Movie, movie, movie month. Saw Thief, Scanners, and Manhunter for the first time. Went on some hikes. Some bikes. The heat rolled in. But there’s still cool breezes in the morning and evenings. Bearable. Pleasant at times. I’m on the last Dune book and my patience is wearing out for the series.

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This month’s playlist:

The Matrix

The Belcourt’s month-long series for June was 1999--a 20+ selection of movies from one of the most lauded years of cinema. There are so many I would love to highlight--After Life, The Iron Giant, Ratcatcher, Fight Club--but it must be the first I saw: The Matrix.

I missed it in theatres as a kid. I first watched it on DVD with my dad playing off our PS2 hooked up to the smallest CRT TV known to man. I was enamoured. The action. The specatacle. We watched both sequels in theaters, and I have revisited the trilogy on DVD/Blu-ray/streaming many times.

When the showtimes for 1999 were announced, The Matrix became my top priority. I worried that the magic may have wained. Thank god, it only grew.

Projected in its full glory, I have never felt so invested in Neo, Trinity, Morpheus, Tank, Dozer, Apoc, Mouse, and Switch (Cypher is still so, so nasty and not cool). Truely incredible. Elaborate, amazing transitions. Special effects that set the bar and are still best in class. Spectacular editing. Chills all the way through. One of the greatest movies of all time. The Action Movie. The Blockbuster Spectacle. We are so blessed to have the Wachowskis.

I’m so thankful to have finally seen it on the big screen. My best theatre experience of the year.

Scavengers Reign

Refreshing. A show that knows what must be seen, what can be spoken, and when to shut up. Imaginative, detailed animation equal parts Mœbius and Ghibli. They went all out with the diversity of flora and fauna on the planet. This combo of beauty and body horror reminds me of Made in Abyss. And the healthy does of ecological mystery reminds me of Raised by Wolves (RIP). Give me more.

Universal Paperclips

I remember playing through this when it first went viral back in 2017 (I did not remember the year, only that I had) and how it made me feel. A dumb idle game ballooning to a scale that encompasses the universe and all of time. It’s fun, addicting, and a little unsettling. Poignant. It provokes emotions. Questions. I played it again this month and it was just as enthralling as it was seven years ago. I recommend you play it too.

Deep Wheel Orcadia

A curio I found in an Austin bookshop during the New Year. It’s fascinating to read the Orcadian verse then study the amplified English translation below it. The special sauce is the sci-fi setting and this unique vision of stellar civilization rooted in a specific cultural past.

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This month was devoted to the movies, but I have been writing with a couple other writers on Saturday mornings. And I went on a family vacation to see the Smokys. There, unexpectedly, I ate the best Khao Soi in the state. Make a point to visit The Baht if you happen to pass through Gatlinburg, TN.