Gimme Three Podcast - A Series For Cinephiles
Gimme Three is a love letter to one of the most powerful mediums of artistic expression—a love letter to the films that moved us and to the great experiences we've had watching them.
In each episode, hosts Nicholas Ybarra and Bella Efstratis (and frequent special guests) will pick three incredible movies based on a selected theme.
The Gimme Three podcast aims to encourage people to return to the theater and expand their watch lists through fun banter and passionate analysis.
Gimme Three Podcast - A Series For Cinephiles
78 - Gregg Araki's Teenage Apocalypse Trilogy
This week, Bella is joined by special guests Melia and Henry Chendo to celebrate Pride with a look at Gregg Araki’s Teen Apocalypse Trilogy:
- Totally F***ed Up (1993)
- The Doom Generation (1995)
- Nowhere (1997)
A trailblazer of New Queer Cinema, Araki captured the chaos of queer youth in the ’90s like no one else. These films are loud, sexy, surreal, and devastating — soaked in color, contradiction, and emotion.
In this episode, we talk about his portrayal of the queer experience through his signature thematic and aesthetic style — how he balances camp comedy with emotional darkness, and how sex, love, drugs, violence, and warped reality all collide in his stories.
There’s a constant tension in these films between disconnection and desire, between the feeling of being completely lost and the desperate need to be seen. Araki doesn’t offer clean resolutions or easy answers — his stories unravel in fragments, in bursts of color and chaos. Still, somewhere in the wreckage, he makes room for vulnerability, longing, and the aching need to be understood.
Happy Pride! 🌈
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You can keep up with Bella on Instagram @portraitofacinephile or Letterboxd
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Shout out to contributor and producer Sonja Mereu. A special thanks to Anselm Kennedy for creating Gimme Three's theme music. And another special thanks to Zoe Baumann for creating our exceptional cover art.
