Listed

The Best Movies of 2011

Scott

The Tree of Life
2011 has turned out to be one hell of a movie year. Though it’s tougher and tougher for filmmakers to get financing for anything worth a damn and the slog to get to the good stuff as an audience member can seem endless and dispiriting at times, I was surprised to look over my notes from the past year and find that there were 15 movies I’ve seen so far that I really, really liked (late entrants like The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, Young Adult and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy have eluded me thus far). There were real surprises, like an acid trip kid’s movie (Rango), an engrossing meditation about pioneer life (Meek’s Cutoff), and TWO high-profile salutes to silent movies (Hugo and The Artist). But for me, the best film of the year is an absolute no-brainer. The Tree of Life isn’t just 2011′s best film, it’s one of the best films ever made. It’s a once in a lifetime event, a masterpiece that ties the lives of normal people to the vastness of the universe itself, guided by the confident hand and visionary mind of Terrence Malick. It’s also an anomaly in an industry where personal stories and spectacle almost never mix. Filmgoers have been conditioned to think that an intimate film has to be small and modest, and that a filmmaker who can use the tools of cinema to their full potential is “all style and no substance”. The Tree of Life focuses in on something as tiny as a newborn baby’s foot and as grand as Pangaea splitting apart, and does so with a shorter runtime than the new Transformers movie. The prevailing criticism of its ambition and scope shows just how little we want or expect from movies today. Do we really want a serious film world dominated by sleepy bedroom dramas? The Tree of Life swings for the fences and gave me one of the greatest experiences I’ve ever had in a theater.

Honorable Mentions
If this was any other year, Abbas Kiarostami’s amazing Certified Copy would be at the top of my list. It’s a stunningly-composed puzzle box of a movie that dodges every easy turn and features a career-best performance by the great Juliette Binoche. Those who yearn for the glory days of the 70′s need look no further than the hypnotic Moneyball, the kind of brainy man’s man movie that Paul Newman specialized in circa 1975 (starring his closest living surrogate, Brad Pitt). Takashi Miike’s 13 Assassins surely belongs in the top tier of a filmography that probably numbers into the thousands now, with a first half that superbly evokes the dark side of feudal Japan and a second half in which he slashes and burns it to the ground in brutal and spectacularly-choreographed fashion. Hanna‘s fearless and unapologetic genre-bending inevitably results in an uneven final product, but for long stretches it’s one of the most exciting, original and visually innovative studio films in years. Despite its flaws (why are we seeing Cyclop’s obscure kid brother but not Cyclops himself?), X-Men: First Class is one of the best and most emotionally affecting superhero movies ever made, with Michael Fassbender and James McAvoy acting the crap out of comic book material like it was Richard III. And no movie tugged at my heartstrings like 50/50, a sweet story about finding human connections in the darkest times.

Ellen

The Skin I Live In
As the credits rolled on Pedro Almodovar’s latest mindbender, I found myself pinned to my chair by a sort of emotional whiplash. As much as I had learned about the movie, nothing could have prepared me for the spectacle that had just unfolded. As a Pedro devotee of many years, I go to his movies expecting to be surprised — but I can’t think of another director whose output has been so consistently risky, while still repeating motifs as to create a rich, deep body of work that doesn’t get stale. The Skin I Live In also saw the welcome return of Antonio Banderas to a project where he is actually acting, neither serving as an eye-candy fixation (as in Almodovar’s earliest) nor as some kind of cartoon action star with a shabby all-purpose accent. The creepy effectiveness of his Dr. Ledgard is not in the stillness of a stoic, but that sense of withheld passion and fear that could break forth at any moment. And don’t forget Elena Anaya and Jan Cornet as Vera and Vicente (those who’ve seen the movie will understand why I have paired them here). I happen to think 2011 was a very good year for movies, but none of them disturbed me like this one.

Honorable Mentions
Best documentary: Gnarr, about an Icelandic comedian whose stunt campaign for mayor of Reykjavik becomes a serious pursuit. Best performance I’ll never be able to forget: Michael Fassbender, Shame. Best ensemble cast: George Clooney, Shailene Woodley, Amara Miller and Nick Krause, The Descendants. Best adaptation: Ralph Fiennes (dir. and star)’s Coriolanus. Best supporting actors we should have seen more of: Paul Giamatti and Philip Seymour Hoffman, The Ides of March. Surprisingly good blockbuster of the year: X-Men: First Class. Biggest disappointment of the year: The Muppets. Best performance by an article of clothing: The scorpion jacket Ryan Gosling wears in Drive. Most annoying accent: Viggo Mortensen as Dr. Freud in A Dangerous Method.

Robert

Moneyball
You don’t have to be a baseball fan to appreciate the story of Billy Beane and his game-changing approach to the sport with the 2002 Oakland Athletics. All you have to understand is the basic human desire to succeed against all odds and the necessity to sometimes step well outside of your comfort zone in order to do it. It’s not that baseball isn’t important, but it’s largely used as the backdrop for the emotional and political struggles that Beane and his players go through in order to prove that they might actually be onto something. It’s a story of falling to the lowest of lows and reaching the highest of highs and keeping your humility and integrity intact along the way. The fact that Brad Pitt (an undeniable presence in movies this year, it seems) turns in a finely tuned, reserved performance as the perpetually tainted Beane shouldn’t be surprising, but it’s also great to see Jonah Hill and Chris Pratt (better known for their comedic work) step it up and keep us invested in the team around him. And much like his home run with last year’s The Social Network, Aaron Sorkin’s adaption of Moneyball finds a perfect balance between the literal “inside baseball” and the larger workings of a major league franchise while also serving up far more sympathetic characters to root for.

And when I think about it, Moneyball speaks to me in ways I hadn’t expected it to. It gave me a renewed enthusiasm for forging my own path, both in my professional ambitions and in life in general. It even gave me a new appreciation for the game and how, in some ways, it has to work just like any other business. Most of all, it gave me a chance to connect with my father over his favorite sport, and with his own father (my grandfather) succumbing to illness, inspired us both to reevaluate what we want out of life and what we can do—no matter how unconventional—to make it happen. Those rare times when a film comes along at just the right time in your life to help you through adversity or just give you a new perspective are what make them so magical for me, and this year Moneyball did just that.

Honorable Mentions
When I saw it over the summer, I thought Super 8 was a wonderful, genuine homage to Steven Spielberg that also incorporated the more somber themes of loss and grief, but watching it again after going through a loss of my own really drove it home for me. And when I think of those kids and the enthusiasm they put into their kooky movie project, I find myself all kinds of inspired to do something creative just for fun of it. For those reasons, I found it both incredibly entertaining and moving, making it probably the closest runner-up I’ve ever had to call.

Others include: Drive, for being the best combination of all of my favorite crime drama tropes in a boldly subdued, Michael Mann-esque package; The Tree of Life for its sheer ambition and ability to work entirely in moods even if it is ultimately a narrative mess; Rango for challenging the animated feature formula and making Johnny Depp entertaining again; a touching little film called The Music Never Stopped for exploring the cognitive power of music as a father tries to reconnect with his amnesiac son.

Zoe

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
I almost didn’t participate in this year’s movies picks–a quick glance at most of other year end lists had me Googling movie titles, so I clearly missed out on most of the Cinematic Masterpieces of 2011. Fortunately I took the time this week to Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy and it jumped to the top of my list. Some of that comes from the profound sense of homesickness it caused in me–the sets and characterizations and phone rings were so real I felt like I could smell the actors. But the rest comes from it being a masterful film, full of a sense of impending doom that doesn’t really seem to matter when it comes. The entire cast is terrific, but Gary Oldman knocks it out of the park as Smiley, a man who understands the spy game better than anyone, and yet must know how little it matters. With less than five gunshots in the whole movie, this is not a film about the athletic young spy fighting for NATIONAL SECURITY!!!, but about what happens to old men and old countries and old rivalries when people aren’t anything more than pieces for a spymaster to play with. Tremendous.

Honorable Mentions
The Cave of Forgotten Dreams may be my favorite Herzog movie. For starters, it actually finds a use for 3D by showing the contours and dips and cracks in the Chauvet cave–allowing the viewer to really feel like they’re there. While the ruminations of Herzog and the characters he finds are as delightful as always (and include albino alligators), the cave paintings are the star of the film and it’s wonderful to get a chance to see them like they really are.

What’s Your Number? is by no means a cinematic masterpiece, but it is hands down, one of the best romantic comedies–just a very solid outing in the genre. Anna Faris and Chris Evans are both funny and affable and the film manages to be better than its terrible name and sexist premise would suggest.

Paul

The Tree of Life
Surely the most ambitious movie of the year, and startlingly effective in achieving its ambitions, Terrence Malick’s The Tree of Life was my favorite movie this year. I have a terrible suspicion that too many people will have gone to see it because of the dinosaurs. Much was made of the dinosaurs. Here I am right now drawing attention to them. But this is not a movie about dinosaurs, this is a movie about placing a human life in the context of the yawning abyssal maw of eternity. This is a movie about the laughable impossibility of a personal relationship with the god of the universe. This is a movie about being really fucking tired of your dad. While it may have divided audiences, my orientation toward it is unambiguous: It is upsettingly, majestically great.

Honorable Mentions
Hanna was the year’s surprise, artfully pointing the way to a post-Bourne future for thrillers. Drive was a Steve McQueen movie for the 21st century, which I think we can agree is a good thing. And though its reception was lukewarm and it seems destined for footnote territory, Paul made me laugh and laugh and laugh.

Dennis

Hugo
Full disclosure: I work for the company that was responsible for the book on which Hugo is based, but I can assure you I’m not being paid to say I enjoyed this movie and think its the best of the year. I’m not even a Scorsese devotee. I know that’s kind of sacrilege. There are the classics of course, like Taxi Driver, but then there’s some more recent stuff like Gangs of New York, which I thought bathed in excess. And that’s maybe one of the reasons I liked Hugo so much. Scorsese is forced to strip away the usual raging severity (and forced to strip away his characters’ propensity to strip down, as well) featured in his other films and just tell one simple, beautiful, multi-layered story about love, about family, and about film itself. The movie might be lead by two capable youngsters, but it’s this film’s supporting adults, Ben Kingsley, Sascha Baron Cohen, Emily Mortimer, and the always chameleon-like Helen McCrory that give the movie its heart, and occasionally broke my heart while watching them. Hugo is a movie about movies, that renewed my faith that they do, indeed make em like they used to, if not better.

Honorable Mentions
Almost Snagged The Top Spot: A Better Life, which more people should’ve seen and should still be talking about. Hanna (and, to a lesser extent, Source Code), which revealed that good movies do occasionally come out in the first part of the year. And The Descendants, another slam dunk dramedy from director Alexander Payne.

Better Than Anyone Gives Them Credit: Scream 4, for actually offering up some sort of critique of our remake culture, even if everyone skipped it to see some horror remake instead. What’s Your Number? for being better than Bad Teacher, despite what the box office (or some critics) might say. Corey Stoll for his scene-stealing turn as Hemingway in Midnight in Paris. 50/50 for every scene not featuring Seth Rogen. And X-Men: First Class for an underrated remake-quel that also gave us a glimpse into the star potential of Fassbender way before Shame gave us um, a whole lot more glimpses.

Listed

The Best TV of 2011

Zoe

Parks and Recreation
Maybe it’s disingenuous to pick a show I started watching this summer as the year’s best, but dammit, I’m going to. In part this is because Parks & Rec‘s third season was incredibly strong and its fourth season shows no sign of slowing down. In part, it’s because the show was so delightful I wanted to watch it again and again — and had to, because I was on a mountain with literally nothing else to watch. It’s not a perfect show and it’s not as comedic as other comedy shows, but it’s TV that actually has me looking forward to seeing it every week. As much as I like all the shows I regularly watch, Parks and Recreation is the only one I never get behind in. It’s just a delight to watch every week and one of the least condescending portrayals of Real America on a comedy. Plus, it doesn’t help that all the couples I want to see make out do.

Honorable Mentions
Downton Abbey is probably not a fair pick since season two has only aired in England so far. But America, get excited. Not only is my favorite soap opera as wonderfully soapy as ever, but season two is far better than season one, which was pretty damn good itself. There’s something about a World War that brings out the best in everyone. Downton Abbey takes the opportunity the Great War offers and runs with it, adding depth and pathos to every character on the show, while never abandoning its snippy society roots. It’s some of the most fun I’ve had watching TV all year and it’d be my top choice if it wasn’t so unfair to do that to people who hadn’t seen it yet.

Community is a show I adore without being as hardcore about it as, well, the rest of the internet. In fact, that element probably scares me away from being a fan more than anything. Yet it’s hard to deny how good the show has been this year, even if the threat of cancellation still looms. I’m not sold on season three yet, admittedly, but the highest highs of the season have been some of the best comedic TV work I’ve seen. And the lows, well… I like to pretend they’re not there. Moreover, the show managed to invert the “will they, won’t they” paradigm, make a Western paintball shoot out seem realistic and if not redeem Chevy Chase at least keep him away from the rest of the cast a lot more. I don’t think Community needs to be on the air for another 10,000 years, but it certainly deserves at least another season to finish the story it’s started.

Dennis

Parks and Recreation
What a difference a few months make. As of September, I was threatening to break up with Parks and Rec. Not because it wasn’t a good, heartwarming show, but because I wasn’t laughing enough for a tiny period of time there. But any momentary laugh-related restlessness has most certainly passed. Parks and Rec has truly become a rare TV occurrence, a show that just keeps on steadily improving with age. Unlike its sorta-sister show The Office, Parks and Rec’s characters continue to actually grow, and I in turn grow to love them more with each episode. No matter how many internet memes are erected in worship of Nick Offerman’s Ron Swanson, Amy Poehler will always be the deserving, delightful star of this show, with Adam Scott getting second billing in greatness as the perfect love interest for lovely Leslie Knope. Meanwhile, it’s perhaps the anti-Ben and Leslie, the spontaneously married Andy and April, whose wonderful wackiness is often the root of show’s comedic gold. While I’ll refrain from doing so, I could spend days reciting the great things show has done with many of its supporting and recurring players (such as Aziz Ansari’s Tom “Chicky Chicky Parm Parm” Haverford, Retta’s sardonic Donna, Jim O’Heir’s fantastically forlorn Jerry, Mo Collins’ lustful lush Joan Callamezzo, and Ben Schwartz’ goofball sidekick Jean-Ralphio). And after this year’s birther-battling episode “Born and Raised,” I can’t wait to see what Parks and Rec has in store for the election season next year. Beneath all the usual NBC comedy zaniness, I like that this political world-set show actually has something to say satirically. Parks isn’t all recreation, and for that reason and many more, it’s my show of the year.

Honorable Mentions
My apologies again this year to The Good Wife, which is more often The Great Wife, for falling to the runner-up position again this year (an overdose of Eli might’ve contributed). Justified came close to the top spot too, for a more than just fine sophomore season. I will admit I almost gave the top spot to The Glee Project too. If you had told me last year that the best reality show of 2011 would be one on Oxygen devoted to casting people for a show I don’t really even enjoy anymore, I wouldn’t have believed you. But Project was far more compelling and consistent than the scripted show it spun off from. Then there’s Revenge, which gets props for being way better than I ever expected it to be, and which was the best soap primetime has seen in years. And the sleek and stylish British import The Hour slides nicely into the Mad Men-sized honorable mention period piece hole. This was also the year of Damon Wayans Jr., who briefly appeared on Fox’s New Girl (a show way more than just having an– ugh, I’m going to say it – adorkable lead) before returning to his day job on the inconsistent, but also oftentimes uproariously hilarious Happy Endings. Sadly, the happy renewal for Endings likely factored into the end of ABC’s other underrated comedy Mr. Sunshine, whose short life I still mourn. And lastly, there’s, Beavis and Butt-head, who scored in their return from the dead, thriving in the often dumbed-down land of Snooki and 16 and Pregnant. Heh heh. I said “score.”

Robert

Homeland
I had almost no expectations going into this new series after seeing the initial promotional spots for it over the summer. I didn’t even realize that it was based on an Israeli TV series called Prisoners of War (although, aside from the core premise, I can’t imagine that the two are all that closely related). All I knew was that I’ve always liked the lead actors since their breakout TV roles years ago—Damian Lewis in Band of Brothers, Claire Danes in My So-Called Life—and that the show was being produced by the minds behind landmark TV hit 24.

Whatever genetics it might share with that terrorist thriller are dialed back in favor of setting up a world far more familiar to our own, where things slip through the cracks and people often make the wrong decisions despite having the best intentions. Most of all, characters in Homeland are motivated by real emotions and circumstances, giving the show a very natural feel as it progresses from one episode to the next. When Sgt. Brody returns home as a distant husband and father, it’s unsettling and suspicious, but when we learn that in his eight years of captivity, he taught and essentially adopted his captor’s son only to see the boy fall victim to a US airstrike, we understand his reluctance to embrace family (and country) again. And when it’s revealed that Carrie entertained a momentary tryst with her supervisor Estes, we start to understand how it was a result of (and perhaps contributed to) her ongoing emotional imbalance, which ultimately leads to other, greater improprieties that risk the security of the nation and those around her.

As I’ve noted throughout its dozen or so episodes since it debuted in October, it’s been a surprising discovery that I’ve found myself completely invested in. While I was initially concerned that it would flex its pay-TV muscles a bit too much by going overboard with sex and violence, the show found a comfortable balance and ditched any gimmickry after a few episodes. Instead, its smart, topical writing and methodical pace give us a chance to get to know the characters and why they are the way they are, rather than pushing forward to the next giant plot reveal. Because of that, when those big moments do come, they feel all the more rewarding. In that regard, Homeland resembles some of the better shows on TV today, and certainly one of the best of this year.

Honorable Mentions
I first saw the pilot of Breaking Bad over a year ago and wasn’t impressed. I thought the premise was intriguing, but it moved at a snail’s pace. When I finally gave it another try this past summer, I finally understood what all the fuss was about. The (mis)adventures of Walter White and Jesse Pinkman are some of the most compelling and heartbreaking I’ve ever seen on television, and somehow, this year’s fourth season surpassed everything that has come before it. One can only wonder where things go from that truly explosive finale.

Meanwhile, in the fictional town of Dillon, Texas, life for the Taylors came to a close as they moved on in the final season of Friday Night Lights. Yes, murder plot and all, getting to know those fictional characters and their lives was probably the closest I’ve ever equated watching a TV show with watching real friends and neighbors.

TV also got medieval this year, and while I was adequately pleased with the noble effort to adapt Camelot yet again, and I continued to enjoy the brutality and hedonism of Spartacus: Gods of the Arena, it was Game of Thrones that came away with all of the acclaim—and rightfully so, considering that it’s probably the heftiest wager ever on whether or not hard adult fantasy can work on television.

Scott

Friday Night Lights
I am not a crying man. I can count the number of times I’ve cried in my entire life on both hands, and the times media has made me cry on one. But I totally lost it at the end of the Friday Night Lights finale, the overwhelmingly emotional capper of a series that will go down as one of the greatest that TV will ever produce. FNL is a deceptively simple show composed of good, normal people trying their best to live good, normal lives, grappling with issues we’ve all dealt with: relationships with the people we love, the closing of chapters in our lives, the joy of success, the pain of loss. But over the course of five years, it’s impossible for anyone who watched the show regularly to not feel like a part of the Taylor, Saracen and Riggins families. Its final season sums up what made the series as a whole so great — the good guys win a few and lose a few with nobility and grace — but the final few minutes accomplishes it even more beautifully. The game was never the ultimate end, it’s the lessons learned on the field as a team that guide you through life. Clear eyes, full hearts, can’t lose. A simple idea carried off completely guilelessly.

Honorable Mentions
Breaking Bad exemplifies the very best that TV can achieve, with a magnificent season — probably its best yet — that continually boosts a small, intimate show to mythic proportions. HBO is getting closer to replicating their Sopranos/Deadwood/Wire glory days with fantastic freshmen series Game of Thrones and Enlightened. The triumphant return of Beavis and Butt-head proves the immortality of its characters and format. And on the cancelled front, my beloved Men of a Certain Age was simply too nice and sweet to live, and Onion Sportsdome was too nasty and smart.

Paul

Community
For no reason in particular, 2011 became a year in which I very nearly opted out of mainstream entertainment altogether. I listened mostly to old stuff in my iTunes library and obscure electronic soundtracks for cult webcomics, attended fewer movies than I do in a normal year, and watched almost no television. Only one show kept me from being utterly disconnected: Community. Dan Harmon’s brilliant sitcom has only gotten better in its third season; it’s joined the august ranks of “things so great I cannot believe they exist.” Seriously, how does this show continue to get made? Complicated characters, intricate multi-season running gags, animated foosball facedowns… it just doesn’t stand to reason. Community is almost too good.

Honorable Mention
With its surreal, psychedelic art direction and design, and its almost Twilight Zone-esque stories, Adventure Time is another show whose continued existence baffles me. I hope to remain baffled for season to come.

Listed

The Best Music of 2011

Ellen

Jay-Z and Kanye West: Watch The Throne
Disappointing as I found 2011 in the album field — loath as I am to admit that — I must also make it clear that Watch The Throne didn’t enchant me on first listen. Its dark, textured, troubled rhymes sunk in slowly, but permanently, thanks to both of the massive talents involved reining in each other’s less appealing tendencies and playing to their strengths. Kanye brings the studio crowds (most notably Frank Ocean, who lends a faraway tenor to opener “No Church In The Wild”) and that irresistible “Try A Little Tenderness” sample anchoring “Otis”; Jay-Z brings the thoughtful stanzas displayed on “Murder to Excellence” and “New Day.” The rare vanity project whose follow-up I would look forward to, even though it might be 2017 before these guys will be in the same room again.

Honorable Mentions
Wild Flag, “Romance,” Fountains of Wayne, “Someone’s Gonna Break Your Heart,” Beyoncé, “Countdown,” OK Go, “The Greatest Song I Ever Heard,” Nicki Minaj, “Super Bass”.

Scott

Fucked Up: David Comes To Life

Everyone’s favorite quirky and mysterious Canadian hardcore band with a completely unmarketable name signaled that they were ready for the big time on their 2008 breakthrough The Chemistry of Common Life in the oddest way possible: with a flute solo. Chemistry was one of the decade’s most unique and surprising records, so good that its legions of new fans (myself included) immediately started to worry how they could possibly top it. Enter this year’s triumphant David Comes To Life, an incredible concept album about love, life and loss that recalls the glory days of the early 70′s when The Who, Bowie and The Kinks were churning out ambitious but accessible masterpieces every 8 months. Lead guitarist and main songwriter Mike Haliechuk has crafted a record full of relentless and unforgettable hooks, pushing the band into even more accessible territory on wall-of-sound singles like “Queen of Hearts” and “The Other Shoe” despite the ferocious growl of frontman Damian Abraham. Now I foolishly worry once again, how can they possibly top this?

Honorable Mentions
My opinion of Drake‘s assorted output up to now has been a disinterested “it’s fine,” but Take Care is absolutely fantastic, a deeply weird and sexy warts-and-all self portrait that sounds like Marvin Gaye and Portishead in space (feel free to use that quote in your ads, Mr. Drake). Wild Flag‘s self-titled debut unites two of my favorite artists — Sleater-Kinney’s Carrie Brownstein and Helium’s Mary Timoney — and more than lives up to those lofty expectations with a diverse set that spans tight pop-punk (“Boom”) and psychedelic prog (“Glass Tambourine”). Indie music is going through an electro boom of late with fine new work from AraabMuzik, Zola Jesus, Class Actress and Washed Out, among others. And man oh man was it good to hear PJ Harvey regain a pulse with the driving and hypnotic Let England Shake.

Robert

Rival Sons: Pressure & Time

If there’s one album that I’ve played more than any other this year (and with good reason), it’s this second studio outing from the up and coming California quartet Rival Sons. What the Sons have done in only three albums (including an EP) is kick off a sincere and whole-hearted revival of a classic rock sound that seemed on the brink of existence. Sure, it’s great to listen to the classics from all the greats of the ‘70s, but to hear the Sons infuse their music a new energy and modern sensibility is a sheer delight. For my money, Pressure & Time is damn near the most solid rock album I’ve heard in quite a while. And for what it’s worth, they’ve been catching on since the album’s release in June. Those listening closely likely spotted “Torture” in this fall’s Real Steel or “Pressure & Time” and “Get Mine” in the new Hawaii Five-O, and you can read my review from earlier in the year for more highlights, but here’s the gist: you must listen to this. You won’t be sorry, friends. They’re currently on tour in Europe, and one can only hope Rival Sons will be greeted with no less than legions of new fans upon their return home because, seriously, these guys can rock. Make it happen, people.

Honorable Mentions
It was a close second, but the album that I was most affected by was The Streets’ Computers and Blues. It’s another solid effort by Mike Skinner and company, and while it’s full of insight and reflection, it’s also a bittersweet final chapter for the UK outfit, wrapped up with the perfectly touching bow that is “Lock the Locks”. Skinner’s vocal style may be an acquired taste, but The Streets influential production is exactly how I imagine electronic music would evolve if people dared to explore—and knowing that it’ll all be a thing of the past is kind of heartbreaking.

Props also go to veteran rockers Whitesnake (Forevermore) and The Cars (Move Like This) for pulling off two surprising returns to form; Tyler, the Creator (Goblin) for rolling his own and quickly becoming the most polarizing figure in hip hop; and those in the electronic scene like Chase & Status (No More Heroes), Excision (X Rated) and Bassnectar (Divergent Spectrum) continuing to push the sonic envelope with quality releases. On top of that, if Trent Reznor can win an Oscar for The Social Network, surely there’s a nomination spot for The Chemical Brothers and their score for Hanna—although having an equally well-crafted film for the music to support would’ve helped.

Check out a sampling of our picks with these playlists in iTunes and Spotify. Enjoy!

Listed

On That Day We Watched: Some Movies That Remind Us Of Sept. 11

Despite the fact that we were all watching the same terrifying news-channel images, everyone’s memory of September 11, 2011 is different, which is why on this day we ask each other: Where were you when you found out? as if our experiences combined could form one seamless picture of where we were back then. So too do opinions of movies, books and pieces of art that take on 9/11 wildly diverge. Slate’s grandiose claim to find four brilliant overlooked 9/11 films turns out to be more like one writer’s backward glance of movies that came out in 2001, were made before 9/11 but somehow resonated with him in their thematic material.

Perhaps it’s too soon to crown the One 9/11 Movie Above All, but here are a few that in their approaches reflected our memories of that day without depicting or referencing it outright:

The Big Budget Superhero Approach: The Dark Knight explored the challenges of fighting a group without territory or common nationality, loyal only to itself — but also honored the nobility of a city forced to hold itself together against an unpredictable threat. There’s also some questionable moral territory as our hero nails the terrorist bad guy with illegal wiretapping, though it’s doubtful that Chris Nolan is a big Dick Cheney supporter.

The Military Approach: The lost cadets of Jarhead running a Gulf War mission whose purpose is unclear to them, goofing off in the desert, represented the enactment of a pact signed on 9/11 whose implications U.S. defense is still feeling today. (Their counterparts in The Hurt Locker, in a post-9/11 Iraq, may have a lot to say to them over some beers.)

The Back-Office Approach: The casual approach to truth taken by the young hotshot journalist in Shattered Glass and the indignant way he tries to protect his lies reflects the callow disdain of an administration who did too little, too late and in the wake of 9/11 too much, too fast. (Stephen Glass’ real-life editor would later be killed while an embedded journalist in Iraq.)

The Suddenness Approach: In Cloverfield, a group of twenty-somethings grappling with the everyday issues of love and work discover that they are ill-prepared for real adversity when a 250-foot monster runs rampant through New York City. There are several metaphorical ties to the real world during and after 9/11, including the incredibly sudden and horrifying attack, the instances of staggering grief and loss and the quiet realizations that life has become infinitely more complicated. Even the momentary acts of heroism are obviously inspired by the efforts of those who searched and came to the aid of their fellow Americans in the aftermath, and Hud’s brief moment of bravado when the monster seems to have been defeated by a massive military strike–only to see it rear its head once again–can be seen as a direct jab at President Bush’s infamous “Mission Accomplished” speech. In the end, the nameless, mysterious monster has taken lives, our best attempts to stop it have failed and just like in reality, we’re left guessing as to where things might go from that point forward.

The Good Versus Evil Approach: Although J.R.R. Tolkien published The Lord of the Rings nearly half a century before September 2001, Peter Jackson’s adaptation of The Two Towers (released a year later in 2002) not only carried that evocative title but thanks to some reworking, also found a certain relevance as Middle-earth itself becomes a rapidly-changing place at the hands of unimaginable evil. The resolve of men is put to the test as forces infringe and attack in unprecedented fashion, and the need for hope is crucial to Frodo’s quest. When things are at their darkest, Sam’s speech about recognizing that there is good in the world and that it’s worth fighting for speaks to our own fears and doubts about how we could possibly move forward when it seems that only darkness lay ahead of us. Tolkien undoubtedly intended to draw correlations to World War II and the potential horrors of the atomic age, but for a world that had since moved on, the events of 9/11 were just as traumatic and The Two Towers provided a bit of unexpected solace for all of us.

The Irresistible Spectacle Approach: Re-imagining such a staple of sci-fi as War Of The Worlds is no simple task, but in light of how the world witnessed and reacted to 9/11, Steven Spielberg’s 2005 version made it more relevant than ever. The arrival of the aliens is an unusually magnetic event, recalling the rush of emergency personnel towards Ground Zero despite obvious danger, and the ensuing reveal and attack that leaves only a few survivors covered in dust and ash is probably a bit too close for comfort, but its sense of chaos and disorientation is clearly inspired by the devastating video footage from that day. When Ray Ferrier and his children manage to get clear of danger, the anger, frustration and paranoia that follow are allusions to the attitudes that many felt in the years following 9/11. Such an unprovoked, merciless attack seemed beyond the realm of possibility, but once it became a reality, the call for war–and theoretically, justice–reached all new heights. What War of the Worlds focuses on, however, is not war itself but the effects on those of us who could only stand by and watch helplessly as our world literally fell to pieces.

The Political Violence Approach: Released less than six months after War of the Worlds, Spielberg’s Munich was the second shot of his double barreled 9/11 response. But where War of the Worlds was a highly accessible and commercial film about humankind confronting and triumphantly overcoming unthinkable tragedy, Munich was a difficult, challenging meditation on the ramifications of political violence. The Mossad agents tracking down the network behind the brutal murders of the 1972 Israeli Olympic team start out as nationalistic heroes, but are slowly consumed by an intelligence underworld filled with spies and terrorists without loyalties. The complexity of Munich is often overlooked. It’s not an anti-war film; it’s about the the murky moral territory where justified military action crosses the line into something else, a message that hit as the war in Iraq reached its most intense levels. Commercially, it made only slightly more than notorious flops 1941 and Always. Artistically, it’s the high point in Spielberg’s most productive decade since the 1970′s.

The Repeating Footage Approach: Transformers: Dark Of The Moon‘s hyperrealistic destruction of the high floors of a skyscraper complete with the soundtrack of crunching, breaking steel, shown off like a supermodel’s chassis in the trailer, may have offended viewers even more than the existence of the sequel in the first place.

The Overwhelming Soundtrack Approach: Critics dinged Watchmen for its excessive use of period-appropriate music to (unsuccessfully) queue in viewers whose minds were wandering from its convoluted plot, but the linking of 9/11 to patriotic standards old and new never ended – making some of them too emotionally burdened to bear. Who can bear to hear “Proud To Be An American” despite its bold sentimentalism, linked as it is now with images of towers falling?

The Empty Seat Approach: Images of Ralph Fiennes mourning his wife Rachel Weisz while trying to dig deeper into her final days on earth in The Constant Gardener stand in for survivors everywhere whose drive to know ended in heroic retelling, or in just a handful of ashes, or of less.

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8 Movie Moms You Must Not Mess With

This Mother’s Day, I’m taking a few minutes to reflect on some of the roughest, toughest but oh-so-dedicated mothers we’ve ever seen on film. Think your mother is a bad-ass? Get a load of these awesome ladies:

Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) – Alien, Aliens, Alien 3, Alien Resurrection

She’s the prototypical sci-fi superwoman but aside from all her acid blood-spilling badassery, did you know she’s also a mother? In an extended scene from the special edition of Aliens, we learn that Ripley had a daughter named Amanda. We also learn that Amanda lived out her entire life (and ultimately died) in the 57 years since Alien that Ripley was in cryo-statis aboard the Nostromo’s shuttle, but that wouldn’t be her only encounter with motherhood. When she returns to the planet LV-426 with a squad of Colonial Marines, she finds a young girl named Newt, and with the threat of an alien hive all around them, Ripley takes her under her wing.

If that weren’t enough, the theme of motherhood runs throughout the entire Alien franchise. In Alien, the Nostromo’s ship computer, MU/TH/UR 6000, is simply referred to as “Mother.” In Aliens, Ripley, Newt and Hicks barely escape a tense showdown with an alien queen after destroying her hive. In Alien 3, Ripley herself is host to an alien and sacrifices herself just as it erupts from her chest. And over 200 years later in Alien Resurrection, a cloned Ripley—tainted with alien DNA, of course—serves as the starting point for a new human/alien hybrid, and Ripley, ever wanting to protect her own, is forced to do the unthinkable to save Earth.

Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton/Lena Headey) – The Terminator, Terminator 2: Judgement Day, Terminator: Salvation, The Sarah Connor Chronicles

In The Terminator, Sarah Connor is a lowly waitress who’s just trying to get by in life, but when an unstoppable cyborg comes back in time to kill her because of her yet-unborn son John Connor, she wrestles with becoming the guardian of humanity’s last hope. In the time between the first two films, she’s arrested and ends in the crazy house, but we learn that she’s kept John on the move and taught him how to survive on his own. When young John and his new T-800 friend bust her out, she learns about Miles Dyson and the beginnings of Skynet and sets out to become, in essence, a terminator herself. But, being the loving, compassionate woman that we first knew years earlier, she can’t bring herself to take his life, and they set out to take it to the machines proper.

Depending on how you look at it, Sarah Connor either continues her life on the run with John (as seen in TSCC) or dies a few years after T2 leaving a stash of weapons at her supposed grave (as seen in T3) and recording tapes with messages of wisdom and advice for older John (as seen in Salvation). Or, if you’re willing to do the alternate timeline tango, maybe both versions are correct. Either way, Sarah Connor is one hardcore mother that does whatever she has to in order to protect not only her son but all of humanity.

Beatrix Kiddo (Uma Thurman) – Kill Bill

They call her Black Mamba, but we know her as The Bride. Unfortunately, Bill only wants to know her as D-E-A-D after she leaves his super-elite Deadly Viper Assassination Squad. When he drops in unannounced at her wedding, it’s not long before the bullets start flying, and even though she’s pregnant with his daughter, Bill puts on in her head for good measure. When she wakes up from a coma four years later no longer pregnant, her only thought is to exact some unadulterated bloody vengeance on Bill and the others. There’s a crucial, oddly-tender moment in Kill Bill, Vol. 2—the scene when Beatrix discovers that she’s pregnant and promptly appeals to another female assassin to spare her life because of it—that, for me, captures almost perfectly what it means to become a parent and have your worldview turned upside down. After swiftly dealing with former assassins Vernita Green (a badass mother herself), O-ren Ishii, and Elle Driver, she tracks down Bill and (to her surprise) her four year old daughter, B.B.. The final showdown with Bill is surprisingly quick and merciful but because of her perseverance, ultimately reunites Beatrix with her long-lost daughter.

Samantha Caine/Charly Baltimore (Geena Davis) – The Long Kiss Goodnight

Samantha Caine is your average single mom. She knows there’s something unusual about her past but can’t remember anything before the last eight years. She’s even resorted to hiring private detective Mitch Henessey to help her find out more, and after a freak car accident, her memory is jarred and her past as a super-secret assassin Charly Baltimore comes rushing back to haunt her. At first, Mitch tries to help her dig deeper but when they discover that her old acquaintances aren’t exactly looking to catch up on old times, Charly takes over and the action goes full throttle, especially when the baddies kidnap her daughter.

Meg Altman (Jodie Foster) – Panic Room

Sometimes you just can’t catch a break. Meg, divorced and a single mother, goes looking for a new home and thinks she’s lucked out with a spacious four-story browstone. She hesitates because, really, who needs that much space, but since her ex is footing the bill, she goes for it and moves in with her daughter Sarah. And wouldn’t you know it, their first night in the house is the same night that a trio of burglars decide to break in for the previous owner’s hidden loot that is, coincidentally, stashed away in the one place Meg and Sarah think they’re safe–the home’s impenetrable, custom-built panic room. With time working against Sarah’s diabetic condition and the thieves willing to wait them out, Meg dares to leave the panic room and quickly finds out these fellows aren’t fooling around. It’s her quick thinking (and their quickly-dissolving plan) that keeps them at bay until her ex and the police show up, and then all hell breaks loose in a tense game of cat and mouse in which Meg eventually turns the tide and gains the upper hand.

Gail Hartman (Meryl Streep) – The River Wild

Former river guide Gail, frustrated with her workaholic husband Tom, takes her son Rourke down a river rafting trip for his birthday. Tom shows up at the last minute to tag along, but is hardly at home in the great outdoors, so Gail takes the reigns as they cast off. Along the way, they happen upon Wade and Terry, who seem nice enough, until they reveal themselves to be a couple of thieves on the run and commandeer Gail’s experience to get them through the deadly rapids ahead. When Tom sneaks away to get help, things get tense but left with no other choice, Gail keeps her cool and uses her brain to get down the river (including some amazing whitewater sequences) in one piece.

Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) – Halloween: H20

When we first meet Laurie Strode in Halloween, she was the hapless teenage sister of psycho-crazy killer Michael Myers, but twenty years after she escaped his killing spree in Haddonfield, Illinois, she’s relocated to Northern California with her teenage son John and is making a life as administrator of a private school under the name Keri Tate. Even though she’s made the effort to get over her horrifying past, it haunts her on the regular and when The Shape himself gets a hold of Dr. Loomis’s old records, he shows up in town to finish killing off the Strode bloodline forever. Always the survivor, Laurie doesn’t back down this time and goes head-to-head with Michael to protect her son (his next target) and even when it looks like Michael’s down for the count, she goes the extra mile to make sure he’ll rest in hell…or will he?

Pamela Voorhees (Betsy Palmer) – Friday the 13th

Anyone familiar with horror movies already knows, but for those who don’t –SPOILER–Jason Voorhees isn’t the killer in the first Friday the 13th flick. No, instead, it’s his mother Pamela that goes on the kill-crazy rampage at Camp Crystal Lake after young, irresponsible camp counselors let her mutant weirdo boy drown. Her solution, of course, is to rid the world of any and all partying, sexed-up teenagers go on vacay at the lake. Look, we all know that she’s clearly insane, but the lesson here is, simply, don’t fool around with sex and drugs, kids, and be nice to the cripples. Their moms will throw a sack on their head, grab an axe and hunt you down like the heathen you are.

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5 Telltale Trends for the 2011 Pilot Season

1) Bad Words!
One of the hot things this year is envelope-pushing pilot titles. Now, I’m sure all of these titles are subject to change (see the jumbled mess of symbols that Shit My Dad Says became), but dammit if just a little intrigued by Don’t Trust the Bitch in Apt. 23, Good Christian Bitches, and Chicks & Dicks. Don’t Trust the Bitch finally makes perpetual second bananas Krysten Ritter (Confessions of a Shopaholic, Veronica Mars, Breaking Bad) and Dreama Walker (Gossip Girl,The Good Wife) the star of their own show, and allows James Van Der Beek to continue his inexplicable ironic reign of playing himself. Meanwhile, Good Christian Bitches has already gotten grief from the Parents Television Council, so it must be doing something right, and its cast of TV alumni (Designing Women’s Annie Potts, JAG‘s David James Elliot, Pushing Daisies’ Kristin Chenoweth, Popular‘s Leslie Bibb, and Swingtown‘s Miriam Shor) certainly backs up that theory. And Fox’s Chicks & Dicks, managed to snag Zooey Deschanel, the sort of star who still seems like she’s slumming it by even coming to TV (and broadcast no less!), though I guess it helps that big sister Emily is already ensconced on the network.

2) Lovely Losties!
Some of us might not have liked the way Lost ended, but that doesn’t mean we don’t want its talented cast members back on the air ASAP. Lost’s mega-producer JJ Abrams is trying to bring us two new shows: CBS’ Person of Interest (starring Jim Caviezel, Taraji P. Henson, and Lost‘s Michael Emerson, and penned by Christopher Nolan’s brother Jonah), and a show about a different island — Fox’s Alcatraz (starring Parminder Nagra and Lost‘s Jorge Garcia). AndLost‘s Henry Ian Cusick is featured (alongside For Colored Girls‘ Kerry Washington, Mad Men‘s Darby Stanchfield, and Half Baked’s Gullermo Diaz) in the umpteenth pilot from Grey’s Anatomy creator Shonda Rhimes, Damage Control. And it would seem that Desperate Housewives’ Marc Cherry didn’t want to look like a slacker against Rhimes, and is launching a second ABC show of his own, this one a Touched by Angel: The Musical-esque series (Hallelujah) starring Jesse L. Martin, Terriers‘ Donal Logue, and and John Locke himself (or, at least his portrayer), Terry O’Quinn.

3) Good Showrunners!
Besides the stars fronting some of this year’s big pilots, I’m also excited to see some of the people behind the scenes of all of these potential shows. Gossip Girl co-creators Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage have a promising-sounding DC-set soap at ABC called Georgetown, starring Undercovers‘ Boris Kodjoe, Lone Star‘s Jimmy Wolk, nuMelrose Place‘s Katie Cassidy, Gossip Girl‘s Kevin Zegers, and Jurassic Park kid-turned-Social Network supporting player Joseph Mazzello. And the dynamic Schwartz/Savage duo still have time to produce The CW’s Hart of Dixie starring Schwartz’s OC muse Rachel Bilson, and Friday Night Lights‘ Scott Porter. NBC’s sexy flight attendant soap Pam Am, starring Christina Ricci, also has frequent Sorkin pal Thomas Schlamme (who already went Sorkin-free earlier this season producing ABC’s Mr Sunshine) helming the pilot. Lorne Michaels, who helped cultivate Tina Fey’s talents on 30 Rock, has a new NBC pilot (Alpha Mom) from his SNL writer Emily Spivey, which will star fantastic funny ladies Christina Applegate and Maya Rudolph, as well as Arrested Development/30 Rock scene-stealer Will Arnett. With 17th Precinct, Battlestar Galactica/Caprica creator Ronald D. Moore is bringing his sci-fi shtick from SyFy to its broadcast brother NBC, and has brought along many of his former cast members (Jamie Bamber, Tricia Helfer, Jamie Bamber), as well as Rizzo (Stockard Channing), Lana Lang (Kristin Kreuk), and Jack from Jack & Bobby (Matt Long) along for the ride. Dawson‘s Creek/Vampire Diaries‘ Kevin Williamson is working to churn out another teen drama, this one (Secret Circle) about a family of witches starring the usual crop of young things (Life Unexpected‘s Britt Robertson, Days of Our Lives‘ Shelley Henning, and The Sarah Connor Chronicles‘ Thomas Dekker) and the thankless folks tasked with playing their parents (Queer as Folk‘s Gale Harold and Species‘ Natasha Henstridge). And, Kari Lizer, creator ofThe New Adventures of Old Christine, has another sitcom in the works, this one (Help Wanted) with Studio 60‘s Sarah Paulson, SNL‘s Tim Meadows, and Christopher Guest movie mainstay Jennifer Coolidge. And lastly, I’m glad to see that the too-soon cancelation of Lone Star hasn’t stopped its creator Kyle Killen from coming back to TV with NBC’s Fringe-esque alternative reality series REM (starring 24′s Cherry Jones, Oz’s B.D. Wong, Terriers’ Laura Allen, Friday night Lights’ Steve Harris, and — odd choice, Wilmer Valderrama).

4) Contagious Glee!
Marc Cherry’s Hallelujah isn’t the only Glee-esque one-word show possibly on the horizon. There’s also ABC’s Carrie Ann Inaba-produced, scripted dancing pilot Grace (starring Chris Carmack, Eion Bailey, Eric Roberts, Sherri Saum, and naturally, Debbie Allen). And then there’s NBC’s intriguing “let’s put on a Broadway show” drama (produced by some guy named Spielberg) called Smash, starring Debra Messing, Anjelica Huston, and Katharine McPhee. Thus, marking the first time you’ve ever heard those three ladies’ name in one sentence.

5) Old is New?
This category comes with the biggest asterisk. When networks get nostalgic or decide to play with the past, you never know what’s going to come out. There was CBS’ canceled-too-soon 70s drama Swingtown. But there was also That 80s Show. There was NBC’s well-done (and quickly, just done, as in canceled) retelling of King David, Kings. But there was also NBC’s modern Jekyll and Hyde crapsterpiece My Own Worst Enemy. And, while CBS’ Hawaii-5-0 remake is doing decently, let’s not forget NBC’s Knight Rider update. Ever. So, I’m, at least curious to see what becomes of the new Charlie’s Angels (at least it has Smallville‘s Alfred Gough as the creator, the Charlie’s movies’ star Drew Barrymore as producer, and Friday Night Lights‘ Minka Kelly and General Hospital‘s Annie Ilonzeh as angels) and David E. Kelley’s Wonder Woman (starring another Friday Night Lights alum, Adrianne Palicki, plus Cary Elwes, Elizabeth Hurley. Tracie Thoms, and star of um, that Knight Rider remake, Justin Bruening). Also, I’m sure the networks are hoping shows like the aforementioned Pan Am, and NBC’s porn period piece Playboy (another preemptive enemy of the PTC, starring Eddie Cibrian, David Krumholtz, Laura Benanti, Jenna Dewan-Tatum, and Amber Heard) are going to be more Mad Men than Swingtown. And, I’m at least kind of intrigued by the weird revisionist pilots the networks have: Edgar Allen Poe as a detective in Poe? Well OK (it does star Kings‘ Christopher Egan at the very least). And, ABC’s “fairy tales are real” drama starring Ginnifer Goodwin as Snow White? Could be interesting! Or, it could just be Grimm. Heh. Grimm.

Granted, the networks could instead go with the whole crop of mindless procedurals I opted not to list above. But here’s hoping, when next season’s shows get announced soon, we get lucky, and a lot of these pilots land (Get it!? Pilot! Land!) on the fall schedules.

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15 Notable Movie Posters from 2010

As a design professional, I always get a kick out of seeing how movies are represented in what has to be the oldest form of movie promotion: the poster. While it wasn’t the best year in film, here are some notable (if not always great) picks from 2010.

Black Swan

It’s easy to make lead star Natalie Portman look beautiful, but as it turns out, it’s also hard to make her look ugly. The arresting image of Nina in white swan mode is strangely mesmerizing, but then again, it’s nothing compared to the classically-designed, highly evocative international teaser posters.

127 Hours

There’s the man, the rock and the hard place, but what better way to illustrate the urgency of time slipping away with a life hanging in the balance than the shape of the hourglass.

Enter the Void

I imagine this must have been a marketing department’s nightmare, but here’s a poster that perfectly represents the trippy, out-of-body experience of the film itself. The perspective and garish design do their best to get your attention while also forcing you to acknowledge the dying Oscar at the bottom.

Scott Pilgrim vs The World

It’s been said that Michael Cera’s face was intentionally obscured in this early teaser poster because audiences were tired of seeing it, and unfortunately, this attempt to illustrate the live-wire energy of the film actually feels quite subdued and not quite as “epic” as the film deserves.

The Expendables

Stacking the deck is a cheap move, but it apparently worked for Sly’s all-star summer blockbuster. If none of those names on the poster (and frankly, those bad-ass wings of weaponry) don’t draw you in, you probably don’t want to see this movie.

Rabbit Hole

It’s not an easy concept to illustrate in a single image, but fractured lives are literally on display here as leads Nicole Kidman and Aaron Eckhart run the gamut of emotions caused by their overwhelming grief.

The Social Network

For a film that’s built for the savviest of audiences, a design based on the now all-too-familiar web browser seems like an obvious choice. With Jesse Eisenberg’s detached gaze underfoot, the bold proclamation about making friends and enemies suits the film to a tee.

For Colored Girls

While this film purported to be a step above Tyler Perry’s usual fare, I found the poster, with its sparing use of watercolor and simple use of type, far more striking than the film itself.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid

I’m no wimpy kid, but I enjoyed the film based on Jeff Kinney’s popular book series for what it was, especially the use of the books’ distinctive illustration throughout, as hinted at in the poster.

Greenberg

What’s in a thought? A lot, apparently, when your only goal is to check out and spend the rest of your life spining your wheels. Doing nothing is hard work, y’know.

Jackass 3-D

It’s the Jackass logo, but with 3-D glasses on, you see. What else do you need to promote unbridled, three-dimensional jackassery, right?

True Grit

WANTED: an evocative, deadly-serious poster for yet another Coen Brothers classic. Perhaps the single amusing thing about this poster is that every name (and word, for that matter) represents an undeniable force to be reckoned with.

The American

The two-color visual scheme of this one-sheet recalls designs from the ‘60s—think Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and Bullitt—but feels like an appropriate throwback for Clooney’s low-key assassin thriller.

Piranha

Spoof? Homage? A desperate attempt to become the 21st-century equivalent of Spielberg’s classic Jaws?

Centurion

Speaking of things that remind me of other things, here’s what I’d consider an unmistakable riff on one of the famous “Death Dealer” paintings by legendary fantasy artist Frank Frazetta (who passed away this year), and yet, it’s suitably indicative of Neil Marshall’s cold and brutal film itself.

These are just a fraction of what caught my eye this year, but that’s because I probably tend to pay attention more often that most moviegoers. What were some of your favorites?

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10 Reasons Why Party Down Shouldn’t Have Been Cancelled

How does the saying go? Ain’t no party like a Party Down party, because a Party Down party don’t…stop? This week’s news that Party Down wouldn’t be back for a third season wasn’t exactly unexpected, but it hurt just the same.

While watching the first episode of Party Down, I immediately thought of the first time I saw the BBC original of The Office. It was a show that came out of nowhere, was perfectly cast and was relatively unknown to mainstream audiences (and coincidentally also only lasted for two miniature-sized seasons). Most importantly, the fans who got it really got it. Now that Party Down has been officially cancelled by Starz—who, despite everything, should be commended for even taking a chance on such a left-field premise—and nearly half of the cast has already moved on to other projects, I can only hope that, like The Office, the cast and crew involved with Party Down will go on to even greater success as a result.

In the meantime, for anyone who hasn’t yet seen Party Down, here are ten of my favorite moments—and trust me, there are so many more—from the short-lived series:

1. “Are we having fun yet?”

The series kicks off when Henry (Adam Scott), a once-promising young actor who’d peaked with his gig as the face of a beer commercial uttering that vacuous phrase, comes back to the Party Down team thanks to old buddy and team leader Ron (Ken Marino). Try as he might to leave his showbiz past behind him, he gets recognized over and over as “the guy from the beer commercial” and coerced into uttering it ad infinitum. It doesn’t seem to bother him as much as one might expect, but it clearly rattles around in his head as he just tries to get by tending the Party Down bar. In fact, it’s Henry’s less-than-optimistic attitude about acting again that serves as the perfect counterweight to everyone else’s soaring ambitions, and by the end of the series, even comes full circle.

2. The Pancake Lady

There’s really no other way to put it…I’m a little sweet on Lizzy Caplan, so seeing her as Casey, a young comedian who’s struggling to get her career on track (and not just another love interest who takes the brunt of laughs at her expense), was a welcome casting choice. While Roman (Martin Starr) pines for her from a distance, she finds more than meets the eye with new guy Henry, and after an intimate encounter that was only so-so, she warns him that she doesn’t want to be the not-really-proverbial “pancake lady” as a way to fend off any more superficial romps. Both acerbic and assertive, Casey wants more out of life than working as a caterer and seizes opportunities whenever she can, even when she has to decide between Party Down and pursuing her career. While the other female stars might get the bigger laughs with their antics, my hat’s off to Caplan for keeping Casey grounded and real.

3. Roman vs. Kyle

With both ends of the spectrum—cerebral screenwriter Roman and handsome actor/model/singer/dude Kyle (Ryan Hansen)—working side by side, sparks are bound to start flying. Of course, having such a fiery ongoing rivalry/friendship often provides the biggest laughs. Watch how they both take each other to school in the same scene:

4. Ron the Hero

When the Party Down crew works a private investors dinner, something begins to smell fishy about the whole deal. Between serving guests and talking up high-dollar propositions, the gang figure out that the whole event is a ruse set up by the dodgy host to clean out the wealthy guests for all their worth. Of course, they find out just moments after Ron decides to write a check for his entire savings. When Ron confronts the host and the man pulls a gun on him, he laughs it off as the Baretta prop that we’d seen Roman playing around with earlier—until said prop shows up moments later. Let’s just say that the choice of khaki pants couldn’t hide Ron’s embarrassing “fight or flight” response.

5. Ron’s “members only” member

In the middle of the Sin Say Shun Awards after party, Ron gets whisked away to a back room where a sleazy porn producer—who’d casually scoped out Ron’s junk in the men’s room—propositions him with the opportunity to star in a Korean “film” and make some big bucks. But first, Ron has to whip it out so the guy can get a better look and make sure he’s the real deal, all the while random partygoers stumble into said back room to witness it. It’s never really clear whether it’s all a set up for Ron’s ultimate humiliation or his Dirk Diggler “bright shining star” moment…until Casey walks in and sees more than she (or we) had bargained for.

6. Jackal Onassis is a real guy

Season 2 started off with the some new faces, but the most surprising new face wasn’t even on the Party Down team. While working the backstage of a Jackal Onassis concert, Roman and Henry discover that Jackal (Jimmi Simpson) has had enough of the rock star lifestyle and just wants to be normal. Roman volunteers to trade places with him for the night and while Jackal gets to relax tending bar, the arrangement doesn’t work out for Roman like he’d hoped.

7. Roman’s “hard sci-fi” boner

Making the smartest character on the show also most socially inept isn’t necessarily new, but Roman takes nerdy awkwardness to brutal new depths, especially when he quizzes George Takei about the Vulcan mindmeld in the men’s room or when he discovers a porn starlet’s definition of sci-fi: “Dragons are fantasy. If there’s magical talismans or a magic sword or wizards or fucking crazy not-real animals…. all these basic things that break laws of reality: that shit’s all fantasy. I’m into hard sci-fi. Fantasy is bullshit.”

Watch what happens when Roman mistakes a partygoer (Daniel Franzese) for a brainless jock:

8. Leonard puts his money where his mouth is

In his second guest appearance as Leonard the Big-Time Hollywood Producer, J.K. Simmons continues his streak of obscenity-laced grumpiness but now has to deal with being put on the spot for a school auction. The results? Let’s just say he didn’t go home any happier than when he arrived.

9. Lydia, meet Ron

After Ron inadvertently leans against a counter and gets frosting on his pants, he sees Lydia eying him from a distance. She doesn’t say anything and soon enough, Ron takes his misinterpretation a little too far. Fortunately, Lydia is prepared for such an occasion.

10. Kyle’s struggle

Seriously…just listen.

If you’ve never seen Party Down, you can still catch both seasons on Netflix Instant Watch or on Starz throughout the month of July, or you can always pick up Season 1 on DVD (Season 2 available September 28). For those of you who have, what are some of your favorite Party Down moments?

UPDATE: It looks like Starz has now pulled down both seasons of Party Down from Netflix Instant Watch. Season 1 is still available to rent on DVD, but Season 2 won’t be available until the DVD release in September.

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Top 10 LOST Characters I’m Oddly Invested In

1. Rose

She’s been with us from the beginning, and whether Sideways or regular ways, folks are all “stress! stress! stress!” and “island! island! island!” and she’s like “chill, whatever happens, happens.” There probably wouldn’t be a show if everyone was like this, but at least we have Rose.

2. Libby

She’s the only character I was totally upset when they killed her off. I always thought there was more the writers could’ve done with her character. Maybe all her backstory won’t be that important but I could(ve) watch(ed) the odd and oddly sweet pairing of her and Hurley for years.

3. Liam

For Oasis homage alone, him and Charlie should’ve had more scenes together.

4. Cindy the Stewardess

Save from Bernard and those damn whippersnappers she’s always lugging around, Cindy’s the only tailie to make it out alive in Frontways World or whatever. For that season two storyline to not be a complete wash, I need someone to root for.

5. Helen

I think I’ve said this before. Whether it be in Married…with Children, Eli Stone, Sons of Anarchy, or as the voice of Leela on Futurama, I love Katey Sagal. And I’d watch John Locke romance Katey instead of watching dudes fight over a certain other supposedly swoonworthy Kate anyday .

6. The Rousseaus

I like batshit crazy (see also: my love of Libby, my appreciation of Daniel Faraday, my at least mild interest in Jungle Claire) and Danielle fits that bill pretty well. Also, this show has some shitty, shitty parents. At least Danielle was all about getting Alex back. And Alex has Rousseau genes and was raised by Ben Linus. And in Sidewaysland gets Ben as her nerd mentor. Speaking of Rousseau-related characters…

7. Karl

He seemed nice. All he wanted to do was date Alex. And not get put in the scary deprogramming room. Good intentions are enough.

8. Tom Friendly

Apparently, everyone has a soulmate, and Tom Friendly is the only guy in the history of two Lost universes who maybe gets a soulmate that’s another dude. Bravo!

9. Aldo/Kate’s Mom/Sarah

It’s Mac from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. It’s Sabrina the Teenage Witch’s non-Caroline Rhea aunt! It’s Julie Bowen from Ed. Oh sure Bowen, you’re on Modern Family now, but I remember when you were on a show about a bowling alley lawyer. And that’s why I love you.

10. Vincent

To quote Carol about Tiger in The Brady Bunch Movie, “Whatever happened to that dog?”

Listed

5 New Year’s Eve Movie Moments

It’s the end of the year, it’s cold outside and I don’t know about you but I’m planning to stay indoors and check out a good movie or two. Here are five favorites that either involve or include a memorable moment during New Year’s Eve. If you have any others, sound off in the comments below!

Boogie Nights (1997)

This flick is full of so many wonderful characters with criss-crossing arcs, but none of them made a bolder exit than Little Bill (William H. Macy). Thanks to the ongoing frustration of a shamelessly unfaithful wife, the sad existence of the lowly assistant director comes to an end when he quietly snaps during a 1980 New Year’s Eve party. In one uninterrupted moment, Little Bill searches the party for his wife, finds her in bed with another man, walks out to his car, pulls a revolver from the glove compartment, loads it, comes back inside, shoots the two of them and leaves his last bit of business for the moment the partygoers count down to zero.

Strange Days (1995)

In the days and months before the year 2000—the age of the Y2K bug and the underlying irrational fear of the end of a century—Strange Days gave us a version of it all where, through technology, we could virtually live out the experiences of others no matter how candid or prurient or most of all, incriminating. When smarmy SQUID peddler Lenny (Ralph Fiennes) ties the murder of a prostitute to the killing of a high-profile, radical hip hop artist, the stage is set for serious fireworks. And with Los Angeles still a hotbed of hostility from the real-life 1992 riots, the film went for broke with its sci-fi/conspiracy plot, making for a heavy-handed but still entertaining climax as the city celebrated the arrival of “2K”.

Four Rooms (1995)

It was a nice thought at the time. Even though there’s plenty of filmmaking talent on board (the likes of Allison Anders, Alexandre Rockwell, Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino), Four Rooms is no shining moment in cinema history. BUT, it does take place on New Year’s Eve, features a rollercoaster performance by Tim Roth as he bounds from one story to the next, and if nothing else, warns against the dangers of wagering body parts against Tarantino’s dubious wit.

The Godfather Part II (1974)

The kiss of death…it was a moment of anger, sorrow and vengeance all at once. After a failed hit on him and his family, Michael (Al Pacino) starts to unravel who was behind it all and discovers that his own brother, Fredo (John Cazale), was responsible for setting it all in motion. At a New Year’s Eve party in Havana, Cuba, Michael finally acknowledges this ultimate betrayal, and with four words (“You broke my heart.”) we learn that Michael—who reluctantly took over the role of his father as the Godfather—is no longer the gentle soul he once was nor a man to be messed with.

Trading Places (1983)

Just so you don’t think only tragedy or misfortune occur on the night we all ring in the new year, here’s a great moment from Trading Places. Near the end of the movie, Ray (Eddie Murphy), Louis (Dan Akroyd), Ophelia (Jamie Lee Curtis) and Coleman (Denholm Elliott) join forces and disguise themselves as guests of a New Year’s Eve party in order to switch a briefcase full of documents with bad guy Beeks (Paul Gleeson). Let’s just say the night doesn’t end well for Beeks, but Ray and the gang go on to take down the rich old farts that turned their lives upside down and end up living the good life.