Now that the new year has begun, it's time to look back and wonder what just happened. Did we enjoy ourselves? Let's take a look at some of the year's best media to find out.
1) Inception
Possibly the greatest thing to happen to movies in a long while. Visually stunning, emotionally thematic and densely clever, it's the rare movie that's as beloved by critics as it is by the box office. It hit a certain chord with American audiences, a perfect balance between mass appeal, artsy-fartsiness and Oscar-worthy drama. Once it became a hit, there was just no excuse. Everyone kept going back, and each time they'd bring someone new to share the experience with.
It is a movie-lover's movie, which in the end will likely be it's greatest downfall- that is to say it's a movie-theater movie in a time when home theaters are king. Decades ago,
Inception would have stayed in the theaters for years before finally turning in the towel. Those were awesomer times. There is a quality to the movie- the experience of it all, if you will- that is lost when viewed in the comfort of your home. No matter the size of your screen, you won't be able to replicate it.
2) Community
Holy shit, what a rebound. What started as an uneven comedy with a serious identity crisis quickly flipped its flop and became the wittiest, funniest, most outrageously enjoyable sitcom of the past few years. Yes, the show started getting great in late 2009, but it didn't reach its apex until the spring of '10, when the infamous paintball episode ("Modern Warfare") aired. Like so many gimmick episodes of cult shows, it requires full viewing of the entire season in order to truly appreciate how brilliant it is. All the subplots come together and boil over as our characters are thrust into the post-apocalyptic nightmare of early registration. If you're debating whether or not to watch
Community, trust what your friends are telling you. Buy the first season now and get started.
3) Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
Every once in a while, a movie will come out that has a direct line into the hearts of certain audiences. If I were douchey enough to assign a label to my generation, I would use that label many times in this review.
Scott Pilgrim tells the story of every emotionally immature twenty-something with big ideas and zero ambition. It's not a slacker-fest or a hormone-driven sex ride. There are no drugs or booze or jokes about putting dicks into pies. It's straight-up surrealist fantasy, a world similar to ours, but where people fight and turn into coins and there's no real distinction between a video game and reality. All of our actions, all of our decisions, and most of all the lessons we learn are all blown out of proportion and ultimately boiled down to a language every one of us can speak.
Scott is a boy who starts dating a girl who's way out of his league. Her ex-boyfriends are awesome and douchey. He must overcome his jealousy and prove his worth to Ramona, all the while learning how to respect the girl he loves and ultimately find a way to respect himself. It's a personal journey of growing up and falling in love, except there are epic battles, subspace highways and sexy demon hipster chicks. Basically, it's how most of us see the world.
4) Treme
David Simon, fresh off his journalistic semi-fictional Iraq war series
Generation Kill, comes back hard with perhaps the most incredible slice-of-life drama to ever air. Following the lives of random New Orleanians three months after Hurricane Katrina, it brings to life a type of music and culture strong enough to withstand the forces of nature. The rest of the nation has left New Orleans to its doom, and just like Whoville, what do you hear? By golly, it's music!
That is not to say that the folks who inhabit the Treme are like Whos, or that any statement in the show is ever that obvious or outrageous. What makes the show wonderful is its honesty. Nothing is stressed or overplayed; nothing is added to create drama or pluck on heartstrings. Instead, the storytelling is like a spotlight traveling from person to person, place to place, illuminating events and then moving on quickly to something new. Played in sequence, these events don't necessarily tell a story as much as form an idea. What you're left with is a feeling complete enough to stand on its own and open enough to grow in the future. Career-defining performances by Wendell Pierce and Steve Zahn sell the show based on charisma alone, and John Goodman is simply spectacular. The show also has one of the best soundtracks and opening themes of the decade. Possibly of all time.
5) The Walking Dead
Both the comic series and the new AMC TV show. Robert Kirkman's never-ending tale of emotional struggle in a zombie apocalypse continues as strong as ever, taking new turns that keep it fresh and riveting. As for the show, well, what do you get when you add writer/producer Robert Kirkman, producer/director Frank Darabont and composer Bear McCreary? If the thought alone doesn't blow your mind, you're probably a zombie and should have your mind blown anyway, albeit by a shotgun or blunt object. Darabont's knack for silver-age filmmaking is the perfect fit for Kirkman's deliberate pacing and honest approach to character development.
The show is a bit different, but somehow the perfect filmed version of
The Walking Dead. It knows no bounds, and more than once you'll go slack-jawed in sheer awe of what they manage to pull off. There is no gratuitous violence, which makes the extreme scenes that much more shocking. Like, change-the-way-we-think-about-television shocking. Never has a show balanced drama, horror and survival adventure so evenly, and stood so boldly in favor of slow pacing and tension buildup. Unlike most things that are great on TV, this is a show that is destined for success.
6) Doctor Who
Who could take the mantle after David Tenant's universally adored tenure as the Good Doctor? Many wondered if the time-traveling, pacifist adventurer would be older and wiser (much like Sylvester McCoy or William Hartnell), or young and daring (like Tenant and Peter Davison). What we got was a perfect blend- a young, sexy man with a goofy face who dresses like a high school science teacher. He wears suspenders in a time when suspenders are very much out. He wears a bow tie. His jacket has elbow patches. He is as clever as ever, yet riotously clueless when it comes to everyday things like women and modern society.
His adventures are great, thanks mostly to the new writing staff, and his new companion (Karen Gillian) is equal parts sassy, enjoyable, overbearing and pleasant to look at. Matt Smith's new Doctor doesn't suffer from the same emotionally crippling burdens as Christopher Eccleston and David Tenant, which helps to move the show into a new phase. The Doctor's ongoing journey through guilt and loneliness finally came to a head in 2009's two-part Christmas special, leading into a new, refreshed Doctor who was ready to move on and make a new show. We can only hope that Smith and series producer Steven Moffat continue to deliver such imaginative, wholly impossible yet absurdly enjoyable fun for years to come.
Top 10 Movies of 2010:
Inception, Let Me In, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, Tron: Legacy, Machete, The Town, Toy Story 3, Kick-Ass, 127 Hours
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