I'm Back, Bitches
What does it mean to "fall"?
What is up Overconsumption Diary I am INSIDE OF YOU!!!!! This is awesome. I am so happy to, once again, be in my throne on a Friday morning working on a Substack article!! It’s been a really, really busy few weeks. The best word I’ve found to describe how I’ve felt lately is untethered.
There is this image I have inside of my brain of a stick figure swimming in the ocean. Except instead of being free and having fun with the turtles and sea urchins, the stick figure has a chain around its ankle that is keeping it tethered to the bottom of the ocean. As the waves come, the stick figure holds its breath and goes under, until the water moves and the little guy can come up to breathe again. And the cycle repeats- as the waves wash over, the stick figure goes in to hold its breath and the waves crash before clearing enough to feel like, “hey! maybe I’m gonna be ok!!!” These last two weeks have been my longest period of breath in a while, but now I can already see the next wave forming on the horizon in the form of the end of the school year.
I have a confession to make; I love being 19. Is that a controversial opinion? I grew up with this perception that 19 was going to be MISERABLE, because my sister was 19 during the pandemic, and therefore 19 was going to be hell. But this is the year that I feel like I have finally been able to step into my values and goals, and put into action all I have wanted since realizing I wanted to be a filmmaker. I’ve been #lacking on my media consumption though lowkey because I have been BUSY!!!!!!!!! Currently here are the projects I am working on (and their inspiration so you can do your reading):
STRAYS - a coming-of-age short film about a group of foster kids who find a dead cat and hold a funeral for her, unbeknownst to the youngest one that it is her last day before getting adopted.
this is my biggest project to date, with child actors, animals, and a whole lot of personal effort put into making it happen. I am really really proud of this project… my best friends and I shot it in November and now have the edit completed, with just sound and color left (Alabama Shakes reference, anyone?).
Inspo: THE GOONIES, THE FLORIDA PROJECT, CAROLINE, anything by Andrea Arnold, being a kid, whimsy, magical realism
STRAYSlist by my dear friend and director Tai
JUST KIDS - a young boy works the overnight shift at a gas station where he ends up babysitting a “lost” toddler, all the while his girlfriend struggles with abortion access in Texas.
Two Music Videos for Mila Northrup
Inspo: very Olivia Rodrigo and Sabrina Carpenter coded… peep the House Tour video for some idea of one of the songs Devaneio; CLUELESS, LEGALLY BLONDE, early y2k vibes
A Full-EP movie for Isaac Soren
Isaac is a good friend of mine and came to me with the idea to film his entire upcoming EP as a movie… in a cave in Tarzana. I saw this so clearly in my head and knew exactly which of the crew I was gonna bring and how it was gonna all come together #feelinglikeamobbossupinthismusicvideo. The biggest inspiration/closest comparison has been the Dijon Absolutely film which I love love love and highly recommend. He is an incredible musician and its an awesome piece of art!!!!!
Weddings and Funerals - Sammi Wallace
Getting to make art with my friends is really cool because its kinda like you unlock a new expansion pack of friendship, that expansion being the personal-professional dynamic. Sammi wrote this song about a childhood friend who passed away and the experience of now growing up and being older than she ever will be. Its melodramatic in all of the best ways, and we shot in a church and a pub in Ireland, as well as on the Cliffs of Moher. I am really excited.
Now for the part that you come here for.
To keep it brief, I will just be hyperlinking my Letterboxd review, along with the star rating. If any of these interest you, I recommend that you watch for nothing more than the sheer sake of overconsumption, which we all know is key.
BLACK GIRL (1966, dir. Ousmane Sembène)
⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ 1/2
FEAR AND LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS (1998, dir. Terry Gilliam)
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
THE SECRET AGENT (2025, dir. Kelber Mendonça Filho)
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
NIGHT CRIES: A RURAL TRAGEDY (1990, dir. Tracey Moffatt)
⭐️⭐️⭐️
THE BRIDE (2026, dir. Maggie Gyllenhaal)
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
A HARD DAYS NIGHT (1964, dir. Richard Lester)
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
HAPPY TOGETHER (1997, dir. Wong Kar Wai)
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
BIRDEMIC: SHOCK AND TERROR (2010, dir. James Nguyen)
⭐️ (something very Lynchian going on here… can’t quite put my finger on it tho)
ALL THATS LEFT OF YOU (2025, dir. Cherien Dabis)
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This week, two of my closest friends and I went to a concert for a band called WEEDEATER. I would like to preface that I do not traditionally like hardcore, heavy metal music. I would say that the heaviest I really do like to go is sometimes a little bit of Black Sabbath, but generally I stick to The Beatles, girl-hyper-pop, and 70s Laurel Canyon hits. That being said; when a close friend introduced me to the (heavily male-dominated) genre of Stoner Doom Metal, I felt something tingle deep within my soul. There was a story here. Women trying to make a name for themselves in a world that wasnt just complicit in mysogyny, but was actively perpetuating it within its culture. He and I talked about this at length, and eventually it lead to my writing of a screenplay following a group of girls who rob a dispensary and form a stoner doom metal band in order to take down the patriarchy.
The concert tickets were part of my “research.” I spent the last… month and a half really getting into this genre and I’m not going to sit here and say its for everyone, but I will say that there is a really awesome rich history to the genre. Every band is interconnected in some way, and you can hear how artists move across projects to bring their own tone. Some of my favorite bands include (in no particular order, with my favorite song linked):
On par with my more regular music, the new Slayyyter album, WOR$ST GIRLS IN AMERICA is awesome. She’s got a vibe that feels like a cross between Charli XCX and Lana Del Rey… crazy-sexy-party girl mixed with a deep sense of Americana. My favorites on this album include CRANK, DANCE…, BEAT UP CHANEL$, and GAS STATION.
I’ve also been bumping hella Lizzy McAlpine lately. I know, who hurt her? No one actually. But there is something about her lyricism that I really find… intoxicating. Means Something was recommended by someone I got in a weird social entanglement with earlier this year, and its been sticking with me both by her recommendation and my own connection to the words. Its bubbly and sweet, but so deeply raw. Makes me laugh as tears spring up in my eyes.
Also, as always, bumping a LOT of Bey. Videophone (feat. Lady Gaga) specifically, as of late.
While in Seattle for The National Film Festival for Talented Youth (NFFTY), my friend/business partner Ella and I stopped at one of my favorite bookstores in the entire world, Elliot Bay Book Co. It has the coziest Pacific Northwest Vibe, and a really great selection of books + staff recommendations that always hit. I got a book I’ve had my eyes on for a while, called Paradise Logic.
I know, I know, I know. Based on this cover it’s a massive WTF. But when I tell you THIS is how my brain this about stories, I’m telling the truth. The main character Reality is whimsical and aloof and obviously a hyperbolic version of a woman, but there is something about her rooted in a very deep sense of optimism for the world exactly as it is that I find refreshing. I’m only about 100 pages in at the moment, but I am enjoying it immensely and even laughing out-loud like a psycho.
I also started a re-watch of Fleabag the other day… not sure what good that did me but I am doing it! The Priest just talked to the camera for the first time and now they are drunk at confessional. I think I’m gonna be sick, y’all.
Alright. Its been lit and real and everything amazing that I feel when I can write in this diary. I am a happy, happy girl. Good luck to everyone out there doing hard things. I see you, and I recognize your efforts. Keep on keeping on.
