The Projector #67: Listomania (Not to be Confused With Ken Russell’s Lisztomania) (Patreon)

 by Keith Phipps

We recorded a special end-of-the-year best-of episode last night. Predictably, it was a lot of fun and contained just the right amount of disagreement to keep things interesting. 2020 has been a weird year for movies, but December has had a familiar feeling: there’s still too many worthwhile-looking movies than anyone could possibly watch. Still, it was kind of nice to encounter a familiar problem, and there are worse problems to have than too many promising movies to watch.

Still, I think all of us (except Scott) felt a little underprepared for the show. I had to spend a lot of time watching non-2020 movies for various other pieces, which bit into my time. And as much as I like watching movies, I hate the back-of-the-mind feeling of, “Well, I might be enjoying this, but am I enjoying it enough to put it on a list?” Watching movies shouldn’t be the equivalent of critical triage.

Anyway, I think we’re all happy if a little unsatisfied with our lists (except for Scott). But, inevitably, things are going to fall through the cracks. No one saw Portrait of a Lady on Fire in time for the 2019 lists. Now it might be my number one film from that era. What will this year’s equivalent be? I really wanted to get to titles like One Night in Miami and Another Round, for instance. When I finally do, should I feel bad if I enjoy them in a top-10-of-the-year sort of way? And when is it time to close the book on 2020? I suspect I’ll try to continue catching up, at least a little bit, until the end of the year and probably a bit beyond, until 2021 gets interesting. (January looks pretty bare.) Studios have cut down on physical screeners, but back when we critics got stacks of DVDs, the ceremonial throwing-out-of-the-awards-screeners trip to the trash always felt a little refreshing. At some point, it just becomes overwhelming and you have to move on.

But not yet. We hope you enjoy that episode when it drops and that it sends our listeners to some good movies we might not have covered. (And I’m pretty sure there are a couple of movies we talk about we’ll end up covering in 2021, including one that ended up as #2 on three out of four lists.)

Until then, please enjoy our current episode on The Secret of Roan Inish as you prepare to watch Wolfwalkers (which might have ended up on a few of our lists as well).

Also, here are some articles to read:

• At Vulture, our pal (and former NPS co-host/future guest host, probably) Rachel Handler dedicated a whole week to the films of Nancy Myers. Maybe you heard something about it? Anyway, the whole things been great. Read it here.

• At the New York Times, Mark Binelli profiled the great Frederick Wiseman.

• At Polygon, Noel Murray ran down the best TV of 2020.

• Also at Polygon, Keith Phipps pondered moviegoing in 2020 and what our quarantined year means for its future.

• At Vulture, Nate Jones explains how John Patrick Shanley’s Wild Mountain Thyme is catching on for all the wrong reasons in Ireland.

• For The Ringer, Keith Phipps tried to figure out whether TV or movies have been better for Stephen King.

• For Uproxx, Keith Phipps talked to a bunch of people who look for lost movies.

• For GQ, Keith Phipps talked to George C. Wolfe, theater legend and director of Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. (Sorry fo the self-promotion, but I have been busy.)

• At Polygon, Tasha Robinson and others pick the best movies of 2020.

• On Twitter, Barack Obama made some pretty good film and TV picks, too.