Like so many others I did spend a lot of time watching movies this past year. Most of them were movies I had never seen before. Not all of them were movies I saw on Netflix. I rented some from Fandango, saw some on YouTube and others I saw on other Roku streaming channels. Only one of them I saw in a theater. Some were good. Some were bad. But I was entertained. Sometimes. Before I get to the list of movies I saw, I also want to mention I did finally manage to finish watching “The Office”. And I’m so glad I did. What. A. Show.

Okay, so here we go:

First, the one and only movie I saw in the theater this year:

“The Way Back”. saw it back in the beginning of March, right before everything shut down. Mainly saw it because I’m an Affleck fan and I like basketball. It was a decent film. Worth seeing. One of the better films I saw this year.

Now for the absolute worst movie I saw this year. Actually, quite possibly the worst movie I have ever seen:

“Gerry” – OMG. What was I thinking in seeing this movie? It is two hours of my life I am never going to get back. I really should have turned it off when after ten minutes they were still driving in the car and hadn’t spoken a word. I only wanted to see it because Matt Damon was in it! UGH!

First time seeing a movie that I should have seen in the 80’s:

“Gremlins” – yes, I know. I had always heard the hype about this movie and the rules about not feeding them after midnight, not getting them wet and not exposing them to sunlight. It was a pretty good movie and I still shame myself for never seeing it before 2020.

“The Rocker” – only saw this because we were looking up movies that Rainn Wilson had been in. Plus when I saw Josh Gad was in it, I figured what the hell. Spent some of our Fandango money on it. It had its moments.

“Juno” – again discovered it when searching Rainn Wilson movies. I had heard of it, knew it was popular and I don’t regret seeing it. My daughter liked it better than I did. Couldn’t get past the music. Just not my sound. Even more interesting that it now stars Elliot Page.

“Let’s Be Cops” – my daughter is a huge “New Girl” fan so in searching some of the stars from the show, she came upon this. Stupid, but good for a few laughs. Still way better than “Gerry”.

“Downsizing” – saw this on Spectrum and it was one of those Matt Damon films that I had never seen (big Matt Damon fan, hence why I had to see “Gerry”). It had its stupid moments, but it was okay. Would I see it again? Nah.

“A River Runs Through It” – saw it on Roku and said, “Well, it has Brad Pitt in it. It can’t be too bad”. It wasn’t. It was pretty good actually.

“Shawshank Redemption” – can’t remember if I saw this on Netflix or Roku but I was like, “so many people have talked about this movie” and I like Morgan Freeman. I was hesitant because I don’t like prison flicks. Oh. My. God. What a fantastic film! Probably the best I’ve seen all year. Definitely WAY better than “Gerry”!

“Hubie Halloween” – I am far from being a big Adam Sandler fan and I have seen way too many Sandler films than I would like to admit to. He is good for a few laughs and I loved the cast of this film. Setting the silliness and stupidity of Sandler movies aside, it was highly entertaining. Best thing I watched at Halloween. In fact, I think it was the only Halloween movie I saw.

“All My Life” – I just saw this last week. I only saw it because my daughter is a huge “Glee” fan and Harry Shum, Jr. from “Glee” is in it. It was a dramatic love story, based on a true story, not unlike many other stories I’ve heard before. So, for me it was ho-hum.

Now to the Christmas movies:

“Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey” – when I saw this was coming to Netflix, I knew I had to see it. I’m not a big musical fan but I got through it. I enjoy the acting of Forest Whitaker. It was worth a watch.

“Christmas Chronicles 2” – I had so enjoyed 2018’s “Christmas Chronicles” and I really admire Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn. But this one just didn’t cut it for me. I did manage to watch the entire thing but I ended up feeling disappointed.

“Dolly Parton’s Christmas on the Square” – I tried three times to get through this film and just couldn’t do it. I still haven’t finished watching it. I don’t know why. Maybe it was the music. Maybe it was the cheesy acting. I don’t know. I wanted to watch it but just couldn’t do it. Maybe next year.

“Mixed Nuts” – saw this on Roku and since my husband and I are big Steve Martin fans, we had to give it a try. It wasn’t bad. Even with Adam Sandler being in it. He actually lightened it up a bit.

“The Holiday” – this is another movie I started to watch and just couldn’t finish it. How can Cameron Diaz and Kate Winslet just boom-bang! switch houses for Christmas and next thing you know, Cameron is smooching it up with Kate’s bro Jude Law when he pops in to take a piss? I left it after that.

“Home For the Holidays” – started watching this on a whim and although my skin was crawling by the end from Robert Downey, Jr’s acting, I made it through. I wouldn’t rush back to watch it in the future.

“Christmas in Connecticut” (1945 and 1992 versions) – I had never seen the 1945 version and I had seen the 1992 version years ago but couldn’t remember it. Both are cheesy, makes-no-sense, trying-to-be-comical-but-not films that I wouldn’t waste my time seeing ever again. If I had to name a worse one, I’d say the 1992 version. Dyan Cannon’s hair bugs me and Kris Kristofferson? Really? Tony Curtis? Directed by Arnold? Ugh.

“The Waltons: The Homecoming” – saw this on Spectrum and I was feeling up for some good old-fashioned Christmas. And that’s what I got. Interesting to note that this was made before the show began, and the only original cast members from the show that are in it are all the children and Ellen Corby. It was a good watch.

“The Christmas Tree” – this was by far the best Christmas movie I saw this season. It is a movie that I originally saw back in 1996 when it aired on TV. It stars Andrew McCarthy, who portrays the person who is in charge of finding the yearly tree for Rockefeller Center. One year he finds his tree, but it is possessively owned by a nun, who is very reluctant to let it go. It’s a very touching story and I was so fortunate to once again find it on YouTube. I think I may even make it a yearly staple to my Christmas movie watching.

The only films I have on my list to see this year that I have not seen are “Greyhound”, which I know is on Apple and has been on my list to see since March (bad Tom Hanks fan, bad!), “News of the World” (which I’m waiting to arrive on Apple) (again, bad Tom Hanks fan, bad!) and “Soul”, which I am planning to see tomorrow. Because although that movie came out in 2020, I want it to be the first movie I see of 2021. Because I’ve heard it’s that good.

I’m now off to see “The Money Pit”. Because I’ve yet to see it for the 100th time. And I’m a good Tom Hanks fan :).

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

….stay home and get bombed….

A recent USA TODAY/Suffolk University Poll recently asked 1000 registered voters how they would describe the year 2020 in a single word. Twenty-three percent described it as “awful, terrible or horrible”. Five percent not only described it as “anxious, stressful and depressing” but also “OK, wonderful and good”.

I guess the best way to describe 2020 depends on what good or bad things did or didn’t happen to you in 2020. And I know a lot of bad things happened to a lot of people. People got sick. People lost their lives. People lost loved ones. People lost jobs. They lost homes. They lost businesses. Some had it all happen to them. I can empathize with many. I’ve been there. It just didn’t happen to me in 2020.

Personally for me, and fortunately my immediate family, 2020 was an okay year. That’s even with one of us coming down with the virus and me getting what I really thought was the virus (I had all the symptoms–fever, coughing, runny nose, headaches, worst of all chills (MAJOR chills) but I turned out to be negative and with some antibiotics, it’s like I wasn’t even sick). Was my 2020 perfect? No. Was it different? Yes and no. I was already working from home and we weren’t completely unfamiliar with schooling from home, since we had tried it in the past. We’ve had our glitches here and there, but we’ve overcome them. Do I miss going out? Going out where? I hardly went anywhere to begin with. I still go to the store once a week. That hasn’t changed. At the beginning of the pandemic when hair salons were closed I managed to give myself a mini-haircut, which I felt turned out better than the salon. As for my husband, I always cut his hair anyway, so that was no big deal. So we didn’t take a vacation. But it’s not my first year not ever taking a vacation. And we did take some day trips and still had a good time. So all was not lost.

Maybe my biggest complaint was not being able to see my autistic sister as much as I’d like. At the start of the pandemic I couldn’t see her at all. By late April I was able to visit with her and have lunch with her outside at her house. I think by Memorial Day or early June I was able to take her for a ride. But we have not been able to go into any stores or restaurants because she cannot wear a facemask. If this bothers my sister, she doesn’t say. She’s just happy to see me, go for a ride and get a McFlurry from McDonald’s. Then came Thanksgiving and everyone in her program went home for visits. And most of them brought back coronavirus. Fortunately, nobody in my sister’s house was affected. But it put a halt on anyone going home for Christmas. In the thirty-six years she has been alive, it was the first Christmas I was not with her. Was I sad? Yes. But I had been able to bring her gifts to her and I know from what the staff told me, my sister had a glorious time. I’m sure she was wondering why she couldn’t see me. And I know she doesn’t fully understand what is going on. And it’s not like I could talk to her on the phone or Zoom with her. But I will see her again soon. And we’ll go for our ride and get a McFlurry.

Despite all that changed for me or didn’t happen for me in 2020, I still consider it an okay year. Because next year could be worse. Or ten years from now may be worse. I actually already feel that 1998 was the worst year I’ve ever had. Or at least the last six months of that year. I can tell you that for me, 1998 tops 2020 BIG TIME in the bad category. It doesn’t even compare. But I’ve learned in the almost fifty years I’ve been alive that a year is what you make it. The year 1998 was a tough one for me, but I survived.

I remember only four years ago in 2016 when everyone was complaining about how it had been such a shitty year because all these celebrities had passed away. Yet Betty White was still alive. As of this writing there’s two days left to the year and, as far as I know, she’s still kicking.

And if you’re going to judge how well a year went based on how many celebrities died or didn’t die, then you have yet to live.

The year 2020 may have been pretty bad for many of us, but believe it or not, for many of us, the worst is yet to come.

….to all and to all a good night!