I started substitute teaching for the first time back in late April. Even though I was a menace at times, I always had respect for teachers growing up. There’s vocal respect for educators in most Desi households, and ours was no different. If anything, one could probably trace my whole spiral of a life back to a specific, sassy, ninth grade English teacher who egged me on and put a battery in my back. Honestly, I feel as though I’m still looking for new teachers, mentors, guides, even at my big old age of 31. I heard about this substitute teaching process through a family friend, and after some deliberation - mainly concerning what the fuck I’m doing with my life - I decided to get out of my shell and my head and tap in with the youth. Probably the best decision I’ve made in a long time.
It’s been such a trip to see firsthand where the future is at, across all grade levels (and across a few different counties). Everyone sounds like Kai Cenat, even the 2nd graders. It’s been especially heartwarming to see how every seems to accept each other, how much inclusion has been prioritized in recent years (successfully, it seems). I know this is all taking place in Jersey, so it’s not the same as two decades ago, when I was only one of a few Indian kids at the various schools I went to in upstate New York, but it gives me hope nonetheless. Someone’s lunch isn’t even a talking point these days! (Yet still, in an attempt to heal my inner child, I suppose, I would find myself walking up to the Desi kids at lunch, kneeling down besides them and their meal, taking a deep, respectful whiff, and complimenting their mothers’ cooking. All to be met with the blank stares of the effectively assimilated).
Sometimes, one of Indian kids would ask me if I was Indian too and I would be like yeah, and they would be like me too, and then I’d almost start tearing up. How adorable is that?? I know we all become little devils by, like, seventh grade, but it’s never been more clear to me that children are just a pure reflection of those around them; unfortunately often of the punitive anger and general disregard shown by adults around them. Teachers, in particular, play such a pivotal role in a child’s journey. I don’t know if I’m capable of actually being a good one, but I now know that I want to try.
Not sure what any of this has to do with the monthly movie diary. I’ve definitely had less time to watch shit. But I also may be rediscovering my purpose in life, so it’s a fair trade. Oh! During one of the recent shifts, a fifth grader asked me if I was an actor. I asked her why, and she said that I looked like someone from Despicable Me 2. I told her I’d never seen it and asked her to describe the character (I also considered telling her that animated characters don’t necessarily look like their voice actors, but ultimately decided to not shatter the illusion). After some consideration, she told me it was a “funny but weird guy” who takes his shirt off. She was talking about this dude:
Cooked.
6/1: Mountainhead (2025, Jesse Armstrong)
Where: Home
With who: Amma & Nana
Expectations: Kind of disappointed that a straight to streaming movie is the next thing we’re getting from Jesse, especially one where the trailer made it seem like it’s damn near in-universe with Succession lol. I knew Succession was the dying gasp of the medium but a part of me felt like Jesse might go on to try and save TV or something. But, I mean, he’s earned more than enough goodwill w Succession for me to tune into anything he does from now till infinity. Still wanna go back and properly watch Peep Show too. At least the cast for Mountainhead looks great.
Thoughts: Honestly might be career worst work from all involved. It’s like all the worst qualities of Succession - or what someone who’s never seen Succession probably thinks it’s like: myopic, self-evident, self-indulgent. Jesse misunderstood his own show and reduced it all down to this cheeky satirical farce that revels in its own set up and never really takes off. It’s at least occasionally funny. Like, it unfolds with the craftsmanship of a reasonably good Black Mirror episode. Making a film is not the same thing as making a two-part TV episode. The whole thing feels oddly devoid of intention and never builds any momentum. And it’s all compounded by how shamelessly they leverage the familiar visual language of Succession - one that felt so in step with the text by the end of the show, but now only scans as stagnant and uncinematic, never developing into anything beyond the ugly, jittery gimmick, rendered ineffective upon arrival.
6/3: Friendship (2025, Andrew DeYoung)
Where: Princeton Garden Theater (Princeton, NJ)
With who: Crvmbs
Expectations: Never seen Tim & Eric's Billion Dollar Movie or anything else related to this niche of comedy, but I do have friends who used to quote the shit all the time. I always wanted to peep game, especially recently, as I’ve gotten more into sketch comedy and Nathan Fielder’s stuff. Never used to be my thing. Trailer looked hilarious.
Thoughts: Super funny. But felt like it coulda cut even deeper, explored why Austin’s life was full of so many rug pull, why he was so welcoming initially and the rest of the phoniness of his character that they kept hinting at. Probably blasphemous to say, but I feel like the movie got a bit too lost in the bits and dropped the ball on what started out as a compelling story. That being said, I had a great time and would love to run it back.
6/5: The Mask (2023, Conner O’Malley)
Where: Home
With who: Solo
Expectations: Heard so much about this and Rap World last year, hype to finally peep! Historically, I’ve not been a sketch comedy guy, but Rap World seems like my shit. I’m not rly sure what this one’s about. Some man on the street shit? Is it even a short film?
Thoughts: Oh my God. That’s cinema. I needed it to be at least an hour longer. I was not expecting, like, a non-pretentious We’re All Going to the World’s Fair + Under the Silver Lake. I care less for the “what’s real” & performance art aspect of this, and more about how well observed, incisive, and smartly edited it is. Didn’t know this guy was a stand up comic - this is the first real exposure to whatever his whole thing is, direct from the source, baby. We need more people trying to grapple with our current moment, and in a way that feels of the current moment.
6/6: Asteroid City (2023, Wes Anderson)
Where: Home
With who: Amma, Nana, Akshay
Expectations: Tryna put my parents and cousin on before The Phoenician Scheme. I had a transcendental experience watching this in theaters (twice, two days apart) back when it first dropped. It’s my cousin’s first Wes Anderson. My mom’s seen The Royal Tenenbaums I’m p sure. My dad has seen that + The Grand Budapest Hotel at the very least (he made the connection to Grand Budapest the minute he saw the trailer for The Phoenician Scheme).
Thoughts: I really love this movie man. My mom fell asleep (not cuz of the movie just cuz of life). My dad and cousin said they liked it, but thought it was weird and sometimes hard to follow. I wish my sister was with us >_< she really gets it (sometimes). Despite how much I love this, I always find it difficult to articulate why. I think I just resonate with how Wes Anderson sees kids, and how he believes kids see the world. It’s the same reason Moonrise Kingdom holds such a dear place in my heart, regardless of how unfashionable that film becomes. There are ways in which Anderson’s work has folded into itself, become more dense and inscrutable, but it’s all sustained by his still-growing palate and his still-beating heart.
6/7: The Prince of Egypt (1998, Brenda Chapman, Steve Hickner & Simon Wells)
Where: Home
With who: Akshay
Expectations: One of my younger cousins, Akshay, is staying with us now that he’s graduated from college. Having grown up in Dar es Salam, Tanzania, I’m always so thrown off by which Western cultural touchstones he’s familiar with. He’ll randomly say shit like, “I just listened to that Michael Jackson song, “Thriller!” Pretty good.” I know he’s super tapped into Bollywood, probably because his side of the family was able to go back and forth to India regularly as he grew up, but he has a unique relationship with other genres of music, preferring to let things find him naturally. I told him he’s old school in that sense. He also said he’s never really listened to an album front to back. He’d rather listen to a handful of songs on repeat, intently, without doing anything else, and let his mind run wild with daydreams. I walked in on him just sitting there, eyes closed, listening to what I now presume was a single song on repeat, not a care in the world. Makes me wanna reconsider my whole approach to music discovery. Vahn and I always joke about “retention” as it relates to watching too many films. My cousin’s retention game is crazy. Anyways - he knows I’m a bit of a fanatic with the movie shit, and so he said he came with his own shortlist of movies we could watch: That Disney movie about Matt Damon as a horse, Spirit, Shawshank Redemption, The Matrix Trilogy. We got a lot of ground to cover. I’m hype. No idea what this one - The Prince of Egypt - is about. Though I could guess.
Thoughts: Alright, no. I wouldn’t have guessed. I was way too high for this shit. Had no idea what I was getting myself into. It’s so self-serious! Clearly made with a lot of care, ambitious in its scope but intimate with its POV. Akshay and I both fell asleep at some point, but I picked it back up the next day and liked it! It’s sweeping and inspirational, even if a bit stilted.
6/11: O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000, Coen Brothers)
Where: Princeton Garden Theater (Princeton, NJ)
With who: Akshay
Expectations: Might be the only Coen Brothers film I haven’t seen. I’m expecting a banger. Akshay’s never seen any of their films before, so maybe I should’ve started with something else? Idk. The premise resonated with the both of us.
Thoughts: Fun! Silly. Irreverent. All three leads are super fun - Clooney’s physical comedy is underrated. I loved the dance moves!! And Akshay really liked it!
6/12: Lost Highway (1997, David Lynch)
Where: Lincoln Film Center (NYC)
With who: Akshay
Expectations: Been three years since I first saw this. I remember being so lost yet so mesmerized. I’m more familiar with Lynch’s work now than I was back then, so I might be more primed than ever for this to hit. Akshay’s first David Lynch movie!!
Thoughts: For some reason, all I could think about at the fraying edges of this film, as the scenes uncomfortably unspooled, and the sound pared down, scratched and skipped and looped, was the theater scene from Mulholland Dr.: “It’s all a tape.” For some reason - maybe dehydration? - I took one sip of a coffee at the start of the film and then spent the next hour feeling dizzy as shit, but that only emphasized the disorienting, yet utterly hypnotic, spell that was being cast in front of me. I can’t remember what, exactly, but Akshay not only liked the film, he had this interpretation of Patricia Arquette representing first love, a love Fred can’t have - or some shit like that. It was really interesting. He understands that it’s not the kind of film to “solve,” but I can tell he still kinda wants to solve it. Lol. His interpretation made sense to me. It’s definitely about karma on some level, working through - not against - your sentence in order to free yourself.
6/13: How to Train Your Dragon (2025, Dean DeBlois)
Where: AMC (New Brunswick, NJ)
With who: Mili, Lekha, Akshay
Expectations: I really enjoyed the animated trilogy. Not sure how necessary this is, or how it will manage to live up to the wonderment of the animation, but I also do feel like there’s a lot of room here to build on the great characterization and world building of the source material.
Thoughts: It’s good! But it brings nothing new to the table. It’s a frame for frame copy, and, inevitably, a half-step less magical, a bit more stiff. They stick to the script closely enough to not drop the ball.
6/14: The Phoenician Scheme (2025, Wes Anderson)
Where: AMC (East Brunswick, NJ)
With who: Akshay, Mili, Lekha
Expectations: I know it’s lost some folks, but I’ve generally been a fan of how self-involved Wes Anderson’s filmmaking has become over the past decade. I’ll always be interested, so as long as he maintains the sense of curiosity that has propelled his work from the jump. I’m very excited to see this. Esp to see how he uses Michael Cera!
Thoughts: I need to rewatch this. Everyone had a bit of a muted reaction by the end (Akshay fell asleep 5 mins into the movie), but I remember cracking up like every other scene. My sis and other cousin, Lekha, both said they enjoyed the performances. Cera is terrific - everyone is, really. I just didn’t find the father-daughter story at the core of all this to be all that compelling. But I’m hesitant to write this all off as set dressing - especially when the production value is so stellar. The pacing was probably the other biggest issue with my first watch, but now that I have a sense of this relatively lethargic edit, I may even grow to appreciate it.
6/18: The Queen of My Dreams (short) (2017, Fawzia Mirza)
Where: Home, on my phone
With who: Solo
Expectations: I read some good things about the feature version of this - now in theaters - and was curious to see what this three minute short/proof of concept was giving…
Thoughts: Cute! I was expecting, like, a scene or something but it’s more of an ultra short doc, a mission statement from Mirza, attempting to reconcile Bollywood fantasies with her reality as an openly gay Indian-American woman (reminiscent of A Nice Indian Boy). Doesn’t tell me much about her capacity as a director, though the multimedia approach was cool!
6/21: Barry Lyndon (1975, Stanley Kubrick)
Where: Roxy Cinema (NYC)
With who: Andrew & Reagan!
Expectations: One of my big blind spots for Kubrick, super hyped. Didn’t get much sleep last night - I’m running on pure cinematic fervor. Also excited to see Andrew again, an old friend from a high school I went to for two years before moving. First time meeting his gf Reagan.
Thoughts: I just loved the atmosphere of this film. Incredible mise en scene, as they say. The score, steadily pulsating rhythm of the edit, the full throated campiness of the performances - all cylinders were firing, at all times. There are some films I just wanna live in, and this instantly became one of them. Maybe a reach, but there was something about the particularity of his framing and the comical indifference of the narration that gave “Wes Anderson for adults.”
6/24: Akira (1989, Katsuhiro Otomo)
Where: Lincoln Film Center - Walter Reed Theater (NYC)
With who: Akshay
Expectations: So excited!! Been a long time coming.
Thoughts: I can see why it’s so influential. Along with everything else, just phenomenal use of sound. It had us in a trance, right off rip. My cousin said he was drifting by the end, but really enjoyed the art style. We both found the ending to be super abrupt though - when I told them I was going to see this soon, Andrew & Reagan alluded to the manga being better than the film, probably for this very reason.
6/24: 28 Days Later (2002, Danny Boyle)
Where: Home
With who: Sis
Expectations: Forgot to note before watching. My sis and I are tryna catch up on this shit so we can watch the new one in theaters. She saw Train to Busan recently and loved it, so she’s in a zombie mood anyways. Plus, we’re both huge fans of Cillian. I’ve only heard great things about what Boyle and Garland accomplished here.
Thoughts: We were honestly both a bit checked out. The uneven performances aside, I wasn’t really feeling the dialogue or the general pacing of the story. It all feels too restrained when paired with that grimey, visceral visual language.
6/25: 28 Weeks Later (2007, Juan Carlos Fresnadillo)
Where: Home
With who: Akshay & Mili
Expectations: I forgot to note beforehand! I'd heard people say it’s worse. Akshay skipped the first one but decided to join us for this, lol
Thoughts: I mean, it was fun! If oddly paced. I felt like it generally stayed true to the energy of the first one, both the self-seriousness of the screenplay and the freewheeling wackiness of the direction. Mili said she definitely liked it more than the first - I’m not there, but it’s a worthwhile entry!
6/26: 28 Years Later (2025, Danny Boyle)
Where: AMC (East Brunswick, NJ)
With who: Akshay & Mili
Expectations: Curious to see how Boyle and Garland update both the thematic content and visual style for this decade. Hope it’s just as - hopefully more - anti-military than the first two. Also hope it speaks more to the role of community when rebuilding. Hope the flair of the original isn’t sanitized.
Thoughts: That was solid. Doesn’t rehash its own style, but rather pay s homage in a number of small ways. Unfortunately, it’s as oddly paced as the first two, and maybe even more clunk with its characterization. All the stuff with Ralph Fiennes was great though. And the ending was funny as fuck - I’m actually excited for the sequel!
FAVORITES:
Friendship (2025, Andrew DeYoung)
The Mask (2023, Conner O’Malley)
Asteroid City (2023, Wes Anderson)
O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000, Coen Brothers)
Lost Highway (1997, David Lynch)
The Phoenician Scheme (2025, Wes Anderson)
Barry Lyndon (1975, Stanley Kubrick)
Akira (1989, Katsuhiro Otomo)
-sincerely cng