September was a pretty ordinary month. Some big goings-on at the office, but they’ve been going-on for several months. Mostly, I just read some books, read some short stories, saw some movies, and listened to some music.
I read two: Zadie Smith’s NW and John Lanagan’s The Fisherman. I liked them both. I don’t have a whole lot more to say about either.
I’m not entirely sure how many I read in September. I have a record of twenty-six, but I’m pretty sure I missed a couple in my final tally. (I missed a couple of days too, though, so it wasn’t thirty.) Either way, these were my favorites:
- “Seven Kinds of Baked Goods” by Maria Haskins (Luna Station Quarterly)
- “You and Me and Mars” by Sandy Parsons (Luna Station Quarterly)
- “Clearly Lettered in a Mostly Steady Hand” by Fran Wilde (Uncanny)
- “Evil Opposite” by Naomi Kritzer (F&SF)
- “Still Tomorrow’s Going to Be Another Working Day” by Amy Griswold (F&SF)
- “God-Ray” by Gregory Norman Bossert (Saturday Evening Post)
- “The Lamentation of Their Women” by Kai Ashante Wilson (Tor.com)
- “Angels of the Blockade” by Alex Acks (Tor.com)
- “Crossing” by A.C. Wise (PodCastle)
I watched 18 of them in September:
- Deep Red:
Deep Red is so over the top, essentially fetishizing every scene, but it's also really good.
— Fred Coppersmith (@unrealfred) September 3, 2017
- Horror of Dracula:
Horror of Dracula takes some not insignificant liberties with the source material, but Cushing and Lee are great together.
— Fred Coppersmith (@unrealfred) September 4, 2017
- Personal Shopper:
Personal Shopper is an odd, kinda unsatisfying movie, but I also really liked it, thanks in no small part to Kristen Stewart's performance.
— Fred Coppersmith (@unrealfred) September 4, 2017
- Cat on a Hot Tin Roof:
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof was really very good.
— Fred Coppersmith (@unrealfred) September 5, 2017
- American Graffiti:
American Graffiti was pretty good. Kind of a darker, more ambling, more '50s-fetishizing version of Happy Days.
— Fred Coppersmith (@unrealfred) September 9, 2017
- The Omen:
I don't know if The Omen could really be confused for a GOOD movie, but it's well-enough cast and made that you forgive it a lot of faults.
— Fred Coppersmith (@unrealfred) September 10, 2017
- It:
I thought "It" was many things, but interestingly, none of those things was "scary."
— Fred Coppersmith (@unrealfred) September 10, 2017
- Night on Earth:
I liked Night on Earth, even if it feels a little inconsequential as a movie.
— Fred Coppersmith (@unrealfred) September 11, 2017
- It Comes at Night:
It Comes at Night (But Kinda Doesn't Do a Whole Lot When it Finally Gets Here)
— Fred Coppersmith (@unrealfred) September 17, 2017
- Beat the Devil:
I may have lost the thread of Beat the Devil's plot for a little while, but that's okay, I think the movie does too.
— Fred Coppersmith (@unrealfred) September 17, 2017
- Camelot:
Camelot is kind of both delightful and tedious, sometimes simultaneously.
— Fred Coppersmith (@unrealfred) September 18, 2017
- Giant:
Giant is pretty good. Maybe not great, or even entirely convincing as an "epic," but pretty good.
— Fred Coppersmith (@unrealfred) September 23, 2017
- The Hills Have Eyes:
The Hills Have Eyes is too goofy to be scary, too violently disturbing to be fun.
— Fred Coppersmith (@unrealfred) September 24, 2017
- The Big Sick:
I liked The Big Sick a whole lot. It's very sweet and endearing and funny.
— Fred Coppersmith (@unrealfred) September 24, 2017
- Klute:
Klute doesn't quite work as a thriller despite some very tense scenes and effective score. But the performances espec. Fonda's are terrific.
— Fred Coppersmith (@unrealfred) September 25, 2017
- Babylon A.D.:
This is a genuinely well designed bad movie. Its future world feels real and lived-in. Its characters and story, not so much.
— Fred Coppersmith (@unrealfred) September 28, 2017
- The Dark Crystal:
Not without its merits (but a little boring), The Dark Crystal feels a little more like proof-of-concept for other, later Henson projects.
— Fred Coppersmith (@unrealfred) October 1, 2017
- The Founder:
It's an interesting biopic, with Keaton's Ray Kroc as both the hero and the villain of the piece.
— Fred Coppersmith (@unrealfred) October 1, 2017