I had big plans for this winter and spring, but one by one various projects have been postponed. Nonetheless, I want to start posting more frequently - every day through mid-summer to be exact - for several reasons. For one, there are topics I've been wanting to cover for a while and this will provide some encouragement. And to be a bit anal about it, I'd also like to have exactly 1,380 posts the day before Lost in the Movies' tenth anniversary, so that my ten-archive-tweets-a-day can continue right up to that moment (as was the original plan before abandoning an even more ambitious schedule that would have begun in April). This means today is my last chance to start posting daily in order to hit that benchmark.
Most importantly, I need to keep up with public content; since starting my Patreon in January, I have found myself with little opportunity to publish anything other than patron-only podcasts. This ends up making my account a rather self-enclosed enterprise, since more people will probably become patrons as a response to free material than through the enticement of rewards.
That's the rationale - what will be the result?
Well, for one thing, a lot of TV coverage. I'm unleashing the bulk of my backlog, which I've been building intermittently since 2016 and with more frequent commitment since late last year. Most of these pieces are viewing diary entries - I planned to wait until viewing an entire series to publish any of them, but instead I'm compromising: as soon as I've covered a given season of a show, I'll share my capsule reviews (at least through the first half of summer). As of now, I've got enough for the next month so if I keep up a decent pace, I should be able to maintain this routine while also publishing my weekly Patreon podcast and working behind the scenes on more long-term stuff.
First up, starting tomorrow, will be Breaking Bad, whose first season I finished a month or so ago. (I'm about halfway through season one of Mad Men, so that may be next). I'm also hoping to cover Top of the Lake: China Girl soon, since I enjoyed writing up the first season. So far I've heard mixed reviews, but I'm optimistic; Jane Campion's work is always at least interesting. Unlike the other viewing diaries, which will take a simpler approach (divided into two long paragraphs, one a summary, the other a reaction), I may write longer reviews of Top of the Lake, to match the style I used for the first season.
Hopefully, I can squeeze movie reviews in too, at least once a week if I'm lucky. One of my abandoned ideas for the spring was to publish a review every day, covering various blind spots in my existing archive. That was way too ambitious given my other commitments, but hopefully I can still incorporate a touch of that approach. I also have a couple video essays completed - and will probably have a few more in the coming months - which I may share or hold onto for later, depending if I need to fall back on them soon.
And I have finally finished at least one of the three remaining "Five Weeks of Fire Walk With Me" posts - the essay exploring the film in relation to other art films, horror films, Lynch films, and Twin Peaks episodes. This was assembled slowly over many months, and I had a blast illustrating it just the other night. But I'll almost certainly hold off on "4 Ways to Watch Fire Walk With Me" until the every-day approach relaxes, so that I can publish it with more room to breathe. Likewise, as I've announced elsewhere, my Twin Peaks Character Series and Journey Through Twin Peaks videos have been postponed till at least the second half of 2018 rather than the first half as originally desired. (As I work on these throughout the year, third-tier patrons get sneak peeks.)
For the next one hundred twenty-six days, if all goes according to plan and my head start is sufficient, Lost in the Movies will see a new post every day, including viewing diaries, Patreon updates, movie reviews, the occasional announcement, and maybe a video or two. Hope you enjoy these pieces, as we approach the finish line for the site's first decade.
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