...You're chillin' with your 95 year old grandma

Hi friends,

Welcome to SCREEN SOMM, a newsletter filled with recommendations of what to watch, from me, Kristen, a screenwriter. Last week we sipped on Summer Spritz Cinema. Next week a guest injects medical TV into our veins STAT! I post daily recs and more and host Thursday check ins on the Substack site or app. So, let’s get into this week’s recs and spend a little couch time with grandma.

… You’re chillin’ with your 95 year old grandma

My grandmother is sick, tired, old, and dying. She’s also still full of love and life and the genetic marker for sass that I’ve inherited. She likes what she likes and will let you know it. She spends her days mostly watching TV and movies at home. The joy of just sitting and watching something, often times with others, and that being the activity is something I clearly get from my Dad’s side of the family. It is not for everyone, like my active, restless, needs-to-be-oustide-or-in-motion husband. But I love it because there is no pressure on me to do anything except be there, even towards her end. It’s not laziness, it’s life. It’s small and it’s not glamorous, but it is gentle and it is shared.

When I’m visiting New Orleans, my grandmother who goes by “Sweetie” is usually watching a western. And I pretty much only watch westerns when I’m visiting Sweetie. I don’t like them, they’re dusty, they’re mostly dudes killing other dudes, the racial politics and colonizer history are baaayaaad. I’m just not into it. However, back in the day, westerns were TV were movies were Westerns were everything. The whole industry. So I appreciate that she loves westerns because for her, that’s just pop culture, baby. She’ll watch westerns that are old, she’ll watch new ones, anything Taylor Sheridan counts. If there’s dust, horses, guns, red face, she’s in.

While the slowing down and spending time together with our elderly loved one is the goal, the content can be adjusted accordingly. So here are some recs for someone like me who’s not that into westerns to watch with an old person who probably loves them.

Once Upon a time in Hollywood - I saw this movie with my Dad, Sweetie’s son, who cackled and literally LOLd the whole time. I liked it fine, but he felt SEEN. It’s got western elements, nostalgia for everyone, and modern day movie star charm for those who couldn’t care less about the West.

The Harder They Fall - My grandmother can pass for white but she is Black as hell and so is this movie. She loved it, obviously. And I love it because it’s not dusty and dreary, it’s vibrant and fun and emotional and full of people I never get to see in Westerns.

Killers of the Flower Moon - This movie has ambitions to reframe the way Westerns are told. In some ways, it does it simply by it’s blatant honesty around who is doing harm to whom. In some ways it just can’t escape it’s own white male POV. I love this film and I love the beauty of the genuine interracial, albeit toxic, love at it’s center, something that takes real courage to render even in the 21st century.

First Cow - I recently featured this on the summer spritz list. A western, but make it about cozy male friendships and baking… and death (cuz hey, it’s a western).

Justified - A show about a US Marshall sent back to work in his Kentucky hometown. This is a western in structure and tone only —IDK who needs to hear this but the South is not the West unless you’re in the Southwest.

Outer Range - A show set in the west on a ranch that’s both on paper a western and absolutely not - Big dueling ranch families fight over cattle and land and family and love… and time and space and black holes. Twin Peaks in Wyoming.

What’d I miss? Let me know in the comments. And leave a ❤️ while you’re down there.

MOVIES • ‘Series’ • Did Not Finish* • Rewatched • Ongoing… •  🍼= first rewatch >20 years

08/10 - 08/16 - On vacation watching who knows what. Tune in next week, or peek at my notes, to find out.

New releases on my radar

• TONY - Anthony Bourdain biopic - Biopics always makes me nervous that it won’t be much more than a long impression, but I’m excited to see Dominic Sessa show us what he’s got.

This week, last week, next week? Let’s discuss! And remember, life’s short. Make every watch a great one. If you ever need a rec, I’m your SOMM. Wanna know what European country I’m in? Comment below and I’ll let you know.

Happy watching, everyone!

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