The Wasteland Reviewer

The Wasteland List: The Wasteland Reviewer’s 2026 Goals

How often do you sit there thinking about what to watch? You might have an endless watchlist that keeps piling up (I certainly have one myself). Sometimes you are just in the mood for a type of film or a certain filmmaker or actor and want to take yourself into a deep dive. As someone who watches so many movies, I have people asking me for recommendations all the time. One of the best feelings as a cinephile is recommending a film and that person loves it. Take this wealth of cinematic knowledge and experience and enjoy some recommendations on me. Genre. Subgenre. Filmmaker. Actor. Composer. Writer. Genre. Story. Trope. Cliché. Any other cinematic elements or them. Here is The Wasteland List:   

The Wasteland Reviewer’s 2026 Goals: 

Expand My Music Horizons 

I tend to keep listening to the same songs again. I have a “Shane Playlist” which is just a bunch of my favorite songs that I love to listen to. Most of the music I listen to is also older (especially before I was born). I spend money on Spotify, so I hope to leverage their Discover Weekly and Release Radar options. I also have a few Mixed playlists with others that I want to commit to listening to. I also came up with a little system to listen to random albums from a variety of decades and genres. To be honest, I have a system for everything…so this checks out.

Streamline and Focus Show Schedules 

I came to the realization that I have a lot of shows (which is abundantly obvious…I know). Between three YouTube shows and five podcasts with the SPDM Crew, I think I need to focus on doing less. I think I have found a critical mass for myself and need to do less. I will be reflecting on my shows and podcasts and focusing my energy on the ones that mean the most to me and cut back on the other ones.

Launch Skool Account and Class

This was a suggestion from my friend Sue-Kate Heaney (so thank you!). Skool is a platform where you can create classes for communities where people can pay to subscribe to your channel monthly and you create lessons. I have decided to pull the trigger and create a film class, Lesson in Film. I will be charging $10 monthly, which hopefully is modest for the value of what I am offering. My salary was recently cut due to major financial issues for our institution so hopefully this is a nice supplement income and gives me an opportunity to teach a film class for the first time (which I have been wanting to do for a while).

Say “Yes” Less 

I have watched more new movies in 2025 than I have ever in my whole life. 900+ new releases is an insane number which is hard to reckon with. This is both exciting and stressful to think about. I pride myself on being open to watching and reviewing any film. I say yes to all outreach I receive about screener links, but I think for my own sake…that needs to change. It means so much to me that filmmakers reach out to me directly to reach their films. I appreciate the opportunity to spotlight smaller films from all types of studios and PR firms. But I think I have reached an unsustainable point and need to adjust.

Find More Time to Read 

My first childhood passion was reading. Before film had become my primary hobby, books were it. I was (and still am) an avid reader. But I have so many other things going on that I just cannot find the time to read as often anymore. I basically read while on my breaks at work. I expanded into audiobooks to listen to on the go. Over the last few years, my reading has expanded a bit, and I hope to continue to do that. My goal is to spend a chunk of time each day reading, even if it is 15-20 minutes.

Only Watch Series I Want To 

I have already reduced my television watching because of how much my movie watching has expanded. But I could honestly do even more. I really need to pull the trigger on just watching shows that I want to without worrying which ones I “should” watch. I stopped reviewing series because I didn’t want to stretch myself so thin and now, I really need to make watching shows a joy for me and not an obligation.

Focus Less on Quantifying Art 

I honestly think that society has shifted too far in the direction of quantifying art. I have friends who will specifically request a star rating or numerical score as their way of understanding my thoughts on a film. I love math and numbers, but they feel so arbitrary and deceptive when it comes to art. I got rid of grades from my YouTube reviews a long time ago. I am even contemplating removing them from my posts on Letterboxd as well. Film is subjective, as is any art, and I don’t really want to be a part of this tokenization of art anymore.

Assess My Focus and Goals 

My YouTube channel has always been about giving me an excuse to talk about movies, connect with people over movies, and hopefully get some people checking out films they never would. I never approached my channel to maximize views, subscribers, and income. Most of my YouTube show episodes (all three of the shows) don’t get many views. It was never about that. But I have put 9.5 years into this experience and I am monetized now. I may want to make some adjustments to what I do to maximize my growth and build off my efforts. I have put so much time and effort into my channel, and it might be time that I explore what will make my channel more successful. Maybe there will be less content, more quality, and focusing on video that will get views. That is what I am presently exploring in my head. This goal might go by the wayside if I shift back into my mindset, I have always had for my channel…but we will see.