"It was a great year for film" screamed the year ending headlines, a claim which might have stuck if nearly every critic hadn't then resorted to listing the same 10 films... several of which (Jackie, Hell or High Water, Moonlight) I just can't bring myself to make the effort, and several more where I did make the effort... and well, they don't make my list. As always, I combine visual media to tackle both TV and film (and various others), because that is the world we watch. And while it wasn't a great year, I will say this - what was good was very very good. The rest... was about as classy as that gold paint adorning every Trump building project. In relative order, the best of what we saw:
- Loving - The natural inclination of civil rights filmmaking is big crowds and stirring speeches, but Loving wisely plays it small, focusing on perhaps the most far reaching of decisions (perhaps on par with Brown, but still) by seeing the case through the eyes of a small town Virginia couple who, most simply. loved each other. The film plays like Brokeback Mountain - spare and small, a wealth of emotion packed into few words and well observed silences. Interracial marriage, the elimination of laws against miscegenation... these are the most dangerous forces segregation sought to control - for if we can love one another across these boundaries, have children who lie in between them... then the boundaries don't exist.
- The People v. OJ Simpson (DVD) - Nothing can convey the real time madness of, say, the infamous Bronco chase... and Cuba Goding is physically wrong to play Simpson, but FX's remarkable decision to take Jeffrey Toobin's account of the OJ Simpson trial to a miniseries is full of nerve and fascinating detail. Most importantly, the series takes the time to convey the horror of the crime and the real life beyond the flash and crass (though try, if you can, not to take in the celebrity trifecta of OJ waving a gun in Kim Kardashian's Encino bedroom, thinking of ending it then and there). A slew of stars and a clutch of powerful performances (particularly Sarah Paulson's Marcia Clark) lift the material, even if it seems, at times, like an extended "Law and Order SVU LA". This really happened. And if Toobin can't exactly locate a moral center the rest of us can see, his observation of the lack of one isn't far off, either.
- The Americans (FX and Amazon Prime) - So much of what's great on tv these days, I find, is about knowing who to trust, and the lies we tell ourselves, and others, to make life okay. I resisted the FX spy series when it first appeared, wary of the flattering press it was getting... but one long binge watch proved the plaudits true. A dark show with a grim worldview and no one to particularly root for could be a hard sell, but not when the writing's this strong and the performances from top to bottom so complex. Sure, it's easy to praise Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys, but everything and everyone here shines.
- Deutschland 83 (Hulu) - might as well be called "The Germans," offering much the same premise (East German boy crosses into West Berlin to pose as attache to NATO general from the US), with much of the similar complexities, if not the deep level of training and commitment found in the Soviet project to infiltrate the US. Proof both that this concept works in a variety of settings, and that interesting insights can be found in all sorts of places. While the cast may not be immediately familiar to most Americans, they make the most of this material.
- Lucifer (Season2, FOX and Season 1, DVD)- One of Fox's most baldly "out there" premises - and why wouldn't it smack of desperation; what else does the network have these days, beyond clinging to the ermine coattails of Empire? - turns out to be a surprisingly satisfying LA based noir romp. If "King of Hell moves to LA to be a detective" seems too much, give the show credit for not apologizing or backing down. Helped tremendously by the lead performance of Tom Ellis (doing, really, the same thing he did in USA's woefully unseen Rush), Lucifer works best when our leading man has room to scenery chew and shine. Beyond that, when they put their minds (and writing) to it, mysteries that capture the essential sleaziness of the LA scene work very well, and when that misses... well, everyone is awfully, awfully pretty.
- Full Frontal with Samantha Bee (TBS)/Late Night with Seth Myers (NBC) - Humor in this election season was full of easy marks and cheap shots, and much that really wasn't actually funny. To really rise above the pack was to have a point of view, a well placed sense of outrage, and knowing where the joke really was. For Myers, it meant turning his easy slide into Fallon's empty chair into the sudden ability to find his own way and his own voice, not "just another former SNL member propping up NBC's comedy table." Myers was funny, angry, mournful all in well chosen degrees, with a knack not just for making fun of it all, but explaining it well. As for Bee, what seemed at first like an expensive gamble by TBS in an unlikely format (a fairly direct monologue is really all she needs), turned out to unleash a fearless and forceful comic mind rich with ability to connect the dots and use language in daring, confrontational ways. Both, in a sensible world (along with Fey and Poehler, not to mention the really charming combo of Colin Jost and Michael Che now on SNL), would be an ideal short list for The Daily Show, where Trevor Noah is stunningly adequate. Honorable mentions to Stephen Colbert (the Jack Paar of his generation, I think), and John Oliver, both of whom don't seem as sure any of this is funny, and are probably right.
- The Man in The High Castle (Season 2, Amazon) - So amazing was the pilot I found myself instantly won over into ordering Prime, and I've never looked back. Season one was rich in the details of an imagined alternative ending for World War 2, a US divided by German and Japanese victors, with all that implies, and a the early explorations of mysterious films from that man in the castle. Season 2 has, so far, continued to build on the layers of complexity, of real and imagined outcomes for world events and individual lives, not losing sight of the fascinating characters we've come to know. Science fiction (even other Phillip K. Dick) is rarely this able to play on such a large canvas, with such remarkable results (stay til the final episode, when a string of stunning revelations sets up a surefire Season 3). And somehow, given this year's events, all this allegory seems very timely.
- Versailles (Season 1, Amazon). At it's best - that is, when not going overboard on the sexual shenanigans, or getting a little too hepped up on gore - this French TV import pays skillful homage to Louis XIV and his grand designs to build a place of beauty and light, while passionately celebrating the unque aspects of French culture that often don't get their full due. Complex intrigue, a pair of complicated brothers (Louis and his brother Phillippe) and tight plotting all add up to a lavish package, beautifully art directed, costumed and scored. And, well, there's a lot of lusty sex and that occasionally over the top gore, too.
- Kate McKinnon and Leslie Jones. Not SNL, per se, but at an often wonderfully uneven moment for the late night legend (what's good is okay, what's great is show stopping), Jones and McKinnon make for 2 of the shows richest finds - seasoned comic talents from more than the standard "Second City/Improv" axis, lifting even modest material and refusing to hide their true selves (at her height, Jones was never going to sink into the background regardless. But she owns it). McKinnon shines in virtually everything she does, and Jones is a just in time success story who all of America seems to root for each step of the way - nice work, Allstate! Right on, Olympics! You go, Christian Soriano! Combine them with Melissa McCarthy and Kristen Wiig and it should be unstoppable... which is why watching Ghostbusters fail to hit it out of the park was a puzzling misfire (or, more accurately, an expensive dud of a misconceived remake). With brilliance like they possess, no failure can hold them back for long. Honorable mention to Aidy Bryant.
- Berlin Station Season 1, Epix) - "TV series" has become a catch all for material from any and everywhere, from Netflix and Hulu to Amazon... and well, Epix, a still rising alternative to HBO and Showtime powered, apparently, by Paramount, MGM and Lionsgate (but wait, wasn't Viacom backing Hulu?). Never mind. Berlin Station is the first to TV attempt to for Olen Steinhauer, a thriller writer whose CIA procedurals are well worth the read - sharply paced and well observed. So is the series... if you can find it. Episode 1 was so brilliant I am pretty much panting for more.
- The Handmaiden (Ah-ga-ssi) - You'd think - I thought - I'd had enough of director Park Chan-wook with Oldboy, his supremely creative, totally out there, deeply disturbing 2003 film I still can't forget (as opposed the silly, pointless Stoker, which I can, and do). But apparently, even the worst can be forgiven. The Handmaiden is Park's adaptation of Fingersmith into a classic Asian thriller with twist after twist, told in brilliant visual style that evokes high Hitchcock, or exuberant DePalma. Sure, Park's camera still leers at kinky sex and gratuitous violence, but the power of his work remains generally undeniable, and like nothing else this year, I can't wait to see more of what he does.
- Supernatural (Season 11 on DVD, Season 12, the CW) Twelve years and the Supernatural crew still finds fresh material, fresh insights, and the best morality play going in fantasy/horror television. From Rick Springfield's turn as Lucifer to the return of Mary Winchester, the show continues to surprise, delight, scare, and most of all, move. And sure, the "climactic battle" of last season between God and The Darkness was more fizzle than flame, but even that season's revealing moments (Chuck as God, Cas as Lucifer) packed quite a punch. Carry on, wayward sons.
- Finding Dory (Pixar) - It wouldn't be fair to deny the power of this animated gem, where the tears come pretty much every 10 minutes or so, especially for Ellen deGeneres in the best role she's pretty much ever had as a comic actress. Like How To Train Your Dragon, Dory works best as a morality play on disability as different ability, and its foundational element of how we can always find our way home is pretty much undeniable, as well. Lovingly animated (those knocks on Sea World, bravo!), and well voiced ("I'm Sigourney Weaver..."), Dory deserves recognition.
- Madam Secretary (CBS) - After all that's happened IRL, I'll just say that the measure of Madam Secretary is not how good it is to make it on the list, it's how much higher it might be had things turned out differently. Still, kudos to CBS for seamlessly transitioning from The Good Wife to another female driven political show, and Tea Leoni for a consistently strong performance rich in layers and insight.
- Captain America: Civil War and Doctor Strange. The MCU did easily meet or exceed expectations, even if the "comic book genre" and the oversize tent pole effect is beginning to wear out even the most devoted souls. From it's major "hero v hero battle" to the wraparound close, Civil War made a fine companion to the whole Captain America series, the best that Marvel has put out for any one role; and the combo of Cumberbatch and Swinton lifted Dr. Strange pretty much as promised (though the scene stealing cape made clear how easily CGI can upstage even classically trained thespians every time). Would it be a better year if these hadn't even made the list? Sure, but that is the lesson this year: we don't get the world we want, just the one we deserve.
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