Hello, hello! I’m alive! Due to the long hours at the day job, it’s been interesting trying to fit everything else in that I need to do throughout the days and weeks as well as what I want to do but I am finally here to let you know about all that I am caught up on, catching up on, and plan to catch up on. So let’s dive in to what the people want!
TV
Note: As always, new series are in CAPS. Also, original streaming shows are linked.
Returning Shows
From (MGM+) premiered its 3rd season and if it’s not the best returning series so far this season, I don’t know what is. This show is incredible. I love it so, so much. I highly recommend this for anyone who wants a creepy thriller in their lives. It’s horror but it’s horror that I can handle and I don’t know if my threshold is getting higher or what but I love, LOVE this show.
Another show that returned and is knocking it out of the park is The Walking Dead Daryl Dixon (AMC). Carol makes it to Paris and finds Daryl. Not a spoiler. How she gets there is something else. I don’t know anyone around me who is still heavily watching all of TWD spinoffs like I am but I love this world and I’ll watch and love any spinoff they put in front of me but this one is really good (as is the other one with Rick & Michonne if you didn’t watch that).
9-1-1 (ABC) & Grey’s Anatomy (ABC), also returned. I’m enjoying 9-1-1 a lot, as per usual. If you’ve followed the blog over the years, you know how I am with Grey’s Anatomy. I will either be caught up or a season or two behind. Well, I am a season and a half behind and plan to catch up this month so that I can watch week to week. I still have not started Abbott Elementary: Season 4 (ABC), Ghosts: Season 4 (CBS), and The Equalizer: Season 5 (CBS) which I will course correct this week.
As for streaming returning shows? Hellbound (Netflix), I think I’m done with. Season one was so good and season two just completely fell flat for me. I don’t know if it has been renewed or will be but I will be moving on from the show. I honestly just think that what was mesmerizing about season one was no longer something that could keep me tuned in and when you put that aside, the hook for season two was just not enough. Can’t win them all. Onward.
Moon Girl And Devil Dinosaur (Disney+) was cancelled and I don’t think I’ll be able to forgive Disney for not promoting it the way that they should have as well as viewers who knew about it and didn’t watch and support the show. What a gem. The way Hollywood discards such beautiful art is so, so frustrating. What a huge loss. This show could have gone on for a handful of seasons and become a classic. Ugh. Just a huge, huge loss.
New Series
As for new series, AGATHA ALL ALONG (Disney+) is by far the best new drama this fall. Just layers and layers of talent with the writing, the cast, the entire production. WandaVision is the best MCU TV show in my opinion and Agatha All Along is probably the second best. I understand that this moves my other favorites down but it needs to be done, I’m sorry! Also, if you enjoyed the layers of world building and storytelling in Agatha All Along, I highly suggest reading fantasies, both adult and young adult that are written by women. You are missing out on so much depth by not reading the incredible stories that are out on shelves just waiting to blow your minds just like this show did. Reading is magical. Please don’t forget the books. 🙂
I absolutely loved Kaos on Netflix which was promptly cancelled because Netflix has marbles for brains. One of the most creative shows inspired by Greek mytholgy that I’ve seen and they just completely shut down that creative outlet. If Kaos turned into a graphic novel series, I would read it ASAP.
I did watch the animated series, TOMB RAIDER: THE LEGEND OF LARA CROFT (Netflix) and it was solid. I do also really appreciate how something about it reminded me of 90s cartoons. I can’t explain it but I very much appreciated those vibes. They nailed that.
Still Need to Watch Before The Year Ends:
Series Finales: Snowpiercer (AMC) & Orphan Black: Echoes (AMC+ and I don’t know how I feel about the series being cancelled after one season but I am pissed that AMC+ removed season one from its website so I don’t even know when or how I’ll watch the series finale now).
Limited Series: HOLLYWOOD BLACK (MGM+)
Continuing Series: Emily in Paris: Season 4 (Netflix), Shrinking: Season 2 (Apple TV+)
New Series: ENGLISH TEACHER (FX), HOW TO DIE ALONE (Hulu), DISCLAIMER (Apple TV+)
Looking Forward To in November & December
Silo: Season 2 (AppleTV+), The Sex Lives of College Girls (Max), Squid Game: Season 2 (Netflix), DEXTER: ORIGINAL SIN (Showtime), What If…?: Season 3 (Disney+)
Movies
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When it comes to newer documentaries, I highly recommend Demi Lovato’s documentary, Child Star on Hulu which speaks to the experiences of child stars and the very unique as well as relatable challenges that brings in life as we all try to develop into respectable, lovable, successful human beings.
As for movies, I finally watched Inside Out 2 which was just as wonderful as I expected it to be. That said, the first one is still my favorite! M. Night Shyamalan’s Trap was great and as a 90s girlie, it’s so good to see Josh Hartnett on the big screen. Now The Platform 2 was fine for the story it told, I just expected way more from the sequel based on what was set up so perfectly in The Platform. Just because it wasn’t what I wanted doesn’t mean it wasn’t good. That said, it had so much potential to really dig deep with the material they set up and I feel like it was a missed opportunity. Maybe a series would be better. Another movie that was solid for what it was? Parallel starring Danielle Deadwyler, Aldis Hodge, and Edwin Hodge. I respect the decision for not telling us too much about the world building and giving us answers, just letting us ride the wave with as much information as our protagonist. That said, not everyone is going to appreciate that haha. But if you can get on board with that, this was a great movie that left me wanting more in a good way.
Finally, I did watch Uglies on Netflix, the movie adaptation of Scott Westerfeld’s YA novel. The movie was solid for what it was but with a bigger budget, this movie could have been a smash. The novel’s message is timely and timeless and absolutely perfect to bring to screen and it deserved so much more care and attention. Now I am glad that after all of these years it was finally made. Will we see sequels for the rest of the books in the series? I’m going to guess it’s a hard no on that. But I’m grateful that Hollywood managed to take a chance on a great YA story and actually got it to this point of being made and releasing in a time when so many projects are dead in the water. I don’t know if people who haven’t read the books and want to be in this world would come back to this movie (as it may feel to them like just another YA dystopian on the conveyor belt) but I know it’s something I’d throw on in the background when I want to be reminded of that dystopian world. That said, I really hope that Scott gets one of his novels adapted again and it’s everything and more than he could have ever imagined. He deserves so much more.
As for movies of the past that I’m finally getting around to? Plenty. I think at the time that mother! came out, I kind of just needed a break from Jennifer Lawrence (whom I love!) and then I just never got to it. But I finally watched it and oh my god, I love, love, loved it. Wow. I can’t believe I was sitting on that this whole time. Such a fantastic movie. One you can go down a rabbit hole with for sure. I also watched The Martian which I really wanted to read the book before watching the movie but after all of these years, grew impatient and finally watched the movie. It was everything that this movie was hyped up to be and now I’m even more excited to read the book. Now when you think of Rachel Sennott, you think comedy. But please know going in that the movie she stars in titled I Used to Be Funny is not, indeed a comedy. It actually is a drama told in nonlinear format that tackles the subject of sexual assault. It’s a great movie and wonderful to see Rachel stretch her acting muscles. The surprise hit for me this fall was Happy Death Day and its sequel, Happy Death Day 2 U. This horror comedy was such a delight! The first movie is Groundhog Day inspired and the second includes a parallel universe and the way that they connect the two sequels is absolutely brilliant. Brilliant. I don’t consider myself a horror fan but this was horror light and so much fun. Highly, highly recommend. Just go with it. It’s so much fun!
When it comes to past documentaries, I finally watched The Contestant, about a man who was trapped naked in a small room for over a year and his life was broadcast on national television in Japan for all to see. If you think that’s wild and infuriating, oh, it is. I think that’s why it took me so long to get to it. But I’m glad that I watched this documentary because it really makes sense how far we’ve come as a global society when it comes to reality TV, considering this happened in real life in 1998. The Truman Show of it all is really disturbing. I wonder how many college courses have unpacked this documentary / the reality show.
So that’s been my September and October in movies worth mentioning. As the year comes to a close, there are a handful of new releases that I still really want to watch this year which include Society of the Snow, Kinds of Kindness, The Substance, Omni Loop, Amber Alert, Smile 2 and the documentaries, Saturday Night andWill & Harper. Otherwise, all that’s left to look forward to this year are Wicked: Part One and Moana 2!
Books
When it comes to reading, I’ve been listening to various audiobooks but have not finished a single one in the months of September and October. If I finished them all in a week or two, I would be caught up on my annual reading goal progress haha. Maybe I can focus on that in November? We shall see! I did manage to finally read Volume 11 of Saga, so I am finally caught up on Saga until the next volume releases. Other than that, it’s been a very chill on the reading front for me though I do plan to shift my focus to reading in November and December because it’s the end of the year and I have so many books and audiobooks that I’ve started and just need to wrap up. Send me good vibes for this goal to reach the end on all of these amazing stories as 2024 wraps up!
What have you enjoyed watching and reading these past two months?