Latest news with #DEBS
The Guardian
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
‘Nothing else quite like it': why DEBS is my feelgood movie
'Are you kidding me?' snaps Ms Petrie, Holland Taylor's power-suit loving intelligence chief, towards the end of the 2004 spy satire DEBS. 'We conduct a nationwide manhunt for you, and you're boning the suspect?!' In a nutshell, this is the basic premise of Angela Robinson's 2004 debut feature film, a critically panned box office flop which has transformed into a cult classic over the last 20 years thanks to its refreshing and cheery nonchalance towards the subject of sexuality. The heavily sanitised trailer, which erased virtually all evidence of a sapphic storyline, meant that DEBS passed me by for years. Now, I'm making up for lost time. Though DEBS is far from being the first film to explore queerness through the lens of a criminal caper – bank heist thriller Set It Off, gory noir flick Bound and David Lynch's classic Mulholland Drive all beg to differ – Robinson's take on a longstanding trope stands out for its distinct lack of grit or peril. It is also an outlier compared with other, more lighthearted lesbian films of the same era. While more traditional romcoms such as Imagine Me and You and Saving Face also attempted to shift the dial, the shame and inner turmoil of their closeted lead characters wrestling with forbidden desires still provided much of the narrative thrust. And while Jamie Babbit's equally tongue-in-cheek But I'm a Cheerleader has the most obvious similarities, that satire hinged on something much darker and more sinister, parodying the very real harm caused by gay conversion practices. DEBS, on the other hand, remains strangely notable to this day, for simply being a silly, over-the-top, low-stakes noughties thriller that just so happens to have some lesbians in it. Released the year after Charlie's Angels gaudy, willfully silly sequel Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, DEBS put an even campier spin on the other high-octane thrillers that dominated in that era. The story centres on a group of teenage spies who have been handpicked for a life of paramilitary espionage on the strength of their high school SAT scores. Much like a pack of Fame Academy hopefuls, the gang live all together in a sorority-styled house and fight against organised crime, all while wearing tiny plaid skirts that help them to resemble extras from Britney Spears's Baby One More Time music video. Their commander-in-chief, Ms Petrie, turns up frequently as a hologram to deliver classified briefings in the middle of the school canteen. Dominique, played by Devon Aoki, speaks in a farcical French accent, and permanently has a cigarette hanging out of her mouth, and a new man in her bed. Everything is going smoothly enough until a new sighting of DEBS' terrifying arch-nemesis Lucy Diamond – a murderous supervillain with impeccable eyebrows and a thirst for bloodshed. Details on her origin story are amusingly thin – a bad breakup and an insatiable hatred for Australia are both alluded to – but one thing is even clearer than the girls' super-reflective lip gloss: she must be stopped. And who better to defeat her than DEBS' resident goody-two shoes, Amy Bradshaw – who is writing an entire thesis delving into Lucy Diamond's warped inner psyche. There's just one problem – Amy isn't just concealing state secrets. She's also lying to herself about who she really is, though the tofu scramble she orders for breakfast is a brilliantly on-the-nose hint about where things are headed. Once Amy learns that Lucy is into women after a failed stakeout of her terrible blind date with Russian assassin Ninotchka Kaprova, her fascination with the enemy only builds. Ultimately, our hero and villain end up running away together, faking Amy's kidnap in order to head off on an extended romantic romp. While her friends obviously feel betrayed at first – her fellow DEB Janet scathingly labels her a 'gay slut' after uncovering the scheme – they ultimately conspire against the government to help them flee and find happiness. Amy's journey of self-discovery may come about through highly unusual means, but her coming-out story is a largely joyful one, and her sexuality is barely a source of plot tension. Though it's certainly possible to read Amy's propensity for lying as a deeper metaphor for concealed queerness, doing so would probably mean taking DEBS far too seriously. Here, things are simply not that deep, and 20 years on from its release, there's still nothing else quite like it. DEBS is available to watch on the Criterion Channel in the US and to rent digitally in the UK and Australia
The Guardian
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
‘Nothing else quite like it': why DEBS is my feelgood movie
'Are you kidding me?' snaps Ms Petrie, Holland Taylor's power-suit loving intelligence chief, towards the end of the 2004 spy satire DEBS. 'We conduct a nationwide manhunt for you, and you're boning the suspect?!' In a nutshell, this is the basic premise of Angela Robinson's 2004 debut feature film, a critically panned box office flop which has transformed into a cult classic over the last 20 years thanks to its refreshing and cheery nonchalance towards the subject of sexuality. The heavily sanitised trailer, which erased virtually all evidence of a sapphic storyline, meant that DEBS passed me by for years. Now, I'm making up for lost time. Though DEBS is far from being the first film to explore queerness through the lens of a criminal caper – bank heist thriller Set It Off, gory noir flick Bound and David Lynch's classic Mulholland Drive all beg to differ – Robinson's take on a longstanding trope stands out for its distinct lack of grit or peril. It is also an outlier compared with other, more lighthearted lesbian films of the same era. While more traditional romcoms such as Imagine Me and You and Saving Face also attempted to shift the dial, the shame and inner turmoil of their closeted lead characters wrestling with forbidden desires still provided much of the narrative thrust. And while Jamie Babbit's equally tongue-in-cheek But I'm a Cheerleader has the most obvious similarities, that satire hinged on something much darker and more sinister, parodying the very real harm caused by gay conversion practices. DEBS, on the other hand, remains strangely notable to this day, for simply being a silly, over-the-top, low-stakes noughties thriller that just so happens to have some lesbians in it. Released the year after Charlie's Angels gaudy, willfully silly sequel Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, DEBS put an even campier spin on the other high-octane thrillers that dominated in that era. The story centres on a group of teenage spies who have been handpicked for a life of paramilitary espionage on the strength of their high school SAT scores. Much like a pack of Fame Academy hopefuls, the gang live all together in a sorority-styled house and fight against organised crime, all while wearing tiny plaid skirts that help them to resemble extras from Britney Spears's Baby One More Time music video. Their commander-in-chief, Ms Petrie, turns up frequently as a hologram to deliver classified briefings in the middle of the school canteen. Dominique, played by Devon Aoki, speaks in a farcical French accent, and permanently has a cigarette hanging out of her mouth, and a new man in her bed. Everything is going smoothly enough until a new sighting of DEBS' terrifying arch-nemesis Lucy Diamond – a murderous supervillain with impeccable eyebrows and a thirst for bloodshed. Details on her origin story are amusingly thin – a bad breakup and an insatiable hatred for Australia are both alluded to – but one thing is even clearer than the girls' super-reflective lip gloss: she must be stopped. And who better to defeat her than DEBS' resident goody-two shoes, Amy Bradshaw – who is writing an entire thesis delving into Lucy Diamond's warped inner psyche. There's just one problem – Amy isn't just concealing state secrets. She's also lying to herself about who she really is, though the tofu scramble she orders for breakfast is a brilliantly on-the-nose hint about where things are headed. Once Amy learns that Lucy is into women after a failed stakeout of her terrible blind date with Russian assassin Ninotchka Kaprova, her fascination with the enemy only builds. Ultimately, our hero and villain end up running away together, faking Amy's kidnap in order to head off on an extended romantic romp. While her friends obviously feel betrayed at first – her fellow DEB Janet scathingly labels her a 'gay slut' after uncovering the scheme – they ultimately conspire against the government to help them flee and find happiness. Amy's journey of self-discovery may come about through highly unusual means, but her coming-out story is a largely joyful one, and her sexuality is barely a source of plot tension. Though it's certainly possible to read Amy's propensity for lying as a deeper metaphor for concealed queerness, doing so would probably mean taking DEBS far too seriously. Here, things are simply not that deep, and 20 years on from its release, there's still nothing else quite like it. DEBS is available to watch on the Criterion Channel in the US and to rent digitally in the UK and Australia
The Irish Sun
17-06-2025
- The Irish Sun
My sister died holding hands with best pal in Debs crash – no jail for man driving 150kph before horror adds to our pain
DEBS crash victim Dlava Mohamed's sister has blasted the suspended sentence handed down to a reckless Romanian driver who hit speeds of more than 150kph in the lead-up to the fatal smash. Best pals Dlava, 16, and Kiea McCann, 17, Advertisement 5 Dlava Mohamed's sister has blasted a suspended sentence for another horror driver Credit: Pacemaker Press 5 Dlava and her best pal Kiea McCann died in the crash in Monaghan in 2023 Credit: Pacemaker Press 5 Driver Anthony McGinn was recently sentenced to seven years in jail over the crash Credit: Pacemaker Press Killer driver Anthony McGinn, a friend of Kiea's family who had offered to drive the two teenagers to their school party, A Advertisement Debs chauffeur McGinn was jailed at Monaghan Circuit Court last month after Heartbreaking victim impact statements revealed how Kiea and Dlava died 'holding hands' after McGinn ignored pleas to slow down. He also admitted to dangerous driving causing serious bodily harm as Dlava's sister Avin, 19, suffered life-altering injuries. The Debs victims' families Now Advertisement Alin Sorin Gatea, 46, appeared at a sitting of Monaghan District Court on Monday on multiple counts of dangerous driving on the day of the Debs crash. Gatea, of Carn Heights, Clones, Co Monaghan, faced five counts of dangerous driving at various locations between Clones and Monaghan on July 31, 2023. One of the counts related to a charge at Legnakelly, just outside Clones, where Dlava and Kiea lost their lives in the crash en route to their Debs ball in the Westenra Arms Hotel in Monaghan town. Schoolgirl best friends died holding hands in horror crash Monaghan District Court heard father-of-four Gatea hit speeds of more than 150kph in his BMW as it followed McGinn's BMW. On Monday, Judge Raymond Finnegan gave Gatea an 18-month suspended prison sentence and disqualified the factory worker from driving for four years. Advertisement Reacting to the sentence, Dlava's sister Lilav tonight called for tougher sentences for speeding drivers in a bid to reduce fatalities on our roads. 'THERE HAS TO BE CONSEQUENCES' Lilav, 23, told the Irish Sun: 'It is only a suspended sentence. There has to be consequences. 'I'm so confused. Where is the punishment? There has to be a deterrent. 'Maybe more people should die for something to happen? 'The sentence should be stronger to send out a strong message. What about the young people, what does it say to them about speeding? Advertisement 'There definitely has to be stronger consequences.' FAMILY DEVASTATED Emotional Lilav told how the Mohamed clan came to Ireland from war-torn Syria to build their dreams. But with their lives shattered by the road traffic tragedy, Dlava's heartbroken family want lessons to be learned from their devastating loss. Opening up on their pain, anguished Lilav told the Irish Sun: 'It's hard to say how we're coping with it. Of course nothing is the same. 'There have been huge changes in our lives, definitely. So there should be huge changes for people speeding so dangerously and recklessly. Advertisement 'THERE IS ANGER' 'That man (Gatea) got a suspended sentence. What does that say to young people? If they see this kind of news, they're going to be like we're going to be fine if we cross the speed or anything. 'He (Gatea) was speeding like the other man (McGinn). Both of them are adults. 'There is anger, definitely. I want my message to be heard. There should be strong sentences, it could act as a deterrent, it could help save lives.' Monaghan District Court heard Gatea drove at speeds of more than 150kph in his BMW as it followed McGinn's BMW on a wet road. HIGH SPEEDS Dad Gatea had two passengers in his vehicle, his son, who was 19 at the time, and another teenager, who was 18 at the time. Advertisement He was driving both of them to the Debs ball at the Westenra Arms Hotel in Monaghan on the evening of July 31, 2023. The court heard the Romanian travelled at high speeds behind McGinn's BMW prior to the fatal collision. Inspector Ann-Marie Lardner revealed that following forensics of Gatea's dash cam footage, investigators confirmed the Romanian national was travelling at a minimum speed of 145kph and a maximum speed of 151kph at the time. 'I'm so confused. Where is the punishment? There has to be a deterrent." Lilav Mohamed Insp Lardner told Judge Finnegan that these speeds were almost double the speed limit. Defence solicitor, Catherine Taaffe, insisted that there had been 'no joint enterprise' or suggestion that her client had been acting in concert with the other car. Advertisement Ms Taaffe revealed the dash cam footage shown in court was voluntarily supplied by Gatea after he witnessed a serious event ahead of him. Ms Taaffe pointed out that Gatea's dash cam helped the state in bringing someone to justice for a much more serious crime. ANGRY REACTION And the defence solicitor highlighted how the charges before the court were for speeding, saying they had no bearing on the serious fatal collision that occurred that evening. The court was also told that Gatea had shown good levels of cooperation during the investigation. Members of Kiea's family, who attended the sentencing hearing, reacted angrily when it was put to Judge Finnegan there had been no indication of any racing element being involved. Advertisement 'KARMA WILL COME TO YOU' Asked by the judge if the McCann family believed the drivers were racing, Garda Inspector Lardner told the court 'yes they do'. The McCann family tonight joined the Mohamed clan in blasting the sentence given to Gatea. Kiea's dad Frankie stormed: 'Karma will come to you and Anthony.' Kiea's mum Teresa branded both Gatea and McGinn a total disgrace. Teresa rapped: 'Terrible the way the country is run. Advertisement 'TWO GIRLS' LIVES GONE' 'My child Kiea's life and friend Dlava's life taken. . . and this is the outcome of it. Two girls' lives gone. Handing down sentence, Judge Finnegan slammed the way Gatea drove, insisting he clearly put But the judge explained the DPP had directed him over the dangerous driving charges and that he can only act on the counts before him. Judge Finnegan issued three six month suspended sentences and disqualified Gatea from driving for four years. 5 Grieving relatives say they have suffered fresh trauma over the recent sentence Credit: Brian Lawless/PA Wire Advertisement 5 The McCann family tonight joined the Mohamed clan in blasting the sentence Credit: Pacemaker Press
The Irish Sun
14-05-2025
- The Irish Sun
Man who ‘ignored pleas to slow down' jailed for 7 years over death of two teens in 121kph Monaghan crash on way to debs
DEBS death driver Anthony McGinn was today sentenced to seven years in jail. Best pals Kiea McCann, 17, and Dlava Mohamed, 16, lost their lives in the horror crash near Clones, Co Monaghan, in 2023. Advertisement 5 Anthony McGinn arriving at Monaghan Circuit Criminal Court for sentencing Credit: Brian Lawless/PA Wire 5 Kiea McCann, aged 17, and 16-year-old Dlava Mohamed died when the car they were travelling in left the N54 and crashed into a tree Credit: RTE 5 Anthony McGinn was handed down a seven-year jail term this morning Credit: Brian Lawless/PA Wire Anthony McGinn, 61, - who was driving the best pals to their Debs - was subsequently charged with dangerous driving causing death. He was also charged with dangerous driving causing serious bodily harm to Dlava's sis Avin, 19, who was injured. McGinn was this morning sentenced at Monaghan Circuit Court. Handing down the seven-year jail term, Judge John Aylmer blasted McGinn for travelling at "grossly excessive speeds" of 151kph in an 80kph zone on a wet road. Advertisement READ MORE IRISH NEWS And the judge told how the death driver "ignored pleas to slow down" from frantic passengers. Judge Aylmer said: "You were entrusted to drive these young people to their Debs. "And in driving in the manner in which you did, you committed an extraordinary breach of trust." Victim impact statements revealed how Kiea and Dlava died 'holding hands' in the horror crash on the way to their Debs after driver McGinn snubbed pleas to slow down. Advertisement MOST READ ON THE IRISH SUN Their pair were being driven by McGinn when the tragedy unfolded in July 2023. The driver had been speeding on his way to the ball when he lost control of his BMW and smashed into a tree at an impact speed of over 121kph. Both girls tragically died side-by-side following the horror. Dlava's sister Avin, who had also been travelling in the car at the time, was injured. Advertisement McGinn had pleaded guilty to causing the girls' deaths by dangerous driving and causing Avin serious bodily harm. HEARTBREAKING IMPACT In a heartbreaking victim impact statement, Kiea's mum Teresa told how she 'trusted' McGinn to take her daughter to the Debs. She said: 'When we got to the scene, Kiea was already gone. Her dad tried CPR on her. Nothing would bring her back. 'Kiea and her best friend were robbed of their lives. They were put side by side holding hands on the grass as me and my husband lay beside them.' Advertisement Dlava's sister told how she feels guilty over the crash as she invited the teen to the dance with her. She said she did not learn about the pair's death for months due to her injuries after 'everything went black' in the crash. Monaghan Circuit Criminal Court was told family friend McGinn had picked up the group in Monaghan before heading to the ball. Front seat passenger Oisin Clerkin had asked McGinn to 'slow down' but the driver did not respond. Advertisement Kiea's debs date Oisin later told cops: 'He was driving really fast and it scared me. 'None of the girls said anything. Kiea looked scared. I said 'Goodbye' to Kiea and I woke up in hospital.' The court was shown harrowing footage of Kiea and Dlava's final moments before McGinn collided with the tree. He later told gardai he had no idea what speed he was going at before the crash. Advertisement The court heard McGinn was travelling at almost double the limit before hitting the tree. 5 Dlava Mohammed sadly passed in the crash in Co Monaghan Credit: Pacemaker Press 5 Kiea McCann also lost her life in the crash Credit: Pacemaker Press
