Blogocentric Formulations

January 2024 Watch List

To qualify for my Watch List every month, the following has to be something that I've watched that's new to me. It doesn't necessarily have to be a current show, but it can't be reruns or rewatches 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'll put "DNF" (Did Not Finish) next to anything that I stopped watching and have no immediate plans to finish.

Movies
          Blue Beetle
          The Equalizer 3
          Gran Turismo
          The Lego Batman Movie

Television
          Five Star Chef
          Fool Me Once
          Gen V
          It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (Season 1)

The best movie I saw this month was Gran Turismo. I thought they did a really good job with it, and the true story of recruiting video game racers to compete in real-world professional racing is a fascinating story. It's probably the best racing movie I've seen since Ford v. Ferrari, although I do still want to see Michael Mann's Ferrari as well. The Equalizer 3 was okay, but a little too long, and The Lego Batman Movie was fun; they really know what they're doing with the Lego franchise. Blue Beetle continued the DC tradition of making terrible movies, unfortunately.

On the television side, I had high hopes for Fool Me Once but kind of lost enthusiasm for it halfway through. I finally started It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia just to see what's so popular about that show... still not sure that I love it, but I'll give it a couple more seasons (the early seasons are pretty short). More than anything, it was a real trip to be reminded what the world was like back in 2005 when the show first aired. It was like an entirely different world. Five Star Chef was an okay cooking reality show, although the hosts always sounded like a bunch of snob, criticizing the contestants for not being classy or elevated enough.

My favorite show of them all was Gen V, the spinoff of The Boys which focused on a group of students at a superhero university. The story was honestly way more interesting than I thought it would be, with good tie-ins to The Boys, some decent cameos, and the same level of absolute chaos, violence, and insanity that the franchise has come to be known for. It's definitely not for the faint of heart or easily offended, for those that aren't, it's a really smart and funny take on how superhumans might actually act when they have phenomenal powers and few morals.


TOP PICK: Gen V