it's getting cold so you know we be watchin' movies
zero thought all vibes; sharing taste one newsletter at a time
Well shit, this was the first week that felt like winter. I have a hard time accepting winter, let alone embracing her, but I am trying my hardest to change that this year. What can you do in the winter besides cooking, baking, strolling the mall, and cozying up to watch movies? I don’t really know.
A Quartet of Flims
Heretic
I had very high hopes for Heretic, the trailer was extremely intriguing, and I am an admitted A24 fanboy, but overall it was just okay. Not necessarily a movie I am eager to immediately watch again. It wasn’t awful, but there were some plot holes or events that just required a little too much forgiveness that I wasn’t quite in the mood to forgive. I think having very high hopes going into the movie I was setting myself up for failure, so if you end up watching it you may rate it higher. If you like just straight-up thrilling horror without needing a message of sorts then you will enjoy this — I could see it becoming a Halloween classic. Vibe: 7.4/10
Saturday Night
Sabrina and I are both pretty religious SNL watchers, even if we don’t catch it Saturday night we often watch it Sunday morning. Growing up I have vivid memories of watching skits with Adam Sandler, Will Farrell, Tia Fae, Eddie Murphy while lying on the couch with my Aunt Gwen. Keep in mind that the character range is from when I was roughly 3 until I was 10, so SNL played a large role in my childhood understanding of comedy. I will say the film isn’t representative of an episode, but more behind-the-scenes, you are expected to understand who some of the characters are prior to watching. Overall, the movie was solid, and it felt fun to get an inside look into SNL’s becoming. It was also quite inspiring and a reminder to keep on pursuing the things you love with your own vision, to recognize opportunities, and to take it seriously but have fun along the way. Vibe: 7.9/10
My Old Ass
Beautifully set in… Canada? A surprisingly gorgeous backdrop for a movie that takes a modern approach to a classic trope. Aubrey Plaza is the future version of the main character that can somehow travel back and forth after the main character trips off mushrooms. It was heartwarming and wholesome, but also existential. I would recommend watching this with others, it just seems like a movie that hits differently when you can laugh and potentially shed a tear with your friends/family/significant other. Vibe: 8/10
Wild Robot
An animated film I have been eagerly waiting to watch since I saw the trailer in theaters last spring. When I asked the workers at the theater they described it as Wall-E meets Tarzan, and that’s honestly pretty accurate. The animation style is unique, something makes the animation seem a little more real, but not in an alternate reality way if that makes sense. The movie is cinematic, I wish I could have seen it in theaters, the characters are deep and empathetic and emotional, and it will have you forgetting you are an adult, but then suddenly remembering you are and feeling strangely grateful. I think this has been one of the best animated movies I have seen in a long time and I highly recommend getting out to see it! Vibe: 9.3/10
Vitamin D
Yo, as I said before, it is winter, and I get depressed as shit in the winter, so I got some Vitamin D to help. Lowkey last year Vitamin D was what got me through January to March. I have 2 methods I am consuming this year. First, in the morning I am taking Vitamin D softgels I get this brand for other supplements I take, and while the price is a little more than other brands, the dosing is higher and there is 360 softgels so basically a year of vitamin D. The other method I take is at night, roughly 8 PM roles around and I make myself a glass of Supercalm which I happen to love the flavor of, as I fully accept winter, I may begin taking it even earlier to help me fall asleep… earlier… I do notice if I take it too late I feel a bit like I am coming out of a coma. I recommend taking it about 8-10 hours before you want to get up. When I take it at midnight I feel groggy in the morning. Also, reminder… most people are deficient in Vitamin D.
Golumpki - Vegetarian
I was inspired to make this after going to a traditional Ukrainian diner in Williamsburg called Veselka. I spent time making Vegetarian Golumpki and it was dank, recipe below:
1 boiled cabbage
2 Yellow Onions (Minced)
2 Cartons of Mushrooms (Minced)
2 Cans of Mushrooms
Minute Rice
Olive Oil
Tomato Soup
Tomato Paste
Saurkraut
Form the onion and mushroom mixture into balls, wrap in boiled cabbage leaves, cover in tomato soup, cover, and bake for 4 hours at 350.
Soundcloud
Sabrina showed her Gen Alpha sister SoundCloud last week, showing her the Big Booty Mixes and all the great mashups. I was reminded of when I was also a 14-year-old high school freshman blaring SoundCloud remixes and unreleased G-Eazy songs out of car windows. It was crazy nostalgic and honestly gave me chills. If you have an old SoundCloud account I recommend dusting off the cobwebs and blaring some of those playlists… be warned some of those songs may now be behind paywalls or removed, but most of those mashups will still exist! Here is my old lifting playlist that still fucking slaps.
Weekly Playlist
This week we start off with some new-school, old-school hip-hop vibes. Shy High’s independent films feels like it is from the late 90’s but talks about airpods. Then we got Syrup Sandwiches with Joey Bada$$ off Cordae’s new album and Vin Skully from Earl, a nice hip-hop/rap forward mix from this week’s listening. I added Skip Bayless by Ankith Woods because the dude is going to blow up, a suburban Detroit Indian rapper who mixes logical middle-class life with gang and football lingo over Detroit-style beats… he is also a DJ that crushes mash-ups on TikTok. After this we go into the songs that I have been listening to while writing, I have a novel that I’m nearly 100,000 words into and these songs trance me out to where I can enter another realm. Lambchop on repeat will remove your soul from your body. The rule is simple, if James Blake drops I put it on the playlist. How Can I, Daily Rituals, and Shaded Woods are all beat-forward songs that take you to a different dimension. Finally, Christmas in the Room by Sufjan Stevens is getting me prepared for the holiday early.
Thanks y’all,
As Christmas and winter shopping comes around I hope to release some shopping guides for loved ones, looking forward to continuing to share my taste with all of you, and thanks again for reading. If you feel inclined, please share with your friends and family that you think would dig this sort of material. If we get enough subscribers I’ll start reaching out to companies to get discount codes to share with everyone!