More Daylight, Less Time to Watch Movies! :( (Issue #44)
Today’s theme is centered around two big events of the coming weekend – the start of Daylight Savings and the Oscars!!
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Hi friends!
I’m coming to you from deep in my movie-girl era!!! For most of my life, movies weren’t really my thing, per se. That’s not to say I didn’t like movies, but rather that I was hooked on episodic television which I could binge for hours on end. But in more recent years I’ve fallen for the **cinema** (pronounced cih-neh-mahhh), and by that I mean going to the movies!! Most theaters have really stepped up their game with super comfy reclining seats and more bougie snack options. That said, when the Oscar nominees were announced earlier this year, I was happy to see I’d already seen a large portion of the movies that made the cut. And with a full Oscar nominee watch list within my reach, my husband and I made a plan to finish working our way through all the movies in the major categories before the award ceremony.
This Sunday gives us two things to celebrate – the Oscars and the start of daylight savings! Have you guessed the theme(s) yet? We’re setting our clocks ahead this weekend and losing an hour, so there’s no time to waste! Let’s get into today’s recommendations!!
A round-up of things to watch, read, and listen to as you head into the weekend.
I know how frustrating paywalls are! When possible, I’ll try to offer gift links through my subscriptions to support access to high-quality journalism.
Movie: Anatomy of a Fall
This French drama has been soaring its way through awards season earning five noms this weekend. I first watched this movie after seeing it on Barack Obama’s Favorite Movies of 2023, and really truly enjoyed it! The story follows a woman accused of her husband’s murder and is a unique take on the modern courtroom drama. It’s filled with incredible performances, especially from the mother, the son, and the dog (yes the dog. He was a star!!) Highly recommend!
Movie: A Thousand and One
Despite tons of critical acclaim, this movie has struggled to get the recognition many people think it rightfully deserves (including being passed over by the Oscars). Teyana Taylor gives a masterclass performance as the story’s lead character, and the whole film is deeply moving. The movie’s authenticity is palpable, and the story is a stunning and heartbreaking portrait of life. Here's the IMDb summary: "After unapologetic and fiercely loyal Inez kidnaps her son Terry from the foster care system, mother and son set out to reclaim their sense of home, identity, and stability, in a rapidly changing New York City."
The New York Times: Why Do We Change the Clocks, Anyway? (gift link) by Alan Yuhas
Remember last year when Congress was talking about ending daylight savings time? Well, that effort stalled, and the full history behind this tradition is long and complicated. This article is a great summary and explainer of how daylight savings time came to be, and the many arguments for and against it.
BBC: What we get wrong about time by Claudia Hammond
Speaking of time, this article covers common misconceptions about time and our perception of this complicated aspect of physics. The piece covers a lot and no summary would do it justice, so I highly highly recommend really diving in!
Add some adventure to your week and check off as many as you can!
This week, challenge yourself to the below movie-watching activities.
Look up the Oscar nominations for the year you were born and make a plan to watch them! There are a few ways to do this – you could watch only the winners of each category, watch all the nominations in a given category, etc. And if the Academy Awards aren’t your cup of tea, choose a different award show or movie festival and apply this prompt the same way!
Have a high-low double feature! Select two movies on Rotten Tomatoes – one with a 0% rating, and the other with a 100% rating. Watch them back to back and enjoy the whiplash!!
Cook a meal inspired by a movie. There are tons of recipes on the internet, but Binging with Babish is probably the best place to start! Choose a recipe that sounds delicious, and cook it before settling into the movie that inspired the dish!
Choose a movie/director/actor you love, and watch the movies that inspire them!! To get you started, check out Letterboxd’s YouTube Channel and their “Four Favorites” series.
Things to try + share in the group chat.
I came across this swipe post on Instagram, and while this hack won’t technically get you more PTO, it will help you get more days off in a row!! There’s a bunch of good suggestions throughout 2024, and it’s a great guide to help strategize your vacations and make them last as long as possible!!
Lemonade always makes me think of summer, and if you’re itching to welcome that energy early, check out Me & the Bees Lemonade! At just 4 years old Mikaila Ulmer was stung by a bee not once but TWICE in the same week. Naturally, she became afraid of bees and her parents encouraged her to learn about the role bees play in our natural ecosystem. Inspired by her research, Mikaila started a lemonade company designed to save the bees. She added honey to her Great Granny Helen's lemonade recipe, and in 2015, at just 15 years old, Michaela appeared on Shark Tank and struck a deal with one of my favorite sharks, Daymond John!! The lemonade is DELICIOUS and comes in a variety of flavors, including classic, mint, ginger, black cherry, and prickly pear! I always get it at Target or Kowalski’s, but you can also order it online or visit their website to find it at a store near you!
I read
’s excellent review of Past Lives (a 2023 fave of mine), and the following quote stood out to me:“It is also 106 minutes, which is the scientifically correct length for most films.”
It was a bold claim that I found particularly intriguing, so I polled my friends to see if they agreed. Responses were mixed, especially as movies have gotten longer in recent years. My husband Andrew’s take was that the length of movies wouldn’t be so bad if there were scheduled breaks in the middle, an intermission of sorts. So, we did some research on this, and found that up until the 1980’s these intermissions were standard!! Originally these breaks were built in so workers could change film reels, and some countries still honor the tradition of intermissions (such as Bollywood films that build their stories around these breaks). Definitely some fun food for thought.
This past Monday I released a 10-Day Journaling Challenge (+ 10 Prompts to Get You Back Into Writing). Make sure to check it out here!
Have a great weekend!
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