Category Archives: Best Of

7
Feb

Oscar Re-Do: 1999

Now that I’m far enough away from the years when I was growing up (*gulp*), here’s a little bonus to go along with my annual column. Winners in bold, then we break it down. BEST PICTURE American Beauty The Cider … Continue reading →

Posted in Awards, Best Of, Film, Oscars | Tagged american beauty, insider, magnolia, sixth sense, straight story, talented mr ripley | Leave a comment

6
Feb

My Dream Oscar Ballot 2020

Once again, I’m going off the Academy’s eligibility lists, so several movies I would have considered for some awards aren’t represented here. I’ve also seen too few animated, foreign language and documentary films to fill out those categories, so I’m … Continue reading →

Posted in Awards, Best Of, Film, Oscars | Tagged 1917, avengers, bombshell, dark waters, dolemite is my name, farewell, ford v ferrari, give me liberty, harriet, hustlers, irishman, john wick, jojo rabbit, knives out, last black man in san francisco, lego movie 2, lighthouse, little women, marriage story, midsommar, motherless brooklyn, netflix, once upon a time in hollywood, pain and glory, parasite, portrait of a lady on fire, star wars, terminator, toy story 4, transit, uncut gems, us, waves, wild rose | Leave a comment

4
Feb

Oscar Re-Do: 2009

You know the drill. Winners in bold, then we break it down. BEST PICTURE Avatar The Blind Side District 9 An Education The Hurt Locker Inglourious Basterds Precious A Serious Man Up Up in the Air Should have won: Inglourious … Continue reading →

Posted in Awards, Best Of, Film, Oscars | Tagged crazy heart, hurt locker, inglourious basterds, precious, up, up in the air, white ribbon | Leave a comment

29
Jan

2019 in Review: Box Office Report

SURE-FIRE HITS – The Kings of the Box Office (All Disney Edition) Avengers: Endgame ($858.3 million) The Lion King ($543.6 million) Toy Story 4 ($434 million) Captain Marvel ($426.8 million) SURPRISE SUCCESSES – They got there through word-of-mouth or succeeded … Continue reading →

Posted in Best Of, Film | Tagged alita, angry birds movie 2, avengers, captain marvel, conjuring, curse of la llorona, dark phoenix, detective pikachu, doctor sleep, dumbo, escape room, fast and furious, godzilla, goldfinch, hobbs and shaw, hustlers, it, knives out, lego movie 2, lion king, lucy in the sky, ma, once upon a time in hollywood, overcomer, pokemon, secret life of pets 2, toy story 4, us, wandering earth, x-men | Leave a comment

28
Jan

2019 in Review: The Best Performances – Film

It was a stellar year for film acting, even if only one of these performances was nominated for an Academy Award. Ensemble in a Comedy Knives Out As epic a cast as has ever been assembled for a murder mystery, … Continue reading →

Posted in Best Of, Film | Tagged dolemite is my name, high life, hustlers, knives out, long shot, netflix, once upon a time in hollywood, parasite, uncut gems, us, waves | Leave a comment

27
Jan

2019 in Review: The Best and Worst Movies

After many delays – some of which were my fault, some of which were beyond my control – I present to you the best and worst films of 2019. 10. Give Me Liberty (dir. Kirill Mikhanovsky) If you haven’t heard … Continue reading →

Posted in Best Of, Film | Tagged 1917, amazing grace, apollo 11, ash is purest white, avengers, blinded by the light, climax, dark waters, dolemite is my name, farewell, ford v ferrari, give me liberty, hidden life, high flying bird, how to train your dragon, hustlers, irishman, john wick, knives out, last black man in san francisco, lighthouse, little women, long day's journey into night, marriage story, midsommar, netflix, once upon a time in hollywood, pain and glory, parasite, souvenir, standoff at sparrow creek, transit, uncut gems, under the silver lake, waves | Leave a comment

13
Jan

2019 in Review: The Best Songs

Sometimes, making my best albums list can feel like a chore. There’s so much music out there, and narrowing it down to my 10 favorites sometimes feels pointless. But I often feel like my best songs list is better representative … Continue reading →

Posted in Best Of, Music | Tagged al jarreau, angel olsen, bear and the beasts, beck, best coast, beyonce, black monument ensemble, bon iver, brittany howard, charly bliss, clairo, damon locks, far caspian, fidlar, fka twigs, friendly fires, frou frou, gang starr, gary clark jr, georgia, haim, harry styles, hbo, helado negro, hold steady, j cole, jessie buckley, jimmy eat world, julie doiron, kanye west, keyon harrold, lana del rey, lizzo, lonely island, lucy dacus, maggie rogers, maren morris, mark ronson, miley cyrus, miranda lambert, mount eerie, nas, national, neon indian, righteous gemstones, robyn, roisin murphy, sandy alex g, sharon van etten, sigrid, sonsi, sturgill simpson, sufjan stevens, taylor swift, Thom Yorke, tyler the creator, vampire weekend, wilco | Leave a comment

9
Jan

2019 in Review: The Best Performances – Television

It was another strong year for TV, but as usual I gravitated toward comedy, which made some of these picks difficult, while trying to fill out the other categories was a challenge to find enough worthy candidates. Once again, I … Continue reading →

Posted in Best Of, Television | Tagged amazon, barry, chernobyl, fleabag, hbo, i think you should leave, mindhunter, netflix, prime, righteous gemstones, russian doll, stranger things, tim robinson, true detective, watchmen | Leave a comment

8
Jan

2019 in Review: The Best Comedy Shows and Specials

While there was no shortage of stand-up specials in 2019 (and not just on Netflix!), there weren’t enough I loved to list five. So I expanded the criteria a bit to include some extremely clever sketch comedy and parody for … Continue reading →

Posted in Best Of, Television | Tagged anthony jeselnik, documentary now, i think you should leave, john mulaney, netflix, seth meyers | Leave a comment

7
Jan

2019 in Review: The Best Shows – Honorable Mentions

It was even harder to craft a top 10 than usual, and that left a lot of shows in that next tier. So once again, I’ve expanded my honorable mentions to 14 episodes of shows that didn’t make the cut, … Continue reading →

Posted in Best Of, Television | Tagged amazon, big little lies, boys, brooklyn nine-nine, crashing, crown, game of thrones, handmaid's tale, hbo, hulu, it's always sunny in philadelphia, jimmy fallon, killing eve, man in the high castle, netflix, prime, righteous gemstones, silicon valley, stranger things, this is us, tonight show | Leave a comment