2021 in review

This was a strange, memorable year, filled in equal parts with wonder and horror.  So many amazing things happened this year and, yet, that was balanced by the awfulness of the state of the world.  Yin and Yang.  

As for movies, I saw exactly one movie in the theater this year.  That was Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.  I loved it, and it shot immediately into the top five of my favorite Marvel films.  

Seeing only one theatrical release taught me I really didn't miss going to the theater as much as I thought I would.  Now, a big part of that is that nothing was released this year that I really wanted to see, other than Shang-Chi.  I suspect 2022 will bring out more movies I'm genuinely interested in, but we'll see.  

At home, either on DVD, blu-ray, or streaming services, I watched over 130 movies.  Slightly less than half of those were new-to-me movies; the rest were re-watches.

Favorite new-to-me movies:

1. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021) - fun and beautiful, with characters and a storyline I loved

2. Patton (1970) - not at all what I was expecting, and I loved it so much I watched it twice in a row.

3. Capricorn One (1977) - not sure how I never saw this one previously, but it was a good conspiracy theory movie that I really enjoyed.  I did not expect Telly Savalas to be so much fun.  He stole all his scenes.

4. Romeo and Juliet (2015 2-part series) - this one took a few liberties with the story and characters, but those changes enriched and helped make the story even better.  I was not expecting to enjoy this so much

5. The 300 Spartans (1962) - because, reasons

Worst:

1. Futureworld (1976) - why oh why was this made??  After how good Westworld is, to turn this clunker out?  And that dream sequence... what the?????

2. Prometheus  (2012) - one of the very few movies I wish I could unsee.  Except for the part in the beginning where Michael Fassbender imitates Lawrence of Arabia, which was great.  I should have realized it was going to attempt to explain things and steered well clear.  I love Alien and Aliens, but this was pretty much the opposite of what I would have wanted for a prequel.

Best movie-viewing was running through a host of dystopian films.  I'd seen them all previously, but in light of where the world currently is, they were even more frightening than in the past.  Rollerball (1975) was my unexpected favorite, but also, surprisingly, the most terrifyingly realistic of all of them.  Why?  Because its future is ruled by large corporations, because of the censorship and how very few think for themselves, because individuality has been wiped out, and, most importantly, because the people have willingly given up their freedoms for security and comfort and they think that was the right choice to make.  Gee, none of that resonates right now, not at all.  *shudders*

Favorite tv series was the incomparable WandaVision, which currently tops all other Marvel movie/shows for me.  Brilliant, wonderful, satisfying.

I only picked up a couple new-to-me film scores this years.  Come Away by John Debney and Cliffs of Freedom by George Kallis are the two I've been listening to regularly, as they're part of the playlist for my new novel.

Favorite song from 2021 is off the new Duran Duran album.  The rest of the album did nothing for me, but I purchased this one immediately.

However, my favorite new-to-me song of the year is an older song, the Eagles "Waiting in the Weeds."  I'm not ordinarily a slow-song type girl, but this one is on its way to becoming my favorite song of all time.  It kept me sane this year whenever things got too bad.  (Runner-up song was Aerosmith's "Livin' on the Edge," which I also fell in love with.  Weird Al's parody "Livin' in the Fridge" is priceless.)

And so, 2021 draws to a close.  Good-bye!  Bring on the 2022!

Happy New Year, everyone!

The Fandom Tag

I'm stealing this from Hamlette, even though I wasn't tagged, cuz it looked like a lot of fun.  I'm also not tagging anyone for the same reason... I'm just a backdoor tag-answerer.

RULES:

1.  Include the graphic somewhere in your post!
2.  Answer the questions!
3.  Tag two fellow fandom fanatics!

 

What’s the first fandom you remember becoming a part of?  

Star Wars in 1977.  Oh, there were television shows before that I now know had groups of fans, but at the time, I thought they were just something my own family loved and watched.  There was no sense of fandom.  It was only when Star Wars came out that I personally became aware of how many fans there were out there for the movie. 

What’s the newest fandom you’ve come to enjoy? 

Queen.  I mean I've always liked a few of their songs (and that they had a Roger Taylor who was also a drummer, just like my Roger Taylor from Duran Duran), but it wasn't until Bohemian Rhapsody came out that I truly became a fan, learned all about the band, bought various albums and a Queen hoodie to wear, discovered all kinds of new-to-me songs, etc.  John Deacon's my favorite band member.

 

What’s a fandom guaranteed to give you feels? 

My music fandoms:  Opera and orchestral soundtracks.  Nothing hits my emotions harder or faster than an opera or soundtrack I love.  (ie: 2:50-4:30 from this cue...)

 

What’s a guilty pleasure fandom of yours? 

Nah, I don't feel guilty for loving something.  If something made me truly feel guilty, I wouldn't enjoy it.

 

What’s the weirdest fandom you’ve heard of/are a part of? 

I really don't know any weird fandoms, soooooo, not sure how to answer this.

Favorite popular/widely-known fandom? 

MCU.  The Marvel movies (and now WandaVision in the series area) have given me so much pleasure over the years.  Spending time with most of these characters just makes me exceedingly happy.  Even the movies that aren't my personal favorites are still very well done.

 

Favorite bookish fandom? 

The Atlantis Grail series by Vera Nazarian.  It's the only book series for which I joined a FB group in order to follow and talk about the stories/characters with other like-minded fans.  I binge-read the entire series in 4 or 5 days.  The author just released a novella about one of the main characters, and I devoured that in an afternoon.

 

 

What do you consider your ‘homebase,’ a fandom you can always come back to? 

Duran Duran.  They say that what you obsess over in your teen/high school years is what you will always go back to, and so far, I've found that's pretty true.  The movies I loved then, and more importantly, the music.  Growing up in a classical-music-only household, living through the Duran Duran craze changed my life.  No internet back then, so I really had to rely on friends who were also obsessed fans to bring me the latest magazines, watch MTV at their houses to catch the videos, etc.  My first completed novel was a Duran Duran adventure novel (a la the Beatles Help!), so the band was instrumental (hah!) in getting me to reach The End on a long writing project.   So yeah, the band members and their songs and their 80's videos will always put me in a happy, homebase comfort zone.

 

What’s a fandom you know all about…but aren’t actually into it? 

Harry Potter.  I've read the books, seen the movies, but the series really doesn't do anything for me.  I like the characters, but don't love them.  I even donated all my copies of the books to the library cuz I knew I'd never re-read them.

 

Which fandom has the best characters? 

Combat! (1962-1965).  Saunders, Hanley, Kirby, Caje, Littlejohn, Doc, Billy, even all the secondary and guest characters represent, hands-down, the best set of characters.

 

 

Name your all-time favorite ship. 

That darned "ship" question.   I hate this question cuz I just don't "ship" characters.

However, I don't know if they're my all-time favorite, but Nick and Nora Charles are just meant to be.

 

What’s a fandom you’re curious about joining

None.

---------------

And there we have it.  Feel free to play along if you haven't been tagged and want to join in on sharing your favorite fandoms!

We Love Pirates Week Party -- Blog Tag!

 Hamlette is hosting the We Love Pirates Week.  Check out the link for lots of fun stuff, including a giveaway, some quizzes, and lots of other reviews, etc.

 

Here are my answers to her tag questions:

 

1.  What are your favorite pirate movies or books?

 

Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)

The Adventures of Tin-Tin (2011)

Cutthroat Island (1995)

The Black Swan (1942)

Captain Blood (1935) 

 

2.  Who are your favorite fictional pirates?

 

1. Red Rackham (Daniel Craig, The Adventures of Tin-Tin, 2011)

2. Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp, Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl, 2003)

3. Morgan Adams (Geena Davis, Cutthroat Island, 1995)

4. Jamie Boy (Tyrone Power, The Black Swan, 1942)

 

3.  What do you like best about pirate stories? (Themes, costumes, aesthetic, etc.)

 

Sword fights!  The Ships! The costumes!  Sword fights!  Floggings!  Walking the plank!  Treasure and maps to said treasure.  Did I mention sword fights?

 

 4.  If you were going to play a pirate on the stage or screen, what would your costume look like?

 

Any of Morgan Adam's outfits.  I love her costumes and I covet those boots.

 

5.  What pirate ship would you like to serve on?

 

The Morning Star, Morgan Adam's ship in Cutthroat Island.

 

6.  Any favorite sea shanties or pirate songs?

 

Many!   I particularly love "A Rovin'" and "Early in the Morning," which is the Drunken Sailor song.  Also, of course, Yo Ho Yo Ho a Pirate's Life for me!

 

7.  Have you ever participated in International Talk Like a Pirate Day?

 

Passingly, with a quick arrrr if somebody reminds me of what day it is.

 

8.  Would you like to go sailing on a real tall ship?

 

Only if I was shanghaied.  And I would jump ship in Tahiti or somewhere in the South Pacific first chance I got.  Submarines are my thing.  Not overly fond of being on top of the waves.

 

9.  Have you ever learned anything about real pirates, or do you tend to stick to the fictional kind?

 

Yes.  I'll stick with the fictional ones, thank you.

 

10.  Why is the rum gone?

Silver drank it all.

 

2020 - Favorite Films

I thought I'd send 2020 on its way with a list of the 5 new-to-me movies I most enjoyed last year.  Interestingly, these are all new movies.  That's rather unusual. I watched a fair amount of classic movies last year, but none grabbed me.

5. Terminator: Dark Fate

I'd wanted to see this one when it came out, but just never had a chance to make it to the theater.  I watched it on Amazon Prime and loved it.  Yes, its plot is basically Terminator all over again, but that didn't bother me.  This movie is a direct sequel to Terminator 2, disregarding all those other movies, and I loved that.  It came back to the characters and situations I loved about the first two movies.  Having Linda Hamilton back was awesome.  She rocked.  So did Arnold.  But most of all, I have discovered Mackenzie Davis.  I adored her!  She was wonderful, and she made the movie for me.

4. Frozen 2

One of the very few movies I saw in the theater last year, when it came to the discount theater.  No one in my family liked this one but me.  They love the first movie.  I had the opposite reaction.  I like the first one, but don't love it.  This is the one that spoke to me and really hit my sweet spot points.  I loved the songs more, I loved the characters more, I loved the plot, the scenery, basically everything...  This one just works for me.  I can't say I was much of an Anna fan before, but here, her arc was amazing, and I was so happy with where she ended up.  

3. Onward

This Pixar movie was so much fun, not at all what the previews seemed to make it out to be about.  I loved all the characters, really related to the sibling relationship, and cried at the end.  This one goes up high on my personal favorites list of Pixar films.

2. 1917

Another of the few movies seen in the theater, and one I saw more than once in the theater.  I loved everything about this movie.  So well-done, so powerful, so moving, and the score is my favorite score I bought last year.  

1.  Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga

This movie is my favorite movie of last year, and I know, that seems absolutely crazy.  This is not a movie I suspect anyone who knows me would think I would watch, let alone love so much I've watched it multiple times.  It's my most re-watched movie last year.  Whenever I needed a pick-me-up, I put this on.  There are so many reasons this shouldn't have worked for me.  I'm not a Will Ferrell fan.  I'm not a modern music fan.  I'm not even a Rachel McAdams fan.  Nor a Pierce Brosnan fan.  But this movie is magic.  This movie is gold.  Are there a few moments of crude humor I could have done without?  Yeah... but they didn't detract enough to matter.  I loved Will Ferrell and loved Rachel McAdams.  They were perfect and wonderful together, and who thought I'd ever love Will Ferrell in anything?  The songs are great, and it was freaking WEEKS before I could get Ja Ja Ding Dong or Double Trouble out of my head.  Probably just mentioning them here is going to get them stuck all over again.  Biggest earworms of last year.  The movie was uplifting in just the way I needed in the middle of 2020, and I will continue revisiting this movie whenever I need something happy to watch.