I quit doing the movie roundups. It was starting to feel a little forced to try to say something about every movie I saw without getting repetitive, and I wasn’t really sure what I was trying to do anyway—a recommendation service? A discussion? An attempt to distill my thoughts about the movie into something that could be part of a discussion later? Toward the end I was leaning toward the first, and that’s really the death knell for reviews. It turns into tedium, trying to think of the reasons someone might or might not want to see a movie. In the end, there aren’t many movies I see that I’d advise people not to see. Watch more movies. That’s all the advice I can give you.

There are a few I’ve seen lately that I’ve wanted to say a little about. It seems like people have said everything that needs to be said about Prometheus, at least. But it’s the most fun movie to talk about in a long time just because there’s so much wrong with it. I’m glad I saw it, in the same way that I’m glad I saw Spider-Man 3 (three times, in theaters—or was it four? It is hardly a secret that Spider-Man 3 is my favorite Spider-Man). Whether I write up an actual review, well, that’s up for grabs. I’m not sure I feel comfortable writing reviews anymore for movies I’ve only seen once. I forget everything. Real reviewers take notes.

The other movie I’ve wanted to talk about is Moonrise Kingdom, the new Wes Anderson movie, a sweet fairy tale of a film. I will definitely be seeing that one again. I came out of it both loving it and thinking it would benefit enormously from being shown on physical film. There are only a few 35mm theaters still standing, and those left must soon convert or die (studios are ending distribution of physical prints completely). But there’s one I know won’t be converted before the end of summer, and it’s getting Moonrise Kingdom in the next few weeks. Last chance. It seems like an appropriate last movie to see on the first physical medium that made movies possible.

What else have I been up to? I powered through four seasons of Mad Men over the course of a couple weeks. I’m waiting for season five to appear on Netflix—though I might lose patience and pay to watch it on iTunes or Amazon before that. It’s an addictive series. I have a terrible weakness for characters who inspire a combination of love and hatred and pity, so of course Pete Campbell is my favorite. I hear he gets punched in the face in season five. I would pay to see that.

I’d been in a rut when it comes to creativity, but I went to Anthrocon and spent some time among my cartoonist friends and acquaintances, who all have a ton of interesting work both in progress and finished. I didn’t spend much time drawing at the convention—I was stretched pretty thin among different groups of friends doing different things, and I was exhausted almost any time I got a chance to sit down, and I still didn’t get a chance to spend enough time with everyone. But I came home feeling energized about art in a way I haven’t been in months. I’ve been drawing since, but a lot of it is stuff that isn’t ready to post, or it’s for other projects besides my personal amusement and thus not available yet. But I’m working, and it feels good.

Marker sketch of a scene from Watership Down, and my first submission to the new weekly challenge Alphabooks. In this case, B is for Bigwig.

I actually have something for the letter ‘A,’ too, but it’s a more complex scene that I’m not completely sure how to depict yet. I didn’t really intend this to be the final submission for ‘B,’ but I’ve been so distracted that I haven’t gotten around to doing anything else. So there you are.

And here is a punk mouse. Any time I draw a cool character, my instinct is to draw them smoking. But watch out! I’m not sure if anyone told you, punk mouse, but you can get addicted.