Monthly Recap: October 2021

As you may have noticed, I haven't been very active the past month. I even stopped joining the Thursday Movie Picks series because I'm an all or nothing type of person and since I missed the second Thursday I thought it'd be fitting to stop completely. My goal this year was to join every single week so since I failed, why not fail big? 

And I wish I could justify it by saying I was too busy living but working is pretty much all I did in October. Walking fast-paced non-stop for hours drains my battery completely, and as if coming home from work at 1am on Saturdays wasn't enough, I can't even sleep in the morning because either my cat or my family will make sure to make noise and wake me up early. Hence, I'm tired all the time. My quads have been tight for a week now (the muscles are tense even when they are supposed to be relaxed), my sciatica hurts, I've been struggling with dizziness for the past week, and I every now and then I also have very debilitating headaches. I should get blood work done but I can't even bring myself to take the appointment and then show up on an empty stomach as I'm weak enough already when I've eaten. 

I haven't made any progress in German and I've also left behind biology because who am I kidding? I'm never going to take that admission test next year. And I think I've slipped back into depression. 

The good thing is that I somehow managed to reduce my caffeine intake to one coffee in the morning because my body is stressed already as it is. It doesn't need caffeine to constantly increase my cortisol level. 

They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera really surprised me. I wasn't really into it when I started reading and was almost to the point where I regretted buying it, but I kept reading it and it got better. So much better I ended up caring about the characters and crying af at the end. Also, it made me realise how, like Mateo, I'm kind of wasting my life. 

I also started With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo and I'm really struggling to get through it. I guess people in their late 20s aren't the target for this novel. How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence by Michael Pollan is quite interesting though. 

Midnight Mass 

This was a bit of a disappointment. It's a different and interesting take on the vampire genre, and the acting is great, but the story felt too much like Goethe's Faust, it was too slow-paced and often boring. Easily my least favourite of Flanagan's series. 

Squid Game 

This South Korean Netflix original was terrific. It took me forever to start it because I wanted to finish Midnight Mass first and it's a miracle I didn't see any spoiler on Twitter. It's not like it needed to the spoiled though since I saw all twists coming. But despite its predictability, it still was such a compelling show as it kept me glued to the screen from start to finish. 

You - Season 3

It was also a bit of a letdown. I wasn't engaged with the story, I wasn't much of a fan of character development, and didn't like some of the characters. I don't know, maybe I just wasn't in the mood for it. I can't even find the words to tell you why I didn't like it as much as I liked the previous two seasons. 

Pose - Season 3

This, on the other hand, was the ending the series deserved. It made me cry a lot. Way more than anticipated. And the fact that I've been an emotional mess lately probably didn't help. 

I only watched 4 movies in October, and one of them can't even be considered a movie as it's only 40 minutes long. 

Fantastic Fungi (2019)

Plot: Fantastic Fungi is a descriptive time-lapse journey about the magical, mysterious and medicinal world of fungi and their power to heal, sustain and contribute to the regeneration of life on Earth that began 3.5 billion years ago.

I've always been fascinated by magic mushrooms and this documentary does a good job exploring the theme. I'm more than even interested in tried them, but with my current mental state I better not to. Rating: 3,5/5

Thoroughbreds (2017)

Plot: Two teenage girls (Olivia Cooke and Anya Taylor-Joy) in suburban Connecticut rekindle their unlikely friendship after years of growing apart. In the process, they learn that neither is what she seems to be, and that a murder might solve both of their problems.

I was a bit let down by this one as I wasn't always engaged. I liked the main characters and the acting, but I hated how I could somewhat relate to them. Rating: 3/5

The Lonely Island Presents: The Unauthorized Bash Brothers Experience (2019)

Plot: The Lonely Island spoofs Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire in this visual rap album set in the Bash Brothers’ 1980s heyday.

I'm a huge fan of The Lonely Island but this one wasn't as good as their other works in my opinion. Some parts were very funny, but some weren't. Rating: 3/5

Dune (2021)

Plot: Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet), a brilliant and gifted young man born into a great destiny beyond his understanding, must travel to the most dangerous planet in the universe to ensure the future of his family and his people. As malevolent forces explode into conflict over the planet’s exclusive supply of the most precious resource in existence-a commodity capable of unlocking humanity’s greatest potential-only those who can conquer their fear will survive.

I don't know how faithful an adaptation it is as I haven't the novel but the film was dreadful. It was so damn boring, the storyline wasn't compelling at all, the script is a mess, Zimmer's score is obnoxious and kind of sounds like a parody, the characters are lifeless as are the performances — with Rebecca Ferguson being the only exception. Sure, the set design is good and it's visually pretty, but I will not be watching the second part, that's for sure. Rating: 1,5/5