2019 has been one of the biggest years in heavy music in recent memory, with heavyweights such as Tool, Slipknot and Rammstein dropping long-awaited new albums, while trailblazing up-and-comers pushed boundaries in their own right. For his part, George Harris played on the Raven Age's ripping 2019 offering, Conspiracy. In addition to dropping a record, the English melodic metal group also toured tirelessly — including playing in support of Iron Maiden — which meant that the guitarist had plenty of downtime for catching up on movies and TV shows. Here, he lists his five favorites of the year.
1. Stranger Things: Season 3
Stranger Things is just brilliant. I love the Eighties-Spielberg vibe to it and all of the references and nods to Eighties classics like The Goonies, Stand by Me and Back to the Future. The latest season was just as exciting as the first for me. I watched it with our drummer, Jai, whilst on the tour bus in the U.S. Everyone gets post-show blues when you've finally wound down, but then you remember you have Stranger Things to watch and it's all good!
2. The Dark Crystal
Talking of Eighties classics, when I heard they were making The Dark Crystal into a series I was unbelievably excited. I used to watch the film all the time as a kid, so I was hoping they'd do it justice and I really think they have. I'm glad they've used real puppets and not just CGI'd everything — I think they've got the balance spot on. I started watching this on the Latin American part of tour so I'd often watch it on flights. I noticed a lot of people looking at my phone and looking at me funny — they obviously thought I was watching some kids program. They don't know what they're missing, fools.
3. Chernobyl
I heard a lot hype around this and, for some reason, put off watching it for ages. I think at one point it was the highest rated TV show ever so I thought I'd better check it out. I also watched this on the tour bus to kill time whilst on the move and was super drawn in by it. I was kind of gutted there were only five episodes!
4. Joker
To be totally honest, I've never been the hugest fan of the Batman films — apart from The Dark Night. But the trailer to Joker looked cool and I'm a big fan of Joaquin Phoenix, so thought I'd check it out. I thought the film was awesome! It was directed in a really cool way, the messages really come across and Joaquin absolutely smashed the performance. Top marks.
5. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Another huge one from Tarantino! Like most of his films you never really knew exactly how it was going to pan out, even if you knew the Manson story. It has a ridiculously good cast including Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt and Margot Robbie. Anything with DiCaprio in it is going to be good, as a general rule, but I really enjoyed this one!
