The Monthly Roundup - March 2024

Welcome to the roundup! This is a recurring monthly segment where I chronicle all of the works of art that I experienced throughout the month. I mainly wanted to do this so that I could record my thoughts on all of these works in one contained space, but I also love sharing my thoughts and starting conversation! Movies, books, games, etc., it will all be recorded here!

Movies & TV

• Marcel the Shell With Shoes On (2022) - I watched this with my boyfriend, Jack, on our anniversary. It was a bit of an odd pick but it ended up being perfect watch because it's kind of a perfect film. Considering the main character is a tiny shell that can probably walk a single foot per minute, this movie is so much more than the sum of its parts. Please do yourself a favor and watch it while it's still on Netflix.

• Megamind vs. the Doom Syndicate (2024) - Everyone else has already torn this movie to shreds, so I won't dwell on it here. It's not the follow-up that we all wanted to the original film, but I'm not starting a riot about it. I found little to enjoy about this film, and I will leave it at that.

• Carol & the End of the World (2023) - It took us forever to finish this series for some reason, but we finally did it this month. If you've seen BoJack Horseman, then you'll love Carol. Subversive, hilarious, depressingly uplifting. Bravo to everyone who worked on this very special limited series.

• Oppenheimer (2023) - I watched this like two day before the Oscars, and I enjoyed it a fair amount, but it's not really my kind of movie. The acting was great, the bomb scene was incredible, but it's not really something I'd watch again.

• My Little Pony: Equestria Girls (2013) - Jack and I got tipsy and watched this on a weekend, and it was such a doozy. For those that are unaware, I had a My Little Pony phase in middle school/early high school, and this film was kind of what kickstarted it. We'd joked for a while that we would watch every Equestria Girls film together at some point, and we finally started in February, ironically concluding with the first one in March. I'm not lying when I say that I could honestly write a thesis paper on this sub-franchise considering how odd it is and how long it stuck around. TL;DR -- This movie is drivel, but I somehow can't bear to look away.

• The Nice Guys (2016) - I've been wanting to check this one out for a few years now, and I really liked it! This is easily some of the best chemistry I've seen between two leads in a good while, and it's so abundant in hilarious performances and great action. I'm not so sure I followed the mystery throughout, but I'm glad to have finally watched it, and I'm glad that it's getting the cult following it deserves after flopping in the box office eight years ago.

• Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV (2024) - I don't know how much I need to say about this since most of the internet has already touched on this docuseries, and it's not like I have any perspective as an industry professional as of now, but I will say that this show is sure to have a very lasting impact in the trajectory of kids programming. If you have the means, please consider giving this a watch, though it can be a hard watch.

• Mean Girls (2024) - I hadn't watched the original Mean Girls until a few months ago, so I didn't really have any nostalgia for the IP when going into this new remake/adaptation. I'm already not too big on the musical itself, and I don't think that this film really improved on it all too much. This was not for me.

• Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour (2023) - While I'm not a dedicated swiftie, I grew up with Taylor Swift's music just as much as any other kid who listened to 95.1 on the way to middle school every day. I mainly put it on because the scale of this tour has gotten so other-worldly that I more or less felt a social obligation to. Admittedly, most of my viewing was having this on in the background while I worked on, well, this roundup. That said, I don't have much to say about the film itself. My only pervasive thought through the whole thing was how quickly my entire body would convulse if I were plopped into that stadium.

Books

• Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud - This is required reading for anybody wanting to get into comics, or learn more about them. I've been meaning to reread this for a while, and I honestly should've been taking notes the entire time. It sparks a deep appreciation for the art of comics as a whole. To quote Neil Gaiman, "You must read this book."
  

Games

• A Hat in Time (Switch) - This is my second time playing through this game, and it's just as cozy as my first playthrough. This game has such imaginative worlds to explore and characters to meet, wrapped in an aesthetic reminiscent of the PC games I played as a kid. This is a 3D platformer that I definitely need to add to my collection at some point.

• Clubhouse Games: 51 Worldwide Classics (Switch) - Who knew that a video game about board and card games could be so damn charming? I didn't think it was possible for a game to be "friendly," but this game is so friendly.

Podcasts

• Camp Here and There - This is a podcast that Jack started listening to, and he encouraged me to get into it as well. It's incredibly cute, very funny, and quite haunting at times, with great music by Will Wood. With a contained story in about 34 episodes, all averaging about 25 minutes, I would highly recommend giving it a try! You may be like both of us and finish it before you know it. Here's hoping Season 2 will see the light of day at some point.