2009: The year in video

It's been a long time since I did a "What I've been watching" post, and I thought it'd be fun to look back at what I loved and hated on video in 2009. This is going to get long, so I'll break it up into a few different posts.

January
TV shows:

LOVED "Frisky Dingo" Season 1. This show is so wrong and so fun.

HATED Mutant X Season 1. Worst sci-fi show I've seen in a long time. We compare everything else to this now, as in, "Well, it wasn't as bad as Mutant X."

Enjoyable: BSG Season 4, Numb3rs Season 2, Monk Season 3, Doctor Who Season 2, Little Britain Series 1, Jeremiah Season 2.

Movies:
LOVED "Futurama: Bender's Dream." Actually, we've been loving all the stand-alone feature Futurama movies.

HATED: Nothing, really, though several movies were kind of "meh."

Enjoyable: King Solomon's Mines (1950), Repo! The Genetic Opera, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Legends of the Fall (a guilty pleasure rather than an outstanding movie).

February
TV Shows

LOVED Kids in the Hall Season 4. The kids were really on this season.

HATED Earth 2. Man this was a piece of crap! Runner-up is Galactica 1980. Also a piece of crap.

Enjoyable: South Park Season 9, Smallville Season 7, The Monkees Season 1, Frisky Dingo Season 2, Doctor Who Season 3, Heroes Season 3.

Movies

LOVED Juno. It got a lot of press and awards, so this is a pretty obvious choice, but I really did like it. Runner-up, the film "Birdy" which I reviewed here.

HATED Event Horizon. J. made me watch this again, even though it sucked the first time I saw it.

Enjoyable: The Count of Monte Cristo (2002), The Brother from Another Planet, Velvet Goldmine, Fierce Creatures, Dangerous Liaisons (1988), Domino.

March
TV Shows

LOVED Numb3rs Season 3. I love both the science and the relationships. Runner-up: X-Men Evolution Season 3. This is the best of the cartoon X-men interpretations, in my opinion.

HATED none, but Ren & Stimpy: The Lost Episodes was disappointing. It's mostly an excuse to inject more boobs and booze into the Ren & Stimpy universe.

Enjoyable: The Kids in the Hall Season 5.

Movies

LOVED The Bucket List. Another obvious choice, but I never claimed I wasn't sentimental!

HATED the Woody Allen movie Celebrity. I hated every character introduced in the first 10 minutes, so I never finished it.

Enjoyable: Return to Oz, Scotland PA, Sherlock: Case of Evil, True Believer, A Passage to India.

2009: The year in video, part II

What I watched & loved or hated in 2009, part 2:

April
TV Shows

LOVED: a tie between The Richard Pryor Show and Series 1 of The I.T. Crowd. The Richard Pryor Show didn't even last half a season, but it is Richard Pryor at his finest. The show is mostly skits, and all seem based on the premise "What if Richard Pryor was a _____." As in, "What if Richard Pryor was the bartender in Star Wars?" or "What if Richard Pryor was a racist white judge from the south?" The whole first season of The I.T. Crowd was hilarious, but the season-ender was pee-your-pants funny.

HATED Harsh Realm. Well, 'hate' is a little strong, but it was disappointing. I wanted to like this because I'm an X-files fan, but it's not that great.

Enjoyable: Crusade, Dark Angel Season 1, The Monkees Season 2.

Movies

LOVED Netherbeast Incorporated. Dave Foley is my secret boyfriend, so I love anything he's in, but this was a sleeper hit.

HATED Hero. Again, it was less that I hated it than I found it disappointing. I remember thinking it was OK when I first watched it, but upon re-watching, I found the script painfully clumsy, especially the ham-fisted attempts at characterization early in the movie.

Enjoyable: Quantum of Solace, Waiting..., To Be or Not to Be, The Meaning of Life.

May
TV Shows

LOVED Sherlock Holmes: Murder Rooms. These are feature-length but made-for-TV movies and I love them all. They are based on the premise that the author of the Sherlock Holmes stories did some detecting with an old physician friend. These stories are sexier and darker than the Sherlock Holmes short stories and really well done.

HATED Afro Samurai. Again, really not so much about "hate" as not really getting into it, despite the fact that it has samurai and the voice of Samuel L. Jackson.

Enjoyable: Still watching and enjoying David Tennant as Dr. Who.

Movies

LOVED Something Wicked this Way Comes. I could not believe this was Disney. I loved this film thoroughly: the sets and cinematography were spot-on for the period and the performances were excellent. Creepy and fun. I was also pleasantly surprised by a little film about the scientists in Australia who oversaw the first moon landing, called "The Dish." Lovely little film.

HATED Grey Gardens. I'm referring to the documentary. I watched about half, but it was so painful, like being an unwilling witness to a family squabble at your best friend's house. The Musketeer (2001) was also disappointing- visually appealing but the acting and script were "meh."

Enjoyable: Futurama: Into the Wild Green Yonder, Changeling, Paul Blart: Mall Cop, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, the Constant Gardener, Bottle Shock, Earth Girls are Easy.

June
TV Shows

LOVED Dr. Who: The Infinite Quest. Would I like some animated Dr. Who? Yes please! We also really enjoyed the short-lived series Undeclared.

HATED: None.

Enjoyable: Bottom, Torchwood Season 2, Eureka Season 3.

Movies

LOVED Cabaret. As a former fag hag, this is probably predictable, but I loved this movie through and through. And Peter York is at his yummiest, I must say.

HATED The Worst Witch. It starred Fairuza Balk and had a small role by Tim Curry, so I wanted to love it, but it was terrible. Let me count how many ways this movie sucked. It  had Charlotte Rae (a.k.a. Mrs. Garrett from The Facts of Life) playing a good witch and her evil sister, and THEY BOTH SING. This might be the most horrifying part of this made-for-TV movie. And I'm surprised Tim Curry didn't blush or throw up while singing, for no apparent reason other than that it rhymed with the previous line, "Where's my tambourine?"

Enjoyable: DiscWorld: The Wyrd Sisters, The Merry Wives of Windsor (1982), DiscWorld: Soul Music, Unbreakable, The Ice Storm.