Author: acsversace news

Darren Criss’ Magnificent Ass in The Assassination of Versace Deserves Its Own Emmy

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The engravers who etch winners’ names on Emmy statues might as well start practicing “Darren Criss” now, since his terrifying performance as Andrew Cunanan in The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Storywill likely make all other nominees want to just stay home. He’s spellbinding, and deserves all the accolades for transforming into a homicidal madman. He is also the vessel through which another unsung Versacestar blesses all who bear witness, and that star is Darren Criss’ magnificent ass. Darren Criss’ ass deserves its own Emmy, Golden Globe and whatever other awards are available. Had Darren Criss farted in Versace, that ass would deserve a Grammy.

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Darren Criss’ Magnificent Ass in The Assassination of Versace Deserves Its Own Emmy

ACS: Versace Recap: “Ascent” Puts The Spotlight On Donatella

After last week’s episode, Andrew Cunanan’s motive for being the way he is was hinted at but this week, we finally saw real truth as we delved even further back into Cunanan’s backstory and went back another year.

We also got the return of Gianni as he and Donatella shared quite the moment as his illness was making it difficult for him to work, and she was in a state of panic at trying to imagine a future without her big brother.

Gather ’round and let’s discuss “Ascent”.

Two Worlds, Same Struggle: Cunanan and Donatella are both struggling in their own ways. Cunanan is working at a dead end job in a pharmacy while Donatella is struggling to become the new face of Versace with her brother’s illness starting to take over. Donatella has Gianni in her corner: Even as her sketch becomes instantly sidelined in a meeting with designers, when she retreats to her brother, he fights for her. He knows she wants more and that she will have to become more in order to keep the brand afloat after he’s gone.

As for Cunanan, we get an early glimpse at how easily young Cunanan lies while at his job. Later on,  while flirting at a bar, he doesn’t do as well with the younger, hotter gay crowd as Jeffrey does, and it’s an older man who sidles up next to him at the bar. Cunanan ends up going home with the man, which worries his mother when he finally returns to her.

A Mother’s Mercy: Cunanan’s mother is the unexplored tragic figure in this show so far, so painfully pathetic and willing to indulge all of her son’s narcissism for the fantasy that he might achieve the better life he dreams of. He, in turn, treats her like garbage and even abuses her over some ice cream, which she accepts.

Sex For Money: Cunanan later takes it upon himself to try to become an escort, which fails at first for him. The woman in charge of the agency told him that people wouldn’t want to sleep with him because he’s Asian. Cunanan was shocked by that, which ultimately resulted him going out on his own and bagging his own clients.

All Eyes On House Versace: Meanwhile, Gianni is dressing Donatella, almost erotically, in the dress they designed, a dress that will finally allow her to take center stage. And when it’s finally revealed, on the red carpet of the 1996 Met Gala, all eyes are on her, the star for the first time. Donatella and Gianni’s victory over their dress and red carpet walk is short lived; the dress is too outrageous for women to wear off a runway, which leads to a fight between them. But their fight ends with mysterious, panicked hearing loss. Gianni has ear cancer. He has to leave Versace to recover in Miami, and Donatella has to take over the day-to-day operations of the company, ready or not.

The Ultimate Goal: Like Norman alluded to in a previous episode, Cunanan researched him like a mark, showing up at a French play in La Jolla because he knew he’d be there. When Norman meets Cunanan, he’s a young, charming theater lover with a Portuguese last name. Cunanan gets what he wants out of Norman and other clients in the end: a stipend and an expense account. The money is good enough that Cunanan can go back to his friends like a king, treating them all to dinner and drinks and then acting every part the philanthropic millionaire to a young David Madson, alone at the bar. Cunanan only returns home to get his things, with his mother begging to go with him, which leads him to hurt her.

A Life Changing Moment: Cunanan does end messing up though as his current sugar daddy Lincoln  breaks up with him over catching him with David, but when Cunanan comes to his home to protest in person, he sees he has already brought someone else home — a boy from the gay bar who claimed to be straight. When Lincoln reaches to reclaim the drink from the man’s hand, the man lunges and beats Lincoln to death with a nearby statue. The killer sees Cunanan. “He tried to kiss me!” the guy sputters. “I know,” Cunanan answers comfortably.

This leads him to reuniting with Norman, honoring Lincoln’s memory. Using a story David told him about wanting to build a home for his bullied friend in high school, Cunanan promises Norman he will build him a beautiful home where they can live together and be happy.

Quote of the night:

“This dress is not my legacy. You are.” – Gianni

ACS: Versace Recap: “Ascent” Puts The Spotlight On Donatella

’American Crime Story’ Needs Better Crimes In Future Seasons

American Crime Story has a problem. After a debut season that set the world on fire, both ratings and cultural relevance have taken a dive in season two. There are reasons for this, of course, many of which were outlined by Alison Herman in this piece at The Ringer. Some of the most notable:

  • Following up the season about the O.J. Simpson trial was always going to be hard, in large part because the O.J. trial was a huge, huge deal at the time and therefore featured so many well-known elements that the audience had a solid frame of reference going in. Couple that with a bunch of big-name performers going huge with their portrayals of the people involved (“Juice”), and it was a tough act to follow.
  • The actual Versace part of The Assassination of Gianni Versace proved to be a red herring, as the season has focused mainly on his murderer — a serial killing cipher of a man named Andrew Cunanan — and the crimes he committed that led up to the titular murder.
  • The fun and campy elements of the first season, which helped make a story about a horrific double murder more palatable, have been replaced with a dark psychological dive into the mind of a sociopath.
  • No Travolta.

All of which is mostly fine. Kind of. It could be fine. I’m sure there are people out there who are really digging the season. But the thing is, between the tonal shift and the well-worn, oh, let’s call it “serial killer porn” focus, it appears to have turned off a sizable chunk of the audience. That’s a shame. Season one was so much fun, both the on-screen experience and the community element of it, where gobs of people had gobs to say, ranging from silly takes on small parts of it to deep looks at the serious issues — racism, sexism, a broken justice system — raised by the trial. I want that back for very selfish reasons, if nothing else.

I think the trick is in picking the crime. It needs that combination of familiarity and a surrounding public and/or media circus. I’m not sure the topic for the already announced third season, Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath, will get us there either, because it’s hard to make bureaucratic failures sexy. (Although it wouldn’t hurt if they cast Travolta as George W. Bush, just to see what happens.) And so, what I’m going to do here is toss out a few other crimes that might work. I’m not nearly delusional enough to say I know how to fix the show, but I do love crimes and the promise of this series, so at the very least I want to do what I can to help.

Some suggestions:

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’American Crime Story’ Needs Better Crimes In Future Seasons

The Assassination of Gianni Versace: Andrew and Donatella’s legacy

In previous weeks, The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story has focused much of its energy on the crumbling of Andrew Cunanan. Instead this week, we get to see a side by side comparison of Andrew and Donatella Versace.

Andrew, known as a man plagued with a murderous streak, is working at a pharmacy. He dreams of the life he could be leading how he could make them a reality. Donatella is struggling to hold up the mantel that her brother has created as his disease progresses.

As we have seen in previous episodes, Gianni Versace was almost to the point of death years before Andrew Cunanan took his fate into his own hands. There is a beautiful moment in the episode where Gianni tells Donatella that she is his legacy, not the clothing they are creating together.

Andrew, on the other hand, is still trying to reach his fashion goals. Those goals don’t come to fruition, as we know, but he is flipping through Vogue as he works. It’s nice that the show is, seemingly, getting back to splitting more of the story between the Versaces and Cunanan. For so long, it seemed as if Ryan Murphy only wanted to tell of the rise and fall of Andrew Cunanan and, to be quite honest, it isn’t exactly the show we wanted to see.

Last night’s episode showed the support system that Gianni and Donatella built around each other. That was more on track with what I, as a viewer, wanted out of the show. Here’s to hoping the show follows the combination of these storylines moving forward.

The Assassination of Gianni Versace: Andrew and Donatella’s legacy

The Assassination of Gianni Versace Recap: ‘Ascent’

The Assassination of Gianni Versace continues to tell its story in a backward fashion, taking us further back in time to tell Andrew Cunanan’s story. As the audience is now aware, the series is meant to focus on Cunanan’s journey to killing Versace–rather than Versace himself. While the title may be misleading, it is genius. The assassination of Gianni Versace didn’t just happen, a series of events, moments, and breakdowns led to that very tragic moment on Versace’s doorsteps. That is the purpose of the season and while admittedly slow at times, the series is intriguing and alluring based on this fact alone.

This week’s episode takes us back just a tad bit further to the moments where Andrew meets Norman and David. But before that, we see Andrew working at a local pharmacy flipping through the pages of a Vogue magazine. This is our first look at the ease with which Andrew lies to a customer about going to college and completing his P.h.D. Meanwhile, we finally see some more of Versace this episode circa 1992 as he grooms Donatella to be a big part of his business. He pushes her to embrace her talent because she is his legacy.

While at a gay bar, Andrew realizes that his talent for attracting older, gay men is far more superior than his ability to connect with men his own age. And that is the demographic he must target if he is to live the life he has always dreamed of. However, he still lives with his lonely mother, who clings onto Andrew every time he is home. We begin to understand more of Cunanan’s mindset because of how he treats his mother–with very little respect. She is his number one fan and builds him up even though he has achieved very little.

Andrew decides his way in with the elderly crowd is to become an escort. However, the lady at the agency doesn’t approve of his background and tells him that it won’t please the crowd of men they service. Now it is up to Cunanan to make it happen. Cue, Norman. Andrew goes to a French play after specifically researching who would be in attendance. His target? Norman.

After a night out with Norman and his friends, he finds his way into Norman’s life, but not before spending a night with one of Norman’s friends first, through whom he gets an allowance and expense account. Andrew uses this money to take out his friends and live a lavish life that he claims is a result of his own hard work. On a night out with friends, Andrew sees David at the bar for the first time and falls head over heels for him instantly. They share an intimate night together–but we all know where that leads.

Versace continues to persuade Donatella to step into the spotlight and own it. During the 1996 Met Gala, Donatella decides to wear the dress her and Versace designed together, with the world’s eyes on her. While the dress is an overnight hit, it is deemed too risque for the general population to wear. Versace is angered by the resistance the dress has met and begins to break down, but a moment of anger transforms into a moment of panic as Gianni claims he can’t hear anything. This leads us to the moment we learn he has ear cancer. Due to this, Donatella takes over the Italian operations and Gianni heads to Miami to recuperate.

There is a very sad moment in this episode between Cunanan and his mother. He tells her he is off to travel to the world’s operas alongside Gianni Versace. Overjoyed by her son’s “success”, she assumes she will join him on the adventure. When Andrew tells her no, she has an intense emotional reaction which is cut short by Andrew shoving her back and fracturing her shoulder blade.

Remember Andrew’s elderly sugar daddy, Lincoln? Well, while Andrew is off splurging his money, he is beginning to take notice–and he is not happy. Lincoln tells him their relationship is over, meaning the money is no longer his to use. When Andrew goes to Lincoln’s home, he realizes he is there with another man. However, this man does not seem ready to embrace his homosexuality and reacts violently when Lincoln tries to be intimate with him.

He kills Lincoln by bashing his head in with a statue, to which Andrew becomes a witness to. There is a hidden societal lesson embedded in this moment. In the 90’s homosexuality was so taboo that any crime against a gay individual would not be given much attention because it was “their fault”. This is something Andrew picks up on very quickly and clings onto (as we are all very aware of).

These series of events brings Andrew closer to Norman, who he convinces to move to San Diego from Phoenix, promising to help him build a home beyond his wildest dreams. In the last moments of the episode, Cunanan and Norman head out to the balcony of Norman’s new home. Cunanan takes in the moment and states, “If they could see me now.” When Norman asks who, Andrew responds by saying, “Everyone.”

The Assassination of Gianni Versace Recap: ‘Ascent’