Films 🎞️

I saw 11 movies this month including 7 first viewings and 4 rewatches. My favorite film of the 7 first viewings was Marty Supreme (2025) ★★★★½ , which stirred within me a desire to pen an essay exploring the Folies of Greatness as explored in the films Marty Supreme and Whiplash (2014) ★★★★½ . I rewatched Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (2023) ★★★★ and Superman (1978) ★★★½ while hanging out with friends and had a lovely time revisiting these classics.

On January 18th, 2026, I double featured No Other Choice (2025) ★★★★ and Dead Man’s Wire (2025) ★★★½. These movies were both about men who feel pushed into violent fervor by the capitalistic forces of society cutting them off from their means of self-reliance. No Other Choice was set in contemporary South Korea by director Park Chan-wook. This novel adaptation tells the tale of passionate paper man made redundant by the new technologies coming into his field and is used as a clear and explicit metaphor to discuss the way AI tools might impact all of our jobs over the next few years. I thought Chan-wook’s cinematography was in rare form and I was shocked when yet another one of his films was left out of the Oscar nominations process. In Dead Man’s Wire director Gus Van Sant is dramatizing a real-world hostage situation where a mortgage broker was held hostage at shotgun point. The way Van Sant splices in real world archival news footage into the film breaths an air of realism to the dramatization and really heightens the impact of the film and its message.

There were several other notable first watches this month. I had a double feature movie night on January 31st, 2026, with my coworkers where we watched Oscar hopefuls Sentimental Value (2025) ★★★★½ and The Secret Agent (2025) ★★★. I really liked Sentimental Value and found it’s nonlinear story of a family of artists drawing from and processing their intergenerational drama through their art to be quite moving. I won’t be surprised if we see some of its principal cast come home with some Oscar gold on March 15, 2026 (which is also the date I’m planning to drop my 2025 Best Movies list). Lastly, I thought Is This Thing On? (2025) came and went from theaters without connecting with a wide audience but I really enjoyed it and I’d like to recommend it and leave you with a quick review below.

Is This Thing On? ★★★★ – I though this was a nice dramedy about two people trying to reignite their sparks in the fallout of a faltering marriage. The couple decides to try a trial separation. They both rediscover passions from their youth during their time apart, and they find themselves happier as they reconnect with a sense of themselves and their self-identity. This newfound self-reassurance gives them the courage to give an honest evaluation of their marriage and decide how they want to proceed.

I found the use of handheld cameras and lots of close-up camera work in the cinematography to be really effective at imbuing the film with an organically intimate quality. It’s impressive work for Bradley Cooper both as a director and a first-time camera operator.

Music 🎶

While I listened to a lot of music this month, I did bring a lot of intentionality to my listening outside a few choice artists and albums.  The doldrums and demands of working finance had me reaching for high energy albums to carry me through the first half of January; this led to me giving quite a few turns to The Glitch Mob’s Revisions and Joey Valence & Brae’s No Hands. Down the stretch in January, I was vibing with Turnstile’s Never Enough and I was exploring the discographies of Slow Pulp and Broods. Nothing from 2026 has really caught my ear yet but I’m looking forward to what the year has in store for us sonically.

Gaming 🎮

My gaming tends to fall into 3 categories: social games, daily warmup games, primary focus game. For the month of January I engaged in a little bit of gaming from each category. This month started with Battle Suit Aces as my primary focus game. I really enjoyed my time with this charming card combat RPG (you can read my review here) and I look forward to whatever Trinket Studios does next. After rolling credits on Battle Suit Aces I tried Trinket Studios previous game, Battle Chef Brigade, and while I found it to also be delightful it didn’t capture my attention full time; I think I’ll continue to progress through the game with some of my daily warmup gaming time.

For a while I’ve felt the siren call of Hades 2 beckoning for my attention but I played the first Hades with a physical copy for the Switch, so for continuity and collector reasons I wanted to play Hades 2 on the Switch 2. After hearing a rumor about the inevitable Switch 2 price increase, which seems likely due to skyrocketing cost of components, I decided to take the plunge and pick up a Switch 2 and Hades 2. I have spent the last couple Sundays going on descents with Melinoë and while I have yet to get my first compete run the fires of hell have only strengthened my resolve.

This month saw me dipping into many different games for some mental calisthenics before going into my demanding finance job. I find a little gaming in the morning helps me go into the office relaxed and mentally prepared. With my morning gaming time I tend to mostly play cozy games and roguelikes. These genres tend to allow a sense of progression even in short (1 hour or less) sessions which makes them ideal for my brief gaming time each morning. This month I played: Ball x Pitt w/ The Regal Update, Inkborn, Cribbish, Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor, Hand of Fate, Monster Train 2, and Slay the Spire. I’m eagerly anticipating Slay the Spire 2 in March and I look forward to sharing my thoughts on it with you in the future.

For social gaming this month I squadded up with some coworkers for a few rounds of Mycopunk and The Finals. When I’m social gaming the most important thing to me is just hanging out with friends while we figuratively (and in this month’s case literally) shoot the shit.

Until our next communion, I hope you take some time to unwind with some quality screen time.