Shamelessly stolen from Kottke.org, here’s my media diet for January 2022.

Movies

• The French Dispatch: Arguably the most Wes Anderson-y Wes Anderson movie ever, I had a great time with this. Why did it take so long for him to cast Jeffrey Wright in one of his films? His voice + Anderson’s dialogue = A JOY. (A-)
• Underwater: What if Alien but under the sea? This will be fun to revisit on FX on a lazy Sunday. (B-)
• Ghostbusters: Afterlife: Even if I accept that a character has changed very dramatically for the plot to occur how it has, it doesn’t change how much the third act is bungled to make way for the warm hug of nostalgia. (C-)
• Last Night in Soho: Adored this. When will someone let Edgar Wright make a damned musical? And now to play the soundtrack on repeat… (A)
• Eternals: The least Marvel Cinematic Universe-y Marvel Cinematic Universe movie, the reach of what Chloe Zhao tried to do here definitely exceeded her grasp. Gorgeous cinematography, solid performances and great effects let down by a weird script, including a baffling blip of an ending. Would’ve made a better Disney+ series, I think. (C)

TV

• The Book of Boba Fett: The story is slight, but I still go gaga for practical character work. Would’ve loved less flashbacks, though. (B-)
• Peacemaker: Better than the movie which birthed it — and I liked The Suicide Squad! John Cena is a much better actor than I think any of us expected. It’s nice to see James Gunn back in Super-mode. Some serious ear-worms on the soundtrack. (A-)
• The Afterparty: Since Clone High, I’ve been into everything Phil Lord and Chris Miller have done, and this is no exception. A millennial whodunnit with a fun central conceit — each episode is each suspects story, and each story fits into a different genre format. 3 episodes so far on Apple TV+, and I can’t wait for the rest! (A)

Comics

• Non-Stop Spider-Man, Vol. 1: Big Brain Play by Joe Kelly and Chris Bachalo: A really awesome and kinetic trade for…three issues. Then the fill-in artists come in and do a poor job of matching what Bachalo was trying to do. Went from a “Hey? Do you love Spider-Man and want an awesome, non-canon heavy comic to read" instant recommendation to a blah read instantly. (C+)
• Daredevil by Chip Zdarsky, Vol. 6: Doing Time by Chip Zdarsky & Marco Checcetto: Some issues tying into the King in Black storyline aren’t great, but everything with Elektra-As-Daredevil absolutely rules. I adore this run. (B+)
• Amazing Spider-Man: Beyond, Vol. 1 by Kelly Thompson, Saladin Ahmed, Zeb Wells, Patrick Gleason, and Michael Dowling: As a kid of the 90’s, I’m very excited for the return of Ben Reilly in the spider-suit, but I have to say, the whole setup of this book, involving the Beyond Corporation, feels like a great groundwork for another, non-Spider-Man book. I enjoyed what I read, but it definitely didn’t scratch the Spider-Itch properly. (B-)

Books

• All About Me!: My Remarkable Life in Show Business by Mel Brooks: Some people write how they talk. Mel Brooks is one of them. It’s like having an audiobook of his life story in text form. This probably means that the audiobook is great too. (A)

Music

• It was a light month for album releases, so I’ve been spinning my personal radio station on Apple Music quite a bit. Apple Music: They Don’t Promote COVID-19 Misinformationâ„¢

Other

• Cooking has been fun — Sam and I got into Hello Fresh a few months back, and I’m getting all the more confident in the kitchen. Plus, I seem to be losing weight from my change in diet alone. Bonus.

See you next month, for another round. I think.