Did you catch this....?
The first month of 2021 is almost over. Why does it feel like another year has passed?
Most of the world is still staying in during 2021, so the massive hours of watching movies and television shows continues on! So, I thought I would share my favs from 2020 that got me through the months.
Some of the hits from 2020 was led by hyped up momentum like “Joe Exotic” or “WW84. Although some of the hype was definitely warranted (think “The Mandolarian”), there were many have been looked over and that is just a darn shame.
The list below are smattering of both movies and television shows that should definitely be checked out. On a side note, none of these are good movies to craft to. Too many goodies to see!
movies
Underwater
This is now of my most recommend horror/thrillers for scaredy cats like me. Underwater nabs you right from the first second with it’s claustrophobic hallway. Then catastrophe strikes! The survivors (which include Kirsten Stewart and Vincent Cassel) make their way to the remaining escape pods. On top of the already treacherous dangers of pressure and oxygen levels, they soon realize that there is something out there that is determined to kill them. And it is most definitely not humanoid.
Clocking in at less than two hours, this was a neat movie with no fillers. The unfolding of the mystery is so satisfying after spending most of the movie clutching your pillow from the suspense.
Weathering with You
This movie was released in theaters in 2019 but has been available via streaming services. Weathering With You is directed by Makoto Shinka and is a follow up the anime movie smash hit Your Name.
We return to Shinka’s world of beauty in nature even in the face of catastrophe. Runaway orphan, Hodaka Morishima, ends up in Japan which is experiencing an unusually high rainfall. As the high schooler makes ends meet by accepting work with a struggling occult magazine publishing company. Through their investigations into the paranormal, Hodaka meets Hina Amano. Hina is able to pray the clouds away and have the sun emerge. Dubbing her the “sunshine girl,” the two create a business for her to clear the weather for events like weddings. There is a heavy price that she pays to keep using this power and it greatly affects the balance of the world.
Weathering with You is just as visually beautiful as Your Name and delivers another unique sci-fi/ romance fantasy story. It is not needed to watch the movies in order but it would definitely add more meaningful depth if you!
Over the Moon
This beautiful, luminescent movie made me cry ugly happy tears. A great movie to introduce Chinese culture, mooncakes and a moon goddess story. Bonus, it stars a young female lead who is really great with engineering. Double bonus: it’s a musical.
Fei Fei has grown up learning about the tragic love story of the moon goddess thanks to the story telling power of her mother. Years after her mother unfortunately passes away, Fei Fei is heartbroken to see her father falling for another woman. Inspired by her mothers story and to prove that love is real, Fei Fei decides to build a rocket to meet the moon goddess.
It’s surreal, beautiful, funny, heartwarming, and makes you want to hug your mother tightly.
Check out this awesome voice acting cast:
Fei Fei…………Cathy Ang
Moon Goddess……Phillipa Soo [best known for playing Eliza in Hamilton]
Gobi………Ken Jeong
Ba Ba …….John Cho
Mrs. Zhong……..Sandra Oh
Auntie Ling……..Margaret Cho
Tremors: Shrieker Island
Scrolling through Netflix one day , I saw the thumbnail for Tremors: Shreiker Island. A quick google search informed me that this was the SEVENTH movie in a franchise that I didn’t realize existed!
Memories of a movie with underground creatures and Reba McIntyre with a rifle surfaced deep from the memory well. So began a month long excursion into revisiting Perfection, the town where we first see the graboids.
The graboids are underground monsters that seek out their prey through vibrations. These gigantic worms contain little feeler tentacles in their mouth to further seek out prey. The graboid will evolve to a shrieker, a bi pedal little monster that senses heat. From there, they become the cutely names assblasters, flying monsters that propel themselves into air by shooting gas from their hineys.
It is wonderfully bat shit crazy franchise and I loved every moment of it. The monster lore of the series was consistent and created some great monster designs with believable assets. The cinematography for the movies is beyond stellar and I have added South Africa to a must-visit place. All of the cast were phenomenal but there is no dying the ultimate bad ass star, Burt Gummer played by Michal Gross.
By the time you catch up to Tremor: Shrieker Island, it is completely enjoyable and profound. So dang good!
television shows
Outer Banks
This show is the most underrated show that I can share. I was dismayed, shocked, appalled, hands over fluttering over my heard disappointed that not one person in my circle of friends ever heard of this show. This is a treasure hunting action packed teen drama that should be talked about. Take Goonies, up the ages and mature antics, add a healthy dollop of action and boom: Outer Banks!
The show is based in an East Coast area of islands. In such a small area there is a clear class division of those who have it with mansions, yacht, consistent running power and those who do not. A group of teens, John B, JJ, Pope, and Kiara, are the heart of the have-not group. They do as teens do by doing minimum work and spending their days at sea hanging out. During one of their outings, the teens find a very expensive yacht sunken in the marshes. Curiosity plunges them right into the water and into the start of a dangerous game of treasure and murder.
It starts so innocently with the teens connecting the yacht to a local treasure legend. They’re able to piece together the clues using their knowledge of the islands and history. It’s the adults on this adult that torque it up to 100! On top of the already simmering tension between class, now there is desperation to get the treasure. Islands must make people extra reckless and crazy because it was just nuts how the adults were. It was probably more of an entitlement complex but even the cops were unstable. They go to such extremes just to get this treasure!
Intermingled in all of that is teen angst and romance so this show is just packed with entertainment!
The Great
This was by far one of the most hilarious, brutal but immensely enjoyable anachronistic take on history. Personally, I am so weak on history but I do know that there was a Catherine the Great who ruled Russia for a very long time. This show is more about a young, doe-eyed Catherine (played by Elle Fanning) arriving in Russia as an eager bride to Emperor Peter (played by Nicholas Hoult). Her expectations of romance and political renaissance is completely demolished within milliseconds of meeting the insane Peter. She struggles to survive by quickly learning the carnal and cruel inner workings of the palace. Through fatal foibles and luck, she manages to maneuver the political maze. For if she cannot have romance, she will have Russia.
This show was intensely funny and full of shocking moments. Profanity and sex is freely strewn about so this is definitely not recommended for children!
Twogether
A travel reality series following two charming handsome celebrities as they compete in mini games to win clues to meet their fans. Oh, watching this was beyond entertainment. It was just sheer happiness.
During Twogether, we follow Lee Seung-gi (Korean Star) and Jasper Liu (Taiwanese star) to Indonesia, Thailand, and Nepal. Each city they visit was recommended by a dedicated fan who they get to visit…if they solve the mini games. If you are familiar with Korean game shows like Running Man, then the format will not be much different. Each game will have them explore recommended sites by the fan while solving puzzles. Pretty much every where they went, I want to go!
Both Lee Seung-gi and Jasper Liu juggle the language barriers between themselves and the countries around them in very much adorable ways. Through it all, it the universal language of laughter that gets them through. It is so hard not to fall for these by the end of the series! Watching the show during the pandemic lockdown was the most constant cheerful time. The show is beautiful and reminds us that there is beauty and charm all around.
Kipo and the Wonderbeasts
In 2017 there was a mutant outbreak. Creatures grew to giant size and pushed humankind underground. The underground world is all that Kipo knows until she is forced out. There she comes face to face with Bees in leather jackets and rave music and godzilla-sized fluffy bunnies. This is a world of color and weird and I was so obsessed.
This is an amazing dystopian/monster animated series with a seriously killer soundtrack. It is modern, bright, humorous, and full of sweet humor. It is so hard not to fall for Kipo’s bubbly charm and positivity. Even as her back is to the wall facing giant scorpions or axe-wielding cats in flannel.
Crash Landing on You
The series started on Netflix in December 2019 but it carried well into 2020. THIS was seriously the hottest and most hyped kdrama of the year. A hype that was well deserved and more. Even for those who never cared for kdrama loved this series. This series showed the global audience that there was more to kdramas than high school angst and back hugs. This was a show with drama, a solid story, and meaningful romance.
Yun Se-Ri is a South Korean celebrity who decides to risk the weather and paraglide for a promotion. Magical of all magics, a tornado (yes, am absurd tornado), sweeps her to North Korea. Where she dangles helplessly above Ri Jeong-hyeok. a North Korean officer. In a nutshell, South and North Korea are at war and this is a very volatile situation indeed.
The story begins as Ri attempts to shelter and escort Yun back home but each attempt is foiled and the risks grows greater. Their relationship also begins to grow (I will forever squeal with the candle in the market scene) and things get more dicey.
Not only was this a great story it also showed a different light to North Korea. Mainstream media is fond of showing a barren and bleak landscape. The show goes beyond that to the humans that live there and that they are still that, human.
