As the last post of 2023, I figured it’d be fun to share some of the work I’m proud of over the last year. While I didn’t hit every goal I set out to achieve, I did manage to find some fantastic homes for my writing. If you don’t read RogerEbert.com, Paste Magazine, Polygon, or The Playlist, I’d recommend them highly. I’d also like to take a second to thank my podcast cohost John Gilpatrick. We’ve been doing the It’s the Pictures podcast since 2016 and while 2024 will represent a change for the podcast, I’m thankful for the many years we’ve worked together to create fantastic entertainment. If you’d like to listen to any of our episodes, you can find them at the home for the podcast, It’s the Pictures Podcast.
One last note: While the Substack leadership disappointed me with their stance on Nazis on the platform, I don’t have a plan in place to move this newsletter to another newsletter provider. I’ll continue exploring my options in 2024 and ensure I keep you, the readers, informed of any changes to the It’s the Pictures Newsletter.
Now for work I’m excited to share while we say goodbye to 2023.
In April, I had the opportunity to interview one of my favorite directors, Makoto Shinkai. He’s best known for his international sensation Your Name, but his latest movie Suzume is well worth your attention as well. It can now be viewed on Crunchyroll before launching on home video in March ‘24. You can read the full interview below.
Read More: Makoto Shinkai Interview
Easily the article that took the most amount of time, my piece on Gunbuster celebrating its release on Blu-ray in Region A. Gunbuster was created by director Hideaki Anno, who would famously direct Neon Genesis Evangelion. Not only does Gunbuster show the early work of Anno, but it’s captivating in its own right. It’s one of my favorite OVA series from Japan. It’s now available on Blu-ray in America but has also been added to Crunchyroll since the article went live. Don’t miss the opportunity to watch this classic anime.
Read More: Gunbuster, One of the Most Influential Anime Ever Made
One of the shows I was happy to review in 2023, was the first season of the Apple TV+ show Silo. I enjoyed the show and I was proud of the review that I wrote for it on The Playlist.
Read More: Silo Review
Another show I was happy to review, Scott Pilgrim Takes Off, goes into wild directions essentially taking Scott Pilgrim off of the show entirely. I didn’t get to go into too much detail for The Playlist due to a strict embargo from Netflix, but if you’ve seen the show maybe you can fill in the blanks of what I was going for in the review.
Read More: Scott Pilgrim Takes Off Review
While I didn’t write too many features for the newsletter this year (it was a lot of recaps and small reviews), one that I did enjoy writing was this opinion about two-part movies. Some things have changed since I wrote it— Dune Part 2 was delayed into 2024, and Mission: Impossible 8 will have a name change after the disappointing box office of Dead Reckoning Part 1. Click the “Read full story” text above to read the article.
Two series that I was able to dive a little deeper into for Paste Magazine were The Bear and The Last of Us. Mainly I got to write about two of the best episodes of television in 2023.
Read More: The Bear Season 2 Spotlights Richie in a Cathartic and Inspiring Episode
Read More: The Last of Us Changed the Game, and Delivered One of the Year’s Best Episodes
While these next three contributions don’t represent full articles, I’m happy to contribute to RogerEbert.com when I can. For the tenth anniversary of Ebert’s passing, I was asked to contribute some words to the film, Tokyo Story.
Read More: Ten Years of Presence: In Honor of Roger Ebert and the Empathy Machine
More recently I was asked to contribute some words on the Great Performances and the Great Craft of 2023. You can read my thoughts on Donnie Yen and the Oppenheimer score in the two articles below.
Read More: Great Performances
Read More: Great Craft
Finally, we’ve had some fantastic episodes of the It’s the Pictures podcast this year, but I’m proud that we were able to complete our great Lord of the Rings project that we’ve been working on for three years. Listen below:
That’s it and thanks for reading in 2023. I’ll be back for more in ‘24.
Looking forward to more informative enjoyment in the NewYear