TV Shows:
4.) Letterkenny
I'm not finished with it, so Letterkenny still has some potential to surprise me. Yes, it takes a few episodes to even understand what people are saying, more to do with teh speed and pace of dialogue than the Canadian-ness, but man when I started to get a hang of it, all of it, teh show came to life. So many great running gags, from the Canadian phrases, to Squirrely Dan appreciating Katy for various reasons, to all the hockey lingo, to the weird dog-in-hand intro. This is a blindingly sharp show with the veneer of something far more farcical. I like making comparisons to other shows, and to me this is something like the Canadian version of 'It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia', with teh farm stand in place of the bar, the skids, hockey players, and other townies in the place of the McPoyle's and Ponderosas and the rest. I'm about halfway through (granted the show in theory is still going on) and I can't believe I missed this little Canadian gem.
3.) Schitt's Creek
I mentioned when I ranked the 6th season as one of my best for 2020 that I did watch the first couple episodes many years ago. It didn't connect with me then, the premise a bit too absurd and the characters a bit too over the top. I don't think that was a wrong reading, but what I didn't see then is what I saw when I watched all of it now, that the beauty of a small town would bash down the ridiculous veneer of the Rose family. Yes, so much of the laughs of the show was heightening the ridiculousness of the personalities of David, Alexis, Moira and the rest but when they turned the noise down and focused on emotional moments, the show got even better. I still am surprised how emotional that final season was, given how silly the premise was at the start. Just a great run for a truly great show.
2.) Episodes
I think it was because I was turned off so much at Joey that I never really gave Episodes a chance when it was on. The show, a somewhat live-action version of Bojack Horseman (from a plot perspective) was at it best at exposing the ludicrousness of the real day-to-day Hollywood. Matt LeBlanc playing himiself was a revelation - his acting and performance just brilliant from start to finish. The characters they created were fewer in number to a Bojack but equally as well written and created, from both English showrunners, to Merc and Carol as the network execs (let's not forget about a truly Bojack-esque name of Elliott Salad being the network head), to Morning and everyone else. Episodes was fantastic, and I truly wish it could have gone on for a few more years.
1.) Justified
This was the first show I binged, starting way back in March or April. I don't really know why I never watched it while it was running. It was on FX, which I usually blindly trust. The one almost running joke was how loosely the show played with the idea of what US Marshals do, but man did it not matter. Such a good show in mixing a spotlight on 'rural' America in all its faults, and crazy long list of full characters, and really well structured 'bid bad's for each season. Olyphant's performance as Raylan is one of the best leading performances I've seen - but the brilliance was so much of the cast, from Goggins to Art to everyone else. Justified was a fantastic watch, and while it was plot heavy, the real magic was the care it took to tell a true Southern story. What I really loved about the show was it categorically did not make Raylan a 'good guy.' There was a lot wrong with him, and right with Ava and the rest. The show also was unabashed in its authenticity for Southern life, be it religion to so much else. To me it sits right below The Wire and Breaking Bad, heading that next tier of all time drama classics that I've seen.'
Moderately Old Movies
5.) Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988, 89%)
4.) Chinatown (1974, 99%)
3.) A Clockwork Orange (1971, 86%)
2.) The Sting (1973, 94%)
1.) Apocalypse Now (1979, 98%)
Old Moves
10.) On The Waterfront (1954, 99%)
Marlon Brando is a genius, and this was maybe my favorite non-Don Corleone role for him. The movie itself was fairly small in size and scope, but just expertly made. An organized crime movie before it became a popular thing, to me this was a precursor to movies like Mean Streets, more 'slice of life' Crime stories compared to more sprawling and plot heavy ones. The dialogue was sharp, but the setting and the tone was just great from the start.
9.) Streetcar Named Desire (1951, 98%)
Honestly, this probably works better as a play. The acting and dialogue was amazing - as most Tennessee Williams plays would require - but it was just a bit too small and too slow to really make it sing. Of course, it still is a masterpiece of acting for both Marlon Brando and Vivian Leigh were incredible. I didn't get the setting and a lot of the other side characters, but that central performance was great enough to make it special.
8.) The Apartment (1960, 93%)
It's seen as a classic, and I get it. The story is incredible amusing, mixing easily the levity of Bud's situation, playing host to all of his superior's affairs, with the seriousness of Bud and Fran as characters. The movie was really well crafted and acted, even if the story gets thin at times. Jack Lemmon is just great at being the schmoozing careerist, and Shirley Maclaine was appropriately cute as the love interest. In a way, despite it being one of the more 'recent' movies by year in my Top-10, it evoked maybe the most clear 'old' feel.
7.) An American in Paris (1951, 96%)
Just a really fun, light movie. Set in Paris after the war, the story of an American trying to make it as a painter in Paris, getting caught up in a love triangle with one of his friends and the girl of their dreams. The sets were great, the costumes and the look was fantastic. The energy was special throughout, and of course Gene Kelly and Leslie Caron were fabulous, with instant chemistry. Kelly is just a true star - another one of his entries is still to come - and he carried that memorable 15-min dance and dream sequence at the end, which was a piece of perfection. Layering Gershwin's music on top just was a cherry on a beautiful, musical little sundae. I am surprised it won Best Picture, beating out 'Streetcar', but it was truly memorable.
6.) North by Northwest (1959, 99%)
This was the second Hitchcock movie I'd ever seen, and the second Cary Grant movie - oddly enough the first one for each is another movie a bit higher up on my list. In this one, the plot was excellent, a wild series of multiple capers and cons around a man thrust into a scene he would never want to be, but who through sheer guile and Cary Grant-ness, excels anyway. The acting all around was great, even if the final set-piece at Mt. Rushmore was a little too 'old' for someone who's used to CGI and the like. Still, a really fun story, if one that was hard to follow - in the best possible way.
5.) Witness for the Prosecution (1957, 100%)
Yup, this is just a really well made court drama, with a brilliant performance from Marlene Deitrich as the cold, but eventually emotional, wife who went to great lengths to save her husband despite knowing he's guilty. The story was very well crafted, hiding muiltiple twists that were revealed in great detail. But the performances of Deitrich, and Tyrone Power and Charles Laughton as Leonard and the lawyer, were very well handled. The dialogue was great, the pacing was great, slowly revealing the ultimate secret that Deitrich's character was hiding in excruciating focus. Just an excellent movie.
4.) The Maltese Falcon (1941, 100%)
I'm just shocked a movie this good could be this old, but still fairly fresh. The story is just really well written and crafted (of course, the source material helps). Humphrey Bogart is as good as ever, as was Mary Astor. The side characters were all well scripted and acted. It was just pure magic from a plot and story perspective. The movie to some degree invented film noir, but to me it could get as much credit for inventing complex plots and expecting the viewer to pay attention.
3.) His Girl Friday (1940, 98%)
What a script, what an energy. I've long liked hard-boiled stories but this one was different in that it had all the trappings of a normal hard-boiled detective story, but one that just leaned fully into comedy. The performances were great too, with both Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell as leads being so good at reading those lines in that pace and that tone to brilliant effect. The story itself gets a bit convoluted and ultimately exposes corruption in the police system, but the real story is Cary Grant relentlessly trying to hold onto his ex-wife, but doing so not appealing to her beauty and their relationship, but her skills as a reporter. That part makes more sense when you realize the play version had that character as a man. It still works well in this incarnation and I was surprised how effortlessly funny a black-and-white movie could be.
2.) To Catch a Thief (1955, 96%)
Not sure why this one appealed to me so much above the four all-time classics that I put right before it (granted, it's not like this isn't a reputed classic). It some part of the incredible scenery and locations they used in Italy. It's of course for the chemistry between Cary Grant and Grace Kelly (man, Grace Kelly). The story is well told, with the ultimate twist of who the robber is a complete surprise, for me at least. By the end I cared less about finding out who the killer was, and just wanting to spend more time with Cary Grant, Grace Kelly, and the rest, from the dance to the resort beach to everything else. Just a fantastic, tight movie.
1.) Singin' In the Rain (1952, 100%)
Just a masterpiece; a great story, of the end of the silent-film era and the impact it had on the stars of the day, mixed with brilliant songs and performances, with the right mix of comedy and drama. It works because to be honest, even with no music the story itself is fairly entertaining - what does happen to actors who, let's say don't ahve great voices, when you have to start talking. What truly separates Singin' In the Rain was the incredible music as well. Songs like "Moses Supposes", "Good Morning", "Make 'Em Laugh" and of course the titular "Singin' in teh Rain" are all great, but all also fit in well with teh story. It isn't set-pieces, it wasn't ham-fisted. It was just pure excellence.
