Good morning. Well. It’s morning now, but it won’t be morning when I get this finally sent. Not on the east coast anyway. Should “east coast” be capitalized? Hrm. I wonder. Still positive, though I swear the line took forever to appear, way longer than the control, and it was way more faint in the end. That means something, right? I really want this to end. The novelty has long since warn off and I miss my family and I got shit to do. This is a giant bummer.
Slept till 10:30, which was awesome. I got up at 8 and peed and went back to bed and just forced myself to rest rest rest, because, you know, not getting enough rest as I sit in the same chair for six to eight hours watching movies all day.
I know these emails are pointless and short and boring this week, being sick is boring. But I do feel compelled to capture that tedium, or at least try to. Every day I wake up and think “oh god, I cannot bear to write a GMHHAY today” and every day, so far, I have rallied. I’m very proud of that. Artists’ Way and all that. Also, I warned you. This really is a daily email about nothing.
Okay let’s do some movie reviews. I’ve now watched eighteen movies during my quarantine, including two re-watches. I think there are about six more in my watchlist, so I am good for today, and even if I end up negative tomorrow I will have to stay in here one more night so have that sorted. If I’m positive tomorrow morning, god help me, well, I will need three more movies. So much stuff is not out on streaming yet, it is very frustrating: EO, Women Talking, Return to Seoul, Living. Was hoping one or two of them to show up today, being friday, but no luck.
So, yesterday.
Kimi: Tech thriller, Soderberg, Zoe Kravitz, solid. Taught, fast paced. One or two gripes about the tech portrayal but far fewer than most films. Didn’t Soderbergh say he was going to retire or something like that? Guy has done a lot of directing since then. Did anyone watch The Knick? Was it good? Dude directed, like, all of it? That is crazy. Hardest working retiree in show business.
The Eternal Daughter: really fantastic. Just a great film all around. Tilda Swinton plays a mother and her daughter. Two roles. Small cast, Covid film, filmed on a single location. Spooky. Slow. Atmospheric. Lovely. Man Tilda really killed it this year two of the best films.
Cha Cha Real Smooth: I guess you could call it a coming-of-age film, but the coming-of-age is post college, into adulthood, not the usual high school graduation era coming-of-age plot. A comedy, but one with heart. Neo baby Dakota Johnson plays her role very well, it could have gone poorly, it’s a role of quiet enigma and it could easily have failed but she really makes it work. The main star guy I don’t know who he is but he had a solid charisma and fun. Oh I just looked him up and a) not in anything I’ve ever seen but b) is the director of the film! Well, that is very impressive. I am impressed. This was a solid film. Kinda like the Garden State for this generation. Had some real good music too, like that Majical Cloudz song I really love. Hrm I just looked up Majical Clouds to make sure I spelled it right and it turns out he is a nepo baby too — son of Windham Earl from Twin Peaks. Man, they really are everywhere. The director of Cha Cha Real Snooth, Cooper Raif, does not seem to be a nep baby.
I dunno I mean I guess the whole “nepo baby” exercise is… useful? Interesting? Fun from a trivia POV? It’s like… probably pretty hard to have a successful career as an actor if you’re not a good actor, even if your parents were famous. But also it sure is a lot easier to be given a shot. And of course, most Americans are sort of nepo babies to some extent, I’m a nepo baby of a functioning public education system and strong labor unions and rule of law. I think it’s more of a useful, educational exercise than some sort of tarring and feathering. It’s so ingrained into America that we all have an equal shot at success and it is so manifestly, completely a giant lie that it’s hard for us to reconcile the two and to figure out what that means. It seems unreasonable to begrudge a child to take what they have learned from their parents and run with it.
It’s almost like we should completely ditch the idea of any human individual “doing something on their own,” but I suppose we are not ready for that as a culture.
It’s a real balancing act being proud of your accomplishments while acknowledging you only played a small part in them. Not something we are naturally good at. At least, I’m not.
Okay well that wore me out I’m gonna go curl up in my chair under a blanket for the rest of the day now.
Some modern classical for you today. I know there’s a lot of Philip Glass on here (creator of the dong sound on the Glass Onion island), but it’s also… not? Like they’re all collabs, or covers, or something. I don’t know. I haven’t investigated. Can he possibly be that prolific? I am a dilettante when it comes to him.
Have a lovely New Year’s Eve and Happy New Year. I’ll be back on Monday with some year-end lists!