Well, it’s been awhile! I’m not going to pretend that I took a little hiatus and yay I’m back now, easy peasy. We all know nothing has been easy since the pandemic began. But in all that I’ve gone through, the pull to get back to Hollywood the Write Way has been strong. I miss fangirling about TV, movies, books, and theatre. After all, I’ve been doing it on here since I was 18 years old. In addition, this blog as afforded me some incredible opportunities and connections and I want that richness back in my life again. So let’s get back to it!
Here we go! Let’s start us off with what’s on my radar this month!
Books
Last year wasn’t my strongest in terms of reading. But I’m looking forward to changing that and getting back into the books heavy this year, whether they are new or old releases. There are some new releases this year that I’m especially interested in moving up my To Read pile. They are Okay, Cupid by Mason Deaver, The Atlas of Us by Kristin Dwyer, the graphic novel Lunar New Year Love Story by Gene Luen Yang, Illustrated by LeUyen Pham, and The Colliding Worlds of Mina Lee by Ellen Oh. But wait! There’s more! My MOST anticipated this month are the nonfiction title Blood: The Science, Medicine, and Mythology of Menstruation by Jen Gunter, Poemhood: Our Black Revival: History, Folklore & the Black Experience: A Young Adult Poetry Anthology by Amber McBride, Erica Martin, & Taylor Byas, and This Is the Honey: An Anthology of Contemporary Black Poets Edited by Kwame Alexander. I’m familiar with all but three people’s work from above so for the most part, I know what to expect and I am extremely excited for all of these new books! A nice mix of young adult, adult, fiction, and nonfiction. Hopefully there’s something for you to pick out and enjoy from my most anticipated!
Returning TV:
La Brea is basically the only TV show returning in January that I care about. It’s the final season. I’ve been watching and LOVING the show from day one. I’m really sad that the show is not only ending but this final season is not going to be as long as the previous seasons. Boo! I know that a lot of shows were sacrificed during the writers strike but I’m not even going to say that I think that was the case here because I know enough people just weren’t watching this show. So, yeah. It is what it is. I will miss this show and I hope the writers are able to deliver a great conclusion.
New TV:
Marvel’s ECHO is incredible. Dare I say it’s in my top five of Marvel shows. (In case you are wondering, the rest of my top five includes Wanda Vision, Agents of SHIELD, Ms. Marvel, and Jessica Jones). Alaqua Cox’s introduction to acting is in the Marvel universe and she is killing it!!! I already binge watched the first season of Echo, which is 5 episodes and round of applause to everyone involved. It’s so beautiful seeing Alaqua Cox, who is deaf and an amputee with the latter being written into her character’s story, lead the show with such phenomenally pure talent but also see Marvel embrace an all Native cast and Choctaw Nation. You can tell that everyone involved handled the importance of all of these different representations with care and that means so much. I am looking forward to season two and what’s in store for Alaqua in the MCU.
Docu-series & Specials:
I admit I’m not as into docu-series as I used to be. There’s simply an over-saturation of these at this point. That said, I did manage to watch DAUGHTERS OF THE CULT on Hulu and whoa! That was something else. I had never heard of this case so my mind was absolutely blown. I also don’t think I knew what blood atonement really true was until, well, all of this murder was described on the series so that was eye-opening! The series is five episodes and is very disturbing but I did binge watch it because I couldn’t look away. It’s more cult driven than true crime driven, FYI.
Movies/Documentaries
The year is starting off light, with no absolute must sees for me this month. Society of the Snow on Netflix is another movie about the real life crash of the Uruguayan rugby team in the Andes. I feel like I consumed way too much media (the older movie and countless documentaries) about this a year or so ago so I don’t need to see this right away but I do have it on my watch list. Good Grief is Dan Levy’s directorial feature debut. He also wrote the screenplay. Having loved his creation of and writing on Schitt’s Creek, I trust his writing and had no problem diving into this movie to see how he handles drama. I think Good Grief was a solid introduction of his dramatic writing and I cannot wait to see what he writes next. Finally, there’s Mean Girls, the adaptation of the Broadway musical which was adapted from the movie. Renee Rapp takes on the same role in the movie that she played in the Broadway musical, so I have faith in her at least. The rest? I don’t know! Fingers crossed! With Renee Rapp and Tina Fey attached, I do have some faith. Right now, it’s getting mixed reviews but I haven’t heard from anyone that I know personally yet so I will not be moved by those reviews. Looking forward to seeing it!
What are you anticipating this month?
January 1, 2024
Movies/Documentaries
Bitconned (Netflix Documentary)
January 2, 2024
Books
* Okay, Cupid by Mason Deaver (YA)
* Ghost Roast by Shawneé Gibbs and Shawnelle Gibbs, Illustrated by Emily Cannon (G)
Movies/TV on Blu-ray/DVD
The Holdovers
January 4, 2024
Movies/Documentaries
Society of the Snow (Netflix)
January 5, 2024
Movies/Documentaries
Good Grief (Netflix)
He Went That Way
Man on the Run (Netflix)
*******
January 9, 2024
Books
* Somewhere in the Deep by Tanvi Berwah (YA)
* The Atlas of Us by Kristin Dwyer (YA)
* Lunar New Year Love Story by Gene Luen Yang, Illustrated by LeUyen Pham (G)
* 1000 Words: A Writer’s Guide to Staying Creative, Focused, and Productive All Year Round by Jami Attenberg (N)
* Mislaid In Parts Half-Known by Seanan McGuire (A)
January 12, 2024
Movies/Documentaries
Lift (Netflix)
Mean Girls
Self Reliance (Hulu)
The Book of Clarence
*******
January 16, 2024
Books
* Beasts of War by Ayana Gray (YA)
* So Let Them Burn by Kamilah Cole (YA)
* American Wings: Chicago’s Pioneering Black Aviators and the Race for Equality in the Sky by Sherri L. Smith & Elizabeth Wein (YA)
Movies/TV on Blu-ray/DVD
Billions: The Final Season
January 18, 2024
Books
* The Principle Of Moments by Esmie Jikiemi-Pearson
January 19, 2024
Movies/Documentaries
I.S.S.
Origin
The Kitchen (Netflix)
*******
January 23, 2024
Books
* Out of Our League: 16 Stories of Girls in Sports Edited by Dahlia Adler & Jennifer Iacopelli (YA)
* The Colliding Worlds of Mina Lee by Ellen Oh (YA)
* Womb City by Tlotlo Tsamaase (A)
* Black Women Taught Us: An Intimate History of Black Feminism by Jenn M. Jackson (N)
* Blood: The Science, Medicine, and Mythology of Menstruation by Jen Gunter (N)
Movies/TV on Blu-ray/DVD
Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths: Part One
January 26, 2024
Movies/Documentaries
The Peasants
Tótem
*******
January 30, 2024
Books
* The Invocations by Krystal Sutherland (YA)
* Poemhood: Our Black Revival: History, Folklore & the Black Experience: A Young Adult Poetry Anthology by Amber McBride, Erica Martin, & Taylor Byas (YA)
* Once a Queen by Sarah Arthur (YA)
* A Quantum Love Story by Mike Chen (A)
* Interesting Facts about Space by Emily R. Austin (A)
* This Is the Honey: An Anthology of Contemporary Black Poets Edited by Kwame Alexander
TV Premieres On My Radar
Note: Like above, the titles listed below are only of shows that I enjoy or am looking forward to checking out (new series are in CAPS), it’s not a definitive list of all of the premieres this month.
Monday
Streaming YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT: A TWIN EXPERIMENT (Netflix, Premiered January 1)
Tuesday
Streaming ECHO (Disney+, Premiered Jan 9), Finding Your Roots: Season 10 (PBS, Premiered Jan 2)
9pm La Brea: The Final Season (NBC, Premiered Jan 9)
Wednesday
Streaming Queer Eye: Season 8 (Netflix, Premieres Jan 24)
10pm FEUD: Capote vs. The Swans (FX/Hulu, Premieres Jan 31)
Thursday
Streaming DAUGHTERS OF THE CULT (Hulu, Premiered Jan 4)
Friday
Streaming EXPATS (Amazon Prime, Premieres January 26)