Drag Race RuCap: Supersized “Snatch Game”

Neither are we, Aura. Neither are we.

NICK TAYLOR: Boy, the merciless editing of MTV’s reinstated 40-minute format really fucked the Snatch Game. I’m struggling to find a truly positive note to say about this as an episode of television - yes, this arguably did a better job of showcasing the queen’s talents than last week’s episode, but it might just be the nature of the challenge itself. Some of the queens were so poorly incorporated they might as well not have participated! Reality TV always involves manipulation and compression, but it feels bad to see these talented queens have to fight for fucking airtime...

Click to read more ...

Drag Race RuCap: "All Queens go to Heaven"

Is this heaven...or hell?

CLÁUDIO ALVES: This week, the talk of the town within Drag Race fandom is length. It's not inches we're talking about, sadly, but minutes. After that supersized premiere, episode 3 of season 15 brings us down to reality and the format the show is taking for its new home of MTV – 40-minute episodes. Last time RuPaul's Drag Race had such limited runtimes was Season 9, but they had less competing queens. Even after Irene DuBois' elimination last episode, we're still at 15 bitches, making this episode a frantic amuse-bouche that tastes unbalanced, unstable, unhinged...

Click to read more ...

Drag Race RuCap: “One Night Only”

So many queens! Too many?

CLÁUDIO ALVES: The most popular drag contest on television (sorry Dragula) may not be called RuPaul's Best Friends Race, but writing for The Film Experience sometimes feels like it. I've met fantastic people over the few years I've been writing for the site, and some have become close pals. Indeed, it's rare that a day goes by without me chatting the house down with the fabulously-haired Nick Taylor. But, of course, when Drag Race's on the air, those conversations devolve into jokey recaps (rucaps!), so it seemed fitting to fuel that enthusiasm back into the site that made us friends in the first place. Though our usual TFE write-ups may lean serious-minded and long-winded, we can be fun and tight. That said, please don't hold us to that promise – we'll try, and that's good enough…right, Nathaniel?

Without further ado, let's dive into the supersized Season 15 premiere...

Click to read more ...

Dragula: Titans S1. E3 "Science Fiction (Horror) Double Feature"

by Nick Taylor

Alaska, Dracmorda, Swanthula, and David Dastmalchian on the judge's panel
Dragula: Titans gives us the first of the series’ traditional floorshows, allowing its creatures to strut their stuff on the main stage with smoke and strobe lights dancing in their ears as the horror-techno score plays on. Asking the queens for their interpretation of science fiction horror results is a wildly broad prompt, and the results range from cosmic horror to space aliens to robot monstrosities. There’s no lip syncing, no acting, no other requirement but owning that stage the way only they can. And boy, did they deliver...

Click to read more ...

Dragula: Titans S1.E2 "Revenge of the Witch"

by Nathaniel R

Just give us dark beauty, right?

Challenges on competition reality shows are planned out in advance but sometimes it's fun to imagine they aren't but instead, forced by the previous episode. Last week, when Dragula Titan's competitors were asked to reinterpret a classic horror type for a Halloween party, nobody chose a witch, surely the most common costume of all. So for episode two, witches are the whole theme. Revenge! 

For those of you who need a little cinematic referencing in your TV (oh, maybe that's just me?) the guest judges were the "Demon Nun" herself Bonnie Aarons (The Conjuring 2, The Nun, Mulholland Drive) and director Darren Stein (Jawbreaker, GBF)...

Click to read more ...