Seventh Row is a nonprofit Canadian film criticism publication and publishing house. We're dedicated to helping you expand your horizons by curating the best socially progressive films from around the world and helping you think deeply about them. This newsletter is run by Seventh Row (http://seventh-row.com) but features exclusive content not found on the website.
How to become your Aspirational Movie-Watching Self
|
Hello Reader, When it comes to watching movies... There are the choices you want to be making for yourself (e.g., watching your cultural vegetables that will feed you emotionally and intellectually) And there are the choices you actually make (e.g., watching junk food)...which might be because you're not even sure which choice to make because your watchlist is so long that you're endlessly scrolling. If this predicament sounds familiar...you're not alone. The Good News? Watching your cultural vegetables doesn't have to be hard! You just need to curate a watchlist for 2025...and make sure it has three key ingredients that will keep you feeling secure and excited. Episode 154: Three key ingredients for a great year of moviesToday on the podcast, I discuss three key ingredients to ensure a great year of movies, which include:
On the podcast, I talk about what I mean by each of these criteria, and how you can meet them. Happy watching/listening! Alex P.S. Ready to curate your watchlist? Want help ensuring it has these three ingredients and more? Attend the Curate Your 2025 Watchlist workshop on Sunday! Set yourself up for a great year of movies without the decision fatigue that usually comes with sitting down to watch a movie.
|
Seventh Row
Seventh Row is a nonprofit Canadian film criticism publication and publishing house. We're dedicated to helping you expand your horizons by curating the best socially progressive films from around the world and helping you think deeply about them. This newsletter is run by Seventh Row (http://seventh-row.com) but features exclusive content not found on the website.
There's a moment in the first episode of Looking that still lives rent-free in my head: Patrick meets Richie — his love interest for the season — on Muni (San Francisco's public transit). I lived in the Bay Area when it aired in 2014. So I spent the next three years riding Muni hoping my Richie would find me there, too. Which is a lot of influence for a scene that lasts only a few minutes. Of course, that was partly about what happens later in the show — when we find out just how great Richie...
There's a moment in the first episode of Looking that I didn't fully appreciate until I was on my, IDK, 15th rewatch. After a catastrophically bad first date, Patrick (Jonathan Groff) gets on the Muni (San Francisco's public transit) to head to the bachelor party of his ex-boyfriend who he dumped for being boring. But first, he looks at a map: Like so much of Looking, it plays as completely naturalistic the first time you watch it. Patrick is trying to figure out where he's going next. But...
What do Mad Men, The Good Wife, Gossip Girl, and Looking have in common? Aside from being four of the best TV series of this century? (I said what I said.) On the surface, they look very different. Mad Men is about advertising creatives in 1960s New York. The Good Wife is about a Chicago lawyer rebuilding her career after years spent raising children. Gossip Girl (the OG one) is Edith Wharton’s The House of Mirth — if it were about teenagers with smartphones. And Looking is about three gay...