movies

  • save yourselves - far more entertaining than initially expected. this made 2021 the year of the poufe.
  • shirley - elizabeth moss plays menace with glee. not fun, tough to pull away from as well.
  • the assistant - i can’t recall the last time that you loathed a character that you never actually saw on screen so much. oh, and seriously? boner injections are a thing?
  • women in blue (PBS) - predates the murder of george floyd. we have a pretty different take on chief arradondo these days.
  • the trial of the chicago 7 - the follow-on reading (notably this slate slate article) is definitely worth doing. if i’d seen this before november 2020 i would probably wouldn’t have slept for 3 months straight.
  • judas and the black messiah - whoa! there are major gaps in my historical understanding of things.
  • the king of staten island - dumb fun. slightly feel good. oh and marisa tomei is still around!
  • fake famous - :facepalm emoji:
  • bad trip - pure fumb dun.
  • godzilla vs. kong - as bad as you’d expected.
  • nomadland - i left with really mixed thoughts on this one. this defies easy explanation. i get the oscar buzz though.
  • the last blockbuster
  • nobody - bob odenkirk delivers. about as dumb as you’d expect, and as fun as you’d expect.
  • a quiet place part 2 - delivers a solid sequel

tv

  • the salisbury poisonings
  • truthseekers
  • top of the lake
  • broadchurch
  • servant (season 2 - apple) - unwatchable, we bailed.
  • plebs (amazon)
  • COBRA (PBS)
  • behind her eyes (netflix)
  • allen v. farrow
  • Q: into the storm (HBO)
  • the sinner (netflix)
  • mare of easttown (HBO)
  • mosquito coast (tv+)
  • the nevers
  • traci ullman show - how have we missed this?
  • bo burnham inside (netflix)
  • the handmaid’s tale (hulu)
  • the white lotus (HBO)
  • mr. corman (tv+)
  • scenes from a marriage (HBO)
  • foundation (tv+)
  • ted lasso (tv+)

books

  • seeing with fresh eyes: meaning, space, data, truth (edward tufte) - basically a picture book for information dweebs. this isn’t as nicely structured as some of his earlier work, but it’s still worth poring over slowly.
  • to hold up the sky (cixin liu) - first rate collection of short stories.
  • new york 2140 (kim stanley robinson) - the ministry for the future was one of the most interesting books i read in 2020. this is every bit as good.