The Reel World

Jerome’s Top 50 of 2020: Television Shows

It’s pretty wild to think about the year in television for 2020. There were a lot of concerns about the content pipeline drying up, and it ultimately never did. Most likely, this is capitalism at its worst, but there were also a number of projects completed or nearly completed before the pandemic started. This was a solid movie year under the circumstances but a spectacular year for television. I have 24 shows on this list, and they represent the gambit (pun not intended) of broadcast, cable, premium, and at least five different streaming services. One show even jumped from one streaming service to another.

Pantheon Plus – Tournament Edition: Enter the Dragon

John Saxon, friend and student of Bruce Lee, and co-star in 'Enter the Dragon' dies at 83 | South China Morning Post

Jerome and Brian examine Bruce Lee’s finest and most important work, Enter the Dragon. They examine his history, his unfortunate passing, and the greatness of this film.

Jerome’s Top 50 of 2020: Docuseries and Documentaries

Discussing 2020 as a terrible year is almost a cliché at this point. If it’s possible for opinions to be subjective, then saying 2020 was bad would be a truth. However, there were some excellent examples of visual media. Hopefully, these projects have served as a distraction to those who have needed it, but they should never make us forget the realities of what it means to be a citizen of the world. Many of these top 50 do so in subtle and not so subtle ways. Today, I’ll focus on some documentaries and docu series. Tomorrow will be television shows. Thursday I’ll end with movies.

Top 10 Performances in the Harry Potter Films

Okay, so these movies are mostly ass. In fact, calling them “movies” is pretty much a stretch. For the most part, it just feels like the books were plugged into Google Translate to go from “book” to “movie” and they were just spit out. There was no real vision and the differing early styles, and the whole thing was clearly just a quick cash-in. Whatever! These books were not designed well for adaptation for the screen (big or small). As such, there’s really no great acting in there, but some characters were better served than others in the script with actors actually doing what was needed!

10. John Cleese

Continue reading Top 10 Performances in the Harry Potter Films

The Matt Signal – Episode 52: Mudslide

Plot summary: Clayface resurfaces in a desperate attempt to stop his body from literally falling apart.

The Matt Signal – Episode 51: The Man Who Killed Batman

Plot summary: Small-time crook Sid the Squid’s life takes a turn for the worse after he apparently kills Batman.

Reel Bad – A Breaking Bad Podcast: Episode 12 (Better Call Saul Season 5)

The fifth season of Better Call Saul may be the best yet, and Jerome and Kevin break down why.

A long discussion of the characters and stories leads to some gushing over some of the series’ top episodes, and bellyaching over the Emmy snubs of Bob Odenkirk and especially Rhea Seehorn. Some old Breaking Bad characters make some first time appearances as well, and we see some characters going down the darker paths that will lead them to their Breaking Bad destination.

With the show’s final season in abeyance, Kevin and Jerome lay down some Season 6 predictions to end the episode, and reveal their next project. Don’t worry, Reel Bad will wrap up whenever Season 6 is released!

The Superhero Pantheon: Watchmen (2019) & Wonder Woman 1984

Jerome and Brian come back to superheroes for an end of the year special as they discuss HBO’s huge Watchmen adaptation that takes its cues from the graphic novel and less so from the 2009 film. The duo discusses why this television series is worth assessing for the Pantheon.

Then the final 30 minutes are a discussion of Wonder Woman 1984. Find out their very spoiler filled thoughts on a mixed bag of a movie to say the least.

There Will Be Movies – Episode 50: Parasite

Ben Phillips & Matt Waters continue to present 25 of their favourite movies from a given decade, this time with 2010 – 2019.

Another year and another volume of There Will Be Movies in the books, and we’re closing with our only Oscar-winner to date: Parasite. Come for the class discourse, stay for Matt’s bleak announcement about future plans.

The Matt Signal – Episode 50: Off Balance

Plot summary: Batman finds himself caught in the middle of in-fighting in the Society of Shadows as Count Vertigo attempts to unleash an experimental weapon.