Rounding out the year with a ton of TV and not as many movies as I would have liked, here is the various shows, movies, music, and other stuff I thought was worth sharing.
Dolemite is My Name – It was so fun to see Eddie Murphy in a role like this again. The movie was totally ridiculous but fun, funny, and I’m so glad to see this Eddie Murphy on screen again.
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker – I don’t know what to say about this Star Wars movie. As a stand-alone movie it’s mostly fine, as a Star Wars movie it’s better than others, but as a Star Wars movie that came out after The Last Jedi and the threads that were introduced in that movie (and could have sustained dozens of future properties), it falls. After a second viewing, I was able to better determine my feelings on the movie: a good chunk of the movie feels like fan service, while the other chunk feels like fan fiction. Ultimately, unlike my feelings after Endgame, I am happy that Star Wars is “over” for now.
Spider-Man: Far From Home – I bought the digital movie when this came out, but never got around to watching it again beside the one time in the theaters. It is still a really fun movie, but I still hate how they seemingly are trying to force in that Peter is the “next Tony Stark” so quickly, especially with how young Peter is. The thing that really struck me in this rewatch was how well they handled Mysterio. He’s a difficult character to pull off, they nailed it. Also, I hope Spider-Man 3 will take place in and around New York City. Seeing Spider-Man swing around the city in the last sequence of Far From Home was so awesome, and really nails how Spidey should move through the city while web-slinging.
Peanut Butter Falcon – I’ve been wanting to see this since I saw the trailer earlier this year and it didn’t disappoint. I’ve always like Shia LaBeouf, and between this and Honey Boy (which I’ve yet to see) he seems to be finding himself again which is a good thing.
Plus One – A romantic comedy with a story that’s been told a bunch before, but still an entertaining movie. The story was definitely rushed and seemed out of sequence, but it wasn’t the worst rom-com ever. Maya Erskine (PEN 15) was definitely the highlight of the movie.
The World According to Jeff Goldblum / Disney+ – This show is just fun. If you’re a fan of Jeff Goldblum. Because that’s what the show is. It’s Jeff Goldblum being Jeff Goldblum at different places learning about whatever the theme of the show is, ice cream, sneakers, blue jeans, barbecue, whatever. It’s delightfully fun and mindless television.
Silicon Valley (S6) / HBO – This show has definitely had better seasons, but it was always funny. Season 6 is the last season, most likely because all of the stars got really big and probably have many other projects to work on – that, and every season is pretty much the same story. The guys have a very minor success and everything is looking good until the rug is pulled out from under them. This season was entertaining and exactly what I expected from the finale – nothing major, just laughs. It does seem like they left it open for a potential movie in a few years, but it’s wrapped up enough where that doesn’t need to happen.
Letterkenny (S1-S8) / Hulu – I don’t even know what to say about this show other than it was hilarious. It takes place in a small rural Canadian town and follows a bunch of different groups of people – hicks, druggies, misfits, hockey players, and everything in between. It’s a show you really have to pay attention to because the dialogue moves a mile a minute.
The Mandalorian / Disney+ – I did not expect this show to be as good as it was and continue with that level of quality. In the post-Disney owned Star Wars world, this (along with Rogue One) is one of the best Star Wars things to come out. I’m very excited to see where this show goes in season 2.
The Morning Show / Apple TV+ – I also wrote about this show a bit last month, but we finally finished the first season and all I can say is that this show is a mess. It goes on for way too long, introduces stories that are not needed, and just goes in circles. The series probably would have been better served as a movie or a mini-series with half of the episodes. This was Apple’s big flagship show, with its highest budget, biggest stars, and dealing with an incredibly important and relevant topic and they missed the landing.
John Mulaney and the Sack Lunch Bunch / Netflix – This was a fun special. Unlike a normal stand up special this was based off on a variety show. I laughed a lot during this, particularly through Jake Gyllenhaal’s sketch.
- I’m Against the Government by Defiance, Ohio (Apple Music / Spotify)
- Fulton Street II by La Dispute (Apple Music / Spotify)
- Footsteps at the Pond by La Dispute (Apple Music / Spotify)
- Texas Sun by Khruangbin & Leon Bridges (Apple Music / Spotify)
- USA by Jeff Rosenstock (Apple Music / Spotify)
- Folk Music is Insane by Hallelujah the Hills (Apple Music / Spotify)
- My Motorcycle by Current Joys (Apple Music / Spotify)
- Bragging Rights by Proper. (Apple Music / Spotify)
- Fox by Dogleg (Apple Music / Spotify)
- You Have Stolen My Heart by Brian Fallon (Apple Music / Spotify)
- Younger Us by Japandroids (Apple Music / Spotify)
- No Future / No Past by Cloud Nothings (Apple Music / Spotify)
- Pot & Kettle by The Sonder Bombs (Apple Music / Spotify)
- Clean Jeans by Remember Sports (Apple Music / Spotify)
The Martian (Audiobook) – First off, I love the movie. I’ve honestly watched it dozens of times, easily. For a while, it was on HBO every day and if I flipped past it, I had to watch it. People told me the book was so good and I had to read it. As I said before I’m a bad reader, so I do audiobooks. This is the first fiction audiobook that I’ve, erm, read? Listened to? Whatever. This is the fist fiction audiobook that I’ve consumed and I didn’t like it. First off, the dialogue was annoying to follow between all of the characters, and the narrator was doing a lot of accents for characters in the movie for Indians, Asians, and raising and lowering his voice for women (wit accents on top of them). I don’t know if this stands for fiction audiobooks or just this narrator, but I don’t think I’ll do another fiction audiobook after this.
Anyway, the book was… okay. I definitely like the movie better. Maybe it’s because I’ve seen the movie so much and didn’t like the narrator’s job on this book, but I kept visualizing the actors doing the scenes but with this guy’s voice. The book also dragged on where the movie kept things going at a nice pace. There were a few things that were changed for the movie which could have worked, so I’m curious about why those changed.