Media Diet: January 2025

Other than a quick trip to Las Vegas for CES, I spent the entirety of January at home! It was great to get caught up on life, films, and TV shows. I still have a few of the most loved movies of 2024 to watch - Nickel Boys, Babygirl, Queer, Nosferatu, and The Brutalist. Hopefully, in February, I’ll make it through a few more of them.

🎥 Wicked - This did not feel like it needed to be a 2 part film. It had so much fluff that could be trimmed down. It has some amazing singing and is one of the best film adaptations of a musical I’ve seen. (B+)

🎥 A Real Pain - Jesse Eisenberg and Kieran Culkin make for an incredible duo. This film is a perfect balance of intimate and intense. One of my favorite films about the ripple effects of the holocaust. (A)

📺 How to Die Alone Season 1 - Just OK. Took me a while to work my way through it. (B-)

🎥 Woman of the Hour - A solid directorial debut from Anna Kendrick. It is intense and well-paced. I’m looking forward to seeing what she directs next. (B+)

🎥 The Apprentice - I had high hopes for this one and it was a let down. Well acted but just felt too shallow. (B)

📺 Based on a True Story Season 2 - Another fun romp in this universe. Great mindless crime comedy. (A-)

📺 Mr Inbetween Season 1-3 - I have no idea how I missed this when it was originally airing. Incredible TV show. One of my favorites i’ve seen in years. (A+)

📺 Industry Season 3 - After marathoning the first two seasons, I procrastinated on season 3. It ended up being my favorite of the seasons and finishes just perfectly. So excited for another season. (A+)

📺 Landman Season 1 - So many mixed feelings about Landman. On the one hand, Billy Bob Thornton is incredible as a degenerate oil field landman. It effectively shows how brutal of a place the oil fields can be. My biggest issue with the show is the occasional oil and gas industry boosting it does. It takes you out of the show when there is an entirely unnecessary attack on alternative energy sources or just promoting how necessary Oil & Gas is. It feels like I’m watching a talk show on Fox, then goes right back to the drama. (B+)

📺 Silo Season 2 - The series continues to diverge from the books, but it pulls it off. A rare show where it’s fairly different from the source material but fantastic in its own right. (A)

📺 Sex Lives of College Girls Season 3 - Continues to be a light, fun, enjoyable show. It lost a main character and replaced them effectively in its third season. (A-)

📺 The Agency Season 1 - Apparently, 2024 & 2025 are the years of the spy drama shows. This feels like it’s the fifth I’ve watched in the last few months. It’s decent but not one of the best in the genre. (B+)

🎥 The Last Showgirl - Pamela Anderson has the role of her life—one of my favorite films that came out in 2024. A must-watch. (A)

📺 Get Millie Black Season 1 - My first time watching a Jamaican crime show! It was different from the usual UK and US crime shows, but I didn’t love it. (B-)

📺 After the Party Season 1 - Dark, intense, and challenging to watch. It’s hard to watch a family tearing itself apart continually. (B+)

📺 Bump Season 1 - Fun Australian comedy show. It made for some good background noise. (B+)

📺 The Responder Seasons 1-2 - Martin Freeman kills it as a police officer who is falling apart. The secondary cast is excellent as well. It is an intense and realistic feeling. My favorite type of UK cop show. (A)