The Best Shows, Movies, and Music of 2020
i.e., The best of what we consumed during the worst year ever.
Happy Saturday, Thinkers! Whew, what a week, amirght?
Trump and Biden and Barret, oh my!
Also, Colorado is on fire.
Again.
(Still?!)
Yeah, let’s not discuss ANY of that.
Not today.
The weekend is here!
I apologize to all two of my paying subscribers (sorry mom and Doug!) for being a little late with this post, but until more people start subscribing to this thing, I’ve got to keep trying to find snippets of time to write in between that other thing I do called working for a living.
That said, for the past week I have been tinkering with a post that draws heavily (and extrapolates) from 2020’s most popular new Netflix documentary, The Social Dilemma, so if you haven’t watched it yet, please do. I’d love to hear your take before I publish next week.
In the meantime, as the year comes to a close, let’s start throwing around some ideas for the best shows, movies, and music of 2020.
I was all ready to rave about the acting and writing in HBO’s Succession, and the gorgeous adaptation of My Brilliant Friend, but I guess I’m living in a quarantine induced time warp because apparently the most recent seasons of both were released in 2019. (?!)
Therefore, my picks for most enjoyable watch of 2020 in no particular order are:
Unorthodox. There were some truly beautifully filmed and acted scenes in this limited series based on a memoir about an ultra orthodox Jewish woman in Brooklyn who leaves her community to start a new life in Berlin.
Insecure spent season 4 focused on Issa’s relationship with her best friend, Molly, and fleshed out both characters with heart and hilarity, making it one of my top picks for shows about female friendships that pass the Bechdel test with flying colors.
Little Fires Everywhere was flush in poignant and well delivered dialogue and somehow managed to tackle issues of race, class, abortion, and motherhood all without presenting like and ABC after school special. I loved both Reese Witherspoon and Kerry Washington in this:
I also thought that this latest season of High Maintenance was one of the best yet. My favorite episode was called, Trick. I tried to get you a link to the episode preview but I can’t embed it here.
As far as music goes, I know that folks were super psyched on Fiona Apple’s Fetch The Bolt Cutters, but the highlight for me was when Eminen surprise dropped Music to be Murdered By. It’s an epic LP by any standards showcasing his rapid fire lyrical mastery and re-cementing his status as one of the most prolific Hip Hop artists of all time. Every track is a treat but what I appreciated about this LP in particular is that Em took a stance on a pressing political and cultural issue, and he didn’t fuck around. Check it:
For movies, I thought that Charlie Kaufman’s, I’m Thinking of Ending Things, was absolutely brilliant but I can’t tell you why without delivering a several thousand word dissertation-like post full of spoilers and copious links to other referenced works. (I basically just dorked out on every little detail of the film.)
What other movies were released to streaming in 2020?
Did I actually spend two months alone in my apartment sanitizing grocery deliveries and binge watching High Maintenance whilst eating a week’s worth of chocolate rations in one sitting?
I did.
Didn’t you?
What did you watch?
What were your favorites?
Let me know and in the meantime, don't forget to tell me what you thought of The Social Dilemma (or anything else that I’ve said) in the comments below.
Also, if you missed my first post on Substack it explains a little bit about what I’m trying to do here. A lot of you texted and messaged me privately on FB and Insta about that post and I loved that, but the idea is to bring all of those thoughts and all of that dialogue here, so I figured out how to make the comment section on these posts open to everyone and not just paying subscribers. Have at it, kids!
Happy Thinking!
Now that I have watched The Social Dilemma, I have to say that the crux of it was not at all new to me. But having said that the validation of all of it is both disheartening and horrifying. It makes me rather grateful that I lived my younger years in a time that was more real and less manipulated by the shit of massive technology. I can only shake my head as I watch what I think is the ultimate degradation of our society. I’m sorry children. My childhood seems so pure in comparison... So pure and oh so beautifully free to become myself with much less outside influence.