Podcasts
5) The Poscast with Joe Posnanski
Joe Posnanski moved from Sports Illustrated to a new web venture (Sports on Earth) but he
kept his podcast going. His conversations with Parks and Recreation creator Michael
Schur (who is virtually the only guest Posnanski has) are smart, silly and
thought-provoking conversations about sports and whatever else crosses their
minds.
4)
The Fogelnest Files
You might
remember Jake Fogelnest from that 1990s MTV show Squirt TV. Foglenest has come a long from being a teenager
interviewing stars in his bedroom. This podcast sees him digging up weird,
arcane clips from the Internet for us to enjoy. And to enjoy others making fun
of them.
3) The Ronna & Beverly Podcast
I have
laughed so loudly about inappropriate things uttered by Beverly (played by Jamie Denbo--full disclosure, I know her) on the F train on my way home
from work that I’ve scared people and they moved to other parts of the car.
That, my friends, is some powerful comedy.
2)
WTF with Marc Maron
Marc Maron has become, for better or worse,
perhaps the biggest name in podcasting. And when you listen to his
conversations with Todd Glass about
coming out, The Flaming Lips’ Wayne Coyne about creativity or Steven Wright about, well, hell,
anything, you’ll understand exactly why people want to write about what they
hear.
1)
Harmontown
Community creator Dan Harmon and former Whose
Line Is It Anyway panelist Jeff
Davis get drunk, play Dungeons and Dragons, make up raps about your mother
and go on lengthy stream of consciousness rants about, well, anything that
cross’s Harmon’s mind. This is not a podcast for just anyone. If you liked Community, this is just for you.
TV Shows
5)
Person of Interest (CBS)
Okay, I
must be getting old -- I non-ironically enjoy a CBS crime procedural (and I
don’t watch it in reruns on USA). The second season of this sci-fi version
of The Equalizer has added more humor
and doubled down on the extensive conspiracy arcs. By my count there are four
different running threads the show can tap into any week, which is four more
than any other CBS show. Alas, Jim
Caviezel still acts as if he’s in a walking coma (except for the well
crafted action sequences). Fortunately the very talented Michael Emerson and Taraj P.
Henson more than make up for Caviezzzzzzels sleepy delivery.
4) Community (NBC)
The nine
month wait for new episodes almost made me leave one of my favorite shows ever
off the list. (Stupid NBC.) Then I remember how hard I laughed when Troy and Abed were being “normal,” Jeff
turning into the Incredible Hulk or the entire cast turning into 8-bit video
game versions of themselves. Dan Harmon
made some great television over three seasons. Let’s hope the fourth (and
likely final season) is a worthwhile coda to that time when it debuts in
February.
3)
Louie (FX)
I must
admit that I missed the boat on the first two seasons of Louie. I read so much great writing about how amazing this series
from Louis C.K. was that I decided
to set the DVR and give it a shot. Most critics said this year wasn’t as good
as its second season, which made me think I better catch up on those episodes
because I was hugely entertained by season three. (I suppose I’ve got something
to watch on the iPad this winter.) Parker
Posey’s guest turn as the most unnerving yet memorable date of Louie’s life
and the three-episode arc where Louie auditioned to succeed David Letterman weren’t just funny,
they were genuinely moving. That’s a hard act for a comedy to pull off, yet Louie did it each week.
2)
Sherlock (PBS)
The only
disappointing thing about this 21st Century update of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s detective is that there aren’t more
episodes. The three 90-minute episodes we do get feature everyone in involved
working at the top of their game, especially Benedict Cumberbatch as Holmes and Martin Freeman as Watson. The Conan Doyle-inspired cliffhanger will
have me anxiously awaiting the next brief run, which isn’t likely to hit these
shores until 2014 because of the busy schedules of the leads. (Damn you Star Trek: Into Darkness and The Hobbit!)
1)
Parks and Recreation (NBC)
I didn’t
think this show could improve on its greatness of 2011, but both the hysterical
and heart-warming arc about Leslie’s campaign for city council wrapping up in
the spring and the transition into a new season with every character adapting
to new roles was superb. Amy Poehler
and Adam Scott play one of the best
couples on television and I applaud the writing staff for creating a realistic
relationship that has stayed fresh and funny.
Films
5)
Lockout (Europa/Canal Plus/Open Road Films)
I believe
the pitch for this film had to be one sentence -- “Escape From New York, set in outer space.” Guy Pearce chews through every bit of scenery
in the film as the convict that has to rescue the president’s daughter. Add it
to your Netflix cue right now. It’s the perfect so stupid it’s smart action
film
4)
Skyfall (MGM/Sony)
Daniel Craig just may be my favorite James Bond
ever. (Well, behind George Lazenby.)
What a relief the series didn’t go down further after the drudgery of Quantum of Solace. And (spoiler alert!!!!)
Judi Dench will be missed.
3) Fat Kid Rules the World (Whitewater Films & Whippany Park Productions)
Full
disclosure: my friends Michael Galvin
and Pete Speakman wrote the
screenplay for this film based upon the 2003 young adult novel by KL Going. But don’t let my personal
bias distort from the fact that this is a great film. First time director Matthew Lillard (yup, the guy from Scream and that played Shaggy in the Scooby Doo films) picked an excellent
cast to bring this tale of an overweight teenager that gets indoctrinated into
punk rock culture to life. Get it on iTunes
now!
2)
Lincoln (Touchstone Pictures/20th Century
Fox/DreamWorks Pictures)
I’ll admit
it -- the last Steven Spielberg film I liked was, heck, could it be Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade?
Really (Goes to IMDB
to check.) Oops, forgot about Saving
Private Ryan. So it’s been 14 years since I was impressed by Spielberg. And
I didn’t expect Lincoln to be so entertaining. The healthy doses of humor in Tony Kushner’s script (and the delivery of those lines by the
amazing cast) enliven what could have been a very dry historical artifact of
the nuts and bolts of passing a constitutional amendment. I’m pretty sure no
one’s going to be making a film about how today’s Congress can’t get their own
heads out of their asses and pass any bill.
1) The Avengers (Marvel/Disney)
I’m still
amazed that some film executive was smart enough to give Joss Whedon the keys to a blockbuster franchise. This was my
favorite superhero film since the first X-Men
film, and in most ways surpasses it. Whedon made the Hulk a viable film
character, which is miraculous after Ang
Lee and Edward Norton messed it
up in separate tries. The excitement of seeing this with an insanely audience
on opening day reminded me that some movies are best experienced on the big
screen with a bunch of people high on adrenaline and candy.
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