Category Archives: Best Of

20
Jan

The Best Film Performances of 2022

Ensemble in a DramaWomen TalkingTrying to single out a performance here is a fool’s errand, because what makes the movie so powerful is each individual’s grief, frustration and determination revealing themselves throughout. Another clear example of why the Oscars need … Continue reading →

Posted in Best Of, Film | Tagged banshees of inisherin, barbarian, everything everywhere all at once, jackass, triangle of sadness, were all going to the worlds fair, whale, women talking | Leave a comment

19
Jan

The Best and Worst Movies of 2022

10. Avatar: The Way of Water (dir. James Cameron) and Nope (dir. Jordan Peele)Is this cheating? Maybe. But in a cinema landscape dominated by disposable blockbusters, Cameron and Peele delivered big-budget films made to last. Both are films about family, … Continue reading →

Posted in Best Of, Film | Tagged avatar, babylon, banshees of inisherin, decision to leave, everything everywhere all at once, fabelmans, nope, rrr, triangle of sadness, women talking | Leave a comment

14
Jan

The Best TV Performances of 2022

Ensemble in a Comedy Series Abbott ElementaryMany comedies take a while to find their footing and figure out the balance of their ensembles. Not Abbott. It joins a rare club – whose members include Arrested Development and Brooklyn Nine-Nine – … Continue reading →

Posted in Best Of, Television | Tagged abbott elementary, amazon, atlanta, barry, bear, better call saul, boys, english, evil, hacks, hbo, hbo max, hulu, netflix, ozark, paramount, prime, rehearsal, staircase, under the banner of heaven, white lotus | Leave a comment

13
Jan

The Best TV Shows of 2022, Part 2

COMEDY SHOWS & SPECIALS Documentary Now! (IFC)One of the only shows on the air that feels like it’s tailor-made to my overlapping nerdy interests. Documentary Now! continues to deliver spot-on absurdist parodies of obscure documentaries, solely because IFC’s parent company … Continue reading →

Posted in Best Of, Television | Tagged amazon, beavis and butt-head, documentary now, grace and frankie, handmaid's tale, hulu, jerrod carmichael, kevin can f himself, kids in the hall, netflix, norm macdonald, paramount, peacock, prime, reacher, reno 911, showtime, stranger things, this place rules, we need to talk about cosby, would it kill you to laugh, yellowjackets | Leave a comment

12
Jan

The Best TV Shows of 2022, Part 1

If you thought we had hit “Peak TV” (a term coined by executive John Landgraf nearly a decade ago), you were wrong. With 600-plus scripted shows airing in 2022, there was absolutely no way to keep up. But I still … Continue reading →

Posted in Best Of, Television | Tagged abbott elementary, amazon, atlanta, barry, bear, better call saul, boys, crown, english, evil, hacks, hbo, hulu, netflix, only murders in the building, prime, rehearsal, reservation dogs, righteous gemstones, sandman, search party, staircase, under the banner of heaven, what we do in the shadows, white lotus | Leave a comment

9
Jan

Best Songs of 2022

Another year of not caring about new music has gone splendidly. Sure, I checked out some of the bigger albums (like Beyoncé’s Renaissance) but for the most part, I’m only listening to individual tracks. Were their some important and/or exhilarating … Continue reading →

Posted in Best Of, Music | Tagged 1975, alvvays, anxious, baby keem, bartees strange, bear and the beasts, black thought, blessed madonna, bootie brown, brandi carlile, braxe and falcon, brian metolius, carly rae jepsen, chat pile, danger mouse, dawes, destroyer, durand jones, ezra koenig, future islands, gorillaz, hot chip, jacob collier, jamie xx, jess williamson, jimmy eat world, john mayer, kae tempest, kendrick lamar, kevin abstract, lcd soundsystem, lizzo, lizzy mcalpine, lucy dacus, ludwig goransson, marcus mumford, mf doom, Mitski, mj lenderman, panda bear, perfume genius, phoebe bridgers, phoenix, plains, pusha t, righteous gemstones, sam dew, secret machines, seratones, smile, soccer mommy, spoon, steve lacy, suffers, tame impala, taylor swift, trombone shorty, trsh, wallice, waxahatchee, weyes blood, yeah yeah yeahs, yeule | Leave a comment

6
Jan

The Anniversary Albums Project: Best of 2022

New music has lost a lot of hold on me over the last few years. And four years ago I decided that instead of trying to keep up with it all, I’d look back at music history and listen to … Continue reading →

Posted in Best Of, Music | Tagged 24 hour party people, aretha franklin, beastie boys, big star, bill fay, broken social scene, bruce springsteen, coldplay, david bowie, dr dre, drive-by truckers, elvis costello, father john misty, fiona apple, flaming lips, frank ocean, fun, godspeed you black emperor, jam, japandroids, johnny cash, kendrick lamar, laurie anderson, linda thompson, lou reed, lyle lovett, marshall crenshaw, michael jackson, moby, mountain goats, neu, nick drake, nusrat fatel ali khan, pavement, prince, rem, richard thompson, rolling stones, sarah jaffe, sharon van etten, singles, steely dan, stevie wonder, tame impala, tom waits, wilco, xtc, yaz | Leave a comment

16
Aug

Every Episode of Seinfeld, Ranked in Tiers

I recently finished a rewatch of Seinfeld on Netflix, so I figured I’d do something I haven’t done in two years: I’ll rank every episode in tiers. Some rules: Nothing in Season 1 is up to the highs of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Best Of, Television | Tagged seinfeld | Leave a comment

10
May

20 After 20: 2001

Thanks to the world getting to some place approaching normal in 2021, I went back to the activities I loved that didn’t cause me to stay cooped up. Alas, that meant I didn’t devote as much time as I should … Continue reading →

Posted in Best Of, Film | Tagged a.i., amelie, artificial intelligence, audition, bridget jones's diary, devil's backbone, donnie darko, gosford park, hedwig and the angry inch, in the bedroom, in the mood for love, knight's tale, lord of the rings, man who wasn't there, memento, monsters inc, moulin rouge, mulholland drive, ocean's eleven, royal tenenbaums, vanilla sky | Leave a comment

7
Feb

The Best Film Performances of 2021

Ensemble in a Musical or ComedyThe French DispatchUnlike some great ensembles who feel like real families or friends, what’s great about The French Dispatch is how terrific each performance is despite limited interaction and screen time. Some actors feel like … Continue reading →

Posted in Best Of, Film | Tagged eyes of tammy faye, french dispatch, in the heights, judas and the black messiah, last duel, mass, pig, red rocket, titane, west side story | Leave a comment