Even though I
love my life in Copenhagen, January has been a difficult month since I moved to
Denmark.
(1) It is dark.
Technically, the days are getting longer, but there is usually an overcast
between you and the sun. While I did my best to escape the sun when I was
younger, now I am turning into your average plant.
(2) It is cold.
Well, it is winter, it should be cold. But the combination of cold and wind is
at a level that turns the activity of taking a long walk outside from peaceful
to unpleasant.
(3) There are
course exams. Grading students for a course may be the least favorite part of
my job. There are things I don’t want to do even for money in my life, and grading a student's performance in a course is among them. Many of my colleagues have similar sentiments. I am not
sure if the students realize their professors are as uncomfortable
about the exams as they are.
(4) Being
exposed to all three above right after returning from the holidays in Istanbul,
where I get a lot of love and care from the family, amplifies the negative
effects.
I refer to this situation as January Blues.
This January, I
also had two work trips (one to Amsterdam and one to the US). Both trips were awesome,
and the latter dissolved my January Blues as it took me to my previous
home, downtown San Jose, where the sun was generous and I had some time to hit
my old favorite spots in the area. But I am left with scarce energy and time
for writing once again. And, just like a student, who is trying to make their
deadline at the last minute, I am making this attempt at a blog post for
January.
I have never
reviewed a year with respect to films, TV shows, books … despite going through
a decent amount of them. My feelings toward making lists of this stuff for a
year is similar to what Emily Nussbaum wrote in the article
where she was reviewing the year 2011. Is this pretentious? Who am I to review
things? I am neither a TV critic like Emily Nussbaum nor an important person
like Obama. I haven’t seen / read everything. People have different tastes,
what I like is subjective. I may not like what I liked this year later, maybe
it was that particular time / day / occasion that made the difference. Most
things I watch / read are the productions of the Western World, and more
specifically the English-speaking world. …
So, this is not
an attempt to make rankings and lists, but a recollection of a year, which feels more and
more distant each day. I know that it is more
customary to do this in December rather than January, but I will keep that in
mind for 2026.
The ordering is
based on the order I saw / read things. To keep things manageable, I put the
limit of mentioning at most 5 things in each category, even though it was hard. There will be
no spoilers in this one.
Films:
A great documentary centered
around the solo show of the comedian Noam Shuster-Eliassi that tackles
the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Is this horror? musical?
historical drama? action?
Well, it has the
best of all of the above!
After so many
takes on the Cinderella story, can one still do a new take that feels interesting? Norwegian director/writer Emilie Blichfeldt does it in this
body horror comedy.
I was impressed by the kind of thoughtful tone this film strikes in a dark comedy that takes on a topic as
difficult as this one. It is the first feature film of Eva Victor, who is also the writer of the film and plays the lead. I am looking forward to seeing what they do
in the future.
Rather than
adding another body horror here, I could have picked something else for the
sake of diversity. But this is the newest by Julia Ducournau, I dedicated a whole
blog post to her previous film Titane, I will always give a shout out to her.
Series:
Technically from
late 2024, but I will include here. I have special interest in Irish history.
This was the
show I discussed the most with other people after watching. Wrote about it also
in Childless
Petless Plantless Lady: Part 1.
The latest from
Amy Sherman-Palladino and Daniel Palladino. Unfortunately, it got cancelled
after first season. I must admit it had some misses, but it also had great dance
pieces and memorable/quotable moments. I already included a quote from it in Childless
Petless Plantless Lady: Part 2.
The first season
of this show is also from 2024. I decided to watch it with the release of the
second season, which is in 2025. It is a lovely show on grief, family dynamics,
getting older, and intergenerational relationships. I think there should be
more shows that focus on older people.
Stranger Things –
Last Season
As kids in the 90s,
my generation in Turkey grew up watching stuff on TV from the 80s. Early seasons
of this show were an overdose of 80s nostalgia, and thus I was hooked. Then, it became
something I watched for the characters, and it didn’t matter if it was good or
not. Last season was a nice goodbye.
Books:
Mixing up some
from 2024 here as well, I read them all in 2025, so that part fits.
Rather than adding
individual notes here, I just want to give a shout out to the authors of these
books. Except for Hisham Matar, I have followed their work regularly over the
years and appreciate anything they create. Hisham Matar’s My Friends was
given to me as a birthday gift this year by my dear colleague Maria Astefanoaei. I thank her for introducing me to this author.
All Fours – Miranda July
Evil Eyes
Sea – Özge Samancı
My Friends
– Hisham Matar
Dead or
Alive – Zadie Smith
Adulthood
is a Gift (Sarah’s Scribbles #5) – Sarah Andersen
Music:
I tend to be
more conservative in the way I listen to music and don’t do much to discover
new stuff. This part is about the artists I got into in 2025, even though they
have been around for a while.
Chapell Roan
Discovered when I
watched her on Saturday Night Live late 2024. Started listening to her
more and more often in 2025. Got to watch her live in Syd for Solen. I think Pink Pony Club deserves
to be an anthem.
Fontaines
D.C.
Discovered while watching Andrea Arnold’s Bird last year,
where you get to hear the music of Fontaines D.C. Especially, Too
Real, which plays during the end credits, caught my attention. I can’t
believe what I was missing all these years.
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