Well, It Was a Year
1) Injury solidarity and 'tis the season to gift friends.
2) I'm looking at episode 2 season 6 of The Great British Baking Show and they're talking about how hot it's going to be in the tent while the bakers are trying to make a chocolate dessert. And what catches my eye are the men with two layers of clothing including flannel on top and the fact that the co-host is wearing a sweater on top of a shirt! Why is everyone not in a T-shirt in the summer anyway, much less in a tent filled with ovens baking and hot lights for filming?
3) Some people may have already seen Stephen Colbert's tribute to LotR's 20th anniversary (which was very fun). However I was curious about what people think really is the #1 film trilogy? And by what criteria? (Through length alone, LotR was more like 4 movies).
4) It's rather sad that these things need to be spelled out as a 2022 resolution but it certainly lays out what the news media should have been doing all along for far more reasons than nationalist threats.
5) Decided to do the year in review meme with some alterations:
1. Your main fandom this year?
I would have to say Star Wars. The new SW canon content was not particularly great - The Bad Batch, Visions, and a somewhat mixed follow-up season of The Mandalorian. But these were the stories I was eager to dig into. I had already shifted into reading SW fic last year and I have really enjoyed a number of them this year.
2. Your favorite film watched this year?
I watched quite a lot of movies this year, in part because HBO Max was releasing them simultaneously at home, plus skipping around streaming services means picking up more stuff than I might otherwise. The one I was most looking forward to was Spiderman but I'm not going to the theater to see it, so that and Eternals will have to wait.
I had to look through my movies tag for this year to recall what I saw. I was pretty meh on a lot of it, but it did remind me of The Bankers. I can definitely recommend that one. I also recommended Those Who Want Me Dead which was a good action movie and Greyhound which was very suspenseful, and Judas and the Black Messiah which was both informative and powerful.
I was also reminded of the plays we saw at home which has rarely been a thing before, so I'd add an honorable mention to Cumberbatch's Hamlet which I was able to sit through and appreciate despite it being a play I've never liked yet seen several times. Also "All My Sons" with Sally Field, Colin Morgan etc. proved to be quite gripping.
3. Your favorite book read this year?
The Murderbot series by Martha Wells, hands down. Big recommend. The second good discovery of the year was the Inspector Lynley books. None of the three I've read so far has disappointed and I have 2 more waiting for me on the eReader.
4. Your favorite TV show of the year?
I watch so much TV I am sure I am forgetting something. Mike and I both enjoyed S1 of Ted Lasso but we've yet to see S2. Also really liked Staged but found S2 less engaging, especially after Ep 2 (we have 2 more to see). Various other things like the Dug shorts on Disney+, the Night on Earth documentary on Apple+ going through almost all of the Great British Baking Show. Mostly what I noticed is that this year we were watching a LOT of comedies. Not that I dislike comedies, but historically I have very few favorite comedies as I tend to be most engaged in dramas.
However one of those favorite comedies ended this year and went out strong - Brooklyn 99. I'll miss it but it had a very good run indeed.
5. Your best new fandom discovery of the year?
The Murderbot series.
6. Your biggest fandom disappointment?
The Nevers, probably. It wasn't hugely disappointing or anything, I thought it was fine. But given how long it was in production it failed to wow.
7. Your favorite video/online game?
Re: console games, I played various LEGO games that were new to me this year, but I think the one that most engaged me (despite some really difficult parts) was the original Lord of the Rings one. That made me break out the Wii again too.
I have continued to play a lot of games on Board Game Arena (over 100 different ones this year) and while I don't know if I could call it my favorite, one of the funniest games I've played this year was Sheep Boom Bah. One of the ones my playing group most liked was Splendor, so that might be a good choice.
8. Your TV girlfriend of the year?
I kept this one because I finally saw all of S3 of Killing Eve a few months ago and am so ready for S4. Can't wait to see where these girlfriends go next.
9. Your biggest squee moment of the year?
I can't say that anything made me really squee. I enjoyed a variety of things, there are things I want to see more of. But perhaps I should say one of the real pluses of the year was getting 2 free months of Apple+. Their original programming is small (they literally doubled the number this year) but I found it to be of high quality and even if some stuff didn't grab me I thought it was interesting to try out. So I'd recommend
10. The most missed of your old fandoms?
I'm still in all my old fandoms in some way. I mean, even Star Wars, although I wasn't in the fandom in any real way, I knew a fair amount about it because I was always interested. So my big new fandom this year was lurking all along.
I'd also say that Merlin remains a surprising mainstay. Even though I'm rather burned out on most of its fic, I keep stumbling across good works that end up in my rec lists. I read one just this past week, in fact.
11. The fandom you haven't tried yet, but want to?
Rather than fandom, I'm going to say "streaming service." I have not tried out Peacock but I also haven't had any compelling reason to yet. I do want to sign up to a month or so of Amazon in January or February, both to see The Expanse and also a number of other movies and miniseries that I haven't had access to this year.
View poll: Kudos Footer-334
Comments at Dreamwidth
.
2) I'm looking at episode 2 season 6 of The Great British Baking Show and they're talking about how hot it's going to be in the tent while the bakers are trying to make a chocolate dessert. And what catches my eye are the men with two layers of clothing including flannel on top and the fact that the co-host is wearing a sweater on top of a shirt! Why is everyone not in a T-shirt in the summer anyway, much less in a tent filled with ovens baking and hot lights for filming?
3) Some people may have already seen Stephen Colbert's tribute to LotR's 20th anniversary (which was very fun). However I was curious about what people think really is the #1 film trilogy? And by what criteria? (Through length alone, LotR was more like 4 movies).
4) It's rather sad that these things need to be spelled out as a 2022 resolution but it certainly lays out what the news media should have been doing all along for far more reasons than nationalist threats.
5) Decided to do the year in review meme with some alterations:
1. Your main fandom this year?
I would have to say Star Wars. The new SW canon content was not particularly great - The Bad Batch, Visions, and a somewhat mixed follow-up season of The Mandalorian. But these were the stories I was eager to dig into. I had already shifted into reading SW fic last year and I have really enjoyed a number of them this year.
2. Your favorite film watched this year?
I watched quite a lot of movies this year, in part because HBO Max was releasing them simultaneously at home, plus skipping around streaming services means picking up more stuff than I might otherwise. The one I was most looking forward to was Spiderman but I'm not going to the theater to see it, so that and Eternals will have to wait.
I had to look through my movies tag for this year to recall what I saw. I was pretty meh on a lot of it, but it did remind me of The Bankers. I can definitely recommend that one. I also recommended Those Who Want Me Dead which was a good action movie and Greyhound which was very suspenseful, and Judas and the Black Messiah which was both informative and powerful.
I was also reminded of the plays we saw at home which has rarely been a thing before, so I'd add an honorable mention to Cumberbatch's Hamlet which I was able to sit through and appreciate despite it being a play I've never liked yet seen several times. Also "All My Sons" with Sally Field, Colin Morgan etc. proved to be quite gripping.
3. Your favorite book read this year?
The Murderbot series by Martha Wells, hands down. Big recommend. The second good discovery of the year was the Inspector Lynley books. None of the three I've read so far has disappointed and I have 2 more waiting for me on the eReader.
4. Your favorite TV show of the year?
I watch so much TV I am sure I am forgetting something. Mike and I both enjoyed S1 of Ted Lasso but we've yet to see S2. Also really liked Staged but found S2 less engaging, especially after Ep 2 (we have 2 more to see). Various other things like the Dug shorts on Disney+, the Night on Earth documentary on Apple+ going through almost all of the Great British Baking Show. Mostly what I noticed is that this year we were watching a LOT of comedies. Not that I dislike comedies, but historically I have very few favorite comedies as I tend to be most engaged in dramas.
However one of those favorite comedies ended this year and went out strong - Brooklyn 99. I'll miss it but it had a very good run indeed.
5. Your best new fandom discovery of the year?
The Murderbot series.
6. Your biggest fandom disappointment?
The Nevers, probably. It wasn't hugely disappointing or anything, I thought it was fine. But given how long it was in production it failed to wow.
7. Your favorite video/online game?
Re: console games, I played various LEGO games that were new to me this year, but I think the one that most engaged me (despite some really difficult parts) was the original Lord of the Rings one. That made me break out the Wii again too.
I have continued to play a lot of games on Board Game Arena (over 100 different ones this year) and while I don't know if I could call it my favorite, one of the funniest games I've played this year was Sheep Boom Bah. One of the ones my playing group most liked was Splendor, so that might be a good choice.
8. Your TV girlfriend of the year?
I kept this one because I finally saw all of S3 of Killing Eve a few months ago and am so ready for S4. Can't wait to see where these girlfriends go next.
9. Your biggest squee moment of the year?
I can't say that anything made me really squee. I enjoyed a variety of things, there are things I want to see more of. But perhaps I should say one of the real pluses of the year was getting 2 free months of Apple+. Their original programming is small (they literally doubled the number this year) but I found it to be of high quality and even if some stuff didn't grab me I thought it was interesting to try out. So I'd recommend
10. The most missed of your old fandoms?
I'm still in all my old fandoms in some way. I mean, even Star Wars, although I wasn't in the fandom in any real way, I knew a fair amount about it because I was always interested. So my big new fandom this year was lurking all along.
I'd also say that Merlin remains a surprising mainstay. Even though I'm rather burned out on most of its fic, I keep stumbling across good works that end up in my rec lists. I read one just this past week, in fact.
11. The fandom you haven't tried yet, but want to?
Rather than fandom, I'm going to say "streaming service." I have not tried out Peacock but I also haven't had any compelling reason to yet. I do want to sign up to a month or so of Amazon in January or February, both to see The Expanse and also a number of other movies and miniseries that I haven't had access to this year.
View poll: Kudos Footer-334
Comments at Dreamwidth
.