Happy Birthday David Letterman

It sounds strange but over the past fifteen years, David Letterman has been a huge part of my life and one of the biggest influences on my sense of humor. Since today is his 64th birthday, I wanted to take a few minutes to wish David Letterman a very sincere Happy Birthday. I can't give Dave a birthday present that will match the one he got from Drew Barrymore in 1995 and I'm not arrogant enough to believe there's a chance that Dave has the time to read this but I believe it to be good karma to show my respect for perhaps the best talk show host in the history of television.

I can't remember a time when David Letterman wasn't on television and that's probably due to the fact Late Night with David Letterman premiered on NBC a few months before I was born in 1982. For the next 11 years, David and his staff honed their craft by coming up with daring and innovative comedy material. It was during this time spent at Late Night with David Letterman that he debuted such staples as The Top Ten List, Stupid Pet Tricks, and Small Town News.

When Johnny Carson retired and it was announced that Jay Leno would be his successor as host of The Tonight Show, Letterman decided it was time to leave and parted ways with NBC. He accepted a job with CBS as host of The Late Show with David Letterman which would air in the same time slot as The Tonight Show. Once he began battling with his former friend Jay Leno for late night supremacy his show really began to take off. Letterman never relented from his goof-ball persona that made him a success in his days with NBC and after intense battles he was able to use most of the bits he helped to create while employed by NBC.

He grew up in Indiana and went to college at Ball State University but after working in New York City for the last three decades he has become an honorary New Yorker to those who inhabit the city. It only made sense that when New York City was attacked nearly ten years ago that Letterman was vocal with his frustration but kept his composure in relaying Mayor Rudy Giuliani's message to return to everyday life.

If you're a fan of younger hosts like Jimmy Kimmel and Conan O'Brien (which I am also), you should know that both of them have cited Letterman as huge influences on their hosting technique. His program has always given opportunity to up-and-coming comedians and bands often giving them their big break. Tonight to help celebrate his birthday, Dave will be joined by guests who don't need much help being discovered; comedian Ricky Gervais and his favorite band Foo Fighters.

I'd like to end with a quote that was issued when Late Night with David Letterman was given a Peabody Award:

Once a television wasteland, late night has become a daypart of increased interest to programmers, performers, and viewers. In the past ten years, one show has moved to the position of the leader in late night television in creativity, humor, and innovation. That program is Late Night With David Letterman. As one member of the Peabody Board remarked, "David Letterman is a born broadcaster." He is also a savvy co-executive producer. Along with co-executive producer Jack Rollins, producer Robert Morton, director Hal Gurnee, and musical director Paul Shaffer, Mr. Letterman has surrounded himself with exceptional talent and given them the go-ahead to experiment with the television medium. Particularly noteworthy is the work of head writer Steve O'Donnell and his talented staff. Together, the "Late Night" team manages to take one of TV's most conventional and least inventive forms—the talk show—and infuse it with freshness and imagination. For television programming which, at its best, is evocative of the greats, from Your Show of Shows, to The Steve Allen Show, and The Ernie Kovacs Show, a Peabody to Late Night With David Letterman.

Someone is reading in the state of Denmark

I decided to start this blog a couple of months ago to share my views, my stories and my lists with friends, family and anyone else who was interested. I have been encouraged by the strong feedback as well as the high number of pageviews. There is only one thing that strikes me as odd and that is the number of international readers. Over the past month, my blog has had exactly 100 pageviews. As expected, majority of them came from the United States but 26 were from Denmark.

I have Danish heritage but had never mentioned it on the blog. In fact, when someone asks me about my specific ethnicity, I usually respond Danish first (followed by English and Cherokee Indian). When I watch the World Cup or the Olympics I usually root for the team or athlete from Denmark just behind the United States.

My Danish ancestors who came to the United States

One of the stories that has been passed down from my family was about my Viking ancestors from Denmark is The Red Hand of Österblad. I tried very hard to research the story online and there is a story known as the Red Hand of Ulster that appears to be a slight variation on the story passed down from my relatives. From the best of my recollection, the story involved my ancestor in a dispute over a piece of land that may or may not have been an entire island. It was decided that the ownership dispute would be settled by whomever would win a race to the land and the first man to touch the soil would win the race. As the story goes, it was a very close race but as my ancestor approached the shore he realized that he was going to lose so without hesitation he cut off his hand and then flung it onto the sand to best his competitor and claim the land for his family.

The video above is Danish singer Nanna Øland Fabricius whose group Oh Land recently played on The Late Show with David Letterman.


Jeg værdsætter mine læsere fra Danmark.


Farvel,
Nolan

An Open Letter to Jackie K. Cooper

Dear Jackie,

I've taken an interest in your reviews since your "Rotten" review of Fantastic Mr. Fox caught my eye.

After watching Fantastic Mr. Fox, I was so thoroughly entertained that I wanted to see what rating it received on RottenTomatoes.com. I noticed it had received a stunning 100% rating among "top critics" and an impressive 93% among all critics. You were one of the 7% who disliked the movie and your blurb "Another clunker from Clooney aided and abetted by Wes Anderson" grabbed my attention. The start to your actual written review (in which you give an incorrect title) seems like an attack on either Wes Anderson and George Clooney or their fans and perhaps all of the above. As a critic your job is to remain objective. Just because you might dislike most of the work from a particular actor or director does not mean their work should be dismissed entirely but that is exactly what this sounds like:

"Are there really fans out there waiting for the latest Wes Anderson film? And are there people clamoring for the mere sound of George Clooney’s voice? I don’t think so. So why do we have an animated film (stop/action animation) from Mr. Anderson that features the vocal work of Mr. Clooney? It is titled “The Talented Mr. Fox” and seems to be just another exercise in futility aimed at pleasing a very small and select group."

I was upset by your reviews when I thought you were just skewing the Tomatometer on RottenTomatoes.com and writing poorly written reviews for the random visitors of your website but when I saw your review posted on the Huffington Post website, I nearly fainted.

Today I went to see Rango and I personally loved it. This evening I stumbled upon your review of Rango and was shocked by not only your negative review but that in a review of just 430 words you could have multiple grammatical and factual errors. However, I would agree with your criticism that it is probably not a film for small children. I would go so far as to say that Rango is an animated film for adults that children might also enjoy and not the other way around.

Your review posted on your website has the headline "An Animated Lizard - So What!". Shouldn't that be a question mark instead of an exclamation point? Then your review that is linked to the Huffington Post website has the extremely clever headline "Rango: Depp Is Out of my Depth". You clearly have taken umbrage with Johnny Depp and I will clarify that not only am I not a Johnny Depp apologist but I think his recent movies have been poor.

There is a sentence in your review after detailing some of the major characters that states "There are various other characters but these are the main ones." as to explain that you did not list every single character. There is no reason to have that sentence in your review unless you are paid by the word. As a writer you should know that superfluous sentences or even words are detrimental to your work.

I might also recommend that you consult a Holt Handbook because there are several grammatical errors in your review. For example, your put the town name in quotes when there is no need and for some reason you put the rating G in quotes but not PG. You also wrote the following sentence "As the Mayor (Ned Beatty) of the town tells him..." when it should read "As the Mayor of the town (Ned Beatty) tells him..." and you actually don't have to capitalize mayor when there is no formal name or territory attached to it but since that is his character's name, you get a free pass.

As far as your factual errors; you wrote that there are no humans allowed in the town which is never stated or even implied. You also wrote that Rango declares himself the new sheriff when in reality it was the mayor who made him sheriff.

We obviously have some fundamental differences in our opinions on what makes a film good. You wrote on your website that 2007 was a bad year for movies and you listed There Will Be Blood and No Country for Old Men as two films that would have made your list for the worst movies of the year. Both time and respected film critics will back me up that those were two of the finest films released in the last decade. I respect your right to have an opinion (as wrong as it might be) because any art is subjective but I implore you to not go see the next film by George Clooney or Johnny Depp trying not to think of a clever headline to voice your displeasure but to watch the movie and judge it on the merits of that particular film.

P.S. For someone with your profile picture, you might not want to use the word "kiddies" multiple times in your review.

Sincerely,

Nolan

I'm Sick of Sequels: Part II

I watched the Academy Awards last weekend which I found predictable and disappointing for several reasons including James Franco, the wins by Tom Hooper & The King's Speech, and the losses for David Fincher and Roger Deakins. After the Academy Awards were over I began to look at the films set to be released this year and was deeply troubled by the number of sequels set to be released.

Don't get me wrong, I'll be the first to admit that The Godfather: Part II, The Dark Knight, The Empire Strikes Back, Aliens, Terminator 2: Judgement Day, and even Wayne's World 2 were all very entertaining sequels and in some cases even better than their predecessors. However, the list of disappointing sequels that includes The Godfather: Part III, Batman & Robin, The Phantom Menace, The Two Jakes, Caddyshack II and The Matrix Reloaded is much longer.

Katie Holmes (left) replaced by Maggie Gyllenhaal

One of the inherit flaws with most sequels is that the story has already been told. Unless the writer set out to write a series of films the storyline always has to start with forced exposition that comes more naturally in the original film. My biggest frustration, and my only complaint about The Dark Knight, is when they make a sequel and swap out a member of the cast due to scheduling, a financial issue or death. As the comedian Matt Fulchiron said when his friend asked to him to watch Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights, "I'm like 'No Swayze, no way-ze'". I don't care about the fact Katie Holmes is a terrible actress or that Terrence Howard is a money grubbing asshole, you make the sequel with the same actors or don't make it at all.

According to Box Office Mojo there will be a record 27 sequels released in 2011; which for you math majors comes out to one sequel every two weeks. This number does not include the remakes scheduled to be released this year and that appears to be in the double digits as well. This disturbing trend is likely to continue because the top five grossing films of last year where Toy Story 3, Alice in Wonderland, Iron Man 2, The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. There isn't a single original film among the movies that collectively grossed $1.65 billion last year. I, for one, plan to let my voice be heard with my wallet. Much like I boycotted the Dodgers ownership last year by not spending any money on tickets or merchandise, I refuse to spend a penny on any sequels, prequels or remakes this year.

I urge you to join me because film is supposed to be about escapism and original storytelling, not recycled garbage. Instead of going to see Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son, treat yourself to an original and charming comedy like Cedar Rapids. If this current trend continues the only movies on the marquee in five years will be Transformers 7: Giant Fucking Robots and Paul Blart IV: Revenge of the Mallcop.

Most Anticipated Albums and Movies of 2011

We are now seven weeks into 2011 and there hasn't been a single film released that I've had any interest in seeing. Looking at the top films at the box office over the last couple of weeks has been like some sort of a sick joke and the top five films for this weekend had an average score of 32% on RottenTomatoes.com. Before the Mogwai and Radiohead albums that were released this week, things weren't much better on the music front. However, I was pleasantly surprised to see Arcade Fire win Album of the Year at the Grammy's last week for The Suburbs. There is a light at the end of the tunnel and there are several albums and films that I'm eagerly anticipating. Here are the 11 albums and 11 films I'm most looking forward to in 2011:


Albums:


11) Foo Fighters - Wasting Light (April 12th)
10) Friendly Fires - Pala (No Release Date)
9) Bon Iver - TBA (No Release Date)
8) Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues (May 3rd)
7) This Will Destroy You - Tunnel Blanket (No Release Date)
6) Moving Mountains - TBA (No Release Date)
5) The Strokes - Angles (March 18th)
4) The Antlers - TBA (No Release Date)
3) M83 - TBA (No Release Date)
2) Explosions in the Sky - Take Care, Take Care, Take Care (April 26th)
1) Manchester Orchestra - Simple Math (May 10th)


Films:

11) Now (September 30th)

10) The Muppets (December 25th)

9) Your Highness (April 8th)

8) Red State (October 19th)

7) The Hangover Part II (May 26th)
6) Immortals (November 11th)
5) Sucker Punch (March 25th)
4) The Tree of Life (May 27th)
3) Moneyball (September 23rd)

2) The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (December 21st)

1) Super 8 (June 10th)

The Senior Circuit

I should clarify before I start that I'm biased when it comes to discussions between the two leagues in Major League Baseball. I grew up as a fan of the Dodgers and even though I wasn't born until almost ten years after Major Baseball Rule 6.10 (the designated hitter rule) was enacted, I believe myself to be a baseball purist who enjoys the game the way it has been played for over 100 years.

Myself at age 2

The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs more commonly referred to as just the National League, the NL or the Senior Circuit is the oldest existing professional sports league in the world. Founded in 1876, the National League started with eight teams and two of them, the Chicago Cubs and Atlanta Braves, are still playing today (however, they were using different names).


There are just a few minor differences between the Major League Baseball leagues; the American League and the National League. The most significant difference is the aforementioned designated hitter rule.


Now I will admit that there is a difference between fantasy baseball and the actual game itself but when reviewing the for quality of players that is one of the easiest ways to research the players. Of the top 40 starting pitchers ranked by Yahoo! Sports, 25 of them are from the National League and 8 of the top 10 pitchers are in the senior circuit. Of the last five American League Cy Young award winners, three of them are now pitching in the National League.

Zack Greinke in the Brewers clubhouse

Over this last offseason, there have been several transactions to improve the pitching in the National League: Cy Young award winner Zack Greinke was traded from the Kansas City Royals to the Milwaukee Brewers and fellow Cy Young award winner Cliff Lee jumped ship from the Texas Rangers to sign with the Philadelphia Phillies.

Cliff Lee reintroduced as a Phillie by GM Ruben Amaro

Last season I offered to bet anyone who would take me on that Roy Halladay would win the Cy Young and that the National League would win the All-Star Game. As it turned out, I won both bets and was able to profit well over $100. Not only did the National League win the All-Star Game but the NL team also won the World Series. This year will likely be no different as the balance of power has swung decidedly in favor on the National League and unless Albert Pujols takes his talents to Anaheim next year we can expect the same for many years to come.

A Case for Twitter

I don't write this for the general public who has already embraced twitter as evidenced by the nearly 200 million users. I'm trying to reach out to my friends and family members who say "I don't care what anyone had to eat for lunch" as an example of some mundane tweets they believe to be commonplace. Well guess what, the postings I see on Facebook are much more boring and mundane than almost anything I read on twitter. If someone you are following starts sending out tweets about being stuck in traffic or bored at work, you can simply unfollow that person.

Kelly Oxford with her baby

Twitter is a true democracy in which if you have interesting things to say or share, then people will start to follow you. A perfect example is the Canadian stay-at-mom Kelly Oxford who now has thousands of followers. She had no background as a professional comedian but her constantly hilarious tweets gained her significant notoriety and now over 150,000 people are waiting for her latest quip. If Kelly or anyone else posts something humorous, profound or otherwise worth sharing, you can simply 'retweet' the message to your followers which helps people like Kelly gain their following.


Twitter has recently made Korean its seventh language as it continues to grow internationally. During the recent civil unrest in Egypt there were reporters and protesters who were communicating on the ground with twitter. At the end of the Super Bowl earlier this month there was an estimated 4,000 tweets per second.

CBS Promo with William Shatner

There are many different uses for twitter. You might be aware of the CBS sitcom $h*! My Dad Says which was spawned from a twitter account. In 2009, Justin Halpern had moved back to San Diego, CA to live with his parents after failing to find success as a screenwriter. He started a twitter account (@shitmydadsays) and began documenting advice, words of wisdom and jokes that his father would tell him. The twitter account took off and in less than four months he had agreed to a book deal and began developing the sitcom. His twitter account now has over 2,000,000 followers.


I personally have two accounts. I have my standard account (@nolan82) in which I post random statements, facts, jokes and observations but I also have another account (@LOLmisused) which is strictly used to mock those who misuse the acronym 'LOL'.


The number of different people, businesses, websites and fake accounts you can follow are endless. As for myself, I mostly follow for friends, comedy, sports, music, movies and news. But there are people who are tweeting about technology, politics, fashion, religion and just about any other interest you might have.


Here is a quick list of 25 random tweets I saved as favorites:

• What was the story, medically, with Sloth? - @robdelaney

• Craigslist Killer movie? I'll wait till it comes out on DVD, then wait a little longer and buy it on Craigslist, bring it all full circle. - @SklarBrothers

• I must admit after all these years I'm hurt that Hank Williams Jr still questions my preparedness for football #MNF - @EricStangel 

• There are 1,428 people living in the United States with the name Edward Edwards. In a related story, there are 2,856 extremely lazy parents. - @nolan82

• I heard you can get paid to tweet. Great news. You know what else is great news? "Old Dogs" is now available on DVD. - @KindlerAndy

• As a lifelong Patriots fan, I hope they win, and as a compulsive gambler, I hope it's by less than 3 1/2 points. - @ConanOBrien

• Just saw a cop with a face tattoo which means somewhere there is a dead naked cop. - @seanoconnz

• "post office" describes steve carrell's past and future. - @thegooddavis

• Don't you wish there was a "Previously on..." recap segment for when you run into some people? - @JimGaffigan

• If I'm in a hurry, slow drivers are idiots. If I'm taking my time, fast drivers are assholes. - @rainnwilson

• The Tea Party is to politics, what 'Jersey Shore' is to television. - @kellyoxford

• I bet a lot of people who partied at Studio 54 are now 54 and living in a studio apartment. - @morgan_murphy

• I have such low self-esteem that I'm not the main character in my diary. - @jordanrubin

• Don't know why we have a national holiday celebrating Chris Columbus. Sure, I like Home Alone & Mrs. Doubtfire but c'mon it's a little much - @paulscheer

• Going to open up a self serving Vietnamese restaurant called "Go Pho Yourself" #phokingawesome - @healthbledger

• If you have a parrot and you don't teach it to say, "Help, they've turned me into a parrot", you are wasting everybody's time. - @juliasegal

• Eating sushi alone and the couple next to me insists on feeding one another. Chef, I'll have the eye roll. - @klickitatstreet

• The hours Dolly Parton's boss expected her to keep were really quite reasonable. - @stephenfalk

• I bought a piece of furniture last night, but when I woke up it was gone. Who knew they made one night stands!? - @joselynhughes

• Just finished list of things I want to start to accomplish but then lose interest in and quit before I die. I call it my "Fuck-It" list. @mlynchtweets

• Fox's John Gibson is discussing whether Beck/Palin 2012 or Palin/Beck 2012 is the stronger ticket. #WellPlayedMayans - @clydetombaugh

• I wonder if Southern Belles say "I do declare" a lot when they're doing their taxes. - @thesulk

• If you've seen one child on a leash, you've seen the mall. - @TheJamieLee

• Just visited my old stomping grounds, where I used to rhythmically dance atop coffee beans. - @douggpound

• Larry King's wife is accusing him of cheating on her. "Yeah, get in line," said Death. - @Nicole1067

If you didn't laugh out loud at least a few times reading those, then I think you're beyond help but if you're looking to keep yourself entertained while staying apprised of current events, then twitter is probably for you.

Why Pro-Choice is actually Pro-Life

"A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives." - Jackie Robinson

There was arguably no more important figure in the American Civil Rights movement than Jackie Robinson and his quote listed above is something that I try to remember every single day. It may be seen as inappropriate to tie a peaceful American hero into my argument about one of the touchiest subjects in the United States but please just hear me out.


My argument has been the same since I was about 18 years old when I could first vote and somehow the issue of abortion was brought up. If someone were to walk up behind me and shoot me in the back of the head, I could not care about that happening. The only people who would be affected are all of the people who I have shared my time with and in some way impacted their lives. Therefore, if there is an expectant mother, and hopefully father, who realize that they are unable to care for a child, they are the only people in the world who should have any say in their decision to terminate the pregnancy.


I only bring this up now because today is the 38th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision by the United States Supreme Court. Today, the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives John Boehner posted on his twitter account the following message: "The 38th Anniversary of Roe v. Wade is a tragic reminder that we must respect life at all stages, especially the innocent unborn #prolife".

What Representative Boehner is probably unaware of is that his stance of wanting to repeal Roe v. Wade would have a detrimental effect on not only the would-be parents of unwanted children but the populous in general. You see, abortion has a direct correlation with crime. The following is a piece written by Steven D. Levitt that appears in the book Freakonomics:

After abortion was legalized, the availability of abortions differed dramatically across states. In some states like North Dakota and in parts of the deep South, it was virtually impossible to get an abortion even after Roe v. Wade. If one compares states that had high abortion rates in the mid 1970s to states that had low abortion rates in the mid 1970s, you see the following patterns with crime. For the period from 1973-1988, the two sets of states (high abortion states and low abortion states) have nearly identical crime patterns. Note, that this is a period before the generations exposed to legalized abortion are old enough to do much crime. So this is exactly what the Donohue-Levitt theory predicts. But from the period 1985-1997, when the post Roe cohort is reaching peak crime ages, the high abortion states see a decline in crime of 30% relative to the low abortion states. Our original data ended in 1997. If one updated the study, the results would be similar. 

When assessing virtually any situation in life, the main question that needs to be asked is whether or not the decisions made will impact you or those around you. In the case of abortion, it is a decision between the expectant mother and to some degree the father but there is no other person who needs to concern themselves with a decision that will have no impact on their daily life. To those who do may not fully understand the impact of forcing someone to keep an unwanted child, it will almost surely be a negative one.

Best of 2010: Film

Before I get started, I'd like to point out that I've heard several people say recently that they'd like to go to the movies more often but they don't have anyone to go with. I went to the movie theater more than 40 times in 2010 and only five times was I accompanied by a friend or family member. After going to the movies by yourself a couple times, I guarantee you'll find it an enjoyable experience.

There is no real polite way to put it but 2010 was a shitty year in cinema; well, I suppose saying it was a bad year would have been more polite. That's not to say that it didn't have some excellent films but overall it was quite disappointing. These are the films I saw this year which did not disappoint:


10) Exit Through the Gift Shop

Exit Through the Gift Shop, directed by British artist Banksy, tells the story of underground graffiti artists and a very peculiar man named Thierry Guetta. Guetta starts as an avid fan of the graffiti artists documented in the film including his cousin who goes by the pseudonym Space Invader, but he eventually becomes so engrossed in the work that he begins to venture out as a graffiti artist known as Mr. Brainwash. There has been much speculation that the character and work of Mr. Brainwash is just an elaborate ruse by Banksy but either way it is a highly entertaining film.




9) The Social Network

It has been named the best film of the year by almost every major city's critics association and with good reason. The Social Network is director David Fincher's latest film which chronicles the rise of Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg. It may sound like a boring movie-of-the-week topic but the script written by Aaron Sorkin and the ensemble cast who recite his dialogue make this one of the year's best films. Jesse Eisenberg is excellent as Mark Zuckerberg but I was also very impressed by the performances of newcomers Andrew Garfield and Armie Hammer. The score by Trent Reznor and his partner Atticus Ross is dark, ominous and fits perfect with the tone that Fincher is trying to set.



8) The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Based on the international bestselling novel of the same name by Stieg Larsson, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is a Swedish thriller about the criminal computer hacker Lisbeth Salander. She assists the journalist Mikael Blomkvist in the investigation of a person who has been missing for 40 years. That leads to some intense drama as Salander also tries to escape her own personal demons. Also released this year was the follow-up The Girl Who Played with Fire which I found nowhere near as compelling.





7) Inception

I can't think of a film in the last decade that I was more eagerly anticipating than Inception. With a resume that includes films such Memento, The Prestige and The Dark Knight, Christopher Nolan has earned my $10 before I even know what his film is about. So when I saw the first trailer for Inception in the summer of 2009, my interest was peaked. I made the trip to a midnight screening with some friends and while I was in awe of the scope of the undertaking and technical achievements, I was slightly disappointed. However, the more I debated the film, the more I appreciated it. After a second viewing, Inception makes more sense and is even more enjoyable.



6) Green Zone

Matt Damon teams up with the director of the last two installments of the Jason Bourne trilogy, Paul Greengrass for what is one of the most entertaining and intriguing films about the invasion of Iraq. Matt Damon plays US Army Chief Warrant Officer Roy Miller who has led his team to several cites in Iraq that are reported to contain weapons of mass destruction but his team continues to come up empty. Green Zone follows his character as he investigates why there are no weapons of mass destruction to be found and how that information was obtained. It's a superbly entertaining film that is probably more based in reality than we'd like to believe.




5) The American

Within the first two minutes of The American, I knew I was going to enjoy this film. It opens with a beautiful snowy landscape and virtually no dialogue. As directed by Dutch photographer Anton Corbijn, The American has a subdued tone that I suspect many moviegoers would find dull but it helps to ratchet up the tension as the drama surrounding George Clooney's title character unfolds.








4) A Prophet

Nominated for Best Foreign Film at the 2009 Academy Awards was A Prophet which didn't received a release in the United States until February of 2010. Chronicling the life of a young criminal sent to prison and his ascent within a French crime syndicate, A Prophet is an amazing, even if sometimes difficult to watch, piece of film making. The star of the film is French actor Tahar Rahim who gives a tremendous performance in which a simple glance can tell an entire story.






3) Black Swan

I remember the first time watching director Darren Aronofsky's film Pi being blown away by the style and substance of a black & white film shot on a shoestring budget. Aronofsky has continued to choose challenging films and has never disappointed. In a tour de force performance Natalie Portman plays a dancer in a prestigious New York ballet company. It's a film that will leave you speechless at the end and want to see it again immediately.







2) The Ghost Writer

Say what you will about Roman Polanski's personal life but he has been one of the finest working directors over the last 40 years. His work in films like The Pianist and my personal favorite movie of all-time Chinatown is undeniable. The Ghost Writer is hands down the best thriller released this year. The Ghost Writer is adapted from a novel by Robert Harris whose title character is helping to write the memoirs of a former prime minister who closely resembles Tony Blair.







1) The Fighter

I'm not sure what it is about the sport of boxing that makes it translate so well to the silver screen but it does. From Raging Bull to Rocky to Million Dollar Baby to Cinderella Man to Teen Wolf Too (maybe not that last one) there have been more great films centered around the world of boxing than any other sport and The Fighter ranks among those other elite films. Based on the true story of "Irish" Micky Ward, The Fighter is an expertly crafted film directed by David O. Russell that sneaks up on you. Before you even feel like you care about Ward, you move the edge of your seat even if you suspect to know the outcome of the fights. Mark Wahlberg gives one of the best performances of his career as Micky Ward but Christian Bale steals the movie playing Ward's crack addicted brother and former boxer Dicky Eklund.



Honorable mention goes to:

The King's Speech
True Grit
Kick-Ass
The Town
Waiting for "Superman"
127 Hours
Fair Game
MacGruber

Best of 2010: Television

I'm not alone in believing that we are living in the golden age of television. That's not to say I think the 34 hours of television watched by the average American each week in 2010 is anywhere near reasonable, but I believe it. It's quite remarkable how much quality programming there was on television this year, even if most of it was not on the major networks. This year's list is similar to the list from last year but I had to make room for some spectacular new programs which actually bumped my favorite show of last year (Dexter) from the list entirely. Before I start, I should to clarify that I'm not a professional critic so I haven't seen every show. You'll likely see some glaring omissions (most notably Breaking Bad) because I just can't see every show that's out there. That being said, it wasn't until I posted my list a few years ago that I was turned onto The Wire, so feel free to give me a suggestion as long as it has nothing to do with some Italian douche bags from New Jersey or a fish-out-of-water sitcom that takes place at an Indian call center.

Now that we've got that out of the way, let's start the list, shall we:


10) Lost

It's hard for me to judge Lost only based on the sixth and final season because I started watching the show last January. In some ways I wish I had been watching since the beginning but it was helpful to following the storyline to skip the long hiatuses that accompany most major shows. The first two seasons of Lost are as interesting and compelling as just about any program you will ever see on network television. The final season tried to explain many unanswered questions and even though I personally felt the final reveal to be a bit of a cop-out it was still an interesting and worthwhile season.

9) It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia

Even though the ratings for It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia have never been higher than they were during the sixth season, it seemed as if the show had lost some of its luster. That was at least for the first half of the season but six episodes of the season were some of the funniest since the second season. The final two episodes in particular, which including guest appearances from Chase Utley, Ryan Howard and Tom Sizemore, had me wishing the season wouldn't end.

8) Mad Men

This is season of Mad Men was filled with highs and lows. The episodes "The Suitcase" and "The Summer Man" aired consecutively and were one of the best and worst episodes of the series. The season gave expanded roles to Lane Price and Sally Draper who each had very interesting storylines. The finale ended the season on an unexpected but very high note.

7) The League

To say that The League is about fantasy football is akin to saying that Cheers was a show about a bar. The world of fantasy football only serves as a backdrop to some of the most crude and hilarious comedy currently on television. The cast of hilarious comedians who improvise most of their lines (a la Curb Your Enthusiasm) do a great job of coming up with ridiculous dialogue.


6) Parks and Recreation

Following in the footsteps of The Office, the cast and writers behind Parks and Recreation made a huge leap in quality during its second season. A similar mockumentary approach is used with a camera following the mundane tasks of the Parks and Recreation department in the fictional city of Pawnee, Indiana and serious hilarity ensues. The ensemble of employees comprised of Amy Poehler, Nick Offerman, Aubrey Plaza, Chris Pratt and Aziz Ansari compliment each other perfectly. The third season will begin airing on January 20, 2011 and if you're not watching then you'll be missing out.

5) Friday Night Lights

I feel like twenty years from now people will look back at Friday Night Lights and be completely dumbfounded by the lack of success the show has received. This is a series that has received virtually universal critical acclaim including being called "what may be the best dramatic series in the history of television" by The Los Angeles Times. In 2010, the fourth season aired on NBC and featured some fantastic episodes including "The Son" which had one of the best scenes you're likely to see. The fifth and final season is currently airing on DIRECTV and will air later in this year on NBC. Some of the stars from earlier seasons are gone and while the new crop of students aren't quite as entertaining as those who came before them, but Coach Eric Taylor, played brilliantly by Kyle Chandler helps carry the load.

4) 30 Rock

There's a reason that 30 Rock and its cast continues to pile up awards- because it is the wittiest comedy on network television. The jokes comes so fast during the show that if you're not paying attention you'll miss some of them. In what would normally be a gimmick of a struggling show that had run out of ideas, 30 Rock aired a live episode in October that was performed twice (once for each coast) and hilarious both times. For some reason I get the feeling that 30 Rock will be appreciated later when it starts to air in syndication but for as for myself, I'll enjoy every Thursday night.


3) The Life & Times of Tim

HBO is responsible for some of the most creative and hilarious comedy that has been produced over the past decade. The Life and Times of Tim was not just the funniest animated series of 2010, but the funniest show of the year. Apparently I wasn't the only one who was impressed with the comedy as guest stars Aziz Ansari, Paul F. Tomkins, Elliott Gould, Bonnie Hunt, Phillip Baker Hall and others all lined up for a role on the crudely animated series. There were just twelve episodes that were fifteen minutes long but I didn't laugh harder or more at any show this year.

2) The Walking Dead

Created by Frank Darabont and based on a graphic novel by Robert Kirkman of the same name The Walking Dead was AMC's newest hit series. It starts right as a zombie outbreak begins with the primary character Rick Grimes is a sheriff's deputy from Georgia waking from a hospital and having to piece together what has happened. It is a truly compelling series with excellent characters and it's no wonder the popularity of the show spread like- well, a zombie infection.


1) Boardwalk Empire

The first season of Boardwalk Empire was perhaps the most audacious debut for any television show I have ever seen. It was reported that the pilot episode directed by Martin Scorsese cost $18 million to produce and while watching it appears completely within reason. The cast headlined by character actor extraordinaire Steve Buscemi is a remarkable ensemble and if it give the series a chance you'll get a chance to see my two favorite characters Chalky White and Richard Harrow. Buscemi plays Enoch Thompson who is loosely based on the real life criminal and Republican political boss Enoch L. Johnson. Boardwalk Empire gives a glimpse in the bootlegging crime syndicate that surrounded Atlantic City in 1920s. It was my favorite television program of 2010 and I can't wait to see how it develops in the second season this fall.



Honorable mention goes to the following terrific programs:


Bored to Death
Community
Dexter
Eastbound and Down
Modern Family
The Office