We’ve reached the end of another calendar year, and after a week off from writing, I’ve had time to reflect on all my favorites from the world of entertainment in 2019. It’s time for my annual awards column, and I was lucky to have that extra week, both to fit in one more important movie and to consider seriously who the award winners would be this year. Here we go!
Best Television Show - Much of this list is devoted to streaming shows. I heard that the Golden Globe nominations this year largely snubbed any of the major network shows and instead recognized the outstanding fare there is on Netflix, Hulu, and Prime. Now that Disney+ has entered the fray, there are sure to be even more good shows.
In fact, let’s start there. Even with just eight episodes in its first season, The Mandalorian has been exceptional. Disney will work the Star Wars franchise for all it can get, but this show has been the dream of every Star Wars fanatic over the years. It’s a very good show following a bounty hunter who explores some of the nooks and crannies of the Star Wars universe. It’ll be a long wait until Season 2!
One great show that was not on a streaming service to start was PBS’ Country Music, a documentary series by Ken Burns. This show helped me appreciate country music like I never had before. The growth of the genre is heard distinctly through Burns’ great narrative, and even if you’re not a big fan of country, this eight-part series is worth a watch. Of course, now I can’t get “Let the Circle Be Unbroken” out of my head.
The winner for me this year, though, was straight from Netflix: Stranger Things, season 3. This science fiction masterpiece keeps getting better with each season. It’s set in the 1980s, so there are many cultural references which remind me of my own youth. The group of teenagers upon which the story revolves grow as people from season to season, and this was one of the few shows I felt was necessary to binge watch and finish as quickly as possible. And now the wait for Season 4!
Best Book - I’ve been striving to read more multicultural books this year and to find more to put on my school bookshelf. I was fortunate to receive a grant from Scholastic to purchase over 50 new books for my kids to read, so I tried to find a batch that fit the multicultural bill, some of which are represented here.
Doug Wilhelm is an author who has grown to be a friend. Even though he lives out in Vermont, his books have found their way into our school and often focus on middle school life. His latest book is Street of Storytellers and involves a young man who is brought by his father to Persia, where he discovers the many cultural differences there, especially since it’s set in the early 1980s. There are even references to the rise of Osama bin Laden, so the historic factor plays strongly. Wilhelm has crafted a great book that can open eyes to other experiences.
Angie Thomas’ second novel, On the Come Up, hit all the right beats in her follow-up to The Hate U Give. While you don’t need to read one to understand the other, they can be considered companions, showing life in the more run-down parts of our bigger cities and the problems that children of color face by being judged, still, on their skin color. It’s both sad and triumphant in the execution of this delicate subject.
My favorite book from 2019 is another one set mostly in the Middle East, Darius the Great Is Not Okay. The title character is bullied in America because he is part Iranian. When he goes to Iran for the first time, he gets bullied because he is part American. The book shows that bad things happen all around the world, but it’s only when we learn to accept other cultures that we truly become citizens of the world. This one was difficult to put down, even if my eyes were drooping!
Best Movie - This category was the reason I was glad I had an extra week since the latest Star Wars movie was coming out, and I needed time to see it and digest it before making a decision in this category.
Let’s start with The Joker. This movie was disturbing in many ways but also so deep and thought-provoking, especially in how we deal with mental illness, that it will likely win some major awards, even if it fits into the comic book category of movies. Joaquin Phoenix did an incredible job as the titular character who will grow to become Batman’s greatest villain.
The Rise of Skywalker, the last film in the Star Wars series that has focused on the Skywalker family for nine movies, had difficult expectations to live up to. While it was not perfect by any means, it was a good movie and was very satisfying in how it wrapped up the saga. There were moments to laugh, to cry, and to sit in sheer amazement.
But the winner this year, and it wasn’t even close in the end, was Avengers: Endgame. Somehow, the Marvel Cinematic Universe managed to tell an epic story over a decade and more than 20 movies, and this last one brought parts of all of them together to bring an end to the copious storylines that had been formulating. I actually cheered out loud a couple of times in the theater, especially when Captain America called the iconic rallying cry, “Avengers Assemble!” I can’t wait to see what’s next for Marvel!
There you have it. Another year in the books. Here’s wishing you the best in 2020, and may all your entertainment dreams come true!
Word of the Week: This week’s word is jactancy, which means boasting, as in, “The jactancy of the movie studio about the greatness of their film fell flat when the movie bombed at the box office.” Impress your friends and confuse your enemies!