Viewing, January 2024
Now with commentary!
I watched a lot of good stuff to start the year. I started Somebody Somewhere at 2023’s end and tore through its first two seasons; it took a while to grab me, but once it did I was happily under its spell. (Can’t wait for the third season.) Speaking of, Sort Of’s third and final season premiered this month, with the last two episodes dropping today (2/9), I believe. I’ll be sorry to see that show go, even as it’s uneven and features one of my most hated characters in recent memory, the obnoxious-in-every-way 7ven. The series’ centering of non-binary and queer-spectrum folx could not be more important, or matter more at this exact moment.
And speaking of centering, its 10th anniversary prompted GQ to pen a great oral history of Looking, which then prompted me to do a series re-watch (along with its unfulfilling movie wrap-up - I still don’t believe that Patrick and Richie would end up together, and still attest the former would be better suited to be with Kevin). The series is a wonderful piece of work, and very much captures a moment in San Francisco gay history - a moment in which I was concurrently living, albeit not quite having the life of the Looking guys.
The essential Appalachian arts center Appalshop has started putting their entire archive of films, dating back to 1971 (!), on their YouTube channel, and please believe me when I tell you it’s a treasure trove. I can’t recommend heartily enough that you subscribe to both Appalshop’s newsletters and to their YT channel. Appalachian Genesis, their first-ever film, is quite a watch.
Other films worth mentioning from January: Dan Levy’s acting/directing/writing triple-play Good Grief, a really lovely examination of grief on a myriad of levels. The screenplay was mostly superb, and I was taking aback by the nuance of his acting. The Greatest Night in Pop is a fun, dishy, lots-of-great-footage doc about the recording of “We Are the World” that I recommend to any and all ‘80s kids. Nelson George’s Thriller 40 doc is way too hero-worshiping but again features lots of great recording studio footage, and for that reason is probably worth your time. And then there’s Todd Haynes’s May December, which everyone I know/respect thought was one of 2023’s best, but I not only didn’t care for it, but actually dislike it the more I think about it. Not every director gets it right every time, not even the greats like Haynes, so *shrug*.
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Somebody Somewhere S1/E3, “Egg Shells” (2022) (1/1)
Somebody Somewhere S1/E4, “Feast of St. Francis” (2022) (1/1)
Somebody Somewhere S1/E5, “Tee-Tee Pa-Pah” (2022) (1/1)
Somebody Somewhere S1/E6, “Life Could Be A Dream” (2022) (1/2)
Somebody Somewhere S1/E7, “Mrs. Diddles” (2022) (1/2)
Somebody Somewhere S2/E1, “NNP” (2023) (1/3)
Somebody Somewhere S2/E2, “#2” (2023) (1/3)
The Surfer’s Journal Presents: Chad Jackson” (The Surfer’s Journal, 2023) (1/3)
Somebody Somewhere S2/E3, “SLS” (2023) (1/3-4)
Somebody Somewhere S2/E4, “Keys Phone Cash ID” (2023) (1/4)
Somebody Somewhere S2/E5, “NMB NMP” (2023) (1/4)
Somebody Somewhere S2/E6, “Manhappiness” (2023) (1/4)
Somebody Somewhere S2/E7, “To Ed” (2023) (1/4)
Good Grief (Dan Levy, 2024) (1/6)
May December (Todd Haynes, 2023) (1/6)
Designing Women S1/E16, “Reese’s Friend” (1987) (1/6)
Designing Women S1/E17, “Nashville Bound” (1987) (1/6)
RuPaul’s Drag Race S10/E12, “American” (2018) (1/7)
“Sweeney Todd: Tiny Desk Concert” (NPR Music, 2023) (1/7)
Robbie Williams E1, “Part One: Let’s Get Wrecked” (2023) (1/7)
Robbie Williams E2, “Part Two: Nobody Someday” (2023) (1/7, unfinshed)
Starstruck S1/E1, “NYE” (2021) (1/13)
Starstruck S1/E2, “Spring” (2021) (1/13)
“Watch Bonnie Raitt & Don Was Win Album of the Year for Nick of Time in 1990” (Recording Academy/GRAMMYs, 2021) (1/13)
Surfing the Rust Belt (Anjali Paul, Max D’Amato, Tim Brutsman / Third Coast Surf Shop, 2019) (1/14)
Surfing the Heartland (James Vandermolen, 2023) (1/14)
“Dan Levy’s Closet Picks” (criterioncollection, 2024) (1/14)
“Nathan Lane’s Closet Picks” (criterioncollection, 2022) (1/14)
“Synthesizer Medley (From the 1985 Grammy Awards Ceremony)” (rakkyouz, 2019) (1/14)
Southend: The Place Where I Go Surfing (Pat Noyes, 2016) (1/14)
“Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series: 75th Emmy Awards” (Television Academy, 2024) (1/17)
“Lead Actress in a Comedy Series: 75th Emmy Awards” (Television Academy, 2024) (1/17)
“Supporting Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie: 75th Emmy Awards” (Television Academy, 2024) (1/17)
Appalachian Genesis (Bill Richardson / Appalshop, 1971) (1/17)
“State of Emergency in Neon, KY” (Appalshop, 2024) (1/17)
“FROM THE VAULT: Jim Webb on the Tug Fork Flood of 1977” (Appalshop, 2022) (1/17)
Not A Daughter (Oakley Fugate / Appalshop, 2016) (1/17)
No Such Right: The End of Roe in Appalachia (Tate Greene, Deladis Haywood, Rebekah McAuley, Sarah Sexton / Appalshop, 2023) (1/17)
“75th Emmy Awards: Cheers” (Television Academy, 2024) (1/18)
Sort Of S3/E1, “Sort of Aftermath” (2024) (1/18-19)
Sort Of S3/E2, “Sort of Chaaliswan” (2024) (1/19)
Tore S1/E1, “Something New Will Do You Good” (2023) (1/20)
Tore S1/E2, “If They Wear Watches, They’re Straight” (2023) (1/20)
Friends S5/E19, “The One Where Ross Can’t Flirt” (1999) (1/20)
Friends S5/E20, “The One with the Ride Along” (1999) (1/20)
Friends S5/E21, “The One with the Ball” (1999) (1/20)
40 Years of Bijou (Bryan Dowling, 2011) (1/21)
RuPaul’s Drag Race S10/E14, “Grand Finale” (2018) (1/21)
RuPaul’s Drag Race S11/E1, “Whatcha Unpackin’” (2019) (1/21,1/23)
RuPaul’s Drag Race S16/E1, “Rate-A-Queen” (2024) (1/21)
RuPaul’s Drag Race S16/E2, “Queen Choice Awards” (2024) (1/21)
RuPaul’s Drag Race S16/E3, “The Mother of All Balls” (2024) (1/22)
Thriller 40 (Nelson George, 2023) (1/23)
Sort Of S3/E3, “The Sort of Truth” (2024) (1/25)
Sort Of S3/E4, “Sort of Married” (2024) (1/25)
In Ya Blood (Herb E. Smith, Appalshop, 1971) (1/25)
Coal Miner: Frank Jackson (Benjamin Zickafoose / Appalshop, 1971) (1/25)
“Blizzard of 1978: WTHR Archives” (WTHR, 2023) (1/25)
“Harvey Leonard Talks About His Historic Blizzard of 1978 Forecast” (WCVB Channel 5 Boston, 2023) (1/25)
“Blizzard of '78 - WCVB Boston (2003) TV Special with Harvey Leonard” (andyfilm, 2023) (1/25, unfinished)
RuPaul’s Drag Race S11/E2, “Good God Girl, Get Out” (2019) (1/26)
Looking S1/E1, “Looking for Now” (2014) (1/26)
Looking S1/E2, “Looking for Uncut” (2014) (1/26)
RuPaul’s Drag Race S16/E4, “RDR Live!” (2024) (1/27)
Looking S1/E3, “Looking at Your Browser History” (2014) (1/27)
Looking S1/E4, “Looking for $220/Hour” (2014) (1/27)
Looking S1/E5, “Looking for the Future” (2014) (1/27)
Looking S1/E6, “Looking in the Mirror” (2014) (1/27)
Looking S1/E7, “Looking for a Plus-One” (2014) (1/27)
Looking S1/E8, “Looking Glass” (2014) (1/27)
“Grief, diabetes and comedy with Sam Morrison” (Virgin Radio UK, 2023) (1/29)
The Greatest Night in Pop (Bao Nguyen, 2024) (1/29)
Looking S2/E1, “Looking for the Promised Land” (2015) (1/30)
Looking S2/E2, “Looking for Results” (2015) (1/30)
Looking S2/E3, “Looking for Tops and Bottoms” (2015) (1/30)
Looking S2/E4, “Looking Down the Road” (2015) (1/30)
Looking S2/E5, “Looking for Truth” (2015) (1/31)
Looking S2/E6, “Looking for Gordon Freeman” (2015) (1/31)
RuPaul’s Drag Race S11/E3, “Diva Worship” (2019) (1/31)