Movies and television

In recent years in December, I maniacally try to catch up with all the movies I should have seen during the year but have fallen behind on seeing. So, last night, I/we caught Ticket to Paradise on the Peacock streaming service. It was a perfectly fine "turn off your brain after work" type of screwball romp. There are plot holes a-plenty and a script that is a bit half-baked, but it is enjoyable to see the George Clooney and Julia Roberts chemistry on screen. Anyone who liked those two in the Oceans series of movies will be at least reasonably entertained by Ticket to Paradise.

I will more than likely, either on New Year's Eve or New Year's Day, list my favorite movies of the year in this blog. This was a year in which I thought the television shows offered by the streaming services were, in general, much better than movies. So I am just warning you that even with my intense December catch-up, I'll probably have still missed a large swath of movies.

As for TV shows, I'll list my favorites of the year, since I watched an obscene number of shows this year--and even so, still feel as if I have missed plenty of good ones. It really has been a banner year for TV, and by TV I'm mainly talking about the stuff on Hulu, Amazon Prime, Netflix, Disney+, HBO, HBO Max, and Apple+. Aside from PBS and the syndicated Jeopardy!, Abbott Elementary (on ABC) is the only show I like on old fashioned network television.

In case you're wondering, I do still read books and have not quit reading permanently after finishing the Isherwood book. I started Donna Tartt's The Secret History, and should probably end this blog post so I can return to it.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Ron Swanson's hilarious "Visions of Nature" speech

Image
The funniest speech I’ve heard in quite awhile. Ron Swanson’s "Visions of Nature" art show grand opening speech from Parks and Recreation. Worth quoting in its entirety: "Ok, everyone, shut up and look at me. Welcome to Visions of Nature. This room has several paintings in it. Some are big and some are small. People did them and they are here now. I believe that after this is over they will be hung in government buildings. Why the government is involved in an art show is beyond me. I also think it's pointless for a human to paint scenes of nature when they could just go outside and stand in it. Anyway, please do not misinterpret the fact that I am talking right now as genuine interest in art and attempt to discuss it with me further. End of speech."
Read more

Billy Joel vs. R.E.M.

Awhile ago, a friend of mind sent me, via a Facebook message, the "assignment" of comparing and contrasting Billy Joel's "We Didn't Start the Fire" and R.E.M.'s "It's the End of World as We Know It (and I Feel Fine)." This friend is someone I've known since about sixth grade, and we often go back and forth about music and pop culture. Anyway, this is my extemely off-the-cuff reply to his challenge. Thought you might find it fun: Billy Joel's “We Didn’t Start the Fire” is a litany of baby boomer-era cultural touchstones, and in the chorus Billy basically, in typical curmudgeonly Billy Joel style, says, "look, if you're pissed off about how f***ed up things are now, don't look at us (i.e. the boomers), it was already f***ed up when we got here, but we've been trying to make it better, so there!--and you know what, it'll probably continue to be f***ed up after we're dead." Billy Joel is the official apo...
Read more
 All we did tonight was watch the new episodes of Slow Horses and Fargo , and I could barely keep my eyes open during Fargo. Next reading, must finally finish Absolute Beginners .
Read more