Hello Myq! Thank YOU! You are one of my favorite things of 2022, in a way that is deeper than your artistry. You are a thoughtful and kind person. We are lucky you are here.
1) yes! The Big Sick, Harold & Maude, Empire Records, Amelie, The Apartment, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Clueless, and that part in Encanto where Mariano says to Dolores, “let’s get married,” and Dolores says, “Slow down.”
2) yes! Anything where the characters have time to get to know each other, where they have conflicts but they solve them healthily, where they deal with jealousy in a non-possessive way, and where love at first sight is not centered as the best kind of love.
3) Harold and Maude is my favorite. Do The Right Thing, Up, and Marcel The Shell round out the list. King of Kong. I am not a huge watcher of movies anymore; what are YOUR favorites? The four tv shows I chronically rewatch are so embarrassing, but here they are: Gilmore Girls, Parks and Rec, The Office, New Girl. Since those came out, I loved The Good Place (you mentioned that one!), Pen13, and Jane the Virgin, but none of them felt like comfort TV in the same way that my OG four do. What about you?
4) yes! The Other Two would have been high on my 2021 list, if such a list existed.
5) right?!
6) I haven’t! What’s the premise?
7) were you a fan?
8) I follow you closely on the internet so I watched this unfold and found it amazing.
9) no! Should I?!
10) do you think you and I are pretty similar people? I think so.
thank you for your thoughtful response and kind words as always!
here is a list of my responses, which i'll letter instead of number, because they won't correspond directly to the numbers above:
A) i agree with you that we are pretty similar people in a lot of ways! and also with some slight variations that probably make for a more interesting friendship than if we were "EXACTLY" the same somehow.
B) by all the power invested in me to recommend movies in a situation where someone asks me if they "Should" watch a movie that i loved (and not wanting to tell anyone how to live their life), i will say that i THINK if you watch "the mitchells vs the machines," you will enjoy it greatly.
C) thank you for receiving my watermelon updates on the internet!
D) i was a HUGE fan of "boy meets world." some specific memories that arise here:
-- if i remember correctly, they started in sixth grade, and then the next year started seventh grade which was a part of high school, and then there were two years of nondescript "high school" and then they were seniors, and then they went to college and then they were an old married couple. like linklater's "boyhood" but MUCH FASTER! and i thought that was fascinating. is that something you noticed/have thought about?
-- i loved the return of minkus in senior year of high school
-- i loved the "scream" parody they did which also weirdly involved them referencing south park when a character named kenny got killed, plus i loved that jennifer love hewitt played a character named "jennifer love fefferman" i believe
-- i think it's fun that rider strong's name sounds like something the hulk might say when biking
E) i think wikipedia does a great job describing BrainDead:
a political satire science fiction comedy-drama television series created by Robert and Michelle King, [starring] Mary Elizabeth Winstead as a documentary film-maker who takes a job working for her brother, a U.S. Senator, when the funding for her latest film falls through. Assigned as his new constituency caseworker, she discovers that Washington, D.C. has been invaded by extraterrestrial insects which are eating the brains and taking control of people, including members of Congress and their staffers. Much of the internal comedy of the series was that, in the altered reality of Washington, D.C. politics, only a few people noticed.
(me again: the bugs eating people's brains made them be more politically extreme in whatever direction they were already leaning, AND this show came out in the months before the 2016 presidential election, so it was a particularly THAT kind of time. the tone of the show is very "evil"/"good fight" and there's only one season, sadly, but it's good!)
F) rini and i just watched all of the first season of "i love that for you" last night and loved it. molly shannon is a treasure of treasures!
G) thank you for sharing your favorites! Parks and Rec is probably the show that i go back and rewatch for comfort the most! and rini and i also just started watching Gilmore Girls from the start, because we hadn't seen it. how do you feel about the West Wing? it has been similarly comforting for me.
H) favorite shows of mine historically have included:
six feet under, party down, parks and rec, the good place, the good wife, the good fight, buffy the vampire slayer, futurama, white lotus, the other two, and lots of others i'm sure i'm forgetting right now
I) favorite movies of mine historically have included:
everything everywhere all at once (!!!), into the spider-verse, wet hot american summer, die hard, the matrix, the princess bride, the secret life of walter mitty, groundhog day, the adam project, almost every time travel movie, the mitchells vs the machines, lots of silly nicolas cage movies (con air, the rock, face/off, etc), and lots of others i'm sure i'm forgetting right now
J) thank you for asking! and sharing in all directions!
PS I just wanted to take an addition moment to appreciate and reciprocate THESE specific words that YOU wrote to ME but also I say to YOU:
"You are one of my favorite things of 2022, in a way that is deeper than your artistry. You are a thoughtful and kind person. We are lucky YOU are here."
I read Jennette McCurdy's book in 22 hours, possibly a record for me. I just read Molly Shannon's memoir the other weekend and stayed up until midnight two nights in a row to do it! It had me bawling all over my bed. Thanks for the list, and the newsletters. I didn't realize how much I look forward to reading them until this holiday break!
Read Wintering and Four Thousand Weeks this fall and have been sitting with their lessons whenever I get the chance. (We have a daughter only one month older than T.) I love the feeling of reflection and perspective while hibernating on our couch.
So many other good things on this list, will be diving in soon. Thanks for your beautiful and honest writing and happy holidays!
dear sophie,
thank you for your generosity here! i love lists! or maybe that's not true across the board, but i love this one!
some things i love from it, and/or some questions (probably not 100):
1) are there any romantic comedies that you DO love?
2) or any movies or tv shows that feature people in love that you DO love?
3) what are your favorite movies/tv shows from ALL TIME?
4) molly shannon! she's so wonderful! (have you watched THE OTHER TWO?)
5) broadcast news! vegan fruit pies! lynda barry! kamau bell! bridget everett! john early!*
6) evil! (good wife and good fight are two of my faves! have you seen BRAINDEAD also?)
7) boy meets world!
8) did i tell you about the vegan ham my family made for thanksgiving out of a watermelon?
9) the afterparty! (have you seen THE MITCHELLS VS THE MACHINES???!!!)
10) 4000 WEEKS! a real banger!
* i included all of these on one line so i could have my list be 10 things.
thank you for your time, your work, your thoughts, your etc!
love,
myq
Hello Myq! Thank YOU! You are one of my favorite things of 2022, in a way that is deeper than your artistry. You are a thoughtful and kind person. We are lucky you are here.
1) yes! The Big Sick, Harold & Maude, Empire Records, Amelie, The Apartment, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Clueless, and that part in Encanto where Mariano says to Dolores, “let’s get married,” and Dolores says, “Slow down.”
2) yes! Anything where the characters have time to get to know each other, where they have conflicts but they solve them healthily, where they deal with jealousy in a non-possessive way, and where love at first sight is not centered as the best kind of love.
3) Harold and Maude is my favorite. Do The Right Thing, Up, and Marcel The Shell round out the list. King of Kong. I am not a huge watcher of movies anymore; what are YOUR favorites? The four tv shows I chronically rewatch are so embarrassing, but here they are: Gilmore Girls, Parks and Rec, The Office, New Girl. Since those came out, I loved The Good Place (you mentioned that one!), Pen13, and Jane the Virgin, but none of them felt like comfort TV in the same way that my OG four do. What about you?
4) yes! The Other Two would have been high on my 2021 list, if such a list existed.
5) right?!
6) I haven’t! What’s the premise?
7) were you a fan?
8) I follow you closely on the internet so I watched this unfold and found it amazing.
9) no! Should I?!
10) do you think you and I are pretty similar people? I think so.
dear sophie,
thank you for your thoughtful response and kind words as always!
here is a list of my responses, which i'll letter instead of number, because they won't correspond directly to the numbers above:
A) i agree with you that we are pretty similar people in a lot of ways! and also with some slight variations that probably make for a more interesting friendship than if we were "EXACTLY" the same somehow.
B) by all the power invested in me to recommend movies in a situation where someone asks me if they "Should" watch a movie that i loved (and not wanting to tell anyone how to live their life), i will say that i THINK if you watch "the mitchells vs the machines," you will enjoy it greatly.
C) thank you for receiving my watermelon updates on the internet!
D) i was a HUGE fan of "boy meets world." some specific memories that arise here:
-- if i remember correctly, they started in sixth grade, and then the next year started seventh grade which was a part of high school, and then there were two years of nondescript "high school" and then they were seniors, and then they went to college and then they were an old married couple. like linklater's "boyhood" but MUCH FASTER! and i thought that was fascinating. is that something you noticed/have thought about?
-- i loved the return of minkus in senior year of high school
-- i loved the "scream" parody they did which also weirdly involved them referencing south park when a character named kenny got killed, plus i loved that jennifer love hewitt played a character named "jennifer love fefferman" i believe
-- i think it's fun that rider strong's name sounds like something the hulk might say when biking
E) i think wikipedia does a great job describing BrainDead:
a political satire science fiction comedy-drama television series created by Robert and Michelle King, [starring] Mary Elizabeth Winstead as a documentary film-maker who takes a job working for her brother, a U.S. Senator, when the funding for her latest film falls through. Assigned as his new constituency caseworker, she discovers that Washington, D.C. has been invaded by extraterrestrial insects which are eating the brains and taking control of people, including members of Congress and their staffers. Much of the internal comedy of the series was that, in the altered reality of Washington, D.C. politics, only a few people noticed.
(me again: the bugs eating people's brains made them be more politically extreme in whatever direction they were already leaning, AND this show came out in the months before the 2016 presidential election, so it was a particularly THAT kind of time. the tone of the show is very "evil"/"good fight" and there's only one season, sadly, but it's good!)
F) rini and i just watched all of the first season of "i love that for you" last night and loved it. molly shannon is a treasure of treasures!
G) thank you for sharing your favorites! Parks and Rec is probably the show that i go back and rewatch for comfort the most! and rini and i also just started watching Gilmore Girls from the start, because we hadn't seen it. how do you feel about the West Wing? it has been similarly comforting for me.
H) favorite shows of mine historically have included:
six feet under, party down, parks and rec, the good place, the good wife, the good fight, buffy the vampire slayer, futurama, white lotus, the other two, and lots of others i'm sure i'm forgetting right now
I) favorite movies of mine historically have included:
everything everywhere all at once (!!!), into the spider-verse, wet hot american summer, die hard, the matrix, the princess bride, the secret life of walter mitty, groundhog day, the adam project, almost every time travel movie, the mitchells vs the machines, lots of silly nicolas cage movies (con air, the rock, face/off, etc), and lots of others i'm sure i'm forgetting right now
J) thank you for asking! and sharing in all directions!
love,
myq
PS I just wanted to take an addition moment to appreciate and reciprocate THESE specific words that YOU wrote to ME but also I say to YOU:
"You are one of my favorite things of 2022, in a way that is deeper than your artistry. You are a thoughtful and kind person. We are lucky YOU are here."
I read Jennette McCurdy's book in 22 hours, possibly a record for me. I just read Molly Shannon's memoir the other weekend and stayed up until midnight two nights in a row to do it! It had me bawling all over my bed. Thanks for the list, and the newsletters. I didn't realize how much I look forward to reading them until this holiday break!
Shout Out to Marcel the Snail and to Sophie for reminding me how many joys there are now and ever.
Read Wintering and Four Thousand Weeks this fall and have been sitting with their lessons whenever I get the chance. (We have a daughter only one month older than T.) I love the feeling of reflection and perspective while hibernating on our couch.
So many other good things on this list, will be diving in soon. Thanks for your beautiful and honest writing and happy holidays!
I love you sophie
Here I am in a comments section to say that I appreciate your kindness and your clever collection of things so, so much.