KELI'S WINTER WATCH LIST

You already know it's coming: the customary preamble. I'm not sure how much everyone enjoys hearing it, but I certainly enjoy telling it (I'm a storyteller, after all.) So here's what the context of my life has looked like recently.

Winter has moved in stiltedly. Sprinkled among the sunny Durban days are sharp, jarring ones of rain and turbulent wind, then back to the sun. It rained the week before last, the day I went to Emeris College as a guest lecturer. It's hard to get fashion right in winter. Nonetheless, bundled up in stockings, a sweater, and a blazer, I shared my perspective on fiction editing with the students. This weekend just passed I traveled to Constantia (Cape Town) to appear in a literary festival. It was a bit chilly. I was booked for 2 sessions at the event - the first was a panel event where, as the CEO of The KREST House publishing company, I contributed to a conversation about creative careers in South Africa; the second was a memoir writing workshop. My planned outfit was a wool knit sweater and a K-Way jacket, but at the last minute I changed it to a contrast trim knitted tee and a faux fur jacket. 

But winter is not all gloom. Winter brings hot chai lattes, structured coats, and fluffy pyjamas. A cozy blanket on the couch, while watching a movie. I've put together a list of some of my favourite things to watch, to carry me (and perhaps you, if you spot anything you might like) through the slow winter months. The notes extend through movies, series, documentaries, reality TV, and video podcasts. With preamble over, here is my winter watch list:

When I Want Something Beautiful to Look At

The Bold Type (series) 

Follow the lives of 3 friends who work at a fashion magazine. The episodes are filled with fun outfits, parties, and cute romances. 

I enjoyed all the fabulous parts of this series. Some episodes were a little didactic - overtly addressing ideas about things like gun laws, minority discrimination, political opinions, through the characters writing articles - which, don't get me wrong, are important topics, but took the fun out of the episodes at sporadic moments. But otherwise a brightly coloured, preppy series to watch. 

Succession (series) 

The patriarch of a billionaire family is declining in health. Which of his 4 children will take over their media empire? 

The vibe of the series leans quite realistic as the family's succession battle is followed, so what is fictional actually ends up looking like genuine insight into billionaire lives. Yes, there are private jets, five star hotels, important boardrooms, that make the series an art piece to watch. But what drives the show are the complicated human beings, not romanticized 'soapiness' as you'd find in other billionaire-centric shows like Dynasty. 

Dubai Bling (reality TV) 

Follow a group of flashy Dubai-based friends as they navigate days of social events and drama. 

I go complete jelly for reality TV, as I noted in my blog about how the Real Housewives of NY inspired my first author photoshoot. This is probably my favourite reality TV show. While the Real Housewives franchises tend to lean very suburban - seriously, most episodes are like watching your next door neighbours fighting, with nothing aspirational about it at all - this show has a genuinely high achieving, suave cast. It's just the right amount of out of reach, to make it actual bling. 

Why Women Kill (series) 

Season 1 is a dark comedy that follows 3 seperate storylines of women who are driven to the edge of sanity. 

While having the depth of a drama, this show is genuinely funny. The sets are colorful and flamboyant. It's been years since I watched it, and the vibrant - almost musical-like - aesthetic still sticks with me. 

What Kept Me Thinking After 

Calibre (Movie) 

Two friends are on a hunting trip in the Scottish Highlands. One of them lines up a shot for a deer. At the last millisecond, as the trigger is pulled, the deer moves, and a child from another hunting party is fatally shot. 

This is not your typical horror. It's the mental chaos and anguish that still keeps me thinking about it, even +-7 years after watching it. The twists are sickening. The cold, remote setting of the wild is chilling. And the worst of all - the film puts the viewer in the squeamish position of a very real tragic accident, and asks, 'Wouldn't you have done the same in this position? Be honest.' 

The Futur (podcast) 

Graphic designer Chris Do shares insights on how to combine creativity with business, to turn your talents into a viable career. 

As a writer, but also the owner of a publishing house, most business books and podcasts out there are just not applicable to my situation. (Yes, I do consider my books with the seriousness of a business). Artists and business people have different end goals (the impact and propagation of art, versus the ROI of art) so only certain advice is applicable to both. Every episode of The Futur leaves me with thought points to mull over and action in my own business. 

Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened (documentary) 

The Fyre Festival was meant to be an epic luxury music experience held on a private island. The event failed on a dramatic scale, never seen in history. 

The first time I watched this documentary was years ago, at the outset of me starting my own business. I had the wildly optimistic sense that these were people who genuinely wanted to pull off something grand, and just weren't able to organize it correctly. As someone who's attempted to do big things myself, but not been able to make many of them work, I understood. Or so I thought. But as the years progress, I think back on this documentary and I have a new understanding that the intent behind something doesn't justify the consequences it has for other people. This is the documentary that actually got me into watching other documentaries. 

For When I Don't Want to Think at All

Love is Blind (reality TV) 

Single castmates go on blind dates (literally, they can't see each other) to find partners for marriage. By the end of the show, at a real wedding ceremony, they have to say 'I do'. 

Trashy reality TV at its finest. The first season was iconic - for the drama and shock value, of course. There's nothing further to say about this other than - JUICY. 

Murder Mystery (movie) 

A couple invited on a spontaneous yacht vacation ends up suspects in a murder. In order to clear their name, they've got to solve the murder and reveal which of their fellow guests did it. 

Possibly my favourite comedy ever. This movie has such novelty value - a destination setting, an ensemble cast, clues to solve along the way. The comedic timing of Adam Sandler and Jennifer Anniston is impeccable, as always. 

What I Keep Returning To

Gossip Girl (series) 

A pot-stirring blogger tracks the scandalous lives of wealthy New York teens. 

I could start rewatching this the second the last episode is over. The show gives us iconic feuds, friendships and betrayals, and lots of soapy moments. Above the fun of watching the teens backstab each other in the most glorious ways, it's the aesthetic that reels me in. Against the backdrop of well-to-do New York, the fashion and jewelry is fantastic. The pop culture references to real world status symbols are sublime - a scene set at a Sotheby's auction, actual Birkins of the cast members, real famous paintings hung in their homes. And, of course, this show had the best soundtrack of its time, making use of the real trending music of the 2000s. 

Schitts Creek (series) 

An over the top, out-of-touch, wealthy family loses everything and has to move to a small town to start over. 

Despite the serious-sounding premise, this show is hilarious. The humour is so spontaneous that I think it could only have been achieved by the chemistry of this specific group of cast. This is what I watch when I need a genuine laugh. Surprisingly, it's also the show that gives me hope in my defeated moments, watching the family bounce back from a dire circumstance. 

The Good Place (series) 

After death, the characters land up in heaven i.e the Good Place. The only problem is... one of them knows she's been mistaken for a righteous activist with the same name, and she's really meant to be in hell i.e the Bad Place. Antics ensue as she tries to keep anyone from finding out. 

This series is such fun. The humour, like Schitts Creek, is spontaneous and comes from cast chemistry, as the group run around the Good Place, wreaking unintentional havoc. The sets for the Good Place are so whimsical. The storyline has great twists and just keeps running as far as it can go with the heaven vs hell idea - which is pretty far, across several seasons. By the end, I'm always left understanding I've watched a show about the meaning of life, without feeling preachy at all, and having a bucket of laughs along the way. 

Daniel Barrada (podcast) 

Daniel is a podcaster on YouTube, who gives lecture notes on topics related to manifestation, spirituality, energetics. This is the one creator whose every video is an automatic add to my watchlist, because I've never seen a video from him that wasn't helpful. 

The lecture notes are drawn up as downloadable documents, and Daniel teaches directly from them during the videos. These videos are perfect to put on while I do some tidying up, as he reads and discusses the notes in a way that is easy to follow along. There is a lot of manifestation content out there, a lot of it vague and inactionable, but Daniel's videos are intelligent and solid. 

Unexpected Finds 

Old Money (series) 

A Turkish romance about a yacht company heiress who has to build a boat for an uptight, cold businessman to save her family legacy. 

This is such a fine specimen of the enemies to lovers romance trope. The push/pull dynamic between the characters is so intense that it had me on the edge of my seat in a will they/won't they battle. The backdrop of old money was a beautiful setting for this story - old mansions, friends from preppy schools, tailored clothes, boats, night clubs. I can't wait for season 2.

Dirty John (series) 

A fictionalized anthology series of true crimes. Season 1 is about a successful interior designer that falls for a sociopathic con artist, despite her daughters' suspicions. Season 2 revolves around a wife who murdered her husband after his affair. 

What a deeply personalized, psychological look at these true crime stories! This series really gripped me. I often find myself watching documentaries, yelling at the screen about how silly the victims were. But this series actually put me right in the victim's - and perpetrator's - shoes for a direct unfolding of events. Season 1 was brilliant and had me hooked. I wouldn't have thought it possible, but season 2 was even better, keeping me pressed right up against the TV screen. I truly can't believe this series isn't more famous. 

Younger (series) 

A newly divorced 40-year-old woman pretends to be 26, to land a job in the publishing industry. 

Created by the same person that produced Sex and the City, Emily in Paris, 90210, this series is upbeat, fashionable, colorful, and easy to watch. I must have been living under a rock that I didn't discover this show in the 20-teens. I ended up thoroughly binging it a few months ago. The episodes and seasons are short. And, of course, it has so much publishing industry novelty that I believe editors and writers will adore it. 

If you'd like to use winter to hibernate with books instead, and emerge the best version of yourself in spring - I would recommend looking at my lists of top non-fiction books, or top business books. 

Written by Keli H, author and literary artist. Quintessentially Keli is her personal editorial archive on style, authorship, art, and inspired living. More articles at keli-h.com