Blogocentric Formulations

July Watch List

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I keep meticulous track of all the books, scripts, and comics I read every year. Plus the podcasts I listen to. But the one thing I don't do very often is write about the things I watch. I don't really know why I haven't until this point, but I recently noticed that a friend of mine writes up a "media consumption" post on Facebook every month and I thought I might start doing the same.

To qualify for the list, it has to be something that I've watched that's new to me. It doesn't necessarily have to be a current show, it just can't be reruns of something I've already seen. So if I'm including it in this list, it means this month is the first time I've watched it. I won't list the stuff I lost interest in quickly, but I'll put "DNF" (Did Not Finish) next to anything that I stopped watching and have no immediate plans to finish.

Movies

          Chip 'n' Dale: Rescue Rangers
          The Gray Man
          Spiderhead
          Top Gun: Maverick


Television

          The Dropout
          Loot
          The Old Man
          Only Murders In The Building (Season 2)


On the movie side of things, Chip 'n' Dale: Rescue Rangers was a fun, surprisingly subversive movie that was crammed full of references to both Hollywood and the old Saturday morning cartoon. File that one away under "pleasant surprise." The Gray Man was entertaining enough, I suppose, but as a huge fan of the book series it's based on, I found myself a little disappointed. It felt like they just kind of made a generic espionage thriller and a generic action protagonist out of what I think is a really compelling literary character. It was fun to watch, but I like the books way, way better. Spiderhead was a weird little movie that I'm not sure actually made sense, but kept my interest. And Top Gun: Maverick was delightful. It's a total old-school action movie and they don't make many of these anymore. Definitely worth watching if you were a fan of the original. It's a masterclass into how to do an excellent sequel.

On the television side, The Dropout was good but hard to watch because it was a little slow and the subject matter of watching Elizabeth Holmes basically destroy her own life and the lives of others in pursuit of a fraudulent invention is not the lightest of fare. Loot was fun to watch, but didn't really feel like it was offering much new to the "out of touch rich person learns to be a human being" genre. The Old Man was really slow but got good until abruptly ending. I'll definitely watch the new season and the acting was phenomenal, but it was a bit of a frustrating show. Only Murders In The Building Season 2 is a lot of fun. They found a way to continue the story in a completely different and yet familiar way that captures the magic of the first season, which is hard to do in the second season of a show.


TOP PICK: Top Gun: Maverick