As mentioned in our Best Movies of 2020 piece, it is clear that there is much better quality material in the Best TV Series of 2020 in contrast. Perhaps long form story telling is the way forward especially in this streaming era. Anyways, there was an abundance of TV series to choose from in 2020, so our preference for genre fiction held sway in this Best TV Series of 2020 list. (In alphabetical order)
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The Best Movies of 2020. Well, I daresay even though I visited the cinemas less than 5 times (for obvious reasons) in 2020, I certainly watched many films this year. With each passing year, I find myself less attached to the idea of assessing life on a yearly basis, so I wanted to be circumspect with this Best Movies of 2020 list.
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Crimson Peak is a 2015 gothic romance horror drama directed by Guillermo Del Toro. The film stars Mia Wasikowska, Tom Hiddleston and Jessica Chastain in the lead roles with Charlie Hunnam and Jim Beaver as support.
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Washington is a three-part documentary cum drama miniseries on the life of George Washington, the first President of the United States of America. Now, I have personally avoided these kinds of historical ‘docudramas’ believing that a dramatised documentary would be neither good documentary or drama. However, the excellence of Washington may have got me rethinking this approach.
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Wonder Woman 1984 is a superhero action-adventure drama based on the DC character of the same name. Directed by Patty Jenkins and starring Gal Gadot as the titular character, Wonder Woman 1984 is the sequel to the successful 2017 eponymous film.
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Soul is a 2020 Pixar animated movie directed by Pete Doctor and co-directed by Kemp Powers. Doctor is best known for directing the well-received Up and Inside Out. The premise of Soul involves a middle school music teacher named Joe Gardner (voiced by Jamie Foxx), who dies just before his big break as a jazz musician, but attempts to return to life with the aid of an ‘infant’ soul (voiced by Tina Fey).
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Bridgerton is a British historical streaming TV drama produced by Shonda Rhimes and created by Chris Van Dusen. The series is based on the multi-book novels written by Julia Quinn. The series is set in early 19th century Regency England during the reign of King George III, well known as the era of romance writers Jane Austen and the Bronte sisters.
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2020 has been a good year for actress Anya Taylor-Joy. Her performance in The Queen’s Gambit, a Netflix breakout hit sensation has enhanced the profile of Anya Taylor-Joy worldwide. She was starred in the period drama Emma. and appeared as Magik in the chronically delayed The New Mutants.
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When I opined that Classic Rock had lost its relevance and significance in the contemporary music industry, it does not mean that Classic Rock is no longer important. In fact, Classic Rock is a critical asset to film and TV producers as directors utilise Classic Rock to create a vibe in film and TV series that contemporary pop music just cannot replicate. Which brings me to The Best Classic Rock Film and TV Scenes.
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It has been more than 25 years since the death of Kurt Cobain, the last rock iconoclast that had a major impact on popular music before the rise of hip-hop. That is a generation ago and since then, Classic Rock as we understood the genre in the last forty years has declined to insignificance as a cultural force.
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Small Axe S01E05 is part of the Small Axe anthology film series directed by the award-winning director Steve McQueen. The anthology consists of five films which tell distinct stories about the lives of Black immigrants in London. Entitled “Education”, Small Axe S01E05 focuses on young Kingsley Smith (Kenyah Sandy) as he struggles with school in the 1970s.
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Star Trek : Discovery S03E11 marks the beginning of the end of Season 3, as Discovery and its crew set about resolving a couple of key problems. First, discovering (sorry) the root cause of the Burn and saving the Federation of Planets from the Emerald Chain.
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The Expanse S05E04 brings us squarely into the business segment of the season as Marcos Inaros executes his plan to bring the inner planets (i.e. Earth and Mars) to their knees. The asteroid bombardment of Earth and the theft of the protomolecule from Tychos is justified as revenge for the generations of oppression of the Belters by the Inners.
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Girl with a Pearl Earring is a 2003 historical drama film directed by Peter Webber. The film is an adaptation of the 1999 novel of the same name by Tracy Chevalier. Chevalier’s inspiration for the novel was a poster of Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer’s “Girl with a Pearl Earring” painting.
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The Mandalorian is the well-received, critically acclaimed Star Wars Disney+ streaming TV series that has taken the world by storm! Even as last year’s first season whetted the appetite of Star Wars fans – young and old – for a return to the world that George Lucas created over forty years ago, nobody expected The Mandalorian Season 2 to well and truly up the ante like it did!
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Belle is a historical drama set in late 18th century England. The movie is directed by Amma Asante and stars Gugu Mbatha-Raw in the title role. The character of Dido Elizabeth Belle Lindsay is based on a real life person but most of the plot in Belle is fictionalised. In fact, the screenplay – written by Misan Sagay – was primarily based on a painting which portrayed the real life Lindsay and her cousin, Lady Elizabeth Murray (Sarah Gadon).
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His Dark Materials S02E07 is the season finale of this scifi fantasy adaptation of The Subtle Knife, the second book in Philip Pullman’s series. Entitled “Æsahættr”, His Dark Materials S02E07 finally reveals to us, the true nature of Lyra’s identity, as preposterous as that revelation is.
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Freaky is a 2020 comedy horror drama film based loosely on the classic 1978 Freaky Friday movie which has been remade several times over the years since. The twist in Freaky is that this time, the protagonist switches bodies – not with her mother – but with a serial killer!
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Druk aka Another Round is a 2020 Danish drama film directed by Thomas Vinterberg. Druk aka Another Round examines drinking culture that is prevalent worldwide and its impact on the characters in the film. In particular, four teaching colleagues/close friends viz. Martin (Mads Mikkelsen), Tommy (Thomas Bo Larsen), Peter (Lars Rathe) and Nickolaj (Magnus Millag).
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The Mandalorian S02E08 is the season 2 finale of this well-received Star Wars streaming TV drama series. It is no exaggeration to proclaim that success of The Mandalorian has ‘saved’ Star Wars fans and has redeemed the franchise in the eyes of many hardcore fans disillusioned with the way the sequel trilogy turned out.
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The Stand Episode 1 is the premiere of the post-apocalyptic dark fantasy drama miniseries based on the beloved 1978 Stephen King novel of the same name. The Stand Episode 1 entitled “The End”, introduces us to the setting and starting premise of the miniseries.
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The Expanse S05E03 continues the new season narrative for the highly acclaimed scifi space opera streaming TV drama series. Entitled “Mother”, The Expanse S05E03 focuses on key character plot events as they impact on the underlying new season narrative – Marco (Keon Alexander) Inaros’ devious plan to attack Earth with stealth asteroids.
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The Expanse S05E02 continues the new season of this scifi space opera drama streaming TV series. The opening episode revealed that the Rocinante was undergoing repairs and thus its crew was undertaking a valuable furlough to take care of unfinished business. The Expanse S05E02 picks up on some of these plot treads but not all of them.
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Star Trek : Discovery S03E10 is the penultimate episode of Season 3. Entitled “Terra Firma Part. II”, Star Trek : Discovery S03E10 continues Philippa Georgiou (Michelle Yeoh) journey back into the past in the Mirror Universe where she has to deal with a rebellion led by her daughter Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green).
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The Expanse S05E01 is the first instalment in the ongoing science fiction space opera streaming TV drama series developed by Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby, based on the series of novels of the same name by James S. A. Corey. James S.A. Corey the joint pen name of authors Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck. Thus far, there have been nine books in The Expanse novel series since 2011 and is due to be concluded with Leviathan Falls in 2021.
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