movie review bullet journal

7 Best Film Journal Ideas for Beautiful Movie Reviews

Keeping a film journal is a fun, relaxing, and personalized way to organize the overwhelming amount of movies we can access in this digital age of multiple streaming platforms.

However, coming up with film journal ideas is not always so easy.

Starting a film journal can seem a bit intimidating since there can be so many components of movies to potentially keep track of.

Not to mention, if you’re not a natural artist, you may fear ruining pages or attempting another failed arts and crafts project.

But don’t worry, I’m no artist but I’ve learned how to keep a simple yet aesthetic movie journal that produces movie review entries like this:

And sometimes, even a little like this:

And if I can do it then, hey, it’s anybody’s game.

This article is going to dissect what goes into a good film journal and provide some film journal ideas to help you create your very own stunning collection of movie reviews.

What Is a Film Journal?

A film journal is a series of pages used to document the movies you watch and recount your viewing experience.

There are several ways to keep track of the movies you watch but a film journal is one of the most unique and personalized methods.

Rather than leave your movie memories at the mercy of the often faulty internet, a movie journal provides tangible evidence of your movie-watching experience.

There is something satisfying about being able to hold your memories in your hands. This is why Polaroid cameras are making a comeback .

The vintage feel and distinctive style of your own film journal are things that can’t simply be replicated with an app.

How To Write a Film Journal

How you write a film journal is by starting with the identifying characteristics of the film like the title, the director, the genre, the actors, and so on.

Then you can include some identifying characteristics of your particular experience with the film like the date you watched the film, your opinions of the film, and your overall rating.

How much or how little you want to include in your movie journal is unique to you.

But there are some aspects of film journaling that are helpful to include and can help you organize your thoughts if you’re going for a more orderly aesthetic.

What Should Be Included in a Film Journal?

A film journal should AT LEAST include the following:

• The film’s name
• The date the film was watched
• What you liked and didn’t like about the film
• An overall rating of the film

Additional elements to add to elevate your movie journal include:

• The director(s)
• The movie’s genre(s)
• The movie’s release date
• A short synopsis of the movie
• Notable quotes within the movie
• Your movie ticket stub
• A picture of the movie poster
• Images of movie stills
• Notable songs from the movie’s playlist
• Who you watched the movie with
• Awards that the movie has won
• A table of contents
• The movie’s country of origin
• Ect. Ect. Ect.

Anything that sticks out to you from the movie can be incorporated into your journal.

What Do You Need for a Film Journal?

What you need for a film journal is a film journal notebook and a pen at least.

To elevate your journaling game these are some of my favorite crafty tools to get your movie reviews at their peak level of aestheticism.

Tombow Dual Brush Color Markers : These double-sided markers create clean calligraphy art and regular lettering as well without bleeding through the page (as long as you don’t use too much pressure). They also come in nearly every color imaginable.

Tombow Brush Pens : For more fine-tipped writing that also doesn’t bleed through the page.

Colorful Washi Tape : A pop of washi tape to stick around your movie images does wonders for a plain white page.

Mini Pocket Printer : Probably my favorite discovery for a movie journal, this affordable and easy-to-use mini printer is perfect for printing movie posters and movie stills. The only caveat is that it only prints in black & white unless you pay more for the mini color printers.

You can view my film journal Amazon store here , updated with all of the latest tools that I use to create movie review journal entries.

7 Best Film Journal Ideas

1. writing-based film journal.

Your film journal does not need to be extravagant. Especially if you have no affinity for illustrations.

A simple one-page journal entry expressing your verbal sentiments toward the film is perfect for the movie enthusiast who doesn’t need the bells and whistles.

Let your handwriting take center stage.

This movie journal entry simply names the film’s title, the release date, the director, and the cinematographer before going into a brief free structured critique of the film ending on the film’s “best bit.”

2. Film Bullet Journal

On the other end of the spectrum, film bullet journals take on a less predictable form.

The following journal entry creates its own structure using a dotted bullet journal base:

With all of the information on one film squeezed onto a singular page we get a colorful medley of fonts, images, patterned washi tape, and unique hand-drawn designs conveying the film’s essence.

This movie journal entry includes the film’s title, release date, genre, director, main actors, location, the awards that it’s won, notable quotes, an overall star rating of the film, the movie poster, movie stills, original illustrations, and patterned designs.

For more movie journal ideas that look like this one check out this gorgeous Instagram page .

This is another example of a bullet journal film entry. It’s most likely digitally enhanced but still maintains a rustic, handwritten aesthetic:

You can see the washi tape-like design enveloping the title, movie still images, and different colored backgrounds for each section to create a beautiful, dynamic movie review entry.

The biggest challenge with creating a film journal entry on a bullet journal is fitting all of the film’s information on one page without it looking messy or overcrowded.

The two images above are great examples of how to execute that.

3. Moleskine Film Journal

A lot of film journal ideas that you see on Pinterest will have a similar background template. It’s the movie review template of the Moleskine film journal .

The setup of this journal includes space for the film’s title, the country and year of the film’s release, the genre, awards won, when where, and who you watch the movie with, notable quotes, a blank space for notes, for your opinions, and for your rating out of 5 stars.

You can see that the placement of images is variable and up to you. There are also lettered tabs on the side of the journal pages to help you organize your movie reviews in alphabetical order.

There are so many ways to dress up this design if you’d like or to follow it exactly and keep it simple.

The Moleskine film journal, although pricey, is very popular with avid movie buffs.

4. The Film Spread

Instead of confining the film’s information to one page, the film spread uses both pages in dedication to the movie-watching experience.

The spread allows more space for in-depth analysis of the film without having to skimp on the visuals giving the journal entry a more captivating appearance.

For a film spread, you can have one of the pages primarily for your visual elements and the other primarily for your written elements. Or you can just extend your movie journal entry across both pages.

The example above ignores the crease in the center of the page and extends the film’s title and journal entry information across both pages.

It gives the whole page a grand appearance so that each page flip is an immersion into the world of a singular movie.

5. The Guided Film Spread

I really like the look of the film spread so I created a guided spiral-bound version for myself on Lulu.

When people were curious about the journal, I made it more easily available on Amazon, only it’s a standard bound book.

This journal combines several different approaches to a film journal making it highly adaptable to whoever is using it.

The left side of the page, much like the Moleskine journal, encourages a written review of the movie.

It guides you through identifying the movie’s characteristics and then forming a clear opinion on the film based on your compliments and critiques.

The right side of the journal is more free-form, similar to a bullet journal.

Unlike other film journals, this one includes an adjective word cloud with several adjectives that can be highlighted to best match your sentiments towards the movie.

The top section of the right page is blank, leaving room for additional words, movie quotes, movie posters, and anything visual or verbal that stood out to you.

So whatever isn’t included in the journal already, you can add to that empty spot.

You can read more about all of the journal’s features here !

6. Movie Tracker Approach

If you really want to conserve space in your movie review journal then you can simply include more than one review on a singular page.

Rather than each page representing one movie, it can represent several.

This is great for general, but aesthetic record keeping. A good way to aesthetically see what movies have been watched and your quick, general rating on them.

There are a lot of creative ways to design your movie tracker film journal.

Some people use movie reel strips and include the watched movie in each square.

As you can see above, some put one movie on each clapboard.

The one above that includes mini movie posters.

And some put one movie on each individual popcorn as it falls into a popcorn bucket.

This approach to your film journal is effective if you don’t have a lot of space to dedicate to movies and just want to keep a quick, light, and cute record of your recent viewings.

Shop the Film Journal Essentials!

7. Movie List Approach

Similar to the movie tracker, the movie list further simplifies your film journal allowing you to include even more movies onto one page.

This is good for creating a watchlist of movies you want to view.

You can also include a little bit of information on the film and your viewing experience on the side like the date you watched it and your rating.

But with the list, there is limited space for including a lot of additional information or decor to really elevate the aesthetic related to the movie.

By the way, in the artwork above, that galaxy is stunning. Check out their Instagram for more!

This is another clean movie list as well:

The artist includes adorable general movie-watching illustrations along the border of their movie list.

As you can see this list includes the movie’s name, release date, rating, and a checklist indicating whether they’d seen the movie yet or not.

Check out their Instagram page for even more journal decor ideas!

In Conclusion…

With so many film journal ideas to be inspired by, creating your own film journal can be less scary and more exciting!

From guided journals like the Moleskine Journal and the IMO Flicks Journal , you can make beautiful journal entries without feeling pressure to start from scratch.

For more freedom and less guidance, bullet journals are the perfect choice for a film journal.

And for cute and quick watch lists, there are several fun and creative designs to use that will make tracking movies a breeze.

For an Amazon wishlist of tools with which to decorate your journal, you can check out what I’ve found useful in my Amazon Storefront .

I hope this helps.

Happy movie-watching (and journaling)!

What are some of your favorite film journal ideas? Let me know in the comments below!

And be sure to subscribe for the latest blog updates (form in sidebar).

Peace, love, and lots of popcorn,

When I'm not over-analyzing movies, I'm eating chocolate, belting my favorite songs, and binge-watching reality dating shows. Feel free to share your opinions with me and follow me through my social links!

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The Prettiest Ways to Track Your Bullet Journal Movies and TV Shows

We may earn money or products from the companies mentioned in this post.

Movies and TV shows are everything! Most especially for busy people like me. How can you even relax on a weekend without watching a movie or a TV show? For me, that’s imperative for weekend relaxation and fun. If you are planning to watch something new anytime soon, I suggest using your bullet journal to track your favorites. Yes, keeping movie trackers is a thing now! If you are looking for new ways to organize your bullet journal movies, I can share some amazing ideas!

I love using my bullet journal in tracking many aspects of my life, from fitness routines to weekly schedules. Apart from details about my day-to-day life, I love making a list of the movies and TV shows I’ve seen.

Sometimes, I also write short reviews and pretty much anything and everything I want to remember about that show. Once you’re done making a page for bullet journal movies, I suggest making a spread that will help you track TV shows, seasons and episodes. 

What are the things that we can log in our TV show and movie trackers?

• Movie genre
• When you saw the episodes or films
• Annual or monthly tracker
• Movies and TV shows you want to see
• Where you saw them, and with whom (like your bff)
• Movies and TV shows you’ve seen
• TV shows and movies of your favorite actors
• To-Watch lists
• Movie and episode reviews

These bullet journal supplies can help you monitor your bullet journal movies and TV shows in a creative way.

✅ This journal stencil planner set that you can use not just for your bullet journal, but also for handmade family holiday cards, greeting cards and letters.

✅ This bullet journal notebook that is 24% heavier compared to other journal brands.

✅  This card ink pen set can help you make beautiful letterings and line widths.

✅ These fine tip pens will change the way you approach drawing in your bullet journal.  I adore them and I can’t live without them.

✅ These ball pens are loved by many bullet journalist friends because of its great for creating flowy strokes. 

✅ This highlighter pen set is a top choice for those who love bullet journaling. 

✅ These washable markers are perfect for writing, coloring and drawing.

✅ These washi tapes have wonderful, unique patterns.

✅ These set of pens are designed for every person who loves calligraphy, drawing, and art therapy. 

✅ This graphite paper will save you tons of time by capturing each detail in your original design smoothly. 

✅ These bullet journal stickers will look beautiful for almost every kind of spread imaginable. 

✅   These watercolor brush pens offer good colors for blending and shading bigger areas.

✅  These sticky notes will help you remember important activities and dates. 

Bullet journal TV show and movie tracker ideas that will inspire you!

No bullet journal movie party is complete without popcorn. .

Movie tickets and bullet journal pages always go well together.

How many stars for that new movie you just saw?!  

Organize your bullet journal movies and TV shows in a nice minimalist spread.

Don’t you just love the vibe of a classic film strip design? 

Endless movie and TV show titles!  

Bullet journal, Netflix and chill.

Don’t forget to find a spot for that iconic clapperboard..

Lights, camera, action!

Don’t miss a single episode. .

More details, more fun! Write everything you want to remember about your favorite TV shows and movies. 

Make a summary of all the movies and series you have watched.

Make a list of all the bullet journal movies and TV shows you haven’t seen.

What is it that you want to watch next .

A movie or TV show tracker is one of the most unique spreads that you can create in your bullet journal. Not all people list down titles of their favorite shows, but I am sure there are some memorable ones that you would want to remember.

What is that you want to watch next with your loved ones ands bff? Do you want to write your thoughts about the finale episode of your favorite TV show?  Grab those bullet supplies now for the most creative list of bullet journal movies and TV shows!

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Crazy Laura

February 26, 2024 By Laura This post may contain affiliate links. For more information please read my disclosure

15+ Bullet Journal Movie Trackers To Unlock Cinema Magic With

Who’s ready to combine their love for film and journaling into one cinematic masterpiece? I’ve found the perfect way to keep you organized, inspired, and most importantly, excited about your next movie night – a movie tracker for your bullet journal! Whether you’re a casual movie-goer or a die-hard cinephile, these blockbuster ideas will help you create a movie tracker that’s as riveting as a thriller. So, grab your popcorn, pick up your pens, and let’s roll out the red carpet for some super fun movie tracker ideas!

You should also check out our best TV shows & Netflix trackers for more bujo ideas.

Here are the best bullet journal movie trackers to inspire you:

THE CLASSIC MOVIE STRIP

Who here misses old film reels? Get ready to swim in nostalgia by creating a bullet journal movie tracker that mirrors a good old film strip. Jot down your top choice movies on each reel, and showcase your classics collection. This idea is symmetrical, aesthetic, and so satisfying!

THE POPCORN BUCKET LIST

Source: @khadis_bujobox on Instagram

Is there anything more movie-ish than a bucket of popcorn? Here’s an idea: draw a huge popcorn bucket in your bullet journal, and let each popcorn piece represent a movie you’re planning to watch. It’s out-of-box, super quirky, and absolutely perfect for tracking your next flicks!

THE MOVIE TICKETS

Source: @mandiesbujo on Instagram

Why not design a movie ticket for each flick you’ve watched or are planning to watch? Not only does this serve as a nifty tracker, it also becomes a cool visual memory of your movie journey. Go wild on the ticket design, and make it your unique creation!

THE MARQUEE SIGN

Source: Gistvic Blog

Add some vintage glow to your bullet journal with a marquee sign movie tracker. List your movie titles in the marquee letters for a retro yet fun vibe. It’s a fantastic way to highlight your top-rated movies!

THE CLAPPERBOARD

Source: @kd123_cr on Instagram

What’s more film-friendly than a clapperboard? This iconic symbol of film can be a unique way to record your growing movie list. You’re the director of your own movie journey now!

BAG OF POPCORN

Source: @carissaveronicadesigns on Instagram

This design is a movie tracker straight out of a premiere. A full bag of popcorn represents your movies, and the popcorn pieces are what you use to track and rate the movies you watch.

THE STAR RATINGS

Let’s wear the critic’s hat! Design a star rating system for your movie list. This method not only keeps the films you’ve watched in order, but you can also add your first-hand reviews.

Source: @_jimash_ on Instagram

Here’s a creative tracker that uses birdcages for each movie. Perhaps it reminds you of the movie The Birdcage? Unusual themes can make your movie tracking even more exciting.

MOVIE POSTER AND RATING

Source: @pensandbullets on Instagram

Here’s an idea that uses mini movie posters. Along with a short blurb of your thoughts and a star rating, you’ll have your own movie critique corner!

THE CINEMATIC GENRES

Are you a movie sorter? Creating different slots for different genres in your journal can make your movie logging organized and visually appealing.

Related Post: 

20+ Disney Bullet Journal Ideas To Unlock The Magic!

THE MOVIE AWARDS

Why not hold your own awards and nominate your watched movies? This idea is not only an absolute blast, but it also lets you analyze the films you’ve watched.

MINIMALIST DESIGN

Source: @bulletjournalnoob on Instagram

This straightforward movie tracker uses dots to rate each movie. This idea can work great for a book tracker as well. Simple, serene, and so easy!

MINI POSTERS

Show off your artistic side by doodling an iconic scene or symbol from each movie. It’s a bit challenging, but the result is a visually pleasing movie saga!

CUT OUT MOVIE TICKETS

Source: @mimojujo on Instagram

Here’s a unique movie ticket design. This one uses cut-out movie tickets for tracking, and the hand-drawn pictures behind the tickets add a personal touch.

POPCORN AND POLAROIDS

Source: @handlettering_for_god on Instagram

This tracker blends popcorn and Polaroids in one! Get creative when drawing an image that describes each movie. It’s super fun and innovative!

THE NETFLIX INSPIRED

Source: Pinterest

Everyone’s favorite streaming platform, but make it a tracker! Draw a Netflix-inspired movie tally that’s cool, current, and a fun nod to popular culture.

GOAT EATING POPCORN

Here’s a creatively neat movie tracker with film strips, pretty calligraphy, and a sketch of a goat munching on popcorn – it’s as unique as they come!

Bullet journal movie tracker ideas are seriously the bee’s knees, my friends! They take your love for movies and bullet journaling and mash ’em together in the most creative way! These trackers help you catalog your cinematic journeys, track films you plan to watch, and express your love for your favorite flicks in doodles and colors. They provide a fun, visual space to reminisce about your favorite scenes or quotes, and even rate the films. It’s like a personal movie diary that’s not just functional, but also super fun and cool! So why not bring the magic of movies into your bullet journaling routine?

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• Best Mental Health Bullet Journal Ideas
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Some BULLET JOURNAL ITEMS You Can Buy

• Precise archival pens create fade resistant, waterproof, bleed free marks for drawing, artwork, journaling, and more
• Includes 6 black ink Pigma Micron pens in point sizes 005 (0.20mm), 01 (0.25mm), 02 (0.30mm), 03 (0.35mm), 05 (0.45mm), and 08 (0.50mm)
• Pigma Micron ink is pH neutral, quick drying, and approved by ACMI toxicologists; pens have AP certification seal

• VIBRANT COLORS: Smart Fineliner Color Pens Set 18 Unique Colors, 0.38 mm Fine Point Colored Pens, With water-based ink, Minimal Bleed Thru Ink, Assorted Color Fine Tip Marker Pens. Perfect as Journal...
• SMOOTH WRITING: Colorful Fine-tip marker pen set with superfine, metal-clad fine-tipped and outstanding performance in all areas of writing, drawing, sketching, and coloring, easy and comfortable to...
• GREAT marker pens for drawing lines & details, journals, planners, calendars, agenda, notebooks, note taking, painting, writing, coloring, sketching, marker, signing, manga, animation, graphics,...

• 8 UNIQUE PASTEL COLORS: 8 beautiful pastel colors will give you more fun in daily life and make you feel relaxed. Suitable for writing on dark or light background. Ideal for everyday use like...
• SMOOTH WRITING & QUICK DRYING: The optimized 0.7mm fine point with premium ink delivers skip-free glides all the time. High quality ink dries quickly, so there will be no smearing or smudging during...
• PREMIUM DESIGN: Durable clip makes it convenient to carry with. Retractable design will be easy for you to use. And each pen is sealed with wax to prevent ink from drying.

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How to keep a film journal

A film journal may not feel essential if you only watch a few films each year. However, for those with a profound passion for cinema or those aspiring to forge a career in the film industry, keeping a movie journal can unlock a treasure trove of benefits and insights.

Watching films transcends mere entertainment for some — it’s an art form. A film journal allows you to contemplate the nuances of storytelling, cinematography, and character development — fostering a deeper appreciation for the medium.

So, grab your popcorn and join us as we dive into why maintaining a film journal can be a valuable practice. We’ll also provide expert tips to enhance your journaling experience.

Why keep a film journal?

A film journal serves as a personal review log, providing a dedicated space to collect your reflections on each movie you watch. The act of creating it can be both rewarding and cathartic.

Journaling offers a valuable tool for processing thoughts, shaping opinions, and fostering a deeper engagement with films. It encourages you to uncover subtleties, symbolism, and themes that might have gone unnoticed.

Additionally, it hones your critical thinking skills, enabling you to analyse and articulate the strengths and weaknesses of a film, which refines your ability to evaluate and appreciate cinema.

A film journal records your growth as a cinephile, illustrating how your cinematic tastes and understanding evolve. It also serves as a handy reference point when discussing movies, actors, or directors with friends at a later date.

For aspiring filmmakers, the journal takes on a multifaceted role. It becomes a canvas for making notes on narrative elements, plot intricacies, character development, acting performances, lighting, camera techniques, production design, and sound.

You can even use a journal to craft plans for your own film projects — detailing your target audience, potential talent, distribution strategies, and financing considerations.

Tips for keeping a film-watching journal

Watching movies at the cinema can enhance the experience

Choose a journal

The more you like the look and feel of your journal, the higher the chances that you’ll consistently put it to good use. Therefore, selecting your journal is a decision to be made with care.

A compact notebook might be the ideal choice when creating a movie bullet journal. However, for traditional film journaling, we’d advise opting for a medium or large-sized notebook, considering the size of your handwriting and the layout you intend to use.

Decide on a format

While the temptation to jump right into your first journal entry is strong, it’s important to resist and take a moment to establish a consistent layout for your journal.

For each entry, consider including:

• date of viewing
• viewing location (home, cinema, etc.)
• who you watched the film with
• film release date
• film director(s)
• film producer(s)
• running time
• main actors
• supporting cast
• star rating
• your reflections on the film
• a detailed review
• favourite quotes
• diagrams or drawings.

You might like to dedicate space in your journal for a list of movies you intend to watch in the future, allowing you to mark them off as you experience each one.

Capture your interests

Much like a reading journal , a movie journal is a personal reflection of your cinematic journey. Therefore, it should encapsulate everything that piques your interest in the world of films.

Conversely, if you find certain aspects less captivating, such as directorial details, you’re free to omit them from your journal entries.

For those with a penchant for meeting actors at conventions and other events, you might even want to allocate a dedicated space within each journal entry to collect autographs .

Journal immediately

The most opportune moment to make a journal entry is right after the end credits have rolled and the film’s impressions are vivid in your mind.

If you happen to watch a film late into the night, the urge to postpone journaling may be strong, but it’s advisable to at least jot down your initial thoughts and emotions before surrendering to sleep. The swifter you capture your thoughts in your journal, the more intricate and comprehensive they’re likely to be.

Schedule time to appreciate your journal

While the emphasis in journaling often revolves around consistent writing, it’s equally crucial to spend time perusing your journal and relishing the words you’ve previously penned.

Fellow film enthusiasts might also enjoy the opportunity to flip through your movie journal, gaining insights into your perspectives on the latest releases or timeless Hollywood classics.

A movie-watching journal example

• Watch date : 14/09/23
• Title : Barbie
• Release date : 21/07/23
• Running time : 114 minutes
• Genre : Comedy/Fantasy
• Starring : Margot Robbie & Ryan Gosling
• Favourite quote :

“You have to be thin, but not too thin. And you can never say you want to be thin. You have to say you want to be healthy, but also you have to be thin. You have to have money, but you can’t ask for money because that’s crass. You have to be a boss, but you can’t be mean. You have to lead, but you can’t squash other people’s ideas. You’re supposed to love being a mother but don’t talk about your kids all the damn time. You have to be a career woman but also always be looking out for other people. You have to answer for men’s bad behaviour, which is insane, but if you point that out, you’re accused of complaining. You’re supposed to stay pretty for men, but not so pretty that you tempt them too much or that you threaten other women because you’re supposed to be a part of the sisterhood. But always stand out and always be grateful. But never forget that the system is rigged. So find a way to acknowledge that but also always be grateful. You have to never get old, never be rude, never show off, never be selfish, never fall down, never fail, never show fear, never get out of line.”

– Gloria to Barbie.

• Rating : 3.5/5

Final thoughts

A film journal isn’t just a notebook for cinephiles — it’s a passport to a richer cinematic experience, personal growth, and potentially a pathway into filmmaking.

So, embrace the journey, start your movie journal, and let the magic of cinema unfold on its pages.

Lucy is our lead editor and has been passionate about stationery since childhood. She has a particular fondness for rollerball and calligraphy pens and is a keen advocate of snail mail.

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Bullet Journal: 25 BuJo Movies Ideas You Will Love

Are you planning to create a series or movie bullet journal (BuJo)? We have got 25 ideas/spread just for you.

Table of Contents

What is a Bullet journal?

A bullet journal also known as a BuJo is a personal organizing system created by designer Ryder Carroll.

In the late 1990s, Ryder Carroll began exploring a simple way of personal organizing while in college. He sought a method to assist him “get over his learning difficulties” after being diagnosed with attention deficit disorder as a youngster.

He had invented the bullet journal approach by the time he graduated from college. In 2013, he began discussing his approach online after a buddy urged him to do so. It gained traction on social media and received $80,000 in Kickstarter financing to establish a centralized online community of users.

By December 2018, it has become the topic of over 3 million Instagram posts.

The term “ bullet journal ” refers to the usage of shortened bullet points to document information, but it also refers to dot journals, which are gridded with dots rather than lines. It was first made public in 2013, and it has since grown in popularity, getting major attention on Kickstarter, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and Pinterest.

Although many users are more complex, the approach takes simply a pen or pencil and a notepad.

There are bullet journaling notebooks available for purchase, but any blank notebook will suffice. Users who concentrate on the artistic aspect may employ a range of tools, such as a ruler, colored pens and markers, pencils, stickers, stencils, washi tape, and so on.

The bullet journal method seeks to offer users a framework for planning their lives and increasing productivity. The bullet journaling method is designed to be flexible, with lots of space for individuals to modify the system to their specific requirements.

BuJo Movies

The BuJo movies journal is just a means to keep track of the movies, TV shows, k-drama, series, and anime that you intend to watch. It can also come in different designs depending on how you want it.

Things that you can put in your BuJo Movies Tracker :

• Movies you’d want to see
• Movie series
• Movie genre
• Movie reviews
• Movies you’ve seen

Here are some (Bujo) bullet journal movie ideas to get you started.

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I enjoy writing about sports news, business, scholarship programs, and movies, among other topics. When I'm not creating content, I'm most often playing chess.

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Movie Tracker

Get ready to revolutionize your movie-watching experience with our incredible printable movie tracker! Available in PDF, PNG, and JPG formats, this customizable gem lets you personalize fonts, colors, and even add or remove text. Choose between A4 or US Letter size for the perfect fit. Whether you're a film fanatic or just starting your movie marathon, this tracker is your ultimate companion. Download it now and keep tabs on your cinematic adventures like a pro. Lights, camera, action!

We offer a collection of professionally designed movie tracker templates that you can customize and download for free in PDF, PNG, and JPG formats. Here are the simple steps to get your personalized movie tracker:

Browse our Template Library We have templates with different layouts and styles to choose from. Some include sections for movie title, rating, genre, notes and more. Find the one that best fits your movie tracking needs.

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Start Tracking! Print your downloaded template or use it digitally to start documenting all the movies you've watched or want to watch. Keep it handy while watching movies to fill in details.

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How To Use And Set Up A Yearly Review Spread In Your Bullet Journal

Hi friends! Emily here from the 2022 Ambassador Team. You may also know me from Planned and Planted blog or Instagram . As we close out the year and prepare for a new one, it’s time to start thinking about one of my all time favorite bullet journal spreads to create: my yearly review spread.

What is a  yearly review spread?

Well, it’s exactly what it sounds like - it’s a spread in your bullet journal where you create a visual review of your year. This could include all kinds of things, from the music you listened to, to special trips or memories from the year, to an overview of how much you read; the list goes on! You can include pictures, doodles, memes, timelines.. whatever you want! 

Today I’m going to share with y’all exactly how I make my year in review spreads in my bullet journal. Here’s what we need to get started:

Supplies For A Yearly Review Spread

• Archer and Olive journal 
• Sketching pencil and eraser of choice
• Pens - I typically use a combination of Pigma Micron pens and 0.38 Pilot G2 Gel Pens
• Optional: colored pens or markers - try the Archer and Olive Callioigraph brush pens ! 
• Optional: printed photos

Make sure to use code plannedandplanted10 at checkout to save 10% on your Archer and Olive order!

Creating Your Yearly Review Spread

Brainstorming.

The first, and arguably most important part of this process, is brainstorming what kinds of categories to include in your review, as well as the information you’ll compile for each category. Since the amount of things you could include are infinite, I find this brainstorming process really useful in narrowing down what I want my spread to be. 

The best way to do this is to ask yourself what kinds of things you want to remember about this year. This list won’t look the same for everyone! Some people may want to track their fitness statistics from the year, or maybe some of their income and spending habits. Others may want to remember certain media (books, movies, TV shows, music) they consumed.

To help with this, I’ve created a free downloadable printable with a list of ideas you could track for your year review spread, and space to jot down some memories and statistics or lists within each category. 

I highly recommend compiling all of this data, statistics, and information at this point so you can focus on the creative aspect once you get to sketching and inking. It will also give you a good idea of how much space to designate for each section.  

Here’s what I have tracked in the past:

• Fitness - how many days exercised, types of exercise, total steps, total miles biked. Most of this data comes from my fitness tracker and app. These are things you can also track in your bullet journal!
• Listening Habits - number of minutes listened on Spotify, favorite podcasts, number of genres listened to, top 5 songs. I get all of this data from my Spotify Wrapped that they usually put out around the end of October. 
• Movies and Television shows watched - I flip back through my monthly review spreads where I list what I was watching that month. 
• B ooks and Reading habits - number of books read, number of pages read, author gender statistics, fiction vs. non-fiction, acquisition methods, digital or physical. A lot of this can come from a reading app like Goodreads or Storygraph! I also track this data throughout the year in a spreadsheet. There's also some really great ideas for tracking your reading monthly in your journal . 
• Timeline of important dates and memories from the year with pictures - I also go back through my bullet journal to try to remember all of the big, fun, or important moments from the year. 

There’s a lot of people who go straight into their bullet journal spreads with pen or marker.. alas, I am not, and will never be one of those individuals. But kudos to them and their confidence. I religiously sketch out most of my spreads before I even think about what pens or markers to use, so that’s what I suggest you do as well. Especially on a spread like this where there’s a lot of information to put in a confined space.

Title/header

I almost always start with the title first. You can put this in the center of the page, the top, the corner.. wherever your little heart desires! Here’s some options you can use for a title:

• 2023 Highlights
• 2023 Review
• 2023 Year End Review
• 2023 Memories

Category Sections

After you’ve got your title sketched out, you want to mark out the space for each category, and add the sub-headings to those sections. A grid spacing guide can be super helpful to refer to for this part. I find it helpful to lightly jot down the information you want to include within your section to make sure it will fit. This is where it’s nice to have the information already compiled and listed somewhere, so you don’t have to stop in the middle and compile what you want to list. 

You can get creative with these sections. I like sketching a little television box for the section with the movies and shows I watched. And one year I made a little bookshelf for the book section.

Make sure to mark out some space for photos or doodles if this is something you want to include as well.

After you’ve got a rough sketch of where you want everything to go - and a desk full of eraser bits to accompany it, if you’re anything like me - it’s time to get to inking!

When I go in with pen, I usually start similar to the order I sketched in - title first, then each category header and doodles, then the information within each category. I personally do most of the spread in ink first, and then will go back in and add some color after the fact. 

This is also the time to add any photos you may have printed out. And of course, if there are any other creative elements you like adding to your spreads, like washi tape or stickers, throw all that in there too! 

There you have it! You’ve got a sweet and unique review spread of the year in your journal that you can come back to years and years in the future to remember the past with a glance. It also makes it super easy to compare the data from year to year to see how some of your habits or goals or experiences change as you change. Check out the video below to see my finished yearly review spreads in my bullet journals from the last two years, as well as some more information on how I create them. 

Once you're done creating your yearly review spread and have an idea of where you got towards your goals, now it's time to set up some goals for the new year! Check out this blog post to help you get started. 

Thanks so much for stopping by! I hope you found this information helpful and that it generated some good inspiration for your own yearly review spread. If you want to see what I create for my 2023 yearly review spread, make sure to follow me on Instagram . And if you decide to create your own review spread, make sure to tag @plannedandplanted and @archerandolive on Instagram so we can see what you create!

Happy journaling!

• Bullet Journal
• PlannedandPlanted
• Yearly Review

This has been such an eventful year. Reviewing and recording it seems like such a valuable idea, especially in such an organized, thoughtful manner. I’ll be giving it a try.

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This Week’s Stories

30 summer cocktail recipes to sip on your patio, how to stay organized and declutter based on your mbti type, 11 patriotic breakfast ideas perfect for memorial day weekend, 14 mini dresses that are the easiest hot-weather outfit formula, 12 stress-free instant pot recipes for a memorial day feast, your june horoscopes for 2024 are all about happiness and big opportunities, 23 easy bbq finger food recipes for your next cookout, game, set, match: 15 books you need to read if you loved "challengers".

These Bullet Journal Hacks Will Make Your Life Way Less Chaotic

Chloe Williams serves as B+C’s Entertainment Editor and resident Taylor Swift expert. Whether she’s writing a movie review or interviewing the stars of the latest hit show, Chloe loves exploring why stories inspire us. You can see her work published in BuzzFeed , Coastal Review , and North Beach Sun . When she’s not writing, Chloe’s probably watching a Marvel movie with a cherry coke or texting her sister about the latest celebrity news. Say hi at @thechloewilliams on Insta and @ popculturechlo on Twitter!

We love bullet journals because of the fact that they're both utilitarian and beautiful, something that we don't see often. While they can be used in place of planners to organize your tasks, grocery lists, and assignments for the days ahead, you can also use them as an art project. We've used ours to create layouts inspired by our favorite fictional characters , songs that we couldn't stop thinking about (check out our Spotify here ;)), and as a vision board for the coming year. However you choose to use your own bullet journal, here are some tips, tricks, and supplies to get you started.

What Is A Bullet Journal?

A bullet journal can honestly be anything you want it to be! It's a habit tracker, a scrapbook, and a calendar, all in one. You can log what you're reading, or keep track of the blessings you see in your life. Here are some terms to know as you embark on your journal journey:

• Bullet journal (also abbreviated as Bujo): The notebook that you'll be using to journal, arrange your schedule, and/or scrapbook. Bullet journals usually feature dotted pages instead of lined ones so that you can have more freedom to draw inside.
• Theme: From picking a color palette to making a whole entry about your favorite movie, a theme is what each page (or two pages) in your journal is about.
• Spread: This is a one- or two-page themed design that all ties together (like the image above).
• Habit tracker: A habit tracker allows you to keep track of the routines you want to add into your life, like drinking more water, stretching before work, or going on a walk.

How Do You Start A Bullet Journal?

While you can use a bullet journal in place of a planner and draw out your schedule, you can also buy a minimalist planner and just fill in all the blanks. They're the perfect tool for making the ordinary more beautiful *and* more fun.

Is Bullet Journaling Healthy?

There are lots of benefits to journaling . You can use journal entries to process information and emotion, or give your eyes a break from screens if you prefer to use your journal as a scrapbook. Working with your hands to create something beautiful allows you to do something just for the sake of doing it — there are no strings attached when you bullet journal, and since it's something you can keep private, it's one area of life that has zero expectations.

What Are The Most Important Items In Bullet Journaling?

Aside from the journal itself, you definitely need pens to write down all of your goals and plans. Everything else, from highlighters to stickers to glitter , is optional and just makes everything more colorful.

Bullet Journal Tips

Phone alternative.

If you use your journal as a destresser, it can also become a great way to disconnect from your tech . Since it's fun, and it stimulates both your hands and your brain, it's a great way to fill your free time and give your eyes a break from screens. Offload, delete, or log out of all your social media apps, pick up a pen, and start journaling.

Themed Spreads

We love using every area of our lives to reflect the current season — decorating our space , choosing our outfits, even picking certain color palettes for our makeup ! Bullet journals are a great way to feel more present by focusing on spreads for each season, holiday, or trip that you're packing for.

Prepping Images

Before printing out the pictures to include in a spread, add them all to a document to see if you like them together. We love looking at colors, composition, and even how zoomed-in a photo is to determine if everything is cohesive. You can also edit the size and contrast, saturation, and brightness of the pictures right inside your document.

Everything You Need For Your Own Bullet Journal

Papier joy ($27, was $30).

A baby blue cover will bring you peace of mind during the busiest of days. You can also choose between dotted, blank, or lined pages so that you can make this bullet journal totally yours.

Artist's Loft™ Teal Hardcover Dot Journal ($8)

This dotted journal is a simple option for anyone looking to get into this new hobby, and the bright color makes things more fun. The built-in bookmark means you'll never lose your place.

MOO Perpetual Planner ($26, was $30)

If you want a bullet journal/planner hybrid, opt for this unique pick: there are weekly spreads but no printed dates. That means you can take it one day at a time, skip days, or start planning your summer vacation before January's even over. Oh, there's also grid and lined pages for your doodles and thoughts.

Leuchtturm 1917 Medium Notebook ($16, was $21)

With a blank table of contents, numbered pages, and a pocket for any sticker sheets or photos you want to keep with you, you'll end up using this journal every day of the week.

Post-it 3pk Felt Tip Pens ($6)

Black pens are definitely something you'll want to use when starting your bullet journal journey. If you're taking notes or drawing out the foundation for your calendar and to-do list, it's helpful to start with black and add the color in later. The felt tips add a little bit of luxury.

BIC Intensity Porous Point Pens ($22 for 20)

Now it's time for the color! Add details and doodles to make your to-do list more fun, or if you're someone who lives and breathes color, you can also just use these for everything.

iBayam Journal Planner Pens ($9)

The great thing about these pens is their fine tips, which makes it easy to add smaller details to the page. The acid-free ink also has minimal bleed through, which is just another reason to love them.

Paper Mate Flair Felt Tip Pens ($13)

We love using Paper Mate pens to take notes in all areas of life, and they're also the perfect marker alternative for bullet journaling. We love that these retro accent colors are more toned-down, but if you're a neon fan, you can't go wrong with the originals too.

Highlighters

Zebra pen mildliner double ended highlighter ($18, was $32).

We never realized how much we needed non-toxic highlighters in our life. The water-resistant design will work wonders in your journal and the fact that there are 15 colors means there's a good chance you won't have to buy anymore any time soon.

OOLY Dual Liner Double-Ended Neon Highlighters ($10)

We are big fans of these highlighters. They're cute, they're not too bold, and they feature both a regular tip and a dual tip for unique artwork.

BiC 5pk Highlighter Brite Liner Assorted ($3)

You can't go wrong with a classic, and this BiC product will give you bold color and the choice between fine lines and bold highlighting. Plus, they won't dry out if you leave them uncapped for a few hours.

TWOHANDS Highlighters ($6, was $10)

The large ink reservoir on these highlighters means you can use them in your bullet journal for longer amounts of time. We're obsessed with the pastel shades.

CarliePeytonCreation 50pcs Friends TV Show Creative DIY Stickers ($7)

We cannot bullet journal without stickers, and Etsy is full of sticker packs featuring your favorite TV shows , movies, and celebrity memes, like this Friends pack.

Fun Express Rainbow 12 x 12 Scrapbooking Paper ($27)

Whether you tear it into artful shapes, cut it with patterned scissors, or use precise lines and angles, scrapbook paper is sure to make your journal spreads more textured and colorful.

Easy Stencil Set for Dotted Journals ($15)

Stencils are great for anyone who isn't confident in their free-handing abilities, or who doesn't want to keep buying stickers. This one features both calendar templates and fun designs!

50 Rolls Washi Tape Set ($13)

Washi tape is one bullet journal accessory that's purely for fun. You can use it to mark your pages, frame a photo, or add just the right amount of color on a neutral page.

Tag us on Instagram with your bullet journal spreads and follow us on Pinterest for more DIY inspiration!

Lead Image by Pexels/ Antoni Shkraba

Brit + Co may at times use affiliate links to promote products sold by others, but always offers genuine editorial recommendations.

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Kaitlin's 2021 Annual Review Process

• November 30, 2021

Hi everyone! Kaitlin Grey here from the Youtube channel Kaitlin Grey  and Instagram @itskaitlingrey.

Today I’m excited to share my annual review framework that I do each year in my bullet journal. I’ll be breaking my review process into steps so feel free to follow along when you’re doing your own yearly review, or take what you like and customize these steps into your own personal concoction!

My review has two key parts, my life review and my bullet journal review. Both these reviews help guide me in setting intentions as well as figuring out how I want to set up my bullet journal for the new year. 

Life Review

First, let’s dive into the annual life review. This is where I look inward and think about what happened during the year and what I want to do in the next year. To give myself some structure and make the whole process less overwhelming, I like to answer the questions I’ve listed below

What happened in 2021? 

What did I learn? 

What did I accomplish? 

What do I want to leave in 2021? 

What do I want to bring into 2022? 

Physical check in: How did I feel this year and how am I feeling now?

Mental check in: How did I feel this year and how am I feeling now?

I have the memory of a grasshopper, so when answering these questions I like to flip through my bullet journal and base my answers off my monthly and weekly reviews, monthly logs , and task lists.

I also really like finishing off my life review with a physical and mental check in because I believe that one of the best ways to set effective intentions is to first know how much energy you have to give to those intentions! I find this also applies to planning a new bujo setup, because if I’m feeling really mentally drained and low energy going into the new year, I may consider simplifying my setup, or adding in creative elements that are forms of self care.  Here’s an example of one key takeaway I found with my life review from this year! 

What do you want to leave in 2021? 

Clutter, mental clutter, clutter in my journal, and physical clutter in my space. I want to leave behind this notion that I always need to buy the newest thing and instead appreciate what I own and just think less about material things. 

This reflection revealed a couple insights for me, which I ended up expanding into a couple goals and intentions for the new year (one corresponding goal was making amendments to my budget and really focusing on conscious consumption and buying new things because the old things are worn out and unusable!). I also kept this answer in mind when working on my bullet journal review and migration because I realized that I wanted my journal to be less cluttered and more simplistic going into the new year. 

Bullet Journal Review 

Once I have a clear idea of what I want to bring into the next year and how I’m feeling, I like to get super analytical and review my bullet journal. In this part of my review I focus on looking at how well my bujo worked for me and what I need it to do for me going forward. I promise this sounds more intense than it is and *bonus* this is the part where you get to flip through all your notebook pages! 

Step 1. Review the old journal 

Flipping through my journal, I take note of my yearly collections, monthly logs, daily logs and other collections. One a separate piece of paper I make a table and sort my spreads into these categories 

    - What worked 

    - What didn’t work 

Depending on how detailed I want to be, I’ll sometimes note what specifically didn’t work about a collection as a nested note under the collection name like this: 

    What didn’t work 

    - recipe log 

        - didn’t have separate space for writing down recipes I wanted to make and recipes I wanted to write out and keep

This step really helps me figure out what spreads I want to carry into my new journal as well as which spreads may need tweaking before going into the new journal

Step 2. Clarify your journal’s purpose 

This is definitely the most important step in this whole process. As someone who doesn’t like to spend a ton of time setting up a new journal, I really only want to invest time into collections that are meaningful and I find this step really helps me figure out which spreads matter and which aren’t as vital. Here are the questions I ask myself that help me clarify my journal’s purpose: 

    - How did my journal help me this year?

    - What information did I include in my journal?

    - What information did I not include in my journal?

A big part of purpose, in my opinion, is knowing where your boundaries are. I find this is key to establish before getting excited and looking up different spread ideas because I find if I don’t set limits on what I do and don’t need, I generally end up with spreads like a cat health tracker in my journal… even though I don’t own a cat. 

Step 3. Create a migration plan 

We have now arrived at the migration phase of our review, aka. figuring out what stuff we want to move into our new journal. This step is exciting and way easier to do now that we’ve established our journal’s purpose, and what worked and didn’t work for us in the previous year. For my migration plan I like to keep things simple and make a list of the following things: 

- Spreads I want to keep (spreads I want to move over from my previous journal)

These tend to stay pretty consistent for my from year to year and include spreads like my alastair method future log, monthly log and task list, daily logs and weekly task list

- Spreads I want to remove (spread I don’t want to migrate into my new journal)

One spread I already know I’m not bringing into 2022 is my plant watering tracker. I realized this spread didn’t work for me because I barely used it and I realized that I don’t really care about knowing when my plants are watered, just that they are alive and well!

- Spread I want to change (spreads I want to modify before moving over) 

This is where I’ll write down spreads like my recipe log, which I tagged as not working well in my journal review exercise

- Spreads I want to add (new spread I haven’t tried before)

I usually will base spreads I want to add on my life review, along with my goals for the new year. In 2022 I want to continue my goal of getting outside and going on weekly hikes, so in order to help myself achieve that goal, I’ll be adding a TBH (to be hiked) collection where I can write down all the places I want to visit. I also write down:

    - What I want to do more of in my journal next year

    This can be really literal, like doing more drawing, or painting, or more abstract, doing more things in my journal practise that help me feel calm. One of my answers to this prompt is that I want to incorporate more photo journaling and memory keeping in my bujo so I have a record of all the hikes and places I’ve been during the year. 

    - What I want to do less of in my journal next year 

    Again, this one can be literal or abstract, my answer this year tends to be on the abstract side, I want to do less decorating in my journal and appreciate the beauty of simplicity. 

And that’s my full annual review process! I hope by going over my own process, this post may have given you some guidance on how you can do your own review, or it gave you some ideas for how you can design your very own custom review process. At the end of the day the best review is the one that works for you, and same goes for your bullet journal! So if you take anything from this post, I hope you remember that.  

I hope you all have a wonderful new year and I hope you have fun setting up your new journals!

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Why You Need A Monthly Review Page In Your Bullet Journal

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Whatever problem you have, there is a Bullet Journal page idea for that, and today we’ll be talking about a page that can really be a game changer for you and your journal.

Are you feeling overwhelmed by life right now? Well, you’re not alone; it’s hard to keep up with everything going on. That’s why I want to share one simple tip that I’ve found incredibly helpful in managing all the chaos: introducing a monthly review!

A monthly review Bullet Journal page can provide structure and promote reflection for any chaotic month, no matter how busy or stressful it might be.

In this blog post, I’ll show you exactly what goes into creating an effective review page and why having one every month is so beneficial for staying organized no matter what’s up with your life.

There are so many Bullet Journal page ideas! It all depends on the person, and really, each one of us uses something different.

The important thing here is not to get overwhelmed and to try to use ALL the pages. You don’t need them all, keep things simple and pick just things that align with you.

That’s why I don’t usually say “you have to have this page in your Bullet Journal”. However, I believe there are pages that benefit everyone, disregarding their goals or the ways they use their Bullet Journals. One of these pages is a monthly review.

Let me walk you through everything you need to know about a monthly review page and why you should consider adding one to your Bullet Journal.

Be sure to scroll until the end to get your freebies and more resources.

What Is A Monthly Review?

A Monthly review spread is a page with an overview of your month. It’s a place for you to summarize the month and reflect on different aspects of your life.

This is a place for you to take all the information from your weeklies, trackers, monthly logs, and such and condense it all to just one page. 

Moreover, this can also be a place for you to plan your next month since looking at your monthly review, you’ll know what you have to do in your life and what changes you might need in your Bullet Journal setup.

Unlike other monthly pages, the monthly review is usually the last page of any monthly setup. Unless, of course, you don’t do things that linear and add it in the beginning, as I did in my November Bullet Journal setup.

Why Do You Need a Month In Review

Think about it – how often do you go back and think about your trackers and journal entries? You put so much effort into creating and filling out these pages that if you never go back to them, what’s the point?

This is where your monthly review comes to play. As the month goes, a lot of information gets forgotten, but if every month you take a minute to look back and reflect on it, this will help you to constantly improve yourself and prevent you from repeating the same mistakes twice.

A monthly review will help you to learn more about yourself, see your patterns and weak points, plan better, and constantly improve yourself and your life

How is it possible – you’ll see as we move through what you could include in your monthly review.

Monthly Review Journal Prompts

Like everything in your Bullet Journal, a monthly review differs from person to person. One thing that is useful to have in mind, though, is to divide your recap into sections. This way, it will be easier to structure the information and later reflect on it.

Personally, I’ve been playing around with different versions of monthly reviews and eventually came up with these categories: 

• What I did for my goals
• What made me happy
• Monthly gratitude
• Lessons I learned
• Monthly Events

Lately, I’ve also been adding my Masha Plans-related statistics and plans to my monthly reviews. This is currently my biggest goal, and it’s very important to me to see it going in the right direction.

Over my experiments, I figured it’s actually pretty useful to keep the same format over some time because when you reflect back, it’s so much easier to follow.

I’m not here to tell you what to include, but I’m definitely here to give you some ideas.

Of course, the first thing I had to mention is life goals or at least your monthly goals.

Look back at your goals spread at the beginning of the month and see which ones you managed to close and which ones you didn’t.

Then look at your previous monthly goals and see if some goals have been dragging for a long time.

If you closed your goal – fantastic! you go, girl! Or Dude! We don’t discriminate in this Blog! If not, ask yourself these questions:

• What stopped me from reaching the goal?
• How can I divide the goal into smaller pieces?
• Is it at all something I still want?

Think about it when you set your next month’s goals. If something doesn’t work, it might be time for adjustments.

Meanwhile, here are some goal-related categories you could add to your monthly review:

• Win of the month
• Things you want to change
• Career progress
• Personal development
• Lessons learned

Make sure you review your goals in a positive key and reward yourself for your wins. Instead of writing how bad you were in something, form it in a positive way as a list of things to improve.

All The Good Things

Your monthly review can also be a place for you to write down your best memories and experiences. Here are a few categories you can add:

• Best this month
• Favorite song
• Favorite movie
• Favorite outfit
• Wishing for
• New things I tried

This is a place for everything and anything. Personally, I think it’s a nice place to do some journaling or to write down some other reflections.

It could also be an action plan for next month or maybe just a space for doodles and a cute motivational quote.

Next Month Bullet Journal Setup

One more thing you could add to your monthly review is an action plan for the next month’s Bullet Journal setup. It can be pretty easy – just write down the theme and what pages you want to add. You can start, of course, by reflecting on your previous month.

First, take a look at your habit trackers. Habit trackers are a useful tool, and we spend so much time filling them out. But this actually is just half of the work you should do with these.

The second step when working with habit trackers is reviewing how you did it. Ask yourself these questions:

• Which habits I haven’t followed through
• Which habits I’ve been dragging from month to month
• Which things have already become a habit, and I don’t need to track
• How can I change the habits I don’t follow through with to start doing them
• This will allow you to see your patterns and realize how far you went with your development. It’s so satisfying to realize that some things are already a habit and don’t need to be tracked.

It will also help you think of adjustments you might need to make in your habits. Like if you can’t go to the gym every day, but that’s what you’re tracking, you might end up just not going at all. So decide to go once a week and see your tracker filling out!

Once you’ve reflected on this, you’ll know how you should change your tracking in the next month to make it work better for you.

Then it’s time to think of your goals and what new spreads you might need to create to work on them better next month. Maybe you need an extra collection or more space for your weekly layouts. Or maybe it’s better for you to switch to dailies.

Look through your previous monthly spreads and reflect on what improvements and changes you might need to make next month to make your Bullet Journal work better for you.

Here are some monthly reflection questions:

• Which weekly / daily layouts were most functional?
• Should you use a daily task list or have an hourly schedule?
• What pages didn’t you use at all?
• What pages felt like a chore to fill out?
• What pages helped you to be more productive?

Use all this information to plan your next month better!

What are the Benefits of a Monthly Review?

I hope by now you agree with me that a monthly review can be an incredibly useful tool, but let’s go over some of the benefits again.

It helps us to learn from our actions. On day to day basis, we’re too busy, and we do a lot of things automatically, without even thinking. 

By taking the time to review the month, you put your intentions into it and start seeing the patterns and mistakes you made. This can help you to make changes next month and avoid the same mistakes.

Also, reflecting on the month and filling out your monthly review with positive memories and achievements helps you to be more grateful. 

I don’t know about you, but I know I take a lot of things for granted. Like good air and clean water – all of these, for me, were just obvious must-haves. Plus, all the other fantastic things and people around me. As life goes on it, all becomes an “of course” kind of thing. 

My life experience has taught me not to take anything for granted, and I do my best always to be grateful. That’s why you can always find some gratitude log in my monthly setups. 

Doing a monthly review has a similar effect – you end up remembering so many good things that you just can’t but feel grateful.

A monthly review also helps you to develop positive thinking. This is really something I used to struggle with a lot since I’m more of a glass-half-empty person, but a monthly review really helps!

You’ll start to see all your victories and achievements. Even if these are small ones and at that point, they didn’t seem like a big deal, in the monthly log, they look glorious and shiny.

Secondly, by intentionally being positive about your monthly review, you develop a muscle to be generally more positive. As time goes by, the glass starts to look fuller and fuller to me.

Here is my monthly review page from March 2022.

I’ve been doing a lot of work on myself, so here I also added a section with lessons and discoveries I made about myself.

Finally, your monthly review will help you to plan better, especially if you’re a beginner and just trying to figure out the Bullet Journal method and how it can serve you better.

By doing a review of your monthly setup, your goals, and your habit trackers, you learn how you can improve your journaling and create a better planner for yourself.

This post may contain affiliate links. They will be of no extra expense for you, but I receive a small credit. Please see my  Disclosure  for more details. Thank you for supporting Masha Plans!

Free Bullet Journal Printable

Ready to add a monthly review spread to your Bullet Journal but don’t have time? Don’t you worry! I have you covered.

We have quite a few monthly review printables in our free Resources Vault , you can download them in “Goals and Productivity” section.

If you’re not a part of Planning Mashers yet, be sure to join us in the signup form at the end of the post and get access to a wonderful community and 100+ FREE printables for your Bullet Journal.

If you’ve never used printables before, be sure to check my post How To Use Printables In Your Bullet Journal .

It’s pretty basic, and you can find all the supplies you need in my post Supplies For Using Bullet Journal Printables .

More Resources

A monthly review is a great page to add to your Bullet Journal, and, as you can see, it can help you with so many things, not only planning-related.

Here are a few more posts on pages and concepts that I think will help you move forward with your life and goals:

• How To Create A Mind Map In Your Bullet Journal
• Creating Routines In Your Bullet Journal For Success And Structure
• Bullet Journal Time Log For Successful Time Management
• Game-changing Bullet Journal Goals Page Ideas

Hope this post was useful; if you find it so, please share! If you enjoy my content and want to show your appreciation, please consider supporting me with a cup of coffee .

And always remember! Keep Bullet Journaling, and don’t be a Blob! 

LOVE this post! I’ve been struggling to keep my bullet journal on track and this concept of a monthly review page is exactly what I needed. Can’t wait to implement it and see the difference it makes in my planning. Thanks for sharing your expertise, Masha!

Thanks! It’s really a great page and I’m sure you’ll find it useful =)

Really love your March 2022 page. Love your self assessment & understanding you gained. Also love your openness to share it with others :) really speaks to some of my current struggles. Thank you!

Thank you Kris, I’m glad it was a bit helpful! Wish you all the luck with your struggles, they do make us stronger in the end <3

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Movie Reviews

Tv/streaming, collections, great movies, chaz's journal, contributors, bullet train.

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"Bullet Train" is an action film that could easily have been an animated movie, and often looks and feels like one. The story takes place on a bullet train careening across Japan, but most of the movie was shot on green-screened sets, and the cityscapes and countrysides that the train rides through are mainly miniatures and CGI. Its characters are a touch abstract as well, and knowingly comic-bookish. All are either paid killers or otherwise violent individuals connected with the world of crime, and the majority either have grudges against one of the other characters or are the object of a grudge and trying to escape the consequences of past actions. They tend to have tragic-sentimental backstories or be purely malevolent—and inevitably, 30 years after the great Tarantino realignment of the early nineties, most of them are chatterboxes who will monologue at anyone who doesn't point a gun at their head and order them to shut up, and the tone mixes winking black comedy and poker-faced pulp. 

Brad Pitt stars as Ladybug, a former assassin ordered to board the train, steal a briefcase, and get off. He's replacing another assassin who became unavailable at the last minute, and he refuses his handler's advice to carry a gun because he just got out of anger management and has renounced killing. Ladybug's fellow killers are a bomber crew of homicidal oddballs. Joey King is "The Prince," who poses as an innocent schoolgirl appalled by the cruelty of men, but immediately reveals herself as a clever and ruthless engine of destruction. Brian Tyree Henry and Aaron Taylor-Johnson (who's groomed to look like the evil drunk Begbie from the original " Trainspotting ") are brothers who have gone from mission to mission racking up a body count seemingly in the triple digits, and now find themselves on the train protecting the briefcase and escorting the depressed twentysomething wastrel son ( Logan Lerman ) of a terrifying crime boss known as the White Death. 

The White Death is a Russian who took over a Yakuza family. His face isn't shown until the end of the story (it's more fun for the audience to resist Googling who plays him, because his casting is one of the best surprises in the whole thing). Hiroyuki Sanada is "The Elder," a greying but still lethal assassin connected to the White Death, and Andrew Koji is " The Father "—The Elder's son, obviously; they're out for vengeance because somebody pushed The Elder's grandson off a department store roof, putting him in a coma. They believe the person responsible is on the train, mingling with all the other agents of death. 

The plot initially seems goal-driven, revolving around the comatose grandson and the metal briefcase. But as the script adds new fighters to the mix, and establishes that they're all tangentially connected, "Bullet Train" morphs into a half-assed but sincere statement on fate, luck, and karma—and Ladybug's constant (and often humorously annoying) comments on those subjects, voiced in discussions through a handler (Sandra Bullock's Maria Beetle, heard via earpiece), start to feel like an instruction manual for grokking what the movie is "actually" up to. (Ladybug is kind of a post-credits Jules from " Pulp Fiction " after having repudiated violence; but he's still stuck in the life, and it has become more challenging because he has resolved never to pick up a gun again.)

Characters are given the sorts of typeface-onscreen-followed-by-flashback-montage introductions that genre fans will recognize from directors like Quentin Tarantino ("Kill Bill" seems to be a primary influence) and Guy Ritchie (who pioneered a particular brand of "lad action" in which verbal insults become little fists and knives deployed against enemies). The fighters go after each other with guns, blades, fists and feet, and any objects they can get their hands on (the briefcase gets a workout as both a defensive weapon and a bludgeon). They banter as they struggle. Sometimes when one of them dies, the film’s tone will shift into a maudlin lament that is often affecting because of the cast's skill, but that doesn't inspire deep emotion since the rest of the movie is so glib and superficial.

The film is directed by David Leitch , a former stunt coordinator and screen double for Jean-Claude Van Damme and this film's star, Brad Pitt, and the onetime directing partner of Chad Stahleski (of the " John Wick " series). He's become a specialist in high-grade acrobatic mayhem, having directed " Deadpool 2 ," " Atomic Blonde ," and " Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw ." It's hard to deny that he's one the best when it comes to overseeing this type of production—and it's a kick seeing "Bullet Train" lean into its most ridiculous visuals, which verge on " Speed Racer ” psychedelia.

But whether this type of project is entirely worth doing is a different matter. It seems to want to have it both ways, telling us "this is all light and silly and none of it is of any consequence" and at the same time trying to whack us across the throat with a moment of dramatic power so that we cry for the characters. Henry and Taylor-Johnson's story gets there, thanks to the love expressed between the brothers even when they're breaking each other's chops, and the performances of the two actors have a direct connection with the audience despite boasting Cockney accents that might not pass muster in a college production of " My Fair Lady ." (The greatest achievement in the film is that Henry manages to take his character's relentless comparison of everyone else to Thomas the Tank Engine characters, and make you not loathe the gimmick on general principle.)

But the rest feels forced and insincere. "Bullet Train" is at its best when it's a comedy about self-styled badasses who think they're free agents but are all just passengers on a train rocketing from one station to another, oblivious to the desires of any individual riding on it. But the abstractness and "it's all a lark" humor neuter aspects that might sink roots into the viewer's mind. 

The project is abstract in another way as well: the script's source is a Japanese novel by Kōtarō Isaka, and the characters were Japanese. Leitch and company—who inherited the project from Antoine Fuqua , who had wanted to make a less jokey "Die Hard on a Train"-type film—have recast the tale "internationally," starting with Leitch's longtime screen partner Pitt. They had reportedly considered relocating the story to Europe, but decided to keep the Japanese setting anyway, and have defended this on grounds that "Bullet Train" is a fantastical film that could be set anywhere, and is basically taking place nowhere.

The explanation doesn't wash, considering how dependent "Bullet Train" is on Japanese signifiers and cultural attitudes (King's character is an anime "schoolgirl" avatar come to life)—not to mention essentially deracinating all of the core characters save for a handful of stereotypical Yakuza, who have been given a Russian chieftain modeled on Keyser Söze from " The Usual Suspects ." Even in a fantasy, the latter seems a stretch, although the actors all sell it like the professionals they are. If nothing in the movie is real—either as a justification for the casting, or as a guiding aesthetic—why not just go full "Speed Racer" or " The Matrix " with it, and own the green-screeness of the entire project, and set it in the future on another planet, or in an alternate dimension? It's practically a Marvel superhero movie anyway, except that the characters can't come back to life after being killed off. The result might've been a delirious work of art, instead of a technically and logistically ambitious movie that doesn't leave much of an emotional or intellectual footprint.

Now playing in theaters. 

Matt Zoller Seitz

Matt Zoller Seitz is the Editor at Large of RogerEbert.com, TV critic for New York Magazine and Vulture.com, and a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in criticism.

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Film credits.

Bullet Train (2022)

Rated R for strong and bloody violence, pervasive language, and brief sexuality.

127 minutes

Brad Pitt as Ladybug

Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Tangerine

Brian Tyree Henry as Lemon

Joey King as The Prince

Zazie Beetz as The Hornet

Bad Bunny as The Wolf

Andrew Koji as Kimura

Michael Shannon as The White Death

Hiroyuki Sanada as The Elder

Sandra Bullock as Maria Beetle

• David Leitch

Writer (based on the book by)

• Kotaro Isaka
• Zak Olkewicz

Cinematographer

• Jonathan Sela
• Elísabet Ronaldsdóttir
• Dominic Lewis

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New Mexico judge denies Alec Baldwin’s motion to dismiss criminal case in ‘Rust’ shooting

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A New Mexico judge denied a motion to dismiss the involuntary manslaughter case against Alec Baldwin, clearing the way for the high-profile actor to stand trial for his alleged role in the deadly “Rust” movie shooting.

New Mexico First Judicial District Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer’s decision late Friday was a setback to Baldwin and his legal team, who had argued that prosecutors were bent on winning a conviction of the 66-year-old actor-producer at all costs following the October 2021 accidental shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the low-budget western movie set near Santa Fe.

Baldwin’s trial on the felony charge is expected to begin in July. If convicted, he would face a prison sentence of up to 18 months. He has pleaded not guilty.

In January, grand jurors in Santa Fe County indicted Baldwin on an involuntary manslaughter charge, determining there was sufficient evidence that he acted negligently by pointing a loaded gun at Hutchins without first checking the weapon.

After the indictment, Baldwin’s lawyers pored over transcripts of the grand jury proceedings to try to build a case that Special Prosecutor Kari T. Morrissey had at times shut down testimony that could have been beneficial to their client.

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“The state has sought to convict and imprison Baldwin for an accident caused by the mistakes of others,” Baldwin’s attorney Luke Nikas wrote in a motion to dismiss the indictment.

On Friday, Nikas and his law partner Alex Spiro said in an email: “We look forward to our day in court.”

In a hearing last week, Baldwin’s attorneys argued that Morrissey failed in her duty to provide testimony in a “fair and impartial manner.”

Marlowe Sommer on Friday wrote in her 19-page ruling that defense attorneys failed to provide evidence of “prosecutorial bad faith.”

To meet that definition, defense attorneys must show that the prosecutor deliberately misled the grand jury or engaged in “intentional misconduct,” the judge wrote, adding that was not the case in the Baldwin matter.

“The court does not find that defendant has established prosecutorial bad faith,” Marlowe Sommer wrote.

At issue was whether grand jurors were fully informed that they could call witnesses from a list provided by Baldwin’s attorneys. The judge wrote that the special prosecutor read a letter from Baldwin’s side during the proceedings, and that jurors also were allowed to question witnesses.

“Although the State deferred certain questions, in many other instances, the grand jurors asked probative questions, and received complete answers from witnesses, without State interference,” Marlowe Sommer wrote.

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On the afternoon of Oct. 21, 2021, Hutchins, Baldwin, Souza and about a dozen other crew members were gathered in a rustic church at Bonanza Creek Ranch, south of Santa Fe, to prepare for an upcoming scene. Assistant director David Halls, who was the on-set safety coordinator, handed the gun to Baldwin, declaring that it was “cold,” meaning there was no ammunition inside, according to numerous witnesses.

The actor was sitting in a pew, facing the door of the church. Hutchins and Baldwin had discussed a close-up camera angle of the gun’s muzzle — a view that Hutchins, the director of photography, wanted as a way to heighten the drama in advance of a gunfight scene. Baldwin has said Hutchins told him to slowly pull his Colt .45 revolver from his holster and point it at the camera.

He did, and that’s when the gun went off.

Hutchins died from her wounds. The film’s director, Joel Souza, was injured by the same bullet but has since recovered.

Baldwin’s case has featured numerous twists and turns, including when the actor known for NBC’s “30 Rock” and parodying former President Trump in skits on “Saturday Night Live,” participated in an ABC News interview, broadcast in December 2021, less than six weeks after the tragedy. Baldwin described for news anchor George Stephanopoulos how he pointed the gun at Hutchins and cocked the hammer.

“I didn’t pull the trigger,” Baldwin said, blaming others for the tragedy.

Since then, investigators and FBI analysts have performed tests to demonstrate that Baldwin must have pulled the trigger.

However, during the FBI tests in 2022 at the agency’s lab in Quantico, Va., forensic analysts used a rawhide mallet to strike the gun so hard that components of the gun fractured. Baldwin’s attorney’s have cited the broken parts as evidence that the weapon was compromised before Baldwin handled it.

The first set of prosecutors had to step down after a string of missteps, including an attempt to charge Baldwin on a penalty enhancement that called for a mandatory five-year prison sentence. That penalty wasn’t in effect at the time of the tragedy. The initial prosecutors also made statements about holding Baldwin responsible for his actions, prompting criticism from defense attorneys that such commentary was prejudicial against the actor.

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Shortly after Morrissey and her law partner Jason J. Lewis joined the case last spring, they dropped the charges against Baldwin, saying they needed time to review evidence and address legal issues raised by Baldwin’s team.

Last week, Morrissey bristled at suggestions that it was problematic for her to seek an indictment after dropping the charges against Baldwin last year. She said it was Baldwin’s lead attorney, Luke Nikas, who asked for the charges to be dropped, and she agreed.

At the time, the prosecutors said they needed time to investigate whether the gun had been modified prior to its arrival on the film set, as Baldwin’s team has suggested.

Prosecutors have won two convictions for negligence leading to Hutchins’ death.

In March, a Santa Fe jury convicted armorer Hannah Gutierrez of involuntary manslaughter . Morrissey had argued that Gutierrez, whose job was handling the guns, was the most responsible for the tragedy. The jury deliberated only about two hours after hearing evidence during a two-week trial. Last month, Marlowe Sommer sentenced Gutierrez, 26, to the maximum sentence of 18 months in a New Mexico women’s prison.

Last year, Halls pleaded no contest to negligent use of a deadly weapon and received a suspended six-month sentence.

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Meg James is a senior entertainment industry writer for the Los Angeles Times. She was the lead reporter for The Times’ coverage of the deadly “Rust” shooting on a New Mexico film set in 2021, work recognized by the Pulitzer Prize board as a finalist in breaking news. A member of the Company Town team for two decades, James specializes in covering television, corporate media and investigative projects. She previously wrote for the Miami Herald and the Palm Beach Post. A native of Wyoming, she is a graduate of the University of Colorado and Columbia University.

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How 2 debunked accounts of sexual violence on Oct. 7 fueled a global dispute over Israel-Hamas war

FILE - Volunteers from the ZAKA rescue service remove blood stains from a public bomb shelter on a road near the Israeli-Gaza border in the aftermath of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack, Nov. 20, 2023. Some allege the accounts of sexual assault were purposely concocted. Zaka officials and others dispute that. Regardless, AP’s examination of Zaka’s handling of the now debunked stories shows how information can be clouded and distorted in the chaos of the conflict. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg, File)

FILE - Israeli soldiers inspect the site of the Nova music festival where at least 260 Israeli festival-goers were killed during the attack by Hamas militants on Oct 7, near the border with the Gaza Strip in southern Israel. Oct. 13, 2023. Some allege the accounts of sexual assault were purposely concocted. Zaka officials and others dispute that. Regardless, AP’s examination of Zaka’s handling of the now debunked stories shows how information can be clouded and distorted in the chaos of the conflict. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit, File)

FILE - The site of the Nova music festival where at least 260 Israeli festival-goers were killed during the attack by Hamas militants on Oct 7, near the border with the Gaza Strip in southern Israel, Oct. 12, 2023. Some allege the accounts of sexual assault were purposely concocted. Zaka officials and others dispute that. Regardless, AP’s examination of Zaka’s handling of the now debunked stories shows how information can be clouded and distorted in the chaos of the conflict. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg, File)

ZAKA emergency services put the body of a Hamas militant into a body bag in kibbutz Be’eri, Oct. 11, 2023. (AP Photo/Baz Ratner, File)

FILE - Israelis killed by Hamas militants lie on the road near Sderot, Israel, Oct. 7, 2023. Some allege the accounts of sexual assault were purposely concocted. Zaka officials and others dispute that. Regardless, AP’s examination of Zaka’s handling of the now debunked stories shows how information can be clouded and distorted in the chaos of the conflict. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg, File)

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JERUSALEM (AP) — Chaim Otmazgin had tended to dozens of shot, burned or mutilated bodies before he reached the home that would put him at the center of a global clash.

Working in a kibbutz that was ravaged by Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, Otmazgin — a volunteer commander with ZAKA, an Israeli search and rescue organization — saw the body of a teenager, shot dead and separated from her family in a different room. Her pants had been pulled down below her waist. He thought that was evidence of sexual violence.

Volunteers from the ZAKA rescue service remove blood stains from a public bomb shelter on a road near the Israeli-Gaza border in the aftermath of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack, Nov. 20, 2023. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg, File)

He alerted journalists to what he’d seen. He tearfully recounted the details in a nationally televised appearance in the Israeli Parliament. In the frantic hours, days and weeks that followed the Hamas attack, his testimony ricocheted across the world.

But it turns out that what Otmazgin thought had occurred in the home at the kibbutz hadn’t happened.

Beyond the numerous and well-documented atrocities committed by Hamas militants on Oct. 7, some accounts from that day, like Otmazgin’s, proved untrue.

“It’s not that I invented a story,” Otmazgin told The Associated Press in an interview, detailing the origins of his initial explosive claim — one of two by ZAKA volunteers about sexual violence that turned out to be unfounded.

“I couldn’t think of any other option” other than the teen having been sexually assaulted, he said. “At the end, it turned out to be different, so I corrected myself.”

But it was too late.

The United Nations and other organizations have presented credible evidence that Hamas militants committed sexual assault during their rampage. The prosecutor for the International Criminal Court, Karim Khan, said Monday he had reason to believe that three key Hamas leaders bore responsibility for “rape and other acts of sexual violence as crimes against humanity.”

Though the number of assaults is unclear, photo and video from the attack’s aftermath have shown bodies with legs splayed, clothes torn and blood near their genitals.

However, debunked accounts like Otmazgin’s have encouraged skepticism and fueled a highly charged debate about the scope of what occurred on Oct. 7 — one that is still playing out on social media and in college campus protests.

Some allege the accounts of sexual assault were purposely concocted. ZAKA officials and others dispute that. Regardless, AP’s examination of ZAKA’s handling of the now debunked stories shows how information can be clouded and distorted in the chaos of the conflict.

Israeli soldiers inspect the site of the Nova music festival where at least 260 Israeli festival-goers were killed during the attack by Hamas militants on Oct 7, near the border with the Gaza Strip in southern Israel. Oct. 13, 2023.(AP Photo/Ariel Schalit, File)

As some of the first people on the scene, ZAKA volunteers offered testimony of what they saw that day. Those words have helped journalists, Israeli lawmakers and U.N. investigators paint a picture of what occurred during Hamas’ attack. (ZAKA, a volunteer-based group, does not do forensic work. The organization has been a fixture at Israeli disaster sites and scenes of attacks since it was founded in 1995. Its specific job is to collect bodies in keeping with Jewish law.)

Still, it took ZAKA months to acknowledge the accounts were wrong, allowing them to proliferate. And the fallout from the debunked accounts shows how the topic of sexual violence has been used to further political agendas.

Israel points to sexual violence on Oct. 7 to highlight what it says is Hamas’ savagery and to justify its wartime goal of neutralizing any repeated threat coming from Gaza. It has accused the international community of ignoring or playing down evidence of sexual violence claims, alleging anti-Israel bias. It says any untrue stories were an anomaly in the face of the many documented atrocities.

In turn, some of Israel’s critics have seized on the ZAKA accounts, along with others shown to be untrue, to allege that the Israeli government has distorted the facts to prosecute a war — one in which more than 35,000 Palestinians have been killed , many of them women and children, according to Gaza health officials.

A U.N. fact-finding team found “reasonable grounds” to believe that some of those who stormed southern Israel on Oct. 7 had committed sexual violence, including rape and gang rape. But the U.N. investigators also said that in the absence of forensic evidence and survivor testimony, it would be impossible to determine the scope of such violence. Hamas has denied its forces committed sexual violence.

BODY BAGS AND ROCKET FIRE

Israel was caught off guard by the ferocity of the Oct. 7 assault , the deadliest in the nation’s history. About 1,200 people were killed and 250 taken hostage. It took days for the military to clear the area of militants.

There were hundreds of bodies scattered across southern Israel, bearing various signs of abuse: burns, bullet holes, signs of mutilation, marks indicating bodies were bound. ZAKA volunteers weren’t used to dealing with so many bodies.

“You get dizzy at some point,” said Moti Bukjin, ZAKA’s spokesperson. “Some of the bodies are burned. Some are mutilated. Some of the bodies are decapitated. Every house has a story.”

Standard protocols for dealing with attacks, which Israel encountered frequently on a far smaller scale in the early 2000s, collapsed. There was confusion over who was dead and who was taken captive, especially in the hard-hit communal farming villages and in the aftermath of the outdoor Nova music festival.

The site of the Nova music festival where at least 260 Israeli festival-goers were killed during the attack by Hamas militants on Oct 7, near the border with the Gaza Strip in southern Israel, Oct. 12, 2023. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg, File)

Authorities were concerned that remaining militants might snatch more bodies. ZAKA says it was instructed to gather the dead as swiftly as possible and send them for identification and quick burial, according to Jewish custom . ZAKA said it sent some 800 volunteers to southern Israel, arriving at the music festival late on Oct. 7 and entering the kibbutzim two days later, according to Otmazgin.

For the first three days, many hardly slept at all. Accompanied by military escorts, volunteers went house to house, wrapping the bodies in white plastic bags on which they wrote the person’s gender, the house number where they were found and any other identifying details. Then they’d say the Jewish mourning prayer and load them into a truck, according to Tomer Peretz, who volunteered for the first time with ZAKA in the days following the attack.

As first responders worked, rocket fire from Gaza boomed overhead. Volunteers paused and crouched when air raid sirens blared. They used anything they could find to move bodies — even shopping carts. “We worked a minute and a half per body, from the moment we touch it to the moment it is on the truck,” said Otmazgin, commander of special units with ZAKA.

Peretz, a U.S.-based artist, said the volunteers weren’t there to do forensic work; he thought the soldiers who cleared the houses of explosives beforehand were handling that process. But the Israeli military told the AP that the army did not do any forensic work in the wake of Oct. 7.

Bukjin said police forensics teams were mostly focused on the southern cities of Sderot and Ofakim. Otmazgin said forensics workers were present in the kibbutzim but spread thin and could not follow standard — and painstaking — protocols because of the scale of the attack. He said forensics teams in the area mostly instructed ZAKA on how to help identify the bodies.

That means that bodies which might have shown signs of sexual assault could have eluded examination. Instead, they were loaded into body bags, sent to a facility to be identified and dispatched for quick burial.

“People seem to have expected that the aftermath of the attack would be like a movie, that immediately the police would come, that everything would be very sterile and very clean. People who don’t live in a war zone do not understand the horrific chaos that took place that day,” said Orit Sulitzeanu, the executive director of The Association of Rape Crisis Centers in Israel.

The group has spent months gathering evidence of sexual violence that occurred that day, sifting through many accounts emerging from the chaotic early days just after the attack. “Some of those stories that turned out not to be true were not lies,” she said. They were, she said, “mistakes.”

FIRST ACCOUNT: PANTS PULLED DOWN

Otmazgin said he was the origin of one of two debunked stories by ZAKA volunteers about sexual assault.

He said he entered a home in Kibbutz Be’eri , one of the hardest-hit communities, where nearly a tenth of the population of roughly 1,000 was killed, and found the body of a teenage girl separated from two of her relatives. Her pants, he said, were pulled down. He assumed that meant she had been sexually assaulted.

“They slaughtered her. They shot her in the head and her pants are pulled down to here. I put that out there. Have someone give me a different interpretation,” he said then, showing an AP reporter a photo he took of the scene, which he had altered by pulling up the teenager’s pants.

Israeli soldiers inspect the site of the Nova music festival where at least 260 Israeli festival-goers were killed during the attack by Hamas militants on Oct 7, near the border with the Gaza Strip in southern Israel. Oct. 13, 2023. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit, File)

Today, he maintains that he never said outright that the girl whose body he saw had been sexually assaulted. But his telling strongly suggested that was the case. Otmazgin says he told journalists and lawmakers details of what he’d seen and asked if they might have some other interpretation.

Nearly three months later, ZAKA found out his interpretation was wrong. After cross-checking with military contacts, ZAKA found that a group of soldiers had dragged the girl’s body across the room to make sure it wasn’t booby-trapped. During the procedure, her pants had come down.

Otmazgin said it took time to learn the truth because the soldiers who moved the body had been deployed to Gaza for weeks and were not reachable. He said he recognized that such accounts can cause damage, but he believes he rectified it by correcting his account months later.

A military spokesperson said he had no way of knowing what had happened to every body in the assault’s immediate aftermath. He spoke on condition of anonymity in line with military regulations.

Another account with details similar to Otmazgin’s but attributed to an anonymous combat medic has also come under scrutiny after emerging in international media, including in a story by the AP. But the medic did not disclose where he saw the scene.

The military would not make the medic available for further interviews, so it was not possible to reconcile the two accounts or verify the medic’s.

SECOND ACCOUNT: EVERYTHING WAS CHARRED

Yossi Landau, a longtime ZAKA volunteer, was also working in Be’eri when he entered a home that would produce the second debunked story. Landau would recount to global media what he thought he saw: a pregnant woman lying on the floor, her fetus still attached to the umbilical cord wrenched from her body.

Otmazgin was overseeing the other ZAKA workers when he said Landau frantically called him and others into the home. But Otmazgin did not see what Landau described. Instead, he saw the body of a heavy-set woman and an unidentifiable hunk attached to an electric cable. Everything was charred.

Otmazgin said he told Landau that his interpretation was wrong — this wasn’t a pregnant woman. Still, Landau believed his version, went on to tell the story to journalists and was cited in outlets around the world. Landau, along with other first responders, also told journalists he had seen beheaded children and babies. No convincing evidence had been publicized to back up that claim, and it was debunked by Haaretz and other major media outlets.

Bukjin said it took some time for ZAKA to understand that the story was not true, then asked Landau to stop telling it. Otmazgin also told Landau to stop telling the story, but that wasn’t until about three months after the attack when ZAKA was wrapping up its work in the field. The United Nations said Landau’s claim was unfounded.

Otmazgin said it has been difficult to rein Landau in, both because he vehemently believes in his version and because there is no way to stop journalists from engaging with him directly. Both Otmazgin and Bukjin attributed Landau’s continued belief in the false account to him having been deeply traumatized by what he saw in the aftermath of Oct. 7.

AP journalists attempted to reach Landau multiple times. While he answered initial inquiries, he was ultimately unreachable.

’WE’RE NOT FORENSICS WORKERS’

Almost immediately after Oct. 7, Israel began allowing groups of journalists to visit the ravaged kibbutzim . On the trips, journalists found ZAKA volunteers onsite to be some of the most accessible sources of information and some shared what they thought they saw, even though, as Bukjin notes, “we are not forensics workers.”

“They pretend to know, sometimes very naively, what happened to the bodies they are dealing with,” said Gideon Aran, a sociologist at Jerusalem’s Hebrew University who wrote a recent book on the organization.

Bukjin said that the group’s usual media protocols faltered and that volunteers, who he said typically were vetted by him before being interviewed, were speaking to journalists directly. “The information is wild, is not controlled right,” said Peretz, the first-time volunteer. He said he took photos and video of what he saw even though he was told not to and was interviewed repeatedly about what he witnessed.

Other first responders also offered accounts — of babies beheaded, or hung from a clothesline, or killed together in a nursery, or placed in an oven – which were later debunked by Israeli reporters.

ZAKA is a private civilian body made up of 3,000 mostly Orthodox Jewish volunteer workers. Beyond its work in Israel, the group has also sent teams to international incidents, including the 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan and the 2002 attacks in Mombasa, Kenya. As part of its role to ensure burial according to Jewish law, its volunteers scour crime scenes for remains in order to bury each body as completely as possible.

Aran, the sociologist, said Oct. 7 was unlike anything the organization had previously witnessed. ZAKA’s main experience with victim identification before Oct. 7 was limited to distinguishing militant attackers from their victims, not determining who was a victim of sexual assault, Aran said.

Israelis killed by Hamas militants lie on the road near Sderot, Israel, Oct. 7, 2023. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg, File)

DEBUNKED ACCOUNTS VS. THE EVIDENCE

After untrue accounts of sexual assault filtered into international media, the process of debunking them appeared, at times, to take center stage in the global dispute over the facts of Oct. 7. On social media, accounts with hundreds of thousands of followers question the very occurrence of sexual violence.

The loud debate belies a growing body of evidence supporting the claim that sexual assault took place that day, even as its scope remains difficult to ascertain.

The U.N. team investigating sexual violence said it saw “credible circumstantial information which may be indicative of some forms of sexual violence, including genital mutilation, sexualized torture or cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment.”

That included photos and videos showing a minimum of 20 corpses with clothes that had been torn, revealing private body parts, and 10 bodies with indications of bound wrists and or tied legs. No digital materials showed sexual violence in real time, the report said.

The investigators described the accounts that originated with Otmazgin and Landau to be “unfounded.” Regarding Otmazgin’s original account, they said the “crime scene had been altered by a bomb squad and the bodies moved, explaining the separation of the body of the girl from the rest of her family.”

Otmazgin said he publicly corrected himself after discovering what had transpired, including to the U.N. investigators he met. He showed the investigators — and later an AP reporter — photos and video, including one of a deceased woman who had a blood-speckled, flesh-colored bulb in her genital area, as well as several bodies of women with blood near their genitals and another who appeared to have small sharp objects protruding from her upper thigh and above her genitals.

More evidence is emerging as time goes by. A released hostage has described facing sexual violence in captivity in an account to The New York Times , and a man at the music festival said he heard a woman screaming she was being raped.

On Monday, releasing arrest warrants for top Hamas and Israeli officials, ICC Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan said that “there are reasonable grounds to believe that hostages taken from Israel have been kept in inhumane conditions, and that some have been subject to sexual violence, including rape, while being held in captivity.”

The U.N. report shines a light on the issues that have contributed to the skepticism over sexual violence. It said there was “limited crime scene processing” and that some evidence of sexual assault may have been lost due to “the interventions of some inadequately trained volunteer first responders.” It also said global scrutiny of the accounts emerging from Oct. 7 may have deterred survivors from coming forward.

PULLING FOCUS FROM THE VICTIMS

In the fraught global discourse surrounding Oct. 7 and the war it sparked, sexual violence has been a particular point of tension.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as well as prominent figures such as former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and top technology executive Sheryl Sandberg, have called out what they saw as global indifference toward Israeli women who were sexually assaulted in the attack.

Some critics of Israel’s war, meanwhile, have raised questions about the weight of the evidence, using debunked testimonies, including from ZAKA volunteers, to do so. The site oct7factcheck.com, which says its aim is to combat “atrocity propaganda” that could “justify military or political actions,” has repeatedly challenged investigations in mainstream media about sexual violence.

The site, which is run by a loose coalition of tech industry employees supporting Palestinian rights, says it has not yet reached a conclusion on the occurrence of gender-based violence. It has alleged that ZAKA members are “behind many of the Oct. 7 fabrications.” The site has also highlighted other debunked accounts, including about a baby found in an oven and a hostage giving birth in captivity.

Tariq Kenney-Shawa, a U.S. policy fellow at Al-Shabaka, a Palestinian think tank, said a long history of what he calls Israeli disinformation and propaganda has fueled global skepticism over the claims. The debunked ZAKA stories, he said, contributed to the sense that Israel exaggerated accounts of atrocities committed by Hamas to dehumanize Palestinians as its military continues its deadly offensive.

“Skepticism of all claims made by the Israeli military, a military that is being investigated for genocide at The Hague, are not only justified but should be encouraged,” he said. “That’s why Palestinians, and much of the international community, are asking for thorough scrutiny.”

Dahlia Scheindlin, a commentator on Israeli affairs, said those downplaying the atrocities committed by Hamas have seized on the debunked ZAKA accounts as “ammunition” to show that Israel fabricates or that Oct. 7 wasn’t so bad, rather than examining all the available evidence to build a more comprehensive picture of what happened.

At the same time, any false accounts, even if produced without malice, lead to further polarization and pulls the focus away from victims, she argues. “Every bit of misinformation, disinformation — good faith or bad faith, mistakes or lies — is extremely destructive.”