Every year during awards 
season, several indie films fall 
under the radar. This year, 
“The Florida Project,” “A Ghost 
Story,” “Good Time” and many 
more did not receive the praise 
they deserved from the Academy 
Awards 
or 
Golden 
Globes. 
Instead, the same formula of 
period pieces matched with 
high caliber Hollywood names 
make the ballot. One of those 
films worthy of a nod is “Beach 
Rats,” a movie that draws many 
parallels to the nominated “Call 
Me By Your Name.” Even crabby 
critic Richard Brody of The New 
Yorker agrees, placing “Beach 
Rats” on his Oscar nominations 
wishlist for Best Actor and Best 
Cinematography.
“Beach Rats” tackles the same 
subject matter as “Call Me By 
Your Name.” A teen boy, Frankie 
(newcomer Harris Dickinson), 
tries to figure out his sexuality. 
However, unlike the idealistic 
approach of “Call Me By Your 
Name,” “Beach Rats” embraces 
a grungier, more cynical take. 
Frankie spends his time with 
a group of derelict boys who 
mostly use him for access to 
drugs. Their macho attitude 
clouds his view of the world and 

increases his shame towards his 
sexuality. As Frankie deals with 
family tragedy and addiction, 
he ventures into the dangerous 
world of online chat rooms. His 
fear of being discovered leads 
to secret encounters with older 
men in the shady corners of 
Coney Island.
The dream-like atmosphere 
of “Call Me By Your Name” 
makes it a more digestible film. 
Set in a romanticized Italy in 
the 1980s when online predators 
did not yet exist, Director Luca 
Guadagnino created a movie 
about the pureness of love. 
Elio 
(Timothee 
Chalamet, 
“Lady 
Bird”) 
and 
Oliver 
(Armie Hammer, “The Social 
Network”) treat each other with 
tenderness. Elio’s parents offer 
him emotional support, and his 
circumstances are those of a 
rich teenager with little to rebel 
against. Although still risque, 
“Call Me By Your Name” is a 
film that a wider audience can 
enjoy.
In contrast, “Beach Rats” 
emphasizes exploitation, most 
notably that of its actors’ bodies. 
Guadagnino cut moments of 
nudity from the original script 
of “Call Me By Your Name,” 
and 
the 
camera 
noticeably 
pans away from such scenes. 
Writer-director Eliza Hittman 
of “Beach Rats” lets the full-
frontal nudity of male characters 

pervade the screen (though 
she leaves the female body 
more concealed). “Beach Rats” 
shatters any romantic notions 
of young love — pairing a tough 
story with cinematography that 
stresses harsh lighting and the 
bright colors of Coney Island’s 
rides, arcades and fireworks. 
As Frankie walks along the 
beach, a sharp spotlight follows 
him, giving little depth of field 
and only a cold, judgemental 
illumination.
The two films broach the 
same difficult topic, but one 
has risen to prominence and 
popular discourse while the 
other has fallen into obscurity. 
“Beach Rats” has rougher edges 
and less star power (most of 
the cast are first-timers), yet 
it 
accomplishes 
something 
beautiful. Its rawness is what 
packs the real punch. Hittman 
is not interested in crafting a 
love story, she instead exposes 
the dangers of toxic masculinity 
and the various pressures that 
prey on the psyche of a young 
man. Dickinson holds up his 
end of the bargain, showing 
Frankie’s inner conflict with 
every chippy response, avoided 
glance and general air of self-
denial. The Oscars may have 
ignored this quiet masterpiece, 
but the rest of the world should 
give “Beach Rats” the applause 
it deserves.

Oscar Snubs: ‘Beach Rats’ 
deserves more recognition

MEGHAN CHOU
Daily Arts Writer

FILM NOTEBOOK

TV REVIEW

NEON

MUSIC REVIEW 

ATLANTIC RECORDS

If the music of Rae Morris 
could be described in one 
word, it would undoubtedly 
be haunting. Not in a spooky, 
or even uncanny way — her 
songs stick in the back of your 
mind for weeks at a time, the 
melodies high and memorable, 
ethereal 
even. 
Her 
first 
album, 2015’s Unguarded, was 
a stepping point for Morris 
into the world of synthesized 
music 
from 
her 
previous 
stripped-back 
EPs, 
while 

maintaining 
this 
haunting 
quality all the while. She found 
some success in this. Her 

song “Don’t Go” was featured 
on the UK television series 
“Skins” — a point from which 
her career broke out. Now, 
with her sophomore effort, 
Someone Out There, Morris 
has 
successfully 
translated 

the emotional poignancy of 
her originally simple style into 
the dance sphere, creating an 
album which merges electronic 
production and her talent for 
songwriting which pierces to 
the core.
Someone Out There is a 
well-balanced 
mix 
of 
this 
songwriting 
with 
new 
techniques 
for 
Morris, 
featuring shorter, more hook-
centered tunes than in the past. 
Despite these changes, her elfin 
voice and knack for writing 
cohesive and interesting songs 
still shine through, arguably 
even more than in her previous 
releases. 
The 
album 
opens 

CLARA SCOTT
Daily Arts Writer

‘RuPaul’s Drag Race All 
Stars 3’ is still necessary

VH1

Even though “RuPaul’s Drag 
Race” has been airing since 
2010, the series has only broken 
into the public consciousness 
recently. 
Features 
in 
major 
publications like The New York 
Times Magazine, Entertainment 
Magazine, Paper Magazine and 
Time Magazine have ushered 
in a newfound fame for host 
RuPaul Charles (“Broad City”). 
After taking cues from other 
entertainment reality programs, 
like 
“Project 
Runway” 
and 
“America’s Next Top Model,” 
RuPaul created “Drag Race” for 
Logo TV — bringing the show 
to the more accessible channel 
VH1 in only seven years. All 
in all, the story of “Drag Race” 
is a story of finding a popular 
audience. There may be little 
surprise, then, when I tell you 
that the third season premiere 
of “RuPaul’s Drag Race All 
Stars” is as good as the attention 
it’s getting.
After 11 seasons in total, the 
series has gotten comfortable in 
its own shoes, and the premiere 
reflects it perfectly. For those 
that are unfamiliar, “RuPaul’s 
Drag Race All Stars” is a reality 
competition 
program 
where 
a handful of drag queens are 
brought in to perform for a panel 
of judges. Challenges vary from 
the direct (a stand-up comedy 
show, “Revenge of the Queens,” 
All Stars Two) to the very 
convoluted (write, produce and 
act in a scripted television pilot, 

“Your Pilot’s on Fire,” season 
nine), but all fall under the 
umbrella of drag. For “All Stars,” 
the producers bring back queens 
from older seasons for one more 
shot at the crown.
The 
12th 
time 
around, 
the 
show 
knows 
what 
it’s 
doing. There is little need for 
introduction 
to 
the 
format 

or 
any 
of 
the 
competing 
queens; each of them enters 
the workroom in their first 
look, in what is their official 
reintroduction to the public 
eye. The cast draws mostly from 
later 
seasons 
(Bendelacreme 
and Milk from season six, Trixie 
Mattel and Kennedy Davenport 
from season seven) but feature 
a few from earlier seasons, and 
even one past winner — Bebe 
Zahara 
Benet 
from 
season 
one. Her appearance may be a 
sort of second shot, since the 
progression of the series has led 
to massive upticks in budget and 
quality.
The 
main 
challenge 
for 
the season opener is a variety 
show — the same challenge 
in the first episode of “All 
Stars 2.” From the looks of it, 
“All Stars 3” is ramping up to 
mimic the challenge arc from 
its predecessor, providing a 
predictability that the show 
can rely on. With the variety of 

talent — from the passionate and 
explosive dancers to the more 
mellow and restrained musical 
performers — a set format 
provides stability in a show that 
can come off the rails at times. 
While it is true that some of 
the best moments on “RuPaul’s 
Drag Race” are when the queens 
take total control of a brand new 
challenge (“Totally Leotarded” 
from season three, “Wrestling’s 
Trashiest Fighters” from season 
four), others fall completely flat 
(“RuPaul’s Gaff-In” from “All 
Stars 1,” “She Done Already 
Done Brought It On” from 
season nine).
While I won’t reveal the 
winner or eliminee of the first 
episode, I will tell you that 
the season premiere shows a 
breadth of talent that many 
other reality shows are lacking. 
You’ve 
got 
comedy, 
dance, 
music and of course a killer 
lip-sync performance at the 
end of the episode — but you 
know that already! “RuPaul’s 
Drag Race All Stars” continues 
to be on the cutting-edge of 
reality programming, launching 
the careers of over a hundred 
entertainers and providing a 
real, honest platform for the 
gay 
community. 
While 
its 
integration into the mainstream 
may have led to some erasure 
of 
the 
grittier, 
true-to-life 
elements of drag performance, 
the show elevates drag to a 
higher art form, giving an 
occasionally 
unsuspecting 
audience the experience of the 
finest queer performers. There 
is little on television as vital as 
“RuPaul’s Drag Race.”

JACK BRANDON
Daily Film Editor

“RuPaul’s Drag 

Race All Stars 3”

VH1

Thursdays at 8:00 p.m.

Rae Morris is haunting 
on ‘Someone Out There’

on 
a 
reflective 
and, 
well, 
haunting 
note 
with 
“Push 
Me to my Limit,” its droning, 
synthy beginning reminiscent 
of an orchestra tuning which 
tumbles 
into 
a 
reflective 
meditation 
on 
relationships 
which challenge and fulfill. 
She experiments with unique 
vocals in “Wait for the Rain,” 
similar 
to 
groundbreaking 
artists 
like 
Aphex 
Twin. 
“Push” is not the only slower, 
somber addition to Someone 
Out There, but the highlights 
of the record fall with her 

more upbeat compositions, like 
“Atletico (The Only One)” and 
“Dip My Toe,” which explore 
the 
dynamics 
of 
sex 
and 
compatibility with lyrics that 
expand on Morris’s interesting 
artistic perspective.
Out of every song on the new 
album, the standout is definitely 
dance anthem “Do It” — the 
first single from Someone Out 
There and arguably Morris’s 
most popular tune to date. It 
manages to meld her trademark 
emotional affect with a typical 
repetitive 
electronica 
hook, 

an incredibly catchy refrain 
which makes it hard not to start 
dancing whenever a listener 
hears it. “Do It” is a perfect 
example of how an artist 
can change and still retain 
their core sensibility while 
improving, using production to 
only enhance what was there 
before. If there is anything that 
could be recommended from 
this album, it would be that 
song — it serves as a poster child 
for Morris’s talent and bravado, 
a tipping point towards the 
celebration her work deserves. 

Someone Out 

There

Rae Morris

Atlantic Records

6A — Monday, February 5, 2018
Arts
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

