Watching Things: November 2022
By Austin Johnson
November usually ends up being a month where I watch a lot of shit and November of 2022 didn’t disappoint in that regard. It’s right after Halloween so I was still in the mood for some horror shit and then I did a lot of rewatching for our Oscar Sunday show. I got to 27 films with a staggering 20 rewatches.
I'm going to do another one of these end of the month logs for next month and then I’ll stop the project. It’s been fun and November certainly has one of the more memorable lineups.
*Tootsie, 1982 (Hulu) - 7
*Crimes of the Future, 2022 (Hulu) - 8
*Hoop Cities Kaunas, 2022 (NBA League Pass) - 8
*Hoop Cities Cologne and Leverkusen, 2022 (NBA League Pass) - 8
Captain America: Civil War, 2016 (Disney+) - 8
Avengers: Infinity War, 2018 (Disney+) - 9
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, 2022 (Alamo Drafthouse) - 7
Avengers: Endgame, 2019 (Disney+) - 8
Zodiac, 2007 (Paramount+) - 10
Panic Room, 2002 (Starz) - 8
*Don’t Worry Darling, 2022 (HBO Max) - 5
Scream, 2022 (Showtime) - 8
*Smile, 2022 (Paramount+) - 7
*Blow Out, 1981 (HBO Max) - 10
The Social Network, 2010 (Showtime) - 10
Mank, 2020 (Netflix) - 9
Se7en, 1995 (HBO Max) - 9
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me, 1992 (Criterion Channel/HBO Max) - 10
Gangs of New York, 2002 (Starz) - 8
The Pianist, 2002 (PC) - 8
The Hours, 2002 (Showtime) - 8
Chicago, 2002 (HBO Max) - 7
Nope, 2022 (Peacock) - 9
Spider-Man 3, 2007 (Hulu/Netflix) - 7
Christmas Vacation, 1989 (HBO Max) - 8
Spider-Man 2, 2004 (Hulu/Netflix) - 9
Spider-Man, 2002 (Hulu/Netflix) - 9
First Time Watches - 7
Rewatches - 20
27 total films watched for an average of 8.2
Streaming Service Counter:
Criterion Channel - 1
Disney+ - 3
HBO Max - 5
Hulu - 5
NBA League Pass - 2
Netflix - 1
Paramount+ - 2
PC - 1
Peacock - 1
Showtime - 3
Starz - 2
Theaters - 1
Top 5 November Watches
5. Avengers: Endgame
Episode 128 on Oscar Sunday saw Connor and I tackle Endgame which is obviously a monumental achievement. We gave awards out to that film but we opened the show up with a MCU Character Hall of Fame which was fun as shit. The best part was being able to witness Connor lose his mind over some of his favorite films from the past decade. Luckily, all of the Marvel shit is on Disney+, so I was able to revisit Civil War, Infinity War, and Endgame for the pod.
4. The Hours
Episode 130 on Oscar Sunday was a good ol fashioned Best Picture Showdown featuring the nominees from the 75th Academy Awards. Chicago beat Gangs of New York, The Hours, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, and The Pianist for the big award. I had seen all of them but wanted to rewatch them for the show and I’m glad I did because The Hours really impacted me. It’s got a wicked talented cast with Nicole Kidman, Julianne Moore, and Meryl motherfucking Streep headlining. I was probably like 16 or 17 when I first saw it, so it kind of went over my head that time but this time, as I watched it on Showtime, something shook me and I won’t be forgetting that feeling for a long time. 2002 is a decent Oscar year and it made for an extremely fun episode that Connor and I will remember for years to come.
3. Se7en
Episode 129 on Oscar Sunday was an episode we’ve been planning since the very beginning. Not only did we get to talk about Se7en, but we were able to rank all of David Fincher’s films. We had a really good run from episode 128 to 130, so I had to include all of them in this Top 5. The Se7en episode is my personal favorite because I can talk about Fincher all day. It felt therapeutic to get all of those thoughts out there with Connor listening as I rambled about stuff that rattles around my brain nearly every day. Se7en is one of the DVDs I’ve had the longest but it is on HBO Max for anyone who wants to rewatch that brilliant film.
2. Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me
It had been a while since I rewatched Twin Peaks all the way through so I did just that over the past couple of months. In October, I began watching season 1 of Peaks and then I finished season 2 in mid November. I followed up by watching Fire Walk with Me, which is on Criterion and HBO Max. Jesus, what an incredible film that gets better with every viewing. Lynch is so good at putting me in an intensely unique setting. A few nights after I watched Fire Walk with Me, I started The Return from 2017 so I’m just fuckin going all in with Peaks and I’m loving it.
1. Blow Out
I’d like to start this off by saying that Blow Out is one of the best first time watches I’ve had in all of 2022. Brian De Palma is a director I’ve always really liked but I hadn’t seen his best stuff yet because it’s all right there in Blow Out. I tripped up on it while looking at some random shit on HBO Max and I knew it was finally time so I just pressed play at like 1 in the morning and literally moved to the edge of my bed the entire run time. Fuckin hell, I want to do a podcast on this film just so I can rewatch it and then talk about it for two hours.
I'm going to do another one of these end of the month logs for next month and then I’ll stop the project. It’s been fun and November certainly has one of the more memorable lineups.
*Tootsie, 1982 (Hulu) - 7
*Crimes of the Future, 2022 (Hulu) - 8
*Hoop Cities Kaunas, 2022 (NBA League Pass) - 8
*Hoop Cities Cologne and Leverkusen, 2022 (NBA League Pass) - 8
Captain America: Civil War, 2016 (Disney+) - 8
Avengers: Infinity War, 2018 (Disney+) - 9
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, 2022 (Alamo Drafthouse) - 7
Avengers: Endgame, 2019 (Disney+) - 8
Zodiac, 2007 (Paramount+) - 10
Panic Room, 2002 (Starz) - 8
*Don’t Worry Darling, 2022 (HBO Max) - 5
Scream, 2022 (Showtime) - 8
*Smile, 2022 (Paramount+) - 7
*Blow Out, 1981 (HBO Max) - 10
The Social Network, 2010 (Showtime) - 10
Mank, 2020 (Netflix) - 9
Se7en, 1995 (HBO Max) - 9
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me, 1992 (Criterion Channel/HBO Max) - 10
Gangs of New York, 2002 (Starz) - 8
The Pianist, 2002 (PC) - 8
The Hours, 2002 (Showtime) - 8
Chicago, 2002 (HBO Max) - 7
Nope, 2022 (Peacock) - 9
Spider-Man 3, 2007 (Hulu/Netflix) - 7
Christmas Vacation, 1989 (HBO Max) - 8
Spider-Man 2, 2004 (Hulu/Netflix) - 9
Spider-Man, 2002 (Hulu/Netflix) - 9
First Time Watches - 7
Rewatches - 20
27 total films watched for an average of 8.2
Streaming Service Counter:
Criterion Channel - 1
Disney+ - 3
HBO Max - 5
Hulu - 5
NBA League Pass - 2
Netflix - 1
Paramount+ - 2
PC - 1
Peacock - 1
Showtime - 3
Starz - 2
Theaters - 1
Top 5 November Watches
5. Avengers: Endgame
Episode 128 on Oscar Sunday saw Connor and I tackle Endgame which is obviously a monumental achievement. We gave awards out to that film but we opened the show up with a MCU Character Hall of Fame which was fun as shit. The best part was being able to witness Connor lose his mind over some of his favorite films from the past decade. Luckily, all of the Marvel shit is on Disney+, so I was able to revisit Civil War, Infinity War, and Endgame for the pod.
4. The Hours
Episode 130 on Oscar Sunday was a good ol fashioned Best Picture Showdown featuring the nominees from the 75th Academy Awards. Chicago beat Gangs of New York, The Hours, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, and The Pianist for the big award. I had seen all of them but wanted to rewatch them for the show and I’m glad I did because The Hours really impacted me. It’s got a wicked talented cast with Nicole Kidman, Julianne Moore, and Meryl motherfucking Streep headlining. I was probably like 16 or 17 when I first saw it, so it kind of went over my head that time but this time, as I watched it on Showtime, something shook me and I won’t be forgetting that feeling for a long time. 2002 is a decent Oscar year and it made for an extremely fun episode that Connor and I will remember for years to come.
3. Se7en
Episode 129 on Oscar Sunday was an episode we’ve been planning since the very beginning. Not only did we get to talk about Se7en, but we were able to rank all of David Fincher’s films. We had a really good run from episode 128 to 130, so I had to include all of them in this Top 5. The Se7en episode is my personal favorite because I can talk about Fincher all day. It felt therapeutic to get all of those thoughts out there with Connor listening as I rambled about stuff that rattles around my brain nearly every day. Se7en is one of the DVDs I’ve had the longest but it is on HBO Max for anyone who wants to rewatch that brilliant film.
2. Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me
It had been a while since I rewatched Twin Peaks all the way through so I did just that over the past couple of months. In October, I began watching season 1 of Peaks and then I finished season 2 in mid November. I followed up by watching Fire Walk with Me, which is on Criterion and HBO Max. Jesus, what an incredible film that gets better with every viewing. Lynch is so good at putting me in an intensely unique setting. A few nights after I watched Fire Walk with Me, I started The Return from 2017 so I’m just fuckin going all in with Peaks and I’m loving it.
1. Blow Out
I’d like to start this off by saying that Blow Out is one of the best first time watches I’ve had in all of 2022. Brian De Palma is a director I’ve always really liked but I hadn’t seen his best stuff yet because it’s all right there in Blow Out. I tripped up on it while looking at some random shit on HBO Max and I knew it was finally time so I just pressed play at like 1 in the morning and literally moved to the edge of my bed the entire run time. Fuckin hell, I want to do a podcast on this film just so I can rewatch it and then talk about it for two hours.