May Movies/TV/Books

The Faculty (1998) - 10/10 - late 90’s/early 2000’s gemmmmm of a monster of the week type movie. I can’t believe it took me this long to see it . Fucking alllll star cast including lesbo QUEEN Clea DuVall, Jon Stewart, Frodo and Usher so randomly??? If you like Buffy (like I do<3) this will be a home run for you.

Sinners (2025) - 9/10 - holding one point hostage for recency bias, and the fact that the mixing in the theater made it so I just straight up couldn’t hear 25% of the dialogue but FUCK this movie was good. Me and some friends saw it in the Paris Theatre in Manhattan when I was visiting NYC this month, and they had the air conditioning dialed up to 10000000000000% it was freezing freezing cold. I saw Sofia Coppola in the lobby though which starstruck me to helllllll.

This movie was my favorite thing I’ve seen in theaters in YEARS despite the fact that I saw it in a refrigerator. I honestly can’t believe all that it managed to do…. it made me care deeply for like 15 different characters in the space of like 40 minutes. It was devastating, it was funny, it was horny, it was scary, it was moving and it was fucking heartfelt. It just achieved this unbelievable balance on so many fronts.

If you’ve been wishy washy on seeing it forreal pull the trigger and goooooooo. The less you know the better the experience I think!!!!

Barfly (1987) - 5/10 - My mom suggested I watch this after we filmed the Elderberry Wine music video cause it has a similar vibe.

I thought the movie was fine enough, but since it was based on Bukowski and he wrote the script it gave me visceral flashblacks to my Bukowski phase which is not the most pleasant part of my reading journey to go back to. Plus when I heard obvious lines from Bukowski poems in casual conversational context it made me cringeeeee for whatever reason. Just makes me think of what like overly poetic lit major philosophy minor edge lord boys would say to me at parties in college.

Legend (1985) - 1/10

This movie pissed me offffff!!!!!!!!!

The most beautiful set, practical effects and makeup completely wasted on a discombobulated mess of a story.

The worst I have ever seen Tom Cruise act. He’s literally a nightmare to watch in this.

It’s so gorgeous I’ll probably play it with the sound off on my TV but damn….. don’t try to follow the story in this fuckin shit!!!! No one’s motivations even slightly make sense…..

9/10 - Still reading this but so far really really enjoying it!!! Short story format is just so great for reading before bed.

This particular collection would be good for someone whose tastes lie at the intersection of Harry Crews and George Saunders (I’m the exact target audience)

Bud Smith is a Jersey boy tho instead of a Southern boy. It’s been refreshing to read accessible, funny/sad stories with a “southern sensibility” that are kinda from a different part of the country tho.

some of the cast from The Faculty^

Red Rocket - 5/10 - I’m starting to think I’m just not a huge Sean Baker fan outside of the Florida Project?

I thought the characterization in this movie was great, I particularly loved the story beats that the bastard main character shared with his unlucky neighbor who befriends him and drives him around town. Overall the story was good, and the main guy was a great actor…. but idk…. just left a bad taste in my mouth.

And to be clear it wasn’t cause I couldn’t handle the depiction of a shitty dude being shitty, it is something else. Do ya’ll have this issue with Sean Baker films??

I don’t think it’s even that I have trouble with the (kinda) exploitative nature of only making movies about sex workers and poor people… cause I’m glad movies are being made about people in these lifestyles and situations.

I think it’s just that when I watch a Sean Baker movie I can always feel his presence as a director orchestrating the whole thing maybe? Like I never feel fully immersed cause I’m just like “dang, this really feels like a movie about these people, not a true slice of life” idk

Pieces of April - 2003 - 1/10 - this movie was genuinely terrible. Saw a picture of Katie Holmes in the outfit she wears in this movie and I was like…. okay slayyyy. But literally other than that one aspect this movie sucks hehe.

Terrible dialogue, unfunny, and just weird.

The letterboxed reviews of this are all really positive so maybe i’m missing something….

There are much better movies about mother/daughter conflict

I’m No Longer Here (Ya no Estoy Aqui) (2019) - 7/10

This one was suggested to me by one of ya’ll!! Thank u!!!

This is a movie about the cumbia music/dance scene in Mexico and a slice of life of a Mexican immigrant in America. The movie takes place 50/50 in both countries.

One of the most beautifully shot movies i’ve ever seen….. there’s multiple jaw dropping shots…. especially the aerial shot towards the end of the movie.

Iconic mp3 player is a major character.

I’m realizing I really don’t know much at all about Mexican culture or experience. I’m so excited to tour there someday and hopefully learn more.

This movie was a great start into becoming more curious.

8/10 -

Was questioning whether to post about this one or not lol.

It’s nonfiction and highly researched written by two iconic ass women. A very informative look into a subculture (BDSM/kink etc) that I really didn’t know much about other than the pop culture representations that I’ve been told time and time again are highly inaccurate.

Mostly about the care and discussions that are crucial to have if you are to enter into a BDSM experience/friendship/relationship with someone.

There is a community for every fuckin thing ur into. Honestly therapeutic to read about freaky people being into freaky shit!

April Movies/TV/Books

I watched the new season of “Love on the Spectrum”. Such a sweet and uplifting show<33333 I love Georgie <3

I was averse to this show at first cause I thought it would be mad exploitative but they do this shit with so much fucking care… If you’re thinking about it I suggest giving it a try. Great for putting on in the background while you fold laundry and stuffs.

Also picked up Mary Miller’s book, who I met for the first time at the festival. I’m not quite finished with it yet but so far it’s many collected slice of life stories about various ex boyfriends in her life. I like the description she has of a roof outside of her kitchen window that is inaccessible and thus becomes a repository for random trash and bottles. I love taking pictures of random alcoves like that where trash gets collected.

If you would like to read about one of the ladiez from that show “Girls” but instead of NYC she’s dating in Mississippi you’d probably like this!

ummmm… what did I watch this month….

OH YEAH I FINALLY WATCHED THE CROW (1994) MOTHERFUCKERS

10/10…. gotta add it to my all time faves……. epic fucking movie. The hair/makeup/clothes plus the goth ass setting…… FUCK. Perfect and just what I motherfucking needed. Epic soundtrack featuring one of my favorite bands Medicine!! Brandon Lee unbearably hot mode

I watched this movie “Elsewhere” with my friend who loves Anna Kendrick cause it was a dollar at the thrift… it was one of her first movies. It was so bad. 1/10 so boring do not bother fr. The cover makes it look better than it is. Such a frustrating watch.

Reread my friends Ashleigh’s book of short stories after seeing her read at the Southwest Review festival I played in Dallas this month. I forgot how fucking good it is literally 10/10, not just cause shes a buddy of mine either.

Easy to read but characters that explode your heart. Plus if you see her read you can imagine the whole book in her strong north carolina accent (rarer and rarer to hear these days)!

If you love Harry Crews (like I do!) but would love a less misogynist approach ya oughta pick this up.

March Movies/Books/TV

9/10 - Love, Liza

It’s hard not to love Phillip Seymour Hoffman… this was his first lead role in a film. He plays a gas sniffin’ widow. Kathy Bates in this movie too… and idk if this is a thing already but I’m joining her fan club which I am calling: the Kath-ter Baters.

Jim O’Rourke soundtrack…. I mean

It is very fucking good. Denny is one of my favorite supporting characters I’ve encountered in a really long time.

I’m starting to wonder how many movies PSH has with burning houses playing a character.

8/10 - First Reformed

Ethan Hawke is my MAN… he is my comfort actor. I will watch pretty much anything he’s in. I really loved First Reformed.

It does the religion —> suspense thing with a subtly that is missing from a lot of recent religious horror movies. I feel like a lot of christian imagery is pretty heavy handed recently… maybe i’m thinking of that new movie Heretic, although I haven’t seen it.

I called someone I knew who had also watched First Reformed to discuss it with them as soon as I finished it. I wanted to hear what they thought of the ending but I also needed to be pulled out of the reverie… cause this movie sucked me into it’s world.

I love the idea of a guy who works at a tourist trap church. And they delved into that character without a slightest hint of camp which I actually really appreciated. Nothing I love more than a slice of life.

7/10 - Blazing Saddles

This is our pedal steel player Xandy’s fave Mel Brooks movie and I had yet to see it so I thought I’d finally watch it since I found it on DVD.

Obviously the writing is incredible, the jokes definitely had me googling pop culture references constantly. I do enjoy watching a movie about two guys becoming buddies <3 Blazing Saddles trotting so Broke Back Mountain could gallop? Who’s to say?

The image that stuck with me the most is when they show that both the guy and the horse he rode in on have nooses around their necks at the public hanging.

Gene Wilder, another comfort actor of mine is always like seeing an old friend. I love Madalyn Kahn but I like her much more in “What’s Up Doc"?”, one of my favorite movies of all time.

I think Space Balls is still my favorite Mel Brooks…… I watched it 800 times as a kid and it left a forever impression.

1/10 - Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003)

I picked this up in a DVD haul I wrote about in January thinking it was the original… it was not. It was not good and I didn’t finish it. None of the actors were convincing Texans. Should I try the original or the 2013 next?

One redeeming thing though is that it had this guy Eric Balfour who I love from Six Feet Under and Buffy:

7/10 - Anora

Finally saw Anora! I watched it on a plane so my viewing experience wasn’t the best per se…. but idk I was just not that connected to it. I thought Mikey Madison was so good and a joy to watch as Anni the movie overall hm… wasnt my cup of tea for whatever reason. Maybe it’s cause I hated Vanya so fuckin much and didn’t connect with many of the other characters that dominated so much of the screen time.

I really wanna love this movie though so I’ll probably be rewatching it soon.

Anotha month of lotsa reading! One book I will not share because it kinda reveals too much about what I’ve been working on recently:)))))) But, here’s everything else I read this month. Lotsa graphic novels and comics this time

I read the first 3 issues of “Hyde Street”…. and I’m definitely gonna keep reading as they come out. It follows a group of poor souls who drag bastards to hell. All of the characters are given really compelling backstories, many unlike anything I’ve ever seen described in other stories. I always appreciate anything that innovates in a reliable format. I think the afterlife is a subject explored many places in media… but this approach is unlike any i’ve ever read. Really excited to keep following these characters.

My favorite thing I read this month was the first collection of “Harrow County” comics. Set in North Carolina (any wonder that I like it so much?) in the 1930’s it follows a young girl who is the reincarnation of a famous evil witch. The art is exactly the haunting griminess that I relate to and captures the disturbing feeling i’m always trying to describe.

I’ve been reading “Priestdaddy” and loooving it. Her internal monologue brings a similar comfort to me as Mary Karr’s does: clever, funny, zooming in on tiny moments that bear huge emotional significance. My favorite kind of memoir to read: an intimate look at a neurotic but loveable family.

Had someone in the comments recommend me “Squee!” a comic by Jhonen Vasquez so I picked up a collection! Jhonen also wrote Invader Zim and Johnny the Homicidal Maniac. I loved reading it soooo much and this is such a nostalgic kind of early internet influenced humor for me to revisit. There is also a really sweet and unfiltered way that both Jhonen and Roman Dirge (who wrote Lenore) talk to their readers in the prefaces of these books. I really appreciate their unpolished approaches… as a creator it is really comforting. The titular character Squee is Courage the Cowardly Dog if he was a little kid. A deeply troubled soul. The ending of his story is very cinematic I can’t believe he pulled it off in comic form.

9/10 - Somebody Somewhere

This is one of the sweetest shows I’ve ever seen… and somehow also one of the funniest. Ultimate comfort watch even though it deals with a lot of real ass shit. It’s set in Manhattan, Kansas and follows a group of friends and family who live there and take care of each other. Fred Rococo is the most precious man on TV.

I also watched Succession finally…. it was incredible and flawless. It took me forever to sit down and watch it. I did it. That’s all ya need to know. I love cousin Greg OBVIOUSLY.

That’s all for March!!! Bye <3

Movies/Books/Media February 2025

I have had so much more mental space for books this month!!! Feels good to get back in the saddle w that.

I’ve been doing research for some writing of my own and reading like 6 or 7 books at once.

“The Year of Magical Thinking” by Joan Didion has been my fave. It is a memoir about the aftermath of her life after her husband dies at the kitchen table, while their daughter is in a medically induced coma. Straight forward writing that I really appreciate. I love a book that is easy to read but that packs in lots and lots and lots of emotion. Joan and her husband are “intellectuals” for sure and some of their habits make me roll my eyes, but like I said the writing is just ⸜(｡˃ ᵕ ˂ )⸝♡ I’d give it an 8/10

I’ve also loved “Florida” by Lauren Groff and “Another Bullshit Night in Suck City” by Nick Flynn. I’m not as far into these yet so can’t say an overall review but love both of their writing. Florida is more about the dark and absurd shit that passes for mundane life in Florida. The Nick Flynn novel is a memoir about a guy who works in a homeless shelter, and who’s absent father ends up staying there. I’m also reading “Gig” which is a collections of interviews where people just talk about their jobs. I mainly like the really absurd ones but even the “normal” jobs have plenty of absurd aspects.

I’m not sure how it took me 28 years to find the Lenore comics by Roman Dirge…. but they tap into a viewpoint and tone I have always related to. Gives me the similar “seen” feeling I got from reading “Cruddy” by: Lynda Barry

The crazy part is that Roman Dirge just release his first Lenore comic in 6 years this week…. I had no idea that was happening when I ordered his first four collections of comics a few weeks ago. I feel like when that shit happens it means you’ve tapped in at just the right moment you needed to.

So far I have the collections “Noogies” “Wedgies” “Cooties” and “Swirlies”. Excited to dig into the new stuff.

Movies

“Afterlife” by: Hirokazu Koreeda - 6/10

Milking Jake’s Criterion Collection subscription which I am still logged into :))))

In this movie, people in purgatory have to pick one memory from their life before passing on. I love the lady who collects the acorns and leaves.

Very calming but didn’t make me feel any strong emotion considering it’s subject matter.

It’s kinda nice how mundane they make the whole thing though, maybe death is just really like anything else.

I talk a little more about “Athens, GA Inside Out” in the “Podcasts” Section

“Drifter’s Sympathy” podcast - 10/10 -

listening through this for the second time. I think it is my favorite podcast of all time.

Emil Amos tells his personal history, which is especially visceral for me as a fellow North Carolinian who went to college in Asheville as he did.

Some of the most insane, dark, and entertain stories I have ever heard, all contained within one life.

Through Drifter’s Sympathy I heard about this documentary about the music scene in Athens, GA in the 80s. Here’s a link I found t stream it for free.

It’s most definitely one of my favorite rock docs I’ve ever seen. The filming style and format it gorgeous and the bands are so cool. Flat Duo Jets are from Chapel Hill, NC which is sick.

I loved this band Bar-B-Q Killers I found in this doc:

I played a lot of the hit indie card game Balatro to kill my brain

I also played Detention. It is an atmospheric horror game set in 1960s Taiwan

I watched (and adored) the 2018 limited series “Haunting of Hill House” based loosely off of Shirley Jackson’s 1959 novel which I read (and adored) a few months ago

The show started a little wobbly but once I got invested it was such a slay. The scares were good, acting was good, writing was god although I think they used metaphors like…. a little heavily. Especially in the childhood flashbacks.

It made me cry a few times. Both happy and sad tears.

It’s 10 episodes and then it has an end…. more shows like that plsssssss

9.5/10

I’ve been rewatching Buffy with a friend and you know thats a 10/10 for me every time yall

I’ve also gottan into a reality TV show for the first time in years. It’s called “Naked Attraction”. My friends Samuel and March insisted I watch season 2 episode 5 and from that episode I was addicted. The premise is that 1 guy/girl/theythemian gets to pick a date from 6 gradually revealed naked bodies……. and they show the full hog. It’s on HBO. Its addicting.

7/10

Thats all folks…. bye!!

Movies/TV January 2025

Its been hard to read recently… my brain feels fuzzy. Mostly been reading manga.

I finished the first three volumes of Berserk by Kentaro Miura… they call it they best for a reason.

Of course some of the weird shit to be expected with anime/manga too ofc

I got the first 3 of the really big collections of this series for my birthday and Christmas… they r expensive as hell so I will probably wait til I can ask for them as gifts again to get he next volumes.

I also read a collection of the first three issues of Dragonball too which I got in the airport in Tokyo…. that series is very cute and funny but also jus a smidge too fucked up as far as it’s treatment of the young women in the story…. especially Bulma Jesus christ

As far as movies/TV I watched I’ll just do a very quick overview

Eyes Wide Shut dir Kubrick - 3/10 - Nicole Kidman hot af, movie looks GORGEOUS, underwhelmed by the story, HATE Mr. Cruise OBVIOUSLY

Possession dir Andrzej Zulawski - 8/10 - incredible acting, confusing as fuck, very blue looking, sampled in the next Wednesday album??????

The Audition - Takashi Miike - 10/10 - horrifying in all the right ways and for the right reasons. The office scenes are my favorite, they look so GOOD

Phantom Thread dir PT Anderson - 5/10 - Honestly not my fave of his…. but I love The Master and Magnolia a lot a lot. Clothes were gorgeous. Acting was great obviously… I mean it was what’s his name … he’s basically the goat of all time.

The Doom Generation dir. Gregg Araki - 3/10 - Honestly made me cringe quite a bit. Very edge lord stuff. I see why its iconic for sure though. Also points cause I realized that’s what Ben Kweller wrote “Wasted & Ready” about.

I watched that show BEEF a million years late - 5/10 - …. I thought it was fine, was entertaining for sure! The ending was extremely unsatisfying but all the acting was great

I guess I didn't watch much TV this month….