Happy New Year...: December Roundup

It's sort of corny to me to be sappy and reflective in a genuine way because things are happening good and bad we still need to believe in love blah blah blah but it's been a wild time for news and culture and life I have had multiple jobs and developed dozens of skills which is extremely on brand for my spirit. Yep yep cheers to more wisdom and more skill building to add to the spiritual and physical toolbelt. You got more reflecting to do? Go look in the mirror or walk by the beach by yourself and tell yourself you're the alpha and the omega, amen.

Podcast Alley

Yeah Podcasts oh man you know they get me through my workout and my errands. There were a couple gems I listened to this month:

Pod Damn America: DreadTube: Eyes Wide Shut - Technically a Christmas Story

Merry Holidays. This year in your audio stocking it's another installment of DreadTube: the audio essay series. This ep Jake explains his favorite technically a Christmas movie movie, Stanley Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut. Obviously, SPOILER WARNING if you haven't seen it, this ep will give away the whole story. (Also spoiler it's about capitalism)

Trillbilly Worker's Party - Born to Party, Forced to Work

A leftist podcast with hosts based in the southeast United States. A perspective that most people are not exposed to. Worth listening to.

-Topic Break-

I don't know who is even reading this but I do have a suggestion for podcasts for people or people who are friends with people who mean well but still don't get the gravity of what is happening in the world. The following is a good entry towards better politics and knowledge. A stepping stone to more radical thinking.

Unfucking the Republic

"A smart, funny and searing political podcast sprinkled with a healthy dose of profanity. Each episode is a deep and delicious audio dive into a particular subject that helps explain how we arrived in Bizarro America, the funhouse mirror version of what was originally intended."

Well they said it better than I could. Over the year and a half it's been running UNFTR has been releasing episodes on things such as the Public Education System, The Clinton Presidency, Healthcare and Hospitals, the Black-Jewish Divide, etc. They also have a substack that is free to subscribe to. Comical. Includes skits and funny voices while being genuine about being a responsible source of information and inspiration.

Film Bro Corner

Well it has been quite the year and I have watched a whole lot of films. 200 in fact. Soon I will compile a list of my favorite movies of 2022 this month.

The last couple months were a little sparse because the lengthening darkness exhausts but with the invigoration of winter I revved it up this month. Additionally, I got some likes on my reviews guess I'm compelling and relatable. A few of my favorite films of the year came out this month. There's films that are groundbreaking and then there are films that are a good time decent time and that was Violent Night and Puss in Boots.

Because I like to feel mildly irritated, I watched a few terrible Christmas Netflix movies. Honestly that is it's own genre that I'm sure people have written articles or video essay scripts about. I did watch Lindsay Lohan's Christmas film. It's not great at all, but good for her. I did write some serious reviews for movies this month so I implore you to check them out if you are curious about any of these films.

The Criterion Channel uploaded a bunch of screwball comedies so I checked some of those out. A few months ago a podcast I occasionally listen to had in their archives a theoretical episode on the screwball comedy. What I gathered from the episode was that screwballs are more progressive than romantic comedies of today because the former are about two becoming two while the latter are about two becoming one and there is no room for material growth or development. The ones I watched were fun.

Film Shorts aren't really my thing, but this month I slogged through a bunch. Perhaps for 2023 I will do my best to spread that out over the entire year rather than one month. I did see a few shorts that I really enjoyed. It can feel extremely difficult to be impactful in so little time, but it can be done.

I have a great admiration for many of the older films I watched this year. They are the foundation of what we have today. This art form has been corrupted by capital and capitalism and it is telling what is pushed upon us to look up to and admire nowadays.

Remy Reads (and Writes?)

I keep buying books when the only shelf I have is broken and buckling under the weight of the books on it.

I wrote about the bookstores I visited in November , a book review , and about Death Doulas.

I've started a lot of books including Brave New World, now finished, and 1984. I plan to write a piece on those in relation to each other, film, as well current dystopian discourse. Keep an eye out.

I will have drafted a good bunch of this newsletter on one of my Christmas presents. It was languishing in its box since the first week of December, but I promised my mom that I would not open it until Christmas. I might write a mini review on this bespoke word processor. Who knows.

Cheers to more writing more creation and more film watching. Talk soon.