Episode 99: Best of 2018

In this episode, we look back over a year of movies, television, music, experiences, and books. We did the same for 2017 in Episode 77, 2016 in Episode 53, and 2015 in Episode 27.

Links

Movies

Black Panther
Crazy Rich Asians
Ocean’s 8
To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before
The Spy Who Dumped Me
Love, Simon
Insidious: The Last Key

A Simple Favor
The Meg (Episode 94)
Skyscraper
Looking forward to: Can You Ever Forgive Me? (Autostraddle review), The Favourite, The Wife, Mary Queen of Scots, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Mary Poppins Returns

Television

Killing Eve
She-Ra and the Princesses of Power

One Day at at Time (Season 2)
The Good Place (Episode 85)

FBI
Black Lightning
A Very English Scandal
Doctor Who

Jesus Christ Superstar Live
Nanette
Looking forward to: Pose, Insecure, Vida, Howards End, Killing Eve, The Good Place, One Day at at Time, Trinkets

Music
“Party for One” by Carly Rae Jepsen
“Thank U, Next” by Ariana Grande

“Pynk” by Janelle Monae
“The Hamilton Polka” by Weird Al Yankovic
Crazy Rich Asians motion picture soundtrack
Looking forward to: “Fake Love” by BTS, “Make Me Feel” by Janelle Monae, “Curious” by Hayley Kiyoko, “I Like It” by Cardi B, “Love It If We Made It” by The 1975, Golden Hour (album) by Kacey Musgraves, Mitski, Christine and the Queens, boygenius, Carly Rae Jepsen

Experiences

Hamilton (and other live performances)
Royal Weddings
Seattle
Walker’s Shortbread

Books
#libfaves18
Broken Ice by Matt Goldman
Are You Ready to Hatch an Unusual Chicken? by Kelly Jones
My Life as a Goddess by Guy Branum
Looking forward to: The Shallows by Matt Goldman
Thundercluck by Paul Tillery IV and Meg Wittwer

The Serpent’s Secret by Sayantani DasGupta
The Kingdom of the Blazing Phoenix by Julie C. Dao
Spellswept by Stephanie Burgis
The Girl with the Dragon Heart by Stephanie Burgis
The Neighbor by Gerri Hill
Intercepted by Alexa Martin
Pride by Ibi Zoboi
Rosewater by Tade Thompson
Zero Sum Game by S. L. Huang
The Death of Mrs. Westaway by Ruth Ware
Treason of Hawks by Lila Bowen


Looking forward to: The Wedding Party by Jasmine Guillory, The Bride Test by Helen Hoang, Once Ghosted, Twice Shy by Alyssa Cole, The Gilded Wolves by Roshani Chokshi, Dragon Pearl by Yoon Ha Lee, Jade War by Fonda Lee, The Austen Playbook by Lucy Parker, A Duke in Disguise by Cat Sebastian, The Kingdom of Copper by S. A. Chakraborty, The Satapur Moonstone by Sujata Massey, Wayward Son by Rainbow Rowell
Book Riot: 51 New Romance Novels Scheduled for 2019

Musical Obsessions
Anna: Spotify 2018 playlist, “Whistle” by Flo Rida
Alene: “I’m Still Standing” by Elton John

Obsessions
Anna: Lies Sleeping by Ben Aaronovitch, read by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith
Alene: Inclusivity

Episode 82: Classical Music Favorites

In this episode, we talk about our favorite classical pieces and our recent live symphony experiences.

Also: our What to Watch Next Bracket poll results! By the will of the popular vote (or the person/s with the most ways of accessing the internet), we will be watching The Good Place.

The playlist for this episode is on Spotify.

Links

Boston Symphony Orchestra
Springfield Symphony Orchestra
Beethoven: Für Elise
Seattle Symphony
Tanglewood

Tchaikovsky: Swan Lake
Classic King FM
Mozart Piano Concerto no. 21 “Elvira Madigan”
Amadeus
Mozart: Turkish March
elizabethruth on Instagram
Mozart: Requiem
Mozart: Eine kleine Nachtmusik

Ravel: Bolero
Torvill & Dean 1984 Gold Medal Ice Dancing Routine
Tchaikovsky: Final Waltz & Apotheosis
Great Courses: The 30 Greatest Orchestral Works
San Francisco Chronicle: “Classical So White and Male: The Time is Overdue for Diversity”
Handel: Hallelujah Chorus (stand up)
Bach: Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring
Beethoven: 5th Symphony
Strauss: Also Sprach Zarathustra/2001: A Space Odyssey
Rachmaninoff: Rhapsody on a theme of Paganini/Somewhere in Time
Pachelbel: Canon in D

Satie: Gymnopedie
Rossini: William Tell Overture
Beethoven: Pathétique
Beethoven: 7th Symphony
Billy Joel: This Night
Vivaldi: Four Seasons
Star Trek/Star Wars Spectacular
John Williams

Musical Obsessions
“Belle of the Ball” by Leroy Anderson
“Once Upon a Dream” from Sleeping Beauty

Obsessions
A Wrinkle in Time
One Day at a Time

Episode 77: Movie Advisory 2017B, Best of 2017, and 2018 Preview

We give our takes on the theatrical releases we watched in the back half of 2017, then talk about our bests of the past year before plunging into what we’re looking forward to in the new year! There are some spoilers, but we rarely make much sense. Movie Advisory 2017A was episode 66!

Links

Movie Advisory 2017B

Battle of the Sexes
The Dark Tower

The Hitman’s Bodyguard
Kingsman: The Golden Circle
It
The Mountain Between Us
Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle
Murder on the Orient Express

Pitch Perfect 3
Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi

Coming Soon
Black Panther
Deadpool 2
Ready Player One
Ocean’s 8
Proud Mary
A Wrinkle in Time

Pacific Rim: Uprising
Fifty Shades Freed
Crazy Rich Asians
Ant-Man and the Wasp
The House With a Clock in its Walls
Halloween
X-Men: Dark Phoenix
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

Best of 2017
Movies: Get Out, Wonder Woman, The Last Jedi, Hidden Figures, Fate of the Furious, The Hitman’s Bodyguard
Books: #libfaves17, Gone to Dust by Matt Goldman, Behind Her Eyes by Sarah Pinborough, No One Can Pronounce My Name by Rakesh Satyal, Misfit City by Kiwi Smith, Kurt Lustgarten, and Naomi Franquiz, Broken Earth trilogy by N. K. Jemisin

Television: Riverdale, One Day at a Time, Supergirl, Hallmark/Lifetime movies
Music: Rainbow by Kesha
Other: the power of twitter (Metro-North train rescue), phone battery replacement, eclipse, Women of NASA Lego set

Looking forward to in 2018
Midterm elections
She-Ra on Netflix
Lumberjanes Coloring Book
Obsidio by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff
New Becky Chambers book
Painting by Numbers (Shades of Grey 2) by Jasper Fforde
Black Lightning on the CW
Grown-ish on Freeform
The X-Files on Fox

Musical Obsessions
Anna: “Seasons of Love” from Rent
Alene: “Santa Fe” from Rent

Obsessions
Anna: 221B Baker Street board game, Fandom Hearts series by Cathy Yardley, Bingo Love by Tee Franklin and Jenn St. Onge
Alene: The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee

Episode 59: Clonesplaining with @renatasnacks

 

 

Wolverine expert Renata returns to recap the first two (confusingly named) Wolverine movies featuring Hugh Jackman as an appetizer for our spoiler-filled discussion of the new movie Logan. You might not want to watch the movies when we’re through, but you’ll definitely want to watch movies with Renata. Apologies in advance for some sound quality issues during the episode.

Also: Crazy Ex-Girlfriend was the winner of our episode 57 Bellwether Friends What to Watch Next Bracket Challenge! Thanks to everyone who voted. We will be recording an episode about the show in the near future!

Links
One Day at a Time
The Boyfriend of the Week

X-Men Origins: Wolverine
The Wolverine
Logan

Sabretooth

Deadpool
FAA Flight Planning Information
Buzzfeed: “Logan” Will Change The Way You Think About Violence In Superhero Movies
Shane
Final moment
X-Men video game
Deadpool 2 teaser
The Worst Best Sellers (discussing All-New Wolverine!)

Obsessions
Renata: Laura Kinney! X-23: The Complete Collection, Volume 2, All New Wolverine Vol. 1: The Four Sisters
Alene: Murder, Magic, and What We Wore by Kelly Jones (Unusual Chickens for the Exceptional Poultry Farmer)
Anna: Rivers of London series (Midnight Riot) by Ben Aaronovitch read by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith on audio (get the first three on Hoopla!)

Musical Obsessions
Renata: “Move Your Feet / D.A.N.C.E. / It’s A Sunshine Day” from the Trolls soundtrack
Anna: “Die Young” by Ke$ha
Alene: “The Sound” by The 1975

 

 

Episode 58: Dragon Talk with @stephanieburgis

Dragons, dragons, dragons! In this episode, we talk about dragon books, movies, television, games, and more with author Stephanie Burgis, including her book The Dragon With A Chocolate Heart! And a short discussion of . . . Jurassic Park?

Links

The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien

How to Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell (audiobooks narrated by David Tennant)
Dungeons & Dragons
Dragons of Autumn Twilight/Dragonlance Chronicles by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman
The Crystal Shard by R. A. Salvatore/Forgotten Realms series
You Slay Me/ Aisling Grey series by Katie MacAlister
Dragon Bound/Elder Races series by Thea Harrison
My Father’s Dragon by Ruth Stiles Gannett

The Hero and the Crown and The Blue Sword by Robin McKinley

Cartoon sidebar: Jem and the Holograms, Thundercats, The Powerpuff Girls, He-Man (episode 85: The Rainbow Warrior)

Dealing With Dragons/Enchanted Forest Chronicles by Patricia Wrede
A Natural History of Dragons/The Memoirs of Lady Trent series by Marie Brennan
A Tale of Two Castles by Gail Carson Levine
Dragons Love Tacos by Adam Rubin

Dragon’s Fat Cat/Dragon Tales by Dav Pilkey
Raising Dragons by Jerdine Nolen
The Paper Bag Princess by Robert Munsch
Have You Seen My Dragon? by Steve Light
His Majesty’s Dragon/Temeraire series by Naomi Novik (audiobooks narrated by Simon Vance)
Seraphina by Rachel Hartman
Beowulf
Saint George and the Dragon by Margaret Hodges and Trina Schart Hyman
Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett
The Dragon Lords: Fool’s Gold by Jon Hollins
Anne McCaffrey
David Eddings (Episode 36)
Shrek

The Neverending Story
Pete’s Dragon
Peter and the Wolf (no dragons)
DragonHeart
Dragonslayer
Harry Potter

Mulan

Game of Thrones

Wales
The Flight of Dragons
Ender Dragon in Minecraft
The Lego Batman Movie
Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O’Brien
Watership Down by Richard Adams
Redwall by Brian Jacques
Eyes of the Dragon by Stephen King
Jurassic Park
Secrets of the Dragon Tomb by Patrick Samphire
Elvenbane by Mercedes Lackey and Andre Norton
Talon by Julie Kagawa
The Dragonbone Chair/Memory, Sorrow and Thorn series by Tad Williams
Havemercy by Jaida Jones and Danielle Bennett
Dragon Actually/Dragon Kin series by G. A. Aiken (Shelly Laurenston)

Musical Obsessions
Stephanie: “Franklin Shepard Inc.” from Merrily We Roll Along (documentary film The Best Worst Thing That Ever Could Have Happened, Tim Federle: Better Nate Than Ever)
Alene: “Causing a Commotion” by Madonna
Anna: “Into the Groove” by Madonna (Mark and Sarah Talk About Songs Episode 36)

Obsessions
Anna: Victoria by Daisy Goodwin, Serving Victoria by Kate Hubbard (My Name is Victoria by Lucy Worsley)
Alene: 40 Bags in 40 Days
Stephanie: One Day At A Time