{
    "type": "entry",
    "published": "2021-12-28T23:24:58+00:00",
    "url": "https://twitter.com/jaredcwhite/status/1475971062072414209",
    "content": {
        "text": "I feel like I want to do a lot more blogging/essay-writing in the coming year, even though nobody reads my blog. \ud83d\ude05\n\nI just love writing, and I become increasingly unhappy in any given span of time if I haven't published a new blog post. Blogging is in my DNA. \u2328\ufe0f\u2615\ufe0f"
    },
    "author": {
        "type": "card",
        "name": "Jared White \ud83d\udd2e",
        "url": "https://twitter.com/jaredcwhite",
        "photo": "https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1431863008288931841/hsLQJBv4.jpg"
    },
    "post-type": "note",
    "_id": "26120210",
    "_source": "2773"
}

My Top 5 Sci-Fi Films of 2021

{
    "type": "entry",
    "author": {
        "name": "Jared White",
        "url": "https://jaredwhite.com/",
        "photo": null
    },
    "url": "https://jaredwhite.com/articles/my-top-5-scifi-films-of-2021",
    "published": "2021-12-28T11:55:00-08:00",
    "content": {
        "html": "<img alt=\"\" src=\"https://res.cloudinary.com/mariposta/image/upload/w_1200,c_limit,q_65/awesome_movie_nokl5q.jpg\" /><h2>Once again, it's never been a better time to be a geek and a film buff. Here are my end-of-year top picks\u2026and the results may surprise you!</h2>\n\n<p>Can\u2019t say why, but I haven\u2019t <a href=\"https://jaredwhite.com/articles/my-top-5-scifi-films-of-2016\">done one of these since 2016</a>! So it\u2019s long overdue for me to share my perspective on what was in sum a pretty substantial year for sci-fi nerds like me. As we\u2019re well aware, 2020 <em>sucked</em> for film buffs\u2014between the many release delays and mass closure of movie theaters\u2014so this year was an opportunity to go into nerdgasmic movie overload. Was it worth the wait? Perhaps not in all cases, but I definitely think we got quite a good number of WOW moments in the mix.</p>\n\n<p>I\u2019ll touch on TV briefly towards the end (namely the spate of Disney+/Marvel shows which all launched this year), but for now, let\u2019s start with my fifth movie pick of 2021.</p>\n\n<h3>#5: Eternals</h3>\n\n<p>I really had no idea what to make of this film before I saw it. The trailers looked\u2026odd\u2026and it seemed so disconnected from anything we\u2019d seen to date in the MCU. I also couldn\u2019t envision the leap from Chlo\u00e9 Zhao\u2019s <em>Nomadland</em> (<a href=\"https://jaredwhite.com/links/20210309/1\">which I loved</a>) to larger-than-life superheroes and pew-pew-pew. But I felt similarly ambivalent about the original <em>Guardians of the Galaxy</em> movie before it came out, and look how awesome that turned out to be.</p>\n\n<p>A lot of the early critic reviews all had a similar refrain which was that <em>Eternals</em> strayed far from the typical Marvel formula and was a very different kind of movie than anything we\u2019d seen before. I think that conclusion was oversold. This is a Marvel movie through-and-through. It just so happens to be a Marvel movie made by Chlo\u00e9 Zhao, so you get that relaxed pacing and moody landscapes and meditative insight into characters\u2019 internal worlds to a degree we\u2019re not accustomed to in a-mile-a-minute action movies. Personally, I loved it. However, the overall story didn\u2019t quite gel in a way that propels this movie higher up the list. While I throughly enjoyed my experience, I ultimately left wanting a lot more from several of the characters. (Guess that\u2019s what <em>Eternals 2</em> is for, amirite?) Despite that, I can\u2019t wait to rewatch it at home once it lands on Disney+.</p>\n\n<h3>#4: Free Guy</h3>\n\n<p>This movie really came out of left field and knocked my socks off. Also my kids\u2019 socks off. They\u2019re chomping at the bit for <em>Free Guy 2</em> (though at the moment I have no idea if/when that will happen). Ryan Reynolds seems born to play this role every bit as much as Deadpool, and his onscreen partner Jodie Comer shines. In fact, all of the cast is fantastic, and the many sendups of gaming culture, fandom, and the digital world we\u2019re all increasingly living in all landed spectacularly. I\u2019m not sure I can point to another movie that was as throughly entertaining in a comedic way this year. <strong>Catchphrase! Witty conclusion to a movie review here!</strong></p>\n\n<h3>#3: Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings</h3>\n\n<p>OK, I definitely agree with the pundits on this one. For a long time Marvel &amp; Kevin Feige had been hyping up <em>Eternals</em> and relegating <em>Shang-Chi</em> to almost a footnote in their lineup, and in the final analysis <em>Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings</em> is one of the best comic book movies of all time. I was utterly blown away. This, my friends, is a movie you can point to when somebody asks \u201cwhat\u2019s the big deal with Marvel movies anyway?\u201d\u2026and if they\u2019re still not impressed, there\u2019s simply no hope for them. Nearly every moment in this film is an instant classic. The plot is edge-of-your-seat fabulous. The characters are phenomenal. And I could honestly just watch a whole show with \u201cShaun\u201d and Katy bopping around San Francisco and hitting up karaoke bars. Meng\u2019er Zhang is star material. Tony Chiu-Wai Leung should win an Oscar for supporting actor. Bravo Marvel, bravo.</p>\n\n<h3>#2: Dune</h3>\n\n<p><em>Dune</em> is a revelation. Having watched it twice in the theaters\u2014once in IMAX\u2014it\u2019s more of an event than a movie. The audio portion alone, where score and sound merge into a singular sonic landscape, is superlative. And the visuals are every bit what you\u2019d expect from director Denis Villeneuve at the height of his powers.</p>\n\n<p>Now I have no real connection to the source material. I never read the book, and I remember once seeing the 80s movie adaptation of <em>Dune</em> and thinking it was utter dreck. So I wasn\u2019t at all eagerly anticipating <em>Dune</em>. I knew a lot of other people were and I was happy for them, but it just wasn\u2019t on my radar. But early reviews came in and were largely effusive, and I\u2019m a megafan of both <em>Arrival</em> (it landed at <a href=\"https://jaredwhite.com/articles/my-top-5-scifi-films-of-2016#4-arrival\">#4 on my 2016 Top Five list!</a>) and <em>Blade Runner 2049</em> (<a href=\"https://jaredwhite.com/20181205/1\">w00t!</a>), so I decided to go see <em>Dune</em> almost immediately after it arrived in theaters.</p>\n\n<p>I could honestly just recapitulate my review of <em>Arrival</em> again for <em>Dune</em>:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n  <p>I left the theater almost in a state of shock because of the nature of the story and the depth of feeling it brought up in me.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Apparently that\u2019s what Denis Villeneuve productions do\u2026place you in a state of altered consciousness. When I saw the movie for the second time in IMAX, I was with my brother. When we left the theater afterwards, he was speechless. I think he mumbled something to the tune of \u201cthat was incredible\u201d and pretty much left it at that.</p>\n\n<p><em>Dune</em> is a movie which almost defies description. You just need to experience it for yourself. (My only criticism really is the ending and how that fits into the overall narrative\u2026thank the powers that be that <em>Dune Part 2</em> has been greenlit, because we really, really need that.)</p>\n\n<h3>#1: The Matrix Resurrections</h3>\n\n<p>If this were any ordinary year where a new Matrix movie doesn\u2019t exist, <em>Dune</em> would win the #1 spot on my list with flying colors. And to be quite frank, in terms of raw cinematic spectacle and breathtaking filmcraft, <em>The Matrix Resurrections</em> certainly isn\u2019t the best film of the year. That distinction most definitely belongs to <em>Dune</em>\u2014or could be awarded to <em>Eternals</em> or <em>Shang-Chi</em> for that matter.</p>\n\n<p>But this <em>isn\u2019t</em> any ordinary year, and there <em>is</em> a new Matrix movie. And despite the fact this movie is wildly controversial in a way we probably haven\u2019t seen since <em>Star Wars: The Last Jedi</em>, there\u2019s no doubt in my mind <em>The Matrix Resurrections</em> reigns supreme.</p>\n\n<p>It is a movie which affected me <strong>deeply</strong>, and will continue to affect me long into the future. This film is operating on numerous levels simultaneously. It\u2019s even more self-aware than the original Matrix. (I\u2019m not going to use the \u201cm**a\u201d word here because it\u2019s been lazily thrown around to death in reviews already, but yeah, it\u2019s all that.) It messes with you. At times it grabs you and shakes you, and maybe you\u2019re not going to like it. It\u2019s punk. But like it or not, you can\u2019t ignore it.</p>\n\n<p>There are so many themes in <em>The Matrix Ressurections</em> which resonate with me, but perhaps more than anything else it reminds me of <a href=\"https://simplepraxis.life/2019/leaving-it-all-behind-my-exvangelical-story\">my own life journey</a> out of a fog of confusion and loss of identity within a high-demand religious group (was it a cult? quite possibly!), and the long, gut-wrenching process of reclaiming MY OWN STORY.</p>\n\n<p>Without giving away major spoilers, this film is the story of Thomas Anderson (aka Neo) coming to grips with reality after being gaslit for far too long. But if you think that sounds just like the original <em>The Matrix</em> of 1999, think again. This is a profoundly different take, and one which I hope to write about at length soon.</p>\n\n<p>It\u2019s also, as many have stated, a beautiful love story. But I see it as much more than that\u2014yes, there\u2019s a romantic element to it, but it\u2019s not just about the love two people share with each other. It\u2019s about the love of a life well-lived, a life you can explain, a life you can defend, a life which <em>truly matters</em>\u2026in other words, the polar opposite of just going through the motions and doing what everyone else \u201cexpects\u201d you to do and tries to convince you is the only proper path forward.</p>\n\n<p>Bugs is awesome and deserves her own spin-off show. There, I said it.</p>\n\n<p>I\u2019ve gone on record that I\u2019m a big fan of the whole Matrix trilogy, and while the second and third films are somewhat of a step down from the original, I love them all. In terms of ranking, I think I place <em>The Matrix Resurrections</em> at #2, higher than <em>Reloaded</em> and <em>Revolutions</em>. It\u2019s a remarkable achievement and a wonderful opportunity to revisit this world and tie all three previous movies together in a fresh and invigorating way.</p>\n\n<p>I explained in my recent Fresh Fusion episode <a href=\"https://jaredwhite.com/podcast/76/\">Back to The Matrix</a> just how much <em>The Matrix</em> means to me. It\u2019s <a href=\"https://jaredwhite.com/about\">my favorite movie of all time</a>, and as such I admit feeling utterly perplexed and just a little angry at the degree to which toxic fandom has descended upon this movie. There are people out there who <strong>hate</strong> it. And they\u2019re not merely content to state their opinion and move on\u2014they\u2019re out in droves to convince everyone else of how \u201cbad\u201d <em>The Matrix Resurrections</em> is and how you must be a rube to appreciate it in any way. What\u2019s supremely ironic is the movie <strong>directly speaks to this phenomenon</strong>. It\u2019s almost like the filmmaker (Lana Wachowski) preemptively looked the haters in the eye and gave them the finger. Good for her.</p>\n\n<p>But whatever. Everyone is entitled to their opinion. If you hate the movie, you hate it. However, I <strong>loved</strong> it, and of all the movies in my top 5 list for 2021, I expect to go back to this one the most over and over again, grasping at any one of the numerous story threads and seeing just how far down the rabbit hole goes.</p>\n\n<h3>What Didn\u2019t Make the List</h3>\n\n<p>Since it\u2019s both a Marvel movie (though via Sony) and the biggest hit of the year, you may be wondering why on earth I didn\u2019t place <em>Spider-Man: No Way Home</em> on my top 5 list. It\u2019s simple: I wasn\u2019t as impressed by it as the movies listed above. Now don\u2019t get me wrong, I thought it was great. And the fan service was off-the-charts. I couldn\u2019t believe how much they packed into a single movie. It\u2019s quite the spectacle. However, it does play into the sense of comic book tropes galore and \u201ctheme park ride\u201d criticism that sometimes gets lobbed at Marvel movies. This is a <em>very</em> Marvel-y Marvel movie. And to be honest, watching it right before watching <em>The Matrix Resurrections</em> is rather bizarre because the two movies almost seem like they\u2019re in a dialogue with each other. If you\u2019ve seen both, you know exactly what I mean.</p>\n\n<p>But, as a \u201ctheme park ride\u201d it was worlds of fun.</p>\n\n<p>I also really enjoyed watching <em>A Quiet Place Part II</em> this year (a great way to get back into the theaters again!), as well as the highly-underrated <em>Old</em> by M. Night Shyamalan. But mainly I want to round out this article by giving a very Honorable Mention to <em>Loki</em>. There were many good Sci-Fi shows on TV this year, from <em>Star Trek: Discovery</em> to <em>Foundation</em> to <em>The Expanse</em> (now in its sixth and final season).</p>\n\n<p>But I was utterly blown away by <em>Loki</em>. Out of all four of the live-action Marvel/MCU shows we got this year, <em>Loki</em> alone felt like it rose above the level of \u201cfun TV show to watch on Disney+\u201d and now rivals the best of the movie canon. Sure, <em>Wandavision</em> was super clever and for a short time entered the <em>zeitgeist</em> of fan speculation, but it was also very weird and strayed from the \u201ctone\u201d of typical Marvel productions way more than <em>Eternals</em> ever did. <em>The Falcon and the Winter Soldier</em> was hugely disappointing to me\u2026I simply didn\u2019t enjoy it much at all. And while the recently-concluded <em>Hawkeye</em> is a solid #2 out of all four shows for me, I do think it felt like just another fairly ordinary and somewhat forgettable TV show. But <em>Loki</em> was <em>art</em>, man. It was full of production superlatives. The settings were incredible. The music was fantastic\u2014so epic I listened to the soundtrack all on its own. Tom Hiddleston was in peak form. Owen Wilson stole every scene he was in. The ending was mind-bending and unexpected. More shows like this, please Marvel, pretty please!</p>\n\n<p><strong>So there you have it: my top 5 favorite Sci-Fi movies (and a TV show!) of 2021.</strong> Hopefully you\u2019ll hear back from me on this topic sooner than 2026! \ud83d\ude02</p>\n\n<p>What\u2019s on your list? <a href=\"https://twitter.com/jaredcwhite\">Hop on over to Twitter and let me know!</a></p>\n\n\n\n  <br /><p>\n    \n      <a href=\"https://jaredwhite.com/tag/scifi\">#scifi</a>\n    \n      <a href=\"https://jaredwhite.com/tag/movies\">#movies</a>\n    \n  </p>",
        "text": "Once again, it's never been a better time to be a geek and a film buff. Here are my end-of-year top picks\u2026and the results may surprise you!\n\nCan\u2019t say why, but I haven\u2019t done one of these since 2016! So it\u2019s long overdue for me to share my perspective on what was in sum a pretty substantial year for sci-fi nerds like me. As we\u2019re well aware, 2020 sucked for film buffs\u2014between the many release delays and mass closure of movie theaters\u2014so this year was an opportunity to go into nerdgasmic movie overload. Was it worth the wait? Perhaps not in all cases, but I definitely think we got quite a good number of WOW moments in the mix.\n\nI\u2019ll touch on TV briefly towards the end (namely the spate of Disney+/Marvel shows which all launched this year), but for now, let\u2019s start with my fifth movie pick of 2021.\n\n#5: Eternals\n\nI really had no idea what to make of this film before I saw it. The trailers looked\u2026odd\u2026and it seemed so disconnected from anything we\u2019d seen to date in the MCU. I also couldn\u2019t envision the leap from Chlo\u00e9 Zhao\u2019s Nomadland (which I loved) to larger-than-life superheroes and pew-pew-pew. But I felt similarly ambivalent about the original Guardians of the Galaxy movie before it came out, and look how awesome that turned out to be.\n\nA lot of the early critic reviews all had a similar refrain which was that Eternals strayed far from the typical Marvel formula and was a very different kind of movie than anything we\u2019d seen before. I think that conclusion was oversold. This is a Marvel movie through-and-through. It just so happens to be a Marvel movie made by Chlo\u00e9 Zhao, so you get that relaxed pacing and moody landscapes and meditative insight into characters\u2019 internal worlds to a degree we\u2019re not accustomed to in a-mile-a-minute action movies. Personally, I loved it. However, the overall story didn\u2019t quite gel in a way that propels this movie higher up the list. While I throughly enjoyed my experience, I ultimately left wanting a lot more from several of the characters. (Guess that\u2019s what Eternals 2 is for, amirite?) Despite that, I can\u2019t wait to rewatch it at home once it lands on Disney+.\n\n#4: Free Guy\n\nThis movie really came out of left field and knocked my socks off. Also my kids\u2019 socks off. They\u2019re chomping at the bit for Free Guy 2 (though at the moment I have no idea if/when that will happen). Ryan Reynolds seems born to play this role every bit as much as Deadpool, and his onscreen partner Jodie Comer shines. In fact, all of the cast is fantastic, and the many sendups of gaming culture, fandom, and the digital world we\u2019re all increasingly living in all landed spectacularly. I\u2019m not sure I can point to another movie that was as throughly entertaining in a comedic way this year. Catchphrase! Witty conclusion to a movie review here!\n\n#3: Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings\n\nOK, I definitely agree with the pundits on this one. For a long time Marvel & Kevin Feige had been hyping up Eternals and relegating Shang-Chi to almost a footnote in their lineup, and in the final analysis Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is one of the best comic book movies of all time. I was utterly blown away. This, my friends, is a movie you can point to when somebody asks \u201cwhat\u2019s the big deal with Marvel movies anyway?\u201d\u2026and if they\u2019re still not impressed, there\u2019s simply no hope for them. Nearly every moment in this film is an instant classic. The plot is edge-of-your-seat fabulous. The characters are phenomenal. And I could honestly just watch a whole show with \u201cShaun\u201d and Katy bopping around San Francisco and hitting up karaoke bars. Meng\u2019er Zhang is star material. Tony Chiu-Wai Leung should win an Oscar for supporting actor. Bravo Marvel, bravo.\n\n#2: Dune\n\nDune is a revelation. Having watched it twice in the theaters\u2014once in IMAX\u2014it\u2019s more of an event than a movie. The audio portion alone, where score and sound merge into a singular sonic landscape, is superlative. And the visuals are every bit what you\u2019d expect from director Denis Villeneuve at the height of his powers.\n\nNow I have no real connection to the source material. I never read the book, and I remember once seeing the 80s movie adaptation of Dune and thinking it was utter dreck. So I wasn\u2019t at all eagerly anticipating Dune. I knew a lot of other people were and I was happy for them, but it just wasn\u2019t on my radar. But early reviews came in and were largely effusive, and I\u2019m a megafan of both Arrival (it landed at #4 on my 2016 Top Five list!) and Blade Runner 2049 (w00t!), so I decided to go see Dune almost immediately after it arrived in theaters.\n\nI could honestly just recapitulate my review of Arrival again for Dune:\n\n\n  I left the theater almost in a state of shock because of the nature of the story and the depth of feeling it brought up in me.\n\n\nApparently that\u2019s what Denis Villeneuve productions do\u2026place you in a state of altered consciousness. When I saw the movie for the second time in IMAX, I was with my brother. When we left the theater afterwards, he was speechless. I think he mumbled something to the tune of \u201cthat was incredible\u201d and pretty much left it at that.\n\nDune is a movie which almost defies description. You just need to experience it for yourself. (My only criticism really is the ending and how that fits into the overall narrative\u2026thank the powers that be that Dune Part 2 has been greenlit, because we really, really need that.)\n\n#1: The Matrix Resurrections\n\nIf this were any ordinary year where a new Matrix movie doesn\u2019t exist, Dune would win the #1 spot on my list with flying colors. And to be quite frank, in terms of raw cinematic spectacle and breathtaking filmcraft, The Matrix Resurrections certainly isn\u2019t the best film of the year. That distinction most definitely belongs to Dune\u2014or could be awarded to Eternals or Shang-Chi for that matter.\n\nBut this isn\u2019t any ordinary year, and there is a new Matrix movie. And despite the fact this movie is wildly controversial in a way we probably haven\u2019t seen since Star Wars: The Last Jedi, there\u2019s no doubt in my mind The Matrix Resurrections reigns supreme.\n\nIt is a movie which affected me deeply, and will continue to affect me long into the future. This film is operating on numerous levels simultaneously. It\u2019s even more self-aware than the original Matrix. (I\u2019m not going to use the \u201cm**a\u201d word here because it\u2019s been lazily thrown around to death in reviews already, but yeah, it\u2019s all that.) It messes with you. At times it grabs you and shakes you, and maybe you\u2019re not going to like it. It\u2019s punk. But like it or not, you can\u2019t ignore it.\n\nThere are so many themes in The Matrix Ressurections which resonate with me, but perhaps more than anything else it reminds me of my own life journey out of a fog of confusion and loss of identity within a high-demand religious group (was it a cult? quite possibly!), and the long, gut-wrenching process of reclaiming MY OWN STORY.\n\nWithout giving away major spoilers, this film is the story of Thomas Anderson (aka Neo) coming to grips with reality after being gaslit for far too long. But if you think that sounds just like the original The Matrix of 1999, think again. This is a profoundly different take, and one which I hope to write about at length soon.\n\nIt\u2019s also, as many have stated, a beautiful love story. But I see it as much more than that\u2014yes, there\u2019s a romantic element to it, but it\u2019s not just about the love two people share with each other. It\u2019s about the love of a life well-lived, a life you can explain, a life you can defend, a life which truly matters\u2026in other words, the polar opposite of just going through the motions and doing what everyone else \u201cexpects\u201d you to do and tries to convince you is the only proper path forward.\n\nBugs is awesome and deserves her own spin-off show. There, I said it.\n\nI\u2019ve gone on record that I\u2019m a big fan of the whole Matrix trilogy, and while the second and third films are somewhat of a step down from the original, I love them all. In terms of ranking, I think I place The Matrix Resurrections at #2, higher than Reloaded and Revolutions. It\u2019s a remarkable achievement and a wonderful opportunity to revisit this world and tie all three previous movies together in a fresh and invigorating way.\n\nI explained in my recent Fresh Fusion episode Back to The Matrix just how much The Matrix means to me. It\u2019s my favorite movie of all time, and as such I admit feeling utterly perplexed and just a little angry at the degree to which toxic fandom has descended upon this movie. There are people out there who hate it. And they\u2019re not merely content to state their opinion and move on\u2014they\u2019re out in droves to convince everyone else of how \u201cbad\u201d The Matrix Resurrections is and how you must be a rube to appreciate it in any way. What\u2019s supremely ironic is the movie directly speaks to this phenomenon. It\u2019s almost like the filmmaker (Lana Wachowski) preemptively looked the haters in the eye and gave them the finger. Good for her.\n\nBut whatever. Everyone is entitled to their opinion. If you hate the movie, you hate it. However, I loved it, and of all the movies in my top 5 list for 2021, I expect to go back to this one the most over and over again, grasping at any one of the numerous story threads and seeing just how far down the rabbit hole goes.\n\nWhat Didn\u2019t Make the List\n\nSince it\u2019s both a Marvel movie (though via Sony) and the biggest hit of the year, you may be wondering why on earth I didn\u2019t place Spider-Man: No Way Home on my top 5 list. It\u2019s simple: I wasn\u2019t as impressed by it as the movies listed above. Now don\u2019t get me wrong, I thought it was great. And the fan service was off-the-charts. I couldn\u2019t believe how much they packed into a single movie. It\u2019s quite the spectacle. However, it does play into the sense of comic book tropes galore and \u201ctheme park ride\u201d criticism that sometimes gets lobbed at Marvel movies. This is a very Marvel-y Marvel movie. And to be honest, watching it right before watching The Matrix Resurrections is rather bizarre because the two movies almost seem like they\u2019re in a dialogue with each other. If you\u2019ve seen both, you know exactly what I mean.\n\nBut, as a \u201ctheme park ride\u201d it was worlds of fun.\n\nI also really enjoyed watching A Quiet Place Part II this year (a great way to get back into the theaters again!), as well as the highly-underrated Old by M. Night Shyamalan. But mainly I want to round out this article by giving a very Honorable Mention to Loki. There were many good Sci-Fi shows on TV this year, from Star Trek: Discovery to Foundation to The Expanse (now in its sixth and final season).\n\nBut I was utterly blown away by Loki. Out of all four of the live-action Marvel/MCU shows we got this year, Loki alone felt like it rose above the level of \u201cfun TV show to watch on Disney+\u201d and now rivals the best of the movie canon. Sure, Wandavision was super clever and for a short time entered the zeitgeist of fan speculation, but it was also very weird and strayed from the \u201ctone\u201d of typical Marvel productions way more than Eternals ever did. The Falcon and the Winter Soldier was hugely disappointing to me\u2026I simply didn\u2019t enjoy it much at all. And while the recently-concluded Hawkeye is a solid #2 out of all four shows for me, I do think it felt like just another fairly ordinary and somewhat forgettable TV show. But Loki was art, man. It was full of production superlatives. The settings were incredible. The music was fantastic\u2014so epic I listened to the soundtrack all on its own. Tom Hiddleston was in peak form. Owen Wilson stole every scene he was in. The ending was mind-bending and unexpected. More shows like this, please Marvel, pretty please!\n\nSo there you have it: my top 5 favorite Sci-Fi movies (and a TV show!) of 2021. Hopefully you\u2019ll hear back from me on this topic sooner than 2026! \ud83d\ude02\n\nWhat\u2019s on your list? Hop on over to Twitter and let me know!\n\n\n\n  \n\n    \n      #scifi\n    \n      #movies"
    },
    "name": "My Top 5 Sci-Fi Films of 2021",
    "post-type": "article",
    "_id": "26119625",
    "_source": "2783"
}

{
    "type": "entry",
    "published": "2021-12-28T21:21:10+00:00",
    "url": "https://twitter.com/cleverdevil/status/1475939906723532801",
    "content": {
        "text": "What are the odds that the CFP semifinal games actually happen? I am betting at least one of them gets cancelled."
    },
    "author": {
        "type": "card",
        "name": "Jonathan LaCour",
        "url": "https://twitter.com/cleverdevil",
        "photo": "https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1428891351014285317/zGK22rDG.jpg"
    },
    "post-type": "note",
    "_id": "26118231",
    "_source": "2773"
}

{
    "type": "entry",
    "published": "2021-12-28T20:03:41+00:00",
    "url": "https://twitter.com/jaredcwhite/status/1475920407920218113",
    "content": {
        "text": "2020 sucked for film buffs\u2014between the many release delays and mass closure of movie theaters\u2014so this year was an opportunity to go into nerdgasmic movie overload. Was it worth the wait?!\n\nRead my Top 5 Sci-Fi movies list\u2026the results may surprise you! \ud83d\ude05\n\njaredwhite.com/articles/my-to\u2026",
        "html": "2020 sucked for film buffs\u2014between the many release delays and mass closure of movie theaters\u2014so this year was an opportunity to go into nerdgasmic movie overload. Was it worth the wait?!\n\nRead my Top 5 Sci-Fi movies list\u2026the results may surprise you! \ud83d\ude05\n\n<a href=\"https://jaredwhite.com/articles/my-top-5-scifi-films-of-2021\">jaredwhite.com/articles/my-to\u2026</a>"
    },
    "author": {
        "type": "card",
        "name": "Jared White \ud83d\udd2e",
        "url": "https://twitter.com/jaredcwhite",
        "photo": "https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1431863008288931841/hsLQJBv4.jpg"
    },
    "post-type": "note",
    "_id": "26116565",
    "_source": "2773"
}

{
    "type": "entry",
    "published": "2021-12-28T19:13:46+00:00",
    "url": "https://twitter.com/tinysubversions/status/1475907849406451712",
    "content": {
        "text": "Having \"finished\" Inscryption I have a lot to say about it, mixed good and bad. The highs were very high and the lows were excruciatingly boring. If I write about it it'll probably be on my blog where I can spoiler warning bc this is a game that can only partly withstand spoilers"
    },
    "author": {
        "type": "card",
        "name": "Darius Kazemi",
        "url": "https://twitter.com/tinysubversions",
        "photo": "https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1355952735921692673/XVIen_1n.jpg"
    },
    "post-type": "note",
    "_id": "26115690",
    "_source": "2773"
}

{
    "type": "entry",
    "published": "2021-12-28T15:53:04+00:00",
    "url": "https://twitter.com/jaredcwhite/status/1475857338309378048",
    "photo": [
        "https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FHtMbNwUcAwmalD.jpg"
    ],
    "quotation-of": "https://twitter.com/lollyfitz13/status/1475222963100303372",
    "content": {
        "text": "Back when my hair was longer. Rock'n'roll! \ud83e\udd18"
    },
    "author": {
        "type": "card",
        "name": "Jared White \ud83d\udd2e",
        "url": "https://twitter.com/jaredcwhite",
        "photo": "https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1431863008288931841/hsLQJBv4.jpg"
    },
    "post-type": "photo",
    "refs": {
        "https://twitter.com/lollyfitz13/status/1475222963100303372": {
            "type": "entry",
            "published": "2021-12-26T21:52:17+00:00",
            "url": "https://twitter.com/lollyfitz13/status/1475222963100303372",
            "content": {
                "text": "I think it's about time we all quote retweet with a photo of when we knew our bodies were hot this year"
            },
            "author": {
                "type": "card",
                "name": "Lauren",
                "url": "https://twitter.com/lollyfitz13",
                "photo": "https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1446765760060305409/F3tUG6lm.jpg"
            },
            "post-type": "note"
        }
    },
    "_id": "26111576",
    "_source": "2773"
}

Hopefully the last time I beg for coffee grinding footage

{
    "type": "entry",
    "published": "2021-12-28T01:25:16-08:00",
    "url": "https://beesbuzz.biz/blog/3077-Hopefully-the-last-time-I-beg-for-coffee-grinding-footage",
    "category": [
        "novembeat",
        "lo-fi beats to grind coffee to",
        "coffee"
    ],
    "syndication": [
        "https://indieweb.xyz/en/novembeat",
        "https://indieweb.xyz/en/lo-fi%20beats%20to%20grind%20coffee%20to",
        "https://indieweb.xyz/en/coffee"
    ],
    "name": "Hopefully the last time I beg for coffee grinding footage",
    "author": {
        "type": "card",
        "name": "fluffy",
        "url": "https://beesbuzz.biz/",
        "photo": "https://beesbuzz.biz/static/headshot.jpg"
    },
    "post-type": "article",
    "_id": "26106115",
    "_source": "2778"
}

{
    "type": "entry",
    "published": "2021-12-28T09:26:50+00:00",
    "url": "https://twitter.com/fluffy/status/1475760142381727744",
    "content": {
        "text": "New post: fluffy rambles: Hopefully the last time I beg for coffee grinding footage beesbuzz.biz/blog/3077-Hope\u2026\n\n#Novembeat #LoFiBeatsToGrindCoffeeTo #Coffee",
        "html": "New post: fluffy rambles: Hopefully the last time I beg for coffee grinding footage <a href=\"https://beesbuzz.biz/blog/3077-Hopefully-the-last-time-I-beg-for-coffee-grinding-footage\">beesbuzz.biz/blog/3077-Hope\u2026</a>\n\n<a href=\"https://twitter.com/search?q=%23Novembeat\">#Novembeat</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/search?q=%23LoFiBeatsToGrindCoffeeTo\">#LoFiBeatsToGrindCoffeeTo</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/search?q=%23Coffee\">#Coffee</a>"
    },
    "author": {
        "type": "card",
        "name": "fluffy \ud83d\udc9c \u272a\u25be\u032b\u272a",
        "url": "https://twitter.com/fluffy",
        "photo": "https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1252480375646851072/Pc5osn74.jpg"
    },
    "post-type": "note",
    "_id": "26105747",
    "_source": "2773"
}

{
    "type": "entry",
    "published": "2021-12-28T00:38:14-0500",
    "url": "https://martymcgui.re/2021/12/28/003814/",
    "category": [
        "caturday"
    ],
    "video": [
        "https://res.cloudinary.com/schmarty/video/upload/vc_h264/mmmgre/4d/c7/71/1b/06fc116cab8ebf22013b62cfdf2c030584097e74a0800e69035bec52.mov"
    ],
    "content": {
        "text": "Have you had enough of binge watching during eternal Caturday?",
        "html": "<p>Have you had enough of binge watching during eternal Caturday?</p>"
    },
    "author": {
        "type": "card",
        "name": "Marty McGuire",
        "url": "https://martymcgui.re/",
        "photo": "https://martymcgui.re/images/logo.jpg"
    },
    "post-type": "video",
    "_id": "26105634",
    "_source": "175"
}

{
    "type": "entry",
    "published": "2021-12-28T07:40:44+00:00",
    "url": "https://twitter.com/cleverdevil/status/1475733437948461056",
    "content": {
        "text": "I\u2019m working my way through Seveneves for the first time, finally. I didn\u2019t know I needed a 900 page treatise on orbital mechanics wrapped in speculative fiction in my life, but here we are."
    },
    "author": {
        "type": "card",
        "name": "Jonathan LaCour",
        "url": "https://twitter.com/cleverdevil",
        "photo": "https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1428891351014285317/zGK22rDG.jpg"
    },
    "post-type": "note",
    "_id": "26104816",
    "_source": "2773"
}

{
    "type": "entry",
    "published": "2021-12-28T05:00:43+00:00",
    "url": "https://twitter.com/Johannes_Ernst/status/1475693168515432450",
    "quotation-of": "https://twitter.com/nicoleperlroth/status/1474275566572347393",
    "content": {
        "text": "Not a good trend."
    },
    "author": {
        "type": "card",
        "name": "Johannes Ernst",
        "url": "https://twitter.com/Johannes_Ernst",
        "photo": "https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/462335209015238656/ie0cRjdx.jpeg"
    },
    "post-type": "note",
    "refs": {
        "https://twitter.com/nicoleperlroth/status/1474275566572347393": {
            "type": "entry",
            "published": "2021-12-24T07:07:40+00:00",
            "url": "https://twitter.com/nicoleperlroth/status/1474275566572347393",
            "content": {
                "text": "Been waiting for this shoe to drop. New laws require citizens to give China Right of First Refusal on 0days. Alibaba researchers went rogue and disclosed Log4J.\n\nNow the CCP is making Alibaba pay, suspending all contracts. scmp.com/tech/big-tech/\u2026",
                "html": "Been waiting for this shoe to drop. New laws require citizens to give China Right of First Refusal on 0days. Alibaba researchers went rogue and disclosed Log4J.\n\nNow the CCP is making Alibaba pay, suspending all contracts. <a href=\"https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3160670/apache-log4j-bug-chinas-industry-ministry-pulls-support-alibaba-cloud\">scmp.com/tech/big-tech/\u2026</a>"
            },
            "author": {
                "type": "card",
                "name": "Nicole Perlroth",
                "url": "https://twitter.com/nicoleperlroth",
                "photo": "https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1456047846977798145/i7FYeOeK.jpg"
            },
            "post-type": "note"
        }
    },
    "_id": "26103316",
    "_source": "2773"
}

{
    "type": "entry",
    "published": "2021-12-28T01:30:25+00:00",
    "url": "https://twitter.com/cleverdevil/status/1475640246406578179",
    "video": [
        "https://video.twimg.com/tweet_video/FHqG-L1UUAARAya.mp4"
    ],
    "content": {
        "text": "A pick six by Miami on Ian Book? You don\u2019t say! #BreakOutTheChainAgain",
        "html": "A pick six by Miami on Ian Book? You don\u2019t say! <a href=\"https://twitter.com/search?q=%23BreakOutTheChainAgain\">#BreakOutTheChainAgain</a>"
    },
    "author": {
        "type": "card",
        "name": "Jonathan LaCour",
        "url": "https://twitter.com/cleverdevil",
        "photo": "https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1428891351014285317/zGK22rDG.jpg"
    },
    "post-type": "video",
    "_id": "26100535",
    "_source": "2773"
}

{
    "type": "entry",
    "published": "2021-12-27T23:47:40+00:00",
    "url": "https://twitter.com/Johannes_Ernst/status/1475614390288203777",
    "content": {
        "text": "Are IP addresses or certain cookies personally identifyable information (#PII) per #GDPR or #CCPA? If so, can I do #datarights deletion or access requests providing only IP addresses or the values of those cookies? Is there any company that supports that? #privacy",
        "html": "Are IP addresses or certain cookies personally identifyable information (<a href=\"https://twitter.com/search?q=%23PII\">#PII</a>) per <a href=\"https://twitter.com/search?q=%23GDPR\">#GDPR</a> or <a href=\"https://twitter.com/search?q=%23CCPA\">#CCPA</a>? If so, can I do <a href=\"https://twitter.com/search?q=%23datarights\">#datarights</a> deletion or access requests providing only IP addresses or the values of those cookies? Is there any company that supports that? <a href=\"https://twitter.com/search?q=%23privacy\">#privacy</a>"
    },
    "author": {
        "type": "card",
        "name": "Johannes Ernst",
        "url": "https://twitter.com/Johannes_Ernst",
        "photo": "https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/462335209015238656/ie0cRjdx.jpeg"
    },
    "post-type": "note",
    "_id": "26099217",
    "_source": "2773"
}

{
    "type": "entry",
    "published": "2021-12-27T22:35:20+00:00",
    "url": "https://twitter.com/jaredcwhite/status/1475596183846281222",
    "content": {
        "text": "Reflecting on the past year\u2026even though for both obvious & non-obvious reasons it was very challenging and grating at times, it's also been the single best year creatively & professionally of my entire career(s).\n\nMy goal in 2022 is make even better art. Make waves. Be fearless.",
        "html": "Reflecting on the past year\u2026even though for both obvious & non-obvious reasons it was very challenging and grating at times, it's also been the single best year creatively & professionally of my entire career(s).\n\nMy goal in 2022 is make even better art. Make waves. Be fearless."
    },
    "author": {
        "type": "card",
        "name": "Jared White \ud83d\udd2e",
        "url": "https://twitter.com/jaredcwhite",
        "photo": "https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1431863008288931841/hsLQJBv4.jpg"
    },
    "post-type": "note",
    "_id": "26098158",
    "_source": "2773"
}

{
    "type": "entry",
    "published": "2021-12-27T22:10:46+00:00",
    "url": "https://twitter.com/anomalily/status/1475590002864128001",
    "photo": [
        "https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FHpVhdHVEAEznAd.jpg",
        "https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FHpVhddVUAE6rVl.jpg",
        "https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FHpYwtxVcAAK9Ca.jpg"
    ],
    "content": {
        "text": "Graphs! Not totally final.\nOverall I made $13,803 - $46/hr (gross) and $22/hr (net) from @ohmydollar\n10% of profit and my time went to charity. \nI taught 215 homeless/transitional young adults finance thru 12 nonprofits.\n115 hours livestreaming \ud83d\ude05\n54 donuts tried \ud83c\udf69",
        "html": "Graphs! Not totally final.\nOverall I made $13,803 - $46/hr (gross) and $22/hr (net) from <a href=\"https://twitter.com/ohmydollar\">@ohmydollar</a>\n10% of profit and my time went to charity. \nI taught 215 homeless/transitional young adults finance thru 12 nonprofits.\n115 hours livestreaming \ud83d\ude05\n54 donuts tried \ud83c\udf69"
    },
    "author": {
        "type": "card",
        "name": "Lillian Karabaic",
        "url": "https://twitter.com/anomalily",
        "photo": "https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1455236306162761732/jPv9ROKG.jpg"
    },
    "post-type": "photo",
    "_id": "26097705",
    "_source": "2773"
}

{
    "type": "entry",
    "published": "2021-12-27T20:10:37+00:00",
    "url": "https://twitter.com/tomwiththeweath/status/1475559767456235531",
    "quotation-of": "https://twitter.com/EricTopol/status/1475537714086694919",
    "content": {
        "text": "Booster seems to help against omicron."
    },
    "author": {
        "type": "card",
        "name": "herestomwiththeweather",
        "url": "https://twitter.com/tomwiththeweath",
        "photo": "https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/52629372/flickr.jpg"
    },
    "post-type": "note",
    "refs": {
        "https://twitter.com/EricTopol/status/1475537714086694919": {
            "type": "entry",
            "published": "2021-12-27T18:42:59+00:00",
            "url": "https://twitter.com/EricTopol/status/1475537714086694919",
            "photo": [
                "https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FHoXe92UcAkfTiN.jpg"
            ],
            "content": {
                "text": "The 3rd vaccine shot (booster) substantially helps protect against Omicron symptomatic infections (VE ~70-75%). A mechanism for this may be related to the breadth of memory B-cell response, not seen from a 2-dose vaccination\nbiorxiv.org/content/10.110\u2026",
                "html": "The 3rd vaccine shot (booster) substantially helps protect against Omicron symptomatic infections (VE ~70-75%). A mechanism for this may be related to the breadth of memory B-cell response, not seen from a 2-dose vaccination\n<a href=\"https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.12.24.474084v1\">biorxiv.org/content/10.110\u2026</a>"
            },
            "author": {
                "type": "card",
                "name": "Eric Topol",
                "url": "https://twitter.com/EricTopol",
                "photo": "https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1115688713424519169/kHgDk5TV.png"
            },
            "post-type": "photo"
        }
    },
    "_id": "26095340",
    "_source": "2773"
}

{
    "type": "entry",
    "published": "2021-12-27T19:39:58+00:00",
    "url": "https://twitter.com/cleverdevil/status/1475552054080774144",
    "quotation-of": "https://twitter.com/vmbrasseur/status/1475551417083465728",
    "content": {
        "text": "Truth! They definitely come by their sneakiness honestly. I committed far more egregious mischief over the years with computers. I can\u2019t wait to see what they do next! \ud83d\ude02"
    },
    "author": {
        "type": "card",
        "name": "Jonathan LaCour",
        "url": "https://twitter.com/cleverdevil",
        "photo": "https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1428891351014285317/zGK22rDG.jpg"
    },
    "post-type": "note",
    "refs": {
        "https://twitter.com/vmbrasseur/status/1475551417083465728": {
            "type": "entry",
            "published": "2021-12-27T19:37:26+00:00",
            "url": "https://twitter.com/vmbrasseur/status/1475551417083465728",
            "in-reply-to": [
                "https://twitter.com/cleverdevil/status/1475550635286142976"
            ],
            "content": {
                "text": "It seems \"clever devil\" is something that runs in your family. ;-)",
                "html": "It seems \"clever devil\" is something that runs in your family. ;-)\n<a class=\"u-mention\" href=\"https://twitter.com/Apple\"></a>\n<a class=\"u-mention\" href=\"https://twitter.com/AppleSupport\"></a>\n<a class=\"u-mention\" href=\"https://twitter.com/cleverdevil\"></a>"
            },
            "author": {
                "type": "card",
                "name": "VM (Vicky) Brasseur \ud83d\udc89\ud83d\udc89 \ud83d\udc89 \ud83c\udf89",
                "url": "https://twitter.com/vmbrasseur",
                "photo": "https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/614954458363998208/xiwq7B5a.png"
            },
            "post-type": "reply"
        }
    },
    "_id": "26094714",
    "_source": "2773"
}

{
    "type": "entry",
    "published": "2021-12-27T19:35:49+00:00",
    "url": "https://twitter.com/cleverdevil/status/1475551009132793858",
    "quotation-of": "https://twitter.com/cleverdevil/status/1475550635286142976",
    "content": {
        "text": "To be honest, I\u2019m proud of my kids for their ingenuity. It still should be fixed by @Apple though \ud83d\ude0e\n\n(Give my kids new iPads for finding the bug, @Apple!)",
        "html": "To be honest, I\u2019m proud of my kids for their ingenuity. It still should be fixed by <a href=\"https://twitter.com/Apple\">@Apple</a> though \ud83d\ude0e\n\n(Give my kids new iPads for finding the bug, @Apple!)"
    },
    "author": {
        "type": "card",
        "name": "Jonathan LaCour",
        "url": "https://twitter.com/cleverdevil",
        "photo": "https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1428891351014285317/zGK22rDG.jpg"
    },
    "post-type": "note",
    "refs": {
        "https://twitter.com/cleverdevil/status/1475550635286142976": {
            "type": "entry",
            "published": "2021-12-27T19:34:20+00:00",
            "url": "https://twitter.com/cleverdevil/status/1475550635286142976",
            "content": {
                "text": "Hey @AppleSupport and @Apple, my kids discovered they can bypass Screen Time limits using the Picture in Picture feature. If you start to play a video, then put it into PiP before you hit a limit, you can watch forever. They can reboot to get \u201cone more minute\u201d to keep it going.",
                "html": "Hey <a href=\"https://twitter.com/AppleSupport\">@AppleSupport</a> and <a href=\"https://twitter.com/Apple\">@Apple</a>, my kids discovered they can bypass Screen Time limits using the Picture in Picture feature. If you start to play a video, then put it into PiP before you hit a limit, you can watch forever. They can reboot to get \u201cone more minute\u201d to keep it going."
            },
            "author": {
                "type": "card",
                "name": "Jonathan LaCour",
                "url": "https://twitter.com/cleverdevil",
                "photo": "https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1428891351014285317/zGK22rDG.jpg"
            },
            "post-type": "note"
        }
    },
    "_id": "26094715",
    "_source": "2773"
}

{
    "type": "entry",
    "published": "2021-12-27T19:34:20+00:00",
    "url": "https://twitter.com/cleverdevil/status/1475550635286142976",
    "content": {
        "text": "Hey @AppleSupport and @Apple, my kids discovered they can bypass Screen Time limits using the Picture in Picture feature. If you start to play a video, then put it into PiP before you hit a limit, you can watch forever. They can reboot to get \u201cone more minute\u201d to keep it going.",
        "html": "Hey <a href=\"https://twitter.com/AppleSupport\">@AppleSupport</a> and <a href=\"https://twitter.com/Apple\">@Apple</a>, my kids discovered they can bypass Screen Time limits using the Picture in Picture feature. If you start to play a video, then put it into PiP before you hit a limit, you can watch forever. They can reboot to get \u201cone more minute\u201d to keep it going."
    },
    "author": {
        "type": "card",
        "name": "Jonathan LaCour",
        "url": "https://twitter.com/cleverdevil",
        "photo": "https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1428891351014285317/zGK22rDG.jpg"
    },
    "post-type": "note",
    "_id": "26094716",
    "_source": "2773"
}

{
    "type": "entry",
    "published": "2021-12-27T17:11:22+00:00",
    "url": "https://twitter.com/fluffy/status/1475514657129570305",
    "content": {
        "text": "New post: Notes: Piled On beesbuzz.biz/blog/chatter/1\u2026\n\n#Harassment #Internet #SweetBeans",
        "html": "New post: Notes: Piled On <a href=\"https://beesbuzz.biz/blog/chatter/1861-Piled-On\">beesbuzz.biz/blog/chatter/1\u2026</a>\n\n<a href=\"https://twitter.com/search?q=%23Harassment\">#Harassment</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/search?q=%23Internet\">#Internet</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/search?q=%23SweetBeans\">#SweetBeans</a>"
    },
    "author": {
        "type": "card",
        "name": "fluffy \ud83d\udc9c \u272a\u25be\u032b\u272a",
        "url": "https://twitter.com/fluffy",
        "photo": "https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1252480375646851072/Pc5osn74.jpg"
    },
    "post-type": "note",
    "_id": "26091706",
    "_source": "2773"
}