My favorite painting of this little run of watercolors I’ve been up to this spring 🌲
This is a view from one of the trails around the Oregon Caves.
we're over halfway through 2026. what are everyone's most beloved books of the year so far?
utility pole paintings for april / may / june !
I decided to watch Love Wedding Repeat because all the talk about it made me curious (yeah, I know, I could watch thousands upon thousands actually good movies, and instead I choose this... I'm going to watch Everything Everywhere All at Once this week to make up for it - hold me to this).
I don't even know if I would say it was bad, it was just... weird? (Not an intentional, interesting kind of weird.) I suppose the premise of seeing how slight changes can completely reroute the story is compelling, I'm just not sure it delivered on that idea. The direction seemed strange to me. Despite it showing different bits and pieces of various characters, it all felt so empty to me. Like something was missing all the time.
Perhaps what I was missing is the core of a romcom - I didn't root for the main romantic couple at all, at least not in that final configuration they ended up with. I don't understand why she would want to be with him, except maybe because she was drunk. (Also it felt to me like she had a very dramatic job and backstory, so that she could say dramatic, touching stuff, without it having any actual emotional impact.)
I did quite like the choice of having an absolute loser of a bride there, though. I can't say I rooted for her relationship very much either (still, more than for the main couple), but I enjoyed her whole deal.
Actually, I think I figured out what was bugging me - I simply don't think this should have been a movie. It could have been a sketch, a youtube video, maybe some weird play or stand-up. But not a movie.
Seventh Seal (1957) first impression
I've been meaning to watch this for a while, really to see what the fuss is about and to give myself some cred as a "cinephile", a Swedish one at that (insanely ironic quotation marks there, I have not seen a lot of movies, and it's a slightly silly term). Somewhat to my surprise, I really enjoyed it! More thoughts under the cut (some spoilers, but I honestly don't think they matter much with this kind of film)
The ballad of Wallis island first impression
Well, first impression apart from beautiful artworks by @tealviscaria that is :P You asked about my thoughts, and in summary - I liked it!
- First off, the scenery was beautiful and almost a character in itself. I love the shortcut of island=isolation in film and tv, it's simple but effective (see: the menu, shetland, that one time in killing eve)
- Maybe an odd focus, but I really like the scope of the story. The runtime, cast, and locations were what they needed to be, nothing more and nothing less. I think this is a result of being based on and refined from a short film (which I haven't seen so can't directly compare), and also of being the vision of very few people who then realised it themselves. It has zero vibes of "story and comedy by committe" sometimes seen in big blockbusters.
- The music, a genre I'm mostly neutral/hit or miss on, but I Iiked the songs! I'll make sure to give the album a listen.
- Charles: amazing character, the balance of really annoying but charming, overstepping but not malicious. I can't say the emotional beats hit me that hard (definitely well-written and performed, just a time and place thing, more about me than mr. Key), but comedy-wise (ha!) he really tickled me.
- Herb: also really entertaining, and good arc throughout the movie. First I'm seeing of Tom Basden, afaik, and I'm impressed! I tip my hat to the acting, singing, and writing.
- Nell and Michael: well, I had to look up the name of the husband, so that tells you how small of a role it was 😅. Still, I think the actor did well with what he had. I read a comment somewhere that I agree with: while the puffin tour is clearly a plot convenience to remove him from the others, it does show some characterisation of him and Nell and their relationship -> it's very secure, neither of them think anything of her hanging out with her ex without him. Nell was a fine character (well acted and sung too), but not that interesting to me? It was pretty clear that she had moved on, had her life and family and was content with it. I do appreciate the decision to not have her return for the gig, I really thought she was going to but that would have been the neat, Hollywood-style way out.
- Amanda: I am a big Sian Clifford fan, and this was no exception. Her wellmeaning manner and complete separation from modernity and pop culture was very endearing. While her role here was pretty small, and mostly in relation to Charles, I think they did a good job of implying that she also has a life and story of her own (her mother, her son, presumably a "lost love" as well). The "gig then fish, delish!"-moment was very cute 💞
Sidenote: I'm really debating whether to get letterboxd or not. I've seen a few movies recently that I would like to note down my thoughts on (and also just for keeping track of which movies I have seen), but I'm not excited about having to use yet another website. Also worried about feeling perceived, and having that impact my notes in a "gosh, I have to be funny/insightful/have the right takes"-kinda way. I use a physical notebook for my reading diary, so maybe that's the way to go here as well? But digital is easier for sharing with you lot on tumblr <3 Maybe I should just do a movie tag here on my blog.
Ah, thank you for writing this! I would reply just in the tags but it was getting a bit unwieldy, so I hope you don't mind a full-on addition:
Make yourself in this picrew + one song you've been listening to a lot lately + the most recent animal you saw outside + tag 4 people
Thank you for the tag @kookaburrito!
Song: Tattooed Love Boys by Pretenders! Not very representative of my own 20s so far, but Chrissie Hynde is SO charismatic in singing about the narrator's (possibly her own) escapades.
Animal: When I received this it was probably while passing some huge birds in a field, possibly cranes? I was driving so didn't get a great look but definitely majestic-looking.
Tagging @tealviscaria @vagueeyes @sixfiguresillery @dangerliesbeforeyou no pressure ofc, just ignore if you don't feel like it, or if you've done this already and I happened to miss it :p
The Ballad of Wallis Island (2025) first impression
Well, first impression apart from beautiful artworks by @tealviscaria that is :P You asked about my thoughts, and in summary - I liked it!
- First off, the scenery was beautiful and almost a character in itself. I love the shortcut of island=isolation in film and tv, it's simple but effective (see: the menu, shetland, that one time in killing eve)
- Maybe an odd focus, but I really like the scope of the story. The runtime, cast, and locations were what they needed to be, nothing more and nothing less. I think this is a result of being based on and refined from a short film (which I haven't seen so can't directly compare), and also of being the vision of very few people who then realised it themselves. It has zero vibes of "story and comedy by committe" sometimes seen in big blockbusters.
- The music, a genre I'm mostly neutral/hit or miss on, but I Iiked the songs! I'll make sure to give the album a listen.
- Charles: amazing character, the balance of really annoying but charming, overstepping but not malicious. I can't say the emotional beats hit me that hard (definitely well-written and performed, just a time and place thing, more about me than mr. Key), but comedy-wise (ha!) he really tickled me.
- Herb: also really entertaining, and good arc throughout the movie. First I'm seeing of Tom Basden, afaik, and I'm impressed! I tip my hat to the acting, singing, and writing.
- Nell and Michael: well, I had to look up the name of the husband, so that tells you how small of a role it was 😅. Still, I think the actor did well with what he had. I read a comment somewhere that I agree with: while the puffin tour is clearly a plot convenience to remove him from the others, it does show some characterisation of him and Nell and their relationship -> it's very secure, neither of them think anything of her hanging out with her ex without him. Nell was a fine character (well acted and sung too), but not that interesting to me? It was pretty clear that she had moved on, had her life and family and was content with it. I do appreciate the decision to not have her return for the gig, I really thought she was going to but that would have been the neat, Hollywood-style way out.
- Amanda: I am a big Sian Clifford fan, and this was no exception. Her wellmeaning manner and complete separation from modernity and pop culture was very endearing. While her role here was pretty small, and mostly in relation to Charles, I think they did a good job of implying that she also has a life and story of her own (her mother, her son, presumably a "lost love" as well). The "gig then fish, delish!"-moment was very cute 💞
Sidenote: I'm really debating whether to get letterboxd or not. I've seen a few movies recently that I would like to note down my thoughts on (and also just for keeping track of which movies I have seen), but I'm not excited about having to use yet another website. Also worried about feeling perceived, and having that impact my notes in a "gosh, I have to be funny/insightful/have the right takes"-kinda way. I use a physical notebook for my reading diary, so maybe that's the way to go here as well? But digital is easier for sharing with you lot on tumblr <3 Maybe I should just do a movie tag here on my blog.
everyone i've talked to about this has been completely unaware so: if you didn't know already, there's going to be a solar eclipse, with totality or coverage of 90% or more in some places, over a lot of europe, on august 12th 2026. in the uk it will start just after 6pm, and the maximum will be at 7:13pm.
here is a map of the path of the eclipse (from timeanddate)
get eclipse glasses if you want to look at it. it is not safe to look at through sunglasses. ok informative post over o7
holy shit have you evver tried this new substance called album in order
yess, incredible substance!! I started going on tangents in the tags but it got long enough to warrant a reblog with a text body ⬇️
