For some reason I haven’t been in a writing mood. I’ve been in a movie watching mood – which has me back in a writing mood.

I’ve seen around eight movies since Christmas, some very good, some that at least made me think. Movies that make me think qualify as good even if they make me squirm.

I’ve been watching them differently. Or at least more consciously. I recently discovered Science Fiction YouTuber/Writer/Blogger Damien Walter, who talks about our movies having a mythos – the dreamlife of a culture.

He makes a pretty good argument. There are certain tropes, character types, surprise blockbuster and slow burn classics, that just have to tell us something about what we didn’t know we were thinking.

It’s going to take a while to write down those thoughts, so I’ll start with a list of the ones I feel motivated to write about: Godzilla Minus One, Beau Is Afraid, The Batman, Videodrome, The Colony, Anon.

I also saw The Boy and the Heron, at the theater, but I don’t have much to say about it at the moment. I’ll see it again sometime when I can pause it to the bathroom. Maybe I’ll have more to say then.

I know it’s heresy, but I haven’t really enjoyed Miyazaki’s movies, despite their reputation, except Howl’s Moving Castle. I still want to see Graveyard of the Fireflies if I can find it. I respect him, he just doesn’t speak to me.