I embraced retirement fully this year by watching a ridiculous of movies and show (despite actually continuing to work). These are in the order I watched them, and I highlighted my top favourites (13 of them) and runners up (21 of them). I watched a lot so you don't have to!
SHOWS and SERIES
1. Psych (2006-14) - it's supposed to be hilarious, but it's really not
2. Apple Cider Vinegar - good enough story of a scammer
3. Adolescence - compelling at the time, but surprisingly it didn't really stay with me; I had to look it up to remember what it was about!
4. Severance s.2 - fantastic
5. Yellowjackets s.3 - good enough for what it is
6. Love on the Spectrum s.3 - well developed through cuts, but with a bit of exploitation ick
7. White Lotus s.3 - sure
8. How to with John Wilson - kind of sad - I hope he's okay
9. Silo - s.2 - good enough -- a lot of "will s/he get out of this situation" suspense keeps me watching
10. Black Mirror s.7 - fantastic -- best one yet!
11. Taskmaster x19 - I love these guys! - It's a game show, but there's enough character development, that I feel like it counts.
12. The Studio s1 - hilarious look at a movie studio -- art vs commerce stuff with Seth Rogen - seriously really funny!
13. Porni - very relatable single mom trying to date in her 40s
14. Stateless - very good - lives of people in an immigration detention center with Yvonne Strahovski (Serena in Handmaid's Tale)
15. Squid Game s.3 - edge of my seat!
16. The Comeback s1 (2005) s2 (2014) - takes a bit to warm up to it; s3 slated for 2026; Lisa Kudrow vehicle
17. Mythic Quest s.4 - surprisingly good show about making video games with Rob Mac from It's Always Sunny
18. Handmaid's Tale s6 - almost comical in places, but it had a good run for five seasons
19. Platonic s.1-2 - men and women can be friends -- sometimes funny and some interesting insights
20. Bad Sisters -- excellent, funny attempt to kill a man; very believable relationships between sisters
21. Your Friends and Neighbors -- Jon Hamm -- fun first season of a former rich guy stealing from other rich people
22. The Bear s.4 - good -- makes me cry every time, but it doesn't really stay with me
23. The Last of Us -- s.2 -- meh
24. The Big Door Prize s.1-2 -- some laughs and goofiness about a machine that gives fortunes --surprisingly realistic dialogue from teens -- cancelled after 2 at a cliffhanger
25. Killing Eve -- fun chasing killer stuff; I'm late to this party
26. The Summer I Turned Pretty -- made it through 1.5 episodes -- great soundtrack, horrible dialogue, acting, and storyline; pretty much unwatchable; I really wanted to like it for Rachel Blanchard (Nancy from Peep Show)
27. Task - Mark Ruffalo -- good story of an FBI agent hunting a killer; standard stuff
28. Black Rabbit -- Jason Bateman and Jude Law as troubled brothers - pretty good, but I still have a hard time taking Jason Bateman seriously; I've seen Arrested Development too many times
29. Nobody Wants This - s2 -- good enough romcom between a rabbi and an atheist (Adam Brody and Kristen Bell); I have to complain about a scene lifted from older movies in which they keep just missing each other, but they have phones!! I learned a lot about Judaism.
30. Slow Horses s.1-5 binge - I love it! Bunch of misfit agents solving crimes. Kinda like Archer.
31. The Morning Show s.4 -- very entertaining about putting on a morning show with Reese Witherspoon and Jennifer Aniston -- women supporting women -- I looked forward to it each week, but suspend disbelief.
32. Pluribus s1 -- fantastic look at being that one person who values critical thinking among a hive mind
33. A Man on the Inside s2 -- Ted Danson vehicle -- NOPE -- season 1 was cute, but this wasn't
34. All Her Fault -- watched the whole thing -- so many plot holes and nobody is likeable -- baffling 1950s sexism set in the present; I just watched for Sarah Snook but even she couldn't save it
35. Dexter Resurrected - I really enjoyed it again. I lost interest in Dexter for a while, but this one's good.
36. The Rehearsal s.2 -- excellent Nathan Fielder show -- ties ASD, dating, talent search and aviation
37. Long Story Short -- from Bojack creator -- not as good, but some solemn moments -- 3 generations of a family; it moves back and forth through time showing how little hurts pile up
38. Heated Rivalry -- I watched it all to see what the fuss is about; I don't understand how some episodes rated 10/10; I hung out with hockey-heads in the1980s, and they weren't nearly as homophobic as this lot is finally bravely coming out in 2017; the acting is unbelievably bad in places. I'm clearly not the target audience despite it being called "mom-porn".
39. St. Denis Medical -- feels like it's a comedy like Scrubs, with a great cast, but I didn't laugh at all
RECENT FILMS
1. Rebel Ridge - former marine vs police chief -- okay shoot 'em up
2. Trap -- hilariously bad expository -- OCD = killer
3. Wicked (the first one) -- fun, but the songs go on way too long
4. A Real Pain - truly beautiful exploration of two cousins making peace with the loss of their grandmother
5. Dune, part 2 - I'll keep watching them
6. The Estate -- some laughs with Toni Collette and Anna Faris, but not as much as you'd expect
7. Juror #2 - hokey, predictable but with Nicholas Hoult, Toni Collette, and J.K. Simmons
8. Mickey 17 - from Bong Joon Ho (Parasite) - excellent sci fi with Robert Patterson
9. I May Destroy You - really good - about sexual consent and exploitation in complex scenarios
10. Nobody 2 - okay -- nothing surprising
11. Thunderbolts - it didn't do well, but I thought it was lots of fun
12. Monkey Man - excellent - Dev Patel getting vengeance
13. A Different Man -- really good exploration of our perception of our attractiveness, but weird pacing; it kept feeling like it was over, and it wasn't
14. Mountainhead -- dark comedy with Steve Carell and Jason Schwartzman -- how tech bros think they can run the world -- it was okay; weird tonal shifts that don't entirely work
15. Friendship -- Tim Robinson and Paul Rudd -- too uncomfortable for me; I couldn't finish it
16. The Life of Chuck -- excellent Tom Hiddleston piece -- fun and hopeful
17. Greta - pretty much Single White Female - some clunky dialogue and awkward acing
18. The Last Showgirl - Pamela Anderson and Jamie Lee Curtis -- bleak and tragic -- it was well done
19. Weapons - scary and creepy -- I loved it!
20. Eenie Meanie -- really good car chases and character arc - woman has to rescue ex-boyfriend
21. Last Breath -- Woody Harrelson submarine movie -- this is my worst nightmare - edge of my seat!
22. Sinners - great music -- great jump scares -- fantastic vampire movie
23. Sometimes I Think About Dying -- quiet, sad, struggle to connect to others - really lovely
24. Highest 2 Lowest -- Spike Lee film with Denzel Washington; I found it hard to watch because of overly lengthy expository and the score -- a sweeping symphony like Field of Dreams, then abruptly cut to the music you might hear in a Marvel movie or old Western -- I couldn't make sense of it, but I've said that about movies before that go on to win awards for best soundtrack.
25. Twinless -- excellent film about grief and connection between two young men
26. The Baltimorons -- sweet and goofy
27. Flee -- brutal animated refugee story -- very well done
28. The World to Come -- it's okay -- it's no Portrait of a Lady on Fire
29. The Roses -- okay remake -- some funny bits
30. One Battle After Another -- fantastic, beautifully shot -- fun, action packed, and very sweet
31. Good Fortune -- I watched for Keanu Reeves -- it's It's a Wonderful Life meets Freaky Friday -- but it's like they are trying to act horribly
32. Godzilla Minus One -- some nostalgia from watching Godzilla movies as a kid
33. Bugonia -- I wasn't sure I'd like it, but it was really good
34. Eddington -- surprisingly, laughed out loud at time; a dark humour -- it's Covid-related, but that's just the tool they needed to make a current-day western
35. Wake up Dead Man -- I couldn't get into it at all
36. Blue Moon -- great for any fans of behind the scenes of old musicals or fans of Ethan Hawke or Andrew Scott - rivalry story
37. The Running Man -- a remake, but it's Edgar Wright, so lots of fun explosions
38. Train Dreams -- so tender -- it made me think of Forrest Gump but so real as it marked the dramatic shifts in time -- absolutely loved it
39. Can I get a Witness -- Sandra Oh is hitting 50 in a Logan's Run world in which she accepts her fate -- beautiful and sad -- it didn't get great reviews, maybe because it's a quiet film, but I loved it
40. Black Bag -- okay spy thriller
41. It Was Just an Accident -- like 12 Angry Men, but 6 of them on a road trip -- what do you do when you might have found the man who tortured you years ago -- funny yet unnerving tonal shifts that work, and check out the incredible story of how it all had to be made in secret, often only able to get one shot before having to GTFO
42. Sentimental Value -- so very good -- a story of generations living and dying in a house and trying to understand one another -- but it's done perfectly
43. Perfect Neighbor -- a great documentary entirely from police body-camera footage of an argument between neighbours
44. No Other Choice - Park Chan-wook (Snowpiercer and Oldboy) film about getting ahead by murdering the competition, often in very comical ways -- really fun with Lee Byung-hun (Front Man in Squid Game)
45. Marty Supreme - Timothée Chalamet's a super slimy table tennis competitor -- it's really entertaining, but there was nobody likeable to cheer for or connect with -- a great depiction of narcissism, but almost to an aversive degree -- It's interesting that in No Other Choice, I wanted the murderer to get ahead. I cared about him and saw enough of his good to be able to overlook the killing spree. In Marty Supreme, I didn't want him to win - at all. We weren't shown any redeeming features. His mom was annoying, but not nearly bad enough for us to feel sorry for him.
OLD MOVIES
(I think I was really missing my mom this year. She got sick and died at about my age, so that's hitting home. I have so many fond memories of watching these kinds of movies with her all the time growing up, pointing out the plot holes and clever bits, but many of these I haven't seen before. I may have learned more about morality and prejudice and general right action from those viewing sessions with mum than from years of reading philosophy. There's a magical sitting around time with kids from about 11 to 15, when they're old enough to have strong well-established opinions, but not yet busy with their own lives, and just like hanging out. It's brief, but pivotal. Most of these were just in the background as I did household stuff. The length of this list is a bit eye-opening for me. A hand injury kept me from pickleball and ukulele, so I'll throw in that excuse, and I also tracked them more this time. But, jeez; get a life! This year: more books and music and real life!!
Avanti (1972) - sexist madcap with Jack Lemmon
Mikey and Nicky (1976) - Elaine May movie with Peter Falk and John Cassavetes -- really good!
Secrets and Lies (1996) - wealthy woman finds her factory working biological mother -- really good
Suddenly It's Spring (1947) - Paulette Goddard and Fred MacMurray love triangle stuff
Too Many Husbands (1940) - Jean Arthur and Fred MacMurray love triangle stuff
Don't Trust Your Husband (1948) - more Fred MacMurray but about love and business
The Lady Has Plans (1942) - Paulette Goddard and Ray Milland -- spies and intrigue!
Power of the Press (1943) - a journalist hunts down the killer of his publisher -- pretty good!
Tight Spot (1955) - Ginger Rogers, Edward G. Robinson and Brian Keith - great one about getting a dame to testify against the mob
The Night Walker (1964) - legit scary about a rich widow's nightmares
Street of Chance (1942) - dude with amnesia finds the truth about himself
Murder on Flight 502 (1975) - this was horrible
Wicked as They Come (1957) - murdering the way to the top
Kiss Them for Me (1957) - Cary Grant and Jayne Mansfield fare
Only Angels Have Wings (1939) - Cary Grant, Jean Arthur, and Rita Hayworth
A Double Life (1947) - guy gets obsessed with playing Othello
No Man's Woman (1955) - murder and scheming woman
Crow Hollow (1952) - three "spinsters" try get an inheritance with murder
My Sister Eileen (1942) - Jack Lemmon and Janet Leigh - written by Black Edwards -- love this stuff!
Her Husband's Affair (1947) - Lucille Ball -- great romp
The Facts of Life (1960) - Bob Hope and Lucille Ball -- surprisingly realistic depiction of an affair
Love is a Ball (1963) - Glenn Ford - matchmaking romcom
Eight on the Lam (1967) - Bob Hope slapstick
What a Way to Go (1964) - Shirley MacLaine and Paul Newman - this one was annoying
Dial M For Murder (1954) - Grace Kelly and Ray Milland -- classic Hitchcock!!
September Affair (1950) - Joan Fontaine and Joseph Cotten - love of a good woman
Nightfall (1957) - Anne Bancroft - false accusations and pursuing the real killers
The Walls Came Tumbling Down (1946) - valuable art and murder
The Thief (1952) - Ray Milland; nuclear physicist selling secrets to the Russians
Never Say Die (1939) - Bob Hope and Martha Raye unlikely romance
Where There's Life (1947) - Bob Hope -- assassination attempts and terrorism -- I don't remember the Bob Hope movies having so much politics in them as a kid!!
It Happens Every Thursday (1953) - John Forsythe - hey kids, let's start a newspaper!
The Moon is Down (1943) - Jesus! I reacted to it at the time - how a small town in Norway manages a Nazi occupation - based on a Steinbeck book
Shame (1968) -- too real about what it's like to live at the beginning of an invasion
The Millionairess (1960) -- really annoying pouty childish women
On A Clear Day You Can See Forever (1970) - Streisand exploring past lives - kinda boring
Love with the Proper Stranger (1963) - Natalie Wood pregnant after a one-night stand - the shame!
Penelope (1969) - Natalie Wood and slapstick sexual assault scene - yikes!
A Long Kiss Goodnight (1996) -- Samuel L Jackson and Geena Davis -- so bad it's funny
The China Syndrome (1979) - classic rewatch
Straight Time - (1978) - Dustin Hoffman as a thief -- it was really good!
Sneakers (1992) fun old romp with Robert Redford
Miller's Crossing (1990) -- I realized how much I missed when I first saw it
The Fat Man (1951) -- Rock Hudson being accused of murder
The Jackpot (1950) - Jimmy Stewart -- it was hard to sit with his plight
Sorcerer (1977) -- good edge of seat thriller
Quiz Show (1994) -- John Turturro and Robert Redford in a great moral dilemma
Silver Streak (1976) -- hilarious! this holds up really well except for some offensive language (N-word)
Sweet Smell of Success (1957) -- Burt Lancaster and Tony Curtis --- intrigue in the media
Magnolia (1999) -- better than I expected from the hype back then
Dangerous Crossing (1953) - who's will help and who's a bad guy all trapped on an ocean liner!
The Long Goodbye (1973) - Elliot Gould - probably my fifth watching -- I like a cool detective
Prisoners (2013) -- Hugh Jackman and Jake Gyllenhaal -- suspenseful and pretty brutal
Harper (1966) -- fun who-dunnit with Paul Newman
Shadow of a Doubt (1943) - creepy psychological tension -- what to do if your uncle's a killer
The Man Wh oKnew Too Much (1956) - Jimmy Stewart and Doris Day - classic intrigue
The Collector (1965) -- excellent creepy tale -- great depiction of a psychopathic killer
The Pumpkin Eater (1964) -- Anne Bancroft and Peter Finch -- Harold Pinter play about marriage, kids, infidelity, and just getting by with each other day after day -- now we'd say it's about mental illness
The Deadly Affair (1967) - excellent John le Carré directed by Sidney Lumet with James Mason
All Good Things (2010) - Ryan Gosling and Kirsten Dunst -- Did he kill her? -- not bad
Better Off Dead (1985) - I have no idea how I missed seeing this in the 80s - John Cusack falls for a French exchange student -- it's pretty bad but in a very 80s way that makes it almost endearing
Did I miss any good ones???
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