Everything I've watched in 2024 (so far)
I have a terrible habit of forgetting the plot of most of the things I watch. Maybe it's a symptom of streaming culture; of binging shows instead of watching them weekly. But it happens to me with movies, too. Maybe I'll recall a few scenes, but sometimes I don't even remember having seen a movie my partner says we watched. Which is why I thought I'd write a couple of notes on every movie and series I've watched so far this year. No matter what, I always forget the finer details anyway, so it'll be nice to read back and jog my memory.
January
- Beef (Netflix series) - Two strangers get into a road rage incident that escalates into an over-the-top rivalry starring the hilarious Ali Wong and Steven Yeun. This is a black comedy series: the stakes are high, but it's still very much a comedy. My best friend felt robbed by the ending, but I liked it and I'd watch another season.
- It's Bruno! (Netflix series) - This review sums up my feelings pretty well, although I'd probably add a few commas: "Excellent good fun sweet and original series. The writing. direction and acting is great, realistic but very funny too. It's a little bit of fresh air from all the typical Netflix multi millions unintelligent boring teens series. I loved it."
- Resident Evil (2002) - In the last couple of years, my partner and I have been playing through the Resident Evil games. Well, he plays and I watch. I don't do well in the driver's seat of a horror game. We started with the RE:4 remake, which I absolutely loved. I knew the movies existed and that they only loosely followed the events of the games, and also that fans love them and critics hate them, but I kept an open mind. Anyway, I enjoyed the hell out of this movie. A lot of trite themes and a predictable plot, but the cinematography and early 2000s sci-fi vibe is top tier. Milla Jovovich killed it. I loved it so much that I decided to give the other movies a chance, even though I'd heard they get worse with every sequel.
- Resident Evil: Apocalypse (2004) - Well, everyone was right. Not bad, but not great. Milla Jovovich is still a legend, though.
- 13 Going on 30 (2004) - I found out my best friend had never seen this movie while we were scrolling through Netflix one evening. It was one of those moments of WHAT? You've never seen this? We're changing that immediately, and we just dove right in. It was as good as I remember. A fun, often touching performance by Jennifer Garner. I can't think of too many other convincing mentally-a-kid performances except for this, Freaky Friday, and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.
- 21 Jump Street (2012) - Not my first time watching. It had just been a while, and my friend hadn't seen it before. Still as funny as ever.
- 22 Jump Street (2014) - Also not my first time watching. More absurd and maybe even funnier than the first one, but the it's-the-captain's-daughter plotline continues to be cringy. Worth it all for the ridiculous ending sequence of all the future Jump Street spoofs.
February
- Charlie's Angels (2000) - Similar to the interaction I described earlier, my partner couldn't believe I'd never seen Charlie's Angels. It's hard to watch something that you know influenced a lot of media that came after it, because it feels like a cliché, even though it actually pioneered the genre. Anyway, this movie was fun, but I had a nagging feeling that the movie felt very reductive from a feminist perspective. The characters didn't have any depth and mostly existed to look hot. On the other hand, maybe they don't need depth and it's just a spy movie.
- Kill Bill Vol. 1 (2003) - My first time watching! Everything about this was so fun and camp. This was a big "separate the art from the artist" watch. At least Tarantino spared us a cringy cameo in this one.