The Thirteenth Annual Mildly Pleased Awards

Perhaps it’s fitting to take this depressing inauguration day (and unfortunate MLK Jr. Day) to reflect on what an ill-fated year 2024 was. However, we here at Mildly Pleased sat down once again, like we do every year, to reflect on the things that were pretty good but not great from the past year. Sure, there was plenty to be disappointed with, but there were also things that somehow managed to not be as disappointing as they should have been (remember Beetlejuice’s return to the big screen?). So fret not. Even when the world feels like it’s lost its way, remember, there’s mild pleasure all around. You just have to know where to find it. Continue reading →

The Twelfth Annual Mildly Pleased Awards

Just when you thought 2023 was over, we’re here to take a slightly belated look back at the year that was. Kicking things off before we get into posting our Top Tens of 2023 over on Mildly Pleased is, of course, the award show that bears the site’s name. We’re talking about awarding the “good but not great” moments in culture, pop and otherwise, that defined last year. Recurring topics include ChatGPT/AI, the weird state of movies, the absurd state politics, and just a tiny bit of Taylor Swift (because she was already talked about enough this year). We even rename one of our awards mid-show in honor of a truly mildly pleasing entertainer. As always, it’s a long one, but a fun one.

Read on for the nominees and winners! Continue reading →

The Eleventh Annual Mildly Pleased Awards

For the first time in what feels like a while, the year preceding our new one doesn’t feel like it would be entirely painful to revisit. In fact, it could be a mildly pleasing endeavor. That’s why we’re once again looking back at the year in things that were good but not great. Whether it was Don’t Worry Darling having a weirdly disastrous premiere, various things Taylor Swift did, or corn kids and British documentarians going viral, there was plenty to feel just fine about. Like most award shows, this episode is a long one. So feel to check out the nominees and winners below if you’re not prepared for nearly 3 hours of podcasting, since as you’ll hear, we certainly got tired of movies being that long in 2022. Continue reading →

The Tenth Annual Mildly Pleased Awards

2021 wasn’t the worst year ever… technically. But it also wasn’t anything approaching mildly pleasing. Still, as has been the case for ten years now, we once again convene to celebrate the year’s achievements in pop culture that was good but not great. This time, we opted to cut out some categories that didn’t seem essential (not that any of this is that essential), and yet we still ended up with an episode that’s just a little under three hours long. Maybe chalk it up to our passion for debating the merits of Spider-man: No Way Home, our growing mixed feelings about Dwayne Johnson, or the fact that we just enjoy talking to each other about music and movies that will ultimately be forgotten. Continue reading →

The Ninth Annual Mildly Pleased Awards

2020 was a year that was anything but mildly pleasing, but nonetheless, we return once again to our yearly podcast celebrating excellence in pretty good-ness. Despite all the tragedy and chaos last year, there were still plenty of things that didn’t make us sad, but also weren’t necessarily great enough to get us out of bed in the morning. This episode’s a long one, perhaps because we had a lot to get off our chest about an unprecedented year, or maybe this awards podcast is always long… I can’t really remember. But either way, if you want to take a look back at 2020 without being depressed, look no further. Now… onward! Continue reading →

The Eighth Annual Mildly Pleased Awards

Another year in the books, another year of mildly pleasing pop culture. Though we may be living in a world of extremes, here we take a look each year at the most middling things that the year had to offer. 2019 had no shortage of things that struck our pleasure centers right in the middle, as this awards podcast sees us discussing the likes of revamped Sonic the Hedgehog, Keanu Reeves, and the 30-50 Feral Hogs that serve as a constant threat. Continue reading →

The Seventh Annual Mildly Pleased Awards

How do you summarize a year like 2018? I think at this point, the whole “it’s depressing” angle is getting kind of tired. And yet, what other perspective is there on stories like children in cages, increasing production of greenhouse gasses, and a rapist being appointed to the supreme court – tipping the balance toward conservatism for a generation? I guess I just have to hope this is the desperate death throes of a despicable subset of the population that is holding onto power for the last time. An example: this year I was depressed with how much hate The Last Jedi got, but then that report came out that most people did like that movie and a lot of the discourse online was influenced by trolls. There isn’t as much evil as it seems sometimes, and, like Gritty says, we’ll outlive them. But we should eat them first.

Oh yeah, this is our mediocrity award show. Check out the winners after the jump. And before I forget, here are the nominees for best viral video:

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