Category Archives: Best Of

2
Jan

2017 in Review: The Best Shows – Honorable Mentions

The (ultimately meaningless) struggle of Peak TV got even worse this year. Even with this now annual inclusion of 10 stand-out achievements that didn’t make my top 10, I still didn’t have a place for shows I enjoyed watching, including … Continue reading →

Posted in Best Of, Television | Tagged american vandal, crown, curb your enthusiasm, five came back, glow, hbo, it's always sunny in philadelphia, netflix, sinner, stranger things, this is us, veep | Comments Off

1
Jan

2017 in Review: The Best Shows and Specials

TOP 10 SHOWS 10. Godless (Netflix) Scott Frank’s Western takes full advantage (maybe too much advantage) of Netflix’s flexibility, with some episodes going on for more than 90 minutes, and others just barely 30. But even as he steps right … Continue reading →

Posted in Best Of, Television | Tagged americans, big little lies, casual, chris gethard, dave chappelle, fargo, godless, good place, handmaid's tale, hbo, house of cards, hulu, legion, louis ck, master of none, neal brennan, netflix, oh hello, orange is the new black, patton oswalt, showtime, twin peaks | Comments Off

19
Apr

The List: 10 More Great ‘Simpsons’ Episodes

With today marking the 30th anniversary of the Simpsons’ first appearance on The Tracey Ullman Show, a lot of sites are revising (or releasing for the first time) their lists of the best episodes of all time. The Ringer’s list was … Continue reading →

Posted in Best Of, Reviews, Television | Tagged simpsons | Comments Off

10
Jan

2016 in Review: Box Office Report

SURE-FIRE HITS – The Kings of the Box Office (All Disney Edition) Finding Dory ($486.2 million) *Rogue One ($408.2 million) Captain America: Civil War ($408 million) The Jungle Book ($364 million) SURPRISE SUCCESSES – They got there through word-of-mouth or … Continue reading →

Posted in Best Of, Film | Tagged alice through the looking glass, allegiant, apocalypse, bad moms, bfg, captain america, central intelligence, civil war, collision course, deadpool, divergent, don't breathe, finding dory, huntsman, ice age, jason bourne, jungle book, kung fu panda, lights out, mermaid, neighbors, popstar, rogue one, sausage party, secret life of pets, star trek, star trek beyond, star wars, sully, warcraft, winter's war, x-men | Comments Off

9
Jan

2016 in Review: The Best Performances – Film

As I mentioned in a similar post for the year’s best TV performances, I have forgotten about honoring the best acting in film. This post should remedy that. I decided to take the Golden Globes approach and honor musical or … Continue reading →

Posted in Best Of, Film | Tagged 10 cloverfield lane, certain women, christine, ghostbusters, la la land, lobster, love and friendship, manchester by the sea, moonlight | Comments Off

8
Jan

2016 in Review: The Best + Worst Films

Thanks to my membership in GALECA, I got to see a lot more movies than I ever have before in my years as a critic. There were lots of hidden gems (Blue Jay) and pleasant surprises (Swiss Army Man), but … Continue reading →

Posted in Best Of, Film | Tagged 20th century women, arrival, blue jay, captain america, christine, civil war, de palma, deadpool, deepwater horizon, doctor strange, don't think twice, edge of seventeen, everybody wants some, free state of jones, green room, hail caesar, hell or high water, high-rise, hunt for the wilderpeople, i am not your negro, jackie, la la land, lobster, manchester by the sea, meddler, moonlight, nice guys, paterson, popstar, rogue one, silence, sing street, swiss army man, tower, weiner, witch | Comments Off

5
Jan

2016 in Review: The Best Songs

As I mentioned in the intro to my list of the best albums of the year, I listened to an obscene amount of music this year, which made deciding on my 10 favorite LPs was a herculean task. One upside … Continue reading →

Posted in Best Of, Music | Tagged aesop rock, anderson paak, anhoni, ashanti, baaba maal, band of horses, batman v superman, beck, bruno mars, car seat headrest, carly rae jepson, chance the rapper, childish gambino, conor oberst, corinne bailey rae, crowder, david bowie, de la soul, emma stone, father john misty, frank ocean, gallant, game of thrones, hamilton, hans zimmer, hbo, islands, ja rule, james vincent mcmorrow, japandroids, jimmy eat world, junkie xl, kanye west, knocks, kyle dixon, la la land, lake street dive, lizzo, local natives, lonely island, lucre, m83, mai lan, merchandise, michael kiwanuka, michael stein, mike adams, modern baseball, mumford and sons, netflix, pink, popstar, propaganda, radiohead, ramin djawani, ray lamontagne, regina spektor, rihanna, ryan gosling, saint motel, schoolboy q, sing street, snoop dogg, solange, stranger things, struts, swet shop boys, tim heidecker, two door cinema club | Comments Off

4
Jan

2016 in Review: The Best Albums

I overdid it this year. In my quest to hear nearly everything I could, I ended up not spending a much shorter amount of time with a lot of albums that needed to be experienced four, five, six time to be … Continue reading →

Posted in Best Of, Music | Tagged a tribe called quest, american football, anderson paak, angel olsen, anhoni, barbara hannigan, beach slang, beyonce, boat drinks, bob mould, brandy clark, brian eno, butch walker, car seat headrest, carly rae jepsen, childish gambino, chris farren, conor oberst, corinne bailey rae, crowder, david bowie, de la soul, diiv, explosions in the sky, field music, frank ocean, gallant, hotelier, ian william craig, islands, ital tek, james vincent mcmorrow, jeff rosenstock, jon bullion, josh gondelman, knocks, la dispute, la la land, lake street dive, lecrae, leonard cohen, local natives, lonely island, lucy dacus, lydia loveless, margo price, martha wainwright, michael kiwanuka, mike adams, modern baseball, moose blood, nick cave, noname, nxworries, objects and objects, owen, photo ops, pinegrove, poster, radiohead, rihanna, rocket summer, rufus wainwright, sing street, solange, st lucia, struts, sturgill simpson, tegan and sara, tim heidecker, underworld, weyes blood, whitney, wild nothing, william tyler | Comments Off

3
Jan

2016 in Review: The Best Performances – Television

I realized that in my awards giving, I’ve neglected to highlight the best performances in years past. That changes with these highlights, in drama, comedy and limited series/made-for-TV movies. Best Actor and Actress in a Drama Series Matthew Rhys and Keri Russell … Continue reading →

Posted in Best Of, Television | Tagged americans, atlanta, crown, fleabag, good place, hbo, netflix, night of, oj simpson, silicon valley | Comments Off

2
Jan

2016 in Review: The Best Shows – Honorable Mentions

Even by including this list, I only scratched the surface of what I watched, which barely scratched the surface of the veritable buffet of options I could have partaken of this year. 70th Tony Awards So maybe “Love is love … Continue reading →

Posted in Best Of, Television | Tagged carmichael show, casual, crown, full frontal, game of thrones, grace and frankie, hbo, house of cards, hulu, netflix, silicon valley, this is us, tony awards, triumph | Comments Off