Abortion
Best Weekend: Lily Tomlin’s ‘Grandma,’ ‘Fear the Walking Dead,’ + More
What we'll be listening to, watching, and reading to sate our pop culture needs.
This article was made possible because of the generous support of DAME members. We urgently need your help to keep publishing. Will you contribute just $5 a month to support our journalism?
The return of Lily Tomlin to the big screen, Ottessa Moshfegh’s thriller in our hands, and The Muffs in our ears—the weekend is here!
‘Grandma’ starring Lily Tomlin
Lily Tomlin is a national treasure and this film is the perfect vehicle to showcase her genius. Because even though Judy Greer and Marcia Gay Harden have A+ supporting roles, Grandma is all about Tomlin and her mouthy, stubborn, endearing turn as septuagenarian poet Elle Reid. Portraying a mission to raise money for her granddaughter’s abortion, this indie flick is the summer’s most feminist film, and that’s saying a LOT, considering the season’s cinematic offerings.
The Muffs ‘The Muffs’ Reissue
Yes, this album originally came out in 1993, but the debut from seminal L.A. punk-poppers The Muffs is just as catchy today, and the reissue that came out this week features eight unheard demos and two b-sides to satisfy all your badass bubblegum needs.
‘Eileen’ by Ottessa Moshfegh
Ottessa Moshfegh has struck a nerve—an uncomfortable yet titillating one—with her debut novel Eileen. Recounted by the title’s namesake as a memory of who she was in the ’60s—a 24-year-old secretary at a boy’s correctional facility who lives at home with her paranoid, overbearing father—each subtle revelation is more intriguing than the last, until we finally learn how Eileen escapes, and it’s just as dark as we anticipated.
‘Fear the Walking Dead’ Series Premiere
If you can’t get enough zombies, you’re in luck! There’s a whole new crop of the undead coming to your screen with Sunday’s premiere of this Walking Dead spinoff. It’s the prequel to the hit AMC show so expect plot twists and turns, high stakes survival, and, of course, plenty of gore.
‘Learning to Drive’ starring Patricia Clarkson
Inspired by an autobiographical New Yorker essay by one of our fave feminists, Katha Pollitt, Learning to Drive stars Patricia Clarkson as Wendy Shields, a book critic who’s just been left by her husband, and decides to learn to drive, gaining some independence in the aftermath. Ben Kingsley plays her Indian-American driving instructor, and an unlikely friendship unfolds, one that touches on issues from divorce to cultural philosophies of marriage to mother-daughter relationships, and more.
Before you go, we hope you’ll consider supporting DAME’s journalism.
Today, just tiny number of corporations and billionaire owners are in control the news we watch and read. That influence shapes our culture and our understanding of the world. But at DAME, we serve as a counterbalance by doing things differently. We’re reader funded, which means our only agenda is to serve our readers. No both sides, no false equivalencies, no billionaire interests. Just our mission to publish the information and reporting that help you navigate the most complex issues we face.
But to keep publishing, stay independent and paywall free for all, we urgently need more support. During our Spring Membership drive, we hope you’ll join the community helping to build a more equitable media landscape with a monthly membership of just $5.00 per month or one-time gift in any amount.