The Year-End Reflections of 2020

 

What a horrendous fucking year this has been. The past few years for me personally had been tough as I lost a couple of my pets a few years ago and then my father last year. The year didn’t start off great as I was dealing with bronchitis although my mother and I are convinced we had some form of what would become the coronavirus in late December of that year. Well... whatever plans I had or wanted to do for the year went to shit as I never thought I would live through a fucking pandemic. I ended up only seeing two films in the theaters before the whole world went to shit and it just stifled me in a lot of ways of not really being able to do what you want and not go out though I’m not really an outgoing person.

The fact that nearly 2 million people have died from this pandemic around the world and nearly 300,000 have died here in the U.S. by the end of this year is something that shouldn’t have happened. My brother-in-law got infected before Christmas as my sister and her son had to stay with me and my mother for nearly 2 weeks before he eventually got better all because a bunch of stupid assholes didn’t wear mask at his office and their dumb-fuck of a boss is convinced that it’s all a hoax. Cunts who believe that this pandemic is a host and dumb ass motherfuckers who decide to hold events such as stupid prayer circles outside of a fucking mall can not only go suck my fucking dick but also should be beaten to a bloody fucking pulp by the people who lost friends and family from this fucking pandemic.

Yet, there are so many people this year that have died from COVID and non-COVID related deaths as it really made the year a total shitshow. Kobe Bryant, Kenny Rogers, Neil Peart, Ginger Baker, Eddie Van Halen, Bill Withers, Adolfo “Shabba Doo” Quinones, Dawn Wells, Little Richard, Ric Ocasek of the Cars, Sean Connery, Ennio Morricone, Olivia de Haviland, Kirk Douglas, Danny Hodge, Pat Patterson, Phil Niekro, Chadwick Boseman, Adam Schlesinger of Fountains of Wayne, Regis Philbin, Naya Rivera, Tony Rice, Ruth Bader Ginsberg, John Prine, Hana Kimura, Alex Trebek, Kelly Preston, Terry Jones of Monty Python, Max von Sydow, Andrew Weatherall, James Lipton, Vera Lynn, the greatest of all-time in Diego Armando Maradona, and more recently Jon Huber aka Mr. Brodie Lee along with so many others. Yes, 2020 is fucking shit.

In the world of cinema, I have to say that this wasn’t a good year not because the industry got shut down because of this pandemic and the idea that cinema itself is in danger with more studios decided to stream new films on the day they’re also released in theaters is to me a bad fucking idea. In the year of 2020, I saw a total of 316 films in 154 first-timers and 162 re-watches with 32 of those first-timers directed by women as part of the 52 Films by Women pledge as I admit that this year was lackluster and I’m blaming it on the fucking pandemic. The Blind Spot Series has always been a major highlight of the year as here is the final ranking of the films of the 2020 Blind Spot Series:

1. Grave of the Fireflies

2. The Koker Trilogy (Where is the Friend's House? - Life, and Nothing More... - Through the Olive Trees

3. Betty Blue

4. The Grapes of Wrath

5. I Am Cuba

6. Phantom of the Paradise

7. A Place in the Sun

8. One Sings, the Other Doesn't

9. The Big City

10. Blind Chance

11. They Shoot Horses, Don't They?

12. Louisiana Story

With every new film to watch aside from my Blind Spot picks, here are my top 25 pre-2015 first-timers that I saw for 2020:

1. The Lone Wolf and Cub film series.

2. Out of the Past

3. White Dog

4. The Housemaid

5. Insignificance

6. Meshes of the Afternoon

7. Forty Guns

8. Diary of a Lost Girl

9. The Harder They Come

10. Le Amiche

11. Ceddo

12. Hardcore

13. Closely Watched Trains

14. Female Trouble

15. Scent of a Woman

16. Shallow Grave

17. Targets

18. Emitai

19. Teorema

20. The Crimson Kimono

21. Creature from the Black Lagoon

22. House of Bamboo

23. Underworld U.S.A.

24. Crisis: Behind a Presidential Commitment

25. Satan's Brew

Despite the fact that I didn’t see the films that I wanted to see, at least I saw a good amount. Plus, I’m also glad that I got to see some old concert movies and such from some of my favorite acts. If anyone is to ask me what is the best album of 2020? It is Fiona Apple’s Fetch the Bolt Cutters as it is this incredible album that if full of humor but also this amazing musicianship from a woman who is probably eons above every other artist out there in terms of quality and standards. I also want to give mention to Nine Inch Nails, Pearl Jam, the Strokes, Paul McCartney, AC/DC, and Kylie Minogue for putting out some solid albums this year though there wasn’t much new music that I heard this year as I went more towards older music. I want to also thank professional wrestling for making me matter again despite these tough times as promotions such as All Elite Wrestling, New Japan Pro-Wrestling, and the National Wrestling Alliance as well as various independent promotions for at least trying to bring it to their audience and put the safety of their wrestlers, the staff, and audience first instead of trying to make a lot of money unlike some slop house who tells you who to cheer for and who to boo for.

In closing, I want to wish everyone a happy new year but given the fact that everyone went through a rough year. I think it’s best to just say this… FUCK YOU 2020!!!!!!!!!!!!



© thevoid99 2020