Blogocentric Formulations

February 2023 Watch List

To qualify for my Watch List every month, the following has to be something that I've watched that's new to me. It doesn't necessarily have to be a current show, but it can't be reruns or rewatches of something I've already seen. So if I'm including it in this list, it means this month is the first time I've watched it. I'll put "DNF" (Did Not Finish) next to anything that I stopped watching and have no immediate plans to finish.


Movies

          Edge of Tomorrow
          The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea
          Lyle, Lyle Crocodile
          The Menu
          Storks


Television

          New Amsterdam (Season 2)
          New Amsterdam (Season 3)
          Yellowstone (Season 1)


Of the kids movies that I watched this month, The Little Mermaid II and Storks were about what you'd expect... nothing that would really merit the attention of an adult. Lyle, Lyle Crocodile was a surprisingly charming movie with a great soundtrack. I didn't realize the Pasek & Paul did original songs for the movie (the duo behind The Greatest Showman and Broadway's Dear Evan Hansen), and they're pretty good. Javier Bardem is fun to watch, and singer/songwriter Shawn Mendes provides the voice of Lyle, which is outstanding.

I finally got around to watching Edge of Tomorrow, which I had never seen. I really enjoyed it; as much as he creeps me out on a personal level, Tom Cruise is a bonafide movie star and knows how to make really compelling action movies. It was basically a sci-fi thriller version of Groundhog Day, but I thought it was great.

The real standout movie for me this month, though, was The Menu. I don't want to say much about it because someone told me to watch it without knowing too much about it and I'm really glad that I did. The basic premise is that it's a horror/thriller about a group of diners who go out to a celebrity chef's exclusive restaurant on an island and are given more than they bargained for with the chef's unusual multi-course meal. It's bizarre and fascinating and totally worth a watch for anyone who likes weird, suspenseful type movies.

On the television front, I watched two more seasons of New Amsterdam, and I finally decided to jump into Yellowstone, which I ended up liking a lot more than I thought I would. It's not set in a world I'm particularly interested in, but the characters are great. Taylor Sheridan is a really talented writer who always manages to create fascinating characters that are just fun to watch interact. I'm not sure I'm in for the whole "Yellowstone Cinematic Universe" yet with all the spinoffs and sequels and prequels in development, but this particular group of characters is a good one and I'll definitely be watching more of them.


TOP PICK: The Menu