The Q1 Results Are In: My Recently Watched & Read
just a girl with her amc a-list & library card against the world
Happy end of Q1 to all my corporate baddies out there (or people who can do simple math). I’m typically not one for New Year’s resolutions, but this year I began habitually writing down everything I watch and read. I think I’ve finally broken free from the tunnel vision that college can cause—for once, I have the time and energy to engage in things other than school work. But, all of this watching and reading has me thinking… what should I do with what I consume? Stories can offer a variety of things—they distract, entertain, inspire, (insert adjective here). Even more so, how does one rate what they consume? The factors that play into ratings are endless. When I spend hours at the movies, days in a book, and weeks with a series, I need to at least find them interesting. With fine art, I have a much easier time. I can come back to it easily. No matter how unsettling, weird, or boring, I’m able to critique artwork for what it’s providing or lacking; I can accept its meaning.
Today I’m going to attempt to rate my Q1 media consumption on a scale of 0-5 tulips (hello, branding). My criteria relies on two things. First, how did I feel during the movie/book/series? Was I immersed? Bored? Confused? Gobsmacked? Second, how did I feel after? Did I keep thinking about the story days after leaving the theater, after closing the cover? I’ve also whittled down my thoughts into one sentence each (for everyone’s sanity). DISCLAIMER: I’m just a girl trying to make sense of her silly opinions. Cue the recap!
MOVIES – 9 total
May December (2023 – watched at home) 🌷🌷
Weirdly intense piano disrupts an icky story, told in the form of a movie about a movie and filmed through a blurry, Vaseline-covered lens.
All of us Strangers (2023 – watched in theaters) 🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷
Heartbreaking and horny, traumatic and transcendent, candid and captivating, and possibly the most poignant 105 minutes I’ve spent staring at a screen.
Players (2024 – watched at home) 🌷🌷🌷🌷
Oh-so cute rom com where Jane the Virgin falls in love with Coach… but why is the brother from the Kissing Booth here?
Poor Things (2023 – watched in theaters) 🌷🌷
Steampunk Frankenstein attempts female empowerment through hyper-sexualization, but the costumes are really cool.
Les Misérables (2012 – watched in theaters) 🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷
Love, war, and justice for Éponine (you deserved more, especially after the best ballad I’ve ever heard).
Drive-Away Dolls (2024 – watched in theaters) 🌷🌷🌷
Three things I love—psychedelic Miley Cyrus, (beheaded) Pedro Pascal, lesbians—and yet I still couldn’t tell you what the hell this movie was about.
Queenpins (2021 – watched at home) 🌷
My only takeaway is that I mispronounce coupons as quepons.
Mean Girls The Musical (2024 – watched at home) 🌷🌷🌷
Two vegan jokes too many, the insufferable use of iPhones, and one talented Regina George.
Love Lies Bleeding (2024 – watched in theaters) 🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷
Jaw-dropping, mind-boggling, unapologetically-sexy action film proves queer representation doesn’t have to be as boring as a slow burn or as triggering as a coming out story.
BOOKS – 6 total
Book Lovers (2022, gifted hardcover) 🌷
Annoying main character continues the archetype that career-driven women can only be soft when introduced to an unrealistically charming man!
I Could Live Here Forever (2023 – Libby) 🌷🌷🌷
An evocative and raw viewpoint into how hard, yet how easy, it can be to love someone and the external factors that affect our internal feelings.
Never Let Me Go (2005, own paperback) 🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷
THIS is why I create art—to prove that I’m alive!
A Little Life (2015 – Libby) 🌷🌷🌷🌷
No thoughts, just tears… oh, and tell your friends you love them.
Daisy Jones & The Six (2019 – friend’s paperback) 🌷🌷🌷🌷
Groovy!
Mr. and Mrs. American Pie (2018 – library) 🌷🌷
How far is a GBF willing to go?—far apparently.
SERIES – 4 total
The Bear (2022 – now) 🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷
CHEF’S MF KISS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Abbott Elementary (2021 – now) 🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷
I started this the week I moved to Philly and now watching it feels like home.
One Day (2024) 🌷🌷🌷
All we have is now.
Fleabag (2016 – 2019) 🌷🌷🌷🌷
God, I love a woman’s deadpan humor.
What movie/book/series did you enjoy these past three months? :)