The Office<\/em>, Christmas episodes Community<\/em>, \u201cAbed\u2019s Uncontrollable Christmas\u201d<\/a> A<\/p>\n 8 Bit Christmas<\/a><\/em> B+<\/p>\n The Hunt for Red October<\/a><\/em> A<\/p>\n Three Days of the Condor<\/a><\/em> First time watching. It was slow, like a lot of \u201870s movies are. And I did not buy Faye Dunaway suddenly falling for Robert Redford after he kidnapped her and tied her up to keep her captive. I know he\u2019s RR, but have some respect for yourself, Faye. But the last 15 minutes are a pretty good mind-fuck and redeem the film. The relatively young Dunaway was pretty fetching!<\/p>\n B<\/p>\n Spider-Man: No Way Home<\/a><\/em> The multiverse thing worked in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse<\/em>. Why not try it with Tom Holland and his crew? I never watched any of the Andrew Garfield movies, so his presence didn\u2019t mean much to me. It was kind of cool to see Tobey McGuire on screen again, though.<\/p>\n I\u2019m not big on the whole MCU thing, so lots of references are lost on me. Overall the story was decent. The lengthy denouement was surprisingly affecting. So I was entertained but I\u2019m not sure I loved it. I liked the first two Holland movies more, though. L said it was her favorite of the three Holland movies, but she\u2019s a sucker for recency bias.<\/p>\n B+<\/p>\n Spider-Man: Homecoming<\/a><\/em> A-<\/p>\n The Harder They Fall<\/a> B+<\/p>\n The Beatles: Get Back<\/a><\/em> A<\/p>\n Holiday Baking Championship<\/a><\/em> A<\/p>\n By Dawn\u2019s Early Light<\/a><\/em> C+<\/p>\n Seinfeld<\/a><\/em> A<\/p>\n The Alpinist<\/a><\/em> A-<\/p>\n T in the Park 2016- Frightened Rabbit (Full Set)<\/a> A<\/p>\n Talks at Google: Scott Hutchison<\/a> A-<\/p>\n Bob Ross: Happy Accidents, Betrayal & Greed<\/a> B+<\/p>\n NPR\u2019s Delicious Dish: Schweddy Balls<\/a> A+<\/p>\n A Tree a Minute: planting 1440 trees in a day<\/a> A-, A-<\/p>\n The Driver is Red<\/a> A-<\/p>\n How A NY Times Reporter Collects Royalties From Hundreds of Musicians<\/a> A-<\/p>\n Madeira Island – A Destination for all Surf Lovers<\/a> B<\/p>\n
\nI wrote about them last year<\/a>; they get a collective A
\nChristmas Vacation<\/em>, A
\nElf<\/em>, A
\nOffice Christmas Party<\/em>, B+
\nDie Hard<\/em>, A<\/p>\n
\nThis was the Community<\/em> entry on a list of best Christmas TV episodes I found. I hadn\u2019t seen it since probably its initial airing. It should be a classic for everyone. It is to me now.<\/p>\n
\nAn adult remembrance of the childhood lust for a particular Christmas present. Sound familiar? Yes, there are a lot<\/strong> references\/common elements to\/with A Christmas Story<\/em>. It works because that lust is universal, whether you\u2019re talking about a Red Ryder BB gun or a Nintendo NES. This has an especially poignant and affecting ending.<\/p>\n
\nMovies and Shows<\/h3>\n
\nAfter watching Die Hard<\/em>, I figured why not watch another John McTiernan masterpiece. First time watching this in a long time. Still great.<\/p>\n
\nOne of the all-time great spy movies, and since it takes place in December and there are Christmas songs in the background, I guess it can be called a Christmas movie if we use Die Hard<\/em> rules.<\/p>\n
\nThe girls and I hustled to the theater about two hours after L\u2019s Christmas break began to catch the latest appearance by our friendly, neighborhood Spider-Man.<\/p>\n
\nOur New Year\u2019s Eve movie of the year. Probably L\u2019s fifth or sixth time watching it. I wish Spidey\u2019s suit still talked to him.<\/p>\n
\nOwes a lot to Tarantino, but another good entry into the crowded field of modern, revisionist Western movies<\/a>.<\/p>\n
\nLook here for my thoughts<\/a>.<\/p>\n
\nA great field of competitors this year, probably the best final four ever. I figured Adam was going to win from the beginning. He has amazing skills, but he was a little smug for my tastes. I was pulling for Sabrina. And Jose really grew on me. He was so surly and bitchy at the beginning but morphed into one of the most interesting competitors.<\/p>\n
\nThis was one of the final movies made about a fictional, largely nuclear, World War III before the fall of the Soviet Union. Released in 1990 on HBO, it featured a stellar cast. It got good reviews at the time. Today, it feels pretty damn cheesy. The ending is just flat weird. But I do love a nuclear apocalypse story. Darren McGavin, A Christmas Story\u2019s<\/em> Old Man, as the momentary president with the fate of the world in his hands was a nice surprise.<\/p>\n
\nI\u2019ve been trying to catch a few episodes of Seinfeld<\/em> each week on Comedy Central. Nothing systematic about it, so they are all out-of-order. I\u2019ve often said that Seinfeld<\/em> doesn\u2019t hold up the same way shows like Cheers<\/em> did because it had so many specific pop cultural references. I still wonder about that, at least as far as people who weren\u2019t alive in the \u201890s watching the show and getting everything. I have to admit that those little moments very much worked for me, though, and the show remains a classic.<\/p>\n
\nCrazy documentary about climber Marc-Andre LeClerc, a young Canadian who took the free-soloing that Alex Honnold is famous for to another level. Insane views of insane climbs.<\/p>\n
\nI\u2019ve watched this several times before. YouTube offered it up again and it seemed like a good way to kill 75 minutes or so.<\/p>\n
\nIt led me to this, again something I\u2019ve watched before, where Scott talked to Google employees about two months before his death.<\/p>\n
\nAn accounting of Ross\u2019 rise as an unlikely pop culture icon and the mess that his estate turned into after his death. Both inspiring and depressing. I had no idea he recorded his shows in Muncie, Indiana!<\/p>\n
\nShorts<\/h3>\n
\nI actually skipped the SNL Christmas special, if it was even on, this year. I\u2019ve been annoyed for ages about how it is pretty much the same show every year. So I spent a few nights watching some classic Christmas skits on YouTube. This one remains my favorite.<\/p>\n
\nBig Gums: Sleeping in my 100 year old Gum tree<\/a>
\nBeau Miles and trees.<\/p>\n
\nAn animated, mini-doc about the capture of Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann.<\/p>\n
\nObviously you have to be careful with one-sided accounts like this, but it still seems like some shady shit.<\/p>\n
\nOne of the waves that William Finnegan wrote about in Barbarian Days<\/em>.<\/p>\n