no.7 | shrimpothee chalamet
feeling lovey and lucky
ahoj!
chúc mừng năm mới to those who celebrate <3 and happy valentine’s day!!!! last week was nice, i felt like i had some time back to myself. u will see by the return of craft corner + things to look forward to segments. i went back to hot yoga and that was delightful. i had a peaceful tết. i really miss being closer to a vietnamese community so i can celebrate it the way i grew up. the chinese celebration in new york is awesome and i’m happy that the community is so strong. but vietnamese new year is difffffff. i yearn for bánh hỏi and nem nướng on a stick.
i got tapped back into freelancing for mls, which is like slipping on old shoes + financially convenient bc i gotta start booking vacation flights soon. me and doordash are on the outs after angel, brady, and i spent like 45 minutes figuring out the promo code and they DIDN’T pick us as winners of 4 diff cars, 2 buckets of mayo, 20 bars of soap, and also a clydesdale saddle.
last night angel and i had the most delightful time eating at koi omakase, a little spot literally a 5 min walk from our apartment. this was my first omakase experience and i’m so pleased with it. each of the pieces were soooo delicious and we got really large slices of fish/meat??? like i couldn’t fit half of them in my mouth in one bite. i’m so happy i finally tried omakase. it’s always been too expensive for me to justify, but it was valentine’s day and the price was right at koi and i couldn’t be happier. excited to continue expanding my omakase horizons 😚
pictured below: notes app sushi menu (menu is seasonal so this was all a surprise + i wrote it down as we went), my favorite sushi: o-toro with caviar (photo does NOT do it justice, it was so gorgeous irl), chef toasting our wagyu + foie gras, our big heads post-meal which is the only way we know how to take photos these days
(((craft corner)))
abby duck completed and sent off to kentucky friends! i realized i fucking hate making amigurumi (these crochet little stuffies). i’ve only done the miffy woobles and abby duck and i now know it’s not for me. i’m not good at counting and it takes way more thought than i’d like to put into crocheting. but i do love how abby duck came out
began plotting a series of paintings! hoping to turn these into prints at the end but i’m trying not to put too much pressure on it. the concept is grass. think i’ll try these in gouache and see how that turns out. i will try to remind myself that doing several iterations is okay and not everything has to be good on the first try
i will take you on this journey with me. a) for accountability b) to push my comfort zone. i don’t like sharing my work unless it’s like actually good so i want to become more comfy with showing stuff i don’t love
(((culture roundup)))
i made up for lost time by watching 10 movies last week, i will rank them thusly
crouching tiger, hidden dragon
was lucky enough to see in theaters and i’m SO glad i waited to watch until now. this was my first watch and a rewatch for angel. this is like a movie of movies. just really excellent artistry and such a beautiful, romantic story. it’s basically perfect and the visuals and music just sweep you away. ang lee is that bitch fr. fiiiiiiiiive wholehearted stars
my 2nd wong kar-wai movie! just dripping in yearning and soft moments and style. i think chungking express hit me more but ITMFL is undeniably a masterpiece. tony leung and maggie cheung maintain a really magnetic energy that feels so delicate. as expected, masterful visual storytelling that’s subtle and takes it’s time. it’s all very intimate~
like the artsiest film i’ve ever seen. a female conan the barbarian on a time warp-y journey as she ages and grows closer to barbarism, guided by a dog called rainer in a sick jacket. i walked out of the theater unsure or like…. not fully able to wrap my mind around what i saw. it’s a very visceral and grotesque movie. but now several days later i can say that i liked it! i appreciated the sound design and the sets for the most part were really cool. the costuming was excellent. honestly this deserves a rewatch to see what else can be gleaned from it. this features a very french interpretation of the bronx in the 90s which is a bit of a ???? moment but overall fun nonetheless!
a confounding movie that i had a lot of fun with. truly a workplace comedy disguised as a rom-com. when this movie is good it’s really good and when it’s bad it’s really fucking bad. all of cami mendes’s outfits seemed like they were amazon basics. archie renaux terribly underutilized BUT i did rly love his mom + her gbf
idk if u have seen the first ep of documentary now where fred armisen and bill hader star as big vivvy and little vivvy. i had no idea that that was parodying grey gardens, a very real documentary that follows big edie and little edie, a mother and daughter living in a dilapidated long island mansion. i loved this a lot. it received controversy bc some ppl felt that this painted an unkind, mocking picture of the duo. and yeah, u could tell the makers looked down at them a bit. but i also think it’s a really perfect documentation of women who were left behind by the times. idk i don’t think i had a lot of sympathy for like withered old socialites, but i found this to be really humanizing
chloe grace moretz is a rly gr8 voice actor and i loved the lgbtq rep in this. this is def for children but it was fun and it’s so nice to have queer rep folded into a movie in such a natural way. like how nice it is to have a movie that doesn’t come w a press release bragging about an on-screen gay kiss (i’m looking right at you live-action beauty and the beast). i look forward to showing this to my kid(s)
i do have a q for the animation industry, do we HAVE to do cg animation from now on. like wish? uggo. nimona? not perfect. i loved the animation in the spider-verse movies, truly pushing the boundaries of animation and doing it successfully. i also rly liked the tmnt: mutant mayhem animation. but what happened to hand drawn full-length animation movies??? no one is doing it like cartoon saloon these days
another movie about greta gerwig being awkward and cute in new york. deadbeat dad ethan hawke u have my heart. current ranking for the greta gerwig/new york cinematic universe: mistress america > maggie’s plan > frances ha
i really liked the first 8-10 minutes, every scene megan thee stallion was in, and the last two scenes. and literally nothing else. oh it had a very good blooper reel but how could u not when u have nathan lane and megan mullaly in your cast!
?????/?????????/ girls actually don’t belong in stem and now i’m in love w drew starkey
dogshit movie unfortunately, marvel truly in the fucking dumps, girl power toasted/burnt/fried and sent down the gd drain, set women empowerment back like 20 years (nia dacosta u were so valid in focusing on other projects while working on this even tho male directors routinely do this, they wanted to blame u but they can’t i won’t let them)
other things:
i finished reading mistakes we never made by hannah brown, my first book of 2024. it was a tonnnn of fun, just a cutesy fun romance book. i wish i didn’t know so much abt hannah brown bc she put like wayyyyy too much of herself in the main character. but all-in-all a really enjoyable quickie read!
started song of achilles!!! i love it so far, i’m about halfway through. i also got the iliad back from the library so it’s been interesting reading these two in tandem. the iliad covers the last year of the trojan war and where i’m at in song of achilles is still 10 years before that point. but trying to reconcile these different portrayals of achilles has been fun!!
@DESIGNERS IN THE CHAT: i came across the really good instagram account: @graphicsunion. it’s a uk-based film/tv graphic designer community. they post abt events, free resources like fonts, and the haps in the industry. i really like it as a source of film news and inspiration for paper-based collateral
so disappointed that madame web is getting awful reviews. allegedly not even so bad that it’s good. devastating news
(((things to look forward to)))
freaking ribeyes and freaking chocolate covered strawberries and freaking caesar salad and freaking tiny shoestring freaking fries. i love valentine’s day i love making a giant freaking meal and watching a movie w my boyfriend, pt 2 valentine’s meal tn is gonna pop AWF
my aunt and uncle are bringing my ông nội to new york to visit this weekend!!! it’s his first time and we’re going to go to the statue of liberty :)
the future of the bachelor franchise! have been watching joey’s season concurrently w nat and this season has been sooooo good. the romance! the drama! actually cute dresses! they’re all back this season! and joey is very pretty and very kind! bach nation we’re winning again!
angel and i have tickets to see amélie this weekend!! neither of us have seen it and we feel lucky to be able to watch it on the big screen 💖
that’s all, my loves. i hope you have a wonderful valentine’s day and a wonderful rest of your week. wishing u sooooooo many good vibes!! i’m off to watch iconic ensemble comedy valentine’s day
besos,
sarah