Deadline Set

I've been postponing my Best of the Year film lists in order to watch as many films as I possibly could to get ready. I've set Sunday night as my official deadline for viewing, so the lists will more than likely be posted before the new year. I've also attempted to quit worrying about qualifications and such and decided that if it can be argued that the film is a 2008 release, whether that mean it got its US release or international premiere within the year, it qualified. This makes things a lot more difficult as I can now include 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days, The Headless Woman, The Class and Silent Light (officially a 2007 release, that played a week in NYC and won't be officially out until 2009). Wishing for consistency among others' lists is too much to ask for, and I realize many of you haven't had the chance to see a handful of the films that will make the list(s). Wish me luck!

2008 List #4: 25 (or so) Great Performances

Acting will always be something that fascinates me from afar, and nothing I'd prefer to talk about at any length. There's something scary about the whole process of becoming someone else, something that's beautifully mirrored in Juliette Binoche's performance in Abel Ferrara's Mary. And then there's the whole Heath Ledger thing. I didn't include him on this list, partially because he's making everyone else's lists, and partially because that shit is scary. The following list of 25 (or really more, as I've included some multiple performances for the year) is in no special order and has minimal annotation (because writing about acting for any length of time is sure to induce a pretty bad headache).

Sally Hawkins - Happy-Go-Lucky

As successful a writer/director Mike Leigh often is, Happy-Go-Lucky hinged on her entire performance. No matter how worthwhile his screenplay was, Hawkins' believability made the film.

Rebecca Hall - Vicky Cristina Barcelona

Although the film didn't completely rest on her shoulders, Hall's performance worked in the same way Hawkins did, as she accepted the challenge of making "natural" what seemed so "fake." Her Vicky thrived upon a façade of happiness (I realize, for Hawkins, it wasn't a mask), and when everything fell out of place, it just made Hall that much more radiant.

Michael Shannon - Shotgun Stories; Revolutionary Road

Like J.K. Simmons in Burn After Reading, Shannon was the only thing to really fuck-start the whole fiasco that was Revolutionary Road (more on that later), and in Shotgun Stories, he made his untrained co-stars look all the more inexperienced.

Juliette Binoche - Flight of the Red Balloon [Le voyage du ballon rouge]

Binoche makes acting look effortless, and Flight of the Red Balloon is probably one of her most complex, nuanced endeavors in a career full of brilliance.

Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson, Ralph Fiennes - In Bruges

Rethink all the bad stigma you attach to Farrell (honestly, he wasn't the worst part of Alexander). All three actors are as good (or better) as they've ever been here.

Asia Argento - Boarding Gate

Yeah, she made a striking turn in The Last Mistress, but it was in Boarding Gate that Argento was given the best platform for astounding. More on this when I publish my best of the year.

Frank Langella - Frost/Nixon

It ended up not mattering much that Langella didn't resemble Tricky Dick physically or vocally, which is tremendous for playing someone ingrained so deeply in the public's eye.

Sean Penn, James Franco, Josh Brolin - Milk

If I had more space or time, each of these actors would deserve their own inclusion. Harvey Milk could end up being the role best associated with the often over-the-top Penn. The chemistry between Penn and Franco was intense (even if the film could have gone a little bit deeper), and Brolin, as I'm sure you've already heard or witnessed, gives remarkable shape to what could have been a one-dimensional, unsympathetic individual.

Inés Efron - XXY

In XXY, Efron is perfect, in both her demeanor and chilling despair. It’s the sort of performance you see, without knowing much about the actress, and assume, “Well, the director must have found her on the street and knew she was exactly what was needed for the role.” However, XXY is her fourth film, and not only is her role sizable in its challenges, Efron is both delicate and rough and handles the conflicting femininity and masculinity like an actress twice her senior. Fabulous stuff. (Taken from a post I wrote earlier this year)

Tilda Swinton - Julia; The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

In both leading and supporting roles, Swinton has the capacity to captivate no matter how long she's onscreen.

Richard Jenkins - The Visitor; Step Brothers

As excellent as he was in The Visitor, look for his "emotional" speech near the end of Step Brothers. Thanks to both films, Jenkins should no longer remain an untapped resource.

Mathieu Amalric, Emmanuelle Devos - A Christmas Tale [Un conte de Noël]

As they did in Desplechin's Kings and Queen, Amalric and Devos again play lovers, this time in the present tense, and it's quite a compliment to stand out in a cast this impressive.

Béatrice Dalle - Inside

Perhaps inspired by the flesh-eating nymphomaniac she played in Claire Denis' Trouble Every Day, Inside flipped the coin on her usual persona of being sexy (but a little bit scary) in making her scary (but a little bit sexy) as the black-donning, scissors-holding home invader in Inside. It's probably one of the most frightening performances in a horror film that I've ever seen.

Anamaria Marinca - 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days

As the roommate of the pregnant girl, Marinca was mesmerizing, devestating and even a little bit funny.

Emily Mortimer - Transsiberian

In looks, Mortimer might not have what it takes to pull off the former bad girl, but in Transsiberian, she's absolutely believable and utterly captivating.

Jason Patric - Expired

Hysterically rude, Patric was like the broken down version of his character in Your Friends & Neighbors.

Julianne Moore - Savage Grace

Taking on roles as difficult as that of Barbara Baekeland is what lifts Moore into the masterclass. Though Savage Grace is quite flawed, there's nothing at all wrong with her (you could say the same about Blindness, though she's more effective here), and, as I said before, I don’t think any actress today can utter the word “cunt” with as much ferocity as Moore, and after you see the film, try to think of another actress who would have even tried to pull of that scene.

Jürgen Vogel - The Free Will

Serving as co-writer as well, Vogel is shattering the film's serial rapist in one of the year's most troubling performances.

Michael Fassbender - Hunger

It would be too easy to applaud Fassbender for pulling a Christian Bale and losing an ungodly amount of weight for the second half of Hunger, so it certainly helps that he would have been commanding at any weight. I'll even forgive him for being in 300.

Rosemarie DeWitt - Rachel Getting Married

In the less showy performance, DeWitt is the rock of Rachel Getting Married. Again, more on this when my best films list rolls out.

Penélope Cruz - Vicky Cristina Barcelona

Cruz lights my F-I-R-E, as you probably know by now, but who knew she could be as savagely funny as she was in the role of Maria Elena? Cruz and Hall were so night-and-day that I had to include them separately.

Peter Mullan - Boy A

Though Andrew Garfield was also quite good in the title role, Mullan was Boy A's shining light as the social worker who assists Garfield's rehabilition in society.

Michelle Williams - Wendy and Lucy

You can see Wendy's entire world buckle under inside Williams' face. She's a revelation here, and one of the most promising actresses of her generation (surprising from a girl who rose to fame on Dawson's Creek and lasted the show's entire run).

Mickey Rourke - The Wrestler

No matter how you feel about The Wrestler (yes, more on that later), it's hard to resist Rourke's career-capping turn as a faded pro "wrestler." Whether this leads to a string of roles or not is unclear, but he definitely deserves all the accolades that have been thrown upon him thusfar.

Sigourney Weaver - Baby Mama

Too often (even in my case) does appreciation for dramatic work overshadow the great comedic performances of any year, which are (so I hear) a lot more difficult a task to pull off. Weaver, as the owner of the surrogate adoption agency, isn't just hilarious on her own, but she does what every lead actor wishes the supporting players would do and makes them even funnier. Tina Fey's reaction to finding her in the hospital with a set of twins is the highlight of the whole film.

Feliz...

Here's my favorite Christmas song: "Sister Winter" by Sufjan Stevens; forgive the slideshow, but he never made a video for it. If that's too morose for you, there's always Grace Jones on Pee-wee's Christmas special.

Where Is My Man?

R.I.P. Eartha Kitt. Total sex kitten.

Results of indieWIRE's 2008 Critics Poll

Hou Hsiao-hsien's Flight of the Red Balloon was named the best film in indieWIRE's Critics Poll; Hou also was named best director. Though both of those wins were certainly welcome and exciting, most of the other winners went to predictable choices: Mickey Rourke, Heath Ledger, Charlie Kaufman, Man on Wire and Ballast. Look deeper though and you'll find a lot of wonderful picks, like Asia Argento for Boarding Gate, The Last Mistress and Mother of Tears. Here's the full list.

2008 List #3: Music, I Suppose...

Out of necessity, not so much authority, I’ve made a half-assed Best of 2008 for music. There’s a lot going against me as far as this list is concerned. A.) My computer, which holds all of my music files, is dead, and although I didn’t lose any of the files, I don’t really have access to them to better assess the year’s offerings. B.) No matter how savvy I think I am when it comes to keeping current, the music blogger elite’s annual lists always intimidate instead of inspire. C.) With the dead computer, the past two months have been barren in regards of exploring anything new. So with multiple reservations, I present the 10 best albums of 2008, 7 honorable mentions, an unorganized list of 31 worthy singles (some appeared on 2007 albums, but showed up as singles this year) and a few thoughts on the annoyances, 2008 style.

1. Goldfrapp | Seventh Tree
2. Sigur Rós | Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust
3. Lykke Li | Youth Novels
4. Grace Jones | Hurricane
5. Portishead | Third
6. Fleet Foxes | Fleet Foxes
7. Sébastien Tellier | Sexuality
8. TV on the Radio | Dear Science
9. Cat Power | Jukebox
10. M83 | Saturdays = Youth

The Runners-Up

Bon Iver | For Emma, Forever Ago
Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy | Lie Down in the Night
Eagles of Death Metal | Heart On
Hercules and Love Affair | Hercules and Love Affair
Neil Halstead | Oh! Mighty Engine
Lindstrøm | Where You Go I Go Too
Poni Hoax | Images of Sigrid

31 Single Ladies

What other way would you expect to open this list than with Beyoncé's irresistible track, whose video has forever become inseparable with the song itself? Jessica Suarez from Pitchfork described it best as "a break-up song in going-out shoes," and no other song this year (or really since Outkast's "Hey Ya") has captured the entire country's attention. I wouldn't suggest making a mix CD of these singles unless you want people to think you're terribly bipolar.

1. Beyoncé - Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)
2. Hercules and Love Affair - Time Will
3. Portishead - Hunter
4. TV on the Radio - Halfway Home
5. Lykke Li - Little Bit
6. Fleet Foxes - White Winter Hymnal
7. Eagles of Death Metal - Want You So Hard (Boy's Bad News)
8. Estelle featuring Kanye West - American Boy
9. Yeasayer - Wait for the Summer
10. Goldfrapp - A&E
11. Emmanuelle Seigner & Brett Anderson - Les Mots simples
12. Bon Iver - Flume
13. Grace Jones - Well Well Well
14. Brendan Canning - Churches Under the Stairs
15. Kanye West - Flashing Lights
16. French Kicks - Said So What
17. Yelle - Ce jeu
18. Cat Power - Ramblin' (Wo)man
19. Antony and the Johnsons - Another World
20. Ra Ra Riot - Dying Is Fine
21. Santogold - Creator
22. Cold War Kids - Mexican Dogs
23. Poni Hoax - Antibodies
24. DeVotchKa - The Clockwise Witness
25. Atlas Sound - Quarantined
26. Sébastien Tellier - Pomme
27. Sigur Rós - Ára bátur
28. Kings of Leon - Sex on Fire
29. Neil Halstead - Oh! Mighty Engine
30. Björk featuring Antony Hegarty - Dull Flame of Desire
31. Mariah Carey - Touch My Body

Comments on the singles with the applicable number are as follows. (2) "Blind" was named the best single of 2008 by Pitchfork and, though it's quite good, it never felt like the stand-out of the album for me. (5) The best pop song of the year, hands down. (9) The album version is a lot better than the single edit. (11) Mrs. Roman Polanski and the former lead singer of Suede made for a fetching duet. Seigner appears (barely audible) on his album Wilderness from this year. (19) Was sure to be the perfect anthem for a John McCain victory a few months ago. (21) Yeah, it was the most M.I.A. track of her album, but rocked me harder than any of her others. (28) Despite coming from a band with a douche-bag following that increases with each album, it's one of the few times I think lead singer Caleb Followill's voice did as it should. (31) Yeah, um, it's really lame (not because it's Mariah, but because the lyrics are awful), but it was as close to "Shake It Off" as we were going to get this year.

The Worst of the Year: I stayed far away from both my radio and MTV for most of 2008, which spared me plenty of nominees in this category, but I still caught MTV making nice with Britney Spears at the VMAs (just a year after that fiasco), going overboard to the point of awarding her their top honors. Madonna, of course, made another desperate attempt to reconnect with a younger audience, enlisting Timbaland and Justin Timberlake, again falling flat. Decide for yourself what's more humiliating: Madonna singing, "Sometimes I think what I need is a you-intervention," or Timberlake uttering her name as if he were Wayne Campbell. Although I think the hottest contenders for Worst Song I Had to Listen to in 2008 are Kid Rock (for that Leonard Skynard bullshit) and The Killers (questionably still releasing albums and posing nonsensical questions like, "are we humans, or are we dancers?"). Both make me wish Pierce Brosnan would release an entire album of ABBA covers.

The Worst of the Year, Part 2: Horrible, attractive actresses that have made horrible movies (with a few exceptions) shouldn't torture us further by making horrible music, but Scarlett Johansson and Zooey Deschanel didn't listen. I'm having a tough time deciding whether to watch The Other Boleyn Girl and The New Guy over listening to these albums again. Deschanel and M. Ward's She & Him album left the looming threat of being titled Volume One.

Wong Kar-wai, "The Dakota Fanning Rape Movie," Others DVD Update

First off, Sony has moved I've Loved You So Long's release date to 3 March, as opposed to in February. Kino has announced two special(-er) editions of Wong Kar-wai's Happy Together and Fallen Angels. Other than improved artwork, I don't know how these discs will differ from the previous releases.

Hounddog, aka "The Dakota Fanning Rape Movie," will be available on 3 February through Empire Pictures. The gay musical Were the World Mine is set for 26 May from Wolfe Video. And finally, First Run Features has another musical, Opera Jawa from Indonesia, on 31 March.

indieWIRE's List of the Best Undistributed Films of 2008

indieWIRE's year end polls are usually the best places to find either what you've missed from the year or a likeminded round-up of the finest the year had to offer. In conducting their annual list of the best undistributed films, Lucrecia Martel's The Headless Woman [La mujer sin cabeza] topped the charts, despite tepid reception when it premiered at Cannes (small proof that you can only take negaitve Cannes' reception so far). In the number two spot was Hong Sang-soo's Night and Day, the latest from a filmmaker whose name frequently appears on these lists. Pablo Larrain's Tony Manero, Albert Serra's Birdsong [El Cant dels ocells] and (tied for 5th) Claire Denis' 35 Shots of Rum [35 rhums] and Koji Wakamatsu's United Red Army round out the top 5. A handful of still-undistributed films from 07 hang onto the list including Abel Ferrara's Go Go Tales (whose deal with IFC seems to have been erroneous), Pen-ek Ratanaruang's Ploy and Roy Andersson's You, the Living - all three of which rank among the finest films I've had a chance to see in the past two years. Check the full list via indieWIRE (particularly if you're a distributor).

2008 List #2: USA Region 1 DVD Premieres

By my count, 44 titles were scratched off the M.I.A. for DVD list I made last year. A few were announced and then swiftly canceled (Ken Russell's The Devils, Patrice Leconte's The Hairdresser's Husband and The Perfume of Yvonne) and others (like Marguerite Duras' Nathalie Granger, the Taviani brothers' Kaos, Sidney Lumet's Daniel, André Téchiné's Hotel America) were curiously missing on my lists. 2008 also saw new-and-improved discs of some of my favorites (Godard's Pierrot le fou, Gregg Araki's The Living End). I didn't have the time or the money to buy a lot of DVDs this year, so I can't comment further. 2009 already has 10 titles ready to cross off the list: Criterion's Simon of the Desert, The Exterminating Angel, Dodes'ka-den and Danton; Koch Lorber's Taxi Blues and L'Innocente; Warner's Far from the Madding Crowd; New Yorker's Same Old Song; MGM's Yentl; and Universal's Howard the Duck (!). Beginning sometime in January, I'm going to revise the MIA lists, and around then, I'd love for you all to help me perfect it. They are as follows (keep in mind I haven't taken off the released titles yet, and there's a few that I mistakenly thought weren't available): Pre-1950, the 1950s, the 1960s, the 1970s, the 1980s, the 1990s and the 2000s. Here are the 44 (excuse me if I'm miscounting... cold medicine can do that to you) Region 1 USA DVD premieres that I could scratch off the MIA list, in order of their release date (thanks to DVDBeaver for some of the images):

Akira Kurosawa’s I Live in Fear – Eclipse/Criterion [available in Eclipse's Post-War Kurosawa box]
Spike Lee’s She’s Gotta Have It – MGM
Agnès Varda’s Le bonheur – Criterion
Lars von Trier’s The Kingdom 2 [Riget 2] – Koch Lorber
Jean-Luc Godard’s Passion – Lionsgate [part of the Godard box set]
Jean-Luc Godard’s Détective – Lionsgate [part of the Godard box set]
Jean-Luc Godard’s Hélas pour moi [Oh, Woe Is Me] – Lionsgate [part of the Godard box set]
Patricia Rozema’s When Night Is Falling – Wolfe
Paul Schrader’s Touch – MGM
David Lynch’s Lost Highway – Focus Features
Paolo and Vittorio Taviani’s Fiorile – Koch Lorber

Seth Holt's The Nanny - 20th Century Fox
Jean-Luc Godard’s La chinoise – Koch Lorber
Louis Malle’s The Lovers [Les amants] – Criterion
Louis Malle’s The Fire Within [Le feu follet] – Criterion
Olivier Meyrou’s Beyond Hatred [Au-delà de la haine] – First Run Features
Shohei Imamura’s The Ballad of Narayama – AnimEigo
Tsai Ming-liang’s The Wayward Cloud – Strand Releasing
Derek Jarman’s The Angelic Conversation – Zeitgeist [part of the Derek Jarman Glitterbox]
Derek Jarman’s Blue – Zeitgeist [part of the Derek Jarman Glitterbox]
Derek Jarman’s Caravaggio – Zeitgeist
Derek Jarman’s Wittgenstein – Zeitgeist

Milcho Manchevski’s Before the Rain – Criterion
John Sayles’ Baby, It’s You – Paramount/Legend
Patrice Leconte’s The Girl on the Bridge [La fille sur le pont] – Paramount/Legend Films
André Téchiné’s J’embrasse pas [I Don’t Kiss] – Lionsgate [part of the André Téchiné set]
Hector Babenco’s Kiss of the Spider Woman – City Lights
Derek Jarman’s War Requiem – Kino
Elia Kazan’s Boomerang – 20th Century Fox [Amazon lists this OOP already, so who knows if it was actually released; let me know if you picked it up yourself]
Luis Buñuel’s La ilusión viaja en tranvía [Illusion Travels by Streetcar] – Lionsgate [note that according to Amazon, there are no English subtitles for either of the Lionsgate Buñuel titles]
Luis Buñuel’s Nazarín – Lionsgate
Lou Adler’s Ladies and Gentlemen, the Fabulous Stains – Rhino
Max Ophüls’ The Earrings of Madame de… [Madame de…] – Criterion

Max Ophüls’ Le plaisir – Criterion
Max Ophüls’ La ronde – Criterion
Yasujiro Ozu’s An Autumn Afternoon – Criterion
Luchino Visconti’s Ludwig – Koch Lorber
Claude Chabrol, Jean Douchet, Jean-Luc Godard, Jean-Daniel Pollet, Eric Rohmer, and Jean Rouch’s Six in Paris [Paris vu par…] – New Yorker
Elie Chouraqui’s Love Songs [Paroles et musique] – Sommerville House
Larry Kent’s The Apprentice [Fleur bleu] – Sommerville House
William Friedkin’s The Boys in the Band – Paramount
Samuel Fuller’s White Dog – Criterion
Lars von Trier’s Europa [Zentropa] – Criterion
Bruno Barreto’s Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands [Dona Flor e Seus Dois Maridos] – New Yorker [hopefully! But you know New Yorker...]

2008 List #1: The Best (and Worst) of Television

Ever since HBO raised the bar for television, it’s a lot less criminal to indulge in one’s love of the serialized medium. Plenty of grave offenses to the excellence that shows like The Sopranos, Six Feet Under, Oz, Arrested Development and Curb Your Enthusiasm created still exist today. How does a laughless show like The Big Bang Theory continue to rake in viewers when Arrested Development gets the plug pulled on it prematurely? Questions like these will plague our thoughts just as much as the what-ifs Twin Peaks left us after its second season. Keep in mind that my last-minute movie consumption has prevented me from watching Generation Kill, which is now on DVD. The nice thing about the medium of television is that, like I did after suffering three seasons of Nip/Tuck and two episodes of this year’s putrid I Can’t Believe I’m Still Single in which middling writer/director/actor Eric Schaeffer ponders the title’s disbelief to nails-on-chalkboard extremes, you can always turn it off. So, here’s my first of at least six lists rounding up the year 2008, with an honorable mention to Cloris Leachman telling John Stamos that she wanted to fuck him with her Oscar on Comedy Central’s Roast of Bob Saget. I should probably suggest you not read about the shows you haven't caught up with yet, as spoilers will certainly follow.

1. Summer Heights High – HBO – with Chris Lilly

Chris Lilly’s hysterical, brilliant mockumentary about the lives of three awful human beings who call the titular Summer Heights High their home for a term beats Christopher Guest at his own game. At turns unbearably funny and gut-wrenchingly unsympathetic, Summer Heights High balances its double act gracefully. Lilly goes places you never expect him to with Ja’mie King (the private school cunt with a love for incorrectly using the word “random” who manipulates and condescends her way through her year-long exchange), Mr. G (the self-applied “director of performing arts” with delusions of grandeur putting on an exploitive musical about a schoolgirl who died of a drug overdose) and Jonah Takalua (the disobedient Pacific Islander who would rather break-dance than learn how to read). Watching Mr. G’s “arena spectacular” makes the only salvageable moments of Hamlet 2 look pitiful by comparison (“She’s a naughty girl with a bad habit / a bad habit for drugs”). Summer Heights High is easily the most refreshing television import since The Office UK. For more Ja’mie (my personal favorite) and Lilly, be sure to check out the show he made before this one, We Can Be Heroes, which I can only hope will be picked up by HBO sooner or later. The DVD set for Summer Heights High will be available on 24 February 2009.

2. Kristen Wiig (Saturday Night Live)

Sorry Amy Poehler and Sarah Silverman, but Kristen Wiig is not only SNL’s funniest comedienne, but perhaps even the funniest person who’s ever been on that entire show (take that comment lightly, this is coming from someone who gains and loses sporadic interest in the show on a regular basis). She’s taken Silverman’s place as the scene-stealer of dude comedies; her scene in Knocked Up provides more laughs than the rest of the film combined. Though she seems to be often stuck in deleted scenes (Forgetting Sarah Marshall) or unfunny roles (The Brothers Solomon), her comic genius truly comes through on SNL, playing a slew of neurotic or unflattering characters (as well as dead-on impersonations of Suze Orman and Björk) and always emerging as the only good thing in badly or underwritten skits. As NBC.com is one of the worst viral sites around, I’ve gathered together a few clips for your enjoyment. Wiig as Virgania Horson and Her Pony Express (thanks to my friend Mike for posting this on his Facebook page!); as the Deformed Sister of Laurence Welk Quartet; as one of the work-out ladies for Body Fuzion, with Drew Barrymore; as Björk in a send-up of The Sundance Channel's Iconoclasts; as Sue who sure is excited about throwing a surprise party, with Christopher Walken; as one-half of a set of adorable twins, with Seth Rogan; as Kyra Sedgwick, followed by a new crime program starring Penny Marshall, also with Andy Samberg as Juliette Lewis; as Suze Orman and again; as Crazy McCain Rally Lady on the Weekend Update; as one-half of another set of twins for a new Disney Channel program, with Amy Adams; as Penelope at traffic school, also with Amy Adams; as Jennifer Tilly on Celebrity Apprentice; and as the Target Lady, with Jonah Hill. Forgive me if some of the videos don't work.

3. (tie) Great Actresses As Greatly Embarrassing Republican Ladies: Tina Fey as Sarah Palin on SNL; Laura Dern as Katherine Harris in HBO’s Recount

Tina Fey emerged to be the only good thing to come from the hasty media obsession with Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin, showcasing the thespian side of our favorite hot, rimmed-spectacled gal. Like my experience in seeing Christine Ebersole play Little Edie on the Broadway version of Grey Gardens (which was lame otherwise), Fey didn’t just impersonate the similar-looking Palin, but became her in such a way that I could barely tell the two apart. “It seems that when cornered you become increasingly adorable.” Who knew even better things were to come for Fey at the beginning of 30 Rock’s third season? Check NBC's website, under the "Most Popular" category, to see the sketches.

The other fabulous depiction of a real-life female pawn for the Republican party came from one of my long-time favorite actresses, Laura Dern, in Recount. In the past few years, she’s been continuing to astound with dynamic performances in the wildly different Inland Empire and We Don’t Live Here Anymore, but just when I thought I’d never get another Ruth Stoops, she delivered some comedy magic as Katherine Harris. In easily upstaging the rest of the predominantly male cast (Kevin Spacey, Bob Balaban, Denis Leary, John Hurt and Tom Wilkinson, among others), Dern is the only reason to watch the simply passable, well-intended docudrama. Recount is available on DVD.

4. The Wire – HBO – 5th and Final Season – with Dominic West, Lance Reddick, Wendell Pierce, Clarke Peters, Michael K. Williams, Sonja Sohn, John Doman, Aiden Gillen, Andre Rojo, Clark Johnson, Thomas McCarthy, Dierdre Lovejoy, Seth Gilliam, Delaney Williams, Frankie Faison, Corey Parker Robinson, Jim True-Frost, Domenick Lombardozzi, Gbenga Akinnagbe, Jamie Hector, Tristan Wilds, Jermaine Crawford, Felicia Pearson, Amy Ryan, et al.

Had this been the final season to any other show, I probably wouldn’t have included it. But as it’s The Wire, the smartest show in HBO’s illustrious history, I can put my reservations aside. Cramming a shitload of information into a meager ten episodes, not the least of which involving a “serial killer,” season 5 felt as though it rushed through everything the show so deliberately laid out in seasons past (it was especially hard to try to top Pryzbylewski’s staggering stint as a mathematics teacher in Season 4). I would have allowed the show the sinister killing of its best character had the writers stuck with the raw, unforgiving nature we’d become used to by that point. Characters got off too easy in the show’s finale, developing an attachment the creators swore they’d never display. All that aside, The Wire was the most uncommonly compelling show of the decade (I keep Six Feet Under in a different basket), and I’m sure its legacy will last through DVD, even if no other show comes close to touching its vigor. All five seasons are currently available on DVD. [On a side note, I’m working on a piece which examines how The Wire has changed, for the worse, my cinema obsession. Look for it as soon as I finish these lists.]

5. 30 Rock – NBC – Seasons 2 and 3 – with Tina Fey, Alec Baldwin, Tracy Morgan, Jane Krakowski, Jack McBreyer, Scott Adsit, Judah Friedlander, Keith Powell, Katrina Bowden, Lonny Ross, Maulik Pancholy, Kevin Brown, Grizz Chapman

What began as a nice alternative to the multi-camera sitcoms that the networks kept throwing at us evolved into the cleverest show on NBC and a more-than-welcome replacement for the void Arrested Development left. Fey’s writing was never in question, but in the early episodes of season 3, she’s finally eluded the Dorothy Petrillo Zbornak curse, in which the lead actor of a sitcom is consistently upstaged by their co-stars (not that I don’t love you, Bea Arthur!). Baldwin, Morgan, Krakowski and McBreyer are uniformly hilarious, and though Friedlander leaves something to be desired, he finally got laughs out of me when, in season 2, he shows up at a gay disco where they’re playing a club mix version of Krakowski’s smash hit in Europe, “Muffin Tops,” and, in season 3, when he responds “yes” emphatically when Morgan, dressed as a white woman for a Freaky Friday experiment, asks if he wants to make out with him. With guest stars including Oprah Winfrey, Jennifer Aniston and Steve Martin, I can’t help but think 30 Rock is on the upslope. Season 3 is still in progress; seasons 1 and 2 are available on DVD, and you can catch all the episodes streaming on NBC.com.

6. Lost – ABC – Season 4 – with Matthew Fox, Terry O’Quinn, Evangeline Lilly, Michael Emerson, Josh Holloway, Naveen Andrews, Yunjin Kim, Jorge Garcia, Daniel Dae Kim, Elizabeth Mitchell, Henry Ian Cusack, Jeremy Davies, Emilie de Ravin, Jeff Fahey, Ken Leung, Harold Perrineau, Rebecca Mader, Mira Furlan, Alan Dale, Kevin Durand, Tania Raymonde, et al.

Lost would be nowhere without Twin Peaks, as you can imagine. It followed the show’s entire mold: intrigue your audience in the first season before fully introducing the supernatural head-scratching in the second. Ending the otherwise lackluster third season with a real mind blower, Lost cut its episodes by around ten, making it even more concise and wonderfully infuriating than it ever had been. With a deal made by the creators and ABC, which will conclude the show’s run in 2010, Lost will have what Twin Peaks never could… an ending. Heartbreak, anger, elation and confusion will be brought to us for another two seasons with the possibility of our Oceanic Six making their way back to the island. For the especially amazing episodes of Season 4, check out “The Constant,” in which the island’s lone Scotsman Desmond Hume (Cusack) discovers with the help of wormy Daniel (Davies) the two-way nature of time travel, or “The Shape of Things to Come,” which answers and poses more questions about that fucking smoke monster. Season 4 was just released on DVD, though you can watch every episode streaming on ABC.com, and Season 5 will begin early 2009.

7. Project Runway – Bravo – Seasons 4 and 5

Gay, straight, man, woman, I dare you to resist the charms of Project Runway (I’ve heard many hilarious confessions of friends who’ve caught their fathers watching the show). Cramming a season and a half into 2008, my would-be guilty pleasure (I’m seldom guilty about anything I like) awarded its top honors to the two most deserving winners in both seasons. Keep in mind that Project Runaway is the only reality contest that actually awards creativity over meager talent and mutiny and, without being too invasive, introduces you to plenty of wonderful (Chan Marshall look-a-like Leann Marshall and the endearing Sweet Pea), memorable (Christian Siriano) and detestable (I’m looking at you, Kenley) contestants. Sure, plenty of the players weren’t up to snuff in the past two seasons, but could you really live without the addition of “hot tranny mess” into your vocabulary? For shits and giggles, here’s Amy Poehler playing Siriano on SNL, and despite his best efforts, Blayne’s catch phrase “licious” will never catch on. Season 4 is available on DVD; no word yet on season 5 (or when the show will be rid of its legal troubles).

8. (tie) Unwatched/Unfinished Seasons of the Runners-Up of TV's Most Offensive, After The Hills: It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia – FX – Season 4 – with Glenn Howerton, Charlie Day, Rob McElhenney, Kaitlin Olson, Danny DeVito; South Park – Season 12 – Comedy Central – with Trey Parker, Matt Stone

I’m ashamed to admit that I’ve only caught a few episodes of the latest season of the fantastically mean-spirited sitcom about five selfish assholes and the Philly bar they own, but what I’ve seen leads me to believe that, like 30 Rock, the show is only getting better. Politically incorrect, undeserved narcissism hasn’t looked this good in a while. No word on when Season 4 will hit DVD, but the previous three are already available for you to catch up.

It’s hard to believe that South Park has maintained its appeal after twelve seasons, when the high priest of animated sitcoms, The Simpsons, fizzled out years ago. Like It’s Always Sunny…, I only caught selective episodes, including the Cloverfield spoof and the brilliant raping of Indiana Jones by Steven Spielberg and George Lucas by way of Jodie Foster in The Accused and Ned Beatty in Deliverance, but as soon as I finish the remaining films for my other Best Of’s, I’ll be heading over to ComedyCentral.com. The 12th season will be available on DVD on 10 March 2009.

9. True Blood – HBO – Season 1 – with Anna Paquin, Stephen Moyer, Sam Trammell, Ryan Kwanten, Rutina Wesley, Lois Smith, Chris Bauer, Nelsan Ellis, Lizzie Caplan, Carrie Preston, Michael Raymond-Jones, William Sanderson, Adina Porter, Alexander Skarsgård, Jim Parrack, Stephen Root, Kristin Bauer, Michelle Forbes, Todd Lowe, Deborah Ann Woll, et al.

Alan Ball’s television follow-up to Six Feet Under hasn’t yet lived up to its predecessor, but in laying the groundwork for a sexy, Louisiana vampire tale, the show definitely has promise. Six Feet Under really hit its stride in its second season, so I won’t fault True Blood in allowing the viewer time for a little establishment. Sure, Sookie Stackhouse (Paquin) is a stubborn, self-righteous pistol, and yes, it appears as if the show can’t figure out how it feels about bar-owner Sam Merlotte (Trammell). However, in Tara (Wesley), the viper-tongued best friend with the most hideously unlikable mother (Porter) in television history, and Bill (Moyer), the tender-hearted vampire love interest, the show more than makes up for the issues it raises with the other characters. The biggest faults so far involve a lame, convenient serial killer plot and the show’s lax nature in killing off major characters, which doesn’t allow for the institution of a world where no one’s safe as much as it does in ridding the show of characters that haven’t been given the chance to grow. The show will be available on DVD on 12 May 2009, with the second season beginning sometime in the summer.

10. The Life & Times of Tim – HBO – Season 1

I’ve been reprimanded by many of my friends for never allowing myself to get into Adult Swim, but things may change after seeing HBO’s version of Cartoon Network’s R-rated animated comedies. The premise is fairly simple: generally nice guy Tim is thrown into awkward situations involving hookers, mistaken identity and misconstrued good intentions, escalating in each 15-minute episode. After watching at least three episodes, The Life & Times of Tim quits feeling like the cringe-inducing, prone-to-failure antics that made the shitty Meet the Parents films so successful and becomes the perfect time killer for an aimless day of browsing the On Demand section of your cable provider. The best laugh I got all season occurred when Tim (writer/director/co-creator Steve Dildarian) asks Debbie (Bob Morrow), the surly lady of the evening, for help in learning gospel songs, only for Debbie to break out in Eddie Murphy’s “Party All the Time,” innocently mistaking that for a beloved church-going tune. Season 1 will be available on DVD on 24 March 2009.

As for the underwhelming or just plain despicable television programs I caught this year (usually when bored and visiting with my mother): Katherine Heigl’s Demi Moore/Patrick Swayze romance (and just about everything else) on Grey’s Anatomy; Hugh Laurie’s continued wasted performances as that whacky, unorthodox Dr. House; I Can’t Believe I’m Still Single; Little Britain’s unsuccessful relocation to the US; Tracey Ullman’s painfully unamusing State of the Union; anything and everything about The Hills; that stupid show on MTV (redundant, no?) about parents talking to their kids about sex (I don’t really care to find out what it’s called); The Big Bang Theory, proof of why the best sitcoms on TV don’t use a laugh-track; and the shittiest why-the-hell-is-this-still-on-the-air-program According to Jim, which shares a cell with Everybody Loves Raymond and Home Improvement in hell.