Movies I watched in 2021

Happy 2022, my friends!!

Sifting through all my past drama (i. e. daily journal) to find the movies I watched takes a lot longer than I estimated! In addition to that, in my free time I found a splendid book and show that I can't stop binging, so this took longer because of that. So far, my 2022 has been good! What about all of you?

This is probably the biggest post I publish every year as it is not too hard to read, but has so many photos, so prepare yourself! All the same, I have a lot of fun with it. What do you think of my format?

Because guessing games are my favorite thing, I challenge you guys to try to figure out which were my favorites before I put the answers at the bottom! It was really hard for me to decide on ten, so any guesses as to what my honorable mentions would have been?

I will NOT be listing movies that I rewatched, because that would take too long (and I don't even remember them), but I will be talking about any shows I watched more than once. I don't know why I feel the need to tell you every. single. movie. I watch in a year, but it's tradition!

Notes:

Ones with a ~ means I saw it in a theater. (Spoiler alert, there aren't any on here for obvious reasons)

Ones with an asterisk (*) means I saw it more than once.

If I have reviewed it I will put the link to my review (which only happened a few times)

To be on this list I must have seen more than half of it, the ending, and cannot have missed more than half an hour of it.

Please note that just because I watched these movies/shows DOES NOT mean that I liked them. Some of them I really didn't but I had reasons to keep going. If you have questions please feel free to ask and I'll be happy to explain the details!

New to me movies:

Soul (2020)

Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018)

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1947)

The Great Escape (1961)

Captain Blood (1935) (This was all I could ask for)

Work It (2020) (I was not what you would call a fan. I felt disappointed by the message given to the main character)

Enola Holmes (2020)* (actually watched it a total of three times)

Whispering Smith (1948) (Loved Alan Ladd, loathed everyone else)

To All the Boys I've Loved Before (2018) (My sister and I decided to binge these movies around Valentine's Day)

To All the Boys: P. S. I Still Love You (2020)* (watched part of it again because it is my favorite of these three)

To All the Boys: Always and Forever (2021) (I kind of loved it, mostly hated it, and cried way too much)

Feel the Beat (2020) (Actually SUPER adorable)

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (2013)

Albuquerque (1948)

Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967) (I have MANY thoughts. Too many to even think about, but one day I'll get them typed up for you. I LOVE Sidney Poitier)

Lemonade Mouth (2011)

Stardust (2007)

Unicorn Store (2019)

Shaggy Dog (1959)

50 First Dates (2004) (I'm not putting a picture because I was just so tired of it in a hundred ways but am happy to now know what this means)

Yes Day (2021)

Fatima (2020)

A Cinderella Story (2004)

A Week Away (2021)*

The Perfect Date (2019)

The Sleepover (2020)

Riptide (2016)

Radium Girls (2018) (This sent me on to quite an obsession with the subject and time period in history)

War Horse (2011)

The Hunt for the Wilderpeople (2016) (This was so funny! I died of laughter so many times.)

Coin Heist (2017)

All Together Now (2020)

Wonder Woman 1984 (2020)

Onward (2020)

The Slipper and the Rose (1976) (This was a HOOT! My dad didn't think so and was very annoyed with my sister and I laughing non stop, but we couldn't help it)

Alice Through the Looking Glass (2016)

Newsies (1992)

Raya and the Last Dragon (2021)

Luca (2021)

Mulan (2020) (I was trying so hard to like this despite everything I'd heard, but I have to say that I didn't)

In the Heights (2021)

Cinderella (2021)* (In fact, I watched this four times in the first month that it came out. Thoughts will be forthcoming on this film soon. I've heard a lot of opinions and I am surprised to find that I think the opposite than everyone. Maybe this shouldn't be surprising.)

Words on Bathroom Walls (2021)

Gladiator (2000)

Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) (BLELAKDHKGHAKGDKF. I've never had such big regrets in my life as watching this. I'm not going to talk about it a lot because I am actively trying to forget about it, just know that I only watched it because I went to a live showing and stopped paying attention halfway through to scribble how mad I was in a notebook)

The Mission (1986) (Theology class + movie = a favorite experience from the fall)

While You Were Sleeping (1995)

Red Notice (2021) (Had way too much fun with this)

Frenemies (2012)

Anonymously Yours (2021) (I was really happy to watch a movie in Spanish, but got tired of the plot halfway through)

Tall Girl (2019)

Total: 51

Series I watched in 2021: 

(Listed alphabetically for ease of organization. And yes, rewatches are listed here because it requires a bigger time commitment than a movie.)

Carmen Sandiego (which for some reason I can never spell correctly): Season 2, episodes 3-10. Season 3-4. REWATCH (some of them X2): Season 1 eps 3-9, seasons 2-4.

Eureka: Season 1, episode 7.

Falcon and the Winter Soldier (2021) (Mini series): Episodes 1-3.

Gilmore Girls: Various episodes in season 2 and 3. Season 4-5. Season 6, episodes 1-17.

Girl Meets World: REWATCH: Season 1.

Glee: Season 1, episodes 1-3.

The Good Place: Seasons 1-4. (I thought I was going to hate this, but it was actually quite thought provoking and I would recommend it to many people, if not everyone! For a different viewpoint, you know.).

Heidi, Bienvenida a Casa: Season 1. (I get weirdly addicted to Spanish shows).

Jane the Virgin: Season 1, episodes 1-14.

Julie and the Phantoms: Season 1. REWATCH X5? I honestly lost count. I just know that I watched episode 7 way more times than that. (Recently the news came that Netflix discontinued this show, and I have no words as to how sad that makes me. BUT, there is a petition going to have the show keep going! If you are interested, you can learn more about it HERE)

LEGO Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu: Seasons 1-8. Season 9, episodes 1-7. (Before you judge me, know that I'm watching this in Spanish for practice. But yes, I also like it way more than I probably should).

Liv and Maddie: REWATCH: Season 1, episodes 1-11. (My sisters and I loved this show when it was coming out so it is very fun and nostalgic to be watching it again).

Loki: Season 1. 

Merlin: Season 3, eps 5-13. Season 4. Season 5, episodes 1-5.

Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir: Season 1, episodes 1-8.

Newhart: various.

North & South (2004) (Mini series).

Poldark: REWATCH: various episodes (I was skimming and skipping around just to watch my favorite characters. It's an acceptable excuse, right?)

Poirot: Season 1, episode 1. Season 3, episode 4.

Robin Hood: REWATCH: Season 1. Season 2, episodes 1-10. (I can't go a year without watching part of this show in some way because it is my second favorite show of all time. It was my number one until something else claimed that spot this year. If you've hung around my blog long enough you probably know what that is. Any guesses? In fact, I watched my top five favorite shows this year...)

A Series of Unfortunate Events: Season 3, episodes 4-7. REWATCH: Season 1, episodes 1-5.

STAR WARS: Clone Wars: Season 1, episodes 1-7.

WandaVision (2021) (Mini series).: New +REWATCH.

What If...?: Season 1, episodes 1-2.

The Wild Wild West: various seasons, 13 episodes I think in total.

Zoeyʼs Extraordinary Playlist: Season 2, episodes 1-2. REWATCH: Season 1.

My 10 New-To-Me Favorite Movies: 

(This year I'm changing it up by putting some comments for each one even though this post is too long already. Let me know what you think of this format!):

1. Enola Holmes (2020): GUYS. I love this movie so much! I have no words besides Tewksbery and I are kind of identical because we are not completely idiots.

2. Unicorn Store (2019): This reminds me of a sparkly Napoleon Dynamite and could wish for nothing more. It's all about growing up and magic and making a life.

3. Lemonade Mouth (2011): There is a song in here for any and every mood. I love the members of this band and I'm so happy to find a movie that focuses on ALL them and their issues and doesn't play favorites.

4. War Horse (2011): Thank you to Anna for recommending this to me! It was brilliant in every way. In fact, I wrote in my journal "just smash my heart and get done with it already". Ah, shows you what a truly great film does.

5. The Great Escape (1961): I didn't watch nearly enough older movies this year, but I'm so happy I finally saw this classic. Almost a year later and I still have a million thoughts that I want to share with you all, mostly about crying. Anyone interested in that?

6. Onward (2020): Siblings + Pixar = Perfection. I am mostly like Barley (i. e. obnoxious), but I also am similar to Ian in many ways.

7. Wonder Woman 1984 (2020): I was not a fan of the first one at all but this THIS is my Wonder Woman that I have grown up with in the comics. There were a few elements I wasn't a fan of, but the pros far outweighed the cons.

8. All Together Now (2020): The main character gets all my love because I relate to her personality so much.

9. Raya and the Last Dragon (2021): The world building is my favorite thing ever, thank you very much. I literally cried, not because it was sad, but because it was so cute. Not just a few tears, but full out. I don't think that has ever happened before...

10. Stardust (2007): Way too adorable, okay? Whimsical and adventurous, so that quotient is filled for the year.

New year, new header! My sister made this one for me to express my love of my favorite TV show, Julie and the Phantoms, and it fits perfectly! What do you all think?

You can really tell this is my favorite show, even according to Spotify, as all 15 songs from the soundtrack were in my top 100.

See, songs 1, 2, 4, and 5 are all from Julie and the Phantoms!

How close were you in your guesses for my favorites? What did you guess? How many of these movies have you seen? What were YOUR favorites from 2021? Do we like any of the same? What do you think of all of my scattered comments?

Thank you so much for reading! Here's to a grand new year!

Chloe the MovieCritic

Books I read in 2021

Happy 2022!!!

2021 is gone. That is so bizarre to think about. Though there were ups and downs (as I suspect there will be in this new year, too), reading was the perfect thing to help me keep my sanity. Escaping into other worlds helps you appreciate your own, you know? It also helped me write over 50k words, so I can't get enough of stories. I'm here to list ALL of the books I read in 2021! Please tell me how many of these you have read.

It's basically the same, but if you were curious, HERE is my Goodreads account. Also, my sister and I just started a bookstagram HERE, if you were interested. 

There will be a link (blue) if I have reviewed it. (Hint, apparently I only did that once for new to me books and twice for rereads, but I hope more will be coming in 2022!). 

New to me books:

The Book Thief - by Markus Zusak

The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place: The Interrupted Tale - by Maryrose Wood

The Great Gatsby - by F. Scott Fitzgerald

The Year of the Rat - by Grace Lin

The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place: The Unmapped Sea - by Maryrose Wood

Finding Love at Compassion Ranch - by Gayle M. Irwin

I, Coriander - by Sally Gardener

The Giver - by Lois Lowry

All My Sons - by Arthur Miller

Keeper of the Lost Cities: Everblaze - by Shannon Messenger

Wild Bird - by Wendelin Van Draanen

The Kite Runner - by Khaled Hosseini

Shadow and Bone - by Leigh Bardugo

The Truth About Twinkie Pie -  by Kat Yet

Siege and Storm - by Leigh Bardugo

My Name is Asher Lev - by Chaim Potok

Enola Holmes: The Case of the Missing Marquess - by Nancy Springer

Louisiana's Way Home - by Kate DiCamillo

The Count of Monte Cristo - by Alexandre Dumas

Total: 19

Rereads:

The Lunar Chronicles: Cinder - by Marissa Meyer

A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Bad Beginning - by Lemony Snicket

A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Reptile Room - by Lemony Snicket

The Lunar Chronicles: Scarlet - by Marissa Meyer

A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Wide Window - by Lemony Snicket

A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Miserable Mill - by Lemony Snicket

A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Austere Academy - by Lemony Snicket

A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Ersatz Elevator - by Lemony Snicket

The Lunar Chronicles: Cress - by Marissa Meyer

A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Vile Village - by Lemony Snicket

A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Hostile Hospital - by Lemony Snicket

Total: 11

Grand total: 30.

My 10 Favorite New-To-Me Reads of 2021:

1. Wild Bird - by Wendelin Van Draanen

2. The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place: The Unmapped Sea - by Maryrose Wood (95% ridiculous and I love it to pieces.)

3. All My Sons - by Arthur Miller (perfect for 2021, if you catch my drift)

4. The Truth About Twinkie Pie - by Kat Yeh

5. Louisiana's Way Home - by Kate DiCamillo

6. My Name is Asher Lev - by Chaim Potok

7. The Giver - by Lois Lowry

8. Keeper of the Lost Cities: Everblaze - by Shannon Messenger (I don't know why I love these books so much, but I do.)

9. The Great Gatsby - by F. Scott Fitzgerald (against all odds, this was excellent for what it was going for)

10. The Count of Monte Cristo - by Alexandre Dumas (only putting this here because I have no idea how to feel about it, but I think I liked the ending...)

You may have noticed that this only lists 19 new to me books while in past years it has been 40+. This year did not have as much reading, which is weird as it felt like I read A LOT (The Count of Monte Cristo in all its 1200+ pages will do that to you). In other years I would be freaking out and thinking that I wasn't doing enough, but this was just right for my life this year. In the past stories were my life and I wanted to be living them constantly, but this year I had my own story to write, which was a fantastic experience. I'm thankful for them to always be there when I need them, but I don't NEED them to survive.

Usually here at Movies Meet Their Match I post the books I read in the year on January 1st and the movies I watched on January 2nd. This might have a slight hiccup this year. You see, I keep track of all of this by writing it down in journals, and this year I accidentally left those journals four hours away from where I am right now. Whoops. That will be that way until the middle of January. I was able to get this list out with the help of Goodreads, but I don't have another platform for movies. I think I'll try to get the post up tomorrow all the same just with guessing everything based on other lists and records I keep, I just might be missing one or two. In that case, I will update this when I get my journal.

Thank you for reading! What were some of YOUR favorite books you read in 2021? What do you think of my favorite books? Do you want to see me review any of these? What books should I read in 2022?

Happy new year, friends! I wish you all the best!

Chloe the MovieCritic

The 12 Days of Christmas Book Tag

Hello, everyone!

It’s been another long time since I’ve had a post, but here I am today on the 21st day of the 21st year of the 21st century. I’m way too excited about that.

Now that I finally have time to write, its a little lame of me to just put out answers to a tag instead of a review of some kind. But, this is what I’m in the mood for as it is so fun and Christmasy (wow, is that actually a word? My computer is not correcting me on that for once…). I hope that I’ll be more refreshed for movie and book reviews in the new year. You read that correctly, this is probably my last blog post for this year, 2021. I hope to have a nice stash of thoughts ready for you all in January! In the meanwhile, please tell me some highlights from your year and I will get around to answering comments.

Two years ago, Hamlette created a 12 Days of Christmas Movie Tag that I had a ton of fun filling out HERE, and last year she put a twist on it with books instead. I was not officially tagged, but I had fun with my stolen goods anyway. I hope you enjoy my answers!

The 12 Days of Christmas Book Tag:

Rules: 

#1 Use a different book for each prompt 

#2 Add photos and/or explanations of how your choices fit the prompts 

#3 Tag a few friends to play along 

(Hamlette calls these guidelines, so I might bend them a little...)

1. A Partridge in a Pear Tree -- book that involves agriculture 

Farmer Boy - by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Most of the Little House books involve farming of one kind or another, but this one stuck out to me for a few reasons, one of them the title. I distinctly remember a scene where it froze before people thought it was going to, so in the early morning the people on the farm were running around and trying to water the potatoes (or was it corn? Maybe I don't remember it so distinctly) to save them.

2. Turtledoves -- book about a long-lasting relationship 

David Copperfield - by Charles Dickens has a whole tidal wave of relationships. Some are short, but many span great lengths of the book. Whether it is a girl waiting for the love of her life, or a father doing everything to find his adopted daughter. I was not a huge fan when I read it, but now that it has sunk in a little, I think I should give it another go.

3. French Hens -- book that takes place in France 

Is it cheating to use two from the same author? Oh, well, I’m going with A Tale of Two Cities - by Charles Dickens. One of those cities is in England, and the other is in France… It’s about revolutions and sacrifice and revenge and one of my favorite books that Dickens wrote.

4. Calling Birds -- book where people talk on the phone 

Take your pick of any Nancy Drew book by Caroline Keene. Pretty much every book has a moment where Nancy gets a call telling her to drop the case. Sinister, eh? She never listens and the people behind the mystery end up where they deserve. And Nancy herself uses the phone a lot to call Bess, George, Hannah, Ned, and Mr. Drew.

5. Golden Rings -- book with multiple romances 

*grumbles* WHY is it so hard for me to always come up with answers to the romance question? I read enough books that have them. I’d been doing well on my own, but now I might have to resort to looking through Goodreads to remind me what I’ve read…

Ah, Winter - by Marissa Meyer is the last book in The Lunar Chronicles and has quite a few romances being wrapped up. It gets a little steamy for me two or three times, but in general I support the characters. I know I can think of five possibilities, but they don’t all get together.

6. Geese A-laying -- book with a birth or that features babies 

Mary Poppins - by P. L. Travers. Most are familiar with one of the movie versions, so a few years ago I decided to listen to an audiobook of the original. Michael and Jane are not the only Banks children, as they have two younger siblings, twins John and Barbara, who are infants. The whole book was a little strange, but everything involving those two babies broke my heart. 

7. Swans A-swimming -- book where someone goes swimming 

I hate that the only one I can think of is in the book The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants - by Ann Brashares. The reason I don't like it is because the two swimming scenes are rather awkward.

8. Maids A-milking -- book with cows 

This one has stumped me above all others and is the last one I’m answering (I don’t know why I always feel the need to tell you guys that. I guess I’m just ensuring that I am honest?) Isn’t there something about Mr. Harrison’s cow in Anne of Avonlea - by L. M. Montgomery? I don’t remember the specific circumstances. Maybe I should be rereading that one instead of the third book. I know that in Patrick McManus’s any of collections of short stories there is bound to be one that mentions the evil cows that hate fishermen. I don’t get it, but then again, I’m not a fisherman.

9. Ladies Dancing -- book with a dance scene 

In Cloaked - by Rachel Kovaciny (the very creator of this tag, Hamlette herself!) (read my review HERE), characters enjoy dancing and have chances to do so. They happily reference this back to Pride & Prejudice - by Jane Austen, which says “To be fond of dancing was a certain step towards falling in love.” I was able to get two in one!

10. Lords A-leaping -- book about athletes 

You guys should see for now how I answer Harry Potter in almost every tag (and my Theology professor probably thinks I’m obsessed with it. I’m not, just all his essay questions work really well with it!). It works, okay? Quiddich is a hard game! I’ll be specific and say Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire because Harry and the Weasleys go to an official match between Ireland and Bulgaria. Plus, you have to be pretty athletic to survive the Triwizard Tournament.

11. Pipers Piping -- book with someone playing a musical instrument 

In Little Women - by Louisa May Alcott, Beth March plays the piano. I know I use this book a lot, but it is so sweet and nostalgic! I know many people who play the piano in real life but I’ve never picked it up besides a few scales. I keep trying to convince my sister to learn “Ophelia” - by The Lumineers because there is a lot of awesome piano in it.

12. Drummers Drumming -- book with characters in the military

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society - by Mary Ann Shafer and Annie Barrows. While none of the characters it revolves around are in the military, they hear stories about when Guernsey was occupied by Germany and there were lots of soldiers around then. Some were rather important.

I stole this, so I don't think I can tag anyone, but please let me know if you fill this out so I can look at your answers!

This was the perfect thing for me to do this afternoon. I was feeling a little dull when I started, but now I'm lively again. I'd forgotten how much I love blogging! It is so refreshing. No better way to vent your feelings than pounding them out on a keyboard, right? Thank you to Hamlette for making this!

I hope that you all have a happy, merry, jolly, and all around peaceful Christmas and end of the year. Joy to you all!

Chloe the MovieCritic