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How did I fare with my 2020 goals? Given that, until recently, my last post was said goals, it probably doesn’t matter all that much. But I am going to find out anyway. And I’ll mix in some 2021 stuff for fun.

Books to Read

I read three books in 2020, which was one more than 2019, but only two of which were from the list. I read Ender’s Game and Speaker For the Dead to my son, and Equal Rites for my own pleasure. In 2021 I read Xenocide to him, and a bit of Children of the Mind until he lost interest. This year, i.e. 2022 (because 2021 just mostly didn’t happen, I guess), I’m finally going to finish re-reading Ender, as well as reading the new, final (?) novel.

TV Seasons to Watch

Haven’t seen before:

Let’s say 5.5/11. I watched Iron Man: Armored Adventures, The Mandalorian, Mickey Mouse, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Star Wars: Rebels, and 2 seasons of X-Men: The Animated Series. Of course The Flintstones didn’t make the cut. But I have a plan this year, really!

The Clone Wars (plus season 7, which is in a different category) was so great, and Rebels had its very high moments, with the rest being pretty OK. The Mandalorian was a great new entry in the Star Wars universe, and I wish Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni were also in charge of the film division. I originally watched Mickey Mouse season 1 some years ago, but lost track of it. When Disney+ launched, I was able to finally watch all of it, and I loved about every second of it.

Iron Man: Armored Adventures had been on my to-watch list for years, having bought the DVDs for one of my children, and I finally got around to watching it, again on Disney+. It was OK. Despite being the right age when it aired, I never saw X-Men: The Animated Series when I was growing up. My entire X-Men exposure has been through the live action movies. The animated series was OK, but didn’t really grab me. I did watch the remaining seasons in 2021.

Have seen before, but haven’t yet watched my BDs/DVDs:

1/2. I watched NYPD Blue, which remains my all-time favorite TV show, and I plan to get to Batman: TAS in 2022.

Have seen before:

Let’s say almost 5/8. I watched three seasons of Alias with my kids (mostly my daugther), then we got to the other two seasons in 2021. I watched Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, The Spectacular Spider-Man, my “selected episodes” of Star Trek: The Next Generation (somewhere around 50), and one season and a bit more of Phineas and Ferb. We finished Phineas and Ferb in 2021, as well as watching Life. Pinky and the Brain and Smallville are on my list for 2022.

Currently airing/will air this year:

There are nine entries, but two of them were delayed to 2021 (The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and WandaVision), and I did watch them then. Of the remaining seven entries, 6/7. Star Trek: Discovery is not my favorite, and I didn’t get to season 3 until 2021.

Movies to Watch

From last year [2019]:

9/10. I still haven’t seen Maleficent: Mistress of Evil, though it remains on my Disney+ watchlist.

From previous years, already seen or not:

7/9. Having seen almost none of Adam Sandler’s movies that came out since about 2005, I got into somewhat of a Sandler kick and watched several of the ones I had missed. They were mostly really funny. The Batman movies I will get to in 2022 along with Batman: The Animated Series.

New this year:

Fourteen are listed, I think eight were delayed to 2021, and one (Minions: The Rise of Gru) still hasn’t come out. I’ve seen eleven of them at this point, with Free Guy and Ghostbusters: Afterlife still to come.

BDs/DVDs I [try to] watch at least once a year:

I got to all except Spider-Man 3 (which I watched on New Year’s Day 2021) and The Truman Show.

The other BD/DVD categories:

I don’t know, and I’m too lazy to check my spreadsheets and whatnot. I’m pretty sure it’s a really low percentage though, like the kind I would ground my kids for if that’s the kind of grades they got in school. I have a newish plan for 2022.

Video Games to Play

First-time plays:

1ish/2. I played Link’s Awakening and started Pokemon Sword, but I lost interest in it after a while. I still play way too much Pokemon GO, however.

Replays/continued plays:

I seem to remember playing some more Hyrule Warriors: Definitive Edition. And near the end of 2020, there was the wonderful surprise announcement and release of Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity, which I eagerly played, finished, and now need to get back to for the DLC.

Other

No poetism commentaries or GTE entries, but hopefully I will get to the commentaries in 2022. I don’t really have any hope for the GTE stuff, as I’ve kinda let Mormonism go. (Mostly. It depends on the day.)

Books to Read

• The Silmarillion
• The Ender Quartet sequel trilogy (Speaker for the Dead, Xenocide, Children of the Mind)
• The First Formic War Trilogy (Earth Unaware, Earth Afire, Earth Awakens)
• As many of the Discworld books as I can, particularly Raising Steam and The Shepherd’s Crown
• The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever (Lord Foul’s Bane, The Illearth War, The Power That Preserves)

TV Seasons to Watch

Haven’t seen before:

• DuckTales (volume 4)
• The Flintstones (seasons 2 – 6)
• Iron Man: Armored Adventures (seasons 1 – 2)
• The Mandalorian (season 1)
• Mickey Mouse (seasons 1 – 5)
• The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show (season 1)
• Star Wars: The Clone Wars (seasons 1 – 6)
• Star Wars: Rebels (seasons 1 – 4)
• Star Wars: Resistance (seasons 1 – 2)
• X-Men: The Animated Series (seasons 1 – 5)
• X-Men: Evolution (seasons 1 – 4)

Have seen before, but haven’t yet watched my BDs/DVDs:

• Batman: The Animated Series (seasons 1 – 3)
• NYPD Blue (seasons 10 – 12)

Have seen before:

• Alias (seasons 1 – 5)
• Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes (seasons 1 – 2)
• Life (seasons 1 – 2)
• Phineas and Ferb (seasons 1 – 4)
• Pinky and the Brain (volumes 1 – 3)
• Smallville (seasons 1 – 10)
• The Spectacular Spider-Man (seasons 1 – 2)
• Star Trek: The Next Generation (selected episodes)

Currently airing/will air this year:

• Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (season 7)
• Brooklyn Nine-Nine (season 7)
• The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (season 1)
• Homeland (season 8)
• The Mandalorian S2
• Star Trek: Discovery (season 3)
• Star Trek: Picard (season 1)
• Star Wars: The Clone Wars (season 7)
• WandaVision (season 1)

Movies to Watch

From last year:

• Aladdin
• Frozen II
• Joker
• Jumanji: The Next Level
• Knives Out
• The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part
• Maleficent: Mistress of Evil
• Toy Story 4
• Uncut Gems
• Wonder Woman: Bloodlines

From previous years, already seen or not:

• Bad Boys
• Batman: Mask of the Phantasm
• Batman & Mr. Freeze: SubZero
• The Do-over
• The Ridiculous 6
• Sandy Wexler
• Star Wars: The Clone Wars
• The Week Of
• You Don’t Mess With the Zohan

New this year:

• Bill & Ted Face the Music
• Birds of Prey
• Black Widow
• 007: No Time to Die
• The Eternals
• Free Guy
• Ghostbusters: Afterlife
• Minions: The Rise of Gru
• Onward
• The New Mutants
• Raya and the Last Dragon
• Soul
• Superman: Red Son
• Wonder Woman 1984

BDs/DVDs I [try to] watch at least once a year:

• The Avengers
• Avengers: Age of Ultron
• Avengers: Infinity War
• Avengers: Endgame
• Batman Begins
• The Dark Knight
• The Dark Knight Rises
• The Bourne Identity
• The Bourne Supremacy
• The Bourne Ultimatum
• Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog
• Firefly
• Serenity
• (500) Days of Summer
• 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
• The Matrix
• The Matrix Reloaded
• The Matrix Revolutions
• Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
• Spider-Man
• Spider-Man 2
• Spider-Man 3
• Superman Returns
• The Truman Show

BDs/DVDs I [try to] watch at least once every other year:

• The Amazing Spider-Man
• The Amazing-Spider Man 2
• Home Alone
• Home Alone 2: Lost in New York
• Love Actually
• Much Ado About Nothing (2012)
• The Muppet Christmas Carol

BDs/DVDs I haven’t watched since 2016 or before:

• As Good as it Gets
• Bambi
• Batman: Bad Blood
• Son of Batman
• Batman vs. Robin
• A Beautiful Mind
• Beverly Hills Ninja
• Big Fish
• Black Sheep
• Brave
• A Bug’s Life
• Chicken Little
• Cinderella
• Dinosaur
• DuckTales the Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp
• Dumbo
• Ever After: A Cinderella Story
• Fantasia
• Fantasia 2000
• Fantastic 4
• Fever Pitch
• Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children
• Finding Nemo
• Finding Dory
• Flight of the Navigator
• Follow that Bird
• Galaxy Quest
• Ghostbusters
• Ghostbusters (2016)
• The Good Dinosaur
• The Goonies
• The Great Mouse Detective
• Happy Gilmore
• Hulk
• Inside Out
• The Iron Giant
• Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie
• The Jungle Book
• Jurassic Park
• The Lost World: Jurassic Park
• Jurassic Park III
• Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox
• Justice League: Throne of Atlantis
• Justice League: War
• The Karate Kid
• Kermit’s Swamp Years
• The Kid
• Kung Fu Panda
• Kung Fu Panda 2
• Kung Fu Panda 3
• Lady and the Tramp
• Lara Croft: Tomb Raider
• Lara Croft: Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life
• The LEGO Movie
• A Lot Like Love
• The Majestic
• Maleficent
• Mary Poppins
• The Mask of Zorro
• The Legend of Zorro
• Meet the Parents
• Meet the Fockers
• Mr. & Mrs. Smith
• Mr. Deeds
• The Muppet Movie
• The Muppets
• Muppets Most Wanted
• Muppets from Space
• The Muppets Take Manhattan
• Mystery Men
• National Treasure
• National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets
• Newsies
• Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist
• A Night at the Roxbury
• 101 Dalmatians
• The Peanuts Movie
• Pete’s Dragon
• Phineas and Ferb: Across the Second Dimension
• Pinocchio
• The Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything
• Pocahontas
• Puss in Boots
• Ratatouille
• The Rescuers
• The Rescuers Down Under
• Robin Hood
• Rocky
• Rocky Balboa
• The Rundown
• Sherlock Holmes
• Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows
• Shrek
• Shrek 2
• Shrek the Third
• Shrek Forever After
• Signs
• Stardust
• Star Trek: Generations
• Star Trek: First Contact
• Star Trek: Insurrection
• Star Trek: Nemesis
• Tangled
• Tarzan
• TMNT
• Tommy Boy
• Toy Story
• Toy Story 2
• Toy Story 3
• Up
• Waterworld
• The Wind Rises
• Yes Man
• Zoolander
• Zootopia

Video Games to Play

First-time plays:

• The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening
• Pokemon Sword

Replays/continued plays:

• Hyrule Warriors: Definitive Edition

Other

• More poetism commentaries
• More “Greatest Talks, Etc.” entries

Included this year, not for the first time, are not movies from my 2019 favorites list, for I am crazy and haven’t written that blog post yet.

TV

Hadn’t seen before:

• Gotham (seasons 1 – 5)
• The Umbrella Academy (season 1)
• The Witcher (season 1)

Had seen before:

• Brooklyn Nine-Nine (seasons 1 – 5)
• Dollhouse (seasons 1 – 2)

I had watched the pilot of Gotham when it first aired, but for some reason it didn’t grab me enough to watch anything past that.  Toward the end of the year [2019], my brother mentioned that he had been watching it on Netflix and really liked it, so I gave it a go.  I wound up really enjoying it, with the weird caveat that I didn’t really like Jim Gordon or Bruce Wayne all that much, but pretty much loved every villain, especially Penguin and Riddler.

My brother also told me he’d watched The Witcher around Christmas time.  I had heard of the games, but knew nothing else about the series (e.g. that it was based on novels).  It took until the fourth episode (of eight) until it clicked with me, and even then, it wasn’t my favorite thing ever, but remained interesting enough that I stuck it out and will check out the next season when it becomes available.  I did enjoy Henry Cavill, and the bard character.

My daughter got me to watch The Umbrella Academy, and it was pretty great.  I really liked the characters, especially Klaus, Five, and Hazel.  I’m looking forward to season 2.

After watching Buffy and Angel (and Firefly), my daughter wanted more Joss Whedon, so we watched Dollhouse together.  It was great, as always.

Brooklyn Nine-Nine is one of my TV shows, and once I finally activated our free Hulu account, I began rewatching it, this time with my kids.  They all loved it, and it’s the only show that I can imagine tolerating sitting through the ads to watch.  As my youngest said, “If God and Humor had a baby, that baby would be Andy Samberg.”  I also showed my children Hot Rod and my daughter got to watch Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping with my wife.

Movies

Hadn’t seen before:

• Batman vs. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
• Beauty and the Beast (2017)
• Detective Pikachu
• Glass
• Split
• Waiting
• Wanted

Had seen before:

• Across the Universe
• American Pie
• Ant-Man
• Ant-Man and the Wasp
• Batman: Year One
• Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure
• Black Panther
• Captain America: The First Avenger
• Captain America: The Winter Soldier
• Captain America: Civil War
• Daredevil
• Die Hard
• Die Hard 2: Die Harder
• Die Hard With a Vengeance
• Live Free or Die Hard
• A Good Day to Die Hard
• Doctor Strange
• Fun With Dick and Jane
• Guardians of the Galaxy
• Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
• Hook
• The Incredible Hulk
• Iron Man
• Iron Man 2
• Iron Man 3
• Justice League: Gods and Monsters
• Justice League vs. Teen Titans
• The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
• Mission: Impossible II
• The Nightmare Before Christmas
• Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping
• Spider-Man: Homecoming
• Thor
• Thor: The Dark World
• Thor: Ragnarok
• The Tigger Movie
• Unbreakable
• The Whole Nine Yards
• Winnie the Pooh

When Black Friday came around, Batman vs. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was on sale along with some other DC movies I wanted to buy, so I picked it up as well.  It was far better than I expected it to be.

I bought the live-action Beauty and the Beast remake for my wife and daughter a couple of years ago, but it remained unopened on the shelf until recently when my daughter told me we should watch it and the animated classic back-to-back.  I’d seen the first 15 or 20 minutes before, and was not a fan, and I remain not a fan after watching the entire thing.  Still love the animated version, though.

I originally had no interest in Detective Pikachu, but one of the trailers convinced me to give it a go once it came to disc.  I got it from Netflix, and it was also far better than I expected it to be, so I bought it on Black Friday.

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.

I watched Wanted at a friend’s house, at his suggestion.  It was OK.

I watched Waiting on Amazon Prime one night, solely because it starred Ryan Reynolds.  It was funny.

Video Games

First-time plays:

• Cadence of Hyrule: Crypt of the NecroDancer Featuring The Legend of Zelda
• The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds

Replays:

• New Super Luigi U
• Pikmin 2
• Pikmin 3
• Super Mario World

Cadence of Hyrule came out of nowhere at E3, and I’m a sucker for all things Zelda so I got it.  It was really fun, though I eventually enabled fixed beat mode because it was so much easier.

I also finally got a chance to play A Link Between Worlds, which I’ve been wanting to do for a while.  It was a really great 2D Zelda entry, and I hope it eventually becomes available on the Switch or something.

My daughter and I have experienced a resurgence in playing Pikmin 3 against each other, and play most nights for a least a few matches.  It inspired me to replay the story mode, as well as Pikmin 2.

I replayed Super Mario World on my SNES Classic with my youngest son, and we also played through New Super Luigi U together.

How well did I do with my 2019 goals?  I don’t know!  I’m going to find out as I type this up!

Books to Read

I read two books, which is a large improvement, but still desperately sad.  I read and discussed Ender’s Game with my daughter, which basically should win this category for life.  I also read a Discworld book, The Light Fantastic.

TV Seasons to Watch

Haven’t seen before:

1/4.  I finished Cheers, DuckTales remains on my shelf, and The Flintstones et al. may as well just be a running joke at this point.  A tired, sad, running, joke.

Have seen before, but haven’t yet watched my BDs/DVDs:

3/3.  One category at 100%.

Have seen before:

Let’s say 0.5/2.  I watched NYPD Blue through season 9, since that’s what I had on DVD.  I got seasons 10 and 11 for Christmas, and I’ll pick up season 12 at some point and watch them this year.

Currently airing/will air this year:

Of the ones that count (Homeland season 8 was pushed to 2020), 8/8.  Two categories at 100%!  I shall endeavor not to let it go to my head.

Movies to Watch

From last year [2018]:

4/4.  Three categories at 100%!  I am on a roll.

From previous years, already seen or not:

29/29.  My head is swelling.

New this year:

The New Mutants was pushed back (again) to 2020.  Of those that remain, 10/14.  I missed Frozen II, Jumanji: The Next Level, The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part, and Toy Story 4.

BDs/DVDs I [try to] watch at least once a year:

25/25.

BDs/DVDs I [try to] watch at least once every other year:

8/9, having missed The Muppet Christmas Carol.  December wasn’t my best month ever.

BDs/DVDs I haven’t watched since 2015 or before:

This list was long, at 139 entries.  I think I watch 89, giving me a 64% success rate.  That’s what, a D?

Video Games to Play

First-time Plays:

1/4.  I started Crash Bandicoot and quickly grew frustrated at how hard it was.  I completed the Pokedex in Pokemon Let’s GO! Eevee though.

Replays:

1/1.  I played the heck out of Breath of the Wild, again.  I am so excited for the sequel.

Other

I actually did four (4) (FOUR) poetism commentaries in September, and started on a fifth one.  I think I only have around 20 left to go.  Perhaps I will finish this decade.

Included here, this time, are movies found in my 2018 favorites list.

TV

Hadn’t seen before:

• Daredevil (season 3)
• Iron Fist (season 2)
• Luke Cage (season 2)

Had seen before:

• Angel (seasons 1 – 4)
• Arrested Development (seasons 1 – 4)

Daredevil was just as compelling as the first two seasons.  Iron Fist was a marked improvement over season 1.  Luke Cage was not as great.  I don’t mind its cancellation, but I would have liked to see more Iron Fist and especially Daredevil.

As I mentioned elsewhere, in 2018 I showed Buffy the Vampire Slayer to my daughter (and occasionally my sons) for the first time.  I was going to skip Angel, but she wanted the full experience (and Angel is pretty good), so I bought the DVDs and we watched them intermixed with Buffy.

I rewatched Arrested Development in anticipation of season 5.  I enjoyed the recut episodes of season 4 more than the originals.  Seasons 1 – 3 remain the best.

Movies:

Hadn’t seen before:

• Adam Sandler: 100% Fresh
• Batman: Gotham by Gaslight
• Batman Ninja
• Daddy’s Home 2
• The Death of Superman
• The Hitman’s Bodyguard
• Ingrid Goes West
• Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle
• The LEGO Ninjago Movie
• Logan Lucky
• Magic Mike
• A Quiet Place
• Saludos Amigos
• Se7en
• The Spy Who Dumped Me
• Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay
• The Three Caballeros

Had seen before:

• Batman & Mr. Freeze: Sub Zero
• Deadpool
• The Hunger Games
• The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
• The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1
• The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2
• X-Men
• X2: X-Men United
• X-Men: The Last Stand
• X-Men Origins: Wolverine
• X-Men: First Class

With a few exceptions (Funny People, Bedtime Stories, Grown Ups) I haven’t seen any of Adam Sandler’s movies that have come out since 2005.  Somewhere around that time his films just stopped looking like something I wanted to watch (of course I still love “classic” Adam Sandler films like Billy Madison, Happy Gilmore, The Wedding Singer, etc.).  I decided to check out his new stand-up special, 100% Fresh, on Netflix.  It took 15 or 20 minutes to get going for me, but after that it was just hilarious.  The Chris Farley tribute song was very touching.

Of the new DC animated films that came out in 2018, I enjoyed Batman Ninja and The Death of Superman the most.  I’m usually a sucker for any Superman movie that isn’t Man of Steel, Batman v Superman, or Superman IV (though, faced with only those choices, I would pick Superman IV to watch any day of the week).  I want to watch Reign of the Supermen, but for some reason Netflix doesn’t have the disc, so I’ll have to wait for a potential Black Friday sale.

I saw Ingrid Goes West because I like Aubrey Plaza.  I also saw it described somewhere as a modern The Cable Guy.  I prefer the latter, but the former was a good one-time view.

I had heard about Se7en before, and finally decided to watch it one night on Netflix.  It was somewhat disturbing.

Continuing to watch movies with my daughter for the first time, we watched The Hunger Games series and began X-Men, since she loves Patrick Stewart so much after watching Star Trek: The Next Generation.  We’re both looking forward to seeing Dark Phoenix this summer.