Hi. It's Beth, the TV & Film Recommender
Introducing moi.
It’s about time I do one of these “Hi, this is who I am” posts.
Why?
I have a healthy number of new subscribers (🙏), those who have been here for a little bit (🙏🙏), and those who have been here since 2021 (🙏🙏🙏).
You all have enabled this Substack to flourish and handled my unique views [Exhibit A, Exhibit B] with acceptance and curiosity.
One of my favorite 2025 activities was putting together the ALT Golden Globe awards: “The Best of TV & Film in 2025 Awards,” which was voted on by Substack readers. [Here are the results] 🔗
Who am I anyway?
This is what I look like as of 3:15 pm est 7/30:
These are things I like:
Nice people who say what they mean most of the time
Kids and dogs (being a mom to both) and being an infectious partner to my husband
Movies & shows (⬇️)
Music (lately, it’s Chappell Roan and Sabrina Carpenter [link here])
Books (My Goodreads) - I’m currently on a Romantasy kick (Rebecca Yarros and Sarah J. Maas) and plowing my way through YA novels (Lynn Painter). I think it’s a suspended adolescence and making up for not being cool in high school.
Walks & bike rides (I feel like I don’t need to elaborate on this one)
Pop culture gossip (anything from ‘70s through today, I’m game for)
I’m truly this boring.
This is what I like to watch & recommend you take a look at Greatest Hits:
❤️ Films:
❤️ Shows:
🕵️ Mystery/Drama
🥹 Compelling Dramedies
“Barry”: A Non-Redemptive Narrative that Leaves its Audience in Quiet Discomfort
Somebody Somewhere: Because Sometimes You Just Need a Little Help from A Friend
“Beef”: An exquisite cornucopia of fear, anger, and what moves us
Shows with Strong Female Leads
Here’s a little more about me:
From my About Page: I’m a film and TV analyst and pop culture critic. I’ve written on culture for PopMatters, Valleywag (part of Gawker media), The Boston Globe, and The Jerusalem Post. I gravitate to TV and films that center around relationships, drama, mysteries, and comedy - the stuff of life. It’s eclectic, but somehow, it all comes together.
But more importantly, I want to know about YOU.
I truly loathe attention. Unless it’s about my work, and then I enjoy it.
Now it’s your turn
Introduce yourself. Describe your Substack in <5 words. (you don’t really have to)
Recommend one show or film you’re watching/have watched recently and why.
Imitation
I’d been thinking about doing one of these for a WHILE, and then I saw some really good ones recently and got inspired. Is imitation a form of flattery? Yes, it is. Yes, it is.
Closing Credits
Letterboxd: bethstvfilms
Consider upgrading for access to paid-subscriber chats and cool series, such as bonus content like “Anne With An E” (episodic insights on every episode), “Face-Offs,” where I compare two films or shows, or, going forward, my “Characters (That Work), Subplots (That Don’t)” series. This also helps sponsor continued content creation.
If you like what you’re seeing, share it. Sharing is caring, most of the time, unless it’s not, but this is not the case here.
This was refreshing. Nice to meet you, officially. Before Keratin, my hair was curly and a frizz ball in humidity. Yours looks fab.
Good Humor consists of funny essays, interviews and videos ranging on topics of marriage, family, empty nesterhood, observational.
We just binged Vikings Valhalla. Despite the violence we loved this show.
I love this post and might still the format some day! Also your interest are definitely NOT boring. All I could think about while reading is that we would get along perfectly.
My substack in 5 words: Inclusive & funny pop-culture news
A show I really loved this year and that I don't see mentioned often: Dead Boys Detectives. It reminded me of Buffy because it was fun and lighthearted and the characters were pretty wholesome. Also it's one of the rare shows I watched with one storyline per episode.
Also I just finished to watch One Day (the Netflix show) fairly recently. I didn't not expect the ending. I'm still recovering.