Saurus's 2022 Movie Roundup

(Wow it's been so long since I made a post (2 years) that I forgot how to use this platform.)

Ok folks, here we go with my round-up of all the movies I watched in 2022, with ~6 movies watched in theaters and the rest on streaming. I find it extremely difficult to rank movies (i.e., is ranking based on perceived quality or enjoyment despite quality? like, how can you compare a pensive arthouse movie to a hilariously campy Christmas rom-com?), so please keep in mind that rankings are arbitrary and subject to change. 

1. Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery. This movie is a really good time, bigger and splashier than the last. And great looks from costume designer Jenny Eagan!
2. Everything Everywhere All At Once. Fantastic story and acting (and I usually don't even like action movies). I'm rooting for everyone Asian this awards season. 
3. Enola Holmes 2. Millie Bobby Brown is such a star, whew. I think this one was maybe even better than its predecessor, which was very fun and charming to begin with.
4. Rosaline. Very cute and funny, very rewatchable. I want to be BFFs with Kaitlyn Dever.
5. Catherine, Called Birdy. Another cute and funny coming-of-age story, with fun bits for Andrew Scott as a hot medieval dad and Joe Alwyn as a hot uncle.
6. The Banshees of Inisherin. Men will cut off their own fingers instead of going to therapy. The premise of this story is extremely simple and odd, yet it's fun to see where it goes. Also, the Irish landscapes are stunning.
7. Decision to Leave. The first half was on point; the second half took some weird detours and the pacing felt a bit off. Beautifully shot though.
8. Fire Island. A clever and hilarious take on Pride and Prejudice. Is Bowen Yang not the sweetest most innocent Jane Bennet you've ever seen?
9. Crush. A very cute love story about queer girls whose plotline doesn't involve coming out or any homophobia or trauma. Yay! 
10. Marry Me. JLo playing basically herself is iconic. The songs are surprisingly catchy and for some reason this movie just works for me, despite the cliches. 
11. Do Revenge. Wild plot twists, and wilder outfits. This is a timely Gen Z take on high school with clear inspirations from such iconic movies as Mean Girls, Clueless, Heathers, and 10 Things I Hate About You. I hope it has similar staying power.
12. Turning Red. I really wanted to love this movie but only landed at "like." The main theme of the mother-child cultural conflict felt a little too on the noise. As far as the main metaphor of turning into a big red panda goes, I'm still unclear whether it's about learning to be in control, or being ok with not being in control, or what.
13. Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio. It's visually beautiful, but quite bleak. Pinocchio is also not quite as aesthetically cute as I would have liked but maybe that's the point?
14. I Want You Back. A solid rom-com with myriad exes and side characters who are a bit boring.
15. Falling For Christmas. Campy AF and fun as all hell. Lindsay Lohan has the best outfits as the glamorous hotel heiress. I like this movie way more than I should.
16. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. All the actors did a great job, but the script... Why wasn't Nakia in the first half of the movie? Does Namor want his kingdom to be hidden or to rule the world, because you can't have both. And also, I don't get the Blip and I don't want to know. 
17. Weird: The Al Yankovic Story. Proud of Daniel Radcliffe for doing whatever the hell he wants, including this aptly named movie that goes increasingly off the rails.
18. See How They Run. Not as funny or original as it wanted to be. I wanted more for Saoirse Ronan! She deserves a lead comedic role!
19. Christmas With You. This was a fun, lower-budget version of "Marry Me."
20. Something from Tiffany's. Rom-coms that start with the leads getting engaged to other people, and breaking up/falling in love over the course of a holiday season (which, let's recall, is a matter of days, a few weeks at best if we're being generous)... Oof.
21. Death on the Nile. Not memorable except for some now questionable casting of a certain male lead. Emma Mackey did her best though.
22. The Bob's Burgers Movie. This just felt like an extended TV episode. I thought the musical component was unnecessary if not annoying.
23. Wedding Season. I liked the cultural component but this movie played hard into every rom-com cliche, which was too much even for me. (A career-minded woman fake-dates some guy, who's secretly rich, in order to get her marriage-obsessed family to back off. Guess what happens.) 

Highbrow movies of 2022 I missed that I'm most excited to catch up on: Aftersun, Tár
Not highbrow movies: Bros, Disenchanted, Hocus Pocus 2, The Lost City

Christmas rom-coms with 2 dead moms (so that the female lead can bond with the DILF's precocious young daughter): Christmas With You, Falling For Christmas, Something From Tiffany's

Dactyl's 2021 Movie Roundup

After the dark days of 2020, the movies are back!  I will never again take for granted the movie theater experience -- no matter how much I love my couch and Netflix, seeing these in theaters remains special and vital.  Here's a roundup of the ones I caught in 2021.

11. The French Dispatch.  I couldn't connect with this movie -- what is it saying?  How do the 3 storylines tie together thematically?  The visuals were of course wonderful, but this ultimately lacked depth and purpose to me.

10. Black Widow.  Pretty generic action movie fare, but I'm looking forward to seeing more of Florence Pugh's character in the MCU, so it did its job.

9. Last Night in Soho.  This movie had the potential to be great but it went off the rails after halfway through.

8. A Quiet Place: Part II.  Not as good as the first one, but still solid and enjoyable.

7. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.  A lot of fun and a lovely homage to wuxia filmmaking (wrapped in Marvel packaging, of course).

6. In the Heights.  The first of several phenomenal movie musicals in 2021.  I loved this movie, but thought the story was a bit thinner than the others.

5. Spider-Man: No Way Home.  I can't remember the last time I felt so much pure, unadulterated joy at the movies.  Yes, this was fan service, but in the best way.

4. West Side Story.  A tale as old as time that somehow felt like an electric live wire.

3. Dune.  This was a near-perfect adaptation of the first part of this book; so, so impressive.  In Denis Villeneuve we trust!

2. CODA.  I can't recommend CODA enough -- it's moving and funny and optimistic and features an incredible cast and soundtrack.  This is the only film on this list that I didn't see in theaters, but its impact was indelible.

1. Tick, Tick Boom!  Sometimes you experience a work of art at the exact perfect moment, and that was Tick, Tick Boom! for me.  To be on the cusp of 30, in NYC, questioning whether you've made the right choices and how you want to spend your remaining time in this life -- watching this movie felt like meeting a soulmate.

Saurus’s 2020 Content Round-Up

 Here’s the (best of the) content that got me through 2020: 

*New = released in 2020. Old = released prior to 2020 (but new to me).

1. New TV:

1. Normal People on Hulu: very good acting. Be prepared to weep if you have not yet found your soulmate (lol jk soulmates don’t exist... I’m not bitter at all).

2. Never Have I Ever on Netflix: much laughter, much cry

3. The Babysitters’ Club on Netflix: so wholesome, so much better clothes than I wore as a preteen

2. Old TV: 

1. Anne with an E (S2 & S3) on Netflix: much lighter than the very bleak S1. I ship Anne Shirley and Gilbert Blythe (my childhood literary OTP)!

2. Brooklyn Nine-Nine on Hulu: A police show shouldn’t be allowed to be this funny, romantic, and generally delightful.

3. Psych on Amazon Prime: This is when “stupid” is a compliment because the main detective duo Shawn and Gus are so stupid yet so funny.

3. New music: 

1. Pop albums including: Fine Line by Harry Styles (this came out in Dec 2019 so I'm counting it as 2020); Future Nostalgia by Dua Lipa; and Positions by Ariana Grande.

2. The Prelude by Pink Sweat$. Every song on this EP is a banger. I’m especially in love with “17” and “At My Worst” which are both beautiful slow songs.

3. All the hits of TikTok including Doja Cat, Megan Thee Stallion, and “Blinding Lights” by The Weeknd which is good for running around in my bedroom while flailing my arms and calling it "exercise." Actually most of After Hours by The Weeknd is pretty good.

4. Old music: 

1. Ctrl by SZA. It’s so good ughhh

2. Happiness Begins by the Jonas Brothers. It is JOYFUL, okay

3. I fully became a stan of a bunch of pop stars this year, including Ariana Grande, Alessia Cara, Camila Cabello, and Kehlani. Not sorry.

5. New movies (I only watched 8 movies released in 2020 so there’s not a lot to pick from): 

1. Genuinely great: The Old Guard on Netflix 

2. Charming cast but kinda questionable plot: 

1. Palm Springs on Hulu - funny white people falling in love 

2. The Lovebirds on Netflix - very funny people of color re-falling in love

3. To All The Boys 2 on Netflix - John Ambrose deserved more!! Sorry for the spoiler.

3. Yay for LGBT representation but I was disappointed these weren’t actual rom-coms:

1. The Half of It on Netflix - so high school emo tbh

2. Happiest Season on Hulu - Kristen Stewart should have ended up with Aubrey Plaza!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sorry for another spoiler.

6. Old movies: 

1. 80s-90s Julia Roberts: Pretty Woman, Mystic Pizza, Steel Magnolias

2. The one and only Cher: Moonstruck, Mermaids… still need to watch The Witches of Eastwick

3. Legit old Cary Grant movies: His Girl Friday, To Catch A Thief, Charade

(photo source)

Dactyl’s 2020 Streaming Roundup

Movie theaters, you were my first love.  I will never give up on you, and I promise I’ll be back in due course.  In the meantime, here’s a list of the ten best things I watched while couch potatoing this year.

10. Enola Holmes (Netflix).  This is definitely a children’s movie and I enjoyed it very much.

9. High School Musical: The Musical: The Series (Disney+).  Please indulge me for a minute—this show was way better than it had any right to be.  At its worst, it was cookie cutter Disney Channel fare.  At its best, it was a less cruel, more authentic version of Glee and an unapologetic celebration of actual theater kids.

8. The Queen’s Gambit (Netflix).  Very solid all around.  Some parts of the story felt underdeveloped (tell me more about Jolene!), but overall I liked this a lot.

7. Bridgerton (Netflix).  Despite its gorgeous (and no doubt expensive) production design, Bridgerton is basically raunchy candy-coated trash.  It’s delicious and it never takes itself too seriously.  I’m addicted. 

6. Palm Springs (Hulu).  A zany, creative romantic comedy with just the right mix of humor and heart.  I really wish Cristin Milioti was in more movies.

5. Never Have I Ever (Netflix).  Probably the most bingeable show on this list.  Never Have I Ever was a breeze to watch but also has enough depth to warrant (hopefully) many more seasons to come.

4. Normal People (Hulu).  I hope Imogen Heap is getting royalties for the number of times I listened to “Hide and Seek” after watching this series.  Normal People made my cold dead heart feel like it was in my throat for 10 hours straight (in a good way!).

3. God’s Own Country (Hulu).  As a proud cinephile, I’m ashamed to admit I missed this one in 2017.  It’s a brilliant and unforgettable work of art—both searing and subtle, gut-wrenching and full of grace.  Josh O’Connor could have gone toe-to-toe with Timothée at the Oscars that year.

2. Anne with an E (Netflix).  A true hidden gem.  This show was so clearly written and produced by women, and it made me feel so celebrated and seen.  It breaks my heart that season 3 was its last, but the final episode (in particular, the final scene) was perfect.  Booking my tickets for PEI as soon as it’s safe to travel again.

1. Schitt’s Creek (Netflix).  I’m fully on this bandwagon and loving it.  The popularity of Schitt’s Creek this year with both viewers and critics affirms its place in TV history, and its thesis about the transformative power of love is sure to stand the test of time.  It is, quite simply, the best.

A Beginner's Guide to ASMR

It's hard to describe ASMR (Autonomous sensory meridian response) as a sensory phenomenon, but for the sake of this post I'll refer to it as a genre of YouTube videos in which creators ("ASMRtists") use various audio and visual stimuli ("triggers") to create a pleasant "tingly" sensation, usually along your head/scalp. ASMR seems to generate one of two responses in people: either 1) you get it and you love it, or 2) you don't get it and you think it's really weird. I fall in the former camp, as I find it very soothing with or without the head tingles, particularly as a way to wind down before bed. So, if you have ever felt a passing interest in exploring ASMR, here's a guide from me to you.

A quick note before we begin: a lot of creators will recommend listening with headphones for the best experience. I find that playing videos on my phone works just fine, but playing them on speakers (linked up to my computer) gets a bit too intense. 

Start with: Celebrity ASMR Interviews

A good entry point into ASMR are interviews with celebrities who, like you, typically don't really understand ASMR but have been asked to give it a go while talking about themselves (their favorite hobby). W Magazine has a great collection of celebrities experimenting with ASMR, to various degrees of success. 

• The best versions of these are when celebs take ASMR seriously, such as Kate Hudson for W, Gillian Anderson for Netflix, and Cardi B for W. Cardi B's video, pictured above, is arguably the most successful one out there, as you can see from its 39 million views, because she herself is an ASMR fan and actually knows what she's doing in the video. 
• The worst versions of these are when the celeb acts like ASMR is completely stupid or beneath them (e.g., Jake Gyllenhaal for W). 
• A milder but semi-annoying variant of this is when the celeb plays along but clearly doesn't get ASMR, as demonstrated by their giggling their whole time and commenting on how "silly" they feel (e.g., Gal Gadot for W).

You think you might like ASMR? Now try: 

Now we're going to have you explore ASMR by ASMRtists, i.e., non-famous creators who treat ASMR as a craft. It sounds like I'm mocking them but actually I like that they take it seriously. My favorite creator is ASMR blossom, but I also enjoy Slight Sounds ASMR and Made In France ASMR. There are a million different sound triggers to check out, including: 

• Classic sounds, e.g., crinkling of paper/plastic; tapping/scratching of wood; handling objects such as a leather pouch or a wooden hairbrush
• Talking sounds, which vary from mouth sounds to inaudible whispering to repeated words. Most ASMR creators are women, as you might guess, but there are definitely male voices out there too if that makes a difference.
• Visual stimuli, e.g., face touching (the creator strokes the camera with their finger... yes I swear this is non-sexual) or neck/back massage (get ready to feel very jealous)
• Mukbang, or eating sounds. I don't personally like this so I won't link to anything, but this is very popular and there are whole channels devoted to this.
• Mic brushing, where the creator uses a makeup brush or their fingers to tap, scratch, brush, or in some other way touch their microphone such that it sounds like your ears are being scratched. It's a bit intense for me but again, some people really like it.
• Most ASMR is very slow/deliberate but I like some fast/aggressive variants, where the creator might do some high-paced tapping, snapping, etc. 

To figure out what sounds you like most, I recommend watching a video such as this which has a lot of triggers in a short amount of time. 12 minutes seems like a long time but with 100 triggers, that works about to 7-8 seconds each. You might find that you really like the sound of glass being tapped but hate the sound of foam being scratched. It's obviously very subjective and personal, and as the good people of Reddit say, YMMV--your mileage may vary. 

I think you're ready for advanced ASMR: 

Now that you're cool with basic ASMR sounds, you're ready to graduate to... roleplay videos. Yes, this sounds sexual but once again, it's not. Personally, I enjoy those crinkling and tapping sounds, but after anywhere from 15-50 minutes of tapping (yes, some videos really are that long or longer), you tend to want something different. I've found that I really like roleplay videos where the creator talks to you and pretends to act something out, whether that's giving you a haircut (I like the metal cutting sounds) or administering an eye exam (no, it's not remotely medically accurate, but that's fine).

Get ready to feel very relaxed! Enjoy!