A Very Murray Christmas

[osprey_archer]

I’ve been meaning to watch more Sofia Coppola movies, and her holiday special A Very Murray Christmas was right there on Netflix, and I watched it and… maybe I just don’t get the appeal of Bill Murray. His singing voice isn’t that great, so he seems like an odd choice for an hour of TV that is basically a Christmas-themed variety show.

On the bright side, it did introduce me to a new Christmas song that I like: “Fairytale of New York” (is it a Christmas song? It references Christmas. Maybe it’s a Christmas song the way Iron Man 3 is a Christmas movie), so it wasn’t a total waste of time. And Amy Poehler is in it briefly at the beginning! That was fun.

***

Three movies left to go to reach 100 before the end of the year! I’ve already got The Holiday, which I loved when I saw it in theaters… twelve years ago… how time flies. Hopefully I’ll love it again! And Julie and I both want to see Dumplin’, so that just leaves one more movie to pick out. I’d like to end on a really strong note, you know? One of my friends suggested the documentary RBG, which sounds promising.

***

I’m going to feel rather bereft when this project is over. I’ve been considering extending it, perhaps with a tweak - films directed by women of color? - but I think it would probably be a mistake to do such a similar project right on the heels of the first. It’s hard to maintain 100-movies-worth of momentum two years running.

I intend to keep watching movies directed by women whether I have an official project or not, mind; my to-watch list just keeps growing. There’s Desiree Akhavan’s Appropriate Behavior, and Haifaa al-Mansour’s two new movies this year (her debut was Wadjda), Mary Shelley (starring Elle Fanning!) and Nappily Ever After, and I’m still kicking myself for missing Crystal Moselle’s Skate Kitchen in theaters...

And there are so many new movies - big budget movies! - directed by women in 2019. The second Wonder Woman, and Captain Marvel, and the new Charlie’s Angels, and Greta Gerwig’s Little Women, and Amy Poehler’s road trip buddy comedy Wine Country... I’m not sure if Chloe Zhao’s The Eternals is coming out in 2019 (I feel like they just hired her; it seems like an awfully fast turnaround) but I’m super excited about that one, too. And also I still haven’t watched her first movie, Songs My Brother Taught Me.

The internet also tells me that the Black Widow movie is coming out in 2019, but at this point I’ll believe it when I see it.

Comments

[sovay]

“Fairytale of New York” (is it a Christmas song? It references Christmas. Maybe it’s a Christmas song the way Iron Man 3 is a Christmas movie)

I see it recurringly mentioned as a strong popular contender for best Christmas song of all time, so whatever it started life as, it's a Christmas song now.

[osprey_archer]

Now that seems a little overblown, but I suppose there's no accounting for people's taste in Christmas music.

[kore]

The internet also tells me that the Black Widow movie is coming out in 2019, but at this point I’ll believe it when I see it.

I KNOW.

[osprey_archer]

I don't want to be cynical but honestly I think they've rather forced us all to it.

[juushika]

In 2017 I did an "(at least) every other book by an author of color" project; I intentionally didn't give myself a similar reading project in 2018 for the exact reason of not wanting to burn out, albeit under different circumstances (a percentage rather than an exact number is more flexible, etc.).

And in 2018, PoC didn't make up 50% of my reading, but: authors of color made up a significantly higher percentage of my reading than they did pre-2017, I found myself actively adding them to my TBR which will affect my future reading, and I was giving universal consideration to marginalized voices. The goal of the 2017 project was to expand my diversity horizons beyond white feminism, which absolutely took as a longterm change. 2018 became an unofficial "half of what I read is by marginalized authors" challenge which I expect will extend indefinitely.

A lot of about-me dumping just to say: It probably is wise to take a break from a year-long project to avoid burnout and I'm glad I did—but given how excited you are about future films from female directors it sounds like the work has made a longterm change in your approach, which seems to me like the real takeaway! I've found it productive to make future goals less explicit and more general, again to avoid burnout, but also to reinforce that larger change in values/worldview.

[thisbluespirit]

Aw, well done on getting there (nearly getting there)! It certainly has sounded like a fascinating project from this end of the 'net.

[osprey_archer]

It's been a lot of fun! So many movies that I'd never even heard of, and so many of them excellent.