2020 has felt like the longest 10 years of my life. I sure won’t miss it. The new year has got to be better, right? A vaccine that will hopefully bring the pandemic under control and get us back into movie theaters and inside restaurants. A new president who probably won’t throw tantrums or rant nonstop on Twitter. Being able to see people’s entire faces once again and not having to experience everything virtually. I don’t know about you, but I’m really tired of all this. If we’ve been in an alternative timeline this past year, some sort of bizarro world, I’m ready to be done with it.
This year’s farewell to 2020 will be the usual random collection of images and videos that may or many not make any sense together, but they struck my fancy and just feel right.
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One of my favorite actors, Sterling Hayden, in a scene from Nicholas Ray’s wonderfully bizarre Johnny Guitar (1954) that gets down to the basic necessities of life.
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Speaking of Chinatown (1974), I recently read an excellent book by Sam Wasson on the making of the film, The Big Goodbye: Chinatown and the Last Years of Hollywood. It goes deep.
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And now, one of the greatest moments in all of Buster Keaton’s films, or anybody else’s for that matter. Also a metaphor for getting out of this year intact, assuming we do.
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And to end on a slightly more hopeful, if somewhat ambiguous, note.
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That wraps it up for this year. Stay tuned next month for my annual recaps of the best feature films, documentaries, and television shows for 2020. Meanwhile, wear a mask, wash your hands, and stay safe. Hang in there and have a HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! Live long and prosper. — Ted Hicks
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Films etc. 
Happy New Year
Perfect, Ted! I think I like Godzilla the best as a representation of this year 🙂
All the best to you and Nancy! Melanie >
Excellent summary of the year gone by, Ted, though I think I’d add the last scene in “When World’s Collide” – George Pal at his most baroque.
Damn, I didn’t think of that one. Put this together pretty much on the fly. Thanks for the reminder.
Happy & Healthy New Year Ted!
Thanks for your movie musings 🤩
Good to see your choices. I wish you and all of your subscribers a Happy and Healthy New Year.