Projects #000 - Introducing 'Projects'
Ground rules and intentions
Who are you?
Odds are if you’ve subscribed you know me in real life but an introduction isn’t a bad thing to have! I’m Kyle Amato, a film writer. I’ve written for Boston Hassle for almost a decade somehow, reviewing new films and covering festivals like the Boston Underground Film Festival, NYFF, and TIFF. Since March 2017 (ahhh!!) I’ve been the host of Hawke Cast, a podcast about Ethan Hawke’s filmography. We caught up a while back and now the podcast is what I’ve always dreamed: a quarterly check-in on whatever that man is up to. I also run the Boston-area rep screening website City on a Hill Cinema, which I will do more with if I have the time or ideas. All of these I will have updates on in this Substack.
What is this?
This is ‘Projects’. I’d thrown around a few names, including ‘Happiness’, which I do still like, but this seems like it will stick. I am always working on some sort of project, be it watching every Bond movie or trying to find a new way to organize my misshapen and strange kitchen. Inspired in part by Fran Magazine’s Sunday Dispatches and Meredith Gran’s Perfect Tides dev logs, I plan to use the Substack to give updates on various projects, be they film, reading, or just general life updates. Would love to encourage discussion in the comments or Substack chat once I learn how that actually works.
Why now?
My own writing has dwindled down to film reviews, and I’m trying to get back on the ball. I watch and read so many things that I barely give myself time to express my own thoughts outside of Letterboxd reviews. This newsletter is for accountability - seeing people subscribe before I’ve written anything is very encouraging, and if I have an audience I’m less likely to give up. Hopefully my many projects will keep me from scrolling through my phone endlessly until the sun sets. I also plan to have a post-mortem on some previous failed projects, included my gone-too-soon Tinyletter ‘It’s About Two Men Who Are Friends’, killed by the pandemic. That’s not entirely my fault there! Don’t look for it, I nuked it to put it out of its misery.
I have some longform fiction and nonfiction I’m working on as well. While I may not share these publicly while they’re still fresh, I’ll be sure to give updates if I ever have a week where I write more than three sentences. Like I said, accountability.
What’s the plan?
To start, I will put out one newsletter a week, likely Tuesdays. This gives me time to get it together over the weekend with a little buffer time to edit and polish. I’ll have updates for various projects (or lack thereof), some reading recommendations, links to my writing at Boston Hassle or other outlets, and more fun things. I’m still learning how to use Substack, and ‘Projects’ seems like a good place to experiment with the form.
Ideally each newsletter will contain a check-in on my biggest current project. The proving ground for this will be a full Pixar rewatch in the lead up to Elio, currently being rescued from disaster by Domee Shi. We’ll see how successful she is. I plan to watch one film a week, with a couple lesser films doubled up in order to have everything done before June. Looking forward to becoming the first person to ever rewatch Lightyear. My friend Mary Fran will also be contributing her thoughts as she embarks on the project with me!
Who’s winning Best Picture?
Emilia Perez. Haven’t seen it but seems to be the way the wind is blowing. Sorry… at least Demi Moore is going to win for a movie where she hisses at a TV while done up like the Evil Queen?
COMING SOON TO “PROJECTS”
Pixar Project - One film (or more) a week until Elio
All the Movies I Watched in 2024
Book Recs
Celebrity Memoirs
Oscar Predictions
Monthly best first watches
City on a Hill Cinema Website Edits and Updates
Links! Links! Links!
Beavis and Butt-head
Non-virgin manga and anime recommendations
Race Craze 2K25 or “Kyle Solves Racism” (please bear with me you’ll understand once it starts…)
Deep Watchlist 2K25
Bathroom and kitchen painting (don’t tell my landlord!)
TV?
Writing tips
52 films by 52 women
Running a 5K
And many, many more!
Thanks for subscribing!
I’ll see you January 14th with Projects #001 - “I’m actually from a smaller company that was purchased in a leveraged buy-out”.
I need to run a 5k this year