February shoutouts
The flop months.
My recent birthday was a welcome highlight to a stretch of months that are kind of uneventful for most of us, I think. The comedown from the holidays is sometimes sad but I’m working to fill these months with lots of things I love. An impending wedding anniversary and our delayed honeymoon are things I’m very much looking forward to and I hope your March is filled with cool moments.
Below find an abbreviated version of my monthly newsletter, which you can subscribe to at the “Newsletter” button down below.
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It’s been a long time since I was so taken with a movie that I had to rewatch it almost immediately. I didn’t know what to expect from the black comedy-thriller “Rotting in the Sun,” and that’s a feeling that continued throughout the entire film. I won’t reveal what happens about 30 minutes into the movie but my jaw dropped — and the rest of the movie does a “Parasite”-esque switch up in genre as the film suddenly becomes something else completely. Chilean director Sebastián Silva also stars as himself in the film, as does a comedian-influencer Jordan Firstman — both in heightened versions of themselves that are anything but vain. Late last year, Emerald Fennell’s “Saltburn” shocked many a viewer but “Rotting in the Sun” makes that movie seem like Pixar stuff. The film features brief moments of non-simulated sex and just generally everyone being their worst selves — exercise caution. Otherwise, enjoy one of the funniest and most surprising films of 2023.
“Rotting in the Sun” is available to stream with a MUBI subscription and available to rent or buy on Apple TV+ and VUDU.
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Nothing about Sloane Crosley's latest release — a memoir about her experience being robbed, then losing her best friend, and then going through a global pandemic along with the rest of the world — should be as fun as it is. Nevertheless, the acclaimed prose stylist behind 2022's "Cult Classic" is back with another sharply observed peek into her world — and how it all fell apart one day.
“Grief is for People” is available everywhere now.
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Whenever I tell people that unironically MGMT is one of my favorite bands, they inevitably think I’m a huge fan of their iconic very mainstream first string of late aughts singles, “Electric Feel,” “Kids” and “Time to Pretend.” Those songs are absolutely magical and probably among some of the “classics” of my specific age group (old-but-not-the-oldest-millennials) but it’s far from their best work. It’s their work since then that made me such a fan — and their fifth album, “Loss of Life” is no different. Operating like something akin to a sister album to their 2010 masterpiece “Congratulations,” their most recent outing delivers on that album’s Pink Floyd-esque garage rock/neo-psych prog pop (I don’t know how much more specific I can be) but amps up the soundscape with influences of everything from Jimmy Buffett, Wilson Phillips, Guns N’ Roses and Steely Dan. Now into their 40s, this band that came with me through college, into young adulthood and now adult-adulthood, feels like a weird warm jacket. I still need more time to digest this one but immediate standouts are the Todd Rundgren-conjuring “People in the Streets,” the glam-rock romp “Bubblegum Dog” and the reflective power ballad “Nothing Changes.”
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Listening to a true crime podcast is very 2015 of me and you know, that’s OK. What is different these days is that I’m aiming for conscious consumption of these kinds of stories. “Three” is created in partnership with the family of Skylar Neese, a 16 year-old who disappeared in West Virginia in 2012, to illustrate how both they and Skylar were failed by law enforcement and why they’re working to affect change. It’s a story about friendship dynamics, about secrets and about three girls who went into the woods one late night.
The first four episodes of “Three” are currently available to stream wherever you listen to podcasts.
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No one told me in 2020 that “The Hills”/“The City” star Whitney Port rewatched the entirety of those two shows, in addition to the show that spawned them, “Laguna Beach.” I was late but I’m here now. Whitney was always my favorite — the bookish, nice one with perfect skin —and getting reacquainted with her (and meeting her charming husband Adam) through her “Reacting to ‘The Hills’” YouTube series has been a delight. Her skin is still perfect and her insight into these unique quasi-reality shows makes for a relaxing and fun way to take a throwback stroll through Los Angeles in 2006.
All of Whitney and Adam’s rewatches are available for free on her YouTube page.
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I’ve been meaning to watch this acclaimed 1984 drama by Wim Wenders for years. Though I have Wenders’ latest, “Perfect Days,” in my to-watch queue, I decided to check out his most popular movie first. This very slow, very quiet film uses surreality and silence to tell this fairly simple story of family reunion and the search for self — but it’s also very fun. The film’s ending at first felt out of place for me but then it made perfect sense and I sat thinking about it for a while.
“Paris, Texas” is available to stream with Max or the Criterion Channel subscriptions. It can also be rented or purchased through most digital video platforms.
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MINI-MINI MIXTAPE
“Gen-X Cops” — Vampire Weekend (Another old favorite band (sensing a trend in this newsletter) returns with two new tracks showing that these college rock-indie pop idols still have it. “Gen-X Cops” is a stuttering guitar-led groove that has an effusive energy sorely missing in lots of popular music lately. Their other new song from the forthcoming “Only God Was Above Us,” is the summery “Capricorn,” which wouldn’t have been out of place on the band’s first album back in 2008)
"Fashion Icon" — Aaliyah’s Interlude (This artist’s debut single “IT Girl” was a previous newsletter inclusion, so I was excited to hear she’d released a new song. Upon pressing play I thought, “This is awful” and then 20 seconds later thought, “This is great.”)