Welcome! It’s the first ever Movieboat Awards, where I’ll be writing about my favorite movies, tv shows, video games, podcast episodes and books.
But you know what? To start this out, let me quote Shannon Sharpe’s tweet about Drew Brees on Sunday night:
No one will say it, but [I] will. [2020] has been awful today.
He’s right. Drew Brees was awful. But 2020 was even worse. Movies got pushed, games got delayed, and TV… actually, TV was pretty good.
But nonetheless, here’s my self-indulgent list! I hope my two friends enjoy this one!
2020 BEST NEW MOVIE:
I’m Thinking of Ending Things (Netflix)
It goes without saying that 2020 was a very dumb year for movies. Many of the most anticipated movies of the year (Dune, Top Gun: Maverick, Marvel’s Eternals, … No Time to Die) got delayed, leaving us with a smaller-than-usual catalog of high-profile “prestige” movies. It’s been a long time coming, but it’s no coincidence that Netflix ended up with two of my favorite movies of the year: Spike Lee’s Da 5 Bloods and Charlie Kaufman’s I’m Thinking of Ending Things.
These two movies flip-flopped as my top movie of the year for months, but I think it’s clear that Kaufman’s third directorial was the best “new” movie that I saw this year. It has a breakthrough performance from rising star Jessie Buckley, an all-time supporting role from fan favorite (and possible heir to Philip Seymour Hoffman’s throne) Jesse Plemons, and multiple references to Oklahoma! complete with full musical numbers. It was unlike anything I saw this year, and Kaufman pulled it off.
But even though I’m Thinking of Ending Things was the best movie I saw this year, was it my favorite movie? No, it wasn’t. That’s why I labeled it as my favorite “new” movie. There were a lot of old ones that I liked even better.
Off the top of my head:
Society, the 1989 body horror cult classic, and Host, 2020’s first true “pandemic movie” featuring a group of girls holding a demonic séance over Zoom that goes wrong, were the perfect introduction to Shudder, the best streaming service for spooky shit.
Similarly, Singin’ in the Rain was the perfect introduction to HBO Max’s catalog of Turner Classic Movies. This is one of those movies that everyone knows about, but few have actually watched it. And let me be the one to tell you, it’s probably better than what you’re expecting. It was for me.
A couple of Bong Joon-Ho movies, like a re-watch of Parasite (which held up even better than expected) and a first-time watch of his 2016 monster movie The Host, were experiences unlike any other.
Another Round and Lovers Rock, a couple of 2020 movies that I didn’t get around to until mid-January, had me shaking my ass on the couch with a drink in my hand.
There were a lot of “good” movies that I watched this year, but few great ones. It’s clear that the level of quality was lower than it should have been, and now 2021 has a lot of catching up to do. Thanks, covid! You fickle bitch!
The rest in alphabetical order:
2020 BEST TV SHOW:
I May Destroy You (HBO)
I’m not really one to critique a TV show. Up until I started dating Allie, I was really just a movie guy who occasionally watched Family Guy, Workaholics and a random season of Entourage. I was a casual TV watcher at best, hopping onto random shows that no one really watches anymore, or giving up on new shows entirely if there was just 1 episode that didn’t do it for me.
But since 2013/14 I’ve gotten better, and HBO was the real breakthrough for me. Game of Thones, Girls, The Night Of and Silicon Valley got me into the habit of giving TV shows the same amount of attention that I give to movies, and it’s been fun!
That being said, Michaela Coel’s I May Destroy You was different because it transcended both TV and film for me. It’s not even necessarily a show that I would seek out myself were it not for the universal praise from critics and viewers. But much like Singin’ in the Rain, this is probably better than what you’ve heard.
It’s really a challenging watch, though; Allie purposely never asked me to turn it on, because it’s just not a fun hang. It battles with so much heavy shit. It’s not a “kick back and relax on a Sunday night” type of show (which is maybe why they bumped it from Sunday nights to Monday nights after it started airing). But it really is worth it in the end. Coel is an absolute genius and I’m here for wherever she wants to take her career.
The rest in alphabetical order:
High Fidelity
How To With John Wilson
Love Life S1
The Mandalorian S2
Ted Lasso S1
2020 BEST NEW GAME:
Astro’s Playroom (PS5)
Much like everything else, covid kinda fucked up video games this year too.
The big elephant in the room is Cyberpunk 2077, which was successful commercially, but failed in literally every other aspect. Why was it so bad? Most of the blame can be pointed at pressure from their investors, plus the complications that arose from managing a huge development team during a pandemic. But the real nail in Cyberpunk’s coffin was the overly-ambitious marketing campaign, which promised players a heap of features and next-gen experiences that CDPR simply wasn’t capable of delivering.
So, what game did deliver in 2020? A game that I played for free, of course!
Lance was obsessive-compulsive enough to hunt down a PS5 for me with Mandalorian-esque bounty hunter precision. But when it arrived, I didn’t really have any “new games” to play. There was one game, though. A free game. A game that was packaged up and rolled out with every version of the PS5. Just a wonderful little game. Astro’s Playroom.
Astro’s Playroom is really just a free tech demo that was meant to introduce users to the PS5’s secret weapon: the DualSense controller. In a gaming sense, it’s simply a Mario-inspired 3D platformer that takes you to different worlds with different terrains (water, jungle, ice, space). But the haptic feedback that they incorporate with the DualSense controller provides realistic vibrations from different actions in the game.
So when you use a gacha machine, the trigger suddenly takes real effort to press down, just like a real lever. In order to spin a wheel to make you fly, you have to physically blow on the controller’s microphone input. When you ride through a level inside of a tiny ball (Super MonkeyBall style), you swipe the touchpad to guide yourself around obstacles.
And my favorite segment: when you climb into a robot-monkey suit and start rock-climbing up a wall (see picture above), the amount of pressure that you press down on the triggers determines how good of a grip you have on the wall. It’s a next-level feature that I could see a lot of future games implementing, like in cinematic games such as Uncharted.
Will games actually use this new controller to its full potential? I don’t know, they probably won’t for a while. But if Astro’s Playroom is an early glimpse at the future of PS5 games, then I think this console (and it’s controller) has unlimited potential.
The rest in alphabetical order:
Among Us
Animal Crossing: New Horizons
Bugsnax
Creaks (Apple Arcade)
Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout
Ghost of Tsushima
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2
2020 BEST BOOK I READ:
Saga Vol. 1-9 by Brian K. Vaughan
This isn’t a 2020 title at all, but I probably read more books and graphic novels this year than Lance has read in his entire life, so it’s ok.
Saga is a comic book series that first dropped in October 2012, and wrapped up its first “compendium” (basically Act 1 of the story) in September 2018, but has been on a hiatus since then with no timetable to return.
When covid first hit, I was searching high and low for stuff to take my mind off of everything. Video games weren’t hitting as hard as they used to, and all of my most-anticipated movies had been postponed indefinitely.
So I went back to Saga, which I started in 2016. I read the first two or three volumes, but for whatever reason just got distracted and never finished it out. But this series kinda saved me back in March/April. Much like a good TV show, it was hard to put it down. It’s like a cross between Star Wars and Game of Thrones, with some Lord of the Rings and Romeo & Juliet sprinkled in. Such an easy, addicting read full of characters that I suddenly found myself too attached to. Saga really takes you on a journey, and I can’t recommend it enough. Lance would hate it though. Greg might fuck with it!
The rest in alphabetical order:
2020 BEST PODCAST EPISODE:
Blank Check With Griffin & David - “Used Cars with Jason Mantzoukas & Paul Scheer”
I know nobody cares about my favorite podcast. I’ve recommended Blank Check to multiple people now, and no one has come back to me with a, “Hell yeah! Great recommendation!”
It’s probably because their episodes often dip into the 2-2.5 hour range, which is really intimidating for new listeners. This episode in particular, featuring my favorite human Jason Mantzoukas and my fellow Aquarius Paul Scheer, is their longest episode ever, clocking in just over 3 hours.
So, what the hell is Blank Check? To quote their own description:
“[It’s] not just another bad movie podcast. Blank Check reviews directors’ complete filmographies episode to episode. Specifically, the auteurs whose early successes afforded them with the rare ‘blank check’ from Hollywood to produce passion projects.”
Basically, they pick popular directors who have had an immense amount of power and influence in the industry at some point in their careers. Sometimes these directors use their powers to cash in a figurative “blank check” that they use to top their previous works. Other times, that blank check “bounces” into a colossal failure.
This episode’s example occurred on the (still-running) Robert Zemeckis series. His second directorial, Used Cars, got the attention of Steven Spielberg, who then banked on Zemeckis to direct the Back to the Future movies, which then resulted in Zemeckis’ earning a figurative “blank check” that he then cashed and turned into Forrest Gump and Castaway. Blank Check covers each film with a level of movie history and trivia that is unmatched.
Also, Greg, have you ever seen Draft Day? The co-host of the pod, Griffin Newman, is an actor who is most well-known for his role as the intern in Draft Day. I’ve never seen it.
Anyway, I doubt anyone has read this far. That’s fine. I’m procrastinating.
The rest in alphabetical order:
The Bill Simmons Podcast - “The 2021 NBA Over/Under Mega Preview with Ryen Russillo and Joe House”
The Watch - "Movies, Music, and TV That Helped Us Through 2020 with Jason Mantzoukas"
SHIT I HAVEN’T FINISHED / SEEN / PLAYED YET:
The favorites for “Game of the Year” and “Best Picture” at this year’s Game Awards and Academy Awards are two things that I just haven’t gotten to yet.
The former is the most accessible rougelike ever, Hades, which ranked as Polygon and IGN’s #1 ranked game of the year. And the latter is Nomadland, the timely drama made by Marvel’s Eternals director Chloé Zau, streaming on Hulu on February 19th.
So yea. I need those in my life.
Games: Demon’s Souls; Final Fantasy 7 Remake; Hades; The Last of Us Part II; Spider-Man: Miles Morales; 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim
Movies: Minari; Never Rarely Sometimes Always; Nomadland; Promising Young Woman; Sound of Metal
Moondog’s Movieboat
The movieboat is a magical boat ride filled with all of the extremely useful information that populates my brain.
If you’ve made it this far, send me a monkey emoji! Thanks for reading!
Moondog