From Bottoms to You Are So Not Invited To My Bat Mitzvah, Should You Add These To Your Watchlist?
From high school fight clubs to epic coming-of-age parties, Pop Culture Planet’s Kristen Maldonado is sharing everything you need to add to your watchlist… and what you don’t.
Ahsoka
Pop Culture Planet hit up the Star Wars: Ahsoka fan event in New York City to check out the first two episodes of the new series. It follows former Jedi knight Ahsoka Tano as she investigates an emerging threat to a vulnerable galaxy.
While I had a blast wearing Ahsoka Mickey ears and hanging out with Chopper and Stormtroopers at the event, the show left more to be desired. The first two episodes of Ahsoka are incredibly slow and wooden. Characters spend most of the episodes just staring at each other in silence. Rosario Dawson is very flat in the title role, but Natasha Liu Bordizzo is a stand out. Visuals are hit or miss, as some feel low budget at times. Super fans may enjoy the show, but newcomers/casual fans will be lost.
New episodes of Ahsoka are streaming weekly on Disney+.
Bottoms
When unpopular besties PJ (Rachel Sennott) and Josie (Ayo Edebiri) start a high school fight club to meet girls, they find themselves in over their heads when the most popular students start beating each other up in the name of self-defense.
I can totally see Bottoms being a new teen cult classic. It’s an over-the-top queer Fight Club for girls full of bloody good fun and slapstick satire. With Nicholas Galitzine, Havana Rose Liu, Ruby Cruz, and Kaia Gerber, there’s so many rising stars to watch in this film too! It’s a shame they don’t give them enough screentime. It’s impressive to see Emma Seligman’s versatility to go from Shiva Baby to this. I hope to see the creative duo of Seligman and Sennott keep up with their collaborations.
Bottoms is playing in select theaters.
You Are So Not Invited To My Bat Mitzvah
Adam Sandler brings his real life family together for the new Netflix film You Are So Not Invited To My Bat Mitzvah. While his teenage daughters Sunny and Sadie Sandler have appeared in small roles in his films in the past, this movie puts them centerstage. Sunny Sandler stars as Stacy who, alongside her BFF Lydia (Samantha Lorraine), dreams of having the most epic bat mitzvah ever. But things take a turn for the worst when a popular boy and middle school drama threaten their friendship.
This film brings the coming-of-age energy that I was hoping to get from Are You There God? It’s Me Margaret. It’s got a heightened, over-the-top humor and great one liners that will have the whole family laughing. While it can be a bit extreme at times when it comes to the issues in Stacy and Lydia’s friendship, we see our young characters learn how to take accountability over the course of the film.
Idina Menzel, Sarah Sherman, Jackie Sandler, and Luis Guzman also star.
You Are So Not Invited To My Bat Mitzvah is streaming on Netflix.
