Good. Better. Worst? 2020 is rough…ly a third of the way through so far and man if it doesn’t feel like three times that. Any year where literally the entire world is force-quarantined by a pandemic is, to put it nicely, awkward. I doubt it is anyone’s idea of fun to hole up at home, especially if you’re like me and you live in a city apartment, and wait things out while life, for all intents and purposes, is closed e.g. parks, movie theaters, restaurants, concerts, sporting events, travel and more and more and more….
….BUT, 2020 has still shone a light on humanity and highlighted our creativity, while also creating new opportunities to spend more time with each other, and as this list is about the best of pop culture, on books, music, television and watching new movie releases from the prison comfort of our living rooms. So without further ado, please enjoy, check out and use as inspiration, my Best of 2020 in pop culture, so far…
FILMS
1. Swallow
2. The Platform
3. Sea Fever
4. Portrait of a Lady on Fire
5. The Hunt
Just Missed: The Invisible Man; Underwater; Extraction; The Decline
Most Looking Forward To: DUNE; Tenet; The French Dispatch; The Lodge; French Exit; Hillbilly Elegy; Black Widow
TELEVISION SHOWS
1a. DEVS, FX on Hulu
1b. Schitt’s Creek, Pop TV
3. Dispatches From Elsewhere, AMC
4. Curb Your Enthusiasm, HBO
5. Better Call Saul, AMC
Just Missed: Elite, Netflix; High Fidelity, Hulu; Narcos: Mexico, Netflix; Survivor, CBS; Killing Eve, BBC; What We Do in the Shadows, FX; Insecure, HBO
Most Looking Forward To: Space Force, Netflix; WandaVision, Disney+; Snowpiercer, TNT; The Mandalorian, Disney+; The Boys, Amazon Prime
TELEVISION EPISODES
1a. “The Surprise Party,” Curb Your Enthusiasm, HBO
1b. “Start Spreading the News,” Schitt’s Creek, Pop TV
3. “The Curse,” What We Do in the Shadows, FX
4. “The Boy,” Dispatches From Elsewhere, AMC
5. “Transpose,” Tales from the Loop, Amazon Prime
Just Missed: “Episode 6,” DEVS, FX on Hulu; “Bagman,” Better Call Saul, AMC; “Polo,” Elite, Netflix;“Vagarina” Nora From Queens, Comedy Central; “Run,” RUN, HBO;“Episode 5,” Kingdom, Netflix; “We Love Lucy,” Will & Grace, NBC
ALBUMS
1. The New Abnormal, The Strokes
2. Fetch The Bolt Cutters, Fiona Apple
3. BEFORE LOVE CAME TO KILL US, Jessie Reyez
4. Miss Columbia, Lido Pimienta
5. Myopia, Agnes Obel
Just Missed: La Vita Nuova, Christine and the Queens; Untrapped, Yo Gotti; 3.15.20, Childish Gambino; Silver Tongue, TORRES; Heavy Light, U.S. Girls; 925, Sorry; After Hours, The Weeknd; YHLQMDLG, Bad Bunny; ACCA, ALA.NI
Most Looking Forward To: Rosalía; Thao & The Get Down Stay Down; Dua Saleh; Perfume Genius; Run The Jewels; Grandaddy; Woodkid; Khruangbin; Gorillaz
SONGS
1. “Nada,” Lido Pimiento
2. “Brooklyn Bridge to Chorus,” The Strokes
3 “Désolé,” Gorillaz ft. Fautoumata Diawara
4. “Phenom,” Thao & The Get Down Stay Down
5. “Blue Comanche,” Westerman
Just Missed: “mOth,” Dua Saleh; “Juro Que,” Rosalía; “The Pines,” 070 Shake; “Silly Watch,” Lil Uzi Vert; “People I’ve Been Sad,” Christine and the Queens; “Fell Into the Ocean,” Dan Deacon; “DOPE,” Jessie Reyez; “Goliath,” Woodkid; “Camera’s Rolling,” Agnes Obel; “And Yet It Moves / Y Se Mueve,” U.S. Girls; “Julia Take Your Man Home,” Wolf Parade; “On the Floor,” Perfume Genius; “Records of Your Tenderness,” TORRES; “Weekend,” Yo Gotti ft. Moneybagg Yo
BOOKS (Read in 2020)
1. Exhalation, by Ted Chiang
2. The Silence of the Girls, by Pat Barker
3. Dead Astronauts, by Jeff Vandermeer
4. The Merchant and the Alchemist’s Gate, by Ted Chiang
5. The Door, by Magda Szabó
Most Looking Forward To: The City We Became, by N.K. Jemisin; Killing Commendatore, by Haruki Murakami; CIRCE, by Madeline Miller; The Locked Tomb Trilogy, by Tamsyn Muir; Spinning Silver, by Naomi Novak
Mikethatmiller 