Trying to sum up 2020 would be hard even for entertainment only. It was the year The New Mutants actually released but Black Widow didn’t. The year I became a Boba Fett fan.
But looking back over the books, films, and shows of the year there were some treats that made me smile well worth celebrating!
Holy crap Hamilton was so good! I can’t believe it lived up to the hype and in a pretty weak year for Disney+ (until Mandalorian) made the whole subscription worth my while.
We got two seasons of The Harley Quinn show funny and irrelevant and also loving and hopeful it was such a strange mix that I wish they could always find in their films and best of all…
Poison Ivy! She’s one of my favorite characters and so far has been very badly used to non-existent but she absolutely shined here with voice work from Lake Bell!
I know the Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes has been rather decisive but I absolutely loved it and I rolled my eyes at the thought of a Snow book to. Maybe I read a lot into it about the current times we are and where living in but I thought it was fantastic. It might not have been the book everyone wanted but I don’t understand the criticism that Collins didn’t have something to say here. She very much did and I think she did it 98% well.
I am totally late to the Brooklyn 99 train I know and I do think the earlier seasons were the best but I watched all of them back when quarantine was starting and during that time when I couldn’t find toilet paper it never failed to make me smile. Andre Braugher is a genius and all the characters (well I have Gina issues) are crazy lovable.
I read the last 3 of the 4 books in the Diviners series this year but Before the Devil Breaks You (number 3) was far and away by favorite and the most heartbreaking of the books.
Get it to series already! I’d give the series as a whole 8/10 but recommend it for this one alone 🙂 Historical fiction, flawed but likable characters with good relationships and an ending I did not expect.
I seriously would kill for the kids of Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line is what I think even months after reading the book.
It’s hard to do child narrators for a book of such serious issues as children disappearing, extreme poverty, racism, crime, etc and make it work but Anaparra absolutely hits it here.
I know a lot of people won’t like how it ends but it will stay with me for a long time.
I could nitpick some stuff in season 2 but The Boys continues to be one of the most fun rides on television and I actually really prefer the weekly schedule Amazon went to this year. It was easier for me to keep up and avoid spoilers!
Love and Monsters was an absolutely lovely film. Hell Boy (the dog) remains one of my favorite characters of the year and it boasts one of my all time favorite scenes of the year (with the robot) 10/10 would recommend!
The Mandalorian (and to be fair the Lego Star Wars Holiday special) absolutely delivered for me! The performances, the story, the look, all the emotional feels. While I’m looking forward to the spin-offs I hope this show doesn’t get lost in the mix.
I want that dark saber/battle for Mandalore but also…
We’re getting Thrawn! Somewhere. Sometime in the future (likely starting in the Ahsoka series) but hey it was a tough year and I’ll take what I can get 🙂
Murderbot is always a win for me. I don’t think there’s a book I haven’t loved yet and considering they made my favorite grumpy doesn’t want to be the hero (actually when I think about it Murderbot does have a lot in common with the Mandalorian) deal with a teenager in this one!
Plus the return of one of my all time favorite AI- this was my most anticipated book of the year and it lived up to the hype!
Hamilton! That’s still on my pending Top 10 list of the year. It was so good.
I put off reading Of Songbirds for the Snow reason too, but you’ve convinced me to give it a shot eventually.
I did not expect to love Hamilton as much as I did 🙂
I love so many things in this list! I had no expectations for Hamilton at all but I was hooked and in love by the end of the first song <3
I really wish all streaming TV shows would stick to 1 episode a week. It's exhausting either trying to binge a whole season as quick as possible or risk seeing spoilers everywhere.
Happy New Year!
Yes! I always wind up accidentally spoiled and then I fall further behind and than I just don’t bother anymore! Plus its more fun to talk about with people 🙂