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The Top 30 Films of 2016

25 Feb


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Acclaimed films I wasn’t a huge fan of: The Fits, Hacksaw Ridge, Love & Friendship, A Monster Calls, Finding Dory, The Jungle Book, Deadpool, Sully, Swiss Army Man, Rogue One, The Red Turtle, Lion, Jackie

Films that really weren’t that bad: Batman v. Superman, The Huntsman: Winter’s War, Passengers, Nerve, The Purge: Election Year

Others Considered: The Witch, Other People, Maggie’s Plan, Popstar, Things to Come, Kubo and the Two Strings, The Dark Horse, Indignation, My Golden Days, High-Rise, The Light Between Oceans, Certain Women, The Shallows, Loving, Midnight Special, Under the Shadow, Star Trek Beyond, 20th Century Women, Little Men, Fences, 13th, Moana, I, Daniel Blake, Aquarius, Louder Than Bombs, The Love Witch, Divines, Tickled

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The Top 12 Film Scenes of 2016

14 Feb

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Others Considered: Dead body (The Nice Guys), Ending (The Witch), Would That It Were So Simple (Hail, Caesar!), First encounter (Arrival), Final scene (Aquarius), Sabotage (Star Trek: Beyond), The fire (Divines), Final battle (Hardcore Henry), Horseback ride (Certain Women), Conversation (Indignation)

Honorable Mentions: The arm (Green Room), William Carlos Williams (Paterson), Diner ending (The Lobster), DMV (Zootopia), I Am Moana (Moana), Airport battle (Captain America: Civil War), Limo scene (Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping), The party/Whitney Houston (Toni Erdmann)

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The Top Film Performances of 2016

1 Feb

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Honorable Mentions: Jessica Chastain (Miss Sloane), Amy Adams (Arrival/Nocturnal Animals), Emma Stone (La La Land), Jena Malone (The Neon Demon), Ralph Fiennes (A Bigger Splash), Annette Bening (20th Century Women), Stephen Lang (Don’t Breathe), Adam Driver (Paterson), Viola Davis (Fences), Colin Farrell and Rachel Weisz (The Lobster), Gillian Jacobs (Don’t Think Twice), Kate Beckinsale and Tom Bennett (Love and Friendship), Peter Simonischek and Sandra Huller (Toni Erdmann), Sonia Braga (Aquarius), Kim Min-Hee and Kim Tae-Ri (The Handmaiden), Natalie Portman (Jackie), Angourie Rice (The Nice Guys)

Words cannot describe how difficult it was to honorable mention Jessica Chastain and Amy Adams, two of my favorite actresses. And then the long overdue Annette Bening, Ralph Fiennes, and Viola Davis? And then an Emma Stone career best? A tough task, these year end lists.

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The Top 100 Songs of 2016

7 Jan

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*Note: This is not a true top 100 because I tried to limit each artist/band to, at the very most, 3 songs. There is no rhyme or reason as to why some get 2, some get 1, and a select few get 3. Variety was my ultimate goal here.

100. Lucius – “Almost Makes Me Wish For Rain” – Was trying to decide between this and “Black Beatles” for the #100 spot, but “Black Beatles” lost because Rae Sremmurd is a stupid name. Just spell it in the right direction.

99. Julia Jacklin – “Pool Party”

98. YG – “Still Brazy”

97. PUP – “DVP”

96. Lydia Loveless – “Same To You”

95. Hiss Golden Messenger – “Heart Like A Levee”

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The Top 51 Albums of 2016

2 Jan

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Don’t usually write about music, but thought I’d still make a few year end posts.

Rules: EPs included. Soundtracks/scores not. I’ll be making a separate list for those, but just know that the “La La Land” soundtrack would easily be in the top 10 if it was included here. Also, keep in mind that being low on this list is still indicative of a good album; after all, there’s a behemoth of an honorable mentions/others considered section down there, and lots of those are great as well. Test: if you recognize at least 15-20 of these 51, you’re on my list of favorite people already.

51. Kanye West, “The Life of Pablo”- And just barely making it into the top 51 (possibly due to me adding a spot) is one of 2016’s biggest releases. Though it doesn’t feel all that cohesive and is far from peak Kanye, it’s still a good album. When it’s good, it’s very, very good: case in point, the incredible opener “Ultralight Beam”. It’s most definitely not the best hip hop had to offer in 2016, though.

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The Top 15 Television Shows of 2016

28 Dec

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HONORABLE MENTIONS: Search Party, Westworld, Atlanta, You’re the Worst, The Night Of, Narcos, Game of Thrones, Mr. Robot, Stranger Things, Better Call Saul

OTHERS CONSIDERED: Shameless, The Crown, New Girl, Masters of Sex, Transparent, UnREAL, Angie Tribeca, Silicon Valley, Penny Dreadful, OITNB, Orphan Black, Archer, Lady Dynamite, Banshee, The Night Manager, Girls, Childrens Hospital, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Togetherness, iZombie, Billions, Hap and Leonard, 11.22.63, Daredevil, IASIP, Love, The X-Files, The Affair, And Then There Were None, The Path, The Last Man on Earth

15. Fleabag – At only six episodes long, season one of this dark comedy still packed a big punch. Phoebe Waller-Bridge was terrific, turning what could’ve been an annoyance (fourth wall breaking) into an asset for the show.

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The Top 12 Television Episodes of 2016

22 Dec

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Honorable Mentions (these would round out my top 20 if I made a top 20): “B.A.N.”/”The Club” (Atlanta), “Season Two Episode Seven” (American Crime-specifically that restaurant booth scene…), “Shut Up and Dance”/”San Junipero” (Black Mirror), “Part 20” (Bloodline), “That Text Was Not Meant For Josh!” (Crazy Ex-Girlfriend), “The Beach” (The Night Of)

Others Considered: “One Long Day” (Love), “New York’s Finest” (Daredevil), “Chardee MacDennis 2: Electric Boogaloo” (IASIP), “War” (Hap and Leonard), “A Room of One’s Own” (The Path), “People Persons” (OITNB), “A Blade of Grass” (Penny Dreadful), “Al Fin Cayo” (Narcos), “Episode 4” (Fleabag), “eps2.8_h1dden-pr0cess.axx” (Mr. Robot), “Coats or Keys” (Masters of Sex), “The Well-Tempered Clavier” (Westworld), “The House of Uncanny Truths” (Search Party), “If I Were a Bell” (Transparent), “…Someone Like Me as a Member” (The Good Place), “Requiem” (Banshee), “Hope” (black-ish)

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The Top Television Performances of 2016

19 Dec

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Once again, I’ll be counting down the best of the year, and I might even add songs and albums to the list of lists. Stay tuned.

Honorable Mentions: John Lithgow and Claire Foy from “The Crown”, Kristen Bell and Ted Danson from “The Good Place”, Rami Malek from “Mr. Robot”, Wagner Moura from “Narcos”, Will Arnett from “Bojack Horseman”, Eva Green from “Penny Dreadful”, the ensemble of American Crime, Millie Brown from “Stranger Things”, Gillian Jacobs from “Love”, Hugh Laurie from “The Night Manager”, Hugh Dancy and Aaron Paul from “The Path”, Brian Tyree Henry from “Atlanta”, Lena Headey from “Game of Thrones”, Maria Bamford from “Lady Dynamite”, Ellie Kemper and Tituss Burgess from “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt”, Alia Shawkat from “Search Party”, Rashida Jones from “Angie Tribeca”

Top 5 Ensembles (in no particular order – doing “best ensembles” because it’s hard to single people out from these shows and because they truly deserve ensemble recognition)

Rectify: At the beginning of the series, it was Abigail Spencer and Aden Young who stood out, but at the end, it was a fully realized group of characters driven by incredible performances all around. One conversation between any two of these characters could reduce you to a puddle of tears.

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