Alan & Jono's Watching/Reading List: March 2025
Added 2025-03-26 19:28:02 +0000 UTCAlan:
Hello Heroes! Lousy Smarch weather!
What I’m reading!
Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt. This was a delightful read. A very cute story, punctuated by a wonderful character in the much-put-upon octopus. Yes, this is a novel about families and charming towns in the Pacific Northwest, and one of the POV characters is an octopus. No wonder I liked it!
Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie. This was some HARD sci-fi. It won the Hugo, Nebula, and Arthur C. Clarke awards its release year, so no surprise there. I honestly didn’t care for it until almost 2/3 of the way through, when it really started to pick up for me. I’m hopeful that the next two books in the series don’t start as slow.
What I’m watching!
Severance s2 on Apple TV+. Guys, we finally had an episode of Severance that I didn’t care for! I really really really disliked episode 8, and not just because I don’t like the character it was about, or the actor that plays her. I thought the episode was super slow, boring, and did very little that actually paid off the rest of the season. But that’s okay, the S2 finale was a ripper (and blooooooody!). I love this show!
Skeleton Crew. Star Wars that I really really liked! It felt like watching Star Wars when I was a kid, because it was about kids! It captured that childlike wonder, the sense of adventure, and the general vibe of both Star Wars and '80s Amblin movies. And Jude Law was great in it! More of this please. Fun things that are really good at what they’re doing.
Valkyrie. This movie is nearly 20 years old. No, you’re over-the-hill! Having a good time with my boys going through classic dad movies. We’ve got a bunch of submarine movies on tap, and just other classic action/suspense/thrillers from the '70s-2000s. Not a lot of these movies get made anymore, and it kinda bums me out. Now that I’m fully a middle-aged dad, they’re not making these anymore.
What I’m playing!
Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora. Much like the movies, this is a bit of an uneven experience that I just can’t tear myself away from. This is a giant open-world find-the-towers game (Assassin’s Creed called…) so it’s going to take me forever to beat it. But I’m still playing and really liking it! I’m just a sucker for Pandora.
Watch Movies! (And television, and read books, and play video games)
Jono:
Hi all! Hope your March has been solid! This month I've been watching The Simpsons, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Star Wars: Rebels with my kids at home. In theaters I got out and saw Mickey 17 (SO weird and the pacing is off, but the characters and world are super fun) as well as a theatrical re-release of Phantom of the Opera (2005) which I've got a soft spot for.
This month I've been reading Learning to Breathe Again: Choosing to Heal After Losing a Loved One to Suicide by Lark Dean Galley. I'm friends with Lark and her husband. In 2019 their son took his life, and what she's learned and shared since then has been powerful and healing. A triggering, heavy book, but also hopeful, human, and insightful.
What about you lovely folks? What have you been watching and reading this month?
Comments
Alan, I know in a past episode you talked about having trouble forgiving someone close to you. I feel that when I saw the movie exhibiting forgiveness that it gave a good message that it is important to forgive someone while at the same time realizing that you don't have to spend time with them as we still get to decide who we spend time with.
Tyler S Meganck
2025-03-29 22:06:14 +0000 UTCI've been watching a variety of things, Reacher, The Gorge, Becoming Katherine Graham, The Six Triple 8, and more that I can't remember right now. In the post above I only mentioned one book, but I'm a serial reader, so there have been many books I've read this month from Patricia Wentworth mysteries, to an historical/mythical novel Hand of Fire, about Achilles and Brisies, and I'm almost finished with The Black Bird Oracle, a part of The Discovery of Witches series.
Lucinda Sage-Midgorden
2025-03-27 20:57:36 +0000 UTCWhat I've been reading, a memoir by one of my upcoming podcast guests, The Housekeeper's Secret. It's a page turner and also very inspiring.
Lucinda Sage-Midgorden
2025-03-27 20:53:27 +0000 UTCAlan, If you haven't seen it you might enjoy the Oscar winning documentary from 2020, My Octopus Teacher. It's a tear jerker and so inspiring.
Lucinda Sage-Midgorden
2025-03-27 20:52:12 +0000 UTCNice! Have you also watched the Daredevil show that was originally by Netflix yet? Born Again is a follow-up to it.
WaterBat95
2025-03-27 17:32:41 +0000 UTCI'm mostly rewatching Daredevil (and watching Daredevil Born again) and while I loved it the first time and considered it best Marvel thing created, I love it even more second time. There is also so many topics you guys could therapy the shit out off. Struggling with loosing faith, pushing friends away and lying to them to protect them (and in season 3 there is absolutely beautiful reaction to that from Foggy), struggling with inner darkness. Kingpin and Punisher could definitely use some therapy as well. So many great characters with so many layers. I loved skeleton crew as well it's really heavily inspired by Treasure island and I hope to see more of Silvo in the future. I didn't expect much of it from trailers but it really suprised me. Not really reading much I'm struggling to get through H. P. Lovecraft for a few years now. On one hand I don't want to give up, on the other my speed is lower than page a day and I feel like I'm missing many other books :D As for games I'm playing Kingdom come deliverence 2.
BlackAdder
2025-03-27 07:18:59 +0000 UTCThere’s so much about Mickey 17 that I enjoyed but it didn’t coalesce in the total, I don’t want to get into all of that in a comment for spoilers. I also saw Memories of Murder, another Bong Joon Ho film, and it’s a banger that devastates your soul as it explores the depravity of humanity, such a downer. Watched the rest of the Best Picture nominees, loved The Substance and Conclave while enjoying Anora, and despising nearly everything about Emilia Perez. It’s an afront to cinema, Zoe Saldana deserves her win for a better film. Being a gemstone in a turd doesn’t make you a diamond you’ve been elsewhere. Really don’t want to go further on that though. Did a Lord of the Wings party at a friends house (extended edition trilogy marathon while eating wings all day) and it was great, favorite way to indulge in the best trilogy ever made. Been off and on with playing games, mostly Monster Hunter Wilds and whatever strikes my fancy. Daredevil Born Again with some random episodes of One Piece and Smallville are my television, and all are great to fantastic! Been reading The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry by John Mark Comer for a church group and it’s so good! For my personal reading, I’m doing Lord of the Rings as a whole novel. First time actually dedicating proper time to it instead of when I tried to cram it for a book report in 7th grade confident I could do it only to bluff 2/3 of Fellowship because of how much I’d seen the film.
Drewseph
2025-03-27 02:25:40 +0000 UTCApparently, it only happened in Utah 😭.
SaucyJTB
2025-03-27 02:11:48 +0000 UTCI know right one of my absolutely favorite movies!!!
KrissyArtist
2025-03-27 02:10:19 +0000 UTCDaredevil born again is amazing! Probably one of the only marvel shows I will watch. I'm not a huge marvel fan but this has been an exception. I really enjoy Anti Hero TVs more then the typical hero so this show is right up my alley. Episode 4 probably had my favorite scene so far I will not spoil it though! Glad you are loving it as well!
KrissyArtist
2025-03-27 02:09:21 +0000 UTCReading: I recently have been reading The Science of Stuck a phenomal book on how we get stuck in life and how to get unstuck. I love it but it's a slow read due to trying to do the work with the book. I am learning a lot about ny behaviors and what causes them. Great read so far. Other then that not a lot of reading this month Watching: I have been going back and watching some classic movies I love and some new ones as well. I recently rewatched The Count Of Monte Cristo (2002) one of my favorite revenge/romance movies. Usually when I watch a movie I love based on a book I like to read the plot of the book on Wikipedia and see how the two differ. I also like to see what other people prefer the movie or the book. I prefer the movie over the book in this case. The Last of The Mohicans was another rewatch for me. I hadn't seen it in forever. Fantastic movie with with Daniel Day Lewis, Highly recommend. Another rewatch,A Perfect Murder one of my favorite murder drama movies with probably my favorite actor Viggo Mortensen. Highly recommend for anyone who likes those kind of movies. A New movie I watched recently was Interstellar a fantastic Christopher Nolan Sci Fi film. The cinematography is gorgeous and the acting was phenomenonal. I tend to not be the biggest Science Fiction fan (Fantasy is my preference) but this was a movie I would rewatch again for sure. I also watched Eastern Promises a very good movie with hard themes about the Russian Mafia. Also starring Viggo Mortensen as a member of a Russian gang. His accent and Russian speaking is phenomenonal! The whole cast was amazing and I really enjoyed this movie. Reminds me of Donnie Brasco another great mob movie but that one is based on a true story. I have to say it's is now one of my favorite mob movies. I also have been watching Daredevil Born Again. I have been loving it the tone is very much the same as the Netflix one but with better cinematography, and fight scenes. The writing is also amazing, and so is the acting. It's phenomenonal and lives up to the hype for sure. I can't wait for the finale!!! Playing: Sadly nothing at the moment was dealing with some dizziness recently and that had to take a break from gaming. I am hoping to find an answer to that soon so it's no longer a problem, and I can go back to gaming since I love it. Hope everyone had a wonderful March!!
KrissyArtist
2025-03-27 02:05:43 +0000 UTCReading: Continued my foray into cozy fantasy by reading Princess of Potential and The Burning Witch #1-3 by Delemhach and then The Spellshop by Sarah Beth Durst (loved!). Cloaked in Beauty, What You Leave Behind (could barely get through it), and Maybe You Should Talk to Someone (kinda hard to read as a therapist, kept getting distracted by how different her style is from mine tbh) provided my forays away from the norm. Back to cozy fantasy with The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches (SO cute) and then to a long-time favorite author, Jack Campbell, for In Our Stars and Destiny's Way (great duology!). Watching: started a new K-drama with the hubby, My Demon (a rewatch for me but it's in my top 5 so I'm loving it), and I happily continue my utter lack of interest in anything other than K-drama by finishing A Good Day to be a Dog, watching through W, and returning to one of my all-time comfort shows, While You Were Sleeping, which is tied for #1 favorite K-drama with the final show I started rewatching, What's Wrong with Secretary Kim. The Chosen season 5 comes out in theaters starting this weekend and we've got tickets for the next three weekends to see it, very excited for that!
Lydia Hartzler
2025-03-27 00:48:24 +0000 UTCAww remarkably bright creatures was one of my sun bed reads last holiday I went on! I found it in the hotel library and absolutely fell in love with Marcellus 🐙 🤷♀️ The husband and I have been watching Severence and our outies are sad that we now have to wait for season 3. We also watched Adolescence which was weird pacing because its whole thing is one shot per episode? So it’s kind of insane in how it’s made technically and the acting is brilliant - however. It’s uncomfortable- it has a play like quality. Focuses on a 13 year old boy arrested for stabbing a girl in his class and the impact of that. So pretty heavy!
Rachael Brind-Surch
2025-03-26 23:20:16 +0000 UTCWatching: I'm doing my Agents of Shield re-watch while I cross-stitch! Went to see Mickey 17 a week and a half ago. It was fun! Better than the Host and barking dogs don't bite, but not better than Snowpiercer and Parasite. Two days ago I watched a horror comedy from 2021, Werewolves Within. It was fun but not a masterpiece. I liked Sam Richardson in it though, and was nice to see Milana Vayntrub, Lily from the At&T commercials. Reading: I'm on a binge lately. I read Remarkably Bright Creatures, which was really good and I cried at the end. In two days I finished Is She Really Going Out With Him? by Sophie Cousens, a fun and fuzzy read for me. I loved it! I think I will get a copy for myself. Right now, I'm in the middle of The Ballad of Darcy and Russell by my new fav YA author Morgan Matson. Playing: Going back to play Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth. It's only my first or second time for New Game+, hyping up for the new Digimon Story: Time Stranger release later this year. Yasssss.
Lily Sun
2025-03-26 21:34:47 +0000 UTCThanks, I'll check it out!
Jacqui Adams
2025-03-26 21:13:29 +0000 UTCWatching: I finished watching The Owl House earlier this month. Overall, I really enjoyed the show! I can see why people in the online artist community went crazy for it when it aired. I even binged the last two episodes of season 2 and all three double-length episodes of season 3 in one night! There were a few things I wish got addressed in the last season, but overall it made for a satisfying ending. Soon after finishing that show, I started watching Daredevil: Born Again with my folks on the weekend (Daredevil's one of the few superheroes both of my parents are interested in watching stuff about). I can't say much without spoiling anything, but we're all enjoying it so far! Two episodes released this week instead of just one (with a friend of mine saying I'll really enjoy the 6th episode), so we've got a little more to look forward to! In the interim, I've been playing video games (mostly Fortnite and Sonic X Shadow Generations (the Shadow part of the game makes me wish there was a Video Game Therapy, haha)) and watching Firefly. It took me a few episodes to get the gist of the humor, but I've grown to love the characters! I plan to watch the last two episodes (or at least one) tonight before looking for the movie Serenity. Speaking of movies, I also finally watched Frozen II. I honestly enjoyed it a LOT more than I did the first one and enjoyed a few of the songs more than "Let It Go." ("Into The Unknown" is secretly a power metal song. If you don't believe me, check out Floor Jansen's cover of it. You'll thank me later.) Reading: I finished reading The Rogue Crew (22nd and final book of the Redwall series) by Brian Jacques. It ended up being one of my least favorite of the books (joining Loamhedge and Outcast Of Redwall at the bottom) because there were a lot of slow parts and annoying situations that happened, but I did enjoy the last 60 pages and a few scenes before that. It wins the award for best Bellringer name (a squirrel named Ding Toller) and having a character whose name--Sister Fisk--evoked a cursed image of a mouse nun with Vincent D'Onofrio's head that would pull me out of the book for a good bit because of laughter.
WaterBat95
2025-03-26 20:40:18 +0000 UTCI've done very little reading or watching this month since it's Ramadan and I'm fasting (takes a lot of your energy away). I finished Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson, read the prologue and first two chapters of Oathbringer before stopping to wait until I have more of my brain, and just finished part one of Sunrise on the Reaping (weirdly addicting and definitely better than songbirds and snakes, but still not sure if it's necessary).
Ayesha Ali
2025-03-26 20:30:39 +0000 UTCMended Light! He's doing a full deep dive on the series on his channel 😊. Join us!
SaucyJTB
2025-03-26 20:12:18 +0000 UTCI’ve read Icebreaker by Hannah Grace and I didn’t like it 😅 my trust for booktok is basically gone. Watched severance s2 and white lotus s3. Really liked the season finale of severance, I’ve seen people get angry about it, but it makes perfect sense to me. White lotus I don’t find as good this season, unfortunately. Maybe I just liked Jennifer Coolidge in the previous seasons 🤷🏼♀️ Just finished episode 1 of adolescence and.. it’s really good but absolutely brutal. Would be interesting to hear from Alan about how it’s filmed, in particular. And I’m watching love is blind sweden in absolute horror lol 😂 I hate it but can’t stop watching
Sara Wagiström
2025-03-26 20:05:17 +0000 UTCMight need some Buffy content now that I know Jono is a fan!!
Jacqui Adams
2025-03-26 20:00:50 +0000 UTCI really enjoyed Skeleton Crew! I keep telling people it's Star Wars meets Goonies.
Katie Cline
2025-03-26 19:41:55 +0000 UTCWAIT. There was a theatrical re-release of Phantom of the Opera? And I missed it? DAMN IT 😭.
SaucyJTB
2025-03-26 19:31:35 +0000 UTCI hope that you eventually do an episode on Severance, it's such a fascinatingly twisty show, you can never predict just WHERE it's going to go! 👀
Trina Q
2025-03-26 19:30:49 +0000 UTC
