Movies and TV Shows 2018

In which I keep track of all the movies and television shows that I watch, new or old, during the year. This article will be updated throughout 2018.

Movies

The Hateful Eight (in progress)

I pretty much watch anything Quentin Tarantino makes. I’m only 15 minutes into this one so far but digging it.

Atomic Blonde (Tuesday, March 27th)

Not a bad movie but nothing special, either. Movie is based in the 80’s during the Reagan presidency and the events leading up to the teardown of the Berlin Wall. As an 80's movie, there were some great 80's songs in the soundtrack. I ended up watching the first 1/3 of the movie over again as I didn’t recall the code names of characters on picking up the movie again.

The most interesting part of the movie for me was how Charlize Theron’s character kept drinking Stoli on the rocks throughout the movie. I seem to remember Stoli being crap vodka but better vodkas probably weren’t widely available back then. In keeping with the movie, I started drinking the same about halfway through. Ah, the Cold War, those were the days!

The Shape of Water (Saturday, March 17th)

One of the big films of the year, I was entertained but not moved. I didn’t feel anything special about the story. I thought the sets and overall decor were awesome. I liked the original score. The actress who played the mute cleaning lady was fantastic. That’s about it. I will be hard-pressed to remember this movie a few years from now.

I, Tonya (Sunday, March 11th)

Allison Janney sure deserved her Best Supporting Actress win for her role as Tonya’s mother in this movie. I did not realize that Tonya Harding was, at one time, the very best female figure skater in the world. To this day, there are still only 7 other women who have landed the Triple Axel in competition — Tonya was the first American woman and first to land 2 triple axels in the same competition! The next American woman to land a triple axel didn’t do so until September 2017–26 years after Tonya!

When you watch Tonya’s actual performance that night, in the outfit she had to make herself because she couldn’t afford to buy one, it’s hard to believe such elegant strength could come from someone challenged in so many ways. Just an incredibly driven athlete.

First American woman to land the Triple Axel

I quite enjoyed the film and you certainly come out on the other end feeling a bit disturbed that Harding was over-villainized by the world for her definite but minor role in the assault on Nancy Kerrigan. Tonya received a lifetime ban from US Figure Skating and cannot get a job coaching or do anything else related to figure skating.

Having never completed high school (to train for the Olympics) she can now only find work as a house painter probably making minimum wage. What a waste of a monumental talent.

The Hunt for Red October (Sunday, March 4th)

I’ve seen this a few times before. It’s an old favorite and the movie that got me started reading Tom Clancy novels. Best part of this movie is, in my opinion, Sean Connery’s portrayal of Russian sub skipper Marko Ramius.

The Guardian (February)

I’ve seen this before also but wanted my sons to watch it with me. I like the heroism depicted in the movie. Connor watched the whole thing but Karl bailed early.

Ex Machina (February)

I’ve watched this twice now. I go back to it now to think about some of the AI challenges that need to be surmounted before such a machine could be created. The dialog and the goal-oriented behavior, as well as the lack of emotion or morality, is very intriguing. Always blows me away that the superhacker CEO dude is the crazy X-Wing pilot Poe in the latest Star Wars movies.

Interstellar (February)

This is one of my favorite movies and got the boys to watch it with me. Completion took multiple nights and we paused it a lot to discuss the science and math of it. Both of the boys got physically sick after watching the scene on the “Tidal Wave” planet. Has something to do with the intensity of the music — that ticking sound pounding away — and the realization of the crew’s immediate peril. I actually enjoy that scene immensely because the robot TARS saves Brand’s life when no human could do the job. That’s what I see when I think about a robotic future: heroic machines. Weeks later, the boys recognize the music from just a bar or two and can tell the whole story of the movie, including a decent explanation of relativity and time dilation.

The Cloverfield Paradox (January, right after the Super Bowl)

I’m one of those idiots who got excited about this movie from the Super Bowl commercial and started watching it as soon as the game was over. It, of course, was almost completely unconnected to the other Cloverfield movies and, thus, a disappointment.

Flight (January)

Been meaning to watch this for a long time and finally got around to it in January. The initial crash was interesting but the rest of the movie was meh. I didn’t care for the ending. I did end up buying the song Give Me Shelter as a result of hearing it in this movie so that was good.

Everest (2015), Vertical Limit (January)

Watched both of these rock climbing-related movies over a weekend with the boys. This was part of a lesson on safety, i.e. double- and triple-checking your gear, and exercising sound judgement, i.e. the opposite of taking your weak client to the summit two hours late. Vertical Limit has that crazy opening scene. Everest is a good illustration how a bad decision can cascade into many bad outcomes, even if the decision was made with the best intentions. Both Karl and Connor finished both movies and enjoyed the stories. My favorite part is in Everest when Beck Weathers, Dallas resident and played by Josh Brolin, stumbles into camp alive after being left for dead and spending a night above 8,000 meters in 80–100 mph winds and -100 degrees temperature. One tough bastard.

Blade Runner 2049 (January)

Being a big Blade Runner fan, I had high hopes for this movie. Frankly, the movie sucked but it had some great visuals. That’s about all I can say for it.

Movies On Deck

I’ve already purchased all of these in iTunes. Some of them have been sitting there for years. In compiling this list, I realize I may be overly optimistic in estimating how much time I have to watch movies. I’d be lucky to get through this by the end of 2019.

• The Expendables
• The Mechanic
• The Transporter
• NEXT UP ==> 3 Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
• DONE ==> The Shape of Water
• Logan Lucky
• The Revenant
• Lucy
• A Walk Among the Tombstones
• Spider-Man: Homecoming
• Warrior
• The Gift
• Ghost in the Shell
• Generation Iron 2
• The Alamo (2004)
• The Sandlot
• The Right Stuff
• The Last Man on the Moon
• The last 2–3 Pirates of the Caribbean movies
• Looper
• Gangs of New York
• Frank Miller’s Sin City
• Schindler’s List
• Coriolanus

Television Shows

Big Bang Theory, Season 11 (in progress)

The show is still good but waning in the last few seasons. We’ll keep watching until it ends, I suspect, but I’ve rewatched a few episodes from Season 1 and they were way, way better than the current ones. I laughed a lot more often for sure.

Seinfeld, Seasons 1 to 9 (in progress)

When Seinfeld was still airing every Thursday night, I was busy with my first company. Given that Seinfeld is such a cultural icon, I felt it would be good for me to go back and watch every episode. Season 1 was meh but the later seasons are better and better. Good for a ~25 minute brainless break before my evening shift. Currently in early Season 6.

I have figured this out, however. I don’t like any of these people. I really wouldn’t want to spend time with any of them, which is partly why the show is so great. George is just such an utterly useless individual. Elaine is soooo shallow. Jerry just kind of goes along with their quirks because his own are equally annoying. For example, remember the episode where Jerry uses his girlfriend’s bathroom and finds the “fungicide” while snooping through her medicine cabinet which then causes him to no longer want to date the girlfriend. Of course we later find out the fungicide is for her cat.

I take it back, though. Kramer seems like an interesting fellow, though he’s a walking disaster waiting to happen.

Seasons 5 onward seem to be getting better and better. I’ve had quite a few belly laughs from recent episodes.

Black Mirror, Seasons 1–4 (in progress)

I love Black Mirror, though I always warn people to skip Episode 1 of Season 1 initally and circle back for it later. I almost didn’t watch any other episodes after that lovely piece of work. Since the episodes are non-sequential, I’ve jumped around a bit and Ahu is catching up. Another thought-provoking series, I’m looking forward to being fully caught up soon.

The Borgias, Season 1 (in progress)

Had this show in the queue for years. Never got around to it. I like historical period dramas like this, especially with big name talent like Jeremy Irons, but this show keeps getting preempted by something slightly more compelling.

The Handmaid’s Tale, Season 1 (in progress, maybe)

An interesting storyline but I really didn’t care for the scene with the Command and his wife and the handmaid. Ahu *really* didn’t care for it. Not sure we’ll keep going on this one, despite its many awards.

Altered Carbon, Season 1

This was a very thought-provoking show. It was intellectually stimulating. Had some twists and turns that could not be easily predicted. The early episodes are best described as a continuous “mind f$!k”. Excellent acting, compelling characters, strong plot. I look forward to Season 2.

Star Trek: Discovery, Season 1

I enjoyed this show once I got past the weird appearance changes to the Klingons and the idiocy of the “spore drive”. The Michael Burnham character is bad ass and made the show worth watching for me. The presence of Michelle Yeoh and Jason Isaacs was welcome also. That said, it was annoying to have the CBS subscription just for that show and I discontinued the subscription as soon as I watched the last episode.

Looking Forward To

• Homeland, Season 7
• Billions, Season 3
• Westworld, Season 2
• The Americans, Final Season
• Jessica Jones, Season 2
• The Blacklist, Season 5
• Better Call Saul, Season 4
• The 100, Season 3. I watched the first two seasons and enjoyed them. Not sure where it will go. Need to get into the right mood for this one.
• The Walking Dead, not sure what season I left off on
• Longmire, Season 1. Kind of stalled on this. First episode or two were pretty good. Love me some more Starbuck. But the show is cancelled and not sure if I want to commit to it.
• Hoping for some more episodes of Luther and Sherlock.
• Penny Dreadful
• House of Cards, The Final Season. Sucks that it has to go out like this but I’m glad there will be some closure.
• Bloodline, Season 2. Questionable. Season 1 was decent but, like The Borgias, something else more compelling keeps bumping this.