Hello Again. Before we get into the recap I just wanted to put a bit of personal message up top this month. I suffer from Seasonal Depression. Every year I find the period from mid February through early April to be a really trying time for my mental health. March, in particular, has always been a tough month for me and my mental health; it’s a month where I always feel a bit haunted by lost loved ones and my own struggles with suicidal ideation throughout my life. I spent the first couple weeks of this month deep in the doldrums of depression, just trying to cope.
I’m on the other side of this depressive period now and feeling much better. I’m proud of myself for maintaining my healthy habits around diet, exercise and sleep during March even when every task in my life last month felt so much harder than usual. This March, I practiced patience with myself and allowed myself to relax in whatever way felt right in the moment. I didn’t get through as much new media as I’d like but I’m looking to catch up on what I missed in April. Now on to the good stuff, the recaps.
Films 🎞️
I spent the first couple weeks of March just coping with my depression and didn’t see any movies. The movies I did see in March were mostly comfort rewatches rather than new films. I saw 6 movies this month with 1 first viewing and 5 rewatches. Most of my rewatches were the cinematic equivalent of comfort food like: Ingrid Goes West (2017), Speed (1994), and 22 Jump Street (2014).I did rewatch Twinless (2025) and One Battle After Another (2025) as part of working on interminably delayed Best Movies of 2025 list. The long reviews for the 10 selections is taking me longer than I’d like but I’m just going to keep chipping away at it until it’s done.
The sole first watch for me in March 2026 was Project Hail Mary and what follows next is my review of the movie:
Project Hail Mary is an adapted screenplay of Andy Weir’s sci-fi novel of the same name. It’s a sublime sci-fi movie that has transcended the typical genre barriers to become one of the biggest success stories this year at the box office. With the exception of Star Wars, it’s not very common to see a sci-fi movie achieve this level of near universal critical and commercial success. I think that this is because a lot of people thing that all sci-fi is like hard sci-fi, a type of sci-fi that is bound by logic and the scientific laws of the universe as we know them now, and will require them as the reader to have a deep intellect and strong scientific understanding to enjoy it. I think this is because some of the most famous Sci-Fi authors like Arthur C. Clarke and Isaac Asimov were purveyors of hard sci-fi that really challenged it’s readers. However sci-fi is very broad genre and it has so many more aspects to it then some people limited perception of it allow for.
Personally, I love sci-fi for it’s ability to engage us as readers and open a dialogue about human nature, society and what may come. Some of these stories are told through a dystopian lens, exploring the corruption of societal systems of power, the wielder’s of said power, and the effects on the inhabitants of the system. Dystopian sci-fi storytelling tends to serve as didactic warnings from the author about possible dark futures. While this flavor of sci-fi is widely popular and available, I have personally developed a bit of a distaste for it as I live in an increasingly inequitable world, fueled by technological advances being spearheaded by myopic industrialists who cannot see past their own greed enough to weigh the human cost of their choices.
When wielded by a deft authorial hand, like Steven Spielberg or Gene Roddenberry, sci-fi can be an awe-inspiring and wonderous genre that shows us a better future and encourages us to strive for it. The brilliance of Andy Weir’s writing is his ability to tell these near-future hard Sci-Fi stories, that are anchored by relatable human protagonists. Project Hail Mary sees Drew Goddard returning to adapt another Andy Weir novel. Goddard, who also adapted Weir’s first novel The Martian, does a brilliant job of distilling some of the heavier scientific concepts of Weir’s writing into clear concepts that are incredibly digestible and relatable for the audience, while elevating the hopeful humanist center of these stories.
I consider myself to be a pretty big fan of Project Hail Mary’s directors, Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, and was delighted by their choices. I thought it was brilliant choice on their part, to advocate for the film to use practical special effects as much possible. The beating heart and soul of this movie is our alien co-lead Rocky, who was brought to live by puppeteer James Ortiz. So much of this movie relies on the audience becoming invested in the relationship between Ryan Gosling’s astronaut Grace and the alien Rocky, and by having a physical puppet for Gosling to act with, it creates this tactility between the two of them and personally I think it really elevates Ryan’s performance. I don’t know if any other leading man could have carried this movie besides Ryan Gosling. He is so good at portraying his characters in film with this unique blend of tough, funny, cool and vulnerable that is incredibly endearing. After a year full of headlines and events that have shaken my belief in my fellow humans it was nice to walk out of a movie that imbued me with positive feelings about humanity and the future.
Music 🎶
This March was a difficult one for me. It saw me spending a lot of time reflecting on and picking at the edges of old emotional scars. Music has always been a salve that helps ease my discomfort from these old scars on my soul when the old wounds flare up again. I’ve spent a lot of time this month with Senses Fail’s 2006 sophomore album Still Searching while coping with my past. This seminal emo work is a concept album which tells the story of a protagonist wrestling with faith, familial ties and depression and you can read about why I still find myself revisiting it frequently 20 years later here.
So what other music has been in my heavy rotation this month? Well I continue to be for the Metric’s upcoming 10th album Romanticize The Dive and their second single off the album, “Time is a Bomb” is so emblematic of why I’ve been a longtime fan of their sound. I’ve really been enjoying the Bebe Rexha single “New Religion” which is channeling the sounds of Eurodance genre and is quite the bop. Keeping with music that pop music sound, I’ve been enjoying the singles for MUNA‘s upcoming album Dancing on the Walls with the first single being the albums titular track and the follow up being “So What”. There’s something so wistful and catchy about these two MUNA tracks that I’ve found quite entrancing.
As a longtime fan of Teenage Bottlerocket’s I had to check out their new EP The Invisible Man and it while not particularly remarkable I found the 4 new tracks to be enjoyable enough and full of their signature snark and pop culture reverence. The tracks that particularly resonated with me EPs opener “The Invisible Man” is a simple track lamenting how crazy the world feels these days and the EPs closer “City at Night” which is a silly narrative track about a zombie outbreak. If you’re interested in checking out any of these tracks, I’ve made a playlist of what’s been in my heavy rotation for your listening enjoyment.
Gaming 🎮
The month of March saw my gaming time dominated by one gaming series, Slay the Spire. I started off the month playing the first Slay the Spire on my Switch 2 as a stop gap while I waited for Slay the Spire 2 to drop into Steam’s Early Access program on March 5, 2026. Since it dropped I’ve been playing it with every spare second of my limited gaming time and I have to tell you that even in this incomplete state it’s a remarkable sequel to one of the most foundational roguelikes ever. The addition of co-op is seamless, the difficulty scales for player count seamlessly and I cannot wait until I get another chance to play it again with my friends online. I’ll be getting a standalone review out for that one eventually too. I’m looking forward to both Dosa Divas and Mouse: P.I. For Hire dropping next month. I look forward to sharing my thoughts on those with you then.
Sorry for the long delay in the column this month. I happy to report that I’m doing quite a bit better with my depression at this point. I’ve taken up jogging and that’s been going well and helping with the mental burdens too. Well until next time (hopefully in two weeks 🤞) I’m wishing you a good one. I’m off to unwind with some screen time.