in praise of movies

Welcome to clipboard, a weekly newsletter about clothes, hospo and cool stuff from Reilly Hodson. This week: I’m talking about my commitment to watching movies this year, of all kinds, and how it’s making me feel better than doom scrolling. If you enjoy the newsletter, forward it to a friend, or click the button below to chip in financially.

movies are good

Like everyone else in the world, my attention span has been shot to hell in the past few years. The combination of being stuck at home, the need to keep abreast of news about the rules for doing my favourite things (shopping and eating at restaurants), and the insidious ability of social media companies to gamify their products and steal my time has been a nasty brew. I’ve clicked out of the tab I’m writing this paragraph in about 5 times for no reason, for example.

Over the summer, I attempted to regain control of my ability to focus, which is extremely easy when you have zero responsibilities, 9 and a half odd extra hours in the day, and are staying in a house with a dishwasher. I poured myself into books (I read four), and tried not to scroll my feeds too much. It was really, really nice.

Now that I’m back at work, it’s not quite as easy to maintain control. Part of my job involves keeping a very close eye on the pulse of the media, so I’m hitting the refresh button a lot, and real life responsibilities have intervened.

In that context, I’ve been searching for easier ways to just focus on something for extended periods, and, on top of continuing my reading, I’ve landed on movies as part of a solution. I downloaded Letterboxd, and just decided, instead of chasing the latest buzzy TV show, to watch movies. New movies with Oscar buzz, superhero blockbusters, old movies I’ve never seen, all sorts.

It’s great fun. Movies are an awesome art form with lots of range, and while I do not profess to be a cinephile, I’m definitely enjoying engaging more frequently with them. A few recent favourites have been Disney’s Encanto (the best Disney movie in a long time, gets everything right), The Green Knight (give Dev Patel every role!), and a rewatch of the entire Mission: Impossible series, all of which are on Netflix and are truly excellent blockbusters (Tom Cruise running fast will never get old).

If you too are struggling to retain focus, I recommend heading to the cinema or just turning the lights off and Do Not Disturb on at home, firing up a film you’ve never seen before, and just watch it! I’ve had particularly good luck with movies that everyone loves, like the Godfather, which you might think would be overrated, but is genuinely really good, or Heat, which is on Netflix at the moment and is so much fun.

PS: this is a tricky time for everyone, so I hope you’re all taking care of yourself! Stay safe and be kind to yourselves

clips

• This article in Ensemble about what it’s like to get Omicron is terrifying, helpful, and a great proof point to pull out when someone smugly tells you “well we’re all gonna get it” and you want to punch them.

• It’s sale season! I have complicated feelings about sales, but everyone loves a deal. You can get steals at Checks Downtown, Crane Brothers and Good As Gold, among others.

• This is an incredibly difficult time for hospitality businesses, but I’ve found in limited experience that you can get a table relatively easy at the moment, if you’re comfortable with eating out. If you head to the right place, you’ll get great service, have plenty of room between you and other customers, and be supporting a good business! I’d encourage you to support those businesses while you feel comfortable to do so.

• Speaking of great hospo businesses to support, my favourite restaurant in the world Ockhee is giving away free Yakgwa desserts this Tuesday and Wednesday for Korean New Year.

• I am going to get heavily into the local body election in Auckland this year: it’s so important to vote for councillors and a mayor who well help us meet the great challenges of the world: climate change and housing first among them. The mayoral race kicked off in earnest this week, here’s a primer from The Spinoff.

• I read three great articles on GQ this week: on cartoon fashion influencers, new Kenzo under Nigo, and why glamour is misunderstood.

That’s all for clipboard this week, thanks for reading! I hope you’re having a lovely long weekend; I’ll be back next Monday for Waitangi Day observed. If you want to get in touch before then, you can find clipboard on Instagram or just send me an email (personalised recommendations are very much on offer).