Alan & Jono's Watching/Reading List: December 2023
Added 2023-12-27 16:00:04 +0000 UTCAlan:
Hello Heroes!
December. It’s not as cold as it should be, and there’s no snow outside. So I stayed in and read books, watched movies, and played video games all month!
What I’m reading!
- Opposable Thumbs by Matt Singer. This is the history of Siskel & Ebert, the most popular movie review show of all time (sorry, CinemaSins. You ain’t it.) I grew up watching them argue about movies, and I never realized until reading this book how deeply our show is informed by their 25-year-long show. And just how much I learned about movies from watching them for 6-7 of the most formative years of my life. I owe those guys a lot, and I’m really bummed that I’ll never be able to tell either of them.
- The Dudes Abide by Alex Belth. Honestly, this felt like a quick cash-grab. Written by a guy who assisted the Coens on The Big Lebowski (hot take, one of my least favorite Coen movies?) it’s not very detailed, and the guy basically ends the book with “Well, I did that, then two other quick editing jobs, then left the movie industry, nearly 30 years ago now. This is what I remember, thanks for your money!” I don’t recommend it.
- The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna. It’s still fantasy, but it’s definitely outside my normal wheelhouse. And… I didn’t love it. CottageCore to the max. It kinda felt like reading a Hallmark movie as a novel. Very cozy and sorta unsurprising. Maybe I would have liked it more if I had a nice cuppa with a cozy blanket and a warm fire. But tea is hot brown garbage water, so… ;)
- The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi. This was exactly in my wheelhouse. I listened to the audiobook read by Wil Wheaton, who is PERFECT to read Scalzi books. Reading this made me feel like how VSSoIW was supposed to make me feel. Just cozy and comfy and happy that there’s a Kaiju earth where billionaires get their comeuppance. I’m a total Scalzi-head at this point.
What I’m watching!
- Godzilla Minus One. What a movie! Probably my favorite Godzilla movie ever, and one of my top Kaiju movies ever (hard to be Pacific Rim though.) Heartfelt, tells a gut-wrenching story, and the smashy-smashy actually MEANS something this time! And it traumatizes people! We’re going to do an episode on this in the future. Too good not to.
- Die Hard. Because of the 35th anniversary re-release, I finally got to see this in theaters. Twice! It’s the greatest Christmas movie of all time, one of my favorite action movies, and one of the most quotable movies ever. And it plays so much better on the big screen! Go to theaters for movies people, please!
- The Abyss! Speaking of movies from my childhood I never got to see in theaters! I love this movie. It’s ever so slightly uneven, though the Director’s Cut improves it pretty significantly, imo. But man, the movie looks incredible, the story is great, the sci-fi is believable and fully realized, and it’s just a good good movie. Seeing it in theaters with my wife and kids was an absolute treat.
- Napoleon. What a weird weird movie. It felt as grand and epic as any of Ridley Scott’s best stuff, but the story between Napoleon and Josephine was just weird and off-putting.
What I’m playing!
- Finished DeathLoop. What a great game! I’m super stoked for Blade when it comes out.
- Okay. Spider-Man 2. I promised I wouldn’t cry! But who am I kidding, no I didn’t. This game is really fun, the story is great, the dual protagonists works better than it has any right to, and I love it. I’m gonna 100% this game, wait 9 months, then 100% it again.
Watch Movies! (And television, and read books, and play video games)
Jono:
Hello CT fam! This month I've been reading The Choice by Dr. Edith Eger, who is my new hero. When people ask "what person, living or dead, would you like to have dinner with?" she is my new answer to that question.
She and her sister survived Auschwitz as teenagers. She went on to study with Carl Rogers, befriend Viktor Frankl, and pioneer a style of therapy based on individual accountability (you KNOW I love that!). Her book can be seen as a companion piece to Man's Search for Meaning, and I 100% recommend it to anyone having a hard time.
It reads almost like a novel, it's highly engrossing, and it's packed with uplifting wisdom. There's an amazing miniseries waiting to be made out of this book!
I've been watching Star Wars: The Bad Batch with my kids. Really impactful spinoff of The Clone Wars, with pretty stunning animation and character work. My kids just introduced me to Nimona, which was VERY fun and ultimately quite moving.
For the holidays this year we're going a bit darker as a family: we're going to watch both Gremlins movies, with White Christmas as a palatte-cleanser to enter Christmas Day feeling all jolly and such.
I've gone to see Die Hard, Godzilla Minus One, The Boy and the Heron, and Wonka in theaters and I've adored every one of them. Really solid lineup of movies in theaters right now!
What about you fine folks? What have you been watching and reading this month?
Comments
Definitely worth a watch! And we'll be doing an episode, probably in the spring.
Cinema Therapy
2024-01-12 21:59:49 +0000 UTCSo I showed my kids my favorite Halloween movie (Howl’s Moving Castle) in October and we have watched it a dozen times since then. And I have read the book. And ordered the soundtrack. And bought four more Gibli films. And as soon as I’m not coughing every two seconds (kids, man) we are going to see Boy and the Heron. Was it as good as the previews? Miyazaki’s magnum opus??? So curious!
jwolfRx
2024-01-12 02:22:24 +0000 UTCHappy New Year! The Bad Batch is amazing! I watched Season 2 of What If…? and the Christmas Day episode was a nod to Die Hard - so fun! I’m excited to watch Echo in a few days.
Milena Fox
2024-01-08 19:09:49 +0000 UTCDecided to read The Choice after seeing this post and all I can say is thank you Jono. That was an incredible read that I haven’t been able to stop thinking about since. Bought a hard cover copy about half way through reading. There was a lot of ugly crying but honestly I needed the catharsis. Thank you to everyone who helps make Cinema Therapy happen and for all your hard work this year. Happy New Year!
Beagoldfish
2024-01-01 19:04:44 +0000 UTCIt’s summer and raining where I am. They put sandals and beach scenes on Xmas cards here. December has been a busy reading month. Thankfully, I read really fast. I’m in the middle of the Dawn of Yangchen (Last Airbender Novel - not comic), while starting book 1 from the Heroes of Olympus Series after having just read all five Percy Jackson books within late Nov/Dec (courtesy of my son who wanted me to read them before the Disney series came out so I would understand what was going on). Starting The Parade by Australian indie author Matt J Pike whom I recently met in October. I just read all 4 of his YA Apocalypse Diary of a Survivor series within December also. These are set in Adelaide, Australia for a change of scene and a different take on an asteroid hitting earth trope. It's Not Supposed to Be This Way by Lysa TeKeurhurst and Breathing through Grief by Dorina Lazo Gilmore-Young. A lot of trauma to work through, hence those last two. What I’m watching. Just saw Aquaman today in the cinema. Saw Wonka last week and Miyazaki’s the Boy and the Blue Heron the week before that. Watched Klaus on our projector last night - properly for the first time. CT inspired. My kids had me binge watching all of Gravity Falls. I think it was Blue-eyed Samurai before that. Also, Disney Percy Jackson. I’m often listening to whatever is on in the background which enables me to pick up who voice actors are in parts where I usually wouldn’t notice. Kids are both usually doing other things at the same time as well, while also being complete film critics themselves - my fault over the years. But they are the ones who got me into CT which all 3 of us love. And a lot of everything from history to science, psychology, and engineering on YouTube courtesy of homeschooling teens.
LilyQCros
2023-12-31 09:46:44 +0000 UTCWe're certainly not complaining that you binge-watched our eps in December!
Cinema Therapy
2023-12-29 13:50:04 +0000 UTCMy kids can't get enough of Omega and Wrecker.
Cinema Therapy
2023-12-29 13:48:39 +0000 UTCCurrently reading Murtagh by Christopher Paolini (once a dragon kid, always a dragon kid 😂) and my sister and I have been watching the new Percy Jackson series on Disney+. Highly recommend!!
Allie H
2023-12-28 22:36:56 +0000 UTCI have to be honest, the only thing I watched in December were your episodes (binge watching them since I found your youtube channel) and the Dr. Who special(s) (I think there were 2 in december? can't remember) and my nightly re-run of How I Met Your Mother to fall asleep to. I have 3 non-fiction books still that I haven't touched in a while, maybe I should. (it's 'Engineering Management for the rest of us', 'Kill it with fire' and... I even forgot the name of the other book. Something about 4 personality types that's a bit too stereotypical for me) And I am currently reading the sequel to 'A lightening struck heart' that's sadly a bit disappointing because it's just the same stuff as in the first book and it's getting boring. But I read a chapter to my friends every week and I hope it will pick up soon. We are now in the second half and they try to find the Dragon in the desert. So let's see about that. Currently playing Northgard. I wanted to play Pioneers of Pagiona which came out in early access recently and I love the Settler games, but PoP is not there yet, will wait a year or two until it is a proper game. Northgard is great though, can't stop playing. In the evening when I am already in bed (can't sit all day on a chair because of medical stuff so I usually lie in bed around 8 already and go to sleep at 11) and only have my steam deck I play Graveyard Keeper which seems to be fun. Love Farming/Life Sims and that one has a perfectly dark twist to it. Let's harvest meat from corpses and then throw them into the river :D Love it. I really want to read more next year. after 500 fanfictions from my favourite fandom I read since 2020, I got bored of that this year and didn't pick up something else to read except one Novel. Time to get back to my gay romance novels :D My favourite authors had 4 years to write something new and there is still The Tarot Sequence that's waiting for me. It's really time to dive back in there. I've written far less than the last years, which is sad but mostly due to an old freind resurfacing and we are finishing our big writing project now. So technically I have written a lot but I wasn't able to show anyone, which is not very satisfying despite all the fun I am having with this. But I've written at least a bit. Including one where I 'programmed' a whole tumblr skin for archive of our own so I was able to put tumblr posts in my story. Which was so much fun. (sorry for the fandom gibberish I am not sure if you even know what ao3 is) And some small pieces in between. I have to write my contribution to our writing secret santa in my writing group still, though. I got such a difficult prompt this year but I think I have a funny idea to turn that prompt on it's head a bit. Hope my giftee will like it. Sorry for the overly long year-recap XD That wasn't my intention. Thank you both for doing the channel <3 It helped me through Christmas and let me cry for other reasons than trauma, which was really nice. I love your insights, both the therapy ones and the filmmaking ones. It's what makes this channel so very special to me. And I love you both, you are (from what I can tell from seeing you in these videos) wonderful people. I hope you had a great year and will have a great one next year <3
Lyndis Cealin
2023-12-28 17:02:23 +0000 UTCI'm trying to finish up the reading challenge I have for this year (read 50 books in a year). I'm reading Morning Star by Pierce Brown, A Good Girl's Guide to Murder, and Queen of Shadows (part of Sarah J Maas' Throne of Glass series. I finally finished watching Loki season 2 (I love Tom Hiddleston!!) and I'm thinking about starting The West Wing in the New Year. Wishing you all a Happy New Year!!
Emily 📚
2023-12-28 14:37:29 +0000 UTCGive Bad Batch a try. The stories are powerful and the characters grow in beautiful ways.
Cinema Therapy
2023-12-28 14:24:14 +0000 UTCI've been trying to read more, but so far been disappointed by all the endings. I swear no one can write a good ending! The only one that I'm relatively okay with was All the Stars and Teeth by Adalyn Grace, but when I read her other series I couldn't even finish the first book when I found out who the killer was. I watched the first two episodes of Percy Jackson and absolutely loved it! Can't wait for more.
Ayesha Ali
2023-12-28 14:21:28 +0000 UTCMy friends had a studio ghibli night for a friend so I saw Spirited Away and Porco Rosso for the first time. Enjoyed them more than I expected
Pam Jackson
2023-12-28 09:28:02 +0000 UTCI LOVE THE BAD BATCH!
Melissa Espinoza
2023-12-28 05:03:00 +0000 UTCI couldn't bring myself to watch the Bad Batch. I really hated those characters in the clone wars and ended my star wars experience after the final four episodes (siege of Mandelor arc), which were a masterclass in scoring as far as I am concerned. I loved Godzilla Minus One. It was a blast to see in theatres, and I hope to see it once more before its run is over. Right now I am reading Thus Spake Zarathustra, which while lighter than my last read (Crime and Punishment) is still a bit heavy! I am in the home stretch for finishing the rough draft of my latest novel, and am hoping to finish early in the new year. Cant say goodbye to 2023 fast enough! Ha! Merry Christmas and a Happy New year to you, your crew and all your families!
Danial McCoy
2023-12-28 04:18:22 +0000 UTCI am rewatching films that I used to watch with my dad like: Harry Potter saga and Lord of the rings saga I also am reading metro 2034 and Stephen king's the green mile what I am playing is: Alan wake 2 (great game!) Lies of P and finishing God of war Ragnarok all 3 amazing games
Rena nice
2023-12-27 20:59:27 +0000 UTCYeah, that Soulsborne gameplay definitely isn't everyone's cup of tea. I picked up Dark Souls back in 2012 so I'm a huge fan of that style of gameplay though. I've been an avid gamer since I was probably 4, so I yearn for the toughest gaming challenges I can find lol That said, I felt Jedi: Survivor improved on the formula quite a bit by letting you start with all of the first game's abilities and adding new lightsaber forms. Story was also fantastic, and a great sequel to the first one. They really delved deeper into the characters and their motives (not to try and sell you on the game haha)
Ike
2023-12-27 20:44:37 +0000 UTCI LOVED THE CHOICE!! I finished the book thinking if she can mive past all the crap she has been through and thrive, then I can get over my trauma too. Would highly recommend it to anyone. There is a second book by Edith called the Gift and its practical exercises you can do that i also highly recommended.
Jessica Hopwil
2023-12-27 20:26:42 +0000 UTCWell, I’m rooting for you! 👏
Sara Wagiström
2023-12-27 20:23:32 +0000 UTCInterestingly, I liked the STORY of Jedi:Fallen Order, but really didn’t care for the gameplay. The fighting mechanics just felt arbitrary to me. Maybe I’m getting old. Though, no. Cause I just racked up a 253 combo in Spider-Man 2. I’m good at games. 🤷🏼♂️
Alan Seawright
2023-12-27 20:05:41 +0000 UTCProject Hail Mary is 🤌🏻! It’s set up, but no progress on it for awhile. I’m hoping I can swoop in on that project at some point, but it likely won’t happen.
Alan Seawright
2023-12-27 20:03:31 +0000 UTCAhhhh. Well then, how do you feel about fantasy? Because man oh man do the Throne of Glass and ACOTAR series have major goals/quests. ACOTAR is also spicy, FYI
Lauren Wagstaff
2023-12-27 20:03:15 +0000 UTCTo be fair, I didn’t passionately hate Irregular Society. I was cozily bored by it. I’m too goal oriented. I need a quest.
Alan Seawright
2023-12-27 20:01:57 +0000 UTCAs a huge Godzilla fan, I'm glad you guys liked Godzilla: Minus One and have plans to make an episode about it. I'll be sure to watch the films before you guys upload the episode for this film (since Toho doesn't have plans to release this in Asia for now. Hope they do!) Hopefully, you guys do a Nimona episode as well! Don't have the energy to watch shows/films nowadays but I have plans to finish Star Wars Clone Wars, Bad Batch, Mandalorian, Book of Boba Fett and Brooklyn 99. As for movies? Should probably start watching the DCAU films, I keep on seeing clips of some of them from Youtube. For games? I've been playing Days Gone. This game and the State of Decay games are my go-to when it comes to 'realistic' or grounded open world (survival) zombie apocalypse FPS/3rd person shooter game. Despite the flaws of those two games, they're definitely my top zombie games, alongside with Left 4 dead and Dying Light. Still waiting for Dead Island 2 to be available on Steam, though. Been replaying Marvel's Spider-Man Remastered as well, to avoid watching Jacksepticeye's walkthrough on the game's sequel, while I'm waiting for Sony to hire a 3rd party to release a PC version of it (and God of War Ragnarok, though I already watched the game's walkthroughs)
Jamzilla12
2023-12-27 16:55:45 +0000 UTCAlan: are you actually Ted Lasso? Tea is NOT garbage water, and I bet you hate fizzy water (which is fair. I hate it myself). Irregular Society is definitely a cozy book. I loved it but it’s totally cool that you didn’t. When people passionately hate books, those make for great and animated discussions! I’m reading more fantasy smut (finished Tower of Dawn and now reading Kingdom of Ash). Also reading The Wishing Game for a book club. Saw Poor Things. Man, what a weird and creative film. My second from this director. An interesting take on Frankenstein, misogyny, and Mark Ruffalo’s strange accent work.
Lauren Wagstaff
2023-12-27 16:49:53 +0000 UTCI am so glad you found Godzilla Minus One so amazing. This was the first movie this year where I felt invested in the characters and cared about what happened to the characters. I was wondering if when you do a video on this movie, if you could maybe talk about how to find acceptance with the pressures of society.
sara perkins
2023-12-27 16:49:31 +0000 UTCI just finished ”Project Hail Mary” by Andy Weir, who also wrote ”The Martian”. Fantastic! I understand it will be adapted to the big screen as well. Looking forward to it! I’m currently reading ”All the light we cannot see” by Anthony Doerr, and I believe there are a lot of tears in my near future 😅 about 100 pages in, and so far I like it a lot. It’s always emotional to read something set during WW2.
Sara Wagiström
2023-12-27 16:21:29 +0000 UTCTo Alan's point, Disney needs to stop with the tepid live action remakes and just re-release their animated/classic movies in theaters and make big events out of it. They could take ALL MY MONEY for that.
Smidge
2023-12-27 16:09:28 +0000 UTCGiven your like for Star Wars, I think the new game Jedi: Survivor is a really good one. Plus, some of the character work is really interesting, especially Cal himself and the new character Bode.
Ike
2023-12-27 16:05:30 +0000 UTC
