SCREEN TIME

WITH MARISA PATWA

August brings a range of films featuring LGBTQIA+ and Latinx representation

RED WHITE & ROYAL BLUE

A pompous royal prince and the party playboy first son butt heads before falling in love in this much-needed modern, LGBTQIA+ rom-com. Purple Hearts' Nicholas Galitzine and The Kissing Booth’s Taylor Zakhar Perez nail every emotional and comedic punchline as star-crossed lovers in this film adaption of Casey McQuiston’s 2019 book. We’ve seen first daughters fall in love with their secret service agents and royals pining over small town girls they marry and transform into princesses, but we’ve never seen gay representation in the monarchy and government world like this. I'm so grateful that teens will be able to romanticize their own fairytales as I was able to as a little girl. From fighting so much they accidentally destroy an extravagant cake at a royal wedding to kissing under the stars, it will be fun to watch the relationship between these two evolve into a love story for the ages. Amazon Prime 8/11

Blue Beetle

The Latinx superhero movie of our dreams is finally here. Cobra Kai’s Xolo Maridueña takes on the persona of the Blue Beetle in this action-packed film. His brighteyed character, Jaime Reyes, ends up possessing an ancient alien biotech called Scarab. Similar to the plot of Venom, an average man becomes a symbiotic host and his miraculous new suit of armor gives him powers that not only change his life, but give him the ability to help save the world. Reyes is just an ordinary college graduate who cleans houses with an extraordinary new destiny. George Lopez adds comedic flair as his encouraging uncle while Susan Sarandon - always a welcome addition to any film no matter the genre - pops as the big bad supervillain. Can this bug squash his enemies? We’ll find out when this DC film flies onto movie screens across America and into our hearts. In theaters 8/18

Bottoms

Speaking of expanding representation on the big screen, we're getting our first real high school female romance since But I’m a Cheerleader with this modern movie that promises to be both funny and touching. Outcast besties Josie and PJ - the former played by The Bear knockout Ayo Edebiri and the latter played by Rachel Sennott (Shiva Baby, The Idol) - start a high school fight club so they can get closer to their girl crushes, models Kaia Gerber as Brittany and Havana Rose Liu as Isabel. Also part of the cast is actor Nicholas Galitzine who's having a big August. Here he plays hot-headed beefcake football player Jeff, a typical high school jock set on antagonizing the so-called “losers.” Will the unpopular kids match up with the girls of their prom queen dreams or will the rowdy athletes tear them all apart? There's only one way to find out...

In theaters 8/25