#rewatched the xmas special last night and like

[macgirlism]

Any time charlie and mac being childhood friends gets referenced or shown in literally any way, it’s like walking on the surface of the sun,, so bright and warm but also i will disintegrate immediately

[saftasming]

My thoughts on Ben 10 or “Why Abi didn’t go to bed at her usual time last night because she was consumed by Ben Tennyson feels.”

Ben 10: I seem to remember HATING this show when it first came on air and the reason why was because my precious Teen Titans was now over and was being replaced by some annoying 10 year old kid who I wanted slap every time he came on screen. I caught one or two episodes when they were on and I guess they were okay??? But Ben and his Grandpa were very urrrgh. Gwen and Charmcaster were probably the only reason I was interested in the show at the time because I love female sidekick characters (and redheads) and I thought Charmcaster was pretty interesting because at the time all we knew was that she and her uncle were funky magic users which pulled me in.

There are a few episodes that weird me the hell out though...Like IDEK. - THE CHRISTMAS ELF EPISODE. WHAT THE SHIT. KIDS WERE BEING TURNED INTO XMAS ELVES?! - The one where Ben gets stuck in his own nightmares or some shit and there are some pretty weird scenes like...WEDGIES AND SNAILS OR SOME SHIT, IT WAS DISTURBING AND KIND OF GROSS BUT IT WORKED BECAUSE I’M PRETTY SURE AS A 10 YEAR OLD I HAD SOME WEIRD ASS DREAMS LIKE THIS AT SOME POINT SO THESE ARE ALL VALID TERRIFYING FEARS. - The Sumo Slammers ep...I guess it was an okay premise but it wasn’t something I was interested in seeing Ben and Gwen getting themselves into. I remember doing a rewatch some years later mostly because it aired stupidly early when I was getting for work and I started to appreciate it a little more. Ben was still an insufferable little asshole though. “My big fat alien wedding” is probably my favorite episode though. It’s alot of fun, okay? Until I do another rewatch and find another episode that fills me with fun fuzzy glee as that one did it’s at the top of my favorites. ALSO WTF I SUDDENLY REMEMBERED THE EPISODE WHERE MAX WAS A FULL ON DOUCHE BAG BUT WHEN ISN’T HE ONE, TBH? ...Wait so how many alien GF’s did Max have because youtube keeps sending me B10 recs and I had honestly forgot about that one alien chick who turned up and Ben was super jealous and rude to her for whatever goddamned reason other than being a brat. Ben 10 : Alien Force YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. So I honestly forgot what pulled me into watching this other than “Oh fucking finally teenagers fighting space crime and super villains.” It was honestly the kind of shit I really missed watching. And I think overall it really did remind me of The Roswell Chronicles or whatever that show was called that I used to be all over because there was the same kind of vibe. Darker storylines and interesting plot twist/reveals were definitely more my thing so I was more into this. Also Beastboy and Terra were back in my life...sort of? So it was nice having familiar voices back on my TV set.

And my gosh we got ALOT of stuff that I was totally into. (SPACE DRAGONS YOU GUYS. WE HAD AN EPISODE ABOUT COOL MAP MAKING DRAGONS IN SPACE AND I’M SO SALTY WE NEVER GOT TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THEM IN LATER EPISODES.) Also we had the introduction of one of my best girls from B10 and I’m still kind of sad Julie and Ben later split up because out of all the girls Ben was with Julie was one of my faves. (Esther and Eunice are my other two and good lord.) Ben 10: Ultimate Alien: Okay so it’s a continuation of Alien Force but with more alien forms I guess? Also I feel like I missed ALOT of UA somehow. Like we had some weird Cthululu BS going on with Vilgax which I barely remember other than Julie ended up joining some weird cult. Then didn’t Kevin go evil again at some point?

ALSO APPARENTLY THERE WAS AN EP ABOUT THAT FILM STAR IN A CREEPY RELATIONSHIP WITH A VILLAIN AND THERE WAS SOME KIND OF STOCKHELM SYNDROME BS GOING ON? I don’t think that episode aired over here in the UK though I never caught it if it did air. (Then again CN went through a phase of airing Ben 10 stuff whilst I was at work at this point so I think I missed out on alot.)

Ben 10 Omniverse: I can’t remember my initial thoughts on this show at first.. It was kind of a mess because I was confused as to why we had a teen Ben and a younger Ben in the same show and didn’t really want to try and understand what was going on. ALSO THERE’S A LEGO ALIEN WTF. Obviously later I learned that  most of the times we saw younger Ben were through flashbacks or weird crack happening BUUUUUT After all these years we got Ben 10 doing Teen Titans esque shit and it’s probably my favorite series out of all of them because of how light-hearted and fun it was and at the same time exciting and thrilling all at once! And my gosh, so many new characters to love too. (NGL Blukic and Driba cracked me up so so so much.)

Highlights included more well rounded female characters joining the cast. ROOK BLONKO IS A BLESSING AND IS THE BEST ALIEN CINNAMON ROLL EVER. Hey guys, Remember Secret Saturdays? No? WELL YOU FUCKING SHOULD CAUSE THERE WAS A CROSSOVER EPISODE THAT WAS GREAT. (Though Ben’s crush on Zack’s mom was weird.) TBF Omniverse had ALOT of weird episodes but it worked in the show’s setting and I honestly didn’t mind. (Though the one that makes me cringe the most was the frigging game show one and that one was written by Yuri Lowenthal himself so IDK. It might have been nice to see him write one or two other episdes to see if he had any other interesting ideas he wanted to inplement in the show but it never happened or at least I don’t think it did.

Ben 10 (2017 reboot): I can’t decide if I like this show or not because on one hand we get annoying 10 year old Ben again. But on the other there’s alot of humor I’ve sniggered at on the episodes I have managed to watch on TV.

Not sure why they needed to do the whole Ben/Gwen bodyswap episode again but eh. (ALSO MORE DRAGONS. Okay just the one dragon but that was a fun episode.) Ben 10/Generator Rex crossover WE SHOULD HAVE HAD MORE. I wanted Rex to come to Bellwood. I wanted Six drinking smoothies with Doc Holiday and more stuff. This was one of those crossovers that needed to happen and it did like aaagh it was SooOooOoooOOOo great. Also Gen Rex was a good show and even though I didn’t see much of it I can appreciate kickbutt plotlines and stuff when they happened. (I think if I remember rightly I was pretty miffed B10 was taken off air for a little while and Gen Rex replaced it. BUT LOOK WHERE WE ARE NOW.)

I think there’s some other canon I’ve missed off this list such as the live action movies and some of the longer animated specials/movies. Secret of the Omnitrix I’d quite like to sit through because we get more Azmuth backstory apparently and @cybra-sensei has opened my eyes to the awesomeness that is this grumpy little space frog.

[birdlord]

What I Watched in 2016

Here are the movies and TV series I watched in 2016, some with commentary and some without. The number after the movies is the date of release, my faves are bolded, and rewatches are marked with as asterisk. Last year’s list!

01 Do I Sound Gay (14)

02 We are The Best! (13)

03 Hateful Eight (15)

04 Welcome to Me (14)

05 For Your Eyes Only (81) - I listened to a lot of back episodes of the James Bonding podcast early this year, which of course led to watching a bunch of Bond movies. Not all, and not in order, certainly.

06 She’s the One (96)

07 * Diamonds are Forever (71)

08 It’s Complicated (09) - I think it was an article about the kitchen design in this movie that led me to watch it?

09 The Natural (84)

10 * Anna Karenina (12) - Never having read the book I can’t REALLY speak to this movie but haha I kinda love its commitment to artifice. 

11 About Time (13)

12 What We Do in the Shadows (14) - I did enjoy this, but wasn’t as taken by it as I thought I might be. Found the werewolves the funniest by far, so I wish they’d turned up more often. 

13 The Abominable Bride (15) - counting this as a movie, it was the Sherlock xmas special and I recall exactly zero about it, so…..must have been amazing, right?

14 Wake in Fright (71) - Never Go To Australia 

15 Hail Caesar (16) - I think I’d have to see it again to determine if the whole thing actually holds together, but at the time, it felt of a piece with the Coen’s cheerier output. 

16 In the Heart of the Sea (15)

17 The Night of the Comet (84)

18 Laggies (14)

19 * Bowling for Columbine (02)

20 A Gentleman’s Agreement (47) - confessional, experiential journalism, but done by Cary Grant in the 40s. Ahead of his time/gender?

21 Barefoot in the Park (67)

22 Suddenly Last Summer (59)

23 Tangerine (15)

24 * His Girl Friday (40)

25 That Touch of Mink (62)

26 * Charlie’s Angels (00)

27 9-5 (80) - Holy shit, somehow I thought this movie was just a rah-rah, girl power story about a bunch of secretaries getting together and overthrowing their boss and yeah, that’s SORT OF it but it gets way way weirder in the final third.

28 * Who Framed Roger Rabbit (88)

29 * The Addams Family (91)

30 * Addams Family Values (93)

31 Frida (02)

32 Bridge of Spies (15) - A E I O U and sometimes SPIES :O

33 Swimming With Sharks (94)

34 Sleeping With the Enemy (91)

35 Fatal Attraction (87) - Watched this movie and the previous one as part of an 80s/90s thriller weekend. These two are an interesting contrast to one another, being as the first is about an abusive husband and the second focuses on the most notable example of the “crazy ex-girlfriend”.

36 1 Cloverfield Lane (16)

37 The Man Who Never Was (56)

38 * To Die For (95) - This was a super fave of Teen Emily, who definitely identified with the Lydia character. Watching this time was a huge reminder than Illeana Douglas is a goddamn national treasure.

39 Trouble In Paradise (32)

40 Eraser (96)

41 * Flashdance (83)

42 * Notting Hill (99)

43 Gone to Earth (50) - Not the best Powell and Pressburger out there, but one takes what one can get, right?

44 Holiday Camp (47)

45 Never Sleep Again (10) - This is a four-hour doc about the entire Nightmare on Elm St series, and is the reason I watched Freddy’s Revenge a couple of movies down the list. It’s not a series that I have a particular attachment to, so I learned a ton.

46 Clouds of Sils Maria (15)

47 Mommie Dearest (81) - I’m not sure that I have enough appreciation for high camp to really get into this. There were some moments, but overall it’s a fine example of the kind of thing that is Not For Me.

48 Nightmare on Elm St: Freddy’s Revenge (85)

49 Inside Man (06)

50 Trainwreck (15)

51 White God (14)

52 * Sleepwalk With Me (12)

53 Amy (15)

54 * Meatballs (79)

55 Everybody Wants Some!! (16) - I found this a huge disappointment, and I’ve been a bit mystified by its positive reviews and inclusion on critics’ end of year lists. While D&C definitely has a “main character”, and we do follow him and his friends, other people and subsets of the high school are given serious time and consideration. Ultimately, I don’t think following this one dude tripping through a bunch of different college subsets was as illuminating. Plus, weak jokes.

56 * Dazed & Confused (93) - had to cleanse the mind-palate by watching the original!

57 Summertime (55)

58 The Money Pit (86)

59 Zombeavers (14)

60 Mistress America (15) - I am finding Greta Gerwig more and more charming, the more I see of her. Greta, let’s be friends!

61 While We’re Young (14)

62 The Invitation (16) - quite effective, very upper-middle-class bohemian LA horror film. I’ve heard some complaints about the final scene, but I thought it was an effective & clever way to show an expanding scope without an extra expense or sets.

63 End of Days (99)

64 Escape From New York (81)

65 Escape from L.A. (96) - Watched these two together, on the same night. They definitely should NOT be watched that way, given how identical the plots are. Unbelievably terrible ’96-era CGI in the second one, hard to believe that Jurassic Park was three years previous?? Gotta get that Spielberg money, am I right?

66 High Rise (16) - my only real disappointment in this movie was not being around to see the decline of the civilization - we jump straight from things being fine (if weird) and everything gone to heck. My favourite part is the decline, give me decline!

67 The Great Outdoors (88)

68 * Catch Me If You Can (02)

69 Little Darlings (80) - just your classic losing-virginity-at-camp story, but…wait for it….with GIRLS.

70 * Good Will Hunting (97)

71 Popstar (16) - diminishing returns, but some funny bits (mostly in the songs, not surprisingly). 

72 Tarzan (16) - watched this with friends and relatives, at a drive-in theatre a couple of days after my wedding! It’s NOT a good movie, but it was a fun time.

73 Love & Friendship (16) - got completely obsessed with Tom Bennett based on his 100% rate of scene-stealing in this film. Sevigny feels utterly out of place - am I capable of seeing her in a period piece set before, say, 1975 without feeling weird about it?

74 The Night Before (15)

75 Ghostbusters (16) - So I know I was supposed to be charmed by Kate McKinnon, but her schtick just doesn’t work on me, for whatever reason. I was also really frustrated by the final fight scene of this movie - it had obviously been hacked up in editing, and wtf is up with punching ghosts instead of containing them? I’m glad this movie happened, and certainly a great deal of the criticism it came in for was deeply unfair, but it was distinctly disappointing to find that this movie just wasn’t that great.

76 Brooklyn (15)

77 Poltergeist (82)

78 * Before Sunrise (95)

79 Love & Basketball (00) - Effusive praise for this movie somehow came to my attention from all over the place this year, so I finally had to watch it.

80 The Man Who Knew Too Much (56)

81 * Road House (89)

82 Carol (15) - watching this FINALLY allowed me to fully participate in Today’s Meme Culture

83 * Out of Sight (98)

84 Happy Texas (99)

85 Red Rock West (93)

86 Weiner Dog (15)

87 The Trouble With Harry (55)

88 * When Harry Met Sally (89)

89 Jungle Fever (91)

90 Ocean’s 11 (01)

91 Star Trek Beyond (16)

92 Two For the Road (67)

93 * Seven Year Itch (55)

94 Maggie’s Plan (15) - like I said earlier about Greta Gerwig? I liked this one even more than Mistress.

95 The Dish (00)

96 Splash (84)

97 Desk Set (57) - watching this and the next were inspired by stumbling across a blog about depictions of librarians on film. I particularly hit on this one because I’ve always wanted to see a Hepburne/Tracy film, and never had (to my memory, anyhow).

98 Party Girl (95) - one of those movies I’d always noticed on the shelves at the video store, and never actually watched it.

99 * Young Frankenstein (74) - saw this in the theatre, Gene Wilder notwithstanding I…..don’t think it’s good. It’s only extremely intermittently funny, you guys! Plus, the Putting’ on the Ritz bit makes me uncomfortable (especially in audio-only form, which I heard TOO many times after Wilder died).

100 The House of the Devil (09)

101* The Witches of Eastwick (87)

102 The Borning (81)

103 * Shaun of the Dead (04)

104 Dolores Claiborne (95)

105 The Conjuring 2 (13)

106 In a Valley of Violence (16) - definitely watched this because I happened across an article about the movie’s dog star. 

107 The Witch (16) - very effective in getting across the supernatural, natural, and social dangers of early puritan America, and Black Philip has entered my idiolect for any creepy animal/person/twitter feed. 

108 * Wayne’s World (92)

109 What if (13) - riffs on When Harry Met Sally’s fundamental question of women and men being friends, and basically comes to the same conclusion. yawn.

110 The Martian (15) - I read the book as part of a book club last year, and finally got around to watching the film. Since I found the worst of the writing in the book to be those passages dealing with description, the movie was a lot less annoying to experience.

111 Sleepless in Seattle (93)

112 * Thelma & Louise (91)

113 Casino (95)

114 Other People (16) - wept several times. GOSH I love Jesse Plemons, he’s so hugely sympathetic. Would watch in virtually anything.

115 The Life & Death of Colonel Blimp (43)

116 Primary Colors (98)

117 Edge of Seventeen (16)

118 *Die Hard (88) - loaded up the laptop with this and the next four xmas-set movies, for watching on planes and in airports, while we were on the road at christmastime.

119 *Batman Returns (92)

120 *Scrooged (88)

121 * The Apartment (60)

Theatre - 5

Drive-in - 1

All the rest at home or at friends’ homes!

TV SERIES

*The Office US S2-3

War & Peace (2016) - you bet your BOOTS I started the book after watching this. Did I finish it? Not even close.

Love (2016)

Better Call Saul S2 - this is a show I enjoy while I’m watching it, but I don’t particularly find it memorable. Why? Who knows. It’s still something I look forward to, but not a show that sticks with me.

Great British Bake off *S1, *S2, S7 + Xmas Specials - a eulogy for Bake-Off as it was. Pour one (pint of double cream, that is) out for what once was.

Broad City S5

Travel Man S1, S2 - I find Richard Ayoade so desperately charming, but ever time I’ve watched one of the movies he’s directed, I’ve ended up disappointed. This show is a bit hit or miss, depending on the guests he brings along, and the episodes definitely have a sameness to them, but if you find this guy even a sliver as entertaining as I do, it’ll pull you along anyhow.

The Night Manager - so looking forward to Hugh Laurie’s upcoming career phase as Bond Villain.

Cooked

Newsradio S1-S3 - I’d seen an episode or two of this over the years but never sat down to fully appreciate it. It’s making me miss Phil Hartman all over again, a fresh devastation, plus haha did u know Tone Loc plays a security guard on this show? It’s all true.

Lady Dynamite

OJ Made In America - I’ll count this as a series, since I didn’t watch it in the theatre. Still haven’t seen the other big OJ series of 2016, but I loved loved LOVED this. What impressed me the most is that, in spite of its 7 hour+ running time there were still aspects of this story that could have been expanded upon.

Silicon Valley S3

* Veep S1, S2

Catastrophe S2

Pulling - went back in time to get more Sharon Horgan in my life, since Catastrophe seasons are terribly short and far-between. I’d been aware of this show for a long time, and somehow wasn’t expecting it to be as near-devastating as it ended up being. What, did I forget what a British show was like?

Another Period S2

Difficult People S1, S2 - Another late discovery, but a great one. A fine example of just giving some funny people a show, and letting them just do their thing on it every week.

Fleabag - yes, I’m in for this, obviously. And if I wasn’t, the show designed itself to put me off, from the first moments. A wise move!

One Mississippi

Very British Problems S1, S2

Atlanta - I’ve got a bad feeling that this show’s deserved success will lead to surreal elements being deployed, but much less deftly than they were here.

Please Like Me S1-S4 - Tore through this entire series greedily, am now suffering until they make another season. Balances some very harrowing elements with comedy and an ensemble cast of loveable/terrible humans.

Divorce - Sharon Horgan’s writing minus her acting is a hollow empty shell, but hey, I’ll take what I can get, when I can get it.

The Fall S3 - I’d decided last year after S2 that I was done with this show, and yet, here we are, I was drawn back in.

The Crown

Insecure