Last time I counted down my favourite first watches of 2020 and before that my favourite new films of 2020.
A few other recommendations from what else I consumed in 2020 (which was overwhelmingly full of films but occasionally had other things in).
Books
Intimations by Zadie Smith: Short and inexpensive, both of which fit well with 2020’s finances and attention spans. Smith (perhaps an even better essayist than novelist) manages to find something new and true to say about the times we’re living through, qualities otherwise in short supply. ‘Suffering like Mel Gibson’ was a frequent reference point for me.
The Whole Picture: The colonial story of the art in our museums & why we need to talk about it by Alice Procter (paperback out in March): Procter’s ability to balance nuance with clarity is enviable, especially as her topic is so contentious. Fortifying and bold, going beyond critique into a relatively achievable utopia. Loved it.
White Girls by Hilton Als: I put this down a while ago after reading the first long essay ‘Tristes Tropiques’, which is such heavy weather it took me a long time to return to. The whole collection is full of ‘But how did he do that?’ moments taking on huge subjects with a magician’s lightness of touch.
Wounded by Perceval Everett (thanks Prudence!): this was put in my hands with a promise it’d be a quick read, and it was, because of its quality. A tale of a black cowboy that renews a sense of America’s West with both its deep evil and its morality. Full of terse wit and casual sadness.
Great Granny Webster by Caroline Blackwood: A series of vignettes of chaotic aristocratic life not a million miles away from Cold Comfort Farm and The Dud Avocado.
The Changeling by Joy Williams (thanks Kate and Sarah): Very disturbing tale of isolated dissipation that has shades of Lucia Berlin. Looking forward to reading more of her.
Actress by Anne Enright (paperback out in February): A daughter unpicks her mother’s life, or what can be seen beyond the stage lighting. Cliché free story of near-fame.
A few things that kept me sane outside of art
Started using the Pomodoro method: Do I need to check that thing now, or can it wait (a maximum of) 25 minutes? I use ToMighty to do the count, but you can just use a phone timer. A great distraction reducer.
Accepted indoors exercise as a possibility: That free Nike app, that’s good.
Had a dishwasher: My MVP of 2020. Couldn’t have done it without them.
Wrote nearly 60,000 words for this film newsletter
Music
I didn’t really listen to many new albums this year. Send me something you liked. I did let the computer do my thinking for me by listening to my Spotify Discover Weekly. I’ll let the algorithm take the wheel if the benefit is finding Japanese music I couldn’t even type into my keyboard to find otherwise. Oh, and I also made some monthly playlists for my family and you can listen into the music I like that I could also imagine my mum listening to over here.
TV
I also loved (perhaps more than the two I’ve highlighted below, but these require no cheerleading): I May Destroy You, The Last Dance, The Trip to Greece, This Country and Normal People.
Ramy Season 2 (on Hulu in the US)
The biggest gap in programming in the UK? I’d say so. While the first season of the show played like a cross between High Maintenance and a more traditional comedian-centred sitcom, this second series took things to a new level. One of the standout episodes ‘Uncle Naseem’ (directed by Desiree Akhavan) typified what made this series a worthy successor: taking a character who is nearly a punchline in Ramy’s life and going deeper than we could have imagined. A beautiful commitment to cultural specificity as well as broader inclusion, this is the opposite of the wipe-clean episode by episode path of a sitcom, with a goofy error in the first episode playing out to the darkest consequences by series’ end. Ramy’s increasingly awful choices are a constant, with a few wonderful single episodes fleshing out others in his circle. I can’t wait to start shouting at the screen again for season 3. Bonus points for Mahershala Ali giving off an intensity that generates waves through the TV.
The Mandalorian (Disney+)
It’s been interesting watching the level of affection younger film fans have for the Marvel Universe, which leaves me fairly cold, and wondering if I had come to Star Wars at a similar point in my life I would have brought the same baffled, faintly condescending view to that. As it is, there is still enough juice in the tank to make me well up at certain uncanny moments, though not enough to drag the generally middling returns of the recent films over the line. So, it was with great shock that I sat down to watch The Mandalorian to feel some strange stirrings: did I love Star Wars again? What this series gets so right is relatively simple: working from a premise that you have nothing invested in Star Wars. Each episode contains at least one genuinely entertaining sequence, assured that if they use screen time to bridge two uninteresting bits of mythos together, they’ll lose the audience. Back to its serial Western roots, the stranger comes to town, changes things for those there, then goes on his way. From Quantum Leap to The Fugitive to The Littlest Hobo, this is a sure fire way to keep viewers interested. It also means that we’re not rootling around in the background of things hinted at in the other films. With a tonne of great character actors, fantastic locations and production design that ignites my desire for Airfix models, this was one of the few things that made me excited for time passing.
Games
Carrion (Switch and PC): The problem of superhero games is always balancing the vast power with any sense of challenge or stakes. In Carrion, you’re not a superhero, but another kind of minor god: a body-possessing mass of gruesome tentacles transplanted right out of John Carpenter’s The Thing, gribbling its way around a research laboratory. A steady release of ‘cool new things’ adding to your arsenal, well-balanced combat and a lovely 16-bit art style made this utterly absorbing.
Okami HD (Switch): Having started playing this one back on the Wii (already a two-year old port back then in 2008), it fell victim to arriving the tail end of the universe where I had the vast acreage of time needed to complete AAA titles. When would I ever have enough time to play video games again? Enter 2020. This beautiful Zelda-a-like maintains a solid level of challenge throughout, while also handing out enough gentle completion pellets to not frustrate.
Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening (Switch): Unlike Super Mario 3D Allstars with its frustrating controls, this was a nostalgia trip done right. The new graphics had their own appeal, making a lot of the puzzles I would squint at frustratedly on my Game Boy far more clear.
Ape Out (Switch; thanks Hannah!): You’re a gorilla who has to escape a tower block, a laboratory, a zoo. You’ve got two moves against the hordes of guards: grab and toss or grab and control, using them as a human shield or controlling their weapons. Despite the limited actions, there’s deep strategy here, needing to switch between hulking out and stealthing along. Throw in a beautiful lino cut style and procedurally-created Buddy Rich-style jazz drumming soundtrack and this was a real treat.