January TV

I thought I might try (again) to blog each month about my reading but I have found that so far this year I have been watching more TV than reading.  This is partly because of ... the world.  It's been hard to concentrate with everything that is going on.  It's easier to plop in front of the TV and shut out the world for 2-3 hours a night.  And it is winter.  And there is a pandemic and I'm not going out.  So I've watched A LOT of television.  Movies and TV shows.  Old and new. 

Here's a summary:

Doctor Who 2021 New Years Special (BBC America/Itunes) What better way to start the New Year than with the Doctor.   And this had the benefit of having Captain Jack as a guest star.

Bridgerton (Netflix).   This is the new Shondaland Netflix series that dramatizes a romance novel series that has been around for a while.  I've never read the books but this was the perfect escapism TV to  start 2021.  It's Jane Austen with a lot of sex.   There is a bit of an an alternate reality to it, but I was OK with that.  It isn't deep but it is entertaining. 

 The Mandalorian Universe

    First, let's go back in time. I watched season 1 of The Mandalorian last summer and then watched season 2 when it aired last year. In between, when I heard that Boba Fett was probably going to make an appearance I realized that I remembered next to nothing about Boba Fett.  So starting last summer I started re-watching the Star Wars original trilogy (which I had seen multiple times).  That simply reminded me that Boba Fett had died (apparently) in the jaws of  ... something.  Then I decided to watch the prequel trilogy again (which I had only ever seen when it first came out).  It was just as annoying as I recalled but I had forgotten that Boba's dad was a part of the story (as well as young Boba).  So it was not time wasted. Then I decided I needed to watch some of the things I had never seen. So I watched the animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars (which I REALLY liked) and followed it up with the animated series Star Wars Rebels (which I liked even more).   I didn't have a lot of time to watch TV last fall but the animated series were perfect because the episodes were about 20 minutes long.  Finishing those took me up to the end of 2020.  This month, after Disney announced all the coming Star Wars series,  I decided to continue and watched the following (and then I re-watched The Mandalorian Seasons 1 and 2 and got much more out of them after finishing all this background viewing):

• Solo (Disney +). This was also a re-watch.  A lot of people didn't like this movie but I enjoyed it the first time I saw it and on this re-watch.  It was a decent heist movie.  Well acted.  If it had just been a heist movie set in the Star Wars Universe I think more people would have liked it.  But we didn't really need it a Han Solo prequel.  I still think that. 

•  Star Wars: Clone Wars the Movie. (Disney +).  I realized that before the animated series Clone Wars, there was an animated movie.  So when I watched this it was out of order because I had already watched the whole Clone Wars series.  But I wanted to watch everything with Ahsoka in it, in preparation for the upcoming series.  It wasn't as good as the Clone Wars series, but I'm glad I watched it. 

• The Force Awakens (Disney +).  This was a rewatch.   The sequels take place after The Mandalorian time period but I thought I would re-watch them.  But I only made it through this first one.  I saw this twice when it first came out.  I enjoyed it again.  

Zoe’s Extraordinary Playlist (Hulu)   I've been watching Season 2 as the episodes roll out. I watched Season 1 last year thinking that it would be a nice break from real life.  I love musicals.  It was one of the few shows I watched in real time last year.  I did not expect that the season would end with the grief of Zoe losing a parent (which hit close to home).   This season is showing Zoe working through grief. At first I wondered if I really wanted to watch this.  But I am.   And I am enjoying it.  

The Orville (Hulu).  On the recommendation of a friend I started watching this last year.  I'm still working through Season 1.  It's going slow, not because I don't like it, but because it just isn't my first choice.  I'll continue to slowly watch it. 

Enola Holmes (Netflix).  This was a made for Netflix movie about the younger sister of Sherlock. Entertaining. I would watch a sequel if they made it.

The Crown Season Four (Netflix).   I didn't have time to watch this last year when it first came out.  But I finally got to it.  It covers the Thatcher and Diana years. I liked it better than last year's. 

One Night in Miami (Amazon).  A made for Amazon film that was very good.  The casting was perfect and the direction was perfect.  I remember the reviews of the stage play and wanted to see how it would translate to film.  

Miss Scarlett and the Duke (PBS).  This is the January weekly PBS Masterpiece Mystery series.  Miss Scarlett has to prove herself as a detective because she is a woman.  

All Creatures Great and Small (PBS).  This is the Masterpiece January series.  A re-make of the original, which I don't remember seeing.  On the one hand, this is comfort TV viewing.  I can feel my blood pressure lower as I watch it.  On the other hand, it makes me miss my mom because she was looking forward to watching this. 

Good Omens (Amazon).   This has been on my list to watch since it was released.  I'm a big David Tenant fan.  It was about 2 episodes too long.  But in general I enjoyed it. 

The Expanse (Amazon).  I have been watching Season 4 slowly.  I don't usually see them the week they are released but I'm never more than a week behind.  Sometimes I have a hard time getting myself to watch because this season is full of trauma (more than usual).  But it is a Series I've been watching from the beginning and enjoying. 

Brockmire (Hulu).  I finished season 2 in January.   I like it because it's about baseball and each episode is short.  

Lupin (Netflix).  This is a French series on Netflix that I am watching with sub-titles.  I've only seen the first two (of 5) episodes.  It's smart and full of twists.

WandaVision UNiverse (Disney+).  I have been watching WandaVision as it is released weekly.   But I realized before it started that it would probably make more sense to me if I had a better knowledge of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.  I had seen all of the Avengers films so I knew who Wanda and the Vision were, but I knew I was missing a lot of details.  I've seen many of the Marvel films but none of the first ones.  So I've been catching up.  Here's what I've watched:

• Iron Man (Disney+)
• Iron Man 2 (Disney +)
• Thor (Disney+)
•  Captain America the First Avenger (Disney+)
• The Avengers (Disney+)  This was a re-watch.  It was the first Marvel film that I saw and I saw it when it first came out.  I didn't remember it completely and wanted to refresh my memory. 
• Captain Marvel (Disney).  I watched this after I saw Episode 4 because I wanted to know who Monica Rambeau is. 

That's it for January.  Hopefully, I will be able to get more into reading in February as the world calms down.