January Joys
It’s a new year and I’m still figuring out my rhythm for this space, but two things I know I’m committed to writing about are everything we watched each month and everything that brought me joy. This month I started keeping a gratitude journal in my Chani planner and it really is true how focusing on the bright, little things about a day makes the bigger picture feel less daunting and more magical. Annoying! Anyway, here’s January.
What We Watched
We watched the 2020 BBC series on a whim and ended up binging it hard and fast. Billie Piper provides a masterclass in acting as she cycles through each stage of grief in the throes of a celebrity fallout. Each episode is its own intense universe that revolves around what it means to exist as a woman in this world and how we each navigate the hurt thrown our way every day. We haven’t watched I Hate Suzie Too yet (maybe we’ll save that for Christmas) but I’ll be thinking of her for a long time to come.
Aftersun is a beautiful film that captures the complicated, overwhelming feelings of the precipice of adulthood. We can see Sophie reckon with the confusion of seeing her young father as flawed for the first time (a hard pill for every daddy’s girl to swallow), while also trying to wrestle with her own desires of romance and popularity that she’s still too young to really be yet. It’s so, so tender and gently weaves nostalgia with the dark realization of what these nostalgic memories hold now as you look back with fully-fledged adult hindsight. Paul Mescal gives a fantastic, layered performance of wanting to be everything for your child while feeling helplessly pulled by your own demons. (Also, I have to say that I appreciate we are all collectively and acceptably horny for him now. Bring on the Oscars!). I really hope we continue to see more raw and open-hearted films made by women in the years to come.
Luca Guadagnino is one of the most photographic directors of our time and I am so inspired by his vision. Through cool tones and a fabulous 80s-flavored soundtrack, Guadagnino subtly handles the horror and the desire Lee and Maren face as eaters trying to exist in the world. Yes, it’s a movie about cannibals, but because it’s approached with such love and tenderness it becomes more about finding your person and feeling understood in our lonely American landscape. In the moments when there is some people eating going on, it’s handled in a careful (though still gory) way that doesn’t feel cheap and tawdry. It’s everything I look for in a movie.
However, my one critical note would be that Taylor Russell’s performance was the weakest part of the film for me. I understood why Maren needed to be so reserved at the film's beginning, but I wish she could have had the chance to bloom more as the film went on. This could be more on the script than on Russell herself, but I was really rooting for Maren and I think it would have been more satisfying to see her stand tall on her own at the end.
So dumb. So FUN. The actors are…all over the place. The robot is…silly. But it’s hilarious! I can’t remember the last time expressions alone made me crack up laughing. I would love nothing more than for M3GAN to give me a “can you believe this bitch” look in a Zoom meeting one day.
Where Megan was dumb and fun, Magic Mike is dumb and hot. We somehow bypassed all the Magic Mike hubbub over the past 11 (?!) years but decided to give the first film a chance now that the trilogy is coming to an end next month. Channing Tatum delivers, Matthew McConaughey delivers himself, and the whole thing is filmed in sepia tone. It’s just ridiculous. There is a scene towards the end that cuts between Matthew McConaughey dancing in a tasseled thong and Channing Tatum crying a single tear as he drives away from the Kings of Tampa, leaving his old stripper life behind. This moment is so unintentionally funny I couldn’t help but cry from laughing too. Just ridiculous! I don’t think we’ll be watching the sequels anytime soon, but hey! I appreciate the effort.
Art and I were blown away by Possessor and were looking forward to seeing what would come out of Brandon Cronenberg’s bizarre brain next and it was…both under and overwhelming. Whelming? I appreciate that Cronenberg wants to explore the depths of personhood and personality and merge those concepts with a corrupt, capitalistic society, but I felt that Infinity Pool got too carried away with itself. I came into the film knowing there would be (actually weirdly looking forward to) horror abound but Infinity Pool relies on too much on its shock and gore. I don’t want to say that there is a line in horror films, because everyone’s line can vary, but I do feel there is a threshold for what an audience can physically sit through and Infinity Pool cozies up to this threshold several times. If the movie had cut 10 or 20 minutes off the hallucination sequences and instead spent time exploring the confusion, the sick pleasure, and the rebirth that comes from literally killing a version of yourself it could have been so much more effective. There were hints of religious, spiritual, and philosophical ideas floating around the periphery of the chaos that I think it would have been more fun to lean into instead of “Hey! Look at what I can do.”
With that being said, Alexander Skarsgård and Mia Goth are so mind-blowingly good together. While I was watching Skarsgård perform I couldn’t help but think how fun it is that he takes such huge risks. I can’t think of many other modern actors who are willing to throw themselves into roles like this, The Northman, or even True Blood! He gives this performance his ALL - varying from mewling and mammalian to placid and cruel- so much so that towards the end of the movie I almost started to feel bad that Cronenberg was putting him through all of this work. His chemistry with Mia Goth is off the charts spicy as they blend the lines between Madonna and whore, mother and destroyer, together and this movie certainly cements Goth as a force to be reckoned with. Infinity Pool isn’t afraid to push the limits, but I wish it had the restraint to explore other territories that can be just as impactful without the shock value.
What Brought Me Joy
Black Truck by Mereba. One of my lovely yoga instructors played this song during class, and it felt like something that was meant to hit you at the right time. I love the imagery of “embers down my spine” and relate to so much in the song after the difficult, transitional year we had last year. It’s time to rise, babies.
Speaking of rising, this month I also got to see the sun rise and set on the Square, and getting to experience both of these moments felt like checking off a secret Denton bingo box. I love the square and I love getting to see it full of people at night or quiet and sleepy in the morning.
Visiting the Dallas Museum of Art with Art and feeling creatively inspired. Art is my favorite museum buddy and we had a beautiful day together looking at and discussing art together. I plan to write about our day, and one exhibit in particular, more at length, but I still have to mention what a special day it was for us.
Keep It. I have listened to Keep It for over three years now, but something about this new season just hits right. I have laughed out loud every single episode and look forward to my Wednesdays with Ira and Louis. I can’t recommend it enough if you’re a pop culture and film lover like me!
Wishing everyone a wonderful February! Lots of love.