TV/Films That I’ve Loved This Year | 2020

December 27, 2020 Kirsty Hanson

TV and films have completely saved me this year. More so TV shows, because not many films have come out this year that I’ve wanted to watch. One of the things that I’ve loved about television is that the story is dragged out for so much longer than a 2-hour film. You get to live in the world for hours and hours. I’ve done a blog post about the anime that I’ve been loving lately, and I have included a couple of anime’s in this blog post, but not many (I think there’s 3?)

Anyway, let’s get on with the list of all the top TV and films that I’ve watched this year!

Sex Education (Netflix): I love this show so much. There are a few things in the show that I’m a bit unsure about because they send out the wrong message, but the rest of the show is brilliant and hilarious.

Zodiac (DVD): I’m a true crime nerd. I love psychology, I love the psychology behind serial killers. I watch shows like Buzzfeed Unsolved or any documentary about murder. I’m weird, yes I know. But Zodiac is quite an old film about journalists trying to catch the Zodiac killer. It’s a film that I’ve been meaning to watch for ages, and I finally got around to it this year.

Queer Eye (Netflix): the new season of Queer Eye came out at the beginning of the year (it feels like aggggeeesssss ago), but I’ve re-watched this show so many times this year because it’s such a feel-good show, and I love these five men so so much.

The Boys (Amazon Prime): I buddy-watched this show during quarantine and it was nothing like I was expecting. I thought that The Boys was another stereotypical superhero show. But it really isn’t. Every single superhero in this show is the complete antithesis of the superhero that you know from the big screens. It’s gory, it’s smutty, it’s hilarious, it’s just… so different. I love it.

Ripper Street (Amazon Prime): Again, it’s another murder show! It’s set in the backdrop of Victorian-era London, in Whitechapel, after the Ripper murders. It’s inspired by true-life events and is inspired by the life of Detective Inspector Edmund Reid as he solves murders in Whitechapel. The huge range of characters and the casting is brilliant. There are so many actors in this that are in Game of Thrones, I kept pointing at the screen and saying “there’s another one!” 😂

S.W.A.T. (Amazon Prime & NOWTV): Shemar Moore is such a brilliant actor. I loved him in Criminal Minds, and I’ve been meaning to watch his new show for ages. S.W.A.T. follows (you guessed it!) a S.W.A.T. team in L.A. as they catch the bad guys. But there are also brilliant character backstories that make you really feel an emotional connection to them.

Hustlers (Amazon Prime): Hustlers was one of the few films that I watched this year. I actually really enjoyed it. I loved seeing a mainly all-female cast, I loved that it was basically a star-studded film.

Castlevania (Netflix): The latest season came out earlier this year (I think), and I had to watch it straight away. Season 3 had 10 episodes, each about 20 minutes long, and I watched it within a day. This is a show that I am absolutely OBSESSED with. I genuinely think it’s one of the best things that I’ve ever watched.

Kim’s Convenience (Netflix): Ahhhhhh Kim’s Convenience. How anyone could not like this show, I do not know. It has everything that I could ever need in a sit-com, and it’s definitely a show that I’ll end up re-watching.

Love is Blind (Netflix): I remember how I was a bit wary of watching this at first. I’m not one for reality shows that centre around dating, but the premise for this actually looked really interesting: seeing if you can fall in love with someone that you’ve never met. I watched the first episode, and was instantly hooked, and will definitely be watching it if there’s a second season.

BLACKPINK: Light Up The Sky (Netflix): How could I NOT watch something about BLACKPINK? They’re one of my favourite K-POP groups of all time. I remember listening to them when they first debuted and was blown away by their music. Seeing how far they’ve come just makes me want to cry, to be honest.

The Gentlemen (Amazon Prime): I remember being desperate for some recommendations for some good films to watch, and I asked one of my best friends and she recommended this. I think she only told me to watch it because she knows how much I like Henry Golding. But, I watched it, and really enjoyed it! There were a few bits that were a bit ‘meh’, and the accents were questionable, but it was a good film.

Myths & Monsters (Netflix): You know when you look at Netflix, and you think that you’ve watched everything worth watching. That was me a few weeks ago. Then, I came upon Myths & Monsters and decided to give it a go. I loved it immediately. Each episode goes through different themes. It has STUNNING ARTWORK and is just beautiful. The only problem for me was that a couple of the accents were just… way too… posh. For someone from the Black Country, ridiculously posh accents aren’t really something that you hear a lot. So, every time it came on the screen, I sort of cringed(?). But that’s just a me problem. The whole show is perfection.

Dr Stone (Crunchyroll): As I mentioned in my blog post outlining some of the anime that I’ve been loving, Dr Stone is one that I’ve recently come across, and instantly fell in love with it. The premise is something that is ten billion per cent up my alley, and I’m so excited because the second season comes out in a few weeks!

Ocean’s 8 (Netflix): I haven’t watched any of the previous Ocean’s films, but I kept hearing about this one, and I used to love Rihanna so how could I not watch it. It was a stereotypical heist film, but like Hustlers, seeing a mainly all-female cast was just beautiful.

Excuse Me, I Love You (Netflix): Yes, yes. I’m an Ariana fan. Don’t come at me. I was lucky enough to see her live in 2019, and I think I may have cried throughout the whole set. A couple of days ago, I sat down in the living room, put Excuse Me, I Love You on loudly and sat down and watched it. Again, I cried throughout the whole thing.

The Stranger (Netflix): I think everyone and their bloody neighbour watched this, didn’t they? No, I haven’t read the book. No, I don’t intend to because I hate reading the books after I’ve seen the TV show. But this was a bloody brilliant TV show. Everything – about the way it was executed, to Richard Armitage, was just *chefs kiss*.

Say I Do (Netflix): This actually comes from the makers of Queer Eye, and you can definitely tell. This is a show that I will rewatch ALL OF THE TIME. It is so cute, happy, sad, funny… Uggghhhhh… I love this show so much, and the soundtrack is also amazing.

Knives Out (Amazon Prime): This is another film that one of my best friends recommended to me. I’m not a fan of Daniel Craig, to be honest, so knowing that he was one of the main characters in this film did make me a little hesitant. But then, Chris Evans was in it… So… it kinda makes up for it.

Demon Slayer (Crunchyroll): This is another show that I mentioned in my anime post. Demon Slayer was a show that I started watching aaaggggeesss ago. I think I watched the first 10 minutes, and then turned it off and watched something else. But, a couple of weeks ago, I sat down properly and watched it in its entirety and it’s become one of my favourite animes!

Kingdom of the Mummies (Disney+): I always love learning new things, and history is something that I’m always interested in. Kingdom of the Mummies is about an Egyptian led archaeology team who uncover different items from the Ancient Egypt era.

Barbie: Princess and the Pauper (DVD): Hey… The Barbie films are amazing, well, the ones from 2006 and before. And no one can change my mind. I was feeling quite nostalgic around Christmas, and me, my sister, and my Mom watched Princess and the Pauper, and oh my life, I forgot how amazing it is.

Taylor Swift: Folklore The Long Pond Studio Sessions (Disney+): It’s only been lately that I’ve listened to Taylor Swift’s music. I decided to give her studio sessions a watch because I really like Folklore. I loved watching Taylor Swift sing the songs, I loved hearing about the writing process of the songs… It’s was beautiful. I just hope that they do one for Evermore as well.

Drain the Oceans (Disney+): There was a time about a month ago, where I was obsessed with nature(ish) documentaries. Now, I am petrified of the ocean. I’m scared of the unknown, I hate swimming in the sea, so for me to watch a docuseries about the sea was crazy. But it was really interesting to see shipwrecks that have been found at the bottom of the ocean, and it was actually quite educational.

Black Clover (Crunchyroll): I had started watching Black Clover AGES ago, but the first episode pissed me off so much because of Asta’s voice. But, I had heard so many amazing things about the series, that I knew that I had to try and push past his voice, and try and concentrate on the story instead. I started it about a week ago, and now I’m on episode 63, and I LOVE IT SO MUCH!