January '26

Monthly design, film, and music roundup for January 2026.

Jan 31, 2026

Hi all! Happy (late) new year, it’s good to be back and writing to you again. Life is feeling a little slow and monotonous at the moment, but nevertheless we are moving forward. Welcome to year THREE of the monthly newsletter. Crazy.

Please consider joining me in donating to these organizations that are supporting our immigrant communities, whether it’s a one time donation or monthly contribution. These are mostly local to NYC but you can find one in your city as well.

COMUNIDAD PRIMERO (community collective created by neighbors for neighbors in Bushwick and Ridgewood): https://opencollective.com/comunidadprimeroorg

New York Immigration Coalition: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/nyic?refcode=website_donatebutton_homepage_orange

Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota: https://www.ilcm.org/donate/

DESIGN

Nothing crazy this month (yet), except I did pull together a flyer for a vinyl night my friend & I are hosting at the end of February in Ridgewood. I’ve had a playlist of songs under my sleeve that I’ve been compiling for the past few years for a hypothetical DJ night…. it’s cool that’s I’m finally seeing it through.

The design itself was printed and then scanned to get that nice authentic paper texture. I’ve let go of my signature color for this one because I wanted to remain authentic to the era of the flyer—making it a black & white design, printed in batches on color paper. The image on the top left of the page is from a 1982 movie called Café Flesh, which I won’t cover in this newsletter because it’s an Adult Film (but it is worth watching if you like amateur arthouse, dystopian sci-fi B-movies). The Memphis Milano set pieces and overall New Wave Erotica themes felt like an inspiring fit for the poster imagery. Stephen Sayadian also directed another film I’ve talked about in this newsletter called Dr. Caligari, which I very much loved and feels like a companion to this adult film he made.

I curated a moodboard to pitch to the events coordinator and it looked something like this…

MOVIES

I watched soooo many good movies this month, a lot of them genuinely inspired me and pulled me out of this weird movie rut I’ve been feeling lately.

Dead Presidents (1995) dir. Albert Hughes, Allen Hughes ☆☆☆☆
I’ve had Dead Presidents on my list ever since seeing stills of the white face paint scene, with no context at all and based on the imagery alone I thought it might be adjacent to a cult favorite, arthouse horror B-movie or something?? Very wrong…. but I still liked the movie! Anthony Curtis returns from a traumatic tour in the Vietnam War, and is struggling to find work and support his family in the 1970s. With the help of fellow vets, they plan a high stakes heist, involving the robbery of a car filled with unmarked cash. The way this film looked at systemic racism, post war disillusionment, and neglect— it should be considered a classic, in my opinion. In a similar vein but of it’s own kind, I watched Apocalypse Now for the first time last night (surprising I know) and feel like there’s the common thread of psychological trauma weaving in and out of both of these movies. Also, Martin Sheen of course. This usually isn’t readily available anywhere, but it’s currently on the Criterion Channel so take advantage!

If I Had Legs I’d Kick You (2025) dir. Mary Bronstein ☆☆☆☆☆
A woman on the verge of a breakdown tries to cope with her child’s illness, her absent husband, a missing person, and a hostile relationship with her therapist. That is the Letterboxd summary of this film and I honestly think that’s the best description of this movie because there are so many high stakes here. Most anxiety inducing film of last year??? Maybe even more so than Marty Supreme, and I say that knowing that Josh Safdie/Ron Bronstein are producers on this movie. Which makes SOOOO much sense considering this makes you want to rip your hair out and sit alone in the dark to debrief for a few hours. Rose Byrne is stupid good in this and it’s clear why she’s nominated for an Oscar. Everything that could go wrong in this movie goes wrong, and then just when you think it can’t get worse, surprise! It does! Yayyyy

Wolf’s Hole (1987) dir. Věra Chytilová ☆☆☆☆
A Czechoslovak sci-fi folk horror directed by the man who made the beloved film Daisies. Eleven teenagers are recruited for a skiing camp at an isolated winter resort, and find themselves being preyed on by their instructors and supernatural forces. It’s weird, it’s unnerving, it’s cold and brutal. A little silly too. Hypnotic. It’s a great single location film with interesting sound design. Perfect for a snow day! Watched on the Criterion Channel.

Psycho Beach Party (2000) dir. Robert Lee King ☆☆☆☆½
Psycho Beach Party is a 2000s horror comedy movie about a young girl determined to learn how to surf with a group of Malibu surfers. However it’s revealed she has multiple personalities and may be responsible for the mysterious deaths that keep occurring in the area. Set in the 60s, it’s a strange mixed bag of 50s Hitchcockian psychological thriller, 60s beach movies, and 70s slasher, with the vibe of John Waters directing an episode of Scooby Doo or The Brady Bunch. It’s definitely as ridiculous as it sounds, which is probably why it has such low ratings and didn’t perform well with audiences. Despite it’s goofiness it’s very stylish and fun— twangy surf music, campy acting, and awesome 60s influenced type design.

The Linguini Incident (1991) dir. Richard Shepard ☆☆☆☆☆
A British bartender, Monte (David Bowie), is determined to marry Lucy to obtain his green card to remain in the country. Lucy (Rosanna Arquette) is a waitress by day and an aspiring escape artist by night, fixated on Houdini’s legacy and desperate to buy Bess Houdini’s wedding ring she found at an antique shop. With the help of her friend, Vivian, a lingerie designer, the three of them devise a plan to rob the NYC restaurant where Lucy and Monte work in order to fund their ambitions. Gorgeous production design and costumes, funny as hell, Bowie is super charming. This movie rocks and is extremely underrated. New favorite set of con artists!

Altered States (1980) dir. Ken Russell ☆☆☆☆½
Scientist and psychology professor Edward Jessup combines his experiments in sensory deprivation tanks with powerful hallucinogenic drugs, convinced it will help him unlock new states of consciousness. As he continues his studies, he begins to lose touch of reality. It features groundbreaking, Oscar nominated visual effects, mixing in camera practical effects with early computer techniques to depict the hallucinations. Although the special effects might read as dated and less impactful today, it’s use here is extremely unique and with time only adds to it’s charm. This entire movie is an audiovisual trip that I MUST see in theaters at some point to fully immerse myself in the chaos. It’s like taking the last 15 minutes of Annihilation and mixing it with 2001 Space Odyssey.

The Cell (2000) dir. Tarsem Singh ☆☆☆☆
A psychologist participates in a radical therapy technique where she enters the mind of a comatose serial killer in the hopes of saving his latest victim. A true one of a kind experience, one of the most surreal movie experiences I’ve ever had. This is my first Tarsem Singh film, I’m aware of The Fall and it’s been high up on my watchlist for a long time— and for similar reasons, it looks beautiful! His filmmaking style of striking fantasy landscapes and dreamscape sequences blending horror and art house are nothing short of mesmerizing and unique. The set designs, costumes, makeup… it felt like stepping into a video game filled with unnerving imagery and nightmare fuel. Felt like the craziest mash up of Silence of the Lambs, The Matrix, Se7en, and dare I say Saw and Silent Hill for their grime, grit, and scary character designs and death contraptions?? I need to see this restored and on the biggest screen possible, immediately.

Tokyo Pop (1988) dir. Fran Rubel Kuzui ☆☆☆½
Wendy, an aspiring singer living in NYC, moves to Tokyo with dreams of making it big in the music industry. There she meets Hiro, a rock & roll musician who convinces her to be the lead singer of his band. Imagine you’re flipping through the bargain bin of 80s synth pop 45s at a record store, becoming enamored by the colorful artwork, photographs of women in maximal kitschy clothing and accessories. Maybe they’re covering a famous song you love. This feels like one of those album covers coming to life, highlighting a story of musicians who had a small career moment but didn’t become the next Duran Duran. Also, 80s Tokyo looks so vibrant and colorful here!

MUSIC

What I listened to this month….
Glutton For Punishment — Heartworms
S/T — Dark Chisme
New Face — Stratis
Games People Play — Desire
Under the Influence — Rain Dogs
Is It Now? — Automatic

INSPO

I’ve been gathering every cool thing I’ve seen and been inspired by this month to share with you! I’m sure I’m missing some, but I’ll share next month too

The work of interdisciplinary artist Mikey Mosher
(it’s so hard not to just include all of his work)
Website
IG