ever since i joined the 21st century, got myself a smart phone, and stream movies and TV, i watch a lot of quality stuff.  we are in a golden age of TV.  and movies?  last year was a pretty good year for movies.  but what about really bad movies?  i confess, i haven't written regular movie reviews in some time.  the past year kicked the shit out of me.  writing about movies seemed frivolous.  my obsession with movies appeared to myself as extraneous while the climate heats up, politics becomes calcified into two armed camps etc etc.

but why should i limit myself and create a self-imposed exile of the things that i love?  my appreciation of horror/exploitation movies will not harm my resolve and commitment of living in poetry, and living as a decent person in the face of a destabilized climate, and fucked up politics.

i need to remind myself to enjoy the shit out of life, as best as i can.  and encourage all who might listen to do the same.  be a good person.  be aware of how fucked we are on this delicate, beautiful blue ball floating in the vast blackness of space.  be in awe of that fact.  watch a really bad movie, write poems, love as much as you can.  and take catullus' line, odi et amo, as a war cry.

i'll try to do that.  and write more about movies.  i don't care for awards so i won't be watching the oscars tomorrow night.  even tho sac fave, lady bird [2017], is up for five awards, i hope it gets the love this flick deserves, but finally what matters is the body of work, not the statue that one might get after the work is finished.

but for really bad movies, or just out right bad movies, the early 21st century was a renaissance of discovery and rediscovery of fantastic films.  there were a great many independent DVD companies that lovingly restored ancient prints of flicks and put these movies on DVD along with a host of extra materials.  often these DVDs had easter eggs hidden in the menus of the discs.  you took your remote and used the up/down/left/right arrows in the menus and should the cursor disappear from the screen, voila!, you found an easter egg of extra material.

streaming services don't produce these kinds of gems.  but what they lack in lovingly provided extra materials and easter eggs streaming services have movies and TV show in abundance.  and these digital platforms are easy to use.  sometimes the algorithms that these streaming platforms use to craft individual viewer profiles to recommend films and TV shows provide some surprises.  i found categories in Netflix that showcased scandinavian TV shows, south korean sitcoms, and french horror films.  for a film geek this is a treasure trove.

there is a lot of crap to be had on these platforms too.  when have we not created crap?  in abundance?  odi et amo, motherfuckers!  i'm gonna find something to watch.