It’s the end of the month! I had plans to write all kinds of end of the month blog posts this week, but just like the rest of August – nothing is really going to plan! There might be a lot of posts coming this weekend! Or not, in case something else comes up! But it’s time to write about tv and movies. I watched a lot of stuff this month! Which is kind of weird because I didn’t really work that much and I usually only watch while I work. But here goes!
TV – Alone (spoilers ahead)
The Bachelorette
Well, I finished my first season of watching this and I liked it so much more than I expected. I mean, it was ridiculous. And I have such a hard time wrapping my head around someone dating/kissing/sexing with more than one person, going back and forth between men, and being totally mentally stable about the entire thing. But it was entertaining and I was invested. I only started watching because I wanted to get more out of The Popcast’s patreon recaps of it each week, but I’m kind of hooked, even without their commentary. Anyway, I really liked both Garrett and Blake, but Blake had my full vote from the very first day. I was definitely sad she didn’t pick him. But after listening to the Popcast episode with them solidifying all the ways that Blake was the better choice, I was kind of devastated! Hopefully he finds someone much more deserving of his love.
Younger
I still adore this show. I’ve been particularly excited about this season with Charles FINALLY KNOWING and after getting over the embarrassment and anger of being duped, he is HAPPY Liza is actually much closer to him in age. I was disappointed in how short lived their romance was, but appreciated they realistically found ways to make their relationship work without destroying their company. From the way things were going I assumed this was the final season, but I guess that’s not the case! And of course we’re still teased about Josh’s deep-seated feelings for Liza. I’ve always been Team Charles, but Josh is adorable and the sweetest guy ever, so I hope he can find love with someone else in the next season!
Quantico
I’m pretty annoyed how easily Alex just fell for the new guy. It was odd how they ended the show with her choosing to keep the little Italian girl after she was just forced to watch her dad die in front of her. I think I heard this was not renewed, so I guess that’s it for Quantico!
Confess
When I went to the Colleen Hoover book signing earlier this month, I found out that one of her books was made into a tv mini series. How did I not know this?! So of course I immediately figured out how to watch it. And it was good! I thought the characters were really great, though it was hard watching Auburn hit one impossible roadblock after the next trying to get her son back. It got pretty depressing to see on the screen. Colleen said the rights to multiple of her books have been bought in the last few years, but as far as she knows, nothing else is really in the works yet.
Making It
I’ve only watched two episodes so far, but I like it! It’s pretty corny and awkward to begin with, but I definitely laughed a few times. And I always appreciate other creators!
Riverdale
Greg and I used to watch this together, but he gave up on it at some point last fall. I decided to catch back up on my own last week. It’s okay. I really dislike Veronica and her family and that’s basically all the show is about anymore.
Bachelor in Paradise
Okay, I’ve officially entered into trashy tv viewing. I was just so curious about this and seeing a lot of the men from The Bachelorette in a different setting. And yeah, the show is so dumb. But I also can’t stop watching. It feels completely unbelievable that anybody truly finds happiness in that sort of situation. So much of it is totally cringe-worthy. But, I’m liking it.
TV – Together
Better Call Saul
Well, we kept trekking along with this and finished the third season just in time for the fourth season to start. After binging all summer it’s really hard to wait a week between episodes! I’m finding this current season to be pretty dark and pretty slow. I’m kind of hoping Jimmy turns into Saul pretty soon because maybe he’ll lighten up and it’ll be a bit more funny again.
Sharp Objects
This was really good! I hadn’t read the book, though I definitely want to now, hoping for a bit more clarification on things. It was really slow at times and I had a hard time understanding Amy Adams’ mumbling half the time. But the characters were pretty fascinating. It just seemed odd how the whole point of the show seemed to be focused on finding the town serial killer and then totally glazing over who it was at the end. But I liked it. Greg thought it was the best tv he’s watched this year.
Prison Break
We finally caught up on that additional re-make season they did a year or two ago. It was pretty dumb! So many stupid plot holes. And really, Michael? In prison AGAIN?? But it was still fun to see the old gang back together again. This was one of our favorites back in the day!
The Affair
We just started this most current season, so I don’t have a lot to say about it yet. It just continues to fascinate me how differently the stories shift between the two perspectives featured in each episode. So many details change, it’s worth watching just to compare and think about how differently people perceive their worlds! It really feels like this show as a whole has run its course, multiple times. But it’s still good.
Movies
Before I Fall
I read this book a long time ago and remembered thinking it was really sad. I wanted to see the movie, but kept putting it off, never in the mood to watch something sad. But, it wasn’t that sad! I actually really enjoyed it.
Rachel Hollis: Made for More
I saw this in the theater by myself and was quite excited about it! Rachel Hollis and her husband Dave put together a documentary of the conference they do once a year for women. It was kind of odd thinking about the movie as just a 90 minute commercial for their conference. But Rachel always has a ton of intriguing things to say that motivate women to be more. I gained some great insight from the movie and hope I might be able to go to a real conference that she’s holding in Minneapolis next summer.
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
I was so excited to watch this movie after reading the book last month and loving it! Unfortunately, I watched the movie on that bizarre night I was babysitting Hudson and he wouldn’t go to sleep and Greg and Caden were gone at a movie and I just for the life of me couldn’t settle down and relax enough to thoroughly enjoy the movie. But – I liked it. They changed a lot of small details to make it more adaptable for the screen, but the basic plot was the same. Lily James did another fantastic job! She’s truly delightful.
To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before
Another book adaptation! I loved this series of books and was SO excited when I found out it was being adapted. I thought it was going to the big screen, though, so I was shocked to just see it on netflix one day! I watched it immediately and loved it. It was pretty much exactly like the book. Highly recommend!
Call Me By Your Name
Also a book adaptation. 🙂 Though I haven’t read it. I liked the movie. It felt very slow. And it was kind of disturbing the difference in size of the actors. Like, Timothee Chalamet truly looks like a little boy in their love scenes which bothered me. But I enjoyed the movie overall. Made me very wistful for life in an Italian countryside where all people do are lay around in grass reading and talking!
A Quiet Place
I really liked this! We usually avoid anything remotely scary, but this was just more suspenseful. Greg actually burst out laughing when the first little boy got taken by the monster. It was a really good movie, though!
Adrift
Meh, this one I think you could skip. Very slow. And I was not prepared for the ending. (Also a book adaptation? Book adapted from the true story?)
Crazy Rich Asians
Okay, I guess I’m on a major role here this month. I started reading Crazy Rich Asians a few months ago because so many people rave about that series. I didn’t like it, though. It’s one of the few books I’ve ever given up on. But the movie looked great and I went to see it last weekend. I loved it! Seriously so good! Definitely see it. And feel free to skip the book.
Podcasts
My podcast listening has really gone down over the summer. Not much of what I listen to is appropriate enough to have on with kids constantly running through. And listening with headphones just doing things around the house feels like I’m kind of being a bad mom. Plus it just drives me insane because they inevitably need something from me every two minutes and I have to keep taking my phone out of my pocket to pause the podcast before I can listen to what they have to say. BUT I will never give up on my weekly favorites! I still most highly recommend The Popcast and of course their patreon only episodes which are amazing. Front Porch with the Fitzes is one I never miss, though I haven’t been super intrigued by many of their episodes lately. I love Spilled Milk. Happier with Gretchen Rubin when I’m in the mood for happiness advice. I’m not quite caught up with that, but getting pretty close. And I’ve been catching up with The Bible Binge. I’ve been avoiding it because it was originally released earlier through the Popcast patreon and then one day they just stopped doing it and I couldn’t remember how many episodes I had listened to and didn’t want to waste my energy trying to figure it out. But I finally just picked one and got back on it. Anyway, besides all my usual, I have a few specific episodes to recommend.
Rise Together Podcast with Rachel and Dave Hollis
I’m starting to feel like I need to take a lot of what Rachel says with a grain of salt. She is probably the most motivated and successful women I have ever encountered online. And it’s intimidating. I love her message to women and have really felt encouraged by a lot of what she has to say. But it’s also a bit frustrating because she doesn’t have a realistic lifestyle. She has a lot of money to make her dreams come true. She always says she’s successful because they have a lot of help. But she has that help because she PAYS for that help. Full time nanny and full time housekeeper, to start with! I mean, of course you can be successful if you don’t have to deal with all the crappy parts of life! Anyway, I say all that to say that I don’t listen to her podcast geared toward women all that often, but I LOVE the marriage podcast she does with her husband. Nothing but hard work is going to keep a marriage as strong as theirs. They only started this podcast a few months ago so it would be easy to catch up, but if you want to just jump into an episode that will make a big impact, I highly recommend starting with We’re Married and We’re Dating! and Let’s Talk about Sex Baby. Both of those episodes were really, really great.
Penpals with Rory Scovel and Daniel Van Kirk
I recommended this last month and I’m going to say it again. I love it! They’re comedians, so most episodes hold a lot of humor, but they also have a lot of really interesting and more serious things to say about each topic. My favorite episodes so far have been Teaser 3 – A Nipple Conundrum and Chasing Your Dreams & Choosing Your Cookies. Check it out!
It’s back! Season four/book four, it just started this week. I HATE how long they go between books. Like eight months?? But it’s so hilarious, you guys. Never, ever listen to it with other people around, but definitely listen! One of the funniest and most entertaining things you’ll find.
Let me know what you’ve been watching and listening to! I’m always up for more recommendations!
