The Long Road Out

I like smart films that have wonderful things to say in new ways.   So I generally don't go to genre or Hollywood blockbuster films (you'll find some of those in my list of films I don't intend to see below).  If Rotten Tomatoes rates out at 93% or better, then I'm likely to agree it's a winner. If you agree with me, you'll like this ranking of the very best films of 2019! Starting at the top with the Best Film of 2019: Woman at War -- Marvel should stop their silly film-making.   They’ve just been blown out of the ice-cold water by an Icelandic/Ukrainian indie partnership.   It’s more colorful.  It has a true hero who inspires us all to be stronger than we are.   The music is more mythological.   And there’s not a moment of CGI. How much better is Women at War ?  Let me count the ways, including the presence of a tuba and  a traditional singing trio. These musicians literally follow--we'r...

They say it's the golden age of TV, and I have to agree--though that includes great series from other countries.   I also agree that TV has evolved--and we expect more--from our streaming experience.   So shows that we might remember as the "greats" from the past (Dallas?   Mission Impossible? Little House on the Prairie?) haven't stood the test of time in comparison. So this is my ranking of all-time favorites, given our contemporary Netflix/Amazon/Hulu/Apple- mediated perspective: Mad Men (7 seasons)--you just can't touch the time capsule within which Don Draper and crew try to survive as the world hurries onwards towards entropy.   Pete's still sitting in the office with his WWI rifle, protecting this all-time number 1 ranking.  It looks like Iwo Jima in here... The Wire (4 seasons)--for combining noir  sensibility with real political topics (freedom of the press, the street drug trade, labor activism, local politics), nothing comes close.  Oma...

COVID has been around for a 24 months, and we're all now settled into the situation where Netflix and the gang have replaced most of our live cultural activities (theaters are open again but the relentless advertising creates an experience far inferior to seeing things on the "big" Netflix TV screen).   AMC cajoled a plastic-surgeoned Nicole Kidman to try to convince us of the propaganda that live movies are a superior experience.  That's how much trouble they're in. When she turns to the camera, you think you're watching Aliens . I'm so thankful--imagine COVID without the art we've streamed. Given the deferred launch dates of the new hybrid film distribution models, here are the rankings of the best movies that first became widely available to North American markets in 2021 (ignoring the actual release date): Drive My Car-- you'll smile knowingly to yourself every time you see a red Saab after watching this luxurious "you can't tell the d...