Thomas is back! He recorded everything he watched from the start of Quarantine to the end of the year and wanted to share with the network. This sparked an idea for me to record everything I watch and release a quarterly blog with my thoughts. Check this out and come back for our quarterly thoughts!

When quarantine started, I began watching the tv show Schitt’s Creek. I had heard awesome things about it and it was in the final season, with about 4 weeks to go. I figured I could binge and catchup to watch the finale live. That is precisely what I did and I am so glad, as it was perfection. I found myself unsure what to watch next, didn’t yet want to watch The Office for the 30th time, and decided to watch a couple movies I had been putting off watching. This included Parasite and Knives Out, both of which were excellent and worth the rave reviews they were receiving. After finishing, I decided to make it my mission to watch as many movies as possible that I hadn’t seen before while in quarantine. I thought I could watch movies spanning years, genres, lengths, and streaming services, anticipating that quarantine would maybe last until the Fall. When that did not happen, I just continued on with my plan and all in all, from March 17 to December 31, 2020, I watched 69 movies and at least part of 13 different tv shows. While I won’t do a deep dive on my thoughts and feelings on each of these, I have listed them out in my ranking order from favorite to least favorite. Although I ranked them, the resounding majority I would watch again or continue watching in the case of the tv shows that are not finished. I have also compiled some hot takes, thoughts, stats, and awards. I will start with movies and then move to the tv shows. Rankings for both will be at the end of this article.

2020 Movies

MVP: Dave Bautista

· I watched 5 Dave Bautista movies as part of this series: Bushwick, Final Score, Hotel Artemis, Stuber, and My Spy (this doesn’t count the numerous times I re-watched Avengers). Each of them were completely different roles and films and all of them were hits, with both Stuber and My Spy in the top 10. These films showed his range, dedication to his craft, and enjoyment he gets from acting and continuing to get better. I cannot wait to watch more of his movies.

Hottest Take/Most Unpopular Opinion: Uncut Gems was the 2nd worst movie I watched

· I am going to get a ton of heat for my take here as this film has great word-of-mouth, had a 92% on Rotten Tomatoes, was on the A.V. Clubs list of best films of the 2010s, and garnered acclaim for Adam Sandler’s performance. However, for me, it was 2 hours and 15 minutes of Adam Sandler’s Howard whining the whole time. I could not connect with him and did not feel an ounce of sadness toward any of his situation that he continued to bring on himself. I could hardly make it through this movie with all of the whining. Cognitively, I can see why this film did well and Sandler has always been underappreciated but it was just not for me. (Ellen agrees.)

Most Congruent with Popular Opinion: Palm Springs was the 2nd best movie I watched

· Palm Springs had a 94% on Rotten Tomatoes and was IGN’s movie of the year. It was a wonderful romantic comedy (my favorite genre) that has re-watchability, great jokes, and endearing performances from the entire cast. JK Simmons in his role (no spoilers) was such a treat.

Movie that Surprised in a Positive Way: Guns Akimbo

· What a movie. Daniel Radcliffe plays an online troll who gets his comeuppance by getting beaten, drugged, has guns bolted into his hands, and is then dropped into a world where he has to kill people as part of a game. It is as crazy as it sounds. It is frenetic, chaotic, ridiculous, and I loved every minute of it. (Ellen’s question… what is Daniel Radcliffe doing?)

Movie that Surprised in a Negative Way: Midnight in Paris

· It had all of the makings of a movie I would absolutely love: Owen Wilson, my number 1 crush Rachel McAdams, the roaring 20s, Tom Hiddleston, Kathy Bates, fantasy. I don’t know what it was, but it just never really grabbed me. It felt needless and goofy but not in a charming way as Guns Akimbo. Perhaps my disdain for Woody Allen impacted my viewing of the film.

Oldest Movie: Mystic Pizza (October 18, 1988)

· I don’t know how this one escaped me for as long as I have been alive. A delightful coming of age movie with very early performances for Julia Roberts, Vincent D’Onofrio, and Matt Damon’s film debut (all one line of it). By pure coincidence I happen to watch this the same week that Conchata Ferrell died. While Ferrell is best known as Berta on Two and a Half Men, her portrayal of Leone in the film is a testament to her strength as an actress.

Newest Movie: A California Christmas (December 14, 2020)

· I got this one in under the wire watching it on December 23. It was the least enjoyable holiday movie I watched this year as the main story was too Hallmark for my tastes, but the side adventures were some fun.

Shortest Movie: Guava Island (56 minutes)

· This movie is a musical and is headlined by Rihanna and Donald Glover. It served a bit as a vehicle for Childish Gambino’s music, with multiple songs of his being performed in context of the story. A quick and enjoyable watch.

Longest Movie: Marriage Story (2 hours, 17 minutes)

· This movie had great reviews and it was fine. I get chastised by my wife for my love of “real” movies or people in realistic scenarios that are often sad. This one definitely fits the bill and was entertaining, but there were other movies I enjoyed more. It did feel every bit the almost 2 ½ hours that it was.

Top 5: The Gentlemen, Palm Springs, Stuber, Knives Out, Faults

· These are all movies I cannot wait to watch again. Several of them have premises that have some good twists and turns and even the more predictable ones were very enjoyable due to their cast.

Bottom 5: Book Club, Captive State, The Wrong Missy, Uncut Gems, The Clapper

· I watched at least an hour of each of these, but most I couldn’t even finish. Either it could not grab me from a story perspective, or was just not enjoyable for me.

2020 TV Shows I watched

MVP: Catherine O’Hara

· Catherine O’Hara is a Canadian national treasure and her turn as Moira was the glue holding the phenomenal cast and story of Schitt’s Creek. From her outlandish outfits and fantastic wigs, to her nonsensical mispronunciations, she kept me laughing and feeling the entire series. She is a delight.

Top 3: Schitt’s Creek, Big Mouth (Season 4), BlackAF

· Once again, I cannot wait to re-watch all of these. Schitt’s Creek was an absolute blast and Season 4 of Big Mouth tackled real subjects while also being the funniest season of an extremely funny series. The critics didn’t love BlackAF but they are wrong. Kenya Barris playing a fictionalized version of himself and the titles of every episode stating it is all because of slavery (true) are wonderful. Rashida Jones just lost out to Catherine O’Hara for MVP.

Bottom 3: Vampire Diaries (4 seasons) Friends from College, Real Housewives of New Jersey (Season 1)

· I only watched 13 different series during this time and, to be honest, I really liked both Vampire Diaries and Friends from College, they just could not measure up to the rest. I hated Real Housewives of New Jersey but I will save that for an upcoming podcast.

TV Show that Surprised in a Positive Way: Vampire Diaries

· Even though it came in 11th of 13, Vampire Diaries is very enjoyable. I have never been into vampire shows and often am very critical. While there is plenty to be critical of, and I am clearly not the target demographic, I feel this is a fresh take on the vampire genre. The drama makes sense with the story and it has some serious moments of heart and legit comedy. I look forward to finishing the series.

TV Show that Surprised in a Negative Way: Friends from College

· Again, I still overall liked Friends from College but with a cast that included Fred Savage, Cobie Smulders, Keegan-Michael Key, and Billy Eichner, I expected to both enjoy and laugh much more than I did. It is labeled as a comedy but it is highly dramatic and just underwhelming. Perhaps a third season could have wrapped it up more nicely but it just did not live up to my lofty expectations.

2020 Movie Ranking

1. The Gentlemen

2. Palm Springs

3. Stuber

4. Knives Out

5. Faults

6. Murder Mystery

7. The Lincoln Lawyer

8. My Spy

9. What Men Want

10. Dolemite is My Name

11. Parasite

12. Guns Akimbo

13. The Invitation

14. The Old Guard

15. Coffee and Kareem

16. The Hustle

17. The Lovebirds

18. Desperados

19. The Hunt

20. Extraction

21. A Simple Favor

22. The Upside

23. Hustlers

24. Home Sweet Hell

25. About Time

26. The Bank Job

27. Hotel Artemis

28. Final Score

29. Green Book

30. 6 Underground

31. Nothing Like the Holidays

32. Mystic Pizza

33. Blue Streak

34. The Laundromat

35. A Good Old Fashioned Orgy

36. Triple Frontier

37. Just Go With It

38. Billionaire Boys Club

39. The Happytime Murders

40. Happiest Season

41. Guava Island

42. Failure to Launch

43. One for the Money

44. Bushwick

45. Ava

46. Fighting with My Family

47. The Wilde Wedding

48. A.C.O.D Adult Children of Divorce

49. The Company Men

50. How do you know

51. Morning Glory

52. Knock Knock

53. Dirty 30

54. The F Word

55. Angel Has Fallen

56. Marriage Story

57. Home, Again

58. The Big Wedding

59. Spenser Confidential

60. A California Christmas

61. The Circle

62. The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected)

63. Midnight in Paris

64. Yes God Yes

65. Book Club

66. Captive State

67. The Wrong Missy

68. Uncut Gems

69. The Clapper

2020 TV show ranking (all full series unless otherwise noted)

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