There's so much to consume these days. Too much, really. I try to stay on top of things as best as I can, but when you're working a full-tine job, hosting a podcast, and trying to consume as much media as possible, things can slip through the cracks. I don't get to see or read all that I want to, and I'm not able to write about all of the things I do watch or read. I'm getting better at it, but this post is going to help. Think of it as a net: a catch-all for me to talk about the things that I took in throughout the month. This post will typically be about things I've watched, read, and listened to, but since there really wasn't any music released that I took in, it'll seem a little shorter this time around. Let's dive in.
What I Watched
News of the World
While I enjoyed this movie, I just didn't feel too strongly one way or another about it. Tom Hanks is great, and in a lot of cases, a great performance from him could carry a movie where everyone else is relatively unknown. This time around, there's not enough support around him to set things over the top. It's a beautifully shot period piece, and the narrative does a great job of exposing Hanks's character's mannerisms and motivations little by little before the film's conclusion. I liked it, the only problem was I expected to love it.
The Little Things Something should have flicked on in my brain when I saw that a movie starring 3 Oscar Winners (Rami Malek and Denzel Washington sharing the leads, with Jared Leto in a scene-stealing supporting role) was being released in January, the movie world's graveyard month. Still, I had hope, and for the most part, it was rewarded. These three actors are enough to carry the movie, but not enough to hide its flaws. There is simply no worthwhile role given to a female actor in the film, and there were certainly places for one. The story was oddly-paced, which makes each twist in the plot a little less convincing. I've seen a lot of negative reviews for this one, and I think there's some merit to them, of course, but I also think that a lot of comes from the sense of wasted potential you'll feel after watching this one.
Derek Delgaudio's In & Of Itself Is it a magic show? A broadway art exhibition? A TED Talk? A paranormal experience? Is any of it even real? Whatever the answers to these questions are, if any of them can even be answered, is beside the point. The coolest part of In & Of Itself is that I truly don't know how to describe it. It's a very cool, mind-bending experience, and it's produced to perfection. You'll be thinking about it long after you watch it.
WandaVision
Note to self: just keep doubting what they're building in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It'll feel that much better when they prove, once again, that a great deal of care is being put into all of these projects. In a stark contrast (get it?) to their drop-you-into-the-middle-of-it style of filmmaking, WandaVision expertly employs a slow burn style to peel at the wallpaper of what's to be revealed in Phase 4 of the world's most successful film franchise. The narrative surrounding this series was that there was a sincere uncertainty for what purpose these series would serve. Through 5 of the 9 episodes of the first (only?) season of WandaVision, it's been made abundantly clear that these series are not only essential additions to the series, but the means by which the entire universe will shift.
What I Read
How to be an Anti-Racist by Ibram X. Kendi One of the must-read books to understand what it means to be black in today's America. This book has so much to teach to anyone who is seeking to make the world around them a better, or even if they just want to make themselves a better person. Kendi's style of blending the ideas of anti-racism with personal anecdotes that lead to the development of his ideology perfectly accentuates the idea that we all need to be reflective and proactive when combatting racism, both on an individual and a societal level.
Showboat: The Life of Kobe Bryant by Roland Lazenby Telling the story of one of the most iconic basketball players of all time, Showboat does an excellent job of highlighting the sacrifices Kobe Bryant made both on and off the court to achieve the greatness he was convinced was meant for him. Lazenby's biography covers Bryant's life through the end of his polarizing NBA career, and Lazenby does an incredible job of staying neutral, and never shifting his story too far into a celebration of his accomplishments or a degradation of his character. Lazenby spends enough time painting both sides of the story that any reader with any prior opinion will see the validity of the other side.
Confessions of a Video Vixen by Karrine Steffans
Following the rapid rise and fall of "Superhead," one of the most sought-after stars of hip hop music videos in the early 2000s, Confessions exposes the dark side of those who seek to achieve fame, and the struggles that one must undergo to achieve it. Steffans's stories of her upbringing were heartbreaking, and as her story goes from one chronicle of abuse to another, you can see how the desperation to escape her youth shaped her search for value in her early adulthood. While it appears that Steffans's objective shifts from discussing her upbringing and trauma to naming the names of her many sexual partners from her time in LA, there is definitely enough here to prove a worthwhile read.
Looking forward to February, it's going to start picking up very quickly this year. We've got movies like Nomadland, Malcolm and Marie, Judas and Black Messaiah, and Land coming out, while the NFL season ends with a great matchup in the Super Bowl. The NBA is rolling along, and we'll have some MLB/NFL Hot Stove cooking up as well, as we march toward the NCAA basketball tournaments (get it?). Gotta say, after what I've seen the last two weeks, what I'm most looking forward to is the end of WandaVision. Episode 5 dropped a bombshell at the ending, and with four episodes left, I'm thinking we're just getting started. Let's see what February brings us.
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