Two thousand twenty-three is in full swing and my only comment is, “I don’t wanna.”

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This month’s playlist:

Possession

I saw some incredible movies this month. Bardo is fantastic magical realism. Regrettably, Babylon is bombastic and great regardless of my low opinion toward Damien Chazelle. Skinamarink is divisive in the right ways and has disturbed my sleep despite not finding it terribly scary while in the theatre.

But I need to write about the 1981 film Possession. I first heard of the movie when The Belcourt screened the 4K restoration. I knew nothing of it except it starred Sam Neill and the stills had a cold, clean aesthetic I dug. I regret not seeing it on the big screen.

After seeing Skinamarink I decided to stream Possession from Metrograph. This may be the most demented film I’ve ever witnessed with an unreasonable level of craft. Fluid steadicam movements, precise focus pulls, and beautiful, naturally motivated lighting clash/complement absolutely unhinged, near melodramatic performances which tell a seemingly pedestrian story of divorce and emotional anguish but results in a truly deranged conclusion.

I think I understand why Andrzej Żuławski native Poland banned it upon release. It shines too brightly.

The Great

Adrian finally made me start The Great. And it’s great. This series is exceptional in combining historical fiction, comedy, and drama. Comedy that can drop from joviality to sobriety and back is always impressive to me. The Great masterfully juggles its dark, near black, humor while also clearly depicting the consequences of violence, despotism, classism, misogyny, and rape as no joke.

Excellent, excellent writing.

Psychonauts 2

A Double Fine production is consistently a breath of fresh air. Psychonauts 2 resolves the small annoyances of the classic PS2 original and leans harder into its strengths: excellent writing, wacky characters, and psychedelic mental landscapes.

It is a shame most games have settled into a paltry set of “looks.” Realistic, cell-shaded, pixeled... Not to say these games don’t look great. But original and imaginative visuals are a rare breed today. Psychonauts 2 takes the cartoony, highly stylized visuals of the original and realizes them at an almost Pixar level of detail. Mindscapes made entirely of teeth and gum are simultaneously icky and beautiful. Another astral plane is an immense, cluttered library that requires leaping into the pages of the books as penciled avatars. The joyous visual creativity in this game is a pure delight.

Neuromancer

I’m trying something different this year. Audiobooks. I used to think audiobooks were an inferior way to experience novels. Hypocritical of me since my mom read aloud the entirety of the Harry Potter series to me as a child and the experience was no less magical and imaginative. What finally clinched it for me was a study that demonstrated the experience of reading a book and listening to one are virtually indistinguishable in a brain scan. Both result in the exact same benefits.

So instead of listening to ephemeral podcasts whose contents expire the moment you listen to the latest episode, I’m reading more novels, with eyes and ears.

Neuromancer has been on my reading list for an age. Famous for establishing what became known as cyberpunk. Listening to the audiobook took some adjustment. I was bound to the narrator’s pace and subject to their vocal interpretations of the characters. Additionally, it is more difficult to pause and reread a section to better process it. Something I find vital when reading sci-fi. I settled into a mode of letting the narrative wash over me. Not worrying about missing details and allowing the swell of the story to carry me through. Different, but equally enthralling experience. I can see myself revisiting Neuromancer. To read it with my own eyes. The world painted is that rich.

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This month I also questioned my existence, went all in on Tumblr, and scanned my backlog of film.