This Was July 2026
Hi!!
I am not in a Big Mood for a monthly review right now since I'm working on getting the Spring zines printed and prepping for my birthday trip this month (which comes with its own brand of reflection). This is a quick check in to say hello and share a few things about what I watched before I scan a bunch of stuff.
Hope your August is going well and you're staying safe and cool.
Movies
Didn't watch more movies than usual, but somehow ended up watching a lot of very good movies that I wanted to comment on.
I did a rewatch of Independence Day (1996) on the 4th of July and thought it might be fun to finally catch the sequel, Independence Day: Resurgence (2016). My bad. Never doing that again.
I watched Dick (1999) which is a historical fantasy about two teenage girls who get caught up in the Watergate scandal. First, we need more historical fantasy in this exact genre. Secondly, I haven't stopped thinking about the movie since I watched it. I wouldn't say it was a total artistic masterpiece, but it had lots of bits that stick with you, especially seeing some similarities in secrecy and coverups. It was fun.
My Best Friend is a Vampire (1987) was fun and goofy. I thought that they handled consent better than most other vampire things. I've seen a lot of people compare it to Once Bitten (1985) and I think it has similar vibes, but wouldn't say it's the same thing. But maybe if you like Once Bitten, you'd like this?
The Sheep Detectives (2026) was super cute and even had Zenny reacting to the TV. She was very interested in the sheep when there was just one on the screen at a time. I thought it would be more like a kids movie but it was a bit more complex than that!
I rewatched the first Masters of the Universe (1987) before the one that came out this year which may have been a mistake because the 80s version is an ABSOLUTE MASTERPIECE and cannot be touched, thus making the recent one probably more disappointing than it would have been otherwise.
My Sam Neill watch to commemorate the loss of a great actor was In the Mouth of Madness (1994). Very trippy and weird and definitely recommended. Even if you don't like the plot, pacing, or movie, you'll still love his performance. RIP.
Finally, my last highlighted watch was Disclosure Day (2026). This got mixed reviews and a lot of people didn't consider it a "sci fi alien movie" even though that's literally what it is. It's not the same in-your-face action that you'd get from a movie like Independence Day, but much more down to earth. However, I wouldn't call it subtle... I thought it was charming and it made me laugh out loud more than once.
TV Shows
I've been watching a lot of Korean Dramas lately and this month wasn't an exception: I knocked out a few that I recommend:
Melting Me Softly (2019), which is about an extreme sports host & actor who participate in an overnight freezing experiment and end up waking up 20 years later.
See You At Work Tomorrow (2026), a work-romance comedy that has the most grown up communication I've ever seen in a kdrama, which is part of why I liked it. Watching these, you expect a certain level of intentional confusion but this was a nice surprise.
Death's Game (2023), about a kid who commits suicide and has to deal with death's consequence of living & dying 12 times over. This had a lot of good death scenes and decent gore/realism, though it’s not really a horror about death.
Also finished:
Elle (2026), a prequel to the Legally Blonde movies about Elle's time living in Seattle, was okay but I am confused about the timeline. I think they did pretty well with the characterization and showing how her personality may have evolved to what it was in the movies, but it still felt loose.
Pan Am (2011), recommended by Tubi because I was watching stuff about planes, this was very good and I’m sad it was only one season. I looked up a lot of the events and facts and it seems they did a pretty good job representing this moment in aviation history.
Ride or Die (2026), about two lady best friends but it turns out one is a spy and the other finds out and then shit happens. It’s almost exactly what you’re thinking it is (there have been a few lady spy movies out recently, similar to that), except this is much better.
Posts & Links
My posts:
Other things:
Modern Life May Be Overloading the Human Brain, New Research Suggests
How the Trump administration’s rhetoric promotes anti‑transgender views
White House orders warning signs at Smithsonian over gender identity exhibits
Penpal Poets: Add your poetry, get a response
Clipart Studio: Use public domain images & magazine scans to create digital collages
Floor 796: This entire site is hand-pixeled
Daily Crossword Links: Lists of sites where you can do crossword puzzles
Liberation Toolbox: Tips for decolonizing your digital experience
Crucial Tracks: Music prompt journal
AI things:
Better Images of AI: How to represent AI more realistically visually
Google says AI training is fair use and copyright should be policed on outputs, not inputs
Heat adds to strains on areas with data centers, raising the temperature on AI debates
Claude Helped a Hacker Find a Way to Issue Tickets to Almost Every US Music Festival
Wisconsin residents sue Microsoft over noise caused by new data center
Meta’s AI Data Center Caught Leaking Deadly Bacteria Into Water Town Uses for Irrigation
Zuckerberg Admits That AI Is Not Working Out the Way He Imagined
Execs Confused and Horrified by the Huge AI Bills After Thinking They Could Replace Workers for Free
55 Percent of Leaders Regret AI Layoffs—and a Major Hiring Reversal Has Begun
AI companies are now destroying warehouses full of rare books
Thanks for reading!
This newsletter makes it look like all I did in July was watch things and look at things on the internet which honestly is a fair review of the month. Other than a few hangouts and a quick in & out trip to Ohio for a birthday, I didn’t do much!
I will have a big update for you after August with photos and stories from my travels this month.
xo Max
