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2020 Roundup: Episodic Series and Movies
I think I didn't manage to record everything I watched, but here's some of it.
I had previously seen Alien but not the other three. I offered them as a fandom in an exchange in order to have an excuse to watch them.
Constantine
2005 film starring Keanu Reeves. Also has Djimon Hounsou and Tilda Swinton. A hunk called Gavin Rossdale plays Balthazar. The movie isn't all that great, but there are good fanfic opportunities. Trivia: According to an interview with The A.V. Club published on August 28, 2017, Peter Stormare came up with his own costume design for the appearance of Lucifer. The producer and director had initially wanted "leather pants, bare-chested...a dog collar with spikes" and tattoos over Stormare's face and chest.
Cowboys & Aliens
2011 film based on a comic book and starring Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford. After watching it, I hoped it would be the worst movie I saw in 2020. It was.
Dark Phoenix
2019 film set in the rebooted X-Men timeline. I was adequately entertained. The movie didn't get very good reviews.
Good stuff:
• There were a lot of ensemble fight scenes showing the mutants working together using their various abilities.
• Magneto wasn't the bad guy.
• Ato Essandoh. He didn't have much to do in his role but he only just has to stand there to steal a scene).
• The special makeup effects when Dark Phoenix starts powering up.
Bad stuff:
• "Men trying to manipulate women" drives the plot a lot. I started wondering about the origin stories and PTSD of various superhero characters and wondered whether female characters are more often shown as harming someone thru their action and male characters thru their inaction. Because Jean Grey kills her parents when her powers come online at age 8 or 9. And Rogue kills her boyfriend by kissing him when her powers come online. And I seem to recall that Spiderman and Daredevil have PTSD because they didn't do anything when their fathers were killed.
• James McAvoy. I hate his Charles Xavier. He was a whiny idiot in this movie.
• No Wolverine.
Enola Holmes
2020 film seen on Netflix, based on a book series by Nancy Springer. I liked that she was looking for her mother. The romance didn't work for me. There were some great casting choices for relative minor characters with interesting faces, but I didn't think Sherlock & Mycroft looked right. And I didn't like that Mycroft in this movie is just a prig, not a bigger genius than Holmes and actually pretty darn stupid. Sherlock looked like Darcy from Pride & Prejudice, and Mycroft looked like Watson should look. Burn Gorman (Owen from Torchwood) plays a villain and I thought he was the most compelling character (at least in terms of physical acting). Fic possibilities: This slightly broody Sherlock would be interesting written as a young gay man who hasn't yet made a name for himself.
The Girl With All the Gifts
2016 film, written simultaneously with the novel, by the same author. I like the novel better (the audiobook narrated by Finty Williams is in my top 5 favorite audiobooks of all time), but the movie is worthy too. I don't usually like the zombie genre, but this (both the film and the book) are an exception.
Notes:
• Dominique Tipper, who plays Naomi Nagata on The Expanse, has a small role as a soldier at the base
• In the book, the girl is white and Miss Justineau is Black. In the movie it’s the other way around. Which works better.
• The credits music and the first couple of minutes of visuals worth the whole price of admission.
Trivia:
• Some of the aerial footage was shot in the ghost town of Pripyat, near Chernobyl, in Ukraine
The Old Guard
2020 film based on a short comic book series. Directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood, a Black woman. She also did the first episode of the Cloak & Dagger series. Very entertaining. Kick-ass women characters, queer representation, multi-racial cast, ensemble cast, variety of fight scenes, poignancy, lots of backstory to explore. Odie Henderson's review is worth checking out: https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-old-guard-movie-review-2020
Altered Carbon—I really like the books. I really like the series because it captures what I like about the books plus it has the AI character Poe. He pines all over the place and wears historical costumes. I'm a sucker for that combination.
American Gods—Some of it is not how I envisioned it when I read the book, but it is reasonably faithful to the book and also works as its own thing. I loved season 1, and I liked season 2 (need to rewatch season 2 to form a meaningful opinion)
Babylon Berlin—German neo-noir series on Netflix streaming. I really loved Season 1. Season 2 was good, but not magical the way Season 1 was.
Chilling Adventures of Sabrina—Netflix series based on a comic book. Makes a mess out of a bunch of witchcraft and magic and mythology and bible tropes. I've watched something like 4 episodes so far and intend to keep going until it gets too annoying. (Yes, I do expect it to get too annoying. But you never know.)
Doctor Who—I'm way behind, on Season 10 (the last Capaldi season).
ER—Long-running medical drama that first aired in 1994. Had a number of actors who went on to become more famous. There is something really likeable about it. And it also seemed to be trying to get the medical stuff more or less right. I watched a low-double-digit number of eps, and then the person I was watching it with wanted to stop. I haven't yet picked it back up, but I might.
The Expanse—Massive space opera. I loved seasons 1–3 to pieces....mainly because each episode had really well done suspense. I've also read all the books and really liked them. I didn't enjoy season 4 as much. I'm not sure if season 4 was different or I was different.
The Gift—Turkish series on Netflix streaming about a woman who paints a symbol over and over, then an archeologist discovers the symbol in some caves with art many thousands of years old. I watched some episodes, but the person I was watching it with decided not to watch it with me any more. I am disinclined to keep watching.
Hinterland/Y Gwyll—Police procedural set in coastal Welsh town. "The version available on Netflix differs from those originally transmitted in the United Kingdom and is almost exclusively an English language version". I absolutely love the visual style, and as far as I'm concerned it's such a tourist ad for the area in question (it's very bleak and lonely looking, but I like that). The story arc is depressing. By the end I decided that
(vague spoilers follow) it all boiled down to men breaking down in various ways because they were not able to own women and children (and by own, I mean abuse, keep, and protect), and women/children gritting their teeth and dealing in various ways with the fact that men want to own them. (As well as a good subset of them getting killed because of it.) I wished that we got more into Mared's head during the series.
Into the Badlands —Sort of a samurai / feudalism / squabbling small fiefdoms story set in a sort of 20th-century-ish setting with old cars, motorcycles, and people on horseback, and barons who farm poppies. Very brutal, as in people routinely kill each other for no particularly good reasons. Some of the characters are interesting and well drawn. Watched a few episodes, disinclined to keep watching.
Into the Night—Netflix miniseries in which people on an airplane are trying to outrace the sun because it's killing everybody. They are also fighting among themselves, which means if they end up being the only humans left, the genetic bottleneck is going to be even worse. And I resent it for using the title of a Sweet song without using the music.
Jeopardy—When I want something mindless.
Kitty 911—About a cat rescue organization.
Locke & Key—Netflix teen drama fantasy about a family where the dad is murdered and the rest of the family subsequently moves to a house where creepy things are going on. Watched season 1, decided not to continue.
Lucifer—My current obsession, almost finished with my second watch-through
The Magicians—Netflix streaming, fantasy, based on a novel, 5 seasons so far. Set in the present day, a kind of cross between Harry Potter and Narnia. Watched a few episodes, plan to watch more.
Miss Marple (movies with Joan Hickson)
After watching a bunch of these, I realized that "A Murder Is Announced" is head and shoulders above the others, and I stopped watching them.
Psycho Kitty—If Jackson Gallery were a woman who lived in Canada...
Samurai Cat—Silly show where a ronin is hired to kill a cat (believed to be a monster), but the cat is too cute, so he hides the cat instead. Was watching with a sweetie before Covid shut down our visiting.
Secrets of the Zoo—About the vet dept of Cleveland Zoo. I really liked it.
Self Made—Netflix mini-series about Madame CJ Walker, who in around 1908 or so started a successful company selling hair products to Black people.
She's Gotta Have It—Netflix series based on Spike Lee's 1986 film. Of the film, Wikipedia says Spike Lee "was initially inspired by viewing Akira Kurosawa's Rashomon." I have only watched the first episode, which was a lot less sexist than the movie. I gather each episode features specific songs that are shown as album covers. I intend to watch more.
Umbrella Academy—Series about a dysfunctional family of siblings with superpowers. I enjoyed this a lot. I ship Klaus with everyone.
Vets Saving Pets—About a vet ER in Toronto
Victoria—Masterpiece series. Stars Jenna Coleman (who played one of the Doctor Who companions) as Victoria. Starts with the death of King William IV. I watched one episode.
Movies
Alien Quadrilogy (Alien, Aliens, Alien3, Alien: Resurrection)I had previously seen Alien but not the other three. I offered them as a fandom in an exchange in order to have an excuse to watch them.
- Alien—great kinda-feminist horror film. I really liked it. I will watch it again.
- Aliens—very good monster action movie. I wouldn't watch it again. It wasn't creepy enough
- Alien3—I really liked the visual design and the casting. The plot is pretty bad. I liked the Ripley/Clemens relationship. (For values of like that include "ewww, so creepy!")
- Alien: Resurrection—I am not sure this counts as a good movie, but it really turns my crank. I will watch it again.
Constantine
2005 film starring Keanu Reeves. Also has Djimon Hounsou and Tilda Swinton. A hunk called Gavin Rossdale plays Balthazar. The movie isn't all that great, but there are good fanfic opportunities. Trivia: According to an interview with The A.V. Club published on August 28, 2017, Peter Stormare came up with his own costume design for the appearance of Lucifer. The producer and director had initially wanted "leather pants, bare-chested...a dog collar with spikes" and tattoos over Stormare's face and chest.
Cowboys & Aliens
2011 film based on a comic book and starring Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford. After watching it, I hoped it would be the worst movie I saw in 2020. It was.
Dark Phoenix
2019 film set in the rebooted X-Men timeline. I was adequately entertained. The movie didn't get very good reviews.
Good stuff:
• There were a lot of ensemble fight scenes showing the mutants working together using their various abilities.
• Magneto wasn't the bad guy.
• Ato Essandoh. He didn't have much to do in his role but he only just has to stand there to steal a scene).
• The special makeup effects when Dark Phoenix starts powering up.
Bad stuff:
• "Men trying to manipulate women" drives the plot a lot. I started wondering about the origin stories and PTSD of various superhero characters and wondered whether female characters are more often shown as harming someone thru their action and male characters thru their inaction. Because Jean Grey kills her parents when her powers come online at age 8 or 9. And Rogue kills her boyfriend by kissing him when her powers come online. And I seem to recall that Spiderman and Daredevil have PTSD because they didn't do anything when their fathers were killed.
• James McAvoy. I hate his Charles Xavier. He was a whiny idiot in this movie.
• No Wolverine.
Enola Holmes
2020 film seen on Netflix, based on a book series by Nancy Springer. I liked that she was looking for her mother. The romance didn't work for me. There were some great casting choices for relative minor characters with interesting faces, but I didn't think Sherlock & Mycroft looked right. And I didn't like that Mycroft in this movie is just a prig, not a bigger genius than Holmes and actually pretty darn stupid. Sherlock looked like Darcy from Pride & Prejudice, and Mycroft looked like Watson should look. Burn Gorman (Owen from Torchwood) plays a villain and I thought he was the most compelling character (at least in terms of physical acting). Fic possibilities: This slightly broody Sherlock would be interesting written as a young gay man who hasn't yet made a name for himself.
The Girl With All the Gifts
2016 film, written simultaneously with the novel, by the same author. I like the novel better (the audiobook narrated by Finty Williams is in my top 5 favorite audiobooks of all time), but the movie is worthy too. I don't usually like the zombie genre, but this (both the film and the book) are an exception.
Notes:
• Dominique Tipper, who plays Naomi Nagata on The Expanse, has a small role as a soldier at the base
• In the book, the girl is white and Miss Justineau is Black. In the movie it’s the other way around. Which works better.
• The credits music and the first couple of minutes of visuals worth the whole price of admission.
Trivia:
• Some of the aerial footage was shot in the ghost town of Pripyat, near Chernobyl, in Ukraine
The Old Guard
2020 film based on a short comic book series. Directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood, a Black woman. She also did the first episode of the Cloak & Dagger series. Very entertaining. Kick-ass women characters, queer representation, multi-racial cast, ensemble cast, variety of fight scenes, poignancy, lots of backstory to explore. Odie Henderson's review is worth checking out: https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-old-guard-movie-review-2020
Episodic Series
All the ones I watched at least one episode of.Altered Carbon—I really like the books. I really like the series because it captures what I like about the books plus it has the AI character Poe. He pines all over the place and wears historical costumes. I'm a sucker for that combination.
American Gods—Some of it is not how I envisioned it when I read the book, but it is reasonably faithful to the book and also works as its own thing. I loved season 1, and I liked season 2 (need to rewatch season 2 to form a meaningful opinion)
Babylon Berlin—German neo-noir series on Netflix streaming. I really loved Season 1. Season 2 was good, but not magical the way Season 1 was.
Chilling Adventures of Sabrina—Netflix series based on a comic book. Makes a mess out of a bunch of witchcraft and magic and mythology and bible tropes. I've watched something like 4 episodes so far and intend to keep going until it gets too annoying. (Yes, I do expect it to get too annoying. But you never know.)
Doctor Who—I'm way behind, on Season 10 (the last Capaldi season).
ER—Long-running medical drama that first aired in 1994. Had a number of actors who went on to become more famous. There is something really likeable about it. And it also seemed to be trying to get the medical stuff more or less right. I watched a low-double-digit number of eps, and then the person I was watching it with wanted to stop. I haven't yet picked it back up, but I might.
The Expanse—Massive space opera. I loved seasons 1–3 to pieces....mainly because each episode had really well done suspense. I've also read all the books and really liked them. I didn't enjoy season 4 as much. I'm not sure if season 4 was different or I was different.
The Gift—Turkish series on Netflix streaming about a woman who paints a symbol over and over, then an archeologist discovers the symbol in some caves with art many thousands of years old. I watched some episodes, but the person I was watching it with decided not to watch it with me any more. I am disinclined to keep watching.
Hinterland/Y Gwyll—Police procedural set in coastal Welsh town. "The version available on Netflix differs from those originally transmitted in the United Kingdom and is almost exclusively an English language version". I absolutely love the visual style, and as far as I'm concerned it's such a tourist ad for the area in question (it's very bleak and lonely looking, but I like that). The story arc is depressing. By the end I decided that
(vague spoilers follow) it all boiled down to men breaking down in various ways because they were not able to own women and children (and by own, I mean abuse, keep, and protect), and women/children gritting their teeth and dealing in various ways with the fact that men want to own them. (As well as a good subset of them getting killed because of it.) I wished that we got more into Mared's head during the series.
Into the Badlands —Sort of a samurai / feudalism / squabbling small fiefdoms story set in a sort of 20th-century-ish setting with old cars, motorcycles, and people on horseback, and barons who farm poppies. Very brutal, as in people routinely kill each other for no particularly good reasons. Some of the characters are interesting and well drawn. Watched a few episodes, disinclined to keep watching.
Into the Night—Netflix miniseries in which people on an airplane are trying to outrace the sun because it's killing everybody. They are also fighting among themselves, which means if they end up being the only humans left, the genetic bottleneck is going to be even worse. And I resent it for using the title of a Sweet song without using the music.
Jeopardy—When I want something mindless.
Kitty 911—About a cat rescue organization.
Locke & Key—Netflix teen drama fantasy about a family where the dad is murdered and the rest of the family subsequently moves to a house where creepy things are going on. Watched season 1, decided not to continue.
Lucifer—My current obsession, almost finished with my second watch-through
The Magicians—Netflix streaming, fantasy, based on a novel, 5 seasons so far. Set in the present day, a kind of cross between Harry Potter and Narnia. Watched a few episodes, plan to watch more.
Miss Marple (movies with Joan Hickson)
After watching a bunch of these, I realized that "A Murder Is Announced" is head and shoulders above the others, and I stopped watching them.
- "A Murder Is Announced" has four really great characters: Inspector Craddock (played by John Castle, who does this eyes-half-shut thing that is really sexy); Hannah, Mrs Blacklock's servant; Hinchcliffe and Murgatroyd, who are played as if they might be a lesbian couple.
- "Murder at the Vicarage— I had to take screenshots to figure out how to tell apart Mrs Lestrange and Ann Prothoroe. The actor who plays DI Slack is a genius, because he's supposed to play a very cranky, bossy guy who hates Miss Marple and yet has to take her seriously. The vicar's maid, Mary, also was played really well as someone who has a spine.
- "Nemesis"—I didn't think it was very good. The acting was very subdued and I had trouble telling some of the key characters apart, whereas they were pretty distinct in the book. The actress playing the tour guide way overdid it. Also they pointlessly changed the story about the son from "he's in prison" to "he's being a guardian angel to the homeless along with his loyal dog." WTF?
- "4:50 from Paddington"—This was well acted, even Joan Hickson got to do a bit more than she does in most of them. And it had DI Slack. One or two of the other characters were very well acted.
Psycho Kitty—If Jackson Gallery were a woman who lived in Canada...
Samurai Cat—Silly show where a ronin is hired to kill a cat (believed to be a monster), but the cat is too cute, so he hides the cat instead. Was watching with a sweetie before Covid shut down our visiting.
Secrets of the Zoo—About the vet dept of Cleveland Zoo. I really liked it.
Self Made—Netflix mini-series about Madame CJ Walker, who in around 1908 or so started a successful company selling hair products to Black people.
She's Gotta Have It—Netflix series based on Spike Lee's 1986 film. Of the film, Wikipedia says Spike Lee "was initially inspired by viewing Akira Kurosawa's Rashomon." I have only watched the first episode, which was a lot less sexist than the movie. I gather each episode features specific songs that are shown as album covers. I intend to watch more.
Umbrella Academy—Series about a dysfunctional family of siblings with superpowers. I enjoyed this a lot. I ship Klaus with everyone.
Vets Saving Pets—About a vet ER in Toronto
Victoria—Masterpiece series. Stars Jenna Coleman (who played one of the Doctor Who companions) as Victoria. Starts with the death of King William IV. I watched one episode.