Raven Varona — better known as Ravie B., the photographer behind some of the best images of Beyonce, Adele, Lebron, Michelle Obama, ItsTheReal and others — feels her feels deeply. I knew she’d be great to talk to for this series, and she didn’t let me down, with her thoughts on Goodfellas, Rush Hour, Saturday Night Fever and a recipe for a nacho slop plate that had me concerned.
What is a movie you like?
You know I’m a rambler, so take from this what you will: I love Inception — probably one of my favorite movies. But! I love rom-coms: Runaway Bride, Pretty Woman, Crazy Stupid Love — I love all rom-coms pre-Judd Apatow…I love them after him as well, but I think there’s a shift, right? I just love when it’s like, whimsical and dreamy but witty and funny. I saw this meme that said, “People want to act deep and talk about movies, just say you love Toy Story!” (laughs) I love Toy Story, I love Inception, I love Goodfellas. For Christmas, I always re-watch Harry Potter 1-4.
What happens after 5?
I don’t care. It got too dark for me. Stop laughing, Jeff, I like whimsical movies!
Well, let me ask you this: what’s a movie that’s unexpectedly whimsical? Like, one that’s not presented that way and you find whimsy in it.
Okay, bear with me — this is a hot take and actually ridiculous. I was rewatching it the other night, and it’s obviously problematic given the timeframe but Saturday Night Fever is really whimsical! It’s deep and it’s sad and it starts out as a coming of age story. But you see him walking down the street and the lights and how he dances and moves, but it’s not a whimsical movie at all! It’s sad! It’s New York and he’s an Italian-American and there’s racism and prejudice. But are there whimsical moments of him brushing his hair in the mirror or getting dressed or dancing.
What’s a movie with really great visuals for you?
Goodfellas is really up there for me, with cinematography. One Battle After Another shook me. The cinematography was so insane. Those two, with old and new, are very high. I think with Goodfellas, the way Scorsese has such long takes has always inspired me — because I come from photography and the way I see the world, I feel like sometimes I don’t see them in cuts. So, I think that’s something that (early on) really inspired me. But anything that has rich color. Inception is insane, which is why it’s one of my favorite movies. Even when it starts off on the beach, in the water, it’s wild.
What’s —
Oh! Oh! Oh! I have another one. It’s a sleeper: Amélie. Oh! And Truman Show! I’m still thinking of others. That’s up there as a favorite movie, too. Visually, all of those.
Speaking of Amélie, what’s a movie that made you want to travel?
Amélie definitely made me want to travel. I saw it in high school. I took Gastronomy, and my English teacher was also my Gastronomy teacher. She had us watch that movie.
You took Gastronomy in high school? What does that entail? Is it the cooking or the appreciation of food?
It’s like the science of food. So like, we had a lesson on cheese so we learned all about cheese. We went to Murray’s, we made cheese, we learned about different cheeses and how they affect our bodies. We learned about pickling, breads…yea, it was so cool. Clearly this is why I’m such a nutcase. Anyway, she had us watch Amélie and that was a movie that made me want to travel. Also, don’t judge me, but so did Rush Hour.
(Five seconds of sustained laughing) Okay. Moving on, what is your ideal movie candy?
I’m not really a candy person because I’m more savory than I am sweet. When I start to eat candy, I feel like I rage — so I don’t really eat it. But this is my movie snack: I get nachos. I only like nachos when the cheese is coming out of the machine. I hate when they give me the cups, it feels like they’re not giving me enough. So if that’s the case, I have to ask for two cups of cheese — I prefer they just drench everything and pour the cheese over. I like my nachos to be under the cheese and get soggy. Okay? I like a mix of crunchy nacho and soggy nacho. So I’ll eat some crunchy and then dip some of the other crunchy ones into the hot cheese so they get a little soggy at the tip. Just the end, right? And then! On top of the nacho, I’ll put popcorn. So I get a cheese-y popcorn nacho situation. And then if I’m really hungry, I’ll get a glizzy too. I don’t care if anyone judges me — I think hot dogs have really bad PR, it’s wild. So between the glizzy and my nacho popcorn situation, I’m content. Then I might throw in a little soda and a water, cause I don’t drink soda but I love fountain soda at the movies.
Are you someone who likes Alamo Drafthouse, or a catered situation?
No. No. No. No. No. No no no no no no. I hate people walking in front of me at the movies. Also, I’m constantly afraid someone is going to come in and attack me. So when I see someone moving, I’m not at-ease. Two, I don’t want to eat big meals at the movies unless I’m bringing my own little snacks. I also feel like those movie theatres tend to be not as dark and not as loud. I also don’t want to eat a quesadilla at the movies!!!
No, just your nacho popcorn slop plate.
Yes! Yes. Exactly. So, I’m against it but I do need a good recline.
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What’s a popular movie you’ve never seen?
Oof. How popular? I’ve never seen Oppenheimer.
That’s a big one. What made you not want to see it — or did it just fall through the cracks?
I felt like I went to see Barbie and then was like, whatever. I also…I didn’t really care to watch a movie about the atomic bomb? I know it’s probably really interesting but I just felt there’s enough going on in the world. You know the commercials with Nicole Kidman when she’s at AMC?
Yea, do you clap?
I clap, she’s my hero — but I like to go to the movies and feel good. I don’t like to leave the movies and feel sad.
That was too dark for you.
(Raven’s boyfriend) Bruno’s always like, “You’re like Michael Scott” and it’s because of stuff like this. But it’s not like I want to feel like that all the time! I miss out on a lot of movies — sad, deep, heavy dramas — thrillers. I don’t like horror. I didn’t see Weapons yet. I’m not running to go see those. I’ll see it on a plane or at someone’s house, if they put it on and I wasn’t making the choice. But like, I want to see Super Mario in the theatres!
Were you worried about One Battle being too dark for you?
I watched it at home. I had no idea what it was about — no idea. Everyone that I’d known who had seen it was like, “This movie is incredible. You should watch it. You’re going to love it.” And no one would tell me what it was about.
It also ends on a inspirational note, in my opinion.
Absolutely. I think it’s about the lens you bring to the movie: there’s not a lot of hope in the world, and I choose to look at things through a positive lens. Also, revolutions are not perfect. Human beings are not perfect. The messenger is not always perfect. But the most interesting part of the movie - to me - was all the interesting things happening in the background: the scenery, the supporting roles were so massive and important. All of these underground scenes helping one another in a revolution were so beautiful — so that gave me a lot of hope. And that’s why I like going to the movies!
My last question is, if you were to guest on 2J3BD, what movie would you want to watch and discuss?
I wish I was there for Devil Wears Prada or Goodfellas. Do you guys do kids’ movies?
We did Coco! That was Kiss’ first Pixar movie he’d ever seen.
Coco was what I was going to say. What’d everyone think of it?
We all gave it 10s. It had just come out, they all loved it.
Make sure to follow Raven on all platforms, but especially Instagram. She is an incredible photographer, of course.
And in the meantime, we’ve got our Weekend at Bernie’s episode going live right now! Come join us in the chat on YouTube at 10am.