Television
The Simpsons (Disney +)
Still plugging along, y’all. Didn’t watch much over the break because of movies and whatnot.
Mr. In Between (Hulu)
This show is so much different than other shows about hitmen, y’all. The main character, Ray, tries so hard to be moral and live life for good. In his line of work, that’s a struggle, though.
I dunno; it’s kind of like he’s struggling with what makes a man a man. He’s a tough guy for work, but we see how the violence affects him (and sometimes how it doesn’t).
It’s a much more insightful show than I was expecting.
Generation V (Prime)
This was a great starter show. No big surprises or new storytelling. HOWEVER, lots of great careers are gonna start as a result of this show.
The costume designer knocked this out of the park the farthest.
If you like “The Boys,” give this a shot – same universe, same vibes, different heroes. It’s a bop (which is a Jacki compliment.)
What If…? (Disney +)
Art felt AI. Definitely not as strong as the previous 2 seasons.
I’m a Virgo (Amazon Prime – Rewatch)
This was my third watch of this show.
The first time, I watched alone.
The second time, I watched with Mickey as a way to think about how our brains work (both together and separately).
This time, I just wanted to experience it again. This show is fantastical, like a fairy tale, but set in the modern day, in the real-ass world. And it WORKS. It works so well.
This time, I was very drawn to Jones, who I think has the best “power” in this universe. I would watch a spinoff series that is just her telling stories.
Has anyone else watched this? Or am I the only Boots Riley fan?
Pop Culture Jeopardy (Amazon Prime)
Aubz has also started watching this, and we are planning a team and, most importantly, our outfits.
Mythic Quest (AppleTV+ – Rewatch)
You seent this? You oughta. It’s great. If you like Community or Always Sunny, this should be right up your alley. It was created by Rob McElhenney, Charlie Day, and Megan Ganz (a brilliant writer from Community and Always Sunny).
It makes me laugh, it makes me cry, and it makes me think about creating things.
Australian TV (Or Dropout TV)
Australian Survivor Heroes vs. Villains
We’re BACK, baybee. And it felt so good.
This was actually how we spent New Year’s Eve, and it was an A+ choice.
We’ve made it to the Merge and are in the home stretch.
Very Important People with Vic Michaelis (Dropout TV)
I have been waiting to watch this. Not because I didn’t want to watch it, but because I was saving it, like a treat.
I knew I would love this, and I was correct.
Vic Michaelis hosts this totally improvised interview show that takes comedians, puts them in elaborate makeup and costumes, and asks them to come up with a character on the spot.
And then get interviewed.
It reminded me of the Sak’s Brawl for All in the potential chaos of it. And I was right.
I started with the most recent episode, which featured Kate Berlant and John Early, both people I am obsessed with (I can say that I have OCD and it is very true). I became obsessed with both of them because of the show Search Party, which you should totally watch if you haven’t.
After watching that one and loving it, I started from the beginning, which is what I recommend you do, as well.
Seriously, Dropout TV has some of the best programming no one is watching.
Movies
Anora (Film Independent Membership)
God, I loved this.
I don’t know what I was expecting. Something dark and depressing and sad and drama-y and exploitative and yucky. Yeah, I think that’s what I thought I’d be getting.
I got a comedy. I laughed SO MUCH in the first half of this movie. I fell in love with Mikey Madison’s Anora. She has truly created an original, fully developed character.
To be fair, it did also get a bit dark and depressing, and I did get some emotional tears, but it was all so gently done it didn’t matter.
This one will take me multiple viewings to digest properly and I’m really looking forward to it.
Is it my favorite movie of the awards season? Nope, but I think it’s in my top 5.
Wicked (VOD)
Here is my unpopular opinion:
I did not like Wicked. That feels like something I should apologize for, but I will not. It just wasn’t for me.
This movie felt more like a high-budget music video than a cinematic experience. The performances were dazzling, especially Ariana Grande, but the film was so relentlessly polished and sanitized that it stripped away the raw emotion and grit that made the stage show so powerful.
It felt too small and too big at the same time; overproduced and yet somehow lacking the grandeur of the stage. I would have much preferred a filmed production of the Broadway show.
And COME ON, splitting it into two parts feels like a cash grab. They do the Broadway show in one night!!! WHY NOT THIS?! It’s not like lengthening it has added anything!
Sing Sing (Film Independent Membership)
This was a very moving film. It fell just short of being great, but I think I hurt myself there.
I have been doing this thing for the past few months where I’m trying to go as blind as possible into all the things I watch. It’s been refreshing to feel excited about a movie simply because of the actors in it.
And the actor in it is the main reason I watched this. Colman Domingo has had my heart since he nailed a very difficult role in Zola, which I think he oughta gotten a lot more awards attention for.
Despite not seeing the movie yet, I’ve had a postcard of him in Sing Sing hanging on my wall for about three months now.
I knew he was in it, and I knew it was about a prison, but I didn’t know anything else. And I think that hurt me. I think I would have liked it a lot more had I known the backstory.
Here is what it’s about from the pros:
Divine G, imprisoned at Sing Sing for a crime he didn’t commit, finds purpose by acting in a theatre group alongside other incarcerated men in this story of resilience, humanity, and the transformative power of art.
What I would have known if I had read literally ANYTHING about the movie before watching it is that the bulk of the cast is made up of formerly incarcerated members of the theater troupe. In fact, there is an audition sequence in the movie that is the actual auditions used to cast the film.
I think this would have made a beautiful documentary. There just wasn’t enough *something* in it for me. I think, however, it will hit a small subset of the population hard and hopefully effect some internal change in their thinking. The small subset of the population that I’m referring to is people who don’t see prisoners as human.
It’s probably not “small”, but a girl can be hopeful, right?
Oh, and 100% Colman Domingo deserves all the flowers for this. He was incredible. col
Other
Golden Globes (Paramount +)
I didn’t watch these last year. I am passionate enough about the Original Score award this year (Challengers or bust, baybee) that I wanted to watch them, so I did.
Why am I telling you this? I do not know. Do you care why I watched something? I also do not know.
I don’t have a lot of thoughts but here they are:
- Nikki Glaser was a great host!
- Her monologue was engaging but not mean. Political, but not preachy.
- Her little in-between award bits were funny!
- Her costuming was stellar!
- The Adam Sandler + Timothee Chalamet bit was on par with: “Uma… Oprah”, imho.
- Zoe Saldaña was… awkard.
- I found her speech to be overly emotional, and it didn’t feel genuine, more like what was expected. However, everyone emotes differently, so this is dumb for me to judge her for.
- She felt out of place on stage with the winning songwriters.
- DEMI MOORE WON!!!!!!!! Her speech was the best of the night.
- I am annoyed that Adrien Brody won, but I haven’t seen the movie yet, so I’ll reserve judgment.
- Challengers won best score!!
- Roman Roy won a Golden Globe. Kieran Culkin should sweep most of the awards this year. His wins for A Real Pain have been the only constant this awards season.
- The fun facts were cute!
- The way the presenters, uh, presented was weird. They had their backs to half of the audience and it just felt quite awkward. I applaud the producers for trying something new, but this was not it.
Here’s what’s coming up in the awards calendar, just in case you’re obsessed like I am:
- January 8: SAG Awards nominations
- January 8: DGA Awards film nominations
- January 9: Writers Guild Awards nominations
- January 12: Critics Choice Awards
- January 17: Oscar nominations
- February 8: DGA Awards
- February 8: PGA Awards
- February 15: Writers Guild Awards
- February 16: BAFTA Film Awards
- February 22: Spirit Awards (Film Independent)
- February 22: NAACP Image Awards
- February 23: SAG Awards
- March 2: Oscars
