February in Review

Well. What a year that month was.

On Feb. 1, I wrote on Instagram that I used to hate February but over the past few years, I'd started to like it more – mostly because it isn't January. On this very blog, I wrote that I hoped February would be "calmer" than January was.

This particular February made me a fool, with the exception of the love I was able to feel in the worst of it.

Many others have already written informative and thoughtful things about what Texas went through this past month. My words – if I was sure I could even muster any – wouldn't add anything to the conversation or the healing process. It was a failure. It was a catastrophe. We can't let it happen again.

With the one-year mark of both the end of the before and the beginning of this never-ending now, coupled with old politics and new pain added on top, I'm feeling heavy. My brain is cloudy, my body is slow, my heart is bruised. I feel confused and vulnerable, my two least favorite states. I'm striving for optimism and it's taking all I've got.

So, here's to spring or the promise of it. It stings a bit to hope for new beginnings but I'm going to do it anyway.

Now for your regularly scheduled programming.

Rewatch: Kong: Skull Island. Somehow, I have become a person intensely invested in Legendary's Monsterverse. With the impending release of Godzilla vs. Kong, I decided to rewatch this and it is still sick as hell. I'm extremely #TeamKong.

Malcolm & Marie

This movie made me feel terrible. It's nice to look at and some of the acting is quite good. But watching it was an emotional undertaking. I'm still stunned by how genuine the nice, loving scenes managed to feel just breaths away from scenes of these characters saying the meanest things I've ever heard. It gave me a hangover. 

Sightless

Sometimes, when you are waiting for a guest to arrive and they keep being delayed, you make questionable choices. Like deciding to watch a Netflix original psychological thriller starring someone from Riverdale. Honestly, I thought it would be garbage, but about 75% of it is just boring. Then it kind-of goes off the rails – which isn't to say it gets good, but it does get interesting. Not great, certainly not the worst. 

Judas and the Black Messiah 

I miss movie theaters more than is reasonable, but I'm glad we are still able to see real Cinema™ in some way. This movie is a bit long, but it's unmistakably a good movie. We're very lucky to be watching at a time when both Daniel Kaluuya and LaKeith Stanfield are working.

Save Yourselves!

This was fun! Feels inspired by Edgar Wright's Cornetto trilogy, which is high praise.

Godzilla: King of Monsters

Too many bad reviews and not enough real reason to watch convinced me it was fine to skip Godzilla (2014), but this one felt necessary and honestly, I wanted to see how all the titans looked. The thing about this movie is the monster stuff is cool and the human stuff is not and there is, tragically, more human stuff. If Godzilla vs. Kong isn't 90% what the title promises, we march.

The Nice Guys

Tim and I watched this in the brief period of time where the snow was still novel and pretty. I liked it! I don’t know why Ryan Gosling does drama when he’s so good at comedy.

Nomadland

Thank you, Chloé Zhao. I had tears in my eyes basically the whole time until I was finally actively sobbing. I don't want to say too much about this movie because everyone should simply watch it. Theater-style with the lights off, your phone on silent, giving it your full attention. It's stunning.

I Care A Lot

This movie was entertaining in a "people are horrible" way (and also Chris Messina is handsome), but it didn't quite give me what I wanted. What it did give me is an absolute need for a movie where Rosamund Pike and Charlize Theron play sisters trying to out ice each other.

In TV, I've been rewatching old episodes of High Maintenance (a comfort show at this point), Tim and I have continued to watch Community and when we were literally trapped inside, I got him hooked on Game of Thrones. Olenna Tyrell is still a goal.

Incredibly, I've kept up my reading streak. I finished three books in February just like I did in January. How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy by Jenny Odell wormed its way into my brain in ways I feel are permanent. Things We Lost in the Fire by Mariana Enríquez was often well-written but felt lacking. And None Shall Sleep by Ellie Marney was like cocktail of bits from all my favorite serial-killer-hunting media with just enough originality to keep it from being too referential. I really enjoyed it. 

I also started reading The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman, which I was enjoying but my library loan expired before I got too far. I'll come back to it. Currently, Tim and I are a little over halfway through Murder on the Orient Express and I'm reading Twilight of the Gods: A Journey to the End of Classic Rock by Steven Hyden.

Finally, here's what Winter 2021 sounded like because according to me, it's now spring.