I'm back, and I might actually finish the list this time. I don't have a job right now so more time for this blog! I'm sure all of my 4 fans are happy it's back. Up to 417 views. Who would of thunk it? I was just a boy with a dream at the start of 2011. Who would of thought I would have 417 page views in just two and half years?
Anyway, this list. All shows that started in June 2012- May 2013 are eligible. To be eligible I have to have seen at least 3/4 of the shows aired. So, Family Guy which I finally gave up on like I should have 5 years ago wouldn't be on as I've seen maybe 5 episodes this season.
38. How I Met Your Mother
Which is bad news for HIMYM, as Family Guy is always a contender for bottom of the list. And honestly, it wasn't horrible like The Office 8th season ( which was bottom on last years never written list). I still enjoy it a bit, but it is easily the most complained about show between me and friends where we are just like, man, HIMYM sucks now. I'm not even including the fact that Ted won't met the mother until the final ep as part of this ranking. It took the show until about December to have a good episode. Most of the first half of the season are just bad or meh episodes. The main problem is bringing in Quinn and Victoria when Barney and Ted we know end up with Robin and the mother, So Quinn who we spend so many episodes with last season just gets tossed off in the second episode without much build up. Victoria, they underplayed her too much so fans won't be like "She should of been the mother". It was unneeded in my opinion. And baby stories with Marshall and Lily are basically mostly snoozers. Also, enough of Ted still being in love with Robin. Last season they randomly brought the thread back after 4 seasons of not hinting he still loved her. Now he's skipping town because of her? There are a few episodes in this season where they were on par with good seasons of HIMYM, but maybe 4 good episodes don't make up for a bunch of C+ level episodes.
Season Grade: C+
Best Ep: PS, I Love You
They brought back Robin Sparkles and it didn't disappoint. Just a well done Behind the Music parody. Funny throughout.
Worst Ep: The Pre Nup
The worst of the "Autumn of Breakups" episodes.
37. Glee
This season of Glee is an improvement, but still it's not at all a good show. Glee the college years parts of the season have their moments. The new high schools really don't add too much. Jake is Puck Lite. Kitty is a worse version of Quinn ( who was already one of the worst characters). Unique has some potential as a character but is underutilized. Mr. Schue as usual is awful, Finn is kind of dick but we are supposed to like him? Why isn't this show on the bottom? I should change it. Nope, too lazy. So much cut and pasting. Um, Sam is usually a funny character and the songs are good. Actually, maybe not. Gangham Style was maybe the worst Gangham style cover I have heard including one some high schoolers did that was spreading across the Internet one day where they changed it to "Hey, Lunch Lady. Op Op Op Opium Spartan Style" And the whole "Baby Got Back" debacle. If you are going to steal someone else's cover of it without telling them, then change the song during the part where he changes to lyrics to his own initials. "Let's Have a Kiki" was fun though.
Season Grade: C
Best Episode: "The Break Up"
Worst Episode: Sadie Hawkins
Seriously, Marley fainted and they did a horrible Gangham style cover, but nooooo they have to go to sectionals or whatever even though they weren't any good this season. If the Warblers were caught doping or whatever then wouldn't the sectionals bid go to that Amish group that also performed at regionals? Not the team that was also DQ'ed. And I'm complaining about a plot hole on Glee, why?
36. The Mindy Project
When I reviewed the pilot I thought it wasn't that good but had potential. I think I'm still saying that a year later. It's still finding it's voice and I needs to find it soon. Some of the characters are good such as Danny even though he's basically Nick Miller lite. Morgan is a decent dumb character. Even after trimming the cast mid season, half the cast doesn't seem to have a function yet such as Betsy, Jeremy and Gwen. All could leave and it wouldn't matter. Mindy cycles between being funny and annoying. There are a lot of guest stars such as Bill Hader, Seth Rogan, BJ Novak who sometimes help the episodes be more than just I'm going to leave this on after New Girl while I check facebook show.
Season Grade: C+
Best Episode: The One That Got Away
Seth Rogan's guest turn is a pretty funny episode.
Worst Episode: Pilot
35. Workaholics
Workaholics is a pretty sophomoric show that is good for a few laughs. There is not much substance to it, hence this small write-up. The third season wasn't as funny as the second but had its moments.
Best Episode: Webcam Girl or True Dromance
The former for putting Lisa Loeb's "Stay" back in my head or the latter bringing back Lori Beth Denburg.
Worst Episode: The Worst Generation
I remember this episode being really stupid, which happens every third episode with this show.
34. The Joe Schmo Show 3
I was super excited for the return of this show. The first two seasons, which were about 10 years ago, were great parodys of reality shows. It didn't quite work this time. The actors weren't as good and messed up way more than the last times. The bounty hunter theme didn't quite work for me. Ralph Garman was good, as always, as the host. The person they are fooling, was not as likable as a Matt Gould. They way overdid the "look at all the crazy shit we are putting him through". Also, they only had like 10 minutes after the reveal. They need a reunion show, there needs to be way more after reveal.
33. American Dad
American Dad is the best of the Seth McFarlane shows ( with Dads coming in the fall I'm assuming based on the trailer, American Dad will still be on top). Usually there will be something brilliant that shows that if the manatees at Family Guy would put in slight effort it can be decent. There were less really great moments this season, and it ended up just being ok.
Best Episode: Blood Crieth Onto Heaven - a weird August: Osage County parody worked with the live action Patrick Stewart cameo. "You thought I was asleep, didn't you? Acting"
Worst Episode: Love AD Style- too much reliance on gross out and mean humor.
32. Modern Family
It's one third of a really good family sitcom. Each season the Gloria, Manny and Jay plots each season get more and more worthless. Manny's act got tiresome episode 2 and Gloria's act got tired 2 years ago. Ed O Neil is alright but there only so much you can do with the storylines he's given. Mitch and Cam pretty much bicker every episode and they barely show why they love each other. So basically for 14 minutes an episode it's a medicore at best comedy. For the other 7 minutes, you have good family sitcom storylines with the Dumphys. Ty Burell is really good at what he does and even if they do the same type of storylines it is still entertaining. All of them are actual characters instead of one note factories. Luke is easily the best kid actor on TV and gets the best lines quite often. Alex and Haley are some of the better smart girl and popular girl archtypes out there. Clarie can be annoying at times, but has some good episodes. They should center it around that family and make the others supporting characters who only appear when it supports the story. The would never do that because if something is getting 5.0 in the demo and like 20 undeserved Emmy nominations , why stop it?
Best Episode: Schooled - a funny, semi- touching episode
Worst Episode: Party Crasher - Gloria's baby is born ( who cares) Raffi from The League is not a correct fit for Modern Family IMO.
Monday, June 10, 2013
Sunday, October 21, 2012
Top 30 Sitcom Episodes of All Time 30-26
Finally the list you have been waiting for is here! I've always wanted to do an episode ranking. I decided to do sitcom episodes as that is my area of expertise. Here are some guidelines to the list:
"Today is not the day for cunning plans and crazy capers."
"Planbee" through "Security Door" is perhaps of the greatest runs of great episodes a show has ever had. 12 episodes, no clunkers or just average episodes. The Planbee arc, which involves Lauren Graham as an efficiency expert is among the shows best. The episode plots include Dave trying to show Angela Planebee he can run the office while Matt ( who got fired the previous episode) keeps on sneaking back in and Bill is trying to start a Mark Russell type career in political satire songs. One of the best sight gags of the show is Bill just popping up in the hallway or bathroom singing crappy mid 90's political satire using songs from the public domain. Although the "satire" is over 13 years old. "Twinkle Twinkle Kenneth Starr", Paul, Paul, Paula Jones , shes seen Clinton nude" or "someones in the kitchen with Bob Dole" will always be funny. I could just watched Phil Hartman do that for 22 minutes, it still would of made the list. "Oh the Lincoln bedroom costs this much/ moolah moolah/ good Fred Thompsons says it's bunk/ oh the moolah hey" I barely know what means, yet still funny. Jimmy James stage fright in front of cameras was also a highlight. Planebee's assistant Steve, who she brought in to share Dave's job is causing Dave stress because he can't control the office. But Bill has a plan, just bring Steve to him. Then Bill panics and punches Steve. I know it's coming. And I know Matthew coming out from under the desk after Planbee says maybe she will think about rehiring him is coming as well. But I love it every time. That there are 29 better episodes than the one where Phil Hartman sings " When Johnny Comes Marching home again, HE'S GAY HE'S GAY" is amazing.
29. Slow Donnie - Just Shoot Me
"Chicken pot, chicken pot, chicken pot piiiiiiieeee"
No Archer? No Office UK? No South Park ( Scott Tetterman Must Die was very close)? No Cougartown? But you talk about that show more than Abed, Sean! Why in the fuck is Just Shoot Me on your list??? That David Spade show? Yes, the show was mediocre for its first two seasons, then for a few months was randomly one of the best shows on TV for like 2 months ( In the post Seinfeld, pre Arrested era it wasn't that hard) then back to mediocre again. This spot is largely due to the performance of David Cross, who obviously will show up later. For his narrator voice over on the 4 Oliver Beene episodes on the countdown. David Cross plays Elliot's brother Donnie, who is slow after a fall from a tree. Or so everyone thinks. He is just playing it up so his mom can wait on him hand and foot and he doesn't have to work. The dialogue sounds like David Cross and he plays it to perfection. Him switching between Slow Donnie and sleazy Donnie when around Maya are well done. "Green Quarter" "Break the dishes" and "My pants are tight" are just some of the great quotes from this episode. There's a subplot with Nina and some birds,but who gives a shit.
28. My Half Acre- Scrubs
"Do you play?"
Music sometimes plays a huge role in a show, Scrubs always made very good use of music on their show. With the exception of Freaks and Geeks, it does the best job of using music to convey emotions. This episode uses "More than a Feeling" "Poison", "Hey Juile" and "100 Years" and uses them well. Turk dancing to Poison is one the most memorable moments of the series and is the very reason I don't do it at karaoke. I can't do it as well as Turk, why should I bother doing it? More than a feeling with the air band is one of the best episode endings they have done. Also I have a thing for Mandy Moore and I should her and Zach Braff had great chemistry in this episode and I remember being pissed off when JD breaks up with her in the very next episode.
27. Racial Sensetivity- Better Off Ted
"Diversity. Just the thought of it makes these white people smile"
It was so close between this one and Andy Ricther Controls The Universe 's "We're All The Same, Only Different" for which one got on the list. Both have the same show creators and deal with race. This one won out. Better off Ted was a show set in the corporate world and often poked fun at it. The episode centered around a story where Veridian installed motion light sensors. However, the a flaw in the sensors is that they don't sence black people. Thus, what does Veridian do when black people can't drink at the fountains because of the sensors? Install a separate manual drinking fountain for black people. And when that for some reason is frowned upon? They hire white people to follow the black employees to trigger the sensors. Better off Ted did absurd stuff like this perfectly, like in this episode. Too bad nobody ever watched it.
26. Modern Warfare - Community
"What if they call the police? They'll think I'm a bad Dean!"
At one point this episode might have been in my top 10. After all it was the very episode that turned Community from my favorite new show of 2009-2010 to starting to be one of my favorite shows of all time. "Comtempary American Poultry" was the first great episode of Community, but Modern Warfare showed what the show could be. They went to this type of well many times after with genre spoofing and different types of twists on episodes ( like stop motion animation, clip show, war docs, etc.) A show could get criticized for doing what worked once too many times. However, it seems to work close to every time they try something different. Even other paintball episodes worked very well. This was the start if that. This episode was about a paintball game where the prize is priority registration, which made the whole campus go crazy. So many different action movie nods from Die Hard, Reservoir Dogs, Warriors, etc. were done well. The episode with the way it was shot and they fact that it was played serious helped the tone of the episode and made it funnier. Most shows, this would be the peak. But for this show, it was only the start of something great.
- Half hour sitcoms only. That means no Freaks and Geeks, which would have had at least 3 episodes ( Carded and Discarded, Discos and Dragons and Pilot) on the list. All of those would have been in the top 10. Gilmore Girls is also not eligible but wouldn't have made it anyway. But you will see Lauren Graham on the list! Will it be for her 6 episode guest stint on Caroline in the City? Or her work in Conrad Bloom? Spoiler: no.
- Post 1989 TV shows. Let me explain. Putting together the list I noticed a small amount of classic shows in my very top. Stretch it out to 100 and there is a good amount of Cheers, Mary Tyler Moore, Taxi, All in the Family and a couple of I love Lucy's. I feel like putting classic shows on the list I would try and force older shows in there to make my list look more legit or some bullshit. So this is list is basically post 1989 sitcom episodes. 1989 to include Seinfeld and Simpsons, of course. There will be a lot of current shows because I think we are in a Golden Era of TV right now ( We might slip out of it soon, at least on the network side of things,but that's for an another blog)
- No sketch shows. So no Mr Show, SNL, Python, Kids in the Hall, etc. It is hard to judge a sketch show on an episode by episode basis instead of a skit by skit basis. Even though some do have skits that work very well together. "The Return of the Curse of the Creatures Ghost" from Mr Show would be in the top 15 at least. Despite the fact, I actually dislike the Titanicca sketch. Pre Taped Call In Show is a shoo in top 3 for my best Sketches of all time list.
"Today is not the day for cunning plans and crazy capers."
"Planbee" through "Security Door" is perhaps of the greatest runs of great episodes a show has ever had. 12 episodes, no clunkers or just average episodes. The Planbee arc, which involves Lauren Graham as an efficiency expert is among the shows best. The episode plots include Dave trying to show Angela Planebee he can run the office while Matt ( who got fired the previous episode) keeps on sneaking back in and Bill is trying to start a Mark Russell type career in political satire songs. One of the best sight gags of the show is Bill just popping up in the hallway or bathroom singing crappy mid 90's political satire using songs from the public domain. Although the "satire" is over 13 years old. "Twinkle Twinkle Kenneth Starr", Paul, Paul, Paula Jones , shes seen Clinton nude" or "someones in the kitchen with Bob Dole" will always be funny. I could just watched Phil Hartman do that for 22 minutes, it still would of made the list. "Oh the Lincoln bedroom costs this much/ moolah moolah/ good Fred Thompsons says it's bunk/ oh the moolah hey" I barely know what means, yet still funny. Jimmy James stage fright in front of cameras was also a highlight. Planebee's assistant Steve, who she brought in to share Dave's job is causing Dave stress because he can't control the office. But Bill has a plan, just bring Steve to him. Then Bill panics and punches Steve. I know it's coming. And I know Matthew coming out from under the desk after Planbee says maybe she will think about rehiring him is coming as well. But I love it every time. That there are 29 better episodes than the one where Phil Hartman sings " When Johnny Comes Marching home again, HE'S GAY HE'S GAY" is amazing.
29. Slow Donnie - Just Shoot Me
"Chicken pot, chicken pot, chicken pot piiiiiiieeee"
No Archer? No Office UK? No South Park ( Scott Tetterman Must Die was very close)? No Cougartown? But you talk about that show more than Abed, Sean! Why in the fuck is Just Shoot Me on your list??? That David Spade show? Yes, the show was mediocre for its first two seasons, then for a few months was randomly one of the best shows on TV for like 2 months ( In the post Seinfeld, pre Arrested era it wasn't that hard) then back to mediocre again. This spot is largely due to the performance of David Cross, who obviously will show up later. For his narrator voice over on the 4 Oliver Beene episodes on the countdown. David Cross plays Elliot's brother Donnie, who is slow after a fall from a tree. Or so everyone thinks. He is just playing it up so his mom can wait on him hand and foot and he doesn't have to work. The dialogue sounds like David Cross and he plays it to perfection. Him switching between Slow Donnie and sleazy Donnie when around Maya are well done. "Green Quarter" "Break the dishes" and "My pants are tight" are just some of the great quotes from this episode. There's a subplot with Nina and some birds,but who gives a shit.
28. My Half Acre- Scrubs
"Do you play?"
Music sometimes plays a huge role in a show, Scrubs always made very good use of music on their show. With the exception of Freaks and Geeks, it does the best job of using music to convey emotions. This episode uses "More than a Feeling" "Poison", "Hey Juile" and "100 Years" and uses them well. Turk dancing to Poison is one the most memorable moments of the series and is the very reason I don't do it at karaoke. I can't do it as well as Turk, why should I bother doing it? More than a feeling with the air band is one of the best episode endings they have done. Also I have a thing for Mandy Moore and I should her and Zach Braff had great chemistry in this episode and I remember being pissed off when JD breaks up with her in the very next episode.
27. Racial Sensetivity- Better Off Ted
"Diversity. Just the thought of it makes these white people smile"
It was so close between this one and Andy Ricther Controls The Universe 's "We're All The Same, Only Different" for which one got on the list. Both have the same show creators and deal with race. This one won out. Better off Ted was a show set in the corporate world and often poked fun at it. The episode centered around a story where Veridian installed motion light sensors. However, the a flaw in the sensors is that they don't sence black people. Thus, what does Veridian do when black people can't drink at the fountains because of the sensors? Install a separate manual drinking fountain for black people. And when that for some reason is frowned upon? They hire white people to follow the black employees to trigger the sensors. Better off Ted did absurd stuff like this perfectly, like in this episode. Too bad nobody ever watched it.
26. Modern Warfare - Community
"What if they call the police? They'll think I'm a bad Dean!"
At one point this episode might have been in my top 10. After all it was the very episode that turned Community from my favorite new show of 2009-2010 to starting to be one of my favorite shows of all time. "Comtempary American Poultry" was the first great episode of Community, but Modern Warfare showed what the show could be. They went to this type of well many times after with genre spoofing and different types of twists on episodes ( like stop motion animation, clip show, war docs, etc.) A show could get criticized for doing what worked once too many times. However, it seems to work close to every time they try something different. Even other paintball episodes worked very well. This was the start if that. This episode was about a paintball game where the prize is priority registration, which made the whole campus go crazy. So many different action movie nods from Die Hard, Reservoir Dogs, Warriors, etc. were done well. The episode with the way it was shot and they fact that it was played serious helped the tone of the episode and made it funnier. Most shows, this would be the peak. But for this show, it was only the start of something great.
Monday, May 30, 2011
Ranking the 2010- 2011 TV season
This is going to be a ranking of the shows I regulary watch that aired during the 2010-2011 TV season. To qualify I had to watch at least 75 percent of the episodes. So for the most part these are shows I like.
38. 90210
This might be the exception to that last sentance. Why do I watch this show? It is not written well, stories come and go and a lot of them are clunkers ( Does nobody remember Annie killed a dude last season?) and the acting is sub-par ( except maybe Jessica Stroup (Silver)). But something keeps on bringing me back, and I still haven't firgured out what yet.
Season Grade : C
Best Episode: Liars - This was the episode where Mr. Cannon takes Namoi hostage. I thought it was somewhat well done and tense. The subplots were forgettable though.
Worst Episode: Blue Namoi - Namoi in an Avatar makeup. A horrible Snoop Dogg cameo in which Dixon and Navid try to get him for their media business ( which was a questionable storyline. How the fuck do 17 years olds get that big of loan to start a business like that?). Another pointless storyline with Annie's cousin Emily. And other boring stuff happens too.
37. America's Next Great Restaurant
I liked the idea of this show, so I stuck with it and even went to the Los Angeles location of the winner ( Soul Daddy). The main problem witht he show is that the the episodes got repeatitive after a while. Another part that was a problem is that once they got rid of MeltWorks, I think any chance of the rest of the restaurants hitting Chipotle huge was slim. I'm sure Bobby Flay knows than me, but some of his opinions on things were odd ( such as his opionion that why would people leave the house to get grilled cheese if they can make it at home? Ummmmm, maybe because the bread and cheese is going to be better there than at home? You can make that dumb argument with anything. Why go to Chipotle when i can make tacos at home? Why go to McDonalds when I can make a burger at home? And so on... Think before you talk Bobby Flay. Also, Grillbillies, such douchebags! Hmmmmm, a tasks where we have to make kids food , let's put chicken on sharp skewers! Which was another dumb task, not all fast casual places need a kids menu, espeically an Indian place.
Season Grade: C+
Best Episode: The first episode, it showed promise.
Worst Episode: Even though the guy was kind of being an idiot, MeltWorks should of not been elimanated when he was.
36. Apprentice 10 ( Regular version)
Pretty forgettable season, I barely remember any of it. David was annoying, then entertaining, then annoying again. Clint should have won, but Brandy made a real good case for herself in the Boardroom, so no biggie.
Season Grade: C+
Best/Worst episode: Eh
35. Family Guy
The manatee writers at Family Guy put together another meh season. The show is good for a few decent laughs, but that's about it. It falls into the trap of making an offensive joke, a random joke or a reference but forgetting to make it funny.
Season Grade: C+
Best Episode: And Then There Were Fewer - decent epsiode, good murder mystery
Worst Episode: German Guy - Ok, Family Guy, enough with Herbert. It's character that worked once ( maybe) yet you keep on going down this well. To center an episode around him is a horrible idea. Not only that, he's the hero in the episode for defeating an evil Nazi. So, ok, we are supposed to root for the child molester in this episode? What the fuck?
34. The Big Bang Theory
Amy ( Mayim Bialik) is the best thing that has happened to this show in a while. She is more than just a female Sheldon, which is good. Otherwise, it's the same old decent but not great show it has been for a while. Raj has gotten a little too pathetic, while Howard is more tolerable now ( mostly becuase of Bernadette). Leonard is just there. Sheldon is what used to make this show watchable, he's still a good character but it's starting to wear off. All in all, I think it improved over last season, but not near it's peak.
Season Grade: B-
Best Episode: The Herb Garden Germanation- Amy and Sheldon start rumors in this fun episode
Worst Episode: The Robotic Manipulation - Howard gets his penis caught in a robot hand. Nuff said.
33. Raising Hope
Ok, now we are getting into shows I have little to say negitive about. I like this show, but it just barely made the cut since I don't care that much about it being I forget to DVR it a lot. It's a charming enogh series by Greg Garcia ( My Name is Earl). If I learned anything from Parks and Recreation and Cougar Town, it's that if a show has a "meh" pilot but shows promise, give it another chance. And I'm glad I did. Much like My Name is Earl, it's not appointment TV but I'll watch it and enjoy it if I remember to DVR it. The only reason it is this low is I don't have much desire to watch the episodes I haven't seen and it's hard to say that for the ones ahead of it.
Season Grade: B-
Best Episode: Mongooses- the cast at it's best
Worst Episode: Pilot - It seemed like a poor man's My Name is Earl. The only character I liked was Sabrina, whoch was enough for a second chance. I have learned to also love the character of Burt. Jimmy, the main character I thought in the pilot was bland, but he has come into his own.
32. Perfect Couples
Before they picked up Community and Parks and Recreation for the next season, I was heavily rooting for this show and Outsourced to fail to increase the former two shows chances of pickup. Now I wish I hadn't. Well, not Outsourced ( actually if though it sucked, once it was no threat to other shows, I didn't care). This show was other one of the many decent Friends -type shows that were never great but were good and watchable. Christine Woods and Kyle Bornheimer, while being the so called "normal" couple, were the funniest of the three couples in my opionion.
Season Grade: B-
Best Episode: Perfect Health
Worst Episode: Perfect Proprosal
31. The Simpsons
Blah Blah Blah, the show isn't as good as it's golden years ( season 2-10). I mean it is to be expected, different showrunners and writers. They have done every story possible twice so of course it's not going to be fresh. That being said, it is still a solid show, it has gotten past its worst years. Still, this season it didn't really register any episodes that would come close to a top 50 Simpsons episode list 14 years ago I would have cried for weeks if it got canceled, now I think I would be cool with it. Best Episode: Elementry School Musical: Flight of the Conchords in a an actual well done guest role, can' t say the same for the Glee cast in the same episode.
Worst Episode: The Nedliest Catch- Yea, Mrs. Krabappel and Ned Flanders as a couple makes no sence and the online vote is kind of a silly idea.
30. Running Wilde
Will Arnett? David Cross? In a Mitchell Hurwitz show? How is this not in the top 10?? It is nowhere as near as clever as Arrested Devolpment. Most of the plots are standard misunderstanding plots ( Arrested Devolpment had a lot of these, but did it much better). It had a bunch of characters that did not work at all. The characters of Mr. Lunt, Migo and Puddle complelty did not work for me at all during the whole run. Keri Rusell was decent but nothing great. It's not all bad, the show did show signs of brillance a few times. David Cross, Will Arnett both did fine jobs with the material they had, but the true star of this show was the character of Fa'ad, who was a zany character with the right mix of randomness and absurness and brought most of the laughs for me. He had good comedic chemisty with Arnett, and brought this show up 2 points. I would like to see Peter Serafinowicz get more work.
Season Grade: B
Worst Episode: Pilot - wasn't that bad but was a big letdown.
38. 90210
This might be the exception to that last sentance. Why do I watch this show? It is not written well, stories come and go and a lot of them are clunkers ( Does nobody remember Annie killed a dude last season?) and the acting is sub-par ( except maybe Jessica Stroup (Silver)). But something keeps on bringing me back, and I still haven't firgured out what yet.
Season Grade : C
Best Episode: Liars - This was the episode where Mr. Cannon takes Namoi hostage. I thought it was somewhat well done and tense. The subplots were forgettable though.
Worst Episode: Blue Namoi - Namoi in an Avatar makeup. A horrible Snoop Dogg cameo in which Dixon and Navid try to get him for their media business ( which was a questionable storyline. How the fuck do 17 years olds get that big of loan to start a business like that?). Another pointless storyline with Annie's cousin Emily. And other boring stuff happens too.
37. America's Next Great Restaurant
I liked the idea of this show, so I stuck with it and even went to the Los Angeles location of the winner ( Soul Daddy). The main problem witht he show is that the the episodes got repeatitive after a while. Another part that was a problem is that once they got rid of MeltWorks, I think any chance of the rest of the restaurants hitting Chipotle huge was slim. I'm sure Bobby Flay knows than me, but some of his opinions on things were odd ( such as his opionion that why would people leave the house to get grilled cheese if they can make it at home? Ummmmm, maybe because the bread and cheese is going to be better there than at home? You can make that dumb argument with anything. Why go to Chipotle when i can make tacos at home? Why go to McDonalds when I can make a burger at home? And so on... Think before you talk Bobby Flay. Also, Grillbillies, such douchebags! Hmmmmm, a tasks where we have to make kids food , let's put chicken on sharp skewers! Which was another dumb task, not all fast casual places need a kids menu, espeically an Indian place.
Season Grade: C+
Best Episode: The first episode, it showed promise.
Worst Episode: Even though the guy was kind of being an idiot, MeltWorks should of not been elimanated when he was.
36. Apprentice 10 ( Regular version)
Pretty forgettable season, I barely remember any of it. David was annoying, then entertaining, then annoying again. Clint should have won, but Brandy made a real good case for herself in the Boardroom, so no biggie.
Season Grade: C+
Best/Worst episode: Eh
35. Family Guy
The manatee writers at Family Guy put together another meh season. The show is good for a few decent laughs, but that's about it. It falls into the trap of making an offensive joke, a random joke or a reference but forgetting to make it funny.
Season Grade: C+
Best Episode: And Then There Were Fewer - decent epsiode, good murder mystery
Worst Episode: German Guy - Ok, Family Guy, enough with Herbert. It's character that worked once ( maybe) yet you keep on going down this well. To center an episode around him is a horrible idea. Not only that, he's the hero in the episode for defeating an evil Nazi. So, ok, we are supposed to root for the child molester in this episode? What the fuck?
34. The Big Bang Theory
Amy ( Mayim Bialik) is the best thing that has happened to this show in a while. She is more than just a female Sheldon, which is good. Otherwise, it's the same old decent but not great show it has been for a while. Raj has gotten a little too pathetic, while Howard is more tolerable now ( mostly becuase of Bernadette). Leonard is just there. Sheldon is what used to make this show watchable, he's still a good character but it's starting to wear off. All in all, I think it improved over last season, but not near it's peak.
Season Grade: B-
Best Episode: The Herb Garden Germanation- Amy and Sheldon start rumors in this fun episode
Worst Episode: The Robotic Manipulation - Howard gets his penis caught in a robot hand. Nuff said.
33. Raising Hope
Ok, now we are getting into shows I have little to say negitive about. I like this show, but it just barely made the cut since I don't care that much about it being I forget to DVR it a lot. It's a charming enogh series by Greg Garcia ( My Name is Earl). If I learned anything from Parks and Recreation and Cougar Town, it's that if a show has a "meh" pilot but shows promise, give it another chance. And I'm glad I did. Much like My Name is Earl, it's not appointment TV but I'll watch it and enjoy it if I remember to DVR it. The only reason it is this low is I don't have much desire to watch the episodes I haven't seen and it's hard to say that for the ones ahead of it.
Season Grade: B-
Best Episode: Mongooses- the cast at it's best
Worst Episode: Pilot - It seemed like a poor man's My Name is Earl. The only character I liked was Sabrina, whoch was enough for a second chance. I have learned to also love the character of Burt. Jimmy, the main character I thought in the pilot was bland, but he has come into his own.
32. Perfect Couples
Before they picked up Community and Parks and Recreation for the next season, I was heavily rooting for this show and Outsourced to fail to increase the former two shows chances of pickup. Now I wish I hadn't. Well, not Outsourced ( actually if though it sucked, once it was no threat to other shows, I didn't care). This show was other one of the many decent Friends -type shows that were never great but were good and watchable. Christine Woods and Kyle Bornheimer, while being the so called "normal" couple, were the funniest of the three couples in my opionion.
Season Grade: B-
Best Episode: Perfect Health
Worst Episode: Perfect Proprosal
31. The Simpsons
Blah Blah Blah, the show isn't as good as it's golden years ( season 2-10). I mean it is to be expected, different showrunners and writers. They have done every story possible twice so of course it's not going to be fresh. That being said, it is still a solid show, it has gotten past its worst years. Still, this season it didn't really register any episodes that would come close to a top 50 Simpsons episode list 14 years ago I would have cried for weeks if it got canceled, now I think I would be cool with it. Best Episode: Elementry School Musical: Flight of the Conchords in a an actual well done guest role, can' t say the same for the Glee cast in the same episode.
Worst Episode: The Nedliest Catch- Yea, Mrs. Krabappel and Ned Flanders as a couple makes no sence and the online vote is kind of a silly idea.
30. Running Wilde
Will Arnett? David Cross? In a Mitchell Hurwitz show? How is this not in the top 10?? It is nowhere as near as clever as Arrested Devolpment. Most of the plots are standard misunderstanding plots ( Arrested Devolpment had a lot of these, but did it much better). It had a bunch of characters that did not work at all. The characters of Mr. Lunt, Migo and Puddle complelty did not work for me at all during the whole run. Keri Rusell was decent but nothing great. It's not all bad, the show did show signs of brillance a few times. David Cross, Will Arnett both did fine jobs with the material they had, but the true star of this show was the character of Fa'ad, who was a zany character with the right mix of randomness and absurness and brought most of the laughs for me. He had good comedic chemisty with Arnett, and brought this show up 2 points. I would like to see Peter Serafinowicz get more work.
Season Grade: B
Worst Episode: Pilot - wasn't that bad but was a big letdown.
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Comedy Death Ray 1-4-11 Review
Comedy Death Ray is a show at the Upright Citizens Brigade theatre in LA every Tuesday at 8:30. I go it just about every Tuesday. It is only 5 dollars and you get 3 hours of what I think are the highest quality comedians in the biz. Comedians like performing there, because the people there know comedy for the most part. So I might do a weekly review of the show here on this blog.
Doug Loves Movies- A-
Doug Loves Movies is a podcast that tapes before CDR. it is Doug Benson talking with other comedians/ actors about movies or other things. I have appeared twice on Doug Loves Movies, not as a guest, but once as an audience member who was wiling to get kicked in the balls by Wee-Man. More on that later... Doug's guests were Wayne Federman, Dana Gould and Andy Kindler, all fine comics. This was a well rounded DLM as everyone was funny throughout and each one had a lot to say. Sometimes one guest dominates and some guests don't say much, but all three were going at it, comedy wise. The Podcast comes out this Friday.
Jamie Lee - B
Jamie Lee had a solid act going, nothing that really stood out to me, but funny nonetheless.
Brendon Walsh - A-
Brendon Walsh had an act which was mostly about the stupid shit he does with his friends, mostly in fake mustaches. He is good at telling stories such as the time he went to a Ween concert and took too many mushrooms. I've heard a lot of bits about taking drugs, so you have to be a good storyteller to keep my interest, which he did.
Matt Walsh - B+
Matt Walsh who is one of the best at improv, did this bit where he played a character who ran the worst funeral ever. It was a pretty good bit and using the Law and Order theme as the guy who died favorite song to be played at his funeral turned out to be a good choice.
Eddie Pepitone - A
Eddie Pepitone f-ing killed it tonight. I was laughing throughout. Eddie is one of those yelling comics, but I think it works for his act. Better than it does Lewis Black. I didn't stop laughing for 12 minutes during his set.
David Koechner - C+
I was looking forward to seeing him but it took awhile for him to get into it, and most of the time he was telling the story of how his wife is having a kid in a week from now and how the kid was thought based on ultrasounds was going to be born with severe down syndrome and how the doctors actually suggested terminating it. Turns out, it was a just a virus causing that read and the kid is going to be fine. If that's not comedy, I don't know what is. I mean it was a good, personal story and he did a good job telling it and had some funny asides. I mean I do like seeing comedians do something personal and talk about something that has happened to them, such as when Brody Stevens came in and started ranting about just getting fired from Chelesa Lately that day. The vibe was kind of weird in the room at the time I guess.
Wayne Federman - A-
Wayne Federman opening bit killed because he went up right after David and went " Oh man , I was just telling David he should do his Down Syndrome bit" and other good natured ribbing about what David knew was an awkward set. Wayne kept on going pretty good from there.
Jerry Minor - A-
Jerry Minor does a lot of comedy with music. This time, he handed out slips of paper to the audience with different names of music files on his laptop. He would point to someone they would say 80's or piano ballad or whatever was on the paper and he would improvise a song to the music file. Some worked, some did not, but there were way more hits than misses.
Greg Fitzsimmons - B
Greg for the first half of the act just talked to Jerry Minor, mostly about their time on the Cedric the Entertainer sketch show ( even I barely remember it). It felt like his podcast, which I only listen to if there is a good guest on. The rest of his act was somewhat good, but not great.
All in all a pretty good show I'd give it a A-
Doug Loves Movies- A-
Doug Loves Movies is a podcast that tapes before CDR. it is Doug Benson talking with other comedians/ actors about movies or other things. I have appeared twice on Doug Loves Movies, not as a guest, but once as an audience member who was wiling to get kicked in the balls by Wee-Man. More on that later... Doug's guests were Wayne Federman, Dana Gould and Andy Kindler, all fine comics. This was a well rounded DLM as everyone was funny throughout and each one had a lot to say. Sometimes one guest dominates and some guests don't say much, but all three were going at it, comedy wise. The Podcast comes out this Friday.
Jamie Lee - B
Jamie Lee had a solid act going, nothing that really stood out to me, but funny nonetheless.
Brendon Walsh - A-
Brendon Walsh had an act which was mostly about the stupid shit he does with his friends, mostly in fake mustaches. He is good at telling stories such as the time he went to a Ween concert and took too many mushrooms. I've heard a lot of bits about taking drugs, so you have to be a good storyteller to keep my interest, which he did.
Matt Walsh - B+
Matt Walsh who is one of the best at improv, did this bit where he played a character who ran the worst funeral ever. It was a pretty good bit and using the Law and Order theme as the guy who died favorite song to be played at his funeral turned out to be a good choice.
Eddie Pepitone - A
Eddie Pepitone f-ing killed it tonight. I was laughing throughout. Eddie is one of those yelling comics, but I think it works for his act. Better than it does Lewis Black. I didn't stop laughing for 12 minutes during his set.
David Koechner - C+
I was looking forward to seeing him but it took awhile for him to get into it, and most of the time he was telling the story of how his wife is having a kid in a week from now and how the kid was thought based on ultrasounds was going to be born with severe down syndrome and how the doctors actually suggested terminating it. Turns out, it was a just a virus causing that read and the kid is going to be fine. If that's not comedy, I don't know what is. I mean it was a good, personal story and he did a good job telling it and had some funny asides. I mean I do like seeing comedians do something personal and talk about something that has happened to them, such as when Brody Stevens came in and started ranting about just getting fired from Chelesa Lately that day. The vibe was kind of weird in the room at the time I guess.
Wayne Federman - A-
Wayne Federman opening bit killed because he went up right after David and went " Oh man , I was just telling David he should do his Down Syndrome bit" and other good natured ribbing about what David knew was an awkward set. Wayne kept on going pretty good from there.
Jerry Minor - A-
Jerry Minor does a lot of comedy with music. This time, he handed out slips of paper to the audience with different names of music files on his laptop. He would point to someone they would say 80's or piano ballad or whatever was on the paper and he would improvise a song to the music file. Some worked, some did not, but there were way more hits than misses.
Greg Fitzsimmons - B
Greg for the first half of the act just talked to Jerry Minor, mostly about their time on the Cedric the Entertainer sketch show ( even I barely remember it). It felt like his podcast, which I only listen to if there is a good guest on. The rest of his act was somewhat good, but not great.
All in all a pretty good show I'd give it a A-
Sunday, December 26, 2010
My ranking of all the movies of the year!
I have officially defected from Tyler's blog ( tylernethercott.blogspot.com) because between his posts about the wisdom of nature or the meaning of life or whatever, my Top 10 Workout Jams didn't really play. But seriously, read his blog, the posts are awesomely written and he has interesting views on life.
To kick this off I am going to rank all the movies I've seen this year in one ranking from worst to best.
38 You Again 64 D
2010 might be the year I fell out of love with Kristen Bell. I loved her in Veronica Mars and Forgetting Sarah Marshall. However, she has become awful at picking movies to be in. This movie, a movie coming up real soon on the list and Burlesque ( which I heard is horri-bad). I am glad I saw this movie for free at a screening. It is the the prime example of what is wrong with the romantic comedy genre. I enjoy love stories, I enjoy comedies, so romantic comedies should be up my alley. However, so many of them are lazy because they are cheap to make and usually make a profit so good and bad ones make about the same amount. So why put effort into making it any good? This movie replaces good funny dialogue with Kristen Bell tripping and falling. I don't understand romcoms obsession with the clumsy girl. To have your main character fall down and go boom is much easier than actually coming up with something funny. And they do it over and over again in this movie. General movie rule for me: if a woman trips in a trailer I will not see the movie. ( Mean Girls is an exception to the rule). Otherwise, the story is just OK, the characters largely uninteresting and the writing is pretty bad. Betty White isn't bad in it, but most of the others aren't at their best. The films bright spot is Kristen Bell's rival in the movie, Odette Yustman, who is the only one who has some charm even though she's the villain. She's not given much good to do, but I see potential there.
37. When in Rome - 65 D
I told you it was coming soon. Again I saw it for free after me and friends missed out on a preview screening of The Killers ( which by what I've heard might be worse than this movie) . I don't remember much of this movie, but the plot is pretty stupid. Something about a magic coin that makes a bunch of guys fall in love with her. Huh? It's Kristen Bell, I don't need a magic coin for me to fall in love with her. However, I need this movie to love her less. She is not her charming self in this movie either. Jon Heder plays a Criss Angel/ David Blaine type magician, and fails. Why would you cast Jon Heder in that type of role, it makes no sense. Why would you cast Jon Heder at all for that matter? There might be some funny parts and Will Arnett is in it but it is mostly crap but did not anger me as much as You Again did so it misses out on worst movie of the year.
36. Valentine's Day - 74 C
Love Actually it is not. The thing is I cared about all the relationships in Love, Actually. This movie however, I did not give a shit at all. Anne Hathaway was charming in it and I kind of liked the gay Brett Farve type guy subplot. Jennifer Garner was alright, and Kutcher wasn't horrible. Most of the stories are mediocre and some characters are annoying like Jamie Foxx's and George Lopez's characters( mostly because he's George Lopez). I'm a sucker for a movie in the Love, Actually multi story multi star style, even thought they usually suck, like this one.
35. Alice In Wonderland - 74 C
So I've seen this movie two times, both times fell asleep for long parts of it. It is whimsical but just overall boring. When a movie has a bunch of weird shit in it but bores the crap out of me, then I just cannot rate it high. I'm sorry, I'm over Johnny Depp being weird movies, it really didn't work for me here, like it worked for me in Edward Scissorhands.
34. Hot Tub Time Machine - 75 C
This movie should of been better. It should have been a stupid funny movie. However, most jokes ended up failing with mediocre performance by what I thought would be a good comedy cast of Rob Corddry, Craig Robinson, Clark Duke and John Cusack ( yes, Tyler, John Cusack). The parts with Crispin Glover were quality though, the funniest thing in the movie.
33. Morning Glory - 75 C
Watch out Rachel McAdams, you better stop doing movies like this if you don't want to be the next Kristen Bell. Here is my problem with the movie: Harrison Fords character is obviously a horrible choice for a morning show. The fact that after a few days they don't go with someone else makes the whole point of the movie stupid. Why would a smart woman like McAdams character think that a serious newsman should be on a silly morning show? Here is another problem the network they are on is called IBS! First off, its a crappy joke ( get it? HA!) However, because it's the networks name they are stuck with it for the whole movie when it should of been a one off joke. Add in mediocre performances all around and a useless romantic subplot and you have the number 33 movie of the year.
32. Dinner for Schmucks 77 C+
Maybe biggest disappointment of the year. I love Paul Rudd, I love Steve Carell, I love Jermaine Clement. I love Zach Galifianakis. I do not love this movie. They all give it their all in this movie and this movie would be closer to the bottom without them. A lot of the movie is unfunny stupid type stuff. The last part with the actual Dinner for Schmucks should of been much funnier, but it was not. With a lesser cast this movie would be an absolute piece of crap.
31. Iron Man 2 77 C+
This is the last of the movies I somewhat disliked. The first Iron Man was a pretty good superhero movie. The story and script is pretty weak and overall boring. The cast is so-so, Don Cheadle, Paltrow and Scarlett Johhannson are not given much to do and Mickey Rourke as the villain is OK when you can understand him. I did somewhat enjoy Sam Rockwell's character, but to be honest, I do not remember much of this movie either.
30. McGruber 80 B-
Ok this is a better example than Hot Tub Time Machine how a silly comedy should be done. The movie overall is stupid but does have some pretty funny parts. It did an ok job taking a 30 second sketch into a 90 minute movie.
29. The Expendables - 80 B-
This movie is far from a good movie, but basically I left the theatre saying "Wow, that was pretty entertaining" so sometimes that is all that matters.
28. Winters Bone - 81 B-
Jennifer Lawerence gives an Oscar worthy performance in it, and it is also well written, but for the most part I was bored throughout. So basically the opposite of the Expendables.
27. Cryus 86 B
So the next 10-15 movies are all around 86-89 so they are closely bunched together. I think this is the best Jonah Hill has been since Superbad. I thought his character was complex in this movie. John C. Reilly plays a semi-loveable loser put in a weird spot between a woman who actually likes him ( Marisa Tomei) and her Oedipus complex of a son.
26. Youth In Revolt 86 B
Ok so it is Michael Cera being Michael Cera again but now he has another personality ( which is Michael Cera in a mustache and evil). But here is the thing, I really like Michael Cera, he cracks me up, so he can do the same thing if he wants because it is working for me.
25. Cop Out- 86 B
Yet another buddy cop movie. However, this has Tracey Morgan in it and Kevin Smith directing going for it ( some might say going against it). Overall, just a fun movie to watch, nothing really new. Smith does an alright job directing it, but with him writing the movie as well, it just doesn't feel like a Kevin Smith movie, so I don't rank it along with his others. Sean William Scott is very enjoyable as a criminal in this movie and it has some funny moments but overall, nothing special. Red State looks like its going to be good though. I'd rather listen to his podcasts than watch this again though.
24. Harry Potter and The Deathly Hollows Part 1 - 86 B
Pretty entertaining, I enjoyed the scenes with the multiple Harry Potters. They spent a little to much time in the woods hiding out, but a solid outing for the Potter crew.
23. The Kids Are Alright - 86 B
There is awesome acting throughout this movie by Annette Bening, Juilanne Moore, Mark Ruffalo and Mia Wasikowska and a well written screenplay. However, it just never came together for me as a truly great movie, but I still think it is solid.
22. Despicable Me 86 B
Pretty enjoyable kids flick. A cute story of an evil mastermind who ends up looking after 3 loveable orphans as part of his master plan but ends up bonding with them. I thought it was well written with a lot of clever jokes throughout.
21. Date Night - 87 B+
Solid Tina Fey/ Steve Carell comedy. Provided a good amount of laughs and held my attention throughout. Another movie helped by the charms of the actors in it. James Franco, Mila Kunis, JB Smoove and Mark Walhberg all make great cameos in it.
20. My Name is Kahn - 87 B+
Wow, so this seemingly charming Indian movie about an autistic guy who gets the girl turns on a dime before intermission when their kid gets killed by a bully at school and it becomes really weird where he has to find Obama to tell him something but along the way inspires a bunch of people and saves families from a Katrina type storm. It is pretty good despite being a comedy for 70 minutes then a dark drama the next 70 minutes.
19. Best Worst Movie 87 B+
Troll 2 is no The Room in terms of bad movies, but it sure is horrible and is the subject of this doc.
The son from Troll 2 made a doc about the cult following of Troll 2. Most of the cast is interviewed including the dad in the movie, who is a dentist who seems to love cashing in on his new found cult fame. He will go around saying his catchphrase " You don't piss on hospitality" to anyone who will hear. Overall, it is an interesting documentary and worth a gander.
18. Waiting for Superman 87 B+
A hard hitting documentary on the condition of the school system in America and why it is failing. One of the most gut retching scenes this year in movies is watching the kids in the movie and their future being controlled by a lottery to get into charter schools.
17. Get Him to the Greek 87 B+
While very funny, this is another one of my disappointments of the year. A spin off of Forgetting Sarah Marshall with one of my favorite characters from said movie? Should be a slam dunk, but was more of a well executed layup. Solid movie, with a surprisingly funny P Diddy ( is that what is now or is it Sean Combs? Eh, don't care)
16. Black Swan - 87 B+
The creepiest movie of the year that I have seen. Natalie Portman gives maybe the best performance of her life in this movie ( I do love her in Garden State though). You are always guessing what is real and what is in her dark mind as she transforms into the Black Swan. Lots of twists and weird turns in the movie that are sometimes too much, but the performance of Portman and Mila Kunis and Barbra Hershey really drive this movie.
15. The Town - 88 B+
I always thought Ben Affleck was a better actor than people give him credit for, but he might be an even better director. I liked this movie just as much as I did Gone Baby Gone, maybe even more. Story was good, had some exciting scenes and rarely ever dragged.
14. City Island 88 B+
This movie is a feel good family story about a jail warden who discovers he has a long lost son in jail, so brings him to live with him and his family ( but doesn't tell the family). Also, he wants to be an actor! Andy Garcia gives a likeable performance as the dad of the family. Just an overall enjoyable movie.
13. The Other Guys - 89 B+
The best movie Will Ferell has done in a while, a return to form. Thinking back about this movie, it does have a lot of original and funny comedy in it, including some suprises I wasn't expecting them to go to ( SPOILER ALERT) ( ex. Rock and Sam Jackson falling to their deaths, Will Ferell's character being a pimp). I ain't too proud to beg that this is a red light special soon, because I don't want No Scrubs. Hey Sean, are you quoting TLC songs? Ummmm no, why do you ask? Never heard of them.
12. Going the Distance - 89 B+
Now this is how a romcom should go. Funny people, good dialogue and a couple that has chemistry and seems like actual likable people to be around. The movie did what I thought was impossible, it made me like Drew Barrymore! I haven't liked her in anything since E.T. Plus it has Charlie Day, and that is for sure a plus. I met Charlie Day once at a Chinese New Year parade, he's a nice guy.
11. Easy A - 89 B+
Emma Stone might be one of the rising stars in comedy, I saw potential in her in Superbad. I very much enjoy her style. The best part of the movie, I thought, were any scenes with the parents as played by Stanley Tucci and Patrica Clarkson.
10. Winnebago Man - 89 B+
This is my favorite documentary of the year. It is about Jack Rebney, a guy who curse filled outtakes from a Winnebago sales video were a big YouTube hit. He has become somewhat of a hermit who lives in the woods, but eventually the guy making the doc found him. He interviews him and he seems like a normal guy, but weeks later he gets a call from him and that is not the case. Jack agrees to further interviewing if he can get his anti- Cheney/ Bush message out. He seems reluctant to go to see his many fans, because he thinks anyone who watches dumb videos on the Internet is an idiot. However, by the end of the movie he realizes that his fans are just smart people who like his video because it brings them joy. Overall, a well done documentary about a more fascinating man than one would think.
9. Kick Ass - 89 B+
I don't understand why this movie did not do well at the box office. It is one of the more original superhero movies in a while. We all have thought at some point, I wish I was a superhero, I mean that's the whole basis of the SeanMan comics I made in 4th grade. Well, this guy actually goes out and does it despite having no skills for the most part. Chloe Moretz and Nic Cage as Hit Girl and Big Daddy are one of the best duos of the year. Chloe would have the best teenage girl performance of the year if not for an upcoming movie on the list. Hit Girl is one of the top characters of 2010
8. Inception - 90 A-
While I was confused and the movie sometimes dragged during the first hour and a half or so, the last hour makes up for it in spades. I think the last hour was non-stop excitement for me with awesome unique scenes like the rotating hallway scene ( which is in my top 5 scenes of the year). The last hour brought it all together for me, if the rest of the movie was like that, it would be higher up and maybe a classic, but too much of the first part was to set up the last hour.
7. The Fighter - 90 A-
In the pantheon of boxing movies, it's no Raging Bull, but still very solid. Great performances all around especially by Christian Bale as the crackhead former boxer brother of Mark Wahlberg. The interesting thing about this movie is that there are two forces trying to lead Wahlberg's character's career (his mom ( Melissa Leo) and brother being one and Amy Adams being the other) but you never really know which side is better for him.
6. The Kings Speech - 91 A-
To kick this off I am going to rank all the movies I've seen this year in one ranking from worst to best.
38 You Again 64 D
2010 might be the year I fell out of love with Kristen Bell. I loved her in Veronica Mars and Forgetting Sarah Marshall. However, she has become awful at picking movies to be in. This movie, a movie coming up real soon on the list and Burlesque ( which I heard is horri-bad). I am glad I saw this movie for free at a screening. It is the the prime example of what is wrong with the romantic comedy genre. I enjoy love stories, I enjoy comedies, so romantic comedies should be up my alley. However, so many of them are lazy because they are cheap to make and usually make a profit so good and bad ones make about the same amount. So why put effort into making it any good? This movie replaces good funny dialogue with Kristen Bell tripping and falling. I don't understand romcoms obsession with the clumsy girl. To have your main character fall down and go boom is much easier than actually coming up with something funny. And they do it over and over again in this movie. General movie rule for me: if a woman trips in a trailer I will not see the movie. ( Mean Girls is an exception to the rule). Otherwise, the story is just OK, the characters largely uninteresting and the writing is pretty bad. Betty White isn't bad in it, but most of the others aren't at their best. The films bright spot is Kristen Bell's rival in the movie, Odette Yustman, who is the only one who has some charm even though she's the villain. She's not given much good to do, but I see potential there.
37. When in Rome - 65 D
I told you it was coming soon. Again I saw it for free after me and friends missed out on a preview screening of The Killers ( which by what I've heard might be worse than this movie) . I don't remember much of this movie, but the plot is pretty stupid. Something about a magic coin that makes a bunch of guys fall in love with her. Huh? It's Kristen Bell, I don't need a magic coin for me to fall in love with her. However, I need this movie to love her less. She is not her charming self in this movie either. Jon Heder plays a Criss Angel/ David Blaine type magician, and fails. Why would you cast Jon Heder in that type of role, it makes no sense. Why would you cast Jon Heder at all for that matter? There might be some funny parts and Will Arnett is in it but it is mostly crap but did not anger me as much as You Again did so it misses out on worst movie of the year.
36. Valentine's Day - 74 C
Love Actually it is not. The thing is I cared about all the relationships in Love, Actually. This movie however, I did not give a shit at all. Anne Hathaway was charming in it and I kind of liked the gay Brett Farve type guy subplot. Jennifer Garner was alright, and Kutcher wasn't horrible. Most of the stories are mediocre and some characters are annoying like Jamie Foxx's and George Lopez's characters( mostly because he's George Lopez). I'm a sucker for a movie in the Love, Actually multi story multi star style, even thought they usually suck, like this one.
35. Alice In Wonderland - 74 C
So I've seen this movie two times, both times fell asleep for long parts of it. It is whimsical but just overall boring. When a movie has a bunch of weird shit in it but bores the crap out of me, then I just cannot rate it high. I'm sorry, I'm over Johnny Depp being weird movies, it really didn't work for me here, like it worked for me in Edward Scissorhands.
34. Hot Tub Time Machine - 75 C
This movie should of been better. It should have been a stupid funny movie. However, most jokes ended up failing with mediocre performance by what I thought would be a good comedy cast of Rob Corddry, Craig Robinson, Clark Duke and John Cusack ( yes, Tyler, John Cusack). The parts with Crispin Glover were quality though, the funniest thing in the movie.
33. Morning Glory - 75 C
Watch out Rachel McAdams, you better stop doing movies like this if you don't want to be the next Kristen Bell. Here is my problem with the movie: Harrison Fords character is obviously a horrible choice for a morning show. The fact that after a few days they don't go with someone else makes the whole point of the movie stupid. Why would a smart woman like McAdams character think that a serious newsman should be on a silly morning show? Here is another problem the network they are on is called IBS! First off, its a crappy joke ( get it? HA!) However, because it's the networks name they are stuck with it for the whole movie when it should of been a one off joke. Add in mediocre performances all around and a useless romantic subplot and you have the number 33 movie of the year.
32. Dinner for Schmucks 77 C+
Maybe biggest disappointment of the year. I love Paul Rudd, I love Steve Carell, I love Jermaine Clement. I love Zach Galifianakis. I do not love this movie. They all give it their all in this movie and this movie would be closer to the bottom without them. A lot of the movie is unfunny stupid type stuff. The last part with the actual Dinner for Schmucks should of been much funnier, but it was not. With a lesser cast this movie would be an absolute piece of crap.
31. Iron Man 2 77 C+
This is the last of the movies I somewhat disliked. The first Iron Man was a pretty good superhero movie. The story and script is pretty weak and overall boring. The cast is so-so, Don Cheadle, Paltrow and Scarlett Johhannson are not given much to do and Mickey Rourke as the villain is OK when you can understand him. I did somewhat enjoy Sam Rockwell's character, but to be honest, I do not remember much of this movie either.
30. McGruber 80 B-
Ok this is a better example than Hot Tub Time Machine how a silly comedy should be done. The movie overall is stupid but does have some pretty funny parts. It did an ok job taking a 30 second sketch into a 90 minute movie.
29. The Expendables - 80 B-
This movie is far from a good movie, but basically I left the theatre saying "Wow, that was pretty entertaining" so sometimes that is all that matters.
28. Winters Bone - 81 B-
Jennifer Lawerence gives an Oscar worthy performance in it, and it is also well written, but for the most part I was bored throughout. So basically the opposite of the Expendables.
27. Cryus 86 B
So the next 10-15 movies are all around 86-89 so they are closely bunched together. I think this is the best Jonah Hill has been since Superbad. I thought his character was complex in this movie. John C. Reilly plays a semi-loveable loser put in a weird spot between a woman who actually likes him ( Marisa Tomei) and her Oedipus complex of a son.
26. Youth In Revolt 86 B
Ok so it is Michael Cera being Michael Cera again but now he has another personality ( which is Michael Cera in a mustache and evil). But here is the thing, I really like Michael Cera, he cracks me up, so he can do the same thing if he wants because it is working for me.
25. Cop Out- 86 B
Yet another buddy cop movie. However, this has Tracey Morgan in it and Kevin Smith directing going for it ( some might say going against it). Overall, just a fun movie to watch, nothing really new. Smith does an alright job directing it, but with him writing the movie as well, it just doesn't feel like a Kevin Smith movie, so I don't rank it along with his others. Sean William Scott is very enjoyable as a criminal in this movie and it has some funny moments but overall, nothing special. Red State looks like its going to be good though. I'd rather listen to his podcasts than watch this again though.
24. Harry Potter and The Deathly Hollows Part 1 - 86 B
Pretty entertaining, I enjoyed the scenes with the multiple Harry Potters. They spent a little to much time in the woods hiding out, but a solid outing for the Potter crew.
23. The Kids Are Alright - 86 B
There is awesome acting throughout this movie by Annette Bening, Juilanne Moore, Mark Ruffalo and Mia Wasikowska and a well written screenplay. However, it just never came together for me as a truly great movie, but I still think it is solid.
22. Despicable Me 86 B
Pretty enjoyable kids flick. A cute story of an evil mastermind who ends up looking after 3 loveable orphans as part of his master plan but ends up bonding with them. I thought it was well written with a lot of clever jokes throughout.
21. Date Night - 87 B+
Solid Tina Fey/ Steve Carell comedy. Provided a good amount of laughs and held my attention throughout. Another movie helped by the charms of the actors in it. James Franco, Mila Kunis, JB Smoove and Mark Walhberg all make great cameos in it.
20. My Name is Kahn - 87 B+
Wow, so this seemingly charming Indian movie about an autistic guy who gets the girl turns on a dime before intermission when their kid gets killed by a bully at school and it becomes really weird where he has to find Obama to tell him something but along the way inspires a bunch of people and saves families from a Katrina type storm. It is pretty good despite being a comedy for 70 minutes then a dark drama the next 70 minutes.
19. Best Worst Movie 87 B+
Troll 2 is no The Room in terms of bad movies, but it sure is horrible and is the subject of this doc.
The son from Troll 2 made a doc about the cult following of Troll 2. Most of the cast is interviewed including the dad in the movie, who is a dentist who seems to love cashing in on his new found cult fame. He will go around saying his catchphrase " You don't piss on hospitality" to anyone who will hear. Overall, it is an interesting documentary and worth a gander.
18. Waiting for Superman 87 B+
A hard hitting documentary on the condition of the school system in America and why it is failing. One of the most gut retching scenes this year in movies is watching the kids in the movie and their future being controlled by a lottery to get into charter schools.
17. Get Him to the Greek 87 B+
While very funny, this is another one of my disappointments of the year. A spin off of Forgetting Sarah Marshall with one of my favorite characters from said movie? Should be a slam dunk, but was more of a well executed layup. Solid movie, with a surprisingly funny P Diddy ( is that what is now or is it Sean Combs? Eh, don't care)
16. Black Swan - 87 B+
The creepiest movie of the year that I have seen. Natalie Portman gives maybe the best performance of her life in this movie ( I do love her in Garden State though). You are always guessing what is real and what is in her dark mind as she transforms into the Black Swan. Lots of twists and weird turns in the movie that are sometimes too much, but the performance of Portman and Mila Kunis and Barbra Hershey really drive this movie.
15. The Town - 88 B+
I always thought Ben Affleck was a better actor than people give him credit for, but he might be an even better director. I liked this movie just as much as I did Gone Baby Gone, maybe even more. Story was good, had some exciting scenes and rarely ever dragged.
14. City Island 88 B+
This movie is a feel good family story about a jail warden who discovers he has a long lost son in jail, so brings him to live with him and his family ( but doesn't tell the family). Also, he wants to be an actor! Andy Garcia gives a likeable performance as the dad of the family. Just an overall enjoyable movie.
13. The Other Guys - 89 B+
The best movie Will Ferell has done in a while, a return to form. Thinking back about this movie, it does have a lot of original and funny comedy in it, including some suprises I wasn't expecting them to go to ( SPOILER ALERT) ( ex. Rock and Sam Jackson falling to their deaths, Will Ferell's character being a pimp). I ain't too proud to beg that this is a red light special soon, because I don't want No Scrubs. Hey Sean, are you quoting TLC songs? Ummmm no, why do you ask? Never heard of them.
12. Going the Distance - 89 B+
Now this is how a romcom should go. Funny people, good dialogue and a couple that has chemistry and seems like actual likable people to be around. The movie did what I thought was impossible, it made me like Drew Barrymore! I haven't liked her in anything since E.T. Plus it has Charlie Day, and that is for sure a plus. I met Charlie Day once at a Chinese New Year parade, he's a nice guy.
11. Easy A - 89 B+
Emma Stone might be one of the rising stars in comedy, I saw potential in her in Superbad. I very much enjoy her style. The best part of the movie, I thought, were any scenes with the parents as played by Stanley Tucci and Patrica Clarkson.
10. Winnebago Man - 89 B+
This is my favorite documentary of the year. It is about Jack Rebney, a guy who curse filled outtakes from a Winnebago sales video were a big YouTube hit. He has become somewhat of a hermit who lives in the woods, but eventually the guy making the doc found him. He interviews him and he seems like a normal guy, but weeks later he gets a call from him and that is not the case. Jack agrees to further interviewing if he can get his anti- Cheney/ Bush message out. He seems reluctant to go to see his many fans, because he thinks anyone who watches dumb videos on the Internet is an idiot. However, by the end of the movie he realizes that his fans are just smart people who like his video because it brings them joy. Overall, a well done documentary about a more fascinating man than one would think.
9. Kick Ass - 89 B+
I don't understand why this movie did not do well at the box office. It is one of the more original superhero movies in a while. We all have thought at some point, I wish I was a superhero, I mean that's the whole basis of the SeanMan comics I made in 4th grade. Well, this guy actually goes out and does it despite having no skills for the most part. Chloe Moretz and Nic Cage as Hit Girl and Big Daddy are one of the best duos of the year. Chloe would have the best teenage girl performance of the year if not for an upcoming movie on the list. Hit Girl is one of the top characters of 2010
8. Inception - 90 A-
While I was confused and the movie sometimes dragged during the first hour and a half or so, the last hour makes up for it in spades. I think the last hour was non-stop excitement for me with awesome unique scenes like the rotating hallway scene ( which is in my top 5 scenes of the year). The last hour brought it all together for me, if the rest of the movie was like that, it would be higher up and maybe a classic, but too much of the first part was to set up the last hour.
7. The Fighter - 90 A-
In the pantheon of boxing movies, it's no Raging Bull, but still very solid. Great performances all around especially by Christian Bale as the crackhead former boxer brother of Mark Wahlberg. The interesting thing about this movie is that there are two forces trying to lead Wahlberg's character's career (his mom ( Melissa Leo) and brother being one and Amy Adams being the other) but you never really know which side is better for him.
6. The Kings Speech - 91 A-
Colin Firth gives one of the best performances of the year as George VI, who eventually ends up being king. However, he has a stammer that has plagued him for most of his life. Geoffrey Rush is awesome as his unorthodox speech therapist. They play off each other really well. It just basically is a well written, well acted feel good story.
5. 127 Hours - 91 A-
To have an engrossing movie in which for 80 percent of it is just one guy in one location is quite a feat. James Franco should be given a lot of credit for this. Going into the movie I knew an arm cutting scene was coming so I lot of the tenseness of the movie comes from when it is going to happen. It is a brutal scene to watch, but from what I saw between looking away, it is pretty well done. Although I agree with comedian Pete Holmes who said "If it was me, the movie would be called 65 minutes" . I think I would cut my arm off earlier, but I would not know how to, so yea, I'll probably die.
4. True Grit - 92 A-
I do enjoy most Coen brothers movies, but most fall into the B+ range for me. They are really good filmmakers, but I think slightly overrated. I actually think at this moment this might be my favorite Coen brothers movie. The story which has somewhat the same theme as Winter's Bone, but I think much more entertaining and well done. The story is about Hailee Steinfeld's character Mattie Ross who is a 14 year old kid who acts like a strong full grown woman who wants to avenge her father's death. Lots of times a kid acting beyond his/her years can be annoying but Steinfeld really brings it in this movie as does Jeff Bridges and Matt Damon.
3. The Social Network - 93 A
From the first scene of the movie, you think "Hey this guy is an asshole" and that certainly didn't stop at any point during. He is however, an facilitating character. Much more than one would think he would be. They take a movie about creating a website and lawsuits and make it as exciting as an action film. The movie is really well written, possibly the best written movie of the year, and all the performances highlight that. Jessie Eisenberg is no longer a poor man's Micheal Cera in my book anymore after this movie.
2. Toy Story 3 - 95 A
Right up until today this was my number 1 movie of the year. I changed my mind watching the top two today. It was nothing i found wrong with this movie, because there pretty much is nothing wrong. It seems ever year since 2008 Pixar has topped itself. This now my new favorite Pixar movie and the best of the Toy Story movies. It has maybe the two best scenes of the year. SPOILER ALERT First off, the scene in the incinerator where they think they are about to die and then hold hands was so well done and powerful. The fact that while watching it I thought they would die even though it defies all logic that they would just kill them all off, speaks volume about how engrossed I was in the movie. Then the final scene where Andy gives his toys away to Bonnie is the perfect happy ending.
1. Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World - 95 A
The cover on my Blu-Ray of this movie has a quote from Peter Travers from Rolling Stone that says "A Game- Changer". And I would have to agree, but for some reason America did not. This movie is so unique and I feel like it should have been a bigger deal. There are so many things about this movie that I've never or rarely seen done at all or as well as in this movie. The editing style I love, scenes just weave into one another, its a style I've never seen done as well as it was done here. Then you have the video game and comic book influences that work real well. Like whenever Scott defeats an evil ex he gets coins or like in fight scenes there are POW's and stuff like that from comic books or the old Batman TV show. The visual style is just so money. And you know I love me some Michael Cera, and he's at his best Cera form since Superbad. I changed it just a few hours ago, it was so close, but I feel like this because it is so unique and hopefully influencial deserves number 1.
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