Lovers Rock
The only movie on this list I saw at a theater was Portrait of a Lady on Fire. There are a ton of movies I haven't seen, which is unusual. But anyway these are the ones I most enjoyed in no particular order.
The Vast of Night (Prime)
I'm Thinking of Ending Things (Netflix)
Palm Springs (Hulu)
Portrait of a Lady on Fire (Hulu)
Small Ax: Lovers Rock (Prime)
The Painter and the Thief (Hulu)
The Forty-Year Old Version (Netflix)
Never, Rarely, Sometimes, Often (HBO Max)
Dick Johnson is Dead (Netflix)
The Assistant (Hulu)
The Nest (Prime)
If I had to give the Best Picture Oscar to one, I think it would be Lovers Rock.
What movies have you enjoyed this year? Even if the movie is from another year.
12 comments:
I am so woefully behind on movies, Patti! I'm glad you reminded me to think about them a little more. There are some great ones out there...
Our theaters shut down in early March 2020 so the movie season was cut short. They are still shut down. So I listed my favorite TV programs on my blog, but skipped the movies since I saw so few. Hopefully, we get back to Normal in 2021. But I think the pandemic has changed the movie landscape. More and more movies will be available on streaming platforms like HBO Max and Netflix.
Yes, I usually have choices on where to see them. I saw all of these at home. And watching plays online has been fun too. Not as great as a theater of course but An American in Paris (filmed in UK, I think) was better than the version I saw at a theater.
Nice list, though I've only seen one of them. We saw a lot more movies than normal this year - the one a week schedule we have in Florida, but mostly on television. Also saw a lot more documentaries than usual. Several of yours (the McQueen movies, 40 Year Old Version) are on our list to be watched. Let's see (chronologically):
Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice (doc.; Amazon)
Knives Out (Florida)
Parasite (Florida; loved it)
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (HBO)
Jojo Rabbit (Florida)
Bad Education (HBO)
The Half of It (Netflix)
Da 5 Bloods (Netflix)
Never Rarely Sometimes Always (HBO; we walked past the Planned Parenthood office she went to in Downtown Brooklyn on Saturday, and there were two young "escorts" outside in case of trouble)
The Way I See It (MSNBC; doc about former White House photographer Pete Souza)
The Trial of the Chicago 7 (Netflix; mainly because it was better than I'd expected)
Sound of Metal (Amazon)
Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (Netflix). We saw all the Chadwick Boesman films we'd missed this year - 42, Marshall, Get on Up, 21 Bridges - as well as this and Da 5 Bloods, and really, what a huge loss. I'd give him an Oscar for this one.
Biggest disappointments:
Mank (very overrated by a few critics)
The Midnight Sky (probably pretty on the big screen, but basically a bore, and George Clooney is totally to blame)
I want to see Sound of Metal especially.
Best new film was probably THE GO-GO's documentary.
Mostly saw films from the WOMEN MAKE MOVIES festival on TCM, and some of the other TCM special themes, such as the Richard Lester retrospective, so that I saw IT'S TRAD, DAD for the first time, and THE KNACK for the first time in almost half a century, and probably intact for the first time (as opposed to interrupted by commercials at very least, probably on the Kaiser station in Boston or the Worcester station, though possibly on the Janus Collection showcase intact and w/o commercials on WGBH); early Almodovar films the other day and SMITHEREENS the other month. Saw very little that was newly released. Watched some of WILD STRAWBERRIES and Lewton horror and suspense films again to see how the dubbing looks, and will look at them entire again, among other TCM dubs. Most surprising older film, modest but well-turned suspense film, might've been was perhaps INTENT TO KILL on the Fox Movie Channel.
Thanks for the reminder about the GoGos although I think it is on Showtimes, which I don't have. I also don't have TCM, but I do have Criterion, which is great.
Only saw 3 that are on your list. I disliked Palm Springs. I also disliked A Portrait of a Lady On Fire which I thought beautifully shot but I so disliked one of the leads that it ruined it for me.
My List
I'm Thinking of Ending Things(Netflix)
The Devil All the Time(Netflix)
Tenet
The Gentlemen
Another Round(Amazon)
Once Were Brothers
Trial of the Chicago 8(Netflix)
Bad Education(HBO)
Let Him Go
El Camino(Netflix)
So, who's anonymous?
I have realized how underutilized my streaming services are, except in viewing mostly new television series they offer. I might as well waste money Not Watching Criterion, aka the Janus Collection, as well. Currently the house has Netflix, Amazon, Hulu and Disney+...I'd have to join not the local library to get the library-based services (ours doesn't even do ILL), and if we dig up our HBO sub number, we presumably can get HBO's new service. And then there's Peacock free with commercials...and All Arts and the NET (National Educational Television) archive and all the various YouTube and competitor streams and PBS online and and and. Britbox and such would seem like forcing the issue, as would the subscription version of MHz Worldview (broadcast version RIP 2020). A bit like characters in a Frederik Pohl story of the '50s, trying to gorge themselves past nausea to keep up their consumer goods consumption quotas.
THE GO-GO'S is indeed a Showtime offer.
I don't know. Yes, there is so much it is a bit nausea producing. Which if this pandemic ever ends, we will probably notice more. I have lost hope that it will ever end though.
I forgot all about El Camino. And I am hoping to see Another Round and Let Him Go soon. I disliked Palm Springs the first time I saw it but was persuaded to watch it again and the second time I liked it a lot more.
We have HBO and Showtime (and, Jackie discovered, seems we have The Movie Channel too), as well as Netflix, Amazon Prime, BritBox and Acorn. We also get DVDs from the library. We could get HBO Max but our television is too old by a year or so, so we can only watch on the phone or tablet, which we are not about to do.
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