grassmonk.net

January 2020

Movies

• Joker
• The LEGO Movie
• The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part
• The Majestic
• Mystery Men
• National Treasure
• National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets
• Star Wars: The Clone Wars
• You Don’t Mess With the Zohan

TV

• The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes – 13 episodes
• LEGO Star Wars: The Yoda Chronicles – 5 episodes
• The Mandalorian – 6 episodes
• Mickey Mouse – 32 episodes
• NYPD Blue – 64 episodes
• Phineas and Ferb – 6 episodes
• Star Trek: The Next Generation – 4 episodes
• Star Trek: Short Treks – 10 episodes
• Star Wars: The Clone Wars – 19 episodes

Video Games

• The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening

February

Movies

• The Do-Over
• Frozen
• Get Him to the Greek
• Goon
• Groundhog Day
• John Wick
• The Naked Gun
• Police Academy
• The Ridiculous 6
• Sandy Wexler
• Stripes
• Tarzan
• Wonder Woman: Bloodlines

TV

• The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes – 1 episode
• Brooklyn Nine-Nine – 5 episodes
• Phineas and Ferb – 1 episode
• Star Trek: The Next Generation – 17 episodes
• Star Wars: The Clone Wars – 22 episodes

March

Movies

• Aladdin (2019)
• Fantasia
• Fantasia 2000
• Flight of the Navigator
• Frozen II
• John Wick Chapter 2
• John Wick Chapter 3: Parabellum
• The Jungle Book
• Kung Fu Panda
• Kung Fu Panda 2
• Kung Fu Panda 3
• Newsies: The Broadway Musical
• Semi-Pro
• Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker
• Toy Story
• Toy Story 2
• Toy Story 3
• Toy Story 4
• Up

TV

• The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes – 38 episodes
• Brooklyn Nine-Nine – 4 episodes
• Mickey Mouse – 25 episodes
• Phineas and Ferb – 2 episodes
• Star Trek: The Next Generation – 26 episodes
• Star Wars: The Clone Wars – 77 episodes
• Toy Story of Terror!
• Toy Story That Time Forgot

April

Movies

• Jumanji: The Next Level
• Knives Out
• Star Trek: Generations
• Star Trek: First Contact
• Star Trek: Insurrection
• Star Trek: Nemesis

TV

• Brooklyn Nine-Nine – 4 episodes
• Community – 108 episodes (+ 31 episodes again)
• The Spectacular Spider-Man – 20 episodes
• Star Trek: The Next Generation – 6 episodes
• Star Trek: Picard – 10 episodes
• Star Trek: Voyager – 4 episodes

May

Movies

• The Avengers
• Avengers: Age of Ultron
• Bad Boys
• Bad Boys II
• Bad Boys for Life
• Captain America: Civil War
• Dinosaur
• Dumbo
• Iron Man 3
• Maleficent
• Melody Time
• Monty Python and the Holy Grail
• 101 Dalmatians
• Ratatouille
• Superman: Red Son
• Tangled

TV

• Alias – 13 episodes
• Community – 36 episodes
• Homeland – 12 episodes
• Leverage – 1 episode
• The Spectacular Spider-Man – 5 episodes
• Star Wars: The Clone Wars – 12 episodes
• Star Wars: Rebels – 7 episodes

Video Games

• Metroid Prime 2: Echoes

June

Movies

• Avengers: Infinity War
• Avengers: Endgame
• Bird of Prey
• Jojo Rabbit
• Spider-Man: Homecoming

TV

• Alias – 7 episodes
• Community – 22 episodes
• Star Wars: Rebels – 3 episodes
• The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: Kimmy vs. the Reverend

Video Games

• The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

July

Movies

• Die Hard
• Follow That Bird
• The Karate Kid
• Molly’s Game
• Palm Springs
• Red Sparrow
• Screwed
• Spaceballs
• Swordfish
• The Town
• The Unauthorized Bash Brothers Experience
• Zoolander

TV

• Alias – 24 episodes
• Community – 11 episodes
• Mickey Mouse – 6 episodes
• Star Wars: Rebels – 63 episodes
• The Umbrella Academy – 3 episodes

August

Movies

• Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy
• Hook
• Justice League Dark: Apokolips War
• A Night at the Roxbury
• Slience of the Lambs
• Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope

TV

• Agents of SHIELD – 13 episodes
• Community – 8 episodes
• Hannibal – 32 episodes
• Harley Quinn – 3 episodes
• Iron Man: Armored Adventures – 28 episodes
• Mickey Mouse – 14 episodes
• Star Trek: Lower Decks – 2 episodes
• Star Wars: Forces of Destiny – 32 episodes
• The Umbrella Academy – 17 episodes

Video Games

• The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD

September

Books

• Ender’s Game
• Equal Rites

Movies

• Red Dragon

TV

• Alias – 6 episodes
• Avatar: The Last Airbender – 61 episodes
• Hannibal – 7 episodes
• Harley Quinn – 3 episodes
• Iron Man: Armored Adventures – 24 episodes
• Phineas and Ferb – 29 episodes
• Star Trek: Lower Decks – 2 episodes
• X-Men: The Animated Series – 10 episodes

Video Games

• The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD

October

Books

• Speaker for the Dead

Movies

• The Amazing Spider-Man
• The Amazing Spider-Man 2
• Batman Begins
• The Dark Knight
• The Dark Knight Rises
• The Bourne Identity
• The Bourne Supremacy
• The Bourne Ultimatum
• Deadpool
• Deadpool 2
• The Devil All the Time
• Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog
• Justice League
• Hubie Halloween
• Hunt for the Wilderpeople
• Logan
• Much Ado About Nothing
• Much Ado About Nothing (2012)
• Onward
• Superman Returns
• Uncut Gems
• The Wind Rises

TV

• Alias – 2 episodes
• Phineas and Ferb – 1 episode
• X-Men: The Animated Series – 6 episodes

November

Movies

• Beverly Hills Ninja
• Billy Madison
• A Bug’s Life
• Happy Gilmore
• The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
• The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
• The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
• Serenity
• The Waterboy
• The Week Of

TV

• Alias – 14 episodes
• Firefly – 14 episodes
• Harley Quinn – 10 episodes
• Star Trek: Lower Decks – 6 episodes
• X-Men: The Animated Series – 10 episodes

Video Games

• Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity

December

Movies

• About a Boy
• Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure
• Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey
• Bill & Ted Face the Music
• Captain America: The Winter Soldier
• Dumb and Dumber
• Elf
• Ernest Saves Christmas
• (500) Days of Summer
• Little Nicky
• Love Actually
• The Matrix
• The Matrix Reloaded
• The Matrix Revolutions
• The Muppet Christmas Carol
• The New Mutants
• Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
• Spider-Man
• Spider-Man 2

TV

• A Charlie Brown Christmas
• Harley Quinn – 7 episodes
• Justice League – 1 episode
• The Mandalorian – 16 episodes
• Mickey Mouse – 19 episodes

January 2021

Books

• The Eye of the World
• The Great Hunt
• The Dragon Reborn
• The Shadow Rising

Movies

• Spider-Man 3
• The Wedding Singer

TV

• Alias – 24 episodes

February

Books

• The Fires of Heaven
• Lord of Chaos
• Mort

Movies

• Jurassic Park

TV

• Alias – 15 episodes
• Heroes – 1 episode
• WandaVision – 8 episodes

March

Books

• A Crown of Swords
• The Path of Daggers
• Winter’s Heart

Movies

• Black Sheep
• Tommy Boy

TV

• Heroes – 22 episodes
• Life – 2 episodes
• Phineas and Ferb – 4 episodes
• WandaVision – 1 episode

April

Books

• Crossroads of Twilight
• New Spring
• Knife of Dreams
• The Gathering Storm

TV

• The Falcon and the Winter Soldier – 6 episodes
• Life – 16 episodes
• Phineas and Ferb – 4 episodes

May

Books

• Towers of Midnight
• A Memory of Light

Movies

• Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga

TV

• Episodes – 28 episodes
• Life – 6 episodes
• Phineas and Ferb – 19 episodes

June

Movies

• The Big Lebowski
• John Mulaney: Kid Gorgeous at Radio City
• Our Idiot Brother

TV

• Buffy the Vampire Slayer – 3 episodes
• Episodes – 13 episodes
• The Good Place – 50 episodes
• The Legend of Korra – 39 episodes
• Life – 8 episodes
• Voltron: Legendary Defender – 18 episodes

July

Movies

• Black Widow
• Captain America: The First Avenger
• The Happytime Murders
• Hot Rod
• John Mulaney: The Comeback Kid
• Not Another Teen Movie
• Phineas and Ferb: Across the 2nd Dimension
• So I Married an Axe Murderer
• Talladega Nights: The Legend of Ricky Bobby
• Wayne’s World

TV

• Buffy the Vampire Slayer – 9 episodes
• The Legend of Korra – 13 episodes
• Loki – 6 episodes
• Phineas and Ferb – 14 episodes
• Star Trek: Discovery – 13 episodes
• Voltron: Legendary Defender – 49 episodes

August

Movies

• The Avengers
• The Last Boy Scout
• Wonder Woman 1984
• Zack Snyder’s Justice League

TV

• Avatar: The Last Airbender – 4 episodes
• Buffy the Vampire Slayer – 6 episodes
• He-Man and the Masters of the Universe – 45 episodes
• Phineas and Ferb – 14 episodes
• Voltron: Legendary Defender – 9 episodes
• What If…? – 3 episodes
• X-Men: The Animated Series – 48 episodes

Video Games

• The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
• The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD

September

Books

• Xenocide

Movies

• Batman: The Long Halloween Part 1
• Batman: The Long Halloween Part 2
• Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle
• Jumanji: The Next Level
• Mission: Impossible
• Mr. Right
• The Suicide Squad
• Superman: Man of Tomorrow
• X-Men
• X2: X-Men United
• X-Men: The Last Stand
• X-Men Origins: Wolverine

TV

• Avatar: The Last Airbender – 9 episodes
• Buffy the Vampire Slayer – 1 episode
• Brooklyn Nine-Nine: 10 episodes
• He-Man and the Masters of the Universe – 85 episodes
• Phineas and Ferb – 7 episodes
• She-Ra: Princess of Power – 39 episodes
• What If…? – 5 episodes

Video Games

• The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

October

Movies

• The Black Cauldron
• Justice Society: World War II
• Soul
• X-Men: First Class
• The Wolverine
• X-Men: Days of Future Past
• X-Men: Apocalypse
• X-Men: Dark Phoenix
• The New Mutants

TV

• Avatar: The Last Airbender – 27 episodes
• Boy Meets World – 67 episodes
• He-Man and She-Ra: A Christmas Special
• Phineas and Ferb – 7 episodes
• She-Ra: Princess of Power – 54 episodes
• Star Trek: Lower Decks – 10 episodes
• What If…? – 1 episode

Video Games

• Metroid Dread

November

Movies

• The Avengers
• Avengers: Age of Ultron
• Batman Begins
• The Dark Knight
• The Dark Knight Rises
• Batman: Soul of the Dragon
• Black Widow
• 007: No Time to Die
• The Bourne Identity
• The Bourne Supremacy
• The Bourne Ultimatum
• Jason Bourne
• Captain America: The Winter Soldier
• Captain America: Civil War
• Deadpool
• Deadpool 2
• Eternals
• The Fifth Element
• Logan
• The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
• Luca
• Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping
• Raya and the Last Dragon

TV

• Avatar: The Last Airbender – 21 episodes
• Dexter – 55 episodes
• Masters of the Universe: Revelation – 10 episodes
• Phineas and Ferb – 8 episodes
• The Wheel of Time – 4 episodes

December

Movies

• Avengers: Infinity War
• Avengers: Endgame
• Captain Marvel
• Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog
• Home Alone
• Injustice
• John Mulaney: New in Town
• The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
• The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
• Love Actually
• Phineas and Ferb: Candace Against the Universe
• Red Notice
• Spider-Man: Homecoming
• Spider-Man: Far From Home
• Spider-Man: No Way Home (twice)
• Thor: Ragnarok

TV

• Dexter – 41 episodes
• Dexter: New Blood – 8 episodes
• Hawkeye – 6 episodes
• Phineas and Ferb – 19 episodes
• The Wheel of Time – 4 episodes

Here included is the list of movies which fall into the dual categories of “favorite (and not),” and “I watched during 2019.” Criteria also includes being released in 2019, or 2018 if I was too lazy to get to them until later on (and I can remember them well enough to say whether I liked them, and how much). Order is, as always, ordered.

My Favorites

Avengers: Endgame

Endgame was a grand finale to the MCU up to this point, and Spider-Man: Far from Home served as a fine epilogue. We went to see Endgame opening weeked with a large group, and enjoyed every minute of it. We went again a few weeks later with some friends, and enjoyed every second of it. We bought the Blu-ray, etc.

Captain Marvel

The only information I knew about the character of Captain Marvel going in were whatever had been present in the Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes animated series, which a) I saw several years ago, b) had forgotten nearly everything about, and c) am currently rewatching on Disney Plus.

That said, I thought Captain Marvel was a lot of fun. The cast was fantastic. I think it’s great that I still can see no resemblance between Envy Adams (in Scott Pilgrim vs. the World) and Carol Danvers. A younger Nick Fury was great. My favorite was probably the return of Phil Coulson to the big screen (I’d really been hoping he’d somehow appear in Endgame).

How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World

Shrek and Shrek 2 notwithstanding, for my money the Kung Fu Panda and How to Train Your Dragon films are Dreamworks’ best, rivaling some of Pixar’s film (which frankly isn’t hard to do when we’re talking about Cars). Of course, as I write this, I looked up a list of all of Dreamworks’ animated films, and realize I’ve only seen just under half of them. Still, I stand by my statement.

As I said of the first How to Train Your Dragon:

This and Kung Fu Panda are Dreamworks Animation’s best, with Shrek and Shrek 2 also somewhere up there, but paling beside HtTYD and KFP. I love a movie that my kids can watch over and over and over and over without me not only not hating it, but still liking it a lot.

And regarding How to Train Your Dragon 2:

The first How to Train Your Dragon was a surprise to me in how good it was.  This was a continuation of that goodness, with very little to dislike (if anything).  I maintain that this and the Kung Fu Panda franchises are Dreamworks’ best.

Spider-Man: Far from Home

I am a sucker for Spider-Man movies. Even the one that is on par with some of the “worst” X-Men entries had its moments. When they are really enjoyable it’s just icing on the cake for me. Far from Home had some fantastic sequences with Mysterio, and the way the Skrulls and JJJ came into play was very fun. The supporting cast was also great, just as in Spider-Man: Homecoming.

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

From 2018, but like, the very end. I knew very little about Miles Morales, and Peter Parker will always be my Spider-Man, but this was just a great movie in every way. I’m going to be re-watching the other best animated Spider-Man, The Spectacular Spider-Man series, this year.

Other movies I enjoyed

Detective Pikachu

I wasn’t expecting to watch this movie, but one of the trailers grabbed my attention enough to give it a go once it arrived to home media. The sum of my Pokemon exposure is some of the cards my kids have collected, Pokemon GO (which I play a lot of) and Pokemon Let’s Go Eevee!

I had fun spotting Pokemon I recognized; Ryan Reynolds was a treat (as always); and I discovered Justice Smith didn’t have to be as annoying as in Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (though, to be fair, everything about that film was pretty lame).

Ralph Breaks the Internet

From 2018. So, I know I liked this movie, but I didn’t like it as much as the original Wreck-It Ralph. That’s really all I remember about it, which should probably warrant it a lower, or at least different, place on the list, but it’s already here, no take-backs.

Shazam!

As with Marvel’s Captain Marvel, I knew nothing of DC’s Captain Marvel except for what I had seen in the Justice League animated series. I’d say Shazam! is up there with Wonder Woman as part of the DCEU’s best. It struck almost the right amount of seriousness and humor for me; the only part I didn’t really like was the design of the manifestations of the seven deadly sins. (That sentence was also unwieldy.)

I also like how great of a bad guy John Glover makes, what with his role in Shazam!, as Lionel Luthor in Smallville, and the Riddler in Batman: The Animated Series.

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

My quarrel with The Rise of Skywalker is how disjointed it felt from The Last Jedi. Like the movie or not (I did), Jedi followed on from The Force Awakens nicely, even if it did so in unexpected or controversial ways. I found Skywalker to attempt to distance itself as much as possible from Jedi, thus resulting in being an enjoyable standalone entry, but not one which felt like part of a cohesive whole.

X-Men: Dark Phoenix

I haven’t come across an X-Men film that I didn’t like, though entries such as Origins: Wolverine and Apocalypse are obviously not cinematic masterpieces. On the other hand, X2, Days of Future Past, and Logan are some of my favorite superhero movies (and the Deadpool films are pretty great, as well).

Dark Phoenix seems to have struck a nerve with many fans, or at least the vocal ones on the internet, with it being near or at the bottom of many rankings. I found it enjoyable enough, though I would have liked to see the original timeline cast take on this particular story.

With the arrival of Disney Plus, I’ll now also finally be watching the ’90s animated X-Men series this year, as well as X-Men: Evolution.

Movies that made me say, “meh”

Aquaman

From 2018.  I previously said of Aquaman:

The current DCEU has had 3 terrible movies, 1 generally OK one, and 1 really good one.  I wonder where Aquaman will fall.  I hope at least generally OK.

At the time, the three terrible movies were Man of Steel (don’t get me started), Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (though the extended cut was better), and Suicide Squad.  The generally OK one was Justice League, and the really good one was Wonder Woman.

I’d classify Aquaman as generally OK, with no desire to see it again.  Aquaman himself was fine, but the rest of the movie was just so… dumb.  It should be a crime to waste Willem Dafoe like that. I’ll most likely skip Aquaman 2.

Glass

As I said elsewhere:

I had originally seen Unbreakable shortly after it released, and hated it.  Like, hated it.  I don’t remember exactly why, but it just rubbed me the wrong way.  I wanted to watch Split after reading good reviews, and generally enjoying James McAvoy, so I did, and then rewatched Unbreakable before watching Glass.  All three are in the “didn’t hurt to watch that” category, with the qualifier that James McAvoy was amazing.

Because it’s an M. Night Shyamalan film, of course there was a twist.  It wasn’t amazing, as twists go.  I’d say the only Shyamalan films I’ve really felt excelled are The Sixth Sense and Signs.

Venom

From 2018.  I expected this to fit solidly into the meh category, and that’s exactly where it landed.  I suspect I’ll skip Venom 2 unless it ends up tying into the MCU somehow.

Movies that made me say, “Why on earth did I watch this?”

This category remains empty, two years in a row. I continue to become either lazier or more discerning, and possibly both.

2019 movies I haven’t seen yet that I hope are good, or at least not terrible

Frozen II

Joker

Jumanji: The Next Level

The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part

Toy Story 4

September

Movies

• Bewitched
• 007: The Living Daylights
• 007: License to Kill
• 007: GoldenEye
• 007: Tomorrow Never Dies
• 007: The World Is Not Enough
• 007: Die Another Day
• 007: Casino Royale
• Dumb and Dumber
• The Fifth Element
• 50 First Dates
• Fun With Dick and Jane
• A Good Day to Die Hard
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
• I Am Legend
• The Journey of Natty Gann
• Kiki’s Delivery Service
• Les Miserables
• Piglet’s Big Movie
• Pixar Short Films Collection Volume 1
• Pixar Short Films Collection Volume 2
• Pooh’s Grand Adventure: The Search for Christopher Robin
• Pooh’s Heffalump Movie
• Ponyo
• Porco Rosso
• The Sorcerer’s Apprentice
• Speed Racer
• Super Mario Bros.
• Tales from Earthsea
• The Tigger Movie
• The Whole Nine Yards
• Winnie the Pooh

October

Movies

• 007: Quantum of Solace
• 007: Skyfall
• 007: Spectre
• Daredevil
• Elektra
• Fun and Fancy Free
• The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
• The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
• The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
• Horton Hears a Who!
• I, Robot
• The Transformers: The Movie

TV

• Gotham – 47 episodes

Video Games

• Pikmin 3

November

Movies

• The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad
• Batman
• Batman Forever
• Beauty and the Beast
• Beauty and the Beast (2017)
• Big Hero 6
• Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs
• Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2
• (500) Days of Summer
• Hercules
• The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
• The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
• Mission: Impossible II
• Pom Poko
• Spider-Man: Far From Home
• Stranger Than Fiction
• WALL-E

TV

• Gotham – 53 episodes
• It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown
• The Spectacular Spider-Man – 2 episodes

December

Movies

• Batman: Hush
• Batman vs. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
• Detective Pikachu
• Elf
• How the Grinch Stole Christmas
• How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World
• The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
• The Nightmare Before Christmas
• Shazam!
• Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace
• Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones
• Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
• Solo: A Star Wars Story
• Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
• Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
• Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
• Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi
• Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens
• Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi
• Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker
• Superman: The Movie
• Superman II
• Superman III
• Superman Returns

TV

• The Mandalorian – 3 episodes
• The Witcher – 8 episodes

Video Games

• Pikmin 2

January

Movies

• Aladdin
• All-Star Superman
• Back to the Future
• Back to the Future Part II
• Back to the Future Part III
• Batman: Assault on Arkham
• Batman: The Dark Knight Returns Part 1
• Batman: The Dark Knight Returns Part 2
• Batman: Gotham Knight
• Batman: Under the Red Hood
• Batman: Year One
• Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog
• Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths
• Justice League: Doom
• Justice League: Gods and Monsters
• Justice League: The New Frontier
• Logan
• Mission: Impossible – Fallout
• Pixar Short Films Collection Volume 3
• Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping
• Superman: Doomsday
• Superman: Unbound
• Superman/Batman: Public Enemies
• Superman/Batman: Apocalypse
• Venom
• The Wolverine
• Wonder Woman
• X-Men: Days of Future Past
• X-Men: Apocalypse

TV

• Angel – 8 episodes
• Brooklyn Nine-Nine – 2 episodes

Video Games

• Pokemon Let’s GO! Eevee

February

Movies

• American Pie
• Batman Ninja
• Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure
• Deadpool 2
• The Death of Superman
• Justice League vs. Teen Titans
• Split
• Teen Titans: The Judas Contract

TV

• Angel – 14 episodes
• Brooklyn Nine-Nine – 5 episodes
• Cheers – 18 episodes
• Firefly – 5 episodes
• NYPD Blue – 37 episodes

March

Books

• Ender’s Game

Movies

• Captain Marvel
• How to Train Your Dragon
• How to Train Your Dragon 2
• How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World
• Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
• Serenity
• Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
• Unbreakable
• Wreck-It Ralph
• Ralph Breaks the Internet

TV

• Brooklyn Nine-Nine – 4 episodes
• Cheers – 36 episodes
• Dollhouse – 3 episodes
• Firefly – 8 episodes
• NYPD Blue – 29 episodes
• The Umbrella Academy – 10 episodes
• Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt – 8 episodes

April

Movies

• Aquaman
• The Avengers
• Avengers: Age of Ultron
• Avengers: Infinity War
• Avengers: Endgame
• Batman Begins
• The Cable Guy
• Captain America: The First Avenger
• Captain America: The Winter Soldier
• Captain America: Civil War
• Doctor Strange
• Guardians of the Galaxy
• Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
• The Incredible Hulk
• The Incredibles
• Incredibles 2
• Iron Man
• Iron Man 2
• Iron Man 3
• Thor
• Thor: Ragnarok
• The Truman Show
• Wanted

TV

• Arrested Development – 16 episodes
• Brooklyn Nine-Nine – 4 episodes
• Dollhouse – 23 episodes
• NYPD Blue – 6 episodes
• The Punisher – 13 episodes
• Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt – 4 episodes

Video Games

• The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
• Super Mario World

May

Movies

• Ant-Man
• Avengers: Endgame
• Glass
• Hot Rod
• The Lion King
• Spider-Man: Homecoming
• Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
• Thor: The Dark World

TV

• The Big Bang Theory – 24 episodes
• Brooklyn Nine-Nine – 48 episodes
• NYPD Blue – 56 episodes

Video Games

• New Super Luigi U

June

Movies

• Ant-Man and the Wasp
• Black Panther
• The Hunchback of Notre Dame
• Justice League vs. The Fatal Five
• The Princess Bride
• Reign of the Supermen
• Star Trek III: The Search for Spock
• Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
• X-Men: Dark Phoenix

TV

• Brooklyn Nine-Nine – 59 episodes
• Going Postal – 2 episodes
• Good Omens – 6 episodes
• Jessica Jones – 13 episodes
• Mad About You – 22 episodes
• NYPD Blue – 4 episodes
• Star Trek: Discovery – 14 episodes

Video Games

• Cadence of Hyrule: Crypt of the Necrodancer

July

Books

• The Light Fantastic

Movies

• The Animatrix
• Bandits
• Captain Marvel
• Crazy, Stupid, Love.
• Hot Rod
• The Matrix
• The Matrix Reloaded
• The Matrix Revolutions
• Mission: Impossible
• Spider-Man
• Spider-Man 2
• Spider-Man 3
• Spider-Man: Far From Home
• Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
• Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country

TV

• Brooklyn Nine-Nine – 26 episodes
• Hogfather – 3 episodes
• Iron Man: Armored Adventures – 2 episodes
• NYPD Blue – 35 episodes

Video Games

• The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds

August

Movies

• Across the Universe
• Avengers: Endgame
• Big Trouble
• The Bourne Identity
• The Bourne Supremacy
• The Bourne Ultimatum
• Chain Reaction
• The Dark Knight
• The Dark Knight Rises
• Detective Pikachu
• Die Hard
• Die Hard 2: Die Harder
• Die Hard With a Vengeance
• Easy A
• Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
• Hook
• Howl’s Moving Castle
• The Italian Job
• Jumanji
• Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle
• Knight and Day
• Live Free or Die Hard
• The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
• Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping
• The Princess and the Frog
• Princess Mononoke
• Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves
• Salt
• Shazam!
• So I Married an Axe Murderer
• Star Trek
• Star Trek Into Darkness
• Star Trek Beyond
• The Three Musketeers
• Waiting
• Wayne’s World

TV

• Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. – 13 episodes
• NYPD Blue – 30 episodes

Here included is the list of movies which fall into the dual categories of “favorite (and not),” and “I watched during 2018.”  Criteria also includes being released in 2018, or 2017 if I was too lazy to get to them until later on (and I can remember them well enough to say whether I liked them, and how much).  Order is, as always, ordered.

– My Favorites –

Avengers: Infinity War

I saw Infinity War three times at the theater.  The first was alone, so I could watch without anyone trying to talk to me during the show.  The second was the next day, with my family.  The third was for my son’s birthday.  Each time was great, and I can’t wait to see Avengers: Endgame in just a couple of weeks.

Deadpool 2

I was skeptical, but really liked Deadpool.  I liked Deadpool 2 more.  The focus on “family” was nice, and a-ha’s “Take on Me” is now nearly permanently stuck in my head, which I think everyone can agree is no bad thing.

Incredibles 2

As I recall, this year [2018] each of my children went to one movie with a parent, just the two of us (not counting Infinity War).  Incredibles 2 was the choice of my younger son, and while I don’t think it was as good as the original movie, we both enjoyed it greatly and had fun together.

Mission: Impossible – Fallout

My older son and I went to Fallout together.  I think we originally saw the trailer before Infinity War, and he immediately told me we had to see Fallout.  I am a fan of all of the Mission: Impossible movies except for the second one, and was glad to introduce him to them.  We watched 1, 3, 4, and 5 over the next couple of months, and we both loved Fallout.  When I watch a movie, I will get emotionally involved in the story and appreciate the action, but I don’t generally have physical reactions to, e.g. jump scares or plot reveals, etc.  There were several times in Fallout that had me on the edge of my seat, tensely awaiting the outcome of a scene.  It was probably my favorite entry in the series next to the original installment.

Plus, Superman’s missing mustache!

– Other movies I enjoyed –

Ant-Man and the Wasp

Paul Rudd is just fantastic in everything he is a part of.  That is all.

Black Panther

Black Panther was interesting to me.  It’s a movie that I probably would not have been interested in had it not been part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but that I am glad I saw.

Coco

From 2017.  Another pretty great Pixar entry.

Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle

Also from 2017, somewhere near the end.  I liked the original Jumanji as a kid, and I still enjoy watching it from time to time.  I wasn’t really expecting much from Welcome to the Jungle, and was very pleasantly surprised.  I’ll definitely check out the third installment.

Solo: A Star Wars Story

We saw Solo because, well, it’s a Star Wars movie.  And it was better than it had any right to be.

– Movies that made me say, “meh” –

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

Jurassic World did not do it for me, and I was surprised at how much money it made at the box office.  The sequel did not do it for me even more.  I love me some Chris Pratt, so there’s that, but the original Jurassic Park will always be my favorite.

– Movies that made me say, “Why on earth did I watch this?” –

This category is empty this year.  I’m either getting lazier or more discerning.

– 2018 movies I haven’t seen yet that I hope are good, or at least not terrible (except that it’s April now and I’ve actually seen them but I’m still going to pretend I did this in January or whatever OK?) –

Aquaman

The current DCEU has had 3 terrible movies, 1 generally OK one, and 1 really good one.  I wonder where Aquaman will fall.  I hope at least generally OK.

Ralph Breaks the Internet

Wreck-It Ralph was a fun movie, and the sequel looks fun, as well.

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

This is getting great reviews, and as a Spidey fan I really should have seen it by now.  Alas.

Venom

I really don’t have any hope for this movie, but I got the disc from Netflix, so I guess I’ll get to it soon enough.