The Best Gift

I know I'm late to posting this, since it was released during the holiday season, but the message of this video is timeless, so here it goes:

The Walking Dead: World Beyond

Wanting to capitalize on a successful show by launching spin-offs is nothing new, and AMC can hardly be blamed for wanting to milk what is arguably their most successful series ever, the fantastic The Walking Dead (especially now that it's coming to an end).

Alas, while they have been moderately successful with Fear the Walking Dead, their latest attempt, The Walking Dead: World Beyond, can only be described as a complete failure.

I consider the Walking Dead universe absolutely amazing, in terms of both the kinds of tales told and the great characters that populate it, so I wouldn't turn down the opportunity to watch more of those stories . . . so long as they're told well.

Unfortunately, World Beyond is riddled with implausible plot points that leave the viewer frustrated and bewildered.

We're introduced to several new characters from a community that looks pretty safe and well established. They have made contact with a couple other communities, the larger and richer of which is shrouded in secrecy -- as far as its geographical location -- and it would seem to be the same community hinted at in both The Walking Dead (the helicopter that whisked Rick Grimes away) and Fear the Walking Dead (the helicopter and pilot/soldier with whom Al made contact).

Its obvious powerful influence and guarded secrecy clearly make for interesting storytelling, but they are hardly explored. After the first episode, whose shocking ending leaves you wanting more, a ragtag group of four teenagers takes off on foot to look for the father of the two girls.

From then on, it's episode after episode of boredom.

The series is set ten years after the appearance of the virus, implying that it's all happening long after Rick Grimes first woke up from his coma to find a world that's utterly changed. But it doesn't take long to calculate that at least 8 years have passed since then (just think of Judith's age), so if this is 10 years later, things should be pretty similar.

And yet, for some reason, there are virtually zero walkers out there . . . except when someone is already in trouble, of course. This is good news for the quartet, however, because not one of them seems to have any clue about how to survive in a world beset by zombies, despite seemingly having grown up in such a world and supposedly received training in fighting and survival. Little Judith would give them a run for their money, and these are almost adults now.

Don't even get me started on the characters' suddenly flipping personalities (I'm referring to Iris and Hope here), or poor Elton who has to deliver pearls of wisdom like a man four times his age (I feel for Nicolas Cantu, who manages to come across as believable at least). And who honestly would take off on a trip like that with a wildcard like Silas?

Julia Ormond, seemingly the villain, is naturally great, but we see so little of her through the season it's really just a tease. Annet Mahendru plays her duplicitous daughter to great effect, along with a good (and swoon-inducing) Nico Tortorella.

Fortunately, the series is billed as a "two season limited event," so I guess I'll sit through the second half, hoping that a lot more is revealed about this secret community, but I, for one, am ready to move beyond this dull "world."

Grade - Season 1: 3

Perseverance Arrives on Mars

This thrilling NASA clip shows their Mars 2020 Perseverance rover landing in Mars' Jezero Crater on Feb. 18, 2021.

It's really awesome:

In Memoriam

Christopher Plummer (December 13, 1929 - February 5, 2021)

One of my favorite actors of all time is no longer with us.

Winner of an Academy Award (out of three nominations), a Golden Globe, two Emmys, a BAFTA, a Screen Actors Guild, and two Tonys, he had over 200 titles to his credit.

He became, at 82, the oldest winner of a competitive acting Oscar, for Beginners, surpassing the record set by Jessica Tandy, and at 88 he became the oldest acting Oscar nominee ever, for All the Money in the World.

I last saw him in Knives Out and The Last Full Measure, both out in 2019 and his final performances.

A huge loss. R.I.P.

In Memoriam

Hal Holbrook (February 17, 1925 - January 23, 2021)

Nominated for a Best Supporting Actor in 2007 for Into the Wild and winner of four Emmy Awards, Holbrook was a beloved performer in both leading and supporting roles, with well over a hundred titles to his credit.

A heartfelt goodbye.

The 78th Annual Golden Globes - The Nominees

The ceremony to crown the winners will be held on February 28, 2021. The format is still unclear, given the pandemic restrictions.

I've watched almost none of the nominated movies, however, James Corden's performance in The Prom has been widely panned and described as the worst of the year and one of the worst ever, so nominating him over other actors from that star-studded ensemble is baffling.

Hats off for elevating not just one, but three women directors vying for the Globe!!

Anyway, here are the nominees:

Best Motion Picture - Drama

Mank
Nomadland
Promising Young Woman
The Father
The Trial of the Chicago 7

Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy

Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan
Hamilton
Music
Palm Springs
The Prom

Best Motion Picture - Animated

Onward
Over the Moon
Soul
The Croods: A New Age
WolfWalkers

Best Motion Picture - Foreign Language

Deux
Druk
La llorona
La vita davanti a sé
Minari

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama

Anthony Hopkins, The Father
Chadwick Boseman, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
Gary Oldman, Mank
Riz Ahmed, Sound of Metal
Tahar Rahim, The Mauritanian

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama

Andra Day, The United States vs. Billie Holiday
Carey Mulligan, Promising Young Woman
Frances McDormand, Nomadland
Vanessa Kirby, Pieces of a Woman
Viola Davis, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy

Andy Samberg, Palm Springs
Dev Patel, The Personal History of David Copperfield
James Corden,The Prom
Lin-Manuel Miranda, Hamilton
Sacha Baron Cohen, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy

Anya Taylor-Joy, Emma.
Kate Hudson, Music
Maria Bakalova, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan
Michelle Pfeiffer, French Exit
Rosamund Pike, I Care a Lot

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture

Bill Murray, On the Rocks
Daniel Kaluuya, Judas and the Black Messiah
Jared Leto, The Little Things
Leslie Odom Jr., One Night in Miami
Sacha Baron Cohen, The Trial of the Chicago 7

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture

Amanda Seyfried, Mank
Glenn Close, Hillbilly Elegy
Helena Zengel, News of the World
Jodie Foster, The Mauritanian
Olivia Colman, The Father

Best Director - Motion Picture

Aaron Sorkin, The Trial of the Chicago 7
Chloé Zhao, Nomadland
David Fincher, Mank
Emerald Fennell, Promising Young Woman
Regina King, One Night in Miami

Best Screenplay - Motion Picture

Jack Fincher, Mank
Chloé Zhao, Nomadland
Emerald Fennell, Promising Young Woman
Florian Zeller, Christopher Hampton, The Father
Aaron Sorkin, The Trial of the Chicago 7

Best Original Song - Motion Picture

Judas and the Black Messiah, Fight for You
La vita davanti a sé, Io Sì (Seen)
One Night in Miami, Speak Now
The Trial of the Chicago 7, Hear My Voice
The United States vs. Billie Holiday, Tigress & Tweed

Best Original Score - Motion Picture

Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, Mank
James Newton Howard, News of the World
Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, Jon Batiste, Soul
Ludwig Göransson, Tenet
Alexandre Desplat, The Midnight Sky

Best Television Series - Drama

Lovecraft Country
Ozark
Ratched
The Crown
The Mandalorian

Best Television Series - Musical or Comedy

Emily in Paris
Schitt's Creek
Ted Lasso
The Flight Attendant
The Great

Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series - Drama

Al Pacino, Hunters
Bob Odenkirk, Better Call Saul
Jason Bateman, Ozark
Josh O'Connor, The Crown
Matthew Rhys, Perry Mason

Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series - Drama

Emma Corrin, The Crown
Jodie Comer, Killing Eve
Laura Linney, Ozark
Olivia Colman, The Crown
Sarah Paulson, Ratched

Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series - Musical or Comedy

Don Cheadle, Black Monday
Eugene Levy, Schitt's Creek
Jason Sudeikis, Ted Lasso
Nicholas Hoult, The Great
Ramy Youssef, Ramy

Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series - Musical or Comedy

Catherine O'Hara, Schitt's Creek
Elle Fanning, The Great
Jane Levy, Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist
Kaley Cuoco, The Flight Attendant
Lily Collins, Emily in Paris

Best Performance by an Actor in a Limited Series, Anthology Series or a Motion Picture Made for Television

Bryan Cranston, Your Honor
Ethan Hawke, The Good Lord Bird
Hugh Grant, The Undoing
Jeff Daniels, The Comey Rule
Mark Ruffalo, I Know This Much Is True

Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Supporting Role

Brendan Gleeson, The Comey Rule
Dan Levy, Schitt's Creek
Donald Sutherland, The Undoing
Jim Parsons, Hollywood
John Boyega, Small Axe

Best Performance by an Actress in a Limited Series, Anthology Series or a Motion Picture Made for Television

Anya Taylor-Joy, The Queen's Gambit
Cate Blanchett, Mrs. America
Daisy Edgar-Jones, Normal People
Nicole Kidman, The Undoing
Shira Haas, Unorthodox

Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Supporting Role

Annie Murphy, Schitt's Creek
Cynthia Nixon, Ratched
Gillian Anderson, The Crown
Helena Bonham Carter, The Crown
Julia Garner, Ozark

Best Television Limited Series, Anthology Series or Motion Picture Made for Television

Normal People
Small Axe
The Queen's Gambit
The Undoing
Unorthodox

Cecil B. DeMille Award

Jane Fonda

Carol Burnett Award

Norman Lear

2020: The Motion Pictures

It seems hard to believe that it's already February 1 and I haven't watched a single movie this year yet. Not only that, but it's almost been a year since the last time I went to the movies, in early March 2020, when theaters went dark after the pandemic we're still living through started sweeping the world.

Eventually, by the end of August, a few chains started reopening, including AMC, the one I always go to now thanks to the A-List subscription model they instituted after the revolutionary MoviePass demonstrated it could be successful . . . before crumbling under poor management.

Still, I've kept clear because frankly it's not worth risking your health (and life) or that of the people around you for a movie (that you can always watch later on TV). And given the anemic box office hauls of the few titles that weren't rescheduled, I wasn't alone in reasoning that way.

Hopefully, with the vaccine rollout, this summer things will start going back to normal. I doubt I'd venture back into a closed environment for hours at a time (I usually go for a double feature) until I've gotten the shot myself.

On top of that, given that I had fallen tragically behind with reviewing the movies I had watched (my list seemingly ran away from me and accumulated over 520 titles!!!), I decided to pause movie-viewing and catch up with the TV shows still on my radar, rather than rent or stream more titles, just so I wouldn't add more to the backlog and to give myself a chance to finally catch up, which I was able to do in the span of about six months.

Anyway, this is the meager list of movies I watched in 2020:

9

1917

8

A Hidden Life

Just Mercy

Little Women

Marriage Story

Onward

The Invisible Man

The Two Popes

7

Jumanji: The Next Level

Murder on the Orient Express

The Gentlemen

The Irishman

The Last Full Measure

The Lodge

The Way Back

Uncut Gems

6

Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)

Spies in Disguise

Star Wars: Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker

The Grudge

The Hunt

The Langoliers

Trolls

Underwater

5

Bloodshot

Frozen II

Gretel & Hansel

The Rhythm Section

4.5

Candyman

3

Cats

The Turning

It's not a lot of titles, but I guess it's better than nothing, right?

Unfortunately, I'd only really list three for the title of Best Picture:

• 1917
• Marriage Story
• The Two Popes

and my personal award would go to 1917, a visually stunning masterpiece that tells a story well worth knowing.

Well, that's it I guess. Let's hope 2021 brings better tidings . . .

In Memoriam

Cicely Tyson (December 18, 1924 - January 28, 2021)

Academy Award nominee and Emmy and Tony awards winner Cicely Tyson was a celebrated artist who strived to improve the condition of Black artists and people everywhere.

From the New York Times:

Ms. Tyson broke ground for Black actors by refusing to take parts that demeaned Black people. She was critical of films and television programs that cast Black characters as criminal, servile or immoral, and insisted that African-Americans should be portrayed with dignity.

R.I.P.