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  There’s a lot to love about this group of ten, so we shall continue our Decade wrap-up with the next batch (cue trumpets)… [Read more →]

How will the aughts in television be remembered? Will they be remembered for the true paradigm shift that the explosion of reality television provided? Will they be remembered for the writer’s strike that further dismantled the efforts of serious network television? Will it be remembered for HBO’s utter domination, producing critically acclaimed, mold breaking series that simply burst forth sui generis? Will it be remembered for the way other networks fought back, allowing the creative flowering of ABC’s 2004/05 season.

I declared the aughts as a Golden Age in television that ended before the decade and I still believe in that designation. The shows on this list represent a huge range of television, from series that didn’t last as long as some miniseries to shows that had some of the biggest audiences of all time. It’s a list that challenges complacency but doesn’t ignore the fact that there is comfort in television, shows that appeal not to the brain or even to the tear ducts, but to the part of us that just wants a quiet evening. Over a dozen networks have shows gracing the top fifty, and I think that will be the defining fact of the decade in television. It’s not the big three, nor the big three plus Fox and/or HBO. Television is a lot broader than that. Niche shows pop up everywhere and garner a great deal of critical acclaim, whether on the HBO-wannabe that is Showtime, basic cable networks such as Comedy Channel or FX or we get them from across the pond from the BBC. In a universe with hundreds of channels with each striving to get an identity, many of them elect to pump money into a unique slate of shows (see the rise of AMC for a good example). That is only a good thing. When the big networks look at a challenging slate of shows and shudder (CBS, I’m looking at you), when you want your fix of unique, interesting, provocative television, there’s a home for you now.

And without further ado, I present to you the TOP 50 SHOWS OF THE AUGHTS (part 1) [Read more →]

And the long (long) wait is finally over. Here, in the middle of August, are our winners. The best film had to offer from 2009. [Read more →]

  I wonder what happens next….. [Read more →]

Dive into the top ten!!!

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15 [Read more →]

  It was the best of times, it was the worst of times….  Was this a good film year?  No idea.  On the one hand, looking at this lists below, I’m pretty enthusiastic.  Most of these films had they passionate partisans and several will be debated for years and decades to come.  AMPAS, in recognition of the vast diversity of film, expanded it’s slots (no really.  That was the reason.  Honest!).  On the other hand, the by-rote acclaim of typical blockbusters, the continued delay of foreign successes (we’ve included a couple films that probably exist as 2010 releases here simply because trying not to proved too difficult), the number of obstacles in actually getting a theatre to show that film from the Canadian/British/French/German wunderkind…. It’s disheartening to say the least.  So, shuffling through these twenty films, eighty performances and other cinemagic treats has been a bit of a salve.  Enjoy.

bradcar77 and Loosi tackle the best films 2009 had to offer.

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