media update: July

Asterisks denote something I particularly enjoyed or found especially worthy of my time; double asterisks are reserved for the creme de la creme. As always, your mileage may vary.

Not a lot of movies this month since I started playing Lost Judgment, which is the sequel to one of my top ten favorite video games and, predictably, is eating my life!

FICTION

1. Dark Corners by Megan Goldin:  A true crime podcaster goes undercover to look for a missing influencer.

2. Penance* by Eliza Clark:  The horrific murder of a teenage girl by three of her friends rocks a small seaside town.  If you're familiar with the Shanda Sharer case, the details are very similar, so take that as a warning if that will upset you.  Disturbing and provocative.

3. The Shards by Bret Easton Ellis:  In Los Angeles in the early eighties, a fictionalized version of the author has his privileged life upended by a serial killer.  If it had been trimmed by at least 300 pages (it's just shy of 600), it could have been fantastic, but its length means a whole lot of filler and not enough (literal) killer.  Still, it's extremely evocative of a certain time and place, so if you lived in or near Los Angeles in the eighties, you'll find much to savor here.  I think it could make a great movie.

4. An Evil Heart by Linda Castillo:  Police chief Kate Burkholder investigates the crossbow murder of a young Amish man.

5. I Did It for You by Amy Engel:  Fourteen years after the murder of her sister and her sister's boyfriend, and immediately following a copycat murder of two other teenagers, Greer returns to the small Kansas town where she grew up in search of answers.

2023 TOTAL SO FAR: 30

NONFICTION

Nothing this month.

2023 TOTAL SO FAR: 3

MANGA/GRAPHIC NOVELS

1. Confessions of a Shy Baker vol. 2 by Masaomi Ito

2. Mame Coordinate by Sachi Miyabe

3. Dekoboko Bittersweet Days by Atsuko Yusen

4. My Dress-Up Darling vol. 9 by Shinichi Fukuda 

2023 TOTAL SO FAR:  26 volumes of manga and 3 graphic novels

MOVIES

1. Nimona*:  Ballister Boldheart (voiced by Riz Ahmed) is about to be knighted when a tragedy occurs.  Wrongfully accused of the crime, he goes on the run and meets a curious new ally in the form of Nimona (voiced by Chloe Grace Moretz), a cheerfully anarchic shapeshifter.  The animation is serviceable but nothing special; however, the movie more than makes up for it with excellent queer rep, heart, and humor.

2. The Covenant*:  After an Afghan interpreter saves an American soldier's (Jake Gyllenhaal) life, the soldier seeks to return the favor.  

3. Renfield*:  Renfield (Nicholas Hoult) has been Dracula's (Nicolas Cage at his Nicolas Cage-iest) servant for decades, but he's starting to get real sick of Dracula's shit, and he starts to wonder if he can make a life of his own.  Gory, gooey fun.

 2023 TOTAL SO FAR: 37