Enduring the Never Ending Cold: My Digital Chicken Soup for the Soul

 Some people, when sick, enjoy the warmth and clarity of a good chicken noodle soup.  It's good for your soul, don't you know.  Personally, I don't like soup.  It doesn't know if it's a beverage or a meal, cuisine that lacks individuality.  Have some darned confidence, soup.  Get off the fence and pick a lane, says I.  My comfort when sick doesn't come from slurping on a stove top based tragedy of identity, but from what I choose to watch.

Starting near the beginning of December. I was hit with a cold that would go on to last four weeks, thankfully it wasn't The Covid.  It was nasty enough to make viewing any content with depth hard to do, as my brain found basic comprehension difficult.  Unfortunately timed, this happened while I should have been binging on movies that could compete to land on my Best of the Year list.  Many prestigious movies were available to watch, but I only managed to see a small handful during that time.

Even though I was mentally disadvantaged for a big chunk of time, I still spent a lot of time watching various content.  That dastardly cold done did wrong by me, but it wasn't a complete waste.  I shall now quickly run through the good and the bad that was my digital version of comforting chicken noodle soup.

The Mandalorian - I finally saw it, after being told for well over a year that I needed to check it out.  I'm not sold on a lot of series that Disney is putting out on their streaming platform, but I had a lot of fun with The Mandalorian.  Huge respect needs to be given over the production quality, Pedro Pascal's performance, and the design of baby Yoda (which worked as an engaging motivation for Pascal and a brilliant marketing opportunity).

Jingle All The Way - Since Christmas was approaching, I decided I should check out some seasonal appropriate content.  I also should have decided to ensure it was good seasonal content.  I hadn't seen Jingle All the Way before, and a friend had previously tried to convince me to give it a whirl.  Well, I whirled with it, and it was not a good time.  Incredibly violent, it is not a Christmas film I can recommend.

The Blair Witch Project - This is a horror film that I have an incredible soft spot for.  I remember when I saw the first trailer in theatre, thinking this looked incredibly stupid.  When it was released, I saw it in theatre because a friend was going and wanted some company.  This ended up being one of the most intense theatre experiences I've had, and every few years I like to revisit The Blair Witch Project.  The only downside is that while it popularized the found footage sub-genre of horror, what followed evolved in a way that could have modern audiences finding The Blair Witch Project boring.  It sure ain't boring to me, though.

Cosmic Sin - Ugh.  The worst movie of the year, easily.  There is much shame as to why this is being discussed here.  I had already seen the film, but there was one tiny thing I couldn't quite remember.  Instead of just deciding not to worry about that incredibly tiny aspect, I ended up watching the entire movie a second time.

Crime Scene: The Times Square Killer - I do quite enjoy true crime content, and this one was directed by Joe Berlinger, who pretty much always does a great job.  I did a review for the series, and you can read that here.  If you enjoy true crime docuseries, this Netflix offering may be one for you to check out.

Scrooged - I loved this Bill Murray and Karen Allen starring film when I was a teen.  I hadn't seen it in a few decades and decided to watch it with my wife, who hadn't heard of it.  There was a lot of worry that I hadn't remembered it well, and that my wife would wonder why I was so excited to see it.  Thankfully, it still hit all of the sweet spots that it did years ago.  This is a perfect vehicle for Murray, as he gets to show of his charisma and humour, as well as delivering a very touching performance.

Catching Killers  - This is another true crime docuseries, and was very engaging.  Spread over four episodes, it takes a look at three separate cases.  I never felt like the series was was trying to overly sensationalize the crimes committed.  There were some interesting people interviewed, and it focused on information being more important than shock and chills.  Catching Killers is a docuseries to check out to give you your true crime fix.