22 Movies I Missed from 2020, Part 1

It's getting close to time for me rank the movies I watched from 2020, which is a larger number than I would have expected, not being able to go to the theaters for most of the year. Turns out, streaming is an efficient way to watch movies. Who knew?

Before I get into all that though, as usual I want to call out some movies that were on my radar, but I didn't get around to. There were over 50 on this list from 2019, but so much got pushed out of 2020 (and I was able to keep up with a lot of what did come out), that this year the list is just shy of a couple dozen.

Here are the first eleven, in alphabetical order:

Antebellum

This is going to be hard to watch, so I haven't rushed to put myself through it, but the idea of the Antebellum South as a literal horror setting is deeply intriguing to me.

Bill and Ted Face the Music

Casualty of 2020. I was very excited to see this on the big screen, but it came out at a time when theaters weren't sure if they were open or closed and I didn't want to just stream it if there was a chance for me to sit by myself in an empty theater during a late screening. I had a hard time making plans for it. 

And to make it more complicated, I wanted to rewatch the first two before seeing it, but didn't want to rewatch them and then not be able to see Face the Music the way I wanted to. So now my only option is to stream it, which is fine, I can adjust, but I still need to rewatch the first two and just haven't done that yet. 

Come Away

This was super high on my excitement list, but got moved around so much that I forgot about it by the time it finally hit streaming services. I was just now reminded that it exists and may try to sneak it in before I rank my 2020 films. Don't be surprised if it shows up again on that list.

Deerskin

I like Jean Dujardin almost as much as I dig fringed jackets.

Escape from Pretoria

I've learned to trust Daniel Radcliffe's process for selecting movies to be in. Even when I'm not super excited about the premise, I know I'm at least going to see a great performance from him. But Prison Escape is also a kind of movie that tends to get my attention anyway.

Gather

I'm not a huge documentary fan, but American Indian food sovereignty is an issue I'm curious to learn more about.

I Am Lisa

Werewolf movie, but people seem to really not like this one. I like to make up my own mind, but consistently bad reports will knock a movie down in my priorities.

The Informer

I have no memory of how this got on my Watch List, but I assume it has something to do with the cast. Neither Rosamund Pike, Ana de Armas, nor Clive Owen are big enough draws to get my attention all by themselves, but together they may have done it.

Kindred

A gothic movie that I actually started watching before Thanksgiving, but got interrupted and just never came back to with all the holiday movies bumping in front of it. I wasn't super into any of the characters, but I was intrigued by the plot and want to finish.

Let Him Go

There's a Man of Steel joke in there somewhere, but I'm not going to make it. I like Lane and Costner. That's the draw.

Misbehaviour

My wife Diane participated in pageants in younger days, so movies in that setting are always attractive to us. It's such a complicated phenomenon with positive and negative aspects and the opportunities for both drama and comedy are super high. And this one has Keira Knightley.