David Fincher has become one of those directors that has many film fanatics salivating upon every release of his films…and considering he has yet to win an Oscar (he most infamously lost his nod for THE SOCIAL NETWORK to that of Tom Hooper for THE KING’S SPEECH), he has taken up the banner of “most overdue” for an Oscar since Martin Scorsese finally won an Oscar back in 2007.

Fincher, much like another beloved director Quentin Tarantino, has never been a director that I’ve loved. It goes without saying that I certainly have liked or even loved some of his films: SEVEN, ZODIAC, and THE SOCIAL NETWORK are easily his best works and I would say that FIGHT CLUB (which I don’t love nearly as much as most do), PANIC ROOM, and THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATOO are solid efforts.

He is a director that is, without a doubt, a marvel when it comes to the technical aspects. He has also been notorious for working actors to the bone in a similar vein of someone like Stanley Kubrick, my favorite American director. However, I can’t say that any of his films (aside from SOCIAL NETWORK and ZODIAC which were truly fantastic) have driven me to have any kind of passion. There is a certain lack of an emotional core in his work…and that isn’t to say that all the best films have characters or situations you necessarily care about. Look at a movie such as Martin Scorsese’s GOODFELLAS, in which we spend a lot of time around rather vile mobsters and yet we are consistently intrigued by them.

This brings me to MANK, a movie that was a passion project for David Fincher that manages to be two completely different things: perhaps Fincher’s most detailed and technically marvelous work AND one of the more cold and distant efforts of his career.

MANK is based on writer Herman J. Mankiewicz (Gary Oldman) who is most remembered today as being the co-writer of the legendary 1941 film CITIZEN KANE…and the script was written by Fincher’s late father Jack who passed away in 2003. It had been Fincher’s goal to producer his father’s script after he made THE GAME in 1997…but at the time, studios still didn’t have much faith in Fincher nor did they want to produce a film such as this in the manner he wanted to do so: black & white.

Fast forward to 2020: Fincher releases MANK to Netflix after having shot it in 8K resolution and then degraded the film quality to make it match the films that came out during the time in which CITIZEN KANE was filmed.

I almost think that MANK is to CITIZEN KANE just as LA LA LAND was to various movie musicals. Fincher, and his father’s script, try so hard to follow the same format of CITIZEN KANE’s structure and visual aesthetic that after a while, I felt like I kept thinking “Oh, there’s THAT shot”, “Oh, she is delivering that line similarly to Agnes Moorehead”…that kind of thing.

It might be fun to see the old-fashioned fade to black screen cuts of yesteryear but in the end, I am not sure the fact that the film looks rather splendid is enough for me to find much of a reason to care about the story of the drunken man who helped fight to get CITIZEN KANE made.

Acting wise, the ensemble wasn’t bad but I certainly wasn’t blown away by anybody.

It goes without saying that Gary Oldman is one of our finest actors and he certainly does a good job here. I feel like there have been years where he could’ve contended strongly for an Oscar nomination but it is too early to tell in my opinion if he should slip in this year. I know this might be a major nitpick but despite his fantastic skills as an actor, he was far too old to play Mank…especially as there are scenes where we are supposed to believe he is 30 years old. I get that Mank was a drunk but I think it was moments like that made me wonder if maybe they should’ve gone a different route with casting. Still, it was Gary Oldman and he does well with his drunken material, especially in the film’s final third when he has a drunken rant involving writer-turned-politician Upton Sinclair.

One other name getting a lot of attention from this film is Amanda Seyfried, from MEAN GIRLS, MAMMA MIA, and LES MISERABLES; she plays real life actress Marion Davies, who was the partner of William Randolph Hearst, the man in which CITIZEN KANE was inspired by.

Seyfried is, as of this writing, being considered the early frontrunner to win Best Supporting Actress. This movie does show that Seyfried is a skilled actress….and she was actually quite good doing dramatic work in the 2017 revival of David Lynch & Mark Frost’s TWIN PEAKS…and I would say that she does a good job with what she is given. The only thing is I am not sure I whether or not I agree this is a performance that warrants an Oscar. I could see her, perhaps, being nomination worthy but nothing about her performance made me think “Oscar!”. Then again, if Laura Dern can win an Oscar for her performance in MARRIAGE STORY then anything is possible.

The one person I actually left the movie thinking about the most was Lily Collins, who plays Mank’s secretary Rita. Her presence is poised and she gives off a no-nonsense vibe which made me look forward to any time she appeared…and for some reason, I really bought into her as being a person of this time more than anyone else. I am still not sure if I would call her “Oscar nomination worthy” yet but I might be inclined to call her the MVP of the cast beyond the solid work that Oldman was able to achieve with the text/direction he was given.

So, in terms of awards, would I nominate MANK for any Oscars?

I think the technical accomplishments deserve to be acknowledged:

Cinematography, Production Design, perhaps Costumes and Sound and maybe Score.

I also feel like Oldman, Collins, and Seyfried have the potential to be worthy nominees but I am not sold on this quite yet.

There has been a lot of buzz this year in the film buff universe regarding Fincher’s overdue status at the Oscars and that this film could be the one to finally net him the win.

I am very torn on this. On one hand, yes, Fincher is at his most glossy and stylized here and it was quite the marvel to behold but he is also trying hard to emulate the spirit of the Orson Welles aesthetic while also harboring a script that could be hard to follow and one that had me left wondering what was so pressing about this story getting told aside from the fact that revolved around two things: the making of what is often considered the greatest American film of all time AND a film director wanting to make his late father’s script.

To paraphrase the words of Orson Welles: “And that, my dear readers, is Hollywood”.

RATING (out of 5 stars)

***1/2 (B)

(The technical aspects and solid ensemble helped boost the rating…otherwise I may have given this a lesser one)

I feel confident in saying that we are currently living through the Golden Age of Television. It is possible that we will see a continued streak in this title for many years or, perhaps, decades to come. You could argue that streaming services are going to cause a lot of issues for films (especially in the current pandemic climate) but at the same time, streaming services due to help films and TV shows find a broader audience even years after the show may have went off the air. It also must be said that due to so many channels and services, it is nearly impossible to keep up with some of the shows as they premiere…but one thing is true, the prospects for what can be done for a TV show now have certainly taken off.

There is a reason that most of the network shows (i.e. ABC, CBS, NBC) are getting snubbed at the big award shows year after year: most of them lack bite or spark or originality. Some have broken through with nominations (THE GOOD PLACE or THIS IS US) but people have been turning to Amazon, AMC, FX, Hulu, HBO, Netflix, and Showtime for their shows and the content has been more than exceptional.

That isn’t to say that there weren’t any older shows that were great, or that a network show could surprise all of us in the near future, but when thinking about what I feel may be the best experiences I have had watching a TV series (such as being entertained while also being impressed with the writing, acting, directing, production values), a lot of the ones considered actually premiered within the last two decades.

The following list will be 10 of the shows that I truly think were the best that I’ve seen all around. There will also be shows omitted from this list that might even surprise some of you based on how much I discuss them, but I am trying to take several factors into account here.

With that all said, let’s jump in, and usual, I am going to list some honorable mentions first:

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

Veep, Buffalo Bill, The West Wing, Cheers, The Office (UK/US), Better Call Saul, Arrested Development, Bojack Horseman, Six Feet Under, Hill Street Blues

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#10-THE TWILIGHT ZONE (CBS 1959-1964)

-Not every episode of The Twilight Zone is a gem…you can say that about almost any show though. The simple truth about this particular anthology series was that when Rod Serling (or the occasional guest writer, particularly Richard Matheson) nailed on a topic, it would be vibrant and chilling. For me, New Years Eve was never really about celebrating a New Year growing up…it was about The Twilight Zone marathon that would air for 24 hours on SCI-FI (now called SyFy).

I can’t deny some of the episodes don’t hold up and some resort to almost melodramatic tendencies, but the content/writing feel remarkably vital and fresh or even modern by today’s standards for a show that just recently celebrated its 60th anniversary. Very few shows have also managed to become such an indelible part of pop culture as The Twilight Zone; so much so that I remember hearing the theme song featured on other mediums before even knowing where it came from. Futurama did a frequent bit parodying one of the series’ intros by calling it The Scary Door; sitcoms and sketch shows would do sketches based around Rod Serling’s verbose intros/outros…it goes on and on.

Certain episodes that stand out for me would be: Time Enough at Last, Twenty-Two, The Monsters are Due on Maple Street, Walking Distance, Nightmare at 20,000 Feet, It’s a Good Life, The Hitchhiker, Eye of the Beholder, Living Doll, Long Distance Call, Little Girl Lost, and The After Hours.

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#9-ALL IN THE FAMILY (CBS 1971-1979)

-As a kid approaching pre-teen years, I think I took more joy in watching old shows on NICK-AT-NITE rather than on NICKELODEON itself (I am still of that group that felt Nick began to fall apart around the time Spongebob premiered). Around this time, ALL IN THE FAMILY began airing in reruns on NICK-AT-NITE. This was a sitcom but it was unlike any other sitcom I had really seen up to that point. Sure, it had a live studio audience and a typical cast of characters similar to most formulaic sitcoms but it felt brash and bold and unrelenting.

Archie Bunker, the patriarch of the household, was a racist…but somehow, you didn’t hate him. You sort of just viewed him as someone who just didn’t understand the world and that deep down, he was somehow a good person. Why do you know that? Because his wife Edith loved him. These two, played by Carroll O’Connor and Jean Stapleton, are in contention of giving my favorite performances on a sitcom. What they were able to achieve in these two characters created by Normal Lear was nothing short of outstanding.

Knowing full well that this show premiered right as the infamous Rural Purge occurred on CBS (the mass cancellation of shows like GREEN ACRES, THE BEVERLY HILLBILLIES, and PETTICOAT JUNCTION), it makes the idea of this show seem all the more radical. Times were definitely changing and by the end of the 60s, it truly did seem like a different world. Movies and TV finally caught up and the content drastically improved.

I won’t list a lot of episodes for this one but I do want to single out that basically any episode that focused on Edith would be high up on my list. One of the best ones to come to mind is Edith’s Crisis of Faith, a Christmas based two-parter in which one of her dearest friends, a cross-dresser that went by the name of Beverly, is killed in a mugging which then causes her to refuse to accept any kind of faith in God. It takes Archie, someone who doesn’t seem that concerned with church, to convince her to go back. While the Beverly storyline may not play as well nowadays, it still feels stark and fresh. All in the Family had many episodes that tapped into this kind of emotional state while also being quite funny.

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#8-CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM (HBO 2000-Present)

-British filmmaker Mike Leigh always drafts outlines of his films and then strongly encourages his actors to improvise in scenes. Who would’ve thought that Larry David, the showrunner of SEINFELD who was known for being so particular about his scripts that he would correct you if you said “but” instead of “and”, would adopt this approach.

Curb Your Enthusiasm is a marvel of a show because of how much you just enjoy watching this fictional version of Larry David living his life in L.A. (briefly in NYC) and destroying any sense of social grace and decorum.

Each episode is based on an outline that Larry David and other writers map out and, taking a lot from his SEINFELD house style, most of his stories wind up in a twist ending that somehow often combines various bits of story together in an ironic way. These moments, combined with the use of the show’s theme song, have become fairly iconic as a way to express such ironic or uncomfortable moments.

If I had to choose a season that would be my favorite, it would probably be the 4th season in which Mel Brooks, rather surprisingly, comes to Larry and asks him to star on Broadway as a replacement Max Bialystock in the smash hit musical The Producers. Without spoiling it, David’s whole season builds to a moment that is so meta and perfect for the concept at hand.

Even at its weakest, CURB is never exactly boring. It might be a little sluggish but it is amazing how much he can mine out of these people and how talented his co-stars are. It also didn’t hurt that he was willing to shake it up at times by having his real life divorce complement a fake divorce from his TV wife, played by Cheryl Hines.

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#7-THE LARRY SANDERS SHOW (HBO 1992-1998)

-While HBO had the amazing Not Necessarily the News back in the 80s that was an early forerunner in the Comedy News programs that are very popular today, I would say HBO’s legend sort of began with THE LARRY SANDERS SHOW, a single-camera show shot in the same vain as stuff like THE OFFICE and…well…most shows are nowadays. Larry Sanders was a smart and inventive show…and it was funny. It wasn’t always laugh out loud funny but it was witty and dry and urbane and completely original for its time. It also could be said it was an early example of cringe TV.

THE LARRY SANDERS SHOW was based around the titular fictional late-night talk show hosted by Sanders, played by the late great genius Garry Shandling (whose previous effort, IT’S GARY SHANDLING’S SHOW, deserves a shout out for how it basically made a mockery of the traditional sitcom format). The cast of characters included Sanders’ meek sidekick Hank (Jeffrey Tambor) and his blustery producer Artie (Rip Torn) and typically various guest stars on a week by week basis considering he was hosting a talk show.

I should point out that HBO’s history with comedy certainly hasn’t been as consistently successful as it has been with drama…so it is a little funny in retrospect to think that a comedy show is what put it on the map…but it deserves to be mentioned often for being such and inventive and groundbreaking show. I feel like it is never mentioned enough…and even though it broke through barriers in the 90s by getting several Emmy nominations year after year, it lost 5 times to FRAISER and once to SEINFELD. You can’t deny that those were two pretty good sitcoms…hell, SEINFELD may be the most iconic sitcom ever…but it seems sad that a show like LARRY SANDERS doesn’t often get its fair shake.

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#6-FLEABAG (BBC/Amazon 2016-2019)

-I came across FLEABAG‘s first season not long after it originally premiered. At that point, it seemed like no one was talking about it but the reviews seemed immensely positive and I do love basically anything that is British so I gave it a go.

FLEABAG is easily my favorite comedy series in recent years. It falls under cringe comedy, cynical comedy, and even flight-of-fancy at times. Phoebe Waller-Bridge, genius that she is, based this around her one-woman show (which is also fantastic and even more bold) involving a single thirtysomething woman who owns a small struggling cafe and is essentially the millennial who feels lost and isn’t sure what she wants out of life.

I almost don’t even want to talk about the show at all. I feel like it just needs to be seen…and it is an easy watch because it’s only two seasons (and she isn’t planning on bringing it back any time soon…she said perhaps once she is a lot older) and 12 episodes altogether.

Plus, she has a great bunch of supporting players around her including Sian Clifford who is delightful as her uppity and neurotic older sister Claire, the divine Olivia Colman as their snippy godmother turned stepmother, and in the second season we get Andrew Scott as a priest that crosses paths with Fleabag…and the results make for a truly brilliant stretch of episodes.

Just…go watch it. I am not a binge watcher by nature but I sped through season 2 in a day…and I think season 1 was split over two days.

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#5-THE SOPRANOS (HBO 1999-2007)

–If LARRY SANDERS helped put HBO more on the map, I feel like THE SOPRANOS solidified it as a true power player.

We now live in the age of the anti-hero where the line between protagonist and antagonist isn’t always abundantly clear…and I think that often makes any form of entertainment much more interesting as you never really know how to feel about or expect from those kinds of characters.

Tony Soprano as a mobster in therapy is certainly a concept that might seem a little iffy at first glance, but it made for an interesting dynamic right off the bat. The show does realize it can’t sustain it as much so it does feel like they fade Lorraine Bracco’s Dr. Melfi into the background post season 4.

Much like THE GODFATHER is considered the pinnacle of mob movies, I think THE SOPRANOS would easily be considered the TV equivalent. Truly strong writing, directing, and acting. The late James Gandolfini as Tony Soprano and Edie Falco as his suffering (but strong) wife Carmela make for a truly dynamic duo.

I think the show was definitely at its best in its first 4 seasons, and I particularly loved the dynamic between Tony and his rather acerbic mother Livia (played by the truly amazing Nancy Marchand who passed away between its second and third season)…but I must say that its infamous series finale certainly made for a lot of discussion and theory making as to what the “cut to black” meant. I loved it then and I love it still today.

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#4-TWIN PEAKS/TP: The Return (ABC 1990-1991/Showtime 2017)

-Ranking this 4th almost feels like a betrayal. TWIN PEAKS could very well be the most influential piece of entertainment I’ve ever encountered…and despite how brilliant it was, it also does suffer more than it succeeded.

TWIN PEAKS, as most of you know, was co-created by famed surrealist director David Lynch along with TV writer Mark Frost. Both of them always stated that the show as to strictly be about the resident of Twin Peaks and that the show’s pilot, which introduced the murder of recently crowned Homecoming Queen Laura Palmer, would use that as a McGuffin of sorts to ease viewers into the town.

Here’s the problem with that: we all love a good mystery but sometimes, we just want the mystery to finally be solved. By the end of the show’s first season, viewers were livid that her killer wasn’t revealed. Don’t believe me? Watch this clip from an ABC news broadcast featuring Diane Sawyer and Sam Donaldson that goes into the drama of how fans reacted to getting no answer:

This caused ABC to freak out and they insisted Lynch and Frost reveal who the killer was ASAP (and I will not reveal who the killer was)…and they did by the 2nd season’s 7th episode. The reveal of the killer actually helped prop up another mystery in a sense, not to mention made network executives even more uncomfortable so with that all in place, Lynch then left the show because he was too upset at how the network killed the show.

Did the show really have to be killed? I mentioned before that Lynch and Frost had intended the show to be about the town but it was obvious that the show was primarily thriving strictly based on the investigation and mystery surrounding “Who Killed Laura Palmer?”. Once the show reverted to its other storylines, people began tuning out in droves and without Lynch in particular to guide the ship, guest directors and other writers tried doing their work in the way they felt best resembled Lynch which just meant most things came off as a cheap or pretentious imitation.

Lynch did come back to right the ship at the end of the second season with a season finale that was one of, if not THE, best episodes of the series…and then ABC promptly cancelled it even though it ended with a many crazy cliffhangers.

I could go on and on about this series…and frankly I should write a whole post about it so I can go on more at length, but my main point here is that whenever Lynch was directly involved in writing or directing the episodes, the results were brilliant and innovative. Otherwise, they ranged from very good (seldom) to rather dull or ridiculous.

Lynch and Frost returned strong with Showtime’s reboot TWIN PEAKS: THE RETURN in which they were able to achieve something that was both not what we asked for but also what we ended up needing and didn’t deserve to get.

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#3-THE WIRE (HBO 2002-2008)

-The industry may seem to have a bone to pick with David Simon and his colleagues considering they never seem to get any kind of awards attention, but hey, they have the legend behind them…and considering what else was getting awards attention throughout its run, I think its safe to say THE WIRE will live on while JOAN OF ARCADIA and BOSTON LEGAL will mostly just live on in modest streaming viewership.

David Simon served as a reporter for the Baltimore Sun from 1982-1995…and developed a strong connection to his community which led him to begin writing based around what he knew. After writing for NBC’s cop show Homicide: Life on the Street, he then wrote the largely forgotten but wonderful HBO miniseries The Corner, which feels a lot like a forerunner to The Wire as it is set on a rough street in Baltimore involving a poor black family in which the patriarch is a drug addict. It was the only time Simon was honored with an actual Emmy win for his work.

THE WIRE aired for 5 seasons and each season took a primary focus on a specific issue:

Season 1-The War on Drugs

Season 2-Unions

Season 3-Politics

Season 4-The Education System

Season 5-Media

I feel like THE WIRE is another show that deserves its own lengthy essay because it is so rich with stellar writing, important concepts, and acting that was among the best ever seen on television because it felt so real. In many ways, it was like watching a true documentary at times.

I do want to single out what I consider to be the best season: which would be the 4th.

Despite the season by season focus, each set of characters still remains featured as the series progresses though to varying degrees of screentime (with the exception of season 2 which seems to disappear from existence until the very end…plus Dominic West’s character of McNulty is seen less as by this point, the actor really missed his family in England and wanted to go back more regularly)…and in Season 4, we get re-introduced the disgraced cop Roland Pryzbylewski, who was considered incompetent and rash, but has actually found himself by working as a teacher at a middle school in which attendance is low and funding is down.

His response to the students and watching their lives in relation to the kind of crime we’ve seen them be apart of on the streets in previous is nothing short of heartbreaking and infuriating…though still unbelievably captivating.

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#2-THE SIMPSONS (FOX 1989-Present)

-I was a year old when The Simpsons premiered….and its 32nd season just premiered (as of this writing) a little over a week ago. When most people think of The Simpsons nowadays it is usually one of the following: “I can’t believe that show is still on” or “It stopped being funny 20 years ago!”

Has The Simpsons stopped being funny? I don’t know if I would go that far. I will say that the quality has dipped dramatically to the point where the truly well done episodes are few and far between. The only real things it has going for it now are that they still have its amazing voiceover actors and that it is still better than Family Guy.

The Simpsons started showing signs of becoming erratic in Season 9 (the infamous episode The Principal and the Pauper being the most infamous example more for its story rather than the script itself) and then descended more with seasons 11 and 12 feeling surprisingly weak at times. The show did rebound some once Al Jean came back for season 13 and it maintained a steady quality for several years until crashing more so beginning with season 20.

So, this leaves me with The Simpsons Seasons 1-8…a stretch of seasons that are brilliant, hilarious, innovative, iconic, and classic…and the majority of them still hold up remarkably well today. On a basic level, the pop culture references feel more timeless in these episodes whereas today, they rely too much on pop culture for references as they’ve mined as much as they probably could from these characters.

When The Simpsons premiered, it was seen as “counter-culture” at time when we were coming off 8 years of the Reagan Administration and approaching the one-term of Bush Sr. In fact, it was Bush Sr. that once made the infamous comment that he felt American families should be “a lot more like the Waltons and a lot less like the Simpsons”.

The remarkable thing about the show was how seamlessly it managed to blend satire, cynicism, quirkiness, and sentimentality…and as for the latter, due to the other tones the show brilliantly kept, the sentiments always felt earned and amazingly heartfelt.

It is also amazing how much the show has been able to tap into the psyche of how we are as a society. Upon a recent rewatch, I was amazed at how the show was able to speak to something that seemed crazy to me decades ago but seems more relevant now than it did in 1997.

I once did a post about my top 10 favorite Simpsons episodes. I don’t know if it would be the same if I made it today but here is a sampling of what I consider to be THE BEST OF THE SIMPSONS:

Last Exit to Springfield, Marge vs. The Monorail, Lisa’s Substitute, A Streetcar Named Marge, Bart Sells His Soul, Lemon of Troy, Cape Feare, Summer of 4ft 2, Homer’s Enemy, and A Star is Burns.

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#1-BREAKING BAD (AMC 2008-2014)

-Actors can impress you. Actors can go far beyond whatever you might have expected of them. Who knows what might be hiding inside someone like Pauly Shore?

Okay, let’s not discuss Pauly Shore more than that, but when you look at someone like Bryan Cranston, most people remembered him as either Dr. Tim Whatley on SEINFELD or for his truly hilarious portrayal as the bizarre dad Hal on MALCOLM IN THE MIDDLE. It was obvious Cranston was talented, but he could do more than comedy. We see it all the time: The Comedic Actor Who Jumps to Dramas (Tom Hanks, Jim Carrey, and more recently Adam Sandler)…but I don’t think anyone was quite prepared for Bryan Cranston as Walter White.

The creator of Breaking Bad, Vince Gilligan, had been a writer on The X-Files and had written an episode involving an anti-Semite who takes Mulder hostage. Cranston was cast as this character and Gilligan expressed that he was quite amazed at how well Cranston was able to play someone that was loathsome but somehow give him a sympathetic edge. Tying into this, Gilligan was curious to take the anti-hero concept a little further by having a lead character begin as a protagonist and turning him into the antagonist. The pitch? Turn Mr. Chips into Scarface.

Cranston’s Walter White is a very meek high school Chemistry teacher who ends up getting diagnosed with a rare form of Lung Cancer and he is essentially told his death will be inevitable. As a means to provide for his family, a chance encounter with a former slacker student of his named Jesse (Aaron Paul) leads him into the world of drugs. While Walter doesn’t partake, his chemistry skills make him a master at making primo meth.

Thus begins the journey of Walter and Jesse, an odd couple both tragic and hilarious and infuriating. Cranston and Paul are magnificent together and might very well be my favorite duo ever on a TV series…and if not, they are certainly in the top 3.

BREAKING BAD premiered on AMC not long after MAD MEN which took off as an awards darling right off the bat. This isn’t to say BREAKING BAD didn’t get attention, because Cranston did win his first Emmy for the show’s first season. However, with today’s standards, the show’s audience grew and by the final season, it was hugely popular and built up buzz just as it was starting to leave the airwaves (much like SCHITT’S CREEK recently).

I do feel like MAD MEN had nearly instant admiration but BREAKING BAD seems to have the legend behind it…and I can’t go any further without mentioning the supporting cast.

Anna Gunn as Skylar White seems to be one of the most infamous characters in recent memory. People seemed to LOATHE her in the same way many people grew to hate January Jones’ Betty Draper on MAD MEN. Early on. you do sort of prickle up at Skylar’s cold attitude but by the end, I feel like she just accepts what Walter has gotten into and decides she wants to be sure it goes smoothly…and Gunn is magnificent.

Jonathan Banks as Mike. Talk about a cool son-of-a-bitch. Mike has got to be one of the coolest badass characters ever devised. He is no-nonsense, tough, dry, and yet has a heart the size of Kansas. I still think how he takes a protective approach to Jesse is incredibly touching.

Bob Odenkirk as “Saul Goodman”. When he first came onto the scene in season 2, he provided the show with much needed comic relief. Sure, certain scenes may have been humorous before but Saul was an irreverent beast…and I love that Better Call Saul now exists because Odenkirk (and Banks) both deserve the exposure for their amazing work.

Giancarlo Esposito as Gus Fring. This guy was always a source of jubilance and charisma in everything he performed…and with Fring, he becomes a soul-less, menacing, calculating, and cold creature. When a man threatens to kill an infant, you pretty much know he means business….sadistic, evil business.

Before I ramble on any further, I do want to talk about how well that Breaking Bad builds up to its climax. The final two seasons are easily the best seasons of TV I have ever seen, and it is primarily that reason that I have the show as #1. I also want to give a shout out to one particular episode…and it won’t be anything new to hear, but so be it:

Ozymandias isn’t just the greatest episode of BREAKNG BAD, it is my current choice for the single greatest episode of TV I’ve seen. It’s not an easy claim to make because of how hyperbolic it is but I think the entire show builds up to that episode and then the final two are something of an immensely strong epilogue.

Cranston went from being a goofy irreverent sitcom dad to a four-time Emmy winning, two-time Tony winning, and Oscar nominated actor who wowed the world and had other actors, like Sir Anthony Hopkins, calling him to tell him that his work was the best he had ever seen.

You never know what an actor may be capable of…and we should also all bow down to Vince Gilligan.

Lastly, a special shout-out to my sister Rachel who is quite possibly the biggest super fan of that show out there…so much so that one year, her family Christmas card was inspired by the show.

With her persistence, I finally watched and finished the show as I, admittedly, wasn’t really responding to the show during its first season. I did finally make it to season 2 and that was when my admiration kept building. So thank you, Rachel!

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IN CONCLUSION:

I feel okay with my list. I certainly don’t want to go on for hours about 20-30 shows and I feel like I was able to narrow down a list to shows that I respect, admire, and am entertained by. I think I’ve said enough for now so I will leave it at that. Coming up next (hopefully): FAVORITE FILM DIRECTORS

There was something truly exciting and joyous about watching SCHITT’S CREEK sweep the Emmys this past Sunday. Some might argue that a couple of its wins were a little bit much (I still don’t know if I would’ve given it Directing, for example)…but I can’t deny that watching such a small Canadian series swoop in during its final year and do a historic unprecedented sweep was quite the sight.

SCHITT’S CREEK was up for all of the major categories it could’ve been on Emmy might: Series, Directing, Writing, Actor, Actress, Supporting Actor, and Supporting Actress…and it won all seven of them. It also won two Creative Arts Emmys a couple of nights prior for Casting and Contemporary Costumes. With those nine wins, it beat the record previously held by THE MARVELOUS MRS. MAISEL for the past two years (8 wins) as the most honored Comedy show in a single year in Emmys history.

What makes this sweep even more bittersweet is that Emmys essentially ignored this show right up until the very end.

I can still remember when I first heard of SCHITT’S CREEK. I was waiting in my old train station in Astoria, Queens about to head into work when I saw an advertisement on the platform. The title certainly got my attention but seeing Eugene Levy and especially Catherine O’Hara’s involvement made me very excited being a fan of both of their work from SCTV and the Christopher Guest movies, to name a couple of examples.

At first, the show struggled in the ratings. This was primarily due to the fact that SCHITT’S CREEK was picked up in the states by a fledgling cable network called Pop TV, which I had never heard of at that point nor have I heard anything about any other show to have aired on the network since.

It took NETFLIX acquiring the show in 2017 to really let it find its audience…and due to the fact that I didn’t have cable (and still don’t have cable), I didn’t get to see the show either until it was placed on NETFLIX. I had managed to see a few episodes of the first season but was actually surprisingly mixed on it at first. It wasn’t until the second season that I started to get more invested.

Much like NETFLIX gets commented on for helping bring a stronger fan base to perhaps the greatest show in the history of television (BREAKING BAD), this certainly helped SCHITT’S CREEK. However, the show received zero Emmy nominations for its first four seasons…and a lot of people think the 4^th season was the show at its true peak (I honestly don’t know how I feel about that…I am still at a point where I thought the show was just truly consistent up to the end). It wasn’t until the show’s penultimate season, its 5^th which the show barely creeped into the Emmys with nominations for Series, Catherine O’Hara, Eugene Levy, and Costumes…but it lost the first two bids to FLEABAG (another foreign show, from the UK, which built up goodwill quickly thanks to Amazon and which the Emmys showered praise upon it knowing that it was its final season) and Levy lost to Bill Hader from BARRY. Honestly, it was a tough race…and I truly think the FLEABAG and BARRY wins were deserved.

Then, SCHITT’S CREEK came in for its final season this year and got a very solid 15 nominations…and won nearly half of them. It even lost one of its nominations to itself (in Writing).

So yes…I feel very happy about this sweep. I think it also swept due to the fact that it had been so ignored prior that a lot of voters may have felt compelled to give it a lot since they would never have another chance (although this kind of mentality didn’t help another show nominated that also departed this year: THE GOOD PLACE, which won zero major awards during its 4 year run).

The Emmys have always been a rather irreverent award show. For many years, a lot of people bemoaned them for two major reasons: their voting system and their penchant for rewarding the same shows and actors over and over again.

A lot of this goes back to the 90s when they gave FRASIER the Emmy for Best Comedy Series FIVE YEARS IN A ROW. This was at a time when its biggest competitors were the highly inventive THE LARRY SANDERS SHOW (which had been on HBO at a time when it seemed like a big deal for a show on that network to even be nominated…my how times have changed!) and another little show called SEINFELD. Also, this was at a time when THE SIMPSONS was at the peak of its genius and yet The Emmys ignored it when its staff chose to submit if for Best Comedy Series instead of Animated Series.

In more recent years, the Emmys developed a strong attachment to MODERN FAMILY, which pulled off the same feat as FRASIER by winning Best Comedy Series for its first five seasons…despite battling such strong contenders as VEEP, THE OFFICE, PARKS & RECREATION, and 30 ROCK.

In terms of actors, they latched onto FRAISER stars Kelsey Grammer and David Hyde Pierce, giving them 4 wins apiece…but they aren’t the only actors that the Emmys seemed to have a penchant for rewarding multiple times.

In the 80s and 90s alone, the Emmys gave as many as 4 or 5 Emmys to the following:

John Larroquette for NIGHT COURT (after his 4^th win, he felt like it wasn’t fair so he insisted he be removed from competition after that).

Candace Bergen for MURPHY BROWN (after her FIFTH win, she followed the same path as John Larroquette)

Helen Hunt for MAD ABOUT YOU (for the final four seasons of her show, she won on each nomination…including beating out two contenders that many fans and critics felt were more deserving at the time, Ellen DeGeneres and Calista Flockhart)

Brad Garrett and Doris Roberts for EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND (each won 4 Emmys…and I can still remember the tinge of annoyance I felt when Brad Garrett beat out costar Peter Boyle, who never won, for their final nominations for the show).

Tony Shalhoub for MONK (while he only won three, I feel like he managed to beat out some very formidable contenders who would go on to never win for their work. One such person was Steve Carell for the truly iconic Michael Scott on THE OFFICE)

Allison Janney for THE WEST WING (in her case, she managed to win twice in Supporting Actress and then twice in Leading…and I still recall the internet being upset when she pulled off that fourth win)

Julia Louis-Dreyfus for VEEP (this one is particularly a mixed bag because she managed to win a whopping SIX Emmys for the same role…a record. On one hand, it seems a bit excessive because she managed to win over extremely worthy candidates who never got to take an Emmy for their great work…such as Amy Poehler for PARKS & RECREATION. However, in this case, I feel like JLD was truly masterful as Salina Meyer so it somehow doesn’t feel as scandalous).

One comment I hear some people say about the Emmys (that truly know the process) are that if they have the work to back it up, they deserve the award no matter how many times they may have won.

The Emmys have a particularly tough road when compared to such award show voting bodies. While Oscar voters have to watch maybe upwards of a dozen or so nominated films, Emmy voters would have to watch dozens and dozens and dozens of TV shows which might have as little as 8-10 episodes in a season or as many as 18-23 in a season.

How can you expect someone to keep up with that?

This is why the Emmys created what is still referred to by many as “the tape system”.

Around for decades, this system means that either an actor or a show’s producer can submit an episode of their choosing for to be viewed for consideration. This system is actually surprisingly flawed and while there is the whole case of “art is subjective”, there were times where it seemed like favoritism and politics would propel someone to a win even though they didn’t necessarily have the best submission.

You could even argue that someone who may have had a great overall season with plenty of tapes to choose from could lose to someone who had a relatively meh to okay season but had one truly amazing episode that they submitted. One example of this that some people brought up at the time of its occurrence was Edie Falco winning for season 4 of THE SOPRANOS. She submitted that season’s finale, WHITECAPS, in which she was truly magnificent but the season as a whole wasn’t considered as strong as some of her other contenders (I particularly remember people praising Jennifer Garner for ALIAS and Frances Conroy for SIX FEET UNDER).

A lot of it simply comes down to what shows voters may have a stronger affinity for…and while it did take a while for The Emmys to actually reward a show from Cable in the Series’ categories, they did start giving those shows awards in the acting categories…and in the case of THE SOPRANOS, it certainly had a lot goodwill for the likes of Gandolfini and Falco.

You could also argue that a certain sense of class or recognition could help someone in a close race. In 2005, three of the four main DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES were nominated for Best Actress in a Comedy: Marcia Cross, Teri Hatcher, and Felicity Huffman.

(SIDENOTE: The snubbed housewife was Eva Longoria. At the time, creator Marc Cherry commented on this snub and, knowing the system, actually said that he intended to write her more baity scenes in the upcoming second season to rectify this error. In short, it didn’t work…and a lot of Longoria’s baity scenes floundered…as did much of the second season to fans and critics and its Emmy tally dropped and never fully recovered).

At the time, many people were divided on who would win that Emmy. Teri Hatcher was seen as the ambassador of the show and managed to win the Golden Globe and SAG Award prior to the Emmys. While these aren’t necessarily reliable precursors like they can be for the movie side of things, many felt she could pull it off…and then she submitted an episode called “Move On” (which is the episode in which she sings New York, New York in a karaoke bar while lashing out at her ex-husband) instead of “Impossible” which was seen as her season highlight in terms of both comedic and dramatic work.

Her co-stars were in a tougher position:

Marcia Cross was, and still is, the best aspect of that show in many ways. I adored her character of Bree, an uptight conservative housewife battling a family that basically hated her, but the problem with Cross in that first season was that she didn’t exactly have an episode that I felt truly showcased her for an Emmy tape. It truly benefitted by watching her work for the full season.

Felicity Huffman had one episode entitled “Guilty” in which she hits a breaking point in dealing with her wild children and it leads to her crying in the park talking to her friends. It’s truly a wonderful episode for her…though not in the least bit comedic. In the end, she didn’t submit it…she actually submitted the pilot episode in which she didn’t have the strongest presence.

In fact, some of the award prognosticators at the time thought the all three tapes from the DH ladies benefitted Marcia Cross…though Felicity Huffman ended up pulling it off.

Many were floored by Huffman’s win because if you truly base it on the tapes, she didn’t deserve it but some argued she came across as looking very good in Hatcher’s tape and especially in Cross’ tape.

Due to the massive success of DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES that first season, one could suspect that voters saw Huffman’s work in full (or at least the episode “Guilty”, which was the highest rated episode of that season due to big promotion that a character would be killed off)…but Huffman did have a pedigree about her that the other two didn’t. Huffman had been around in more respected circles doing theatre (particularly Mamet) and was known as being married to respected actor William H. Macy plus she was the star of the short-lived but wonderful Aaron Sorkin show SPORTS NIGHT…and that same year, she was garnering Oscar buzz for her work as Transgender woman in TRANSAMERICA, which did turn into an Oscar nomination.

The Oscar buzz angle definitely helps…and I think it helped the likes of Melissa McCarthy winning for MIKE & MOLLY the year she was getting buzz for BRIDESMAIDS and also Regina King winning for SEVEN SECONDS in what was considered an upset over Laura Dern’s work in THE TALE because she had IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK coming out…which would actually win her the Oscar.

The Emmys system can certainly cause a lot of political decisions…and I think it can also lead to rather questionable nominations. It also doesn’t help when networks campaign too hard for something.

One of the most bizarre (and most revealing) incidents at the Emmys in terms of Emmy nominations occurred in 2006.

HBO had a TV movie called MRS. HARRIS starring Annette Bening and Ben Kingsley as Jean Harris and Herman Tarnower, the murderer and victim in the highly publicized Scarsdale Diet murder. When the movie was released on HBO, the credits showed Bening and Kinglsey first but then showed the rest of the cast in alphabetical order.

This made the third name shown in the credits as Ellen Burstyn. It goes without saying that Burstyn is a truly legendary actress and has the performances (and awards) to back that up. HBO included her name on submissions list for a Supporting Actress nomination and she ended up getting a nomination.

Here’s the problem though:

Her performance was a cameo. Not only was it a cameo, it lasted 14 seconds.

That’s right.

Ellen Burstyn got nominated for an Emmy for a performance in which she was onscreen for 14 seconds and had two lines. I haven’t even watched this TV movie in over a decade and I can still basically recite her lines:

“I had my own money so he was more relaxed with me…but I don’t think it can be said that Herman was relaxed with any woman”.

AND:

“His favorite piece of music was the film score to CLEOPATRA”.

That’s it.

Was she bad? Obviously not…but it was just two lines while talking in an accent. She probably did the part primarily as a favor plus she had played Jean Harris in another TV movie years before.

What this nomination truly proved was how lazy and problematic the Emmy voting system was and it did lead to a new rule where a performer had to be onscreen for a certain percentage of time…(I should look the rule but I’ve already been rambling for a bit now. I believe the rule was that they should be onscreen for roughly 5-7 minutes at least in their film/series).

I also mentioned political factors earlier and while I agree that politics are important when DISCUSSING POLITICS, I am not sure you should choose who you are voting for based on the simple fact of who they are playing.

In 2017, both Kate McKinnon and Alec Baldwin won Emmys for SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE in the Supporting categories.

(SIDENOTE: The fact that SNL performers can actually be nominated in the Comedy Series category when they are technically a Variety Show is a bit unfair to people on actual comedy shows.)

Someone like Alec Baldwin winning may not seem surprising as he IS quite talented and he is an Emmy favorite and his portrayal of Donald Trump was very well received…the problem is that he still mostly just appeared in an episode for a few minutes and then would leave. It sort of defeats the whole purpose of “the tape system” even though that system in and of itself is flawed. Plus, you can’t deny that some of those voters just wanted to vote for Baldwin to spite Trump. Don’t get me wrong, Trump deserves every ounce of criticism and vitriol spewed at him but I feel like voting in such a way also costs a very talented performer an Emmy (i.e. Titus Burgess for UNBREAKABLE KIMMY SCHMIDT)

Then you have Kate McKinnon, who has actually won TWICE in her category. Here is the deal with her: she’s fantastic. I cannot begrudge her having two Emmys but I do feel like her 2nd win was riding off the coattails of her portrayal of Hillary Rodham Clinton. In fact, her submission episode was the one hosted by Dave Chappelle…the episode right after Clinton lost to Trump. In it, McKinnon opened the show as Clinton playing the piano and singing a mostly somber rendition of Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah. Truthfully, it is a lovely moment and it served also as a tribute to Cohen who happened to pass away that week…AND it served as a fitting message on Clinton’s election loss.

However, I feel like the entire buzz of that election propelled her to the win. That year, she was up against Judith Light for TRANSPARENT. She submitted the season 3 finale “Exciting & New” in which the family goes on a cruise and much to their surprise, she manages to put on a one-woman show in which she airs out a lot of repressed emotions. The season had been glorious for her (and her nominated co-star Kathryn Hahn) as we learn more about her past dealing with her husband’s desire to transition to being a female and, perhaps even more revealing, how she was sexually abused as a child by a teacher. All of this hits breaking point in her episode…and when I first saw, I knew it was one of my favorite performances on an episode of every TV show I’ve seen.

And yet, she lost. Art may be subjective but I just don’t see how someone could watch that episode and think “I feel bad about Clinton. I am voting for McKinnon!”

Even this year at the Emmys, Brad Pitt got nominated for Best Guest Actor in a Comedy Series for his brief opening bit on SNL (that he did over ZOOM no less) in which he played Dr. Anthony Fauci. It was an okay bit…not particularly that funny. In fact, a lot of the political humor on that show has been dying down in my opinion, and it’ll be curious to see how they fare this fall.

So you want to hear how political it can get? This is about as clear as it can be.

The Hollywood Reporter released anonymous Emmy ballots from voters who had been interviewed. It is a common practice that has done with the Oscars for years. One such vote was quoted as such:

“This was very much a political statement. I talked all of my friends into voting for him too. Trump will be pissed to see Pitt win for playing Fauci.“

I get it. We want to troll Trump. He’s horrible and I loathe him more than I can possibly say…however this is about voting for the best person. I simply don’t see any reason to consider Pitt the best in that category. He did end up losing to the much more deserving Eddie Murphy.

CONCLUSION:

I had originally intended to write about just SCHITT’S CREEK but it got me thinking about the history of the Emmys and how many bizarre incidents have occurred and also their penchant for having a hard time to break out of the box. I do feel that for the most part, they’ve gotten better about spreading the wealth (though the attachment still happens with stuff like MODERN FAMILY and JLD winning for VEEP six time).

Award shows are, at their basic core, not important. In the end, they are essentially political and popularity contests…and yet, I still find myself watching them and critiquing their choices. A lot of the time, I get more excited when series or performers get an award and it leads to a boost in their profile. While SCHITT’S CREEK may have ended, it is nice to see them get to go out with a passionate embrace. Long-time working character actors Margo Martindale (“CHARACTER ACTRESS MARGO MARTINDALE!!!”….BOJACK HORSEMAN anyone?) and Ann Dowd winning Emmys for such fantastic TV work and them being so moved upon winning makes you feel happy because you like that they finally get recognition.

This even goes for other award shows. People that know me or read my social media posts or this blog know how much I was worshipping and praising PARASITE and how thrilled I was when it won the Oscar. A movie like PARASITE benefitted much more from that exposure than say something like 1917 or ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD. Plus, all of the industry awards before it seemed to favor those two films to PARASITE which made the Oscars embrace of it all the more delicious (though them ignoring its actors primarily due to lack of recognition was unforgivable).

Award shows are certainly a complex beast. In the end, what stands the test of time will do so…but there are those moments where a certain actor or film or series wins and you can’t help but be thrilled for the people involved.

SCHITT’S CREEK sweeping was definitely one of those times.

Oh yes…2019. This was a year most of us didn’t care for and we kept looking to 2020 to give us a renewed sense of hope.

So much for that.

So yes…the United States of America is currently a cesspool overrun by despicable people and many people still seem to love these despicable people.

I will just sit that aside before I get more angry and frustrated than I already am and slide back into the talk of movies. Things are going to be interesting this year with COVID-19 still rearing its head and leaving most theatres closed or having many movies strictly be released on streaming platforms. We are at that point where any movie that will be an awards contender will be coming out soon whether it be on Netflix or at film festivals.

It will be interesting to see if the slate of films 2020 can provide will even match up to 2019, which I found to be a very strong year for film. 2018 had released some great selections but you wouldn’t have even be able to tell it based on most of the movies that got a lot of awards attention. 2019’s Award contenders were A LOT better but pretty much all of the nominees (aside from one very notable exception) would’ve made my top 11-20 as opposed to my top 10…and yet they were all mainly very good films.

After having caught up on a few missing selections in the last few months, I have decided to finally post my list of my top 10 favorite films of last year. Yes, for those who know me, you probably already know what my #1 is going to be.

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

BOOKSMART, THE PEANUT BUTTER FALCON, DOLEMITE IS MY NAME, FORD V.S. FERRARI, MARRIAGE STORY, HONEY BOY, THE IRISHMAN, THE SOUVENIR, and LITTLE WOMEN.

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#10-MIDSOMMAR (Directed by Ari Aster)

-After an absolutely remarkable debut in 2018 with the brutal horror film HEREDITARY, Ari Aster brought this rather disturbing entry that was a nod to the original WICKER MAN with a dose of emotional turmoil for good measure.

2019 was quite the banner year for young British actress Florence Pugh who gave us not only a scene-stealing Supporting performance as Amy in Greta Gerwig’s take on LITTLE WOMEN but with her work as Dani in MIDSOMMAR, she gave us a darker, brutal, drained, and emotional performance.

Pugh’s Dani is left in turmoil after her sister succeeds in killing herself and their parents via Carbon Monoxide poisoning. This emotional anguish is already adding stress to the troubled relationship with her boyfriend Christian…who had planned a secret trip with his friends to the ancestral commune of his Swedish friend Pelle called the Harga. After discovering the trip, he begrudgingly invites her even though he intended to break up with her right before leaving.

Not surprisingly, this idyllic commune turns out to be a cult that seeks to purge itself of any evil by sacrificing humans.

MIDSOMMAR is one of those movies that is going to polarize people, but even in the last year or so since it was released, it has already developed a more respected reputation.

I will actually be a tad surprised if it isn’t looked back on as a horror classic in a decade or so.

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#9-THE LAST BLACK MAN IN SAN FRANCISCO (Directed by Joe Talbot)

SYNOPSIS: Jimmie Fails is a young Black man seeking to reclaim his childhood home, a now-expensive Victorian house in a gentrified neighborhood of San Francisco.

-Gentrification is a word that is highly problematic. In some ways, people like the possibilities of what it can provide…but it is also, at its core, a racist and harsh process that is another example of capitalist greed.

With all of the horrors going on in this country currently, a movie like THE LAST BLACK MAN IN SAN FRANCISCO packs an extra punch.

When it was released in June 2019 (exactly one year before the peak of the BLACK LIVES MATTER protests that began to surge in the wake of the murder of George Floyd), this little gem of a film was mostly overlooked by the general public as is often the case for small independent films only grossing nearly $5 million against its $2 million budget.

I would seek out this movie if you are interested in seeing something that received great acclaim but was seen by very little people. It is currently on Amazon Prime so that is one option you have!

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#8-US (Directed by Jordan Peele

SYNOPSIS: After having something of a bizarre encounter as a child that has stuck with her for years, Adelaide Wilson (Nyong’o) and her family, who are attacked by a group of menacing doppelgängers while on vacation at a semi-remote lakeside cabin.

-The Sophomore Outing. Many artistic endeavors often end up suffering with a “slump” in quality when compared to its predecessor whether it be the first film in a series or the first season of a television show. In the case of something like US, the second film of comedian turned horror film director/producer/writer Jordan Peele, you may have something that isn’t as strong as the first outing (2017’s iconic GET OUT) but is quite remarkable in its own right.

I do think a lot of what will help your experience with US is to know very little about its plot beyond the basic premise. It will definitely aid in your experience along the way.

I do want to express the tone of the movie in relation to GET OUT because I do feel that while this movie does have some genuinely comedic moments (in the dark comedy sense), it feels more like a traditional Horror film when compared to GET OUT.

I also have to give a shoutout to Lupita Nyong’o who was royally robbed of an Oscar nomination for her performance when she truly should’ve won the freaking thing. The results left us with one of the weakest Best Actress categories in recent memory in the wake of her snub along with great performances by the likes of Alfre Woodard (CLEMENCY), Adele Haenel, (PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE), Awkwafina (THE FAREWELL), and Florence Pugh (MIDSOMMAR).

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#7-PAIN & GLORY (Directed by Pedro Almodovar)

SYNOPSIS: “Spanish film director Salvador Mallo (Antonio Banderas) is having a mid-life crisis just as a newly remastered copy of his beloved film SABOR is getting a re-release. Based on the push of one his friends, he is encouraged to seek out people from his past to rekindle relationships and have reunions. Some of these reunions play out in real time, others are recalled through flashbacks: his childhood in the 1960s, when he moved with his family to the primitive village of Paterna, his schooling, his first adult love in Madrid in the 1980s, the pain of the breakup of this relationship, writing as a therapy to forget, the discovery of cinema, facing the impossibility of continuing filming, etc.”

-Pedro Almodovar is typically known as being a vibrant, potent, chaotic, and dark director when it comes to the tone of his films. I feel like PAIN & GLORY represents a rather lovely change of pace for him despite needing to stress that he has always been a magnificent filmmaker.

Some film lovers may notice a similarity in the plot that links it to Federico Fellini’s benchmark classic from 1963: 8 1/2 which was about an Italian filmmaker having a midlife crisis while battling with his wife, two mistresses, and a producer having trouble understanding his vision.

PAIN & GLORY certainly shares a lot of the same sentiments but it feels more delicate in its approach. It also contains a fantastic Oscar-worthy performance by Antonio Banderas, which is his best work to date. He carries this movie with such ease and grace that you can’t help but marvel at him.

Being in Spanish, you will have to endure subtitles so if that is something you have an aversion to….then that’s simply a shame as you are missing out on so many wonderful films.

To quote Bong Joon ho: “Once you overcome the one-inch-tall barrier of subtitles, you will be introduced to so many more amazing films.”

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#6-UNCUT GEMS (Directed by Benny & Josh Safdie)

SYNOPSIS: Howard Ratner (Adam Sandler), a Jewish-American jeweler and gambling addict in New York City’s Diamond District, who must retrieve an expensive gem he purchased to pay off his debts.

-Every now and then, a movie comes along that has such a unique feel and energy that is unlike most films you typically come across. The Safdie Brothers (who seemingly may be on the path to being the next Coen Brothers) crafted a film that managed to have such a pulsating energy and tone that felt so vibrant and fresh.

A lot of what helps the film is the performance of Adam Sandler. This is a sentence I don’t think most people ever expected to say, even with his solid work in a movie like PUNCH DRUNK LOVE to back it up.

Sandler is a pretty much revelatory in this movie and was robbed of an Oscar nomination. His Howard is obnoxious and annoying and yet part of what is supposed to drive the movie is how much we are invested in him and want to see him succeed…and the fact they cast someone like Sandler in this part was a stroke of genius…and I am convinced the fact he got snubbed was due to the fact that he is simply Adam Sandler.

I actually hope Sandler will try to keep taking roles like this because he has proven he can handle a very complicated role and make us follow him all the way through without resorting to his cheap schtick that was already getting old by the late 90s.

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#5-THE FAREWELL (Directed by Lulu Wang)

SYNOPSIS: Billi (Awkwafina) is an aspiring Chinese-American writer who just turned 30. After receiving a scholarship rejection, she learns from her parents that her grandmother (Nai Nai) is terminally ill and they all return to Changchun, China to be with her. However, they insist on not telling Nai Nai about her ilness which is a common belief in that culture which really upsets Billi who is having trouble adapting to life in China.

-Based on true events that happened to writer/director Lulu Wang (who was robbed of writing and directing Oscar nominations), THE FAREWELL was a quiet and beautiful little film that stuck with me long after finishing it.

A lot of the film’s success comes from the absolutely beautiful performance of Awkwafina, who is so touching and heartfelt as Billi and, for being the same age as her, I strongly connected to her character and how she was feeling which seems to be very apparent amongst Millennials currently.

Nai Nai, played by Chinese actress Zhao Shuzhen, became something of a beloved figure amongst film fanatics who adored her warm presence in the film and many were quite saddened when she failed to receive a significant amount of awards attention. While she wouldn’t have made my personal lineup, she was certainly more worthy than most of the actual Oscar nominees.

PARASITE might have won the top honor at the Oscars but it didn’t receive a single acting nomination…and it still seems like a massive hurdle not just for black actors to get nominated but any kind of person of color…especially if it is for a foreign performances. The Asian and Hispanic communities are particularly overlooked which is a travesty.

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#4-KNIVES OUT (Directed by Rian Johnson)

SYNOPSIS: A modern whodunit, the film follows a master detective by the name of Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) investigating the patriarch’s death after a family gathering gone awry.

Rian Johnson followed up his somewhat erratically received work on THE LAST JEDI with a deliciously fun murder mystery that tips it hat to Agatha Christie but also gives it a fresh take to really spice it up for modern audiences.

There are a lot of movies from last year that I feel benefit from going in with as little knowledge as possible…and frankly, this film was marketed and promoted so well that I was actually surprised at how it progressed and how little the previews gave away.

I already used the word but I am going to repeat it again. This film is simply DELICIOUS. The script and direction are delicious, the ensemble is delicious, and the designs are delicious.

Daniel Craig might be a bit of a caricature as Benoit Blanc but he is a hell of a lot of fun as the “Foghorn Leghorn”-esque detective investigating the death of a prominent novelist on the night of his 85th birthday.

Even if you aren’t into murder mysteries, I think there is enough wit and suspense to grab you otherwise so I would highly recommend you check this one out. I was amazed I loved it as much as I did!

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#3-THE LIGHTHOUSE (Directed by Robert Eggars)

SYNOPSIS: Ephraim Winslow and Thomas Wake (Robert Pattinson and Willem Dafoe) are two lighthouse keepers in the late 19th century who start to lose their sanity when a storm strands them on the remote island where they are stationed.

-Much like Ari Aster with MIDSOMMAR and Jordan Peele with US, Robert Eggars had his sophomore outing with THE LIGHTHOUSE…only despite the greatness of those other films, THE LIGHTHOUSE was the best of the bunch in many ways.

Robert Eggars’ first major film, THE WITCH from 2015, was one of the most unsettlng and disturbing films I had ever seen…so much so that I will probably never sit through it again…and yet, I love it for that reason.

THE LIGHTHOUSE manages to keep that tone but tones it down…however, it also feels like you are watching a dark Ingmar Bergman movie with shades of David Lynch at his most experimental.

Robert Pattison does a sterling job here proving that he will be able to shake the horror that was having to play Edward Cullen in the TWILIGHT movies and he holds his own against Willem Dafoe, who was simply fantastic in this and robbed of an Oscar nomination for what was a win-worthy performance.

THE LIGHTHOUSE is also a film I see myself revisiting again as it the unsettling nature isn’t as overbearing but it also has a sense of being a film where you want to analyze every second of it…especially the final scenes.

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#2-PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE (Directed by Celine Sciamma)

SYNOPSIS: “Brittany, France, 1760. Marianne is commissioned to paint the wedding portrait of reluctant bride-to-be Héloïse under the guise of a hired companion. Observing Héloïse by day and discreetly interpreting her essence by night, their intimacy blossoms as the portrait progresses towards its inevitable completion.”

-At first glance, the French film PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE could be described as a CALL ME BY YOUR NAME with women set in 18th Century France.

There are certain similarities that are absolutely uncanny but the major difference is that CALL ME BY YOUR NAME was mostly overrated while PORTRAIT was a stunning masterpeice.

I don’t think I have seen a movie that looked quite as visually stunning as this one in terms of its setting, aesthetics, and cinematography…not to mention two exquisite performances from our leading ladies: Naomie Merlant and Adele Haenel, the latter whose final moments on screen are some of the best acting I have EVER seen in a film.

PORTRAIT has developed something of a following with film fanatics here in the States that I think will continue to grow over time primarily because it was mostly absent during awards season. France chose to push LES MISERABLES (no relation to the Victor Hugo work as it is based on the 2005 Paris Riots) which was better received in its native France than PORTRAIT and due to Oscar guidelines, only one foreign film per country could be submitted in the International Film category…and USA Distributor Neon also chose to put all of its promotional eggs into the basket of a film that will just so happen to be my #1 choice on this list so that unfairly hurt PORTAIT with a true chance to shine.

It is a slow moving film which won’t be helped for some who can’t stand the idea of reading subtitles (blah, blah, blah…), but it is simply a ravishing film and one that I truly hope will become a true classic as the years go by.

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#1-PARASITE (Directed by Bong Joon ho)

SYNOPSIS: Link below to a spoiler-free review I wrote earlier this year.

-I went on and on about this movie to such an extent that I am sure some people were probably sick of my constant posts about it. The truth is simply this:

VERY FEW MOVIES HAVE EVER DRIVEN ME TO THAT KIND OF LEVEL OF FANDOM AS THIS ONE.

PARASITE feels like a movie that will truly be talked about for decades to come as a bonafide classic…and it might be my favorite movie to have come out since 2000. That is a very bold statement to make, but my response to the movie was potent and visceral. In the grand scheme, it might not be my choice for the best movie of the last two decades but it is certainly in consideration.

I am going to link up to my spoiler-free review here:

https://ajhost.home.blog/2020/01/19/a-review-of-bong-joon-hos-parasite-yes-virginia-it-is-a-masterpiece/

I would recommend reading this for a more in-depth look into my passion for the film and also for an idea of its synopsis without giving away the full plot.

I do intend to write a more detailed analysis of the film sometime soon (if I can get all my thoughts out onto paper) so be on the look out for that!

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CONCLUSION:

2019 was a very solid year for film and I think it will stand up as a very popular year for film fans in upcoming decades.

I think we are seeing something of a resurgence when it comes to quality original films and I hope that sticks as we still keep getting sequel after sequel and reboot after reboot.

I also think it’ll be interesting to see where the horror genre is going. Horror films have never been award show magnets but with the artsier tone that many have been taking in recent years (THE BABADOOK, IT FOLLOWS, HEREDITARY, THE WITCH, MIDSOMMAR, IT COMES AT NIGHT, VELVET BUZZSAW, GET OUT, US, and THE LIGHTOUSE…and even PARASITE a little bit…), I wouldn’t be shocked if some finally breakthrough with some major awards attention….but in the end, awards aren’t everything. We are talking about a major awards body (the Motion Picture Academy) that have rewarded the likes of CRASH and GREEN BOOK.

I feel like very few sitcoms have become as engrained in my life like THE GOLDEN GIRLS did. It is certainly one of the few series I have seen every episode multiple times over and over again (though I did tend to skip a few whenever they would be shown on TV…such as Vacation, Empty Nests, Fiddler on the Ropes, Brother Can You Spare a Jacket?, and I suppose most of the clip shows).

THE GOLDEN GIRLS is an interesting case because it has a very well deserved fan base and it is always hilarious but the show also suffers from strange and erratic continuity errors that completely upend what we knew about the characters and their histories while also being heavily reliant on pop culture references from the 80s and early 90s.

I have always considered myself to be pretty good at understanding references but even I would have moments watching where I would have to think about a joke and look it up because, to name an example, I didn’t even know who Susan Anton was.

As it stands though, I still greatly love the show and I particularly have a fondness for the late Bea Arthur and her portrayal of the acerbic divorcee Dortohy Zbornak. The following list, much like the one I did for THE SIMPSONS, will be five honorable mentions and then my top 10. I feel a little more confident about this list than I did for THE SIMPSONS because very few shows had as many homeruns as that show did.

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

-Letter to Gorbachev (Season 3)

-Sick & Tired (Season 5)

-Mrs. George Devereaux (Season 6)

-Mister Terrific (Season 3)

-It’s a Miserable Life (Season 2)

#10-Journey to the Center of Attention (Season 7) Written by Jamie Wooten & Marc Cherry

This is the only Season 7 episode I will be mentioning…and honestly, after Season 4 the show started to lose some of its magic after losing several strong writers and then despite getting a respectable new staff, this is when a lot of the issues with continuity errors and changes in character backstories became more readily apparent.

Airing not long before the series finale, this episode taps into the Dorothy and Blanche relationship which always seemed the most strained out of any of the others.

When Dorothy accompanies Blanche to one of her favorite spots, The Rusty Anchor, she ends up charming the men of the bar with her singing and they turn all of their attention to her instead of Blanche which makes her extremely jealous.

Blanche has always relied on her confidence and sensuality to woo men but she seems very put off by how Dorothy has this one thing she can do to get EVERY man in that bar on her side: a good singing voice.

I feel like Blanche does deeply respect Dorothy despite all of the nitpicking about her homely looks and failed marriage…and this episode takes a glimpse into the humanity of Blanche by the end.

This was written by the then showrunners Jamie Wooten and of DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES fame, Marc Cherry. They were able to provide solid footing in the later years but it still never came close to the strength of the first 4 years.

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#9-The Way We Met (Season 1) Written by….basically the whole writing staff

As I said in my SIMPSONS writeup, flashback episodes can end up being classics or failures. However, if you are focused on one particular topic and it is of something that could shed light on the dynamic of the show, then you have a winner.

In the case of The Way We Met, we are able to find out just exactly how Dorothy and Rose came to live with Blanche in her home (at the time, Sophia was still in the infamous Shady Pines Retirement Village) as when the series first began, they had been living together already for a few months.

I think one of the more ironic bits of information we learn in this episode is that after a rather tense trip to the grocery store that leaves the threesome wondering if the living arrangement will work, it takes one of Rose’s stories about St. Olaf, her rather eccentric hometown in Minnesota, to bring all of them together in laughter and friendship…and considering how they will soon become a point of disdain, it shows how it is bizarrely the thing that started to truly bring them together and also for them to discover their mutual love of cheesecake.

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#8-Til Death Do We Volley (Season 4) Written by Richard Vaczy & Tracy Gamble

Perhaps something of an unusual choice but I have always loved this episode and it leads to a fantastic climax.Dorothy’s friend Trudy comes into town and they both seem to have a rather strange relationship that is based around snide comments, practical jokes, and an intense rivalry.

However, things take an abrupt turn when while playing a particularly intense round of Tennis on a very hot day, Trudy ends up dying and it leaves Dorothy feeling responsible.

The next issue? There was to be a big party at the house for welcoming Trudy in town but it leaves Dorothy having to explain to the group how she died…only after Sophia eases it out by bluntly telling them “Trudy’s dead”.

Bea Arthur kills in this scene doing a perfect comedic interpretation of despair as she wails “Welcome to the Dorothy Killed Trudy Party!!” and then rushing out of the room in a huff.

The twist? Trudy isn’t dead…and Dorothy knows this and convinces Trudy’s husband to come out with the secret and they stage a revenge by getting into bed and shocking Trudy when she arrives making for a hilarious final scene.

Sadly, no short clips exist of this episode on YouTube so I can’t include anything here, but Bea Arthur’s outburst is one of my favorite moments on a sitcom ever.

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#7-Grab That Dough (Season 3) Written by Winifred Hervey Stallworth

Much like flashback episodes, I feel like sitcoms having their characters go on a game show is quite common and normally can make for classic or disastrous results.

In this case, our foursome gets a rather abrupt chance to go on a fictional game show called Grab That Dough but the process of getting to the taping is a disaster which leads them to not having a hotel room, the airline losing their luggage, and having to go on the show in the same clothes they slept in the night before (although they don’t look the least bit disheveled).

When at the taping, Blanche convinces Dorothy that Rose and Sophia are “dead weight” and that they should team up with two brothers who have had great successes with winning money on various game shows.

This leads to their being a rivalry between the foursome on two different teams and a back and forth between them of triumphs and failures. It is a perfect storm of hilarity.

The final scene in which Blanche and Dorothy, after a come-from-behind victory to win the game, may be one of my favorite scenes from the show and as a young kid, I bowled over laughing as it unfolded. Blanche insists on giving up the money against her team’s wishes and exchanging it for a prize behind a door (sort of like Let’s Make a Deal) and after missing out on a new car and a brand new living room suite, they end up winning…a skillet and a years worth supply of soup. The reaction to it is priceless and you can’t help but laugh at it all.

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#6-Not Another Monday (Season 5) Written by Gail Parent

Like most sitcoms, every now and again you get one of those “And now, a very special episode of…” ordeals where things take more of a turn towards the dramatic.

GOLDEN GIRLS was typically a little better with these episodes than others but they had their fair share of misfires. However, my favorite of these would probably be “Not Another Monday”, which may be just a smidge heavy-handed but I think it is still handled quite well.

In this one, writer Gail Parent (who had come from such illustrious gigs like MARY HARTMAN, MARY HARTMAN and THE TRACEY ULLMAN SHOW) manages to combine the ideas of birth and death into one episode. While Dorothy, Blanche, and Rose end up babysitting a young infant, Sophia is left with a more pressing dilemma: her friend Martha is wanting to commit suicide but she wants Sophia to be there to hold her hand as she dies.

The moment when Martha tells Sophia her intentions, there are no hints of comedy….in fact, the show evens uses its more dramatic and tense music motif that it only pulled out if a moment was going to be darker.

However, the episode does give us one classic comedic scene in which Dorothy, Rose, and Blanche attempt to sing Mr. Sandman in hopes to get the baby to sleep:

Despite loving that scene, I feel like the final scenes pack quite the emotional punch. Thankfully, I have Sophia’s final scene with Martha to share that goes into her convincing her that it isn’t her time to go:

There are two quotes from this scene that stand out to me:

“You wanted me to be here for your death…how about you let me be here for your life?” along with “We’re not in this life for peace”.

This scene shows us what range Estelle Getty had in what was often just a one-note role. Martha decides to remain alive and then in the final moments of the episode, they have Sophia encounter the baby and she decides to give it a little advice that it won’t understand but is a beauitful message nonetheless. Below is a full clip that shows both scenes:

https://youtu.be/MGj7aawn8u0

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#5-The Flu (Season 1) Written by James Berg and Stan Zimmerman

These four women are very close friends and we know they have a deep love for each other…but it is always fun when they get competitive and take stabs at each other.

The episode is set up that Dorothy, Rose, and Blanche are all contenders to win the “Friends of the Friends of Good Health Award” and they are intending to go to the ceremony only for all three of them to come down with the flu leaving Sophia as the only healthy roommate.

In what was already a tense rivalry is now made even more bitter while the three of them are sick.

Perhaps my favorite moment would be when Rose is looking for orange juice in the fridge, but Dorothy has the pitcher sitting with her at the table:

ROSE: Do we have any orange juice left?

DOROTHY proceeds to pour the rest of the pitcher into her own glass

DOROTHY: No, we’re all out.

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#4-In a Bed of Rose’s (Season 1) Written by Susan Harris

Susan Harris, the creator of GOLDEN GIRLS, didn’t want to be directly involved in the process like she had been on her pet project SOAP a few years prior so she only has about 8-9 episodes credited to her throughout the entire run with most of them confined to the first season.

My favorite of her first season episodes would have to be ‘In a Bed of Rose’s’, in which Rose has the unfortunate distinction of having a second man die after spending the night with her…the first being her husband Charlie.

This is a rather dark storyline but it is amazing how well the humor comes across. At first, Rose is understandably freaked out by this and she knows she must call her suitor’s sister with whom she knew was his closest relative…only to find out her suitor lied: it is his WIFE.

However, the wife isn’t the least bit upset with Rose when the secret comes out. Apparently Al, the suitor, was a nymphomaniac who slept around constantly and she reassures Rose to not feel guilty for this act.

Rose is especially scared to be with another man after this second incident but she does agree to go on a weekend retreat with Arnie, a man she had seen earlier in the season (and he didn’t die in that instance but whatever).

When she comes back, we get our final scene of the episode and it is another classic:

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#3-End of the Curse (Season 2) Written by Susan Harris

While I would definitely say Susan Harris’ SICK AND TIRED from Season 5 was very personal to her (and contained some of Rue McClanahan’s best comedic work), this episode showcases a fantastic script from Harris, which is probably my favorite of her work, and it also has what might be the best acting from McClanahan.

Blanche is a character that I used to like a lot less compared to the other three. I always felt that she was simply the weakest and was also too mean at times…but the older I’ve gotten, the more that I have grown to adore Blanche and I especially love the nuances McClanahan brought to the role.

There was always more to Blanche than met the eye and despite the bravado and the confidence, she was essentially a woman afraid to grow old and a woman who longs to find the same connection she did with her dead husband George.

At first, Blanche thinks she is pregnant but it turns out to be menopause…something that the other ladies view as not a bad thing but Blanche views it as the end of her life.

Perhaps the best scene of the episode is when Blanche is talking to a psyschiatrist that the others recommend she see, and while in there, she brings up something that is often a moment of concern for any person: there are starting to look like their parents. She mentions how she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror and saw her mother’s face…”and it scared me to death”.

I wish a clip were available of the scene on YouTube but chances are if you are reading this, you will know that scene.

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#2-Isn’t It Romantic? (Season 2) Written by Jeffrey Duteil

Jeffrey Duteil was just a freelance writer and this was his only credit on GOLDEN GIRLS…but for the love of God, he basically soared with this script. Frankly, the rest of my top 10 could be mixed around or maybe even switched out with a couple of episodes but my top 2 are definitive.

This episode was particularly bold for its time because while there had been SOME portrayals of gay men on primetime TV, there really wasn’t much said about Lesbians.

Dorothy’s friend Jean, who is a Lesbian who recently lost a partner, comes to visit and while in town, she connects with Rose and then admits to Dorothy that she might be falling in love with her.

At first, only Sophia knows about the fact that Jean is a Lesbian so Dorothy decides to confide in her about Jean’s proclamation about Rose, which leads to one of the best scenes of the entire series and also one of the truly defining moments of Blanche, who enters the room:

Eventually, Jean does confess to Rose (who ends up pretending to be asleep as she cannot even begin to decipher the news), but the two resolve the situation and Rose offers friendship which Jean happily accepts.

It should come as no surprise to anyone that GOLDEN GIRLS was the show to tackle such an episode in 1986…and despite the fact that LGBTQ characters are common and more accepted nowadays, the episode still holds up both as a script and as a snapshot of that time.

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#1-A Little Romance (Season 1) Written by Mort Nathan & Barry Fanaro

The first half of the first season of THE GOLDEN GIRLS was sort of erratic. That isn’t to say it was bad but it sort of had to find its tone and look and energy. With the season’s 13th episode, they managed not only to avoid bad luck, but the show basically found its groove in the best way possible.

‘A Little Romance’ is a near-perfect script that has moments of great charm and pure hilarity. First, the episode begins with Sophia about to leave to attend her grandson’s Graduation in New Jersey, something she is not looking forward to but her leaving is key to a moment that will occur later.

After Sophia leaves, Rose is also on her way out because she has a date with a man, Dr. Jonathan Newman, but she seems incredibly apprehensive about the girls meeting him.

Finally, behind Rose’s back, Blanche calls Jonathan and invites him over for dinner which upsets Rose. Why the drama though?

Jonathan is a little person…which may certainly raise a few eyebrows.

At first, Blanche mistakes him for a child and slams the door in his face expecting that he is trying to sell them the Miami Herald.

Dorothy lets him in after asking him if he is “absolutely sure” he is Jonathan Newman…which leads to a series of great moments for Blanche:

Jonathan ends up charming the trio with his wit and intelligence and then, in what is suspected to be another rough moment, Sophia abruptly returns from New Jersey and sees Jonathan. Expecting her to make a comment, Dorothy and Blanche get very tense but Sophia excuses herself to her bedroom.

Rose is also convinced that Jonathan is going to ask her to marry him which leads to her having a rather hilarious dream in which she is visited by her dead father played by dwarf actor Billy Barty (Blanche, in the dream: “DADDY?! You mean your dead daddy?!) and psychic Jeanne Dixon who offers no help whatsoever.

Rose does eventually decide that she will keep seeing Jonathan and accept any possible outcome, until the final scene when Jonathan drops a bombshell:

He can no longer see her because she isn’t Jewish. Rose is understandably upset by this but Rose being Rose, she is willing to let it go and accept that this is just a relgious preference (ugh……)

It does lead to one of the best lines of dialogue to end an episode though. A waiter approaches:

WAITER: How’s the shrimp?

ROSE: Sadly, I’ll never know. You see, he’s Jewish and we can’t see each other anymore.

Classic line and and classic episode. It just feels like such a great mix of comedy and heart and cynicism and whimsy…and it was the episode that made me fall in love with the show.

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CONCLUSION: I do have quite a fondness for the show and I will often revisit it from time to time when I am in the need for Comfort Food TV…although oddly enough, I haven’t revisited it during the current pandemic that is happening as of this writing. Maybe I will change that today. And just for a good finale, here’s this gem: