Marshall and the Movies

I can’t believe I overlooked informing the OG readers of Marshall and the Movies that, well, most of my self-published writing is now occurring elsewhere!

After a year of writing a daily streaming recommendations newsletter, The Distancer, during the pandemic, I discovered I quite liked the newsletter format. So I’ve decided to re-launch Marshall and the Movies over on Substack with a twice-weekly cadence.

I’m going to pilfer a little bit from my own announcement post and give you a rundown of what you can expect if you sign up:

Everyone will get an email every Monday. This newsletter will be much more utility-focused with an emphasis on streaming lists. This is the “news you can use” piece of Marshall and the Movies.

The first Monday of every month will be the best movies added to popular streaming services like Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, and Disney Plus. The last Monday of every month will be the movies you have to catch before they depart streaming sites. This will not change!

You’ll also get a window into what I’m watching and writing. For anyone who’s asked how they can keep up with my freelance pieces across the web – and doesn’t want to be on Twitter – the newsletter will help fill that distribution void in your life.

Paid subscribers will get an additional email every Thursday – as one of many perks. These will be the dealer’s choice, so to speak. You might get a deep dive into a favorite movie, an emerging trend, or an obscure sidebar on streaming. Maybe it will be a piece based on a pitch that I couldn’t get picked up for another outlet. Consider it a mystery box that will land in your inbox at the end of each week and provide enlightenment as well as a bit of surprise.

For fans of The Distancer, this paid component of Marshall and the Movies on Substack will be a new feature. This work involves a significant amount of my time and labor, and I humbly ask that if you derive a benefit from this product/service, you treat it as worthy of compensation.

Subscriptions will be $5/month or $50/year (a 17% discount for people who commit early!). Consider that, for roughly the cost of renting a movie online right now, you are investing in getting more value from the services for which you already pay – and often let go underutilized. Subscriptions will allow me to continue devoting the time and doing the work I love to do of connecting this virtual community to new ideas, content, and resources. 

For the first month, all posts will be free so you can get a sense of whether or not you’ll find the Thursday posts worthwhile. Starting in September, the Thursday newsletters will go to subscribers only.

So come join the fun over on Substack – you can sign up for free emails or become a paying subscriber today! New logo, new platform, same goal of celebrating cinema through the written word. I haven’t abandoned this original WordPress site entirely; I do hope to pen reviews like the good old days simply to get the reps in. But, for the time being, most my efforts will be in growing the Substack.