A Quick (and late) Wrap Up of 2019

2019 was easily the least productive year here on Skuggi Drago. Hilariously, I had plenty of content to review...I just never got around to it. At the beginning of each year, I take a moment to look back for a moment so I can share the films, tv shows, music and books that I enjoyed the most. This is my 2019 wrap up.

I just wasn't interested in watching new TV shows last year. So many of my favorite shows had final seasons airing, and we all know I suck at finishing things. I also just felt more drawn to classic shows like The Addams Family, The Twilight Zone, and The Dick van Dyke Show. Something about old television shows is extraordinarily comforting to me.

When it comes to movies, I had an unofficial goal of watching 100 films last year and I reached it last minute. The overwhelming majority of were rewatches, but I also had several "new to me" films thanks to my obsession with checking things off on icheckmovies. Below are my top 9 of the year, but you can see all the films I watched on my IMDB list.

1. Ralph Breaks the Internet - I relate to Ralph in a lot of ways. This made me cry.
2. Descendants/Descendants 2 - I was always interested...but never got around to watching until Disney+ provided it to me. I did not expect to love it as much as I did.
3. The Incredible Story of the Giant Pear - I literally watched it over 10 times and would willingly watch it another 10 times.
4. Terminator/Terminator 2 - This is one of those franchises that I think most people who know anything about me would assume I had already seen...but until 2019...nope.
5. The Reluctant Dragon - I would love an updated version to be created by Disney.
6. The Night of the Hunter - The acting and cinematography are amazing.
7.The Bride of Frankenstein - The story of Frankenstein's Monster infuriates me, but the moments of kindness in this film warmed my heart. It made me cry.
8. Float - A short film...this is absolutely devasting. It made me cry.
9. Singin' In the Rain - A Clockwork Orange ruined the main song in this film for me...but this is definitely worthy of all the praise and hype is has received.

2019 was a big year for me when it comes to books. I had been working myself up to my ultimate reading goal of 100 in a year for a long time and at the start of last year decided "why not now". What immediately followed was a very long reading slump that led to me being around 30 books behind at some point. But then it happened...the need to devour every book in sight returned and not only did I quickly catch up, I actually managed to get ahead of schedule on something. I achieved my goal a few days before the end of December and was on such a high that I almost decided to repeat the goal this year. (Don't worry...I came to my senses.) Below, you will find my top 19 books of the year. If you want to see all of the books I read, check out my Goodreads Challenge.

1. Whichwood by Tahereh Mafi
2. The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill
3. Song For A Whale by Lynne Kelly
4. Obsidio by Jay Kristoff & Amie Kaufman
5. Imaginary Friend by Stephen Chbosky
6. Brambleheart by Henry Cole
7. The Book Of Three by Lloyd Alexander
8. Crenshaw by Katherine Applegate
9. Maid by Stephanie Land

Finally, the topic in which I go overboard each year: Music. 2019 confirmed that I am Girl Group Stan 100%. I also found myself returning to darker themed music, which led to several of my favorite discoveries of the year. First, though, let us count down the 119 songs I loved the most.

*Note*
Yes, you read correctly. I decided to list 119 songs for the year. Also, I need to quickly apologize for sending your eyes back to the age of 360p. When making videos, I usually have a rough render that I use to make sure everything looks the way it should and a final version that is full quality. Somehow, the two versions got mixed up when I was cleaning up and the full HD, high quality, pretty version was deleted (Song 112 perfectly sums up how I feel). I am also trying a different video service since Youtube has lost touch with what it used to be and I have not figured out how people still post similar videos without them being struck down. As an extra safety precaution, the video is password protected. So enter "Songs19" to watch the video. If this works well, I may start making videos regularly again.

To see all the videos in full (and good quality...I am so sorry), check out this Youtube Playlist.

I also have a Spotify playlist:

Now for some of my favorite music discoveries of 2019:

Photo credit: Sequoia Emmanuelle (from blabbermouth.net)

3Teeth sounds like what I primarily listened too before falling down the K-pop rabbit hole. I found them through the single "President X" but it was their cover of Foster The People's "Pumped Up Kicks" that fully got me onboard. I have always had issues with how happy the original sounds in contrast to the subject of the song, and 3Teeth gave me the version I always wanted.

Photo Credit: Lilja Jónsdóttir (from grapevine.is)

Another one of the "darker" additions to my year, I instantly fell for Hatari upon first listen. I love the perfect contrast between Matthías' aggressive and demanding voice and Klemens' practically angelic singing. Watching their interviews is also just a wonderful time.

Photo found on axs.com

I heard about Ateez around the time they made their debut, but I did not have the time to listen to them until the beginning of 2019. There is something special about this group and I really think they are going to be one of the top groups in the 4th generation of K-pop. Their music provides something I have been missing from groups like BTS and I love how so many Girl Group stans seem to fallen for them.

Itzy made their debut in 2019. I am a sucker for any and all girl groups, but Itzy's style reminds me of several of my favorite 2nd Generation K-pop artists. Their songs so far have all be super positive and upbeat and I can't wait to see what direction they take in 2020.

Other discoveries worth mentioning include TXT, Winona Oak, WayV, Everglow, Au/Ra, and Jinjer.