January saw a further fall in my TV watching. There just isn’t much left in my queue that I want to see. I long ago finished off the ‘must-see’ part of the queue, and the only only really great stuff left, is the brand new, just released stuff… for the most part.

Best movie of the month award goes to Looper. Joseph Gordon Levitt was fantastic. Though the plot tied in parts of at least half a dozen other films, the story really came together and I sat on the edge of my seat the whole time.

Beasts of the Southern Wild—all I can say is, “Holy Shit!” What a gut-churning, crazy, mind blowing experience. It doesn’t make you feel good at any point, but wow…

We made it to an actual movie theater this month to see the latest Bond flick—Skyfall. I probably would have enjoyed it more had the theater not quite been so freaking cold. It was nice to get out of the house and do something, but it was almost warmer outside.

Worst movie of the month goes to Vanilla Sky. I made it about halfway through it before I had to turn it off. There’s only so much of that anyone should subject themselves to.

I watched Act of Valor knowing that the acting was going to be horrible, and it was. I had heard the action scenes were pretty incredible, and they were. What I didn’t realize, going in, was how much of a propaganda flick this was for the Navy Seals. It’s both a recruitment flick for the nation’s young people, and a fear-inciting flick for the rest of us. It hit on on the hot-buttons for the average American—fear of Russian mobsters, fear of Islamists, fear of an unsecure Mexican border, and the need for bigger, more powerful weapons in the US arsenal. Regardless of whether or not all these fears are based on fact, the message of the movie was clear: America needs a big, strong, army, full of brave men ready to jump on grenades for each other, because the world is so very, very dangerous. If you watch, be prepared for this manipulation.

Listed below are the movies and TV series I’ve been watching since Part IX of this series:

• [x] = Number of Episodes watched if TV show
• ( y ) = Rating out of 5.
• Items in bold = ones I highly recommend

Theater

• Skyfall (4)

TV Series (watching as aired)

• Gold Rush
• Castle
• Glee
• Chicago Fire
• Big Bang Theory
• Downton Abbey

DVD

• Beasts of the Southern Wild (5)
• Brave (4)
• Connections 2: [2] (3)
• Hatfields & McCoys: Disc 2 (3)
• Homeland: Season 1: [1] (4)
• Horrible Bosses (3)
• Looper (5)
• Mad Men: Season 5: [1] (4)
• Never Let Me Go (3)
• Safety Not Guaranteed (3)
• The Soloist (4)

Instant Watch

• Act of Valor (2)
• American Teacher (3)
• For Love of the Game (2)
• Ken Burns Presents: The West: [2] (3)
• Mad Men: Season 4: [10] (4)
• October Sky (5)
• Once Upon a Time: Season 1: [7] (3)
• Sons of Anarchy: Season 4: [1] (3)
• Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (2)
• Vanilla Sky (1) – DNF