Things have been heavy lately. The news is horrible; if you’re like me, you have cut off a good portion of news for your sanity and self-care. The weather is hot and muggy; delightful June of cool nights and pool days will be a distant memory soon as we head into the dog days of summer. The pandemic has been long and is stretching out still, like a ghost over our heads. Changes have been made to our routines and to our relationships. Every decision right now takes a lot of brain power; inflation makes every dollar count. It’s all exhausting.

Then, bam! Dogfighting jets!

When I listened to the audio of Jenny Slate's essay collection, Little Weirds, a couple of months ago, I had no idea it would be so emotionally prescient.

Sometimes, the Academy gets it right. 

The triumph of Bong Joon-Ho’s masterpiece, Parasite, at the 92nd Academy Awards was thrilling, gratifying, and – frankly – surprising. The joke about the Oscars is that rarely does the year's best picture win Best Picture. This is why I wrote a blog last year, The Retroactive Academy Awards, to sort of re-examine previous winners and see if they still cut the mustard. 

Like fellow blogger Nicole Falcone, one of my favorite movies of 2019 is Rian Johnson’s murder mystery Knives Out. Clever, funny, pointed, and just plain fun, Knives Out gave me an adrenaline rush of pure cinematic satisfaction that still hasn’t worn off as of this writing.