no. 32 | SSSSSSSSAMMIE
i love sinners | let's have a conclave
HI SINNERS. HI CONCLAVERS. HI FRIENDS <3
happy day 1 of the conclave!!! may god grant us a pope that believes in human rights.
is it wrong that i’m a little protective over conclave excitement rights? like idk some of u twitter conclave (2024) viewers weren’t there in 2005 and in 2013 watching pope updates w ur parents nightly. streets are saying some of the cardinals have seen conclave the movie though. i hope they take cardinal benitez’s words to heart. thus far life has already imitated art and there’s been a flurry of gossip about some papal candidates. messy! eager for updates!
it feels like i sent my last email yesterday and like i have nothing to say to you now. i’m doing really well!! lots of action on the job hunt front, some fulfilling time with friends, quality time with angel and family, really delicious eats, live music, consistent workouts, books read, movies watched. the weather’s getting warmer, what’s to complain about! lmao!
big thing on my mind lately is clothes. my wardrobe has really devolved ever since i started working from home full-time. big t-shirts, ratty shorts, surplus of hoodies. when it’s time to go out, i look at my dresser and my closet and i think, “how did i ever put together more than two outfits ?”. it’s starting to feel like i’ve got just a handful of things worth wearing outside of the house. which is its own issue and is not true at all. i’m also trying not to buy new clothes unless it’s severely discounted just bc i feel like the quality of clothes these days almost never justify the price. but to combat that, i’ve started on a grand thrifting journey. i promise to only thrift clothes from now until my japan trip wherein i WILL be buying brand new japanese denim.
the content stars have also aligned with me on this endeavor. business insider recently published this video about thredup. it demystified a lot of how thredup works for me, introduced some new tools i wasn’t aware of, and as such helped me find some pieces that i think i’ll pull the trigger on soon. s/o thredup!! and i’ve mentioned the shop rat newsletter before but a recent entry about having a ‘repair day’ enlightened me unto all the different services nordstrom offers (tailoring, shoe cleaning, personalization, & more!) to revitalize your clothes. and for less money than i thought! there’s so many ways to lengthen the life of your clothes, it’s all very inspiring~
(((craft corner)))
i knitted a really quick camisole!! i still have to block it, but it came together so quickly and easily, i can’t wait to wear it this summer
next on my knit list is a breezy tank dress to wear as a cover-up by the pool or just whenever it gets unbearably hot out. i saw a zara dress like two years ago, fell in love with it, and i found a yarn that mimics the striping so here goes another try at duping something w yarn!
pause on other creative pursuits, i’ve been so busy! but am gearing up to dive into editing the second vlog!
(((consumption corner)))
i was actually looking at my letterboxd a couple weeks ago and thinking wow i really haven’t watched anything that i’ve LOVED but phewwwwww, i shouldn’t have spoken so soon, see below:
SINNERS: where to even start with this. i’m trying not to let the excitement overtake me but truly one of the best movies i’ve ever seen. like that’s it, it’s the best. it is so simply a perfect execution of an incredible vision. ryan coogler is a fucking powerhouse director. angel and i both went back to watch it on our own (he with brady, me with imax) and we both came back even more sure that this was a masterpiece film. it’s so magical seeing coogler’s past films and in real time seeing some of those elements manifest here in sinners. as well as michael b jordan!! he’s had this rogue-ish vibe in the things i’ve seen him in and angel commented that this is the first movie where we see him shake that off. sinners was really everything. it’s as funny as it is romantic as it is suspenseful as it is soulful as it is so, so full of love and art. i’ve been thinking about it for weeks now and i can’t get sammie’s (miles caton’s) voice out of my head. counting the days until i can see it again and again and again
sinners definitely succeeds on its own merits. but it totally succeeds where other films have previously failed for me. the first that came to mind was barbie (the second was mickey-17 and the third was pulp fiction). movies i thought wer fun and i had a good time and looked great but had some diluted social commentary slapped on top. sinners does it so smoothly. the story is the commentary and all the elements worked in tandem to communicate even more to its audience. it didn’t rely on a singular monologue to spell it out for you. it was just purely good storytelling and myth-making that was bolstered by literally every single part of the production!!
and fucking ludwig göransson u fucking asshole. u fuuucking asshole genius perfect brain FUCK. he’s so brilliant it’s almost offensive. the things he does with a guitar is so sickening. his score is so good and is completely its own character. it’s a force all on its own. there are times when characters are speaking and the score is so loud at the same time and it just fucking works. the music is talking to you and saying as much as the characters are. the smokestack twins theme is so fucking good, it captures a depth and bond that’s so hard to fathom with words. idk why i’m surprised every time göransson churns out the most life-ruining, ascendant score ever. you WILL catch me at the orchestral sinners tour with live resonator guitar
there’s so much to say about sinners. for being such a powerful ode to the black community, its ancestors and descendants. for having such a strong female cast and crew. for treating religion and spirituality nakedly and fairly. for being as much a love letter to the blues as it is to the very art of filmmaking. i’m so thankful that this movie exists.
“Our characters are going to encounter cosmically horrific vampiric violence.
I have to buttress that with something cosmically beautiful.”
–Ryan Coogler
candyman (2021): the recent sequel! i watched this a) because i love yahya abdul mateen ii and b) because i wanted to expand my black horror knowledge a little bit before watching sinners. i remember seeing trailers for this when it came out and i was interested but i was still in my scaredy pants phase. i loved this a lot tho. the kills were fun, the dialogue was goofy but so fun, and i was gripped the whole way long. i think i’ll be foraying into a candyman deep dive and watching the series from the start. also typical colman domingo slay
fog of war: criterion has a collection called “legacies of war: vietnam across the divides” in honor of april 30. and i’ve been picking at it. the first thing i watched was fog of war, a documentary about robert mcnamara, the secretary of defense before and during the vietnam war. i thought this was brilliant as a human case study (and effective documentary making too). it holds the same appeal to me as the dallas cowboys netflix show. like mcnamara fully spends an hour “reflecting” on the trauma he and the us government dispensed but essentially dodges any kind of responsibility. the kind of documenting of a subject that is telling on itself without any critical thought. awesome watch, educational and dare i say…….. cerebral
sabrina: new tsitp s3 poster dropped and it was an homage to the poster for sabrina (1963) SO i did my due diligence and watched sabrina. and it was about time honestly. i really didn’t realize that tsitp took so much inspo from old movies. i thought it was romantic personality set dressing for belly. but LOL this was so fucking funny. some lines had me gasp out loud. THE movie for conrad girls
black bag: if alamo didn’t treat its workers like garbage for 50 days, i would’ve seen this in THEATERS. but it’s fine, it’s on peacock now and angel and i finally got to watch this. and it was so worth the wait. slick and hazy at the same time, this was such a good movie to feast on. filled with very delectable performances from the entire cast. hard to pick a stand out when everyone was fantastic here. but this movie gave me a great appreciation for tom burke. i’ve overlooked you for many years, sir, but you’re very good!! cate blanchett and michael fassbender, with his otter-like constitution, really are the epitome of svelte monogamous power couple. good stuff, GREAT stuff.
other media:
big era for gaming! been clocking a lot of civ vi hours and more recently minecraft hours lately. which does take away from other things but whatever. i’m having fun
ik i said i was gonna watch all the candymans but i do have a higher priority, i will be going through the mission: impossible movies ahead of the last movie’s release later in may. i’m currently on mission: impossible 4: ghost protocol. wish me luck!
i’m so overwhelmed by the amount of tv to watch. i still haven’t finished severance, i’m barely keeping up with andor, i’m behind on survivor, i’m behind on the rehearsal, i’m behind on the studio, the bear has run away from me entirely, i haven’t even touched the pitt, i’ve just started slow horses but i’m like SEASONS behind, i feel like i’m drowning, i’m so sick of tv
of what i’ve managed to watch: summer house is awesome, you s5 is not awesome, adolescence is good, etoile is not awesome, girlfriends is awesome
really haven’t had the patience to read lately, which is disappointing. i thought i had a good run there for a second
here’s to april showers being OVER, bring me my may flowers!!!!!
toodle-oo!
sarah
