Movies I’ve Watched During the Pandemic, Ranked
I feel like talking about something non-coronavirus related on the blog today. So let’s talk movies. I’ve always enjoyed cozying up on the couch and watching a good movie or TV show (and after I’m done watching something, I always spend at least 30 minutes on Wikipedia or IMDB nerding out over trivia about it). During the current situation, I’ve been enjoying doing that even more and have been watching a lot more TV than I used to. Because of that, I started keeping a list of everything I’ve watched while I’ve been social distancing. I’m a list maker and I just thought it would be interesting to keep track of. I’ll keep adding to my list but I thought I’d share and rate what I’ve watched so far. These are all the movies I’ve watched from March 2020 to today with my ratings and thoughts. If you’ve also seen these, I’m ccurious to hear what you think about them.
Hamilton (2020)
My rating: A
Description: The real life of one of America's foremost founding fathers and first Secretary of the Treasury, Alexander Hamilton. Captured live on Broadway with the original Broadway cast.
My thoughts: I never saw Hamilton until it came out on Disney + recently. Now I totally get the hype it’s had for the past few years. The way it’s been described as about “America then, as described by America now” seems to fit. It goes into some of the historical background of Alexander Hamilton and others involved in the American Revolution while also speaking to issues, both for America as a whole and within the personal lives of families, that are still relevant today. The music is just awesome. If I’d let myself, I totally could have cried after any of Phillipa Soo’s songs. The character of King George III singing like the American Revolution is a rocky love story between the US and the UK is hilarious. And when you watch knowing that Lin-Manuel Miranda came up with the idea for the musical, wrote it, and starred in it, it’s really impressive. Overall, it’s just one of those movies/shows that sticks with you after you’ve watched it.
2. Parasite (2019)
My rating: A
Description: Greed and class discrimination are put on center stage when the members of a poor family who scheme to become employed by a wealthy family attempt to infiltrate their household by posing as unrelated, highly qualified individuals.
My thoughts: This movie caught me by surprise. Since it’s a South Korean film and entirely in Korean (so we watched it with subtitles) I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to get into it. But I gave it a chance because it won Best Picture (and Best Director, Best Original Screenplay and Best International Feature Film) at the Academy Awards this year. It’s actually the first non-English language movie to ever win best picture. Once you get used to hearing Korean and the subtitles, it was easy to follow and to get pulled in to the story. I don’t know much about South Korean culture so it was interesting to see a movie from there. The themes are ones everyone will understand and it kept my attention 100% of the time. It’s considered a black comedy/thriller film so it had some funny moments, shocking moments, and moments where even in my own living room I realized I’d been holding my breath because a scene was so intense. Looking forward to see what else the director, Bong Joon-ho, puts out in the future because this was good.
3. Catfish (2010) (Documentary)
My rating: A
Description: Young filmmakers document their colleague's budding online friendship with a young woman and her family which leads to an unexpected series of discoveries.
My thoughts: I’ve watched the MTV show “Catfish” (which is hosted by one of the guys in this documentary) before but had never seen the documentary that inspired the show. Since it was filmed in 2010, which was my freshman/sophomore year of college, it definitely gave me all the nostalgic feels which made it kinda fun. But aside from that, it’s also an interesting documentary and it took a turn that I didn’t expect. The turn of events was handled in a mature way, where the filmmakers tried to understand what was going on rather than use the situation in a shocking way, which I respect. Definitely worth a watch, especially if you’re interested in social media culture and how it can affect “real life.”
4. Ford v Ferrari (2019)
My rating: A
Description: American car designer Caroll Shelby and driver Ken Miles battle corporate interference and the laws of physics to build a revolutionary race car for Ford in order to defeat Ferrari at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1966.
My thoughts: I enjoyed this! We watched this in the middle of the lockdown and I remember that John and I both said that it made us forget about the whole Coronavirus situation for a while. So that’s a win in my book. It’s just a solid movie with an interesting and exciting plot.
5. Downton Abbey (2019)
My rating: A
Description: The continuing story of the Crawley family, wealthy owners of a large estate in the English countryside in the early twentieth century.
My thoughts: Back in college, I got pulled into the world of the Downton Abbey TV show. I continued watching every season until towards the later seasons, when I started to get burnt out on it (people who have seen the show can probably imagine why. Two words: Matthew and Sybil). I actually stopped watching it for a few years and never finished the last season of the show until this year. And after I finished the show I knew I needed to see the movie that had recently come out too. So I rented the movie on Amazon for 24 hours. It was a nice escape from #PandemicLife because it did what I think Downton Abbey is best at, which is pulling you into this early 20th century world of grand, British aristocratic homes. I’m giving it an A rating because it was true to the original Downton Abbey show and was just a solid movie (for Downton fans) all around.
6. Manchester by the Sea (2016)
My rating: A
Description: A depressed uncle is asked to take care of his teenage nephew after the boy's father dies.
My thoughts: This movie shows how traumatic events can affect how someone reacts to other situations in their life. It’s bleak but realistic. I gave it an A because it’s extremely well acted. The characters are raw and multi-faceted. However, while good, it’s also a movie that I will probably only watch once.
7. The Social Network (2010)
My rating: A
Description: As Harvard student Mark Zuckerberg creates the social networking site that would become known as Facebook, he is sued by the twins who claimed he stole their idea, and by the co-founder who was later squeezed out of the business.
My thoughts: I actually saw this in theaters back in college when it first came out but watched it again this year, 10 years later! It’s an interesting watch in 2020 as well, because Mark Zuckerberg is still in the news all the time about Facebook. This movie says a lot about how power can affect people.
8. Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga (2020)
My rating: A
Description: When aspiring musicians Lars and Sigrit are given the opportunity to represent their country at the world's biggest song competition, they finally have a chance to prove that any dream worth having is a dream worth fighting for.
My thoughts: I know what some of you are thinking. If you’ve seen this movie, you might be like, she’s giving that movie an A compared to movies like Parasite?! Yes. And the reason is because I needed a fun comedy like this in my life right now. It stars Will Ferrell, Rachel McAdams, and Dan Stevens (yep, Matthew from Downton Abbey ironically since I just mentioned him above). Will Ferrell does the kind of crazy, silly comedy that he does best. It was entertaining to see Downton Abbey’s Dan Stevens in a totally different role. Rachel McAdams is lovely and fun to watch. And I just needed something fun and not so serious this weekend. I laughed more watching this movie than I have in a long time. So I’m giving it an A!
9. The Report (2019)
My rating: B
Description: Idealistic Senate staffer Daniel J. Jones (played by Adam Driver), tasked by his boss to lead an investigation into the CIA's post 9/11 Detention and Interrogation Program, uncovers shocking secrets.
My thoughts: This movie is basically about one part of the US government trying to hold another part of the US government accountable. It seems realistic and is based on a true story. My only reason for giving it a B rating instead of an A is that it does kind of play out like a businesses meeting sometimes. But the purpose behind the movie is important and I think it’s worth watching.
10. Pet Sematary (2019)
My rating: C
Description: After tragedy strikes, a grieving father discovers an ancient burial ground behind his home with the power to raise the dead.
My thoughts: Ok, so I actually love horror movies. That’s something that not everyone would probably guess or know about me. I’m actually the only one out of my parents and my brother who does! Thankfully my husband also likes them and watches them with me (which is good because watching a horror movie alone is a whole other level). I have a specific kind of horror movie that I like. I don’t like them to be over-the-top gory or to rely on constant jump scares. I like clever ones. You know, the slow build-up, psychological thriller type stuff and if it involves a spooky old house then bonus points. Pet Sematary is based on a novel by Stephen King and I’m a fan of Stephen King so even though it didn’t get great reviews, I thought I still might like it. It started out with the classic story of a family moving into an old house. The first half was good and set up a spooky atmosphere. It was mostly set during fall which is my favorite season. But the second half of the movie, rather than taking the more classic Stephen King psychological approach, just got ultra disturbing and seemed more about shock value than anything else. I’m talking more disturbing, for example, than the crazy scenes in The Shining. So yeah, I can see why it didn’t get good reviews. Not something I’d recommend.
And for this last and lowest ranked movie…I hated it so much that I’m not even going to share a photo from it!
I’m sure the suspense of what movie it is is killing you…
11. The Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017)
My rating: D
Description: Steven, a charismatic surgeon, is forced to make an unthinkable sacrifice after his life starts to fall apart, when the behavior of a teenage boy he has taken under his wing turns sinister.
My thoughts: No no no no no no no no no. We were camping a few weeks ago and looking for something to watch before bed. The description of this movie caught our attention but we didn’t know anything else about it. We just decided to give it a try. A quarter of the way through watching, I was like WHAT IS HAPPENING and googled the movie. When I saw that the director was also the director of The Lobster (which I had made a point not to see because it sounded too bizarre for my tastes) I was like oh, ok. So this movie is just super weird and upsetting to be super weird and upsetting I guess. The only reason I gave it a D instead of an F is because Nicole Kidman, Colin Farrell, and Barry Keoghan were good in it. I did finish it (after John fell asleep and left me ALONE in a CAMPER in the WOODS-ok in a campground but still-with this disturbing movie) because I had watched so much of it already and I was like, how the heck is this thing gonna end? It didn’t have a happy ending, I’ll tell you that much. Different strokes for different folks I guess. But in the wise words of Randy Jackson from American Idol back in the day, “that’s a no from me dawg.”
So, those are all the movies I’ve watched during the pandemic so far. You might be thinking to yourself, only 11 movies? Well, I’ve also been watching a lot of different mini-series and tv shows. I plan to write another post to rank and discuss those next.
Do you agree with my ratings? Is “The Killing of the Sacred Deer” your favorite movie of all time and you think “Hamilton” is terrible?
If you’ve seen any of these I’m genuinely curious to know your thoughts, so send me a comment either here or on Facebook!
Until next time,
Emily
(Note: I don’t own any of the photos used in this post and the movie descriptions are from IMDB. All opinions are my own! :)