What has turned into a 16-month-long (and counting) commitment might
seem extreme to anyone who doesn’t understand the Paddington hype. But
Chou’s own feelings toward the anthropomorphic marmalade fanatic are far
from lukewarm: 2017’s Paddington 2 is his favorite movie.
The milestone is, if nothing else, one of the internet’s more unusual feats of endurance. In a telephone interview, Mr. Chou described his creative process.
Great, positive end of year article on 50 wonderful things from 2021: The performances, moments, and laughs we'll remember.
I can personally agree with:
2. The purely calming pleasures of the PBS update of All Creatures Great And Small were a moment of deep exhalation at a time in January when everything was cold and isolated and I was hanging on by a thread.
4. Summer of Soul is easy to love and admire just for its richness as a historical document and for the opportunity to watch so many brilliant performers work. But something about its particular mix of performers across generations and genres made it even more than that — it's a piece about the nature of art and community.
25. It is very difficult to pick out the moment I most loved in the second season of Ted Lasso (I am not among the people who was ever disappointed in it). If I had to choose one indelible element, it would be Sarah Niles as Dr. Sharon Fieldstone. But if I had to choose the tiniest moment that made the biggest impression, I am going with the disappointed little "mmm" noise that Coach Beard (Brendan Hunt) makes in the "Rainbow" episode about four and a half minutes in. I watched it over and over, and it never stopped making me laugh out loud. "I believe in communism!" Ted says. Beard's eyes widen in curiosity and maybe even excitement. Then, Ted adds, "Romcommunism, that is." A bummed-out Beard grumbles and wrinkles his nose in distaste.
26. The Netflix series Maid, starring Margaret Qualley as a young single mom trying to survive via a tattered social safety net, was one of the few high-profile projects I saw on TV this year that tried to reckon with the traps we set for poor people: can't get housing without a job, can't get a job without a place to live, can't keep a job without a car, can't afford a car without more money than the job pays. The performances are top-notch, but the series, based on Stephanie Land's book, also has a lot to say about how even for a relatively fortunate poor person — an able-bodied, conventionally attractive, cisgender white woman — our systems are designed to inflict misery — and to prevent escape.
47. Not everything about the very experimental AMC show Kevin Can Go F*** Himself worked. But the concept — the wife on a corny dumpy-guy/hot-wife sitcom is seen both on that show and in separate dramatic scenes that show her misery and isolation — was, like WandaVision, part of an exciting moment in which TV showed some willingness not only to experiment with traditional forms but to comment on them. Kevin didn't always succeed, but in its best moments, it looked at the idea of the "lovable bad husband" with the skepticism it deserved.
ONE I RESPECTFULLY DISAGREE WITH:
35. From time to time, a Twitter feed arrives that the world has gone without for too long. This year, it was SNL Hosts Introducing The Musical Guest, one that does nothing except ... well, put up clips of hosts on Saturday Night Live introducing the musical guest. It might seem like small potatoes, and it is, but occasionally you get to see how the hosts manage to introduce bands they'd clearly never heard of until they hosted. You also get combinations of host and band that perfectly capture a particular moment in time. Melrose Place's Laura Leighton saying "Rancid!" is somehow my favorite.
I've seen the SNL Musical Intro Twitter and it's fine, but the winner of this category WITHOUT QUESTION of course is the guy who Photoshops Paddington Bear into movies/tv shows, which has been a delight for almost a year now 🤗
