2023 doesn’t sound like a real year. It’s a title card on a science fiction movie, citing a far off year in the future. Hell, X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014) took place in a dystopian 2023. The wasteland established in Terminator 2: Judgment Day is 2029!
What I’m trying to say is that a lot of movies predicted the 2020s for some type of apocalypse and if we’re going to get those long overdue movie watches checked off, we’re going to need to pick up the pace. Watch the movies! We’ll never reach the end of our lists, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try.
Push play.
Stop browsing your 27 streaming services for another limited series and make a conscious decision to watch a great movie.
Unwrap that Blu-ray. Check out the new Sight & Sound list, AFI, BFI. Open up a Danny Peary book and look for a movie you didn’t know about. Listen to podcasts like The Movies that Made Me or Pure Cinema and jot down their recommendations. (The Cinema Shame podcast talks about some good movies, too — I’m just saying.) Open up any movie book and see what shakes out! There are so many ways to approach your year in moviewatching that go beyond mindless scrolling.
Do me a favor.
Right now — go on Twitter or Facebook or Hive or into your neighborhood cafe or wherever you interact with other humans and ask people to tell you some movies they love. These are real humans sharing their love of cinema with you. Pick one of the titles they mention and just watch it. After you watch it, tell them what you thought. Tell that that you watched it. These are simple interactions, but ones that make real connections.
Tag us on your posts at @CinemaShame or #CinemaShame. We definitely want to hear about your adventures in cinema. And if you make the effort to write up your 2023 Shame Statement make that your January movie — your first assignment of the new year. You’ll definitely get a RT and perhaps a mention on the next episode of the Cinema Shame podcast.
To participate in the Shame Statement party, create your list of 12 and post it on your blog or favorite signpost. Cinema Shame will share it. Feel free to add some background details for your picks, such as why you are picking it or the reason you haven’t had to chance to view this particular film. When you watch them, maybe write about your experience. Maybe send a few tweets. Call and tell your mom.
And while you’re here, subscribe to the Cinema Shame podcast wherever podcasts are found: Apple Podcasts / Stitcher Radio / Spotify / Google Podcasts / Amazon Podcasts. This year will be a big year as we’re mixing up the format and adding some more permanent co-hosts. Kris Myers (@kris__myers) and Allan Mott (@houseofglib) will join James (@007hertzrumble) in the Shamequarters.
Take us along on your cinematic journeys — and may we avoid that coming apocalypse by watching great movies instead of plotting our own self-destruction.
The 2023 Penitent:
Taking Up Room: https://takinguproom.com/2023/01/13/in-the-year-of-our-shame-2023/
30HertzRumble aka @007hertzrumble aka Cinema Shame (obvs) https://thirtyhertzrumble.com/2023-cinema-shame-statement/
Cinema Shame 
Pingback: In the Year of Our Shame, 2023 – Taking Up Room