The Pitt (TV Series)
I know we're not supposed to say THE PITT and ER in the same sentence because of the lawsuit, but THE PITT clearly makes up for ER's failings (and I was the biggest ER fan there was, because Noah Wyle was one of my first crushes). THE PITT is ER with less personal life shit, less HR violations (credit to one of my students for pointing this out), more empathy, more Asians (the first 5 minutes of the pilot has nurses speaking Tagalog!), and more quieter moments that make it stand out as the best medical drama of the 2020s, a time when we thought we've seen it all in medical dramas and 20 years of Grey's Anatomy.
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Copied from my Letterboxd review: I avoided these movies for 25 years because of an ex (long story, not meant for Letterboxd) and now, I'm giving them a shot. I'm also going to word this review carefully, so I don't upset all the nerds (complimentary) who have loved this movie for years. TL; DR: I liked it more than I thought I would. A great DUDES ROCK movie. It is a cultural cornerstone. I understand 2000s culture much more, and many memes make sense to me now. Thankfully, the movie doesn't look 25 years old. The worlds are beautiful (even Mordor is the right kind of nightmare-ish but stunning, if that makes sense). Frodo is a great, well-rounded hero you want to root for; Elijah Wood is also that kind of actor. Peter Jackson sure knew what he was doing with these thirst shots of Viggo and Orlando, giving girls (and gays) quite the early 2000s sexual awakening. And with that, Jackson made this a four-quadrant movie (barely). I love Samwise. I fell asleep during Rivendell three times. It took me 16 days to watch this movie, but I think it was worth it. See you next for the Two Towers.
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
Copied from my Letterboxd review: Before watching THE TWO TOWERS, I got hit with a bunch of My Friends' Opinions on it, including "The battle scene never ends," and "It's the filler movie until RETURN OF THE KING." So then, imagine my surprise when I actually loved THE TWO TOWERS more than the first movie. A sign of a good sequel -- and a good part 2 of a trilogy that could be dismissed as filler until the finale -- is that it turns everything you thought you knew and loved about the first movie on its head. It changes the course of the story and the capital-O Opinions of viewers like me. It's surprising in all the best ways. THE TWO TOWERS did all of that and exceeded all of my expectations. For instance, I got a lot of flak for calling Merry and Pippin annoying in THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING, but again, to my surprise, I loved their storyline with the Ents and Treebeard, wishing there was more of it (Last March of the Ents -- iconic! moving!). Yes, I had heart-eyes for Aragorn during the entire first movie, but thought that THE TWO TOWERS had perhaps Too Much Aragorn. I know from friends that Aragorn and Arwen's love story isn't from the main story/books, and boy, can you tell in this movie. It feels a bit shoehorned in, along with -- to my shock -- an extremely minor love triangle! And then there's the Battle of Helm's Deep. I love examining movies and scenes that influenced generations of media that followed it (can take the girl out of film school, but can't take the film school out of the girl). As soon as it began, I could tell it was a cultural touchstone and it set the high standard for TV and movie battle scenes for the next 24 years, from GAME OF THRONES to 300. Contrary to Opinions, I loved it and didn't find it boring at all; it was riveting. It may be one of my favorite cinematic battles. I didn't expect to wax poetic about this movie, but here we are. I watched it in three sittings. I've decided to really test myself (and my bladder) and watch the finale, RETURN OF THE KING, in theaters for the anniversary. All in one sitting. See you then.
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Copied from my Letterboxd review: I did it. I survived watching RETURN OF THE KING in a theater. Not just any theater, but a 4DX theater, getting thrown around in my chair and sprayed with water like I was on a Universal Studios ride for FOUR AND A HALF hours. As my friends pointed out, that length meant that I watched the Extended Edition by accident. It’s taken me several days to process it all. I enjoyed it. Much like Frodo picking up the threads of an old life, RETURN OF THE KING has the heavy job of tying up all the threads of two movies/books, which is why, yes, it ends for like 45 minutes. (I’m not complaining. I’m saying I get it.) Some of THE TWO TOWERS’ weakest threads were still there, like Éowyn’s unrequited crush on Aragorn (girl, join the club) and Boromir’s family’s subplot. But it didn't take away from the other bright spots. I did like Éowyn's Exclusively Feminist Moment. Merry and Pippin's determination to be short lil fighters and also lil mischief makers. Gandalf's cool horse. And all the other iconic moments I don't want to spoil in this 20+ year old movie. The Pippin and Denethor + the Aragon ghost army scenes were the perfect times to go to the bathroom. The battle scenes were great (the Oliphaunts!!), of course, but even more intense in 4DX. Seriously, those chairs just threw me around and also poked me in the back every time someone got shot with an arrow. Which was a lot. At the center of everything, the Sam/Frodo/Gollum of it all was a wild ride. That climb really had it all: Betrayal! BIG spider! Dirty-ass bare feet! Mordor hijinks! And Samwise being the world’s greatest friend while watching a former (?) hobbit and Frodo go Ring crazy. Mr. Frodo, where would you be without Sam? Much like this movie, I’m not sure how to end this. Well, I am going to watch at least one Hobbit movie, but my friends have told me they’re not great, so I have extremely low expectations. After that, I’m moving on to STAR WARS (7 movies LOL).
