Notable 2021 films I haven’t seen yet: Triangle of Sadness, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, All Quiet on the Western Front, Decision to Leave, RRR, After Yang, Marcel the Shell with Shoes On, Babylon, Broker, Armageddon Time, Women Talking, Turning Red, Crimes of the Future, Fresh, Lightyear, Resurrection, EO
My TOP FIVE Documentaries/Docu-Series of 2022
Uh. I don’t think I watched a single 2022 documentary. Yikes.
Notable 2021 Documentaries I haven’t seen: All of them
2022 Movie Stats
Films watched: 104 (considerably down from 244 in 2021)
Average per month: 8.7
Average per week: 2
Most movies watched in one week: 9
Movies I watched twice: The Batman, Terrifier 2, Scream (2022), Halloween Ends, A Star is Born (2018), Top Gun: Maverick
Most watched genres: Drama (40 films), Horror (32), Thriller (28), Comedy (21), Mystery (17)
2021 releases: 46.2% Older: 53.8%
First-time watches: 74% Re-watches: 26%
10/10 Ratings: Whiplash
2022 – Most Watched Actors:
5 films: Courtney Cox, David Arquette, Roger Jackson, Neve Campbell (all Scream)
4 films: Liev Schreiber (Scream), Jamie Lee Curtis (Halloween), Bradley Cooper (random)
3 films: Christoph Waltz, John Turturro, Kyle Richards, Nick Castle, Ashley Laurence, Willem Dafoe, Peter Sarsgaard, Jamie Kennedy, Doug Bradley, Cate Blanchett, Jenny Slate, Naomie Harris, Jeffrey Wright
2022 – Most Watched Directors:
4 films: Wes Craven
3 films: David Gordon Green
2 films: Sam Levinson, Jaume Collet-Serra, Tobe Hooper, Baz Luhrmann, Guillermo del Toro, Ti West
All-Time – Most Watched Actors:
Samuel L. Jackson (44 films) [1]
Tom Hanks (34) [4]
Brad Pitt (34) [2]
Robert De Niro (33) [3]
Matt Damon (32) [5]
John Goodman (31) [t-6]
Morgan Freeman (29) [t-6]
Bruce Willis (29) [8]
Willem Dafoe (28) [t-16]
Woody Harrelson (28) [t-10]
Jonah Hill (28) [t-10]
Jack Black (28) [t-10]
J.K. Simmons (28) [t-10]
Bill Murray (26) [t-19]
Johnny Depp (26) [9]
Tom Cruise (26) [t-10]
Philip Seymour Hoffman (25) [t-19]
Ben Affleck (25) [t-16]
Jon Favreau (25) [unranked]
Scarlett Johansson (25) [unranked]
Dropped Out: Robert Downey Jr., Arnold Schwarzenegger
Notes: The biggest changes in these rankings happened because Letterboxd removed appearances in documentaries from actors filmographies, so a number of actors on this list lost a movie or two from their stats. Otherwise, I generally don’t focus on any one actor’s filmography so any movement here in the future will probably be pretty random.
All-Time – Most Watched Directors:
Steve Spielberg (21 films) [previously ranked 1]
Martin Scorsese (20) [2]
Ridley Scott (16) [3]
Tim Burton (14) [4]
Sam Raimi (13) [5]
Ron Howard (12) [6]
Quentin Tarantino (12) [7]
Joel Coen (12) [11]
Ivan Reitman (11) [8]
David Fincher (11) [8]
Christopher Nolan (11) [8]
Steven Soderbergh (10) [13]
Michael Bay (10) [12]
Robert Rodriguez (10) [12]
Robert Zemeckis (10) [22]
Jon Turteltaub (9) [15]
Stephen Herek (9) [15]
Wes Craven (9) [15]
Joel Schumacher (9) [unranked]
Peter Farrelly (9) [15]
Jay Roach (9) [15]
James Mangold (9) [15]
Richard Donner (9) [15]
Notes: I didn’t watch more than two new films from any director last year and none of them are on this list.
2022 Best Feature Films: My top 25 of 2022 through March 2023 2021 Best Feature Films: My top 25 of 2021 through March 2023 2020 Best Feature Films: My top 25 of 2020 through March 2023 Focused Watchlist: A list of 30+ movies that are at the top of my watchlist with a breakdown of how I formulate my picks
I also went crazy and made a best films of the year list for every year from 2020 to 1982, the year I was born. I ranked 25 films for 2000 and later and 10 films for 1999 to 1982. I started fizzling out on my lists in the early 90s as I just haven’t seen most of the important films from those early years when I was a kid. I have all the lists on my blog here. Enjoy!
I also went crazy and made a best films of the year list for every year from 2020 to 1982, the year I was born. I ranked 25 films for 2000 and later and 10 films for 1999 to 1982. I started fizzling out on my lists in the early 90s as I just haven’t seen most of the important films from those early years when I was a kid. I have all the lists on my blog here. Enjoy!
T.V. Shows (Ratings out of 5)
Finished:
Chucky season 1 (2021, USA/SyFy)
Euphoria: F*ck Anyone Who’s Not a Sea Blob (2021, Special Episode, HBO Max)
Euphoria: Trouble Don’t Last Always (2020, Special Episode, HBO Max)
Notable 2021 films I haven’t seen yet: Licorice Pizza, C’mon C’mon, Belfast, The Worst Person in the World, Mass, West Side Story, Red Rocket, The Lost Daughter, The Card Counter, Spencer, The French Dispatch, King Richard, In The Heights, Nightmare Alley, No Time to Die, Swan Song
My TOP FIVE Documentaries/Docu-Series of 2021
The Alpinist (Netflix)
Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little Blurry (Apple TV+)
Summer of Soul (Hulu)
Val (Amazon Prime)
Allen v. Farrow (HBO Max)
Notable 2021 Documentaries I haven’t seen: The Beatles: Get Back, Flee, The Rescue, Street Gang: How We Got To Sesame Street, Tina, Tiger, The History of the Atlanta Falcons, The Velvet Underground, The Sparks Brothers
2021 Movie Stats
Films watched: 244 (including shorts and eligible T.V. series (i.e. Loki, Mare of Easttown, etc.)
Average per month: 20.3
Average per week: 4.7
Most movies watched in one week: 13
Movies I watched twice: Halloween Kills, Minari, The Father, Shiva Baby, Promising Young Woman, Dick Johnson is Dead
Most watched genres: Drama (101 films), Horror (61), Thriller (61), Comedy (46), Action (34)
2021 releases: 29.5% Older: 70.5%
First-time watches: 74.6% Re-watches: 25.4%
10/10 Ratings: Halloween, Terminator 2: Judgement Day, Jurassic Park, 12 Years a Slave
2021 – Most Watched Actors:
6 films: Corey Feldman (Friday the 13th franchise), Samuel L. Jackson (random)
5 films: Jamie Lee Curtis (Halloween franchise), Benedict Cumberbatch (random), Jesse Plemons (random), Carrie-Anne Moss (Matrix franchise), Bill Camp (random)
4 films: Robert De Niro (Scorsese), Keanu Reeves (Matrix), David Dastmalchian (random), Nick Castle (Halloween), Virginia Madsen (random), Benedict Wong (Marvel), Melora Walters (Paul Thomas Anderson), Kane Hodder (Friday the 13th), P.J. Soles (Halloween), Charles Scorsese (Scorsese), Darrell Britt-Gibson (Fear Street), Fred Hechinger (Fear Street), Olivia Scott Welch (Fear Street)
2021 – Most Watched Directors:
4 films: Martin Scorsese, Lana Wachowski
3 films: Paul Thomas Anderson, Leigh Janiak, Destin Daniel Cretton, Wes Anderson, Ridley Scott
2 films: Steve Miner, Sergio Leone, David Gordon Green, Garrett Bradley, Spike Lee, James Cameron, Chloe Zhao, Adam Wingard, Rob Zombie, Steve McQueen, David Lynch, Chris Palmer
All-Time – Most Watched Actors:
Samuel L. Jackson (44 films) [previously ranked 1]
Brad Pitt (36) [2]
Robert De Niro (35) [2]
Tom Hanks (33) [5]
Matt Damon (32) [6]
Morgan Freeman (31) [8]
John Goodman (31) [4]
Bruce Willis (29) [6]
Johnny Depp (28) [9]
Tom Cruise (27) [13]
Robert Downey Jr. (27) [13]
Woody Harrelson (27) [10]
Jonah Hill (27) [12]
Jack Black (27) [9]
J.K. Simmons (27) [13]
Arnold Schwarzenegger (26) [13]
Ben Affleck (26) [13]
Willem Dafoe (26) [unranked]
Phillip Seymour Hoffman (25) [unranked]
Bill Murray (25) [13]
Dropped out: Laurence Fishburne, Jon Favreau
All-Time – Most Watched Directors:
Steve Spielberg (21 films) [previously ranked 1]
Martin Scorsese (20) [2]
Ridley Scott (16) [4]
Tim Burton (14) [3]
Sam Raimi (12) [5]
Ron Howard (12) [5]
Quentin Tarantino (12) [5]
Ivan Reitman (11) [8]
David Fincher (11) [8]
Christopher Nolan (11) [8]
Joel Coen (11) [8]
Michael Bay (10) [12]
Robert Rodriguez (10) [12]
Steven Soderbergh (10) [12]
Jon Turteltaub (9) [15]
Stephen Herek (9) [15]
Wes Craven (9) [15]
Joel Schumacher (9) [unranked]
Peter Farrelly (9) [15]
Jay Roach (9) [15]
James Mangold (9) [15]
Robert Zemeckis (9) [15]
Richard Donner (9) [15]
Notes: Basically no movement here. I have multiple directors I’m focusing on right now, but Scorsese is the only one I watched more than three films from and only one of those wasn’t a re-watch. Ridley Scott is the only director in my all-time top 20 that I saw more than one new film from last year.
Every Movie I watched in November & December
Notes: This is the time of year I really start digging into the 2021 movies with Oscar chances, but this past month was kind of weird because of snow. I ended up cancelling multiple movie theater trips because we only have one 4WD vehicle and Dina was using it to go to work. Also, the vast majority of my film-watching is a solo adventure, but over the last ten days of 2021 Dina and I watched 14 movies together! She let me pick out two of them. Needless to say, my focused watchlist is now overflowing with 2021 movies I still need to see. The good news is I will have almost three full months to catch up on everything before the Oscars air on March 27th. Plenty of time!
I also went crazy and made a best films of the year list for every year from 2020 to 1982, the year I was born. I ranked 25 films for 2000 and later and 10 films for 1999 to 1982. I started fizzling out on my lists in the early 90s as I just haven’t seen most of the important films from those early years when I was a kid. I have all the lists on my blog here. Enjoy!
T.V. Shows (Ratings out of 5)
Finished:
Succession season 3 (2021, HBO) – 4/5
Curb Your Enthusiasm season 11 (2021, HBO) – 3.5/5
Better Call Saul season 5 (2020, FX) – 3.5/5
The Sex Lives of College Girls season 1 (2021, HBO) – 4/5
Below is a list of every movie I’ve watched over the last two months. I haven’t reviewed a movie since I’ve been in Vegas, but any film with a blue link is to a review I wrote for it.
Masterpieces – 10
Halloween (1978, re-watch, personal collection)
Amazing– 9
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly – (1966, re-watch, HBO Max)
I also went crazy and made a best films of the year list for every year from 2020 to 1982, the year I was born. I ranked 25 films for 2000 and later and 10 films for 1999 to 1982. I started fizzling out on my lists in the early 90s as I just haven’t seen most of the important films from those early years when I was a kid. I have all the lists on my blog here. Enjoy!
T.V. Shows (Ratings out of 5)
Finished:
The Sopranos season 1 (1999, HBO, re-watch) – 4.5/5
Ted Lasso season 2 (2021, Apple) – 3.5/5
Nine Perfect Strangers mini-series (2021, Hulu) – 3/5
Actively watching:
Chucky season 1 (2021, USA/SyFy)
Better Call Saul season 5 (2020, FX)
What We Do in the Shadows season 3 (2021, Hulu)
Curb Your Enthusiasm season 11 (2021, HBO)
Succession season 3 (2021, HBO)
Started but on indefinite pause:
The Sopranos season 2 (2000, HBO, re-watch)
What If…? season 1 (2021, Disney+)
Big Shots season 1 (2021, Disney+)
Loki season 1 (2021, Disney+)
Rick & Morty season 5 (2021, Adult Swim)
Music
I have listened to almost no new music the whole time I’ve been in Vegas.
I also went crazy and made a best films of the year list for every year from 2020 to 1982, the year I was born. I ranked 25 films for 2000 and later and 10 films for 1999 to 1982. I started fizzling out on my lists in the early 90s as I just haven’t seen most of the important films from those early years when I was a kid. I have all the lists on my blog here. Enjoy!
Movies – As I said in my last movie post, writing has become one of my bottom priorities and here we are three months since I last made a movie post. Oh well, here are the reviews and/or ratings for every movie I’ve seen over that time. I’ve been going to the theaters at least once a week and Dina has even jumped back on the movie theater going experience as we’ve started taking our niece and nephew to a movie every other weekend. This has been a pleasant surprise as I’ve been seeing movies in theaters mostly by myself for years now. I still seem to be reviewing only about 33% of the movies I watch. The best movie I watched that I’ve never seen was Captain Fantastic. It was just a complete joy to watch. I think it is still streaming on Netflix and if you happened to miss it like I did, it’s time to make up for that mistake. Also, I think horror fans should check out the Fear Street trilogy on Netflix. It’s based on the kids book series by R.L. Stine (which I never read — I was a “Goosebumps” kid though), but it’s actually a pretty hard-R experience. I admittedly did not like the first movie, but I always had my eyes on the second one anyway because it looked like an homage to 1980s campsite slasher flicks and that horror sub-genre will always have a special place in my heart. Of course, I enjoyed that one, but I was surprised to also like the third movie and I think the last entry makes the whole trilogy substantially more enjoyable as a whole. It almost made me want to re-watch the first one.
I also went crazy and made a best films of the year list for every year from 2020 to 1982, the year I was born. I ranked 25 films for 2000 and later and 10 films for 1999 to 1982. I started fizzling out on my lists in the early 90s as I just haven’t seen most of the important films from those early years when I was a kid. I have all the lists on my blog here. Enjoy!
T.V. Shows (Ratings out of 5)
Best Wishes, Warmest Regards: A Schitt’s Creek Farewell (2021, Netflix) – 3.5
I thought I was going to complete a bucket list project and watch every single film and short that was nominated for an Oscar this year. I basically went an entire year without being able to do my job, so it left me way more time to watch movies than I usually have. I kicked things into high gear starting in December and cranked out like 25-30 movies a month, but by the middle of April, I still had a handful of films I needed to watch and I wasn’t excited about any of them and poker and baseball started to dominate my time. On the eve of Oscar night, there are six films that were nominated that I haven’t seen. I did watch every international feature, documentary, and short though and that’s something I’ve definitely never done before. Below are my rankings and predictions for every category. I didn’t listen to any of the songs, so I left that category out and despite having a family member that works as an editor on big Hollywood movies Film Editing is the category I understand the least, so I left that off too. Enjoy!
Best Picture
Promising Young Woman
Minari
Sound of Metal
Nomadland
The Father
Judas and the Black Messiah
The Trial of the Chicago 7
Mank
Biggest Snub: Considering they can nominate as many as ten films for Best Pic, I think it’s crazy Soul didn’t a nomination. It was my third favorite movie of 2020 and such a feel good film, I can’t believe it’s not here. Also, I think it’s kind of strange that Thomas Vinterberg got a Best Director nomination but his Another Round didn’t get a Best Pic nom.
Prediction: I would be rather shocked if something other than Minari or Nomadland won. I think Nomadland is going to win, but Minari was a more enjoyable movie to me.
Best Actor
Anthony Hopkins, The Father
Chadwick Boseman, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Riz Ahmed, Sound of Metal
Gary Oldman, Mank
Steven Yeun, Minari
Biggest Snub: Delroy Lindo was so good in Da 5 Bloods that I thought he might have a decent chance at winning and he’s not even nominated. I’d rank him third on that list above.
Prediction: Chadwick Boseman has all the buzz and momentum, but Anthony Hopkins gave the performance of the year in The Father. While a posthumous Oscar would be really cool for Chadwick and his family — and he would be a deserving pick — I still think Sir Anthony gave a better performance.
Best Actress
Carey Mulligan, Promising Young Woman
Vanessa Kirby, Pieces of a Woman
Frances McDormand, Nomadland
Viola Davis, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Haven’t seen: Andra Day, The United States vs. Billie Holiday
Biggest Snub: There were a lot of really good performances from lead actresses last year, but I think the Academy mostly got it right. I thought Rosamund Pike absolutely made I Care A Lot and Zendaya really leveled up in Malcolm & Marie, but I’m not overly shocked neither of them are here.
Prediction: I believe Viola Davis is the favorite, but I think that’s ludicrous. Her screen time is rather limited and it’s not like she was Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs good. I’m rooting hard for Carey Mulligan here. She deserves it.
Best Director
Chloe Zhao, Nomadland
Lee Isaac Chung, Minari
Emerald Fennell, Promising Young Woman
David Fincher, Mank
Thomas Vinterberg, Another Round
Biggest Snub: I’ll say Shaka King because his movie got a Best Pic nom while Thomas Vinterberg’s movie did not.
Prediction: It would be a massive upset if anyone other than Chloe Zhao won.
Best Supporting Actor
Leslie Odom Jr., One Night in Miami…
Daniel Kaluuya, Judas and the Black Messiah
Sacha Baron Cohen, The Trial of the Chicago 7
Paul Raci, Sound of Metal
Lakeith Stanfield, Judas and the Black Messiah
Biggest Snub: It’s probably unfair that Lakeith Stanfield is eligible for this category. He was a lead actor in that movie (and so was Kaluuya probably). So he’s stealing someone’s spot and I’d suggest that someone should be Frank Langella in The Trial of the Chicago 7. He had me laughing that whole damn movie.
Prediction: This category is loaded, but Daniel Kaluuya has been sweeping awards season. Lock it up.
Best Supporting Actress
Yuh-Jung Youn, Minari
Amanda Seyfried, Mank
Maria Bakalova, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
Olivia Colman, The Father
Haven’t seen: Glenn Close, Hillbilly Elegy
Biggest Snub: No one really stands out, but Dominque Fishback in Judas and the Black Messiah is probably the best performance that didn’t get nominated.
Prediction: This category is loaded too. I wouldn’t be mad if any of the top four won, but my favorite performance of the bunch was definitely Yuh-Jung Youn. Anyone that can make you laugh consistently while speaking a language you don’t understand is doing something special. I think she has stolen the momentum away from Seyfried, whom I used to think was a lock.
Best Original Screenplay
Promising Young Woman
Minari
The Trial of the Chicago 7
Judas and the Black Messiah
Sound of Metal
Biggest Snub: Considering how wildly imaginative Soul was, it is crazy that it got snubbed.
Prediction: Sorkin is probably going to win for Chicago 7, but I think Emerald Fennell and Promising Young Woman are drawing live.
Best Adapted Screenplay
The Father
Nomadland
One Night in Miami…
Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
The White Tiger
Biggest Snub: Charlie Kaufman’s I’m Thinking of Ending Things was complete insanity. I’m not sure I liked the movie, but he unquestionably writes on a level that mere mortals are not capable of.
Prediction: Anthony Hopkins is legendary in The Father but Florian Zeller and Christopher Hampton gave him plenty to work with in a brilliant script. I don’t think the script is the best aspect of Nomadland but I actually think it might be the favorite in this category as well.
Best Animated Feature
Soul
Wolfwalkers
Onward
Over The Moon
Haven’t seen: A Shaun The Sheep Movie: Farmageddon
Biggest Snub: I’ve actually only seen the nominated films. I loved the first Croods movie so I’m a little surprised that its sequel got beat out by Over The Moon and Shaun The Sheep.
Prediction: Wolfwalkers was great, but Soul should have been a Best Pic nom and will win here easily.
Best Documentary Feature
My Octopus Teacher
Time
Collective
Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution
The Mole Agent
Biggest Snubs: Dick Johnson is Dead and Boys State feel like massive snubs. They’d both crack my top 5 easily.
Prediction: My Octopus Teacher blew my mind because its subject is so amazing and I think it’s unbelievably cool that they were able to catch that relationship between man and sea creature on film but… Collective and Time are far more poignant — one of those two are almost certainly going to win and I’ll say Time takes home the Oscar.
Best International Feature
Another Round
Quo Vadis, Aida?
Collective
Better Days
The Man Who Sold His Skin
Biggest Snub: There’s a Korean thriller I saw on Netflix named The Call. I loved it, but it has gotten basically zero attention anywhere that I’ve seen.
Prediction: Another Round feels like a lock, especially with that Best Director nomination, but Quo Vadis, Aida? was a great movie and should give the Danish submission a run for its money.
Best Cinematography
Nomadland
Mank
Judas and the Black Messiah
News of the World
The Trial of the Chicago 7
Biggest Snub: I don’t think I really liked Tenet much, but it was cool to look at, that’s for sure. Same with I’m Thinking of Ending Things.
Prediction: Nomadland is a virtual lock.
Best Production Design
Mank
News of the World
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Tenet
The Father
Biggest Snub: First Cow probably deserved an Oscar nomination for something and it’s production design was definitely great.
Prediction: Mank feels pretty safe here.
Best Costume Design
Emma
Mank
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Mulan
Haven’t seen: Pinocchio
Biggest Snub: Probably something I haven’t seen, but the guys in One Night in Miami… were looking pretty sharp.
Prediction: Wide open between the top 3, so I’ll go with my #1 in Emma.
Best Makeup and Hairstyling
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Emma.
Mank
Haven’t Seen: Hillbilly Elegy, Pinocchio
Biggest Snub: I can’t say I was a fan of Birds of Prey, but this is something it definitely did well.
Prediction: Well, I didn’t watch 40% of the nominees, but Ma Rainey seems to be a big favoite here.
Best Visual Effects
Tenet
The Midnight Sky
Love and Monsters
Mulan
Haven’t seen: The One and Only Ivan
Prediction: I was pretty mixed on Tenet but the visual effects were A+. This should be an easy win.
Best Original Score
Soul
Mank
Minari
News of the World
Da 5 Bloods
Biggest Snub: I liked the score for Nomadland enough to add the soundtrack to my library on Apple Music and use it for background noise while I meditate… so… I definitely thought it would crack Oscar’s top 5.
Prediction: Soul
Best Sound
Sound of Metal
Soul
News of the World
Mank
Haven’t seen: Greyhound
Biggest Snub: Definitely NOT Tenet.
Prediction: Sound of Metal not winning this category would be insanity.
Best Live Action Short
The Present
White Eye
Feeling Through
The Letter Room
Two Distant Strangers
Biggest Snub: Only saw these five.
Prediction: Before watching these, I thought The Letter Room probably had the best chance simply because Oscar Isaac was the star and it had some buzz, but as you can see above, it was far from my favorite of the noms. I think they were all pretty good and as much as I’d like to see Joey Bada$$ be part of an Oscar win (for Two Distant Strangers), The Present and White Eye are a notch above the competition here.
Best Documentary Short
A Love Song for Latasha
A Concerto is a Conversation
Colette
Do Not Split
Hunger Ward
Biggest Snub: I only saw one other documentary short and I’m fine with its lack of inclusion.
Prediction: This is the first time I’ve seen all five nominees in a shorts category and, honestly, I still have no clue. The only one of these I didn’t thoroughly enjoy was Hunger Ward (and it’s not like that didn’t cover heartbreaking ground). Prior to watching these, I was under the impression that A Concerto was the favorite, but I’ll be rooting for Latasha.
Best Animated Short
If Anything Happens I Love You
Opera
Burrow
Genius Loci
Yes-People
Prediction: I didn’t even enjoy the bottom two on the list and Burrow is at least one full notch below the top two. The visual of Opera was absolutely epic, but If Anything Happens I Love You is the most touching of this lot by a wide margin, plus it’s animation and music are high quality as well. Probably an easy win.
My jam of the moment and my mantra for December and 2020 is Kids See Ghosts’ (Kanye and Kid Cudi) “Reborn.”
I’m so, I’m so, re-born… I’m moving forward… keep moving forward… keep moving forward… ain’t no stress on me, Lord… I’m moving forward… keep moving forward… keep moving forward…
Yessir.
Welp, I didn’t get it done yesterday, but no surprise there. I needed to make about $1400 and when I made the decision to play 8/16 at Palace instead of traveling to play in a bigger game, I basically gave up on any chance of getting out of the hole. Granted, I’ve won $1400+ in 8/16 on multiple occasions but those are special sessions.
Basically, my deciding factor was I was on the fringe of qualifying for $15 food comps for the month of December and putting in a big session would basically lock that up for me. That can be a savings of like $150 to $200 a month, if not more.
I finished -$591 and that left me about -$2k for the month of November, good for my 6th worst month ever.
I ran salty yesterday and I’m not going to go over all the hands I lost in depth, but I did make two insane folds that I feel are worth mentioning.
First, I raised with AA and got 5- or 6-way action to a flop of J96 with two diamonds. A straight-forward player that trends tight, especially with his aggressive actions, led out into the field, I raised, and three players cold called behind me before the initial bettor 3-bet and everyone called.
My plan at this point is to get to showdown unless things get ugly. I don’t think I can limit the field by capping the flop and raising the turn isn’t appealing anymore either. I have the ace of diamonds in my hand so it’s not the end of the world if the flush gets there on the turn.
The turn is an offsuit 8 and when the big blind leads again, I think for a bit, and just muck it. This is exactly the kind of fold I talked about not making in my last post, but this spot is a bit different, as there are four opponents still in the hand, and a tight-passive player just lead into the field when the board texture straightened out quite a bit. I wasn’t 100% convinced that the bettor had me beat but I was pretty sure I was extremely unlikely to win this pot. I’m getting 13.5 to 1 so folding seems pretty bad.
I ran this hand by a couple friends and they absolutely hated my fold. I don’t disagree with them, but sometimes you have to trust your instincts. This board sucks for my hand and I have way too many opponents. I only saved one big bet though. Everyone else called and the button ended up raising the turn (a raise I definitely would have folded to) and had QT at showdown.
The other hand, I raised a series of limpers with AQdd from the small blind. I got a flop of A43 with two hearts and I decided to check since the field was large and I was hoping I could raise a bet from late position and limit the field. Instead, a tight-solid player bet from utg, someone called, a middle position player raised, I cold called the raise, unsure of my plan, and the utg player 3-bet and everyone called… until I folded… for one more small bet… with two bets out there already.
I can’t really explain this one. I think it comes down to history with the utg player and picking up on extreme strength in the way he was putting his bets in. Physical tells aren’t a strength of mine by any means, so whatever I picked up on was subconscious, but again, I trusted my instincts and the utg player ended up showing a set of 4s.
My friends hated that fold also.
🤷🏻♂️
Oh well. I’m looking forward to a rebound in December.
Some goals and things I’m looking forward to in December:
-spend serious time working on mental game strength
-book my trips to Cali for LAPC in February
-get back on track with diet, meditating, and lifting
-UW vs Gonzaga on Dec. 8th
-Movies: Uncut Gems, Little Women, … Rise of Skywalker?
-Streaming: Marriage Story, Killing Eve s2, Marvelous Mrs. Maisel s3, The Witcher
Captain Marvel (2019) – This was not one of Marvel’s stronger films. I really like Brie Larson, even in this movie, but she was pretty much the only shining point. It was sort of funny and mildly entertaining, but that’s about it. There is a lot of hoopla about this being a female-led superhero movie and while I’m all for diversity in films, it doesn’t mean that Captain Marvel is actually good. Marvel has some history of producing forgettable villains and this movie adds to that list. I can’t even remember the villain’s name or what they were trying to do. Pretty forgettable, but probably still worth watching if you’ve made it this far and plan on seeing Avengers: End Game later this month. 5/10 (Decent)
Leaving Neverland (2019) – I have been a staunch Michael Jackson supporter ever since I read his biography by J. Randy Taraborrelli back in 2013. I did some other digging on top of that and I came away from all that convinced that he was a misguided and naive Man-Child that was likely innocent of all the accusations against him. This documentary definitively changed my mind. There is just no way Michael Jackson is innocent. He sexually abused multiple little boys. I don’t see any reason to doubt that. The two men revealing their stories here are incredibly convincing and their motives for both hiding the truth for so long and for speaking out now make total sense to me. At this point, the testimony is overwhelming, the circumstances are undeniably questionable and always have been, and in 2019, there is no excuse for shielding a monster just because he’s one of the most iconic musicians of all-time. This is an absolute must watch, especially for anyone that still thinks Michael Jackson was an innocent dude. 8/10 (Must Watch)
How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World (2019) – I gave the first two movies a 7 and a 5, respectively, and this sequel was more in line with the quality of the second movie. Somewhat enjoyable, but mostly forgettable. 5/10 (Decent)
Alita: Battle Angel (2019) – Visually, this movie is pretty awesome, with some really good character design, and there were elements in place to make this a great underdog story, but it falls a little flat. There are some good action sequences and some fun highlights, but I wasn’t emotionally invested in the movie and I wanted to be. Rosa Salazar is fine in the lead role, but I thought a lot of the cast was phoning it in. Not that long ago, I considered Christoph Waltz for my top 5 actors list and I feel like it’s been a while since I’ve seen anything I’ve liked from him. Alita was a bit hokey and sort of bombed at the domestic box office, but I liked it enough that I’d at least watch a sequel. 5/10 (Decent)
First Reformed (2018) – This is one I’m pretty unsure about. Here’s what I know: it is powerful, Ethan Hawke is great in it, and it is a bit hard to swallow. Faith, terrorism, and mental illness are all big themes tackled in the movie and each one of those topics can be controversial, so there could definitely be some outrage while watching this one. First Reformed does a lot of things really well and I mostly enjoyed it quite a bit, even if I thought it all got a bit bizarre. I give it a recommendation, but with a warning that it could ruffle some feathers. 6/10 (Recommended)
Bird Box (2018) – Initially, I thought it was okay. I didn’t hate the experience of watching it, but the more I’ve thought about it, the more ridiculous I’ve realized this movie is. Basically, anyone that is saying Bird Box is awesome (and there are many) is either incredibly forgiving or very easy to please. This is a film that basically answers none of the questions it raises. It’s like if “Lost” only had one season… and that one season wasn’t good. Plus, Bird Box doesn’t make much sense. Apparently, some presence has arrived on earth that causes people to commit suicide if they look at it, but we never get any sort of idea what this presence looks like or where it comes from? Does that matter? Honestly, yes, I think so. Maybe a movie like A Quiet Place doesn’t answer some of these questions either, but at least it ratcheted the suspense and tension up by like a 100%. 3/10 (Bad)
Won’t You Be My Neighbor? (2018) – A wonderful documentary about the story of Fred Rogers, a man better known as Mister Rogers and for his show Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood. Fred Rogers was an incredible person and his level of genuine compassion for other people, and especially kids, is unmatched by any human I’m aware of. I’ve only seen two 2018 documentaries, but I’m surprised this didn’t get an Oscar nomination. If you were ever a fan of the man or the show, this is an obvious must watch. 8/10 (Must See)
The Wife (2018) – I thought this might be a must watch based on the strength of Glenn Close’s performance when it looked like she was a lock to win Best Actress, but Olivia Colman ended up winning, and deservedly so – she was better (and so was Lady Gaga). Still, Close is great in this movie, if not quite jaw-droppingly amazing. Unfortunately, while Close’s performance carries the film, it doesn’t elevate the movie to high levels of enjoyment. The story rubbed me the wrong way. Sure, maybe there are women out there that will stand by while their womanizing husband takes all the credit for their hard work and talent. And maybe they will do so for decades. Are we supposed to feel sorry or root for such a woman? Actually, there aren’t any likable people in this film. Close doesn’t get much support from the rest of her cast either. The guys that play the High Sparrow and Viserys Targarean on Game of Thrones combine forces to play the douchebag husband here and I couldn’t stand watching either of them on screen and not in the enjoyable way you can hate a character, like a Joffrey Baratheon or a Ramsey Bolton. This movie is basically one stellar performance away from being horrible. 3/10 (Bad)
The Invitation (2015) – Intense and enthralling, this was a very good slow burn thriller. Between this and last year’s Upgrade, Logan Marshall-Green has been the star of two awesome, but under-the-radar movies in the suspense/horror genre. 7/10 (Highly Enjoyable)
Director: Travis Knight (Kubo and the Two Strings) Starring: Hailee Steinfeld, Jorge Lendeborg Jr., John Cena
Because I’m an AMC A-List member now and watch a movie almost every week, I saw the trailer for Bumblebee what felt like a record amount of times over the past few months. I was sick of it, but I had to admit: it looked surprisingly decent. And then something insane happened: after seeing the trailer around ten times, I finally realized that Hailee Steinfeld was the star of the movie. An Oscar nominee at age 14 for her performance in True Grit, Steinfeld brings serious acting clout to a franchise that I stopped watching at least two films ago. She’s not unrecognizable in Bumblebee, but somehow I missed the fact that one of my favorite young actresses was on screen in front of me… multiple times. Needless to say, once I realized who the star was, a movie I was mildly interested in became a must watch.
Bumblebee was a lot of fun. It’s hands down the best film in the franchise since the original with Shia LeBeouf and I’d argue that it’s quite easily the best in the entire series so far. It certainly has substantially more heart than any Transformers movie I can remember.
Unsurprisingly, Hailee Steinfeld is fantastic. As charming and adorable as usual, her Charlie is an independent young woman that seems like an outcast as she’s reeling from the death of her father while her mother has already integrated another man and dad figure into the family. She’s a rare action movie star that we can actually empathize with and then root for. It’s another noteworthy performance from Steinfeld in a very impressive young career. Just imagine what a, say, Megan Fox would do with this role, and it’s easy to appreciate how gifted Hailee Steinfeld is.
The visual effects and sound in any Transformers movie are usually top notch and Bumblebee continues the trend of being spectacular in those departments. Altogether, the series has landed seven Oscar nominations for Visual Effects, Sound Mixing, and Sound Editing, so a return to the Oscars (the last two movies were shut out) in those categories would seem likely since the movie is actually good, but the shortlist for Best Visual Effects has been released and Bumblebee didn’t make the cut. If you liked the series enough to watch Transformers: The Last Knight, you shouldn’t be disappointed with the technical aspects of this movie.
The story in Bumblebee is actually good. I’ve already mentioned that Charlie is a character we can get behind as an audience and her bond with Bumblebee is reminiscent of what made movies like E.T. and The Iron Giant so special. The movie is also surprisingly funny, with one scene in particular (think high school revenge shenanigans) that had me laughing out loud as hard as I can remember during any 2018 release. John Cena also brings charm and humor to a role that could easily be a throwaway character and continues to be a surprising addition to any movie he’s cast in.
All in all, Bumblebee was a very satisfying experience. Transformers fans should love it and for those that have grown tired of the franchise, it is truly a breath of fresh air and by far the most pleasing film in the series. It gets a solid recommendation from me.
Replay Value: Definitely worth watching again.
Sequel Potential: The next Transformers movie will probably give us the level of suck we’ve grown accustomed to.
Oscar Potential: Having already been left off the Visual Effects shortlist, it’s probably unlikely Bumblebee will get consideration in the sound categories and has no shot at any other nominations.
The Bat Cave 