heartwarming love blossoms between the two captains. This show is as humorous as it is endearing and inclusive, and the found-family trope never fails to get me. Even though the series was unfortunately cancelled after its second season, it’s still absolutely worth the watch.
Movie: “Xanadu” dir. Robert Greenwald (1980)
“Xanadu” is quite possibly the most unique, epic and mind-blowing musical-fantasy-romance movie in the galaxy. Starring the amazing Olivia Newton-John, Michael Beck, and musical legend Gene Kelly (in his last film role), this movie is a powerhouse of talent. Not to mention, all of the music for the film was done by Newton-John in collaboration with the legendary electric-rock band, Electric Light Orchestra. The film is centered around Sonny Malone (Beck), who plays a copyist-painter that wants more in life to express his creativity. Kira (Newton-John), one of Zeus’s nine muses, descends to Earth from the heavenly ether to inspire Sonny to team up with retired Musician Danny McGuire (Kelly) to make an intergalactic, big-band, electric-rock roller-rink called Xanadu. During the construction of this amazing place, Sonny and Kira, of course, fall in love. This movie is mystifying and quirky, with one heck of a soundtrack. It’s a must-watch!
Song: “Just The Way You Are” by Billy Joel (1977)
A soft-rock single by Billy Joel from his fifth studio album, “The Stranger,” this song perfectly communicates what it means to love someone. The track takes the viewpoint of someone in a relationship, telling their partner that they need not change themselves or make themselves more sophisticated, as they are loved just as they are. This is easily one of my favorite Billy Joel songs, and I always think of my boyfriend when I hear it. The saxophone played by Phil Woods is absolutely beautiful, and the song is such a simple and yet poignant way to express love for another person — warts and all.
Written by: Savannah Burger—arts@theaggie.org
