What I Watched, What You Watched #24

Man, what a week for movie watching. In the wake of the Golden Globes, I spent the week finishing off the Oscar contenders that I haven’t seen yet (I only have one big one left). This meant I saw Patriots’ Day and Silence, both of which I found good, not great, and reviewed here and here.

I also forgot to mention last week that I had watched A Bigger Splash. That was such a pleasant film (even with the dark ending). Sure, the ending drags on and on, but God it’s so fun to watch Tilda Swinton and especially Ralph Fiennes having a blast. I also took my father to see Manchester by the Sea, and appreciated it a bit more on second viewing. Some people are predicting this as our Oscar winner, and while I don’t see it, I would not feel comfortable ruling it out. I took in Captain Fantastic, as it seems increasingly likely that Viggo Mortensen is going to receive his second Oscar nomination for it. That’s a real shame, because God, is this film pretentious and dull. I was not a fan in the slightest. I also am finishing off War Dogs, in honor of Jonah Hill’s Globe nomination. That film is certainly flawed, but man does it have some funny/smart beats to it. And finally, I saw La La Land. Yes, I saw it for a fourth time. Don’t judge me. I had to see what this film would look like in IMAX. The answer to that is “incredible,” in case you were wondering.

Now, I realized I left out something rather important in last week’s “What I Watched” segment. I forgot to point out that Sherlock has returned to television after two years. This is an incredibly exciting fact for me-Sherlock is one of my favorite shows. In case you were wondering, I liked the first episode, “The Six Thatchers,” but I really loved “The Lying Detective.” That was such a creepy and well-made episode, in no small part because of the fantastic performance by Toby Jones. And while we’re talking about great television, I need to give a shout out to black-ish, which had an episode surrounding the recent election and, I believe, definitively shut the book on the issue, taking shots at both sides, dealing with people’s legitimate fears on either side, and making a much-needed call for unity. There’s also The Bachelor, the greatest way to spend a Monday drinking and making fun of things (Team Danielle M., but I want Corrine to stick around for a while. Oh, and I hate Nick). And let’s not forget the great work on FXX with It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia and Man Seeking Woman.

And finally, while I’m writing this, I have on the Carrie Fisher episode of Saturday Night Live. And my God, is it a classic. I knew Fisher was a great host (she’s so funny and game for everything), but I had no idea that the episode featured the loud family, the Blues Brothers’ performance of “Soul Man,” Mr. Bill, and Roseanne Rosannadanna. Basically, I’m saying I love Gilda Radner.

What about you? Did you watch anything great this past week? Any good television, or movies? Let me know in the comments.