After a year of the pandemic, many are still searching for new avenues of entertainment and ways to pass the time. Film and Media Culture professors Jason Mittell, Chris Keathley and Nikolina Dobreva have found some, and they’ve compiled a list of their favorite books, shows and movies to help you along in your search, too.
Comfort consumption and favorite rewatches
Mittell has enjoyed revisiting “Lost” — one of his favorite television series — with his teenage son who is watching it for the first time. “Lost” tells the story of the survivors of a plane crash as they navigate life on a mysterious island. Mittell said that rewatching favorite shows has become a “widespread pandemic pastime.”
Keathley recommends the movie “Local Hero,” which his family watches once a year. The premise is simple: a Houston oil executive is sent to a small town in Scotland where his company hopes to build an oil refinery. Over time, he becomes unexpectedly attached to the town and its people. Keathley described the movie as “warm and quirky.”
Dobreva has been rewatching “Star Trek” and says that “Voyager” is her favorite series despite its so-so first season. She noted that it included an arc about an unfolding pandemic, which seemed particularly pertinent at the moment. Dobreva also recommends the Korean movie “A Taxi Driver,” which focuses on a taxi driver who accidentally becomes involved in the 1980 Gwangju Uprising. “‘A Taxi Driver’ is essential viewing, especially at a time when resisting dictatorships is everyone’s duty,” Debrova said.
Out-of-this-world journeys
For viewers seeking a cosmic experience, Dobreva suggests the original “Legend of the Galactic Heroes,” which she calls a “very complex political ‘space opera.’” She also recommends the sci-fi book “A Memory Called Empire” by Arkady Martine. “[‘A Memory Called Empire’] weaves together political intrigue, poetry and architecture within a really exciting plot, too,” Dobreva said.
Keathley suggests “Bacurau,” a genre-mixing thriller that depicts a Brazilian town in the near future that experiences a series of unexplainable events after the death of its matriarch. It is a whirlwind of a film that will assuredly horrify viewers in its violence and delight them in its landscape cinematography and moments of humor.
While it’s not set in another world per se, Mittell recommends Spike Lee’s “American Utopia” which displays David Byrne and a group of musicians performing songs from his acclaimed Broadway musical of the same name. “This concert film... is the perfect ‘next best thing,’ capturing Byrne's dynamic performance from his Broadway show, combining playful dance, creative design, vibrant camerawork and of course amazing music,” Mittell said. He also highly recommends “The Broken Earth” series by N.K. Jemisin. “Nothing I’ve read since matches its power and innovative storytelling.”
Middlebury Media
These professors also highly recommended works created by their colleagues at Middlebury, which they deemed more than worthy of quarantine consumption.
Keathley recommends Jay Parini’s book “Borges and Me,” which chronicles Parini’s personal experiences with writer Jorge Luis Borges poignantly and comically.
He also suggests a recently published book written by Middlebury resident Alexander Wolff called “Endpapers.” The work explores the lives of Wolff’s German-Jewish father and grandfather and their experiences during and after WWII.
Dobreva recommends her colleague Natasha Ngaiza’s short film “A Mother.” “[The film is] a wonderfully succinct but very emotional treatment of really complex issues (gender, race, abortion),” Dobreva said.
New series and new seasons
Mittell suggests “Mrs. America,” a historical drama miniseries that tells the story of the 1970s fight for the Equal Rights Amendment and centers around inspirational women such as Gloria Steinem, Phyllis Schlafley and Shirley Chisholm. “It manages to be both a riveting account of important history and an engaging and compelling drama — entertaining and educational,” said Mittell.
Dobreva recommends a few series that have new seasons: “Shameless,” for example, she believes is worth binge-watching from the start. “That’s a show that’s really been able to keep up with social and political developments in the real world,” said Dobreva.
She also recommends the television show “Pose” which she claims gets better with each episode. Created by Ryan Murphy, “Pose” chronicles the African American and Latinx LGBTQ+ drag ball scene culture that takes place in the 1980s in New York City and is one of Dobreva’s favorite series of the decade.
Correction: An earlier version of this piece incorrectly presented the plot of “Local Hero” and the genre of “Bacurau," as described by professor Chris Keathley. Those sections have since been updated to accurately reflect his remarks.
Summer Hornbostel '22 is an Arts & Culture editor.
Hornbostel started writing for the Campus last year but will now focus her energy into her new role as editor. She is majoring in English and writing a collection of poetry for her thesis this fall. In the summer of 2021, she worked as a music journalist for an online publication called The Garnette Report where she covered stories on rising musical artists.
