Friday Snapshot: Shaking off the January blues
Thank god we're not all legally required to have hot takes on Doctor Dolittle
How’s your Friday going?
I’m going to wrap mine up by sharing the stage with a Henry Rollins hologram. So I’ve got that going for me. Which is nice.
I’m not going to do many columns here that are locked down to particular publication dates. Instead, there will be formats I observe sometimes as we discuss things. I’ll make one exception, though. On Friday, let’s check-in as we head into the weekend. I’m not going to write about most movies pre-release anymore, because I think that’s part of what creates the weird adversarial position between critics and audiences. It’s not about me seeing it first and telling you how to spend your money. There are going to be movies that I skip, and I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that. At the age of 50, I have a much better idea of what I am or am not interested in, and more than anything, I resent feeling like my time’s being wasted. Why would I take something that wasted my time, then waste more time writing about it, and waste your time reading about it? Everything you do or don’t write about is a choice, and either you’re writing about things you think have genuine value, or you’re just churning through everything you’re told to churn through.
January is always a strange month if you’re writing to the studio’s calendar, and I opted to sit out a lot of this stuff. I don’t care about Doctor Dolittle, and it wasn’t convenient to make it to Underwater when it screened. I might have seen Bad Boys For Life, but didn’t hear about it in time. All of those are movies I’ll eventually see at home if I care enough to do so, but that did nothing to convince me that I had to go out and see them immediately.
I’m more interested in the smaller stuff. I just saw Color Out of Space and Guns Akimbo, and I’m watching Come to Daddy this weekend. I want to see VHYes more than any of the big-budget stuff that’s already come out this year. I’ll start to catch up with The Gentlemen and The Turning next week, and then I’m genuinely curious about both Gretel & Hansel and The Rhythm Section because I like the filmmakers involved. If I can, I’ll try to sneak in screenings of The Lodge and The Assistant as well. Even without going anywhere near Sundance, there’s plenty to keep me busy.
I will review some bigger titles pre-release, and the first movie I’ll do that with this year is Birds of Prey, which I’m genuinely excited to see. I think that last trailer was terrific, and it’ll be a kick to see this one big and loud. For everything else, I am still working out how I’ll be writing about things. I think I’d like to talk about more films, which means less overall verbiage on each one, a habit that is hard for me to break. Checking in on Friday is a good idea just so I can tell you guys what I’ve been reading and watching and playing, and if there’s something that I think is really worth your attention right this minute, this will be the place I give you that heads-up.
I’m still writing that long-form piece about the Terminator franchise. I didn’t finish it last fall because, frankly, I felt like I was going to be an asshole about it if I published in that moment. That’s not the point. My disappointments as a Terminator fan are totally different from my observations as a critic, and sometimes it’s not easy to clarify that in print. If I’m going to post that as a book at the Pulp & Popcorn Store, then I need to actually put together something that’s worth your time and your repeat attention.
Oh, yes, there will still be things that are put up for sale at the Pulp & Popcorn Store. But now, I’m going to be able to offer something here and something there and have those things be different. I won’t be using one to feed the other the way I was with the Patreon. I may give you guys a preview here, but what I write for you as subscribers is not going to be the same as what I publish elsewhere.
For example, did I mention I might be working in TV again? Well, I might. There are a number of different things in the offing. And then again, I might not. All of those could evaporate. It’s happened before. Whatever the case, I will be discussing those things here, as I can, but obviously, you’d get something that’s separate from the TV work, and not just an advertisement for it. I want it all to work together instead of feeling like I can’t focus on any of it. The same thing with the books… as I’m working on them, I’ll share little bits and pieces and I’ll also start to get into the process with you. That’s the point of having a newsletter. The format can be super-loose and responsive to what’s going on, and none of that is going to change the fact that I am writing ongoing long-form cultural criticism.
Next week, as part of the 2019 wrap-up, I’ll finally be writing about Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. Until now, I have been strangely quiet about the film. I have my reasons. I’m also looking at doing a few interviews for the newsletter, and if I do, they’re hopefully going to be part of the way we shift the schedule for when and how we talk about things. I don’t think the best conversations happen at the moment you put something out into the world, and talking to someone five or ten years down the road about a film gives you a very different framework for that conversation. We’ll see if I’m right, and if you get something new from this approach.
Oh, and that Rollins hologram I mentioned? That’s part of tonight’s screening of Freaked, the film by Alex Winter and Tom Stern. I’m moderating the Q&A afterward, and it’s a huge panel. There are a total of 12 people joining us, including Catherine Hardwicke (who was the film’s production designer), several of the key make-up effects artists, some of the cast, Paul Leary from the Butthole Surfers, and Henry Motherfucking Rollins. I mean. I just. Holy shit. I was a teenage punk, and Black Flag was a big deal to me. The idea that I’m meeting him tonight and then moderating a panel with him on it is one of those moments where I have to remind myself that this is not a “job” I do. It is a privilege. I am very lucky to have spent my entire adult life pursuing this crazy interest of mine and meeting and working with people who have influenced me profoundly. Even now, even after everything I’ve done, I am still delighted by every one of these conversations. If you’re going to be there tonight, please feel free to say hi.
Each week, as we do this snapshot, I’ll wrap it up with a list of what I’ve been reading and watching. If something’s particularly great, I’ll bold it.
I’ll have a discussion thread for you here tomorrow, and we can talk about any of this, as well as anything you guys have been reading and watching that you want to recommend, and then we’ll get back into the 2019 wrap-up next week.
THIS WEEK’S BOOKS: Rick Baker: Metamorphosis, Rick Baker and J.W. Rinzler; Kill Creek, Scott Thomas; Nine Princes in Amber, Roger Zelazny; My Favorite Thing Is Monsters, Emil Ferris
THIS WEEK’S COMICS: Batman #86; Amazing Spider-Man #37; Immortal Hulk #29; New Mutants #5; Savage Avengers #9; X-Force #5; Star Wars: The Rise of Kylo Ren #2; Second Coming #6; Dead Eyes #4; Marvels X #1
THIS WEEK’S TV: Succession (S1, 7-10; S2, 1-2); The Circle (S1 9-12)
THIS WEEK’S GAMING: Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey
THIS WEEK’S MOVIES: Jay and Silent Bob Reboot, Who is Killing the Great Chefs Of Europe?, Simon, Hardly Working, The X-Files: Fight The Future, The Monkey’s Uncle, Shogun Assassin, Until The End of the World (Director’s Cut), Guns Akimbo, Color Out Of Space, Heaven Can Wait, Taking Off, Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure
Image courtesy Warner Bros Pictures/DC Entertainment