Shifting the Focus
Steering the wheel to focus on more popular films and TV shows at The Screen this year (and columns!)
As much as I’m zealous for discovering underrated gems in both film and TV, I had to realize that most folks just don’t give a crap about them on Substack — let alone searching for viable (and preferably cheap) options to watch something like Sovereign or Common Side Effects. So I decided to change my focus on what I’ll cover here at The Screen this year.
Simply put: I’m gonna tackle more popular films and TV shows.
To take on the challenge of trying to say something different regarding the more talked-about stuff, or approaching lauded and beloved classics from an unexplored angle. That doesn’t necessarily mean new releases, and certainly not standard reviews, because I don’t think Substack needs another write-up on Marty Supreme or One Battle After Another — or the next hot movie/series that pops up everywhere on the platform for about three weeks before the cultural attention shifts to something shinier.
I’d rather like to revisit timeless favorites (like I did with Panic Room and Saving Private Ryan), or re-examine grandiose misfires (like I did with Hancock), and maybe celebrate/debate cult classics that are still fascinating nostalgia trips for some reason. That doesn’t mean I completely abandon overlooked and underseen gems (I can’t deny who I am!) — and will definitely sprinkle in a few posts here and there — but my attention will lie more on the zeitgeist (current and past).
You can already see this happening with my latest posts on Wonder Man and The Mattleck Effect (the latter being the type of essay that I love writing and want to do more of), which will continue on regularly (I hope).
But what I’ve been dying to do for the longest time is revive my columns — Horror Aughts and An Hour of Peak TV — and turn them into at least monthly-recurring series that readers can anticipate and be excited for. I enjoy the hell out of specified thematical columns, and I’d like to recreate the feeling I have when I find those and get lost in them (like Harvey’s Hellhole on Crooked Marquee).
I’ll also experiment with notes that can perhaps spark conversations and incite recommendations from readers. I have a few other ideas, too, that I want to keep a surprise (not ruling out that I’ll bail on them eventually).
One last thing to close this update off with is that I created a subsection called BLOG on the website that I’ll use to publish stuff like this post, but not send out as an actual newsletter. I’ll also use it to share shorter pieces (mini-reviews, brief recommendations, quick rants, and whatnot) and ask for reader input. Like in the old blogging days, when people actually had to go check if there was anything new that just gone up. Newsletters are cool and all, but I feel (based on my own experience) that many people get annoyed by emails rather than get excited for them through their inboxes.
Anyway, this is just a brief heads-up of what’s to come on The Screen — get ready for more cine and telephilia! And leave a like or a comment if you feel like it.
More soon!
(unless I drop everything, get pissed off and discouraged, and abandon Substack for seven weeks like I sometimes do)