Oscar Best Picture Nominees of the 10s by Setting

I often enjoy taking quizzes at Sporcle and sometimes I create my own. This is about the settings of Oscar-nominated films. The idea that the Oscars are more in love with the definite past than the indefinite present and the future is especially prescient in a listing like this.

Eight Observations about Cobra Kai

1.      Cobra Kai can best be thought of as a time capsule of the 1980s and that’s its appeal. Particularly in an era of endless reboots, Cobra Kai is carefully constructed to appear like something that would have been released in 1990. The way of drawing heroes and villains; the imagining of a school administration that hasn’t been re-educated post-Columbine to keep an eye on bullying; the synthesizer-heavy score and filming cues, are all very '80s. 

 

 

2.     Shows that are meant to preserve the old-school feel of their source material— I’m thinking prequels like Gotham (Tim Burton’s Batman universe) and Bates Motel (Psycho)—often attempt a middle ground by stripping away the modern elements like showing cell phones and other signs of 21^st century culture in the frame. This results in an odd anachronistic stew, whereas  Cobra Kai has the opposite (and I think better) approach of acknowledging that it is set in the present day while centering on two characters who are technologically stuck in the 20^th century. Of the pair, Johnny simply never learned to adapt technologically (and symbolically beyond) whereas Danny is aware that the 21^st century exists (particularly in the form of his bratty son) but wants to champion getting off the grid and sees karate as a means to that (a meta-commentary on how the show itself wants to celebrate karate)

3.       What might be best about the 80s fight scenes is the lack of special effects involved and distinct fighting styles. Again, popularity isn’t in a vacuum. When we have been inundated with special effects and CGI, watching fighting this pure is twice as appealing.

4.       The show is being championed for the shades of gray with which it paints Danny and Johnny. TV is a medium that is now being recognized for its ability to develop characters at a multi-layered level that a two-hour movie won’t be able to achieve. What’s genuinely impressive is that two high school rivals who haven’t let go (to various degrees) of their glory days is a great set-up for a show’s central relationship and Cobra Kai keeps the circumstances realistic.

5.       The '80s component of this series is that pretty much everyone they (and their students) encounter turn out to be jerks worth beating up. Otherwise, how can you keep these characters root-able through several violent turns? It’s a lot of straw-manning and plot contrivance but, hey, I like the plot, so I’m not complaining. Part of the subtext of the universe, where they’re constantly running into thugs like an eight-bit Nintendo game, is that the (now discredited) war on drugs and other media messaging of the 80s had us believe that to survive in poor, urban parts of the country (like Receta), kids had to have fighting ability. Films like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Stand and Deliver, and the Terminator series seemed to enforce this narrative.   

 

6.       That being said, a lot of the main characters change at such lightning speed that it’s pure whiplash. Robbie suddenly turns from delinquent to All-American role model in five seconds? Moon bullied Asha in Season one without batting an eyelash and then her entire character backstory is that she’s all about peace and love? At least Hawk’s 180 from having too little to too much confidence were met with a self-awareness in-universe through Dimitri. Change in Golden Age TV is great and what keeps us going but generally shows like The Americans, Homeland, Ozark or Breaking Bad feature characters who are pushed to change through intense circumstances and those changes are gradual. Because the circumstances are far less extreme, it can come off as jarring. 

7.       The second season finale was just sublime. It bears so much resemblance to the conclusion of West Side Story that one has to wonder if the writers were conscious of that connection. Before the big (and extremely well-choreographed) fight, the stories were told from the melodramatic points of views of the characters. When actual damage was done, there was a major focus pull back to the real world as the kids woke up to the fact that kicking and punching can actually hurt people. Worth asking: Miguel was the obviously the biggest casualty of the fight, but how many others besides Sam landed in the hospital? I bet it would have been interesting to see the news coverage of that event. 

8.       Lively debates need to be had over whether Daniel LaRusso is a dorky or cool dad and whether the actors who play the LaRusso family have good chemistry with each other. There’s a certain schmaltzy, TGIF quality to the Amanda-Daniel scenes as well as the Daniel-Samantha scenes, but it’s genuinely convincing that Samantha is somewhat of a daddy’s girl. The dialogue in these scenes can seem a little stilted but Daniel is an impressive enough character to overcome it.

Reviews: Teenage Bounty Hunters, The Boys Season 2, Umbrella Academy, Schooled, Teenage Bounty Hunters, Transplant

Teenage Bounty Hunters (Netflix)-With 13 Reasons Why, Sex Education, The Society, Never Have I Ever, Lost and Found, Derry Girls, and The Politician (which began in high school), Netflix is really going all in on the CW formula of attracting teenage audiences. 

The story revolves around two twins, Blair and Sterling, who go to a strict Christian school in Georgia where a lot of the rules of teenage coolness are inverted. Being celibate, getting good grades, and showing your love of God are all in. There's a great deal of contrast between the twins in that Blair has a conscious urge to rebel against the establishment whereas Sterling is pretty much the establishment is fellowship leader of the Christian prayer group and begins the series as half of the school's royal couple.
In the pre-credits sequence in the first episode, Sterling loses her virginity with her long-time boyfriend while Blair has a hook-up that arrives at, shall we say, a lesser base and talks about how she's going to go all the way this year with a hint of pride that she's farther along than her sis. There's a friendly jealousy between the pair.

On top of that, the two have some family drama and deal with Sterling's bratty rival April.

Oh yeah, and they get a side gig chase down criminals. It's kind of jammed in premise-wise but it works as it ties in thematically to the pair having to live a double life as sexual beings in a society that encourages teenage sexlessness.

The show plays around with hypocrisy of religion with a nuance that doesn't necessarily damn the Christain characters on the show. In fact, the virtuous teacher Ellen is one of the bright spots on the show. 

Transplant (NBC)-A great pilot episode followed by diminished returns. A Syrian refugee in Toronto is relegated to cooking kebabs because immigration's a bitch. Until one day.... An ambulance drives into his kebab joint and he cleverly MacGuyvers his way through three life-saving procedures including the most prestigious head surgeon in Toronto. Kind of a coincidence, but whatever. The pilot is really exciting because the protagonist is this unknown guy going rogue in the hospital to give more medical assistance and evading police who want to racially profile the hell out of him for the crime. 

I cover this show weekly, so please check it out here at TV Fanatic:
https://www.tvfanatic.com/2020/09/transplant-season-1-episode-1-review-medicine-and-immigration-mi/



Schooled (ABC)-There have been other high school sitcoms  comedies focusing on teachers at a school, this one is a bit more sweet than snarky (Judy Greer was in a short-lived series called Miss Guided) with a female protagonist who has a lot of doubts about her life that she voices in voiceover. She has a long-distance boyfriend and a manic pixie dream guy at the school she falls for. Tim Meadows is a principal who's main trait is being too eager to please but he plays it well. 

Since the success of Modern Family, ABC has milked the genre into a new brand of edgier TGIF fare featuring families, nostalgic irony, and humorously tinged fables. Fresh off the Boat, the Real O'Neals, Speechless, Suburgatory, Blackish and two others I haven't seen (Middle and The Goldbergs).

Unlike some of those shows, however, the characters here are very static and their actions in each episode are predictable. There's also something just a little off-putting about the lead that I can't put my finger on. 

Lower Decks (CBS All-Access)-Both Star Trek: The Next Generation ("Lower Decks") and Star Trek: Voyager ("The Good Shephard") devoted an episode to people in the lower ranks of the ship which did wonders for filling out the character of each ship's crew. However, the TNG episode (which this series is reported to be based on in particular) highlighted the holes of Star Trek's supposed post-capitalism society more than it presented us with deep characters.

Those guys were all biting their nails for promotions but what motivated them to want them when there's no actual pay raise? My theory is we get attached to Star Trek as kids where we think of money in abstract terms and dream of status (AKA being one of the cool kids in school) so the motivations of those ensigns makes sense. However, as adults with real fiscal responsibilities, episodes like "Lower Decks" don't hold up as much on rewatch.

Wouldn't there be some slackers on board?

In the world of "Lower Decks" (which I believe it still canon), this is question is answered. Hallelujah!

Tawny Newsome plays Beckett Mariner who is among the most competent crew members on the ship but doesn't want to get involved with all the bureaucratic hassles of a promotion. She is quite probably the most competent member on the entire ship and most of the plots revolve around her saving the day without pesky protocols. 

If there's one person who can challenge her, it's the ship's captain (Dawnn Lewis) who also happens to be her mom. How appropriate. 

Another foil for her is her good friend Ensign Boimler (Jack Quaid, The Boys) who exaggerates the conflictless (and oftentimes boring) world of TNG by angling so hard to be a promotion-loving goody two shoes that his number one motivation in life is to follow the rules. This goes double for Noel Well's Ensign Tendi who wants to be liked so badly, she's in-your-face about it. 

Aside from this, the show takes no prisoners in skewering Star Trek across the board and is so well-entrenched in the minutia of Star Trek, that a small niche of the coverage of the show has simply been  pointing out the Easter Eggs of each episode to the delight of fans. 

The show is easily one of the best parodies out there because, above all, it's extremely funny and extremely consistent with its jokes.

Umbrella Academy (Neflix)/The Boys (Amazon)-(through two episodes) Both superhero shows keep chugging along in second seasons that manage to keep the momentum going from the first despite massive shake-ups.

"The Boys" has lost a few key players to the mortal coil but has managed to add some interesting additions (particularly Aya Cash's Stormfront who speaks her mind to say the last). Unlike the first season, there's a sense here that Hughie isn't the central character but just one member of "The Boys" (perhaps the most privileged). On the Vought side, the focus is more on the psychotic Homelander and what it might take to stop in (so far, the boss of the company is keeping him in check).  

"Umbrella Academy" with all seven characters jumping through time to Dallas in the 1960s. Like much other speculative pop culture literature, this focuses on the "What if" of John Kennedy's assassination. The show is more of a stylistic extravaganza than something I watch for plot but that's the basic gist. 

25 Best TV Characters of 2018

Again, check out my patreon  to keep me in business. Don't worry. Though I'm posting this in 2020, I have a 2019 edition of this list lined up too. I also did these lists between 2012 and 2015 if you click on the top 25 character tab.

1.       Pete Holmes as himself, Crashing (HBO)-As opposed to most comedians (or the fictionalized TV versions of themselves) who just want to get ahead, this show has a protagonist who’s sincerely trying to navigate the changing boundaries of integrity as he gets a taste of success in the world of stand-up. The apologetic Holmes is gangly, awkward and sometimes wrong but there’s an underlying sweetness to him.

2.       Giovanni Ribisi as Marius Josipovic/Pete Murphy, Sneaky Pete (Amazon)-Watching genius at work is why we’re attracted to a character like Pete whose extroadinary abilities to think on the fly, read people, and work a con make him almost like a stateside Sherlock Holmes on the wrong side of the law. With a supreme expertise in his field, Pete is in the mold of the procedurals of the aughts (particularly Burn Notice but also House and Monk) but his backstory and the progression of his relationship to the Murphy clan make him fit into the serialized mold as well.  

3.       Julie Garner as Ruth Langmore, Ozark (Netflix)-Ruth feels like she wouldn’t fit in anywhere other than the Missouri/Arkansas border and that’s great for the show. She’s pragmatic and tough-as-nails but she doesn’t shy away from showing her emotions with her allegiance to her boss or her hope for a better future for her cousin.

4.       Kristin Chenoweth as Lavinia Peck-Foster, Trial and Error (NBC)-To fill in the shoes of John Lithgow’s unapologetically weird professor and carry the momentum of a sitcom into a second season with entirely different, Chenoweth had a high bar to meet. She’s not just a great caricature of disconnected rich privilege, but she also is a great example of the bunny ears lawyer trope (someone who shouldn’t be as effective professionally as they are) as killers go considering she seems to have so little awareness of reality.

5.       Manny Jacinto as Jason Mendoza, Good Place (NBC)-There is now depth to the stupidity of Jason Mendoza that can’t be mined for comedy. This year’s Jason-centered episode “The Ballad of Donkey Doug” proved quite a bit of impressive backstory for a guy who’s Jacksonville upbringing has sounded too ridiculous to be true.

6.       Wyatt Russell as Sean “Dud” Dudley, Lodge 49 (AMC)-Think of how great the world would be  if we had more people as open to other people (of all generations) and as curious about the world around them as Dudley. The seemingly dense surfer has had some bad breaks with the death of his dad and the decline of his pool business but he never stops seeing the glass as half full.

7.       Carla Jiminez as Alba, The Mick (Fox)-The opening scene of the pilot shows us a protagonist who saunters into a grocery store and uses the cosmetics aisle for her morning routine without even paying. But even then, she’s not the most id-driven character on the show. That would be the nanny left over from a past regime who will happily shirk responsibility and go on a bender if the situation calls for it. She’s also body positive.

8.       Juliett Lewis as Jandice, Camping (HBO)-Most suburbanites probably know a soccer mom or HOA member who resembles Jennifer Garner’s uptight camping trip organizer Kathryn. Likewise, most of those people wish that those Kathryns in their lives could be paired up with a foil like the boundary-pushing hippyish Jandice.

9.       Wilson Bethel as Ben “Bullseye” Pondexter, Daredevil (Netflix)-A fitting doppelganger to our title character, Daredevil’s powers are more fully spelled out than in any other iteration of this story which makes his fight scenes both cool (duh) and menacing within the context of this higher-stakes story.  

10.   Allisyn Ashley Arm as Heather, AP Bio (NBC)-Heather started as one of about  dozen students in  fraudulent teacher Jack Griffin’s teacher through which limited screentime has been divided. But Arm used every opportunity when the camera was on her and every line delivery to be spectacularly eccentric and a treasure in her own right.

11.   Dale Soules as Frieda Berlin, Orange is the New Black (Netflix)-The focus of the show’s sixth season was on two feuding sisters who turned the rest of the prisoners into competing gangs. The squirrelly Frida managed to show how far her survivor instincts had gotten her by quietly outsmarting the show’s main villains in Rube Goldberg fashion.

12.   Jordana Spiro as Rachel, Ozark (Netflix)-The kinds of characters in these high-pressure dramas (like Breaking Bad or The Americans) that get caught between conflicting sides with no way out are generally the innocent bystanders worth rooting for. Rachel is a resilient firecracker with good instincts and it’s wonderful to see her make it out alive.

14.   Deborah Ann Woll as Karen Page, Daredevil (Netflix)-In my previous iteration of this list, I felt I had to make room for Foggy, Matt, and Karen as all three big something to the team besides being well-drawn characters themselves. As the stakes felt higher and the story became more gripping, Karen was the one who was most transparent with her dread and resolve. She also made the list the last time I did this.

15.   Nick Sandow as Warden Joe Caputo, Orange is the New Black (Netflix)-Obviously the main storyline of Season 6 is Tasha “Taystee” Jefferson but to see an ally say he’ll do something and then put his money where his mouth is, is quite cathartic. Yes, the white savior trope can be debated but that doesn’t necessarily mean Taystee’s story has been diminished or Caputo’s stepping up isn’t insignificant.

16.   Tony Shalhoub as Abe Weinberg, Marvelous Mrs Maisel (Amazon)-Poor Abe. Certainly not the most stringent and unreasonable of old-world Jewish fathers from the era but he’s been dealing with a world that’s changed too fast for his comfort. He should have given his wife more agency, and he should have been  less stubborn about his university , but Amy Sherman-Palladino’s shows aren’t built around tragedies: Hopefully, there’s room for Abe to grow in later seasons.

17.   Brandon Flynn as Justin Foley, 13 Reasons Why (Netflix)-While 13 Reasons Why can be tonally inconsistent and come across more like a typical high school show than something worthy of the topics it broaches, Justin has been written surprisingly strong this season. He’s dealt with guilt and remorse over enabling rape, a broken family, a drug addiction, threats from a step-mom and a betrayal by his best friend and it’s all been handled in such a way that I can’t take my eyes off the guy.

18.   D’Arcy Carden as Janet, Good Place (NBC)-Janet can literally do anything, but it’s the moments when she chooses to deal with the mundanities of, say, getting over an ex or dealing with people who aren't at her speed (like Michael typing at 6 wpm) where she shines. And bonus points for that bar brawl that she impulsively starts against Sean's demons in her dress and high heels. And even more bonus points for the creation of the second best character on the show in Jason Matzoukas’s Derrick.

19.   Carol Kane as Lily Kaushtupper, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (Netflix)-The final half-season of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt was a great showcase for the whole cast but count me in for more of the unattached Lily who has Tracy-Jordan-like namedrops to past chapters of past badassery. Kane gives the monologue of the season

20.   Hillary Anne Matthews as Diedre, Alex Inc (ABC)-An example of how an otherwise forgettable show can be watchable just to see a scene-stealing side character. Deidre is a scatter-brained assistant whose clinginess to her boss (Zach Braff) overtly borders on obsession.

21.   Cedric the Entertainer as Scott Joplin, Another Period (Comedy Central)-Part of the fun of this show has been the exaggerated cameos of historical figures who inexplicably make their way into the lives of the Bellacourt clan like Sigmund Freud (Chris Parnell), Albert Einstein (Matt Bessar) and Thomas Edison (Stephen Tobolowsky). Perhaps none of these comic characters is as cleverly constructed as the show’s version of Scott Joplin who’s presented as an aughts version of Kanye West (complete with self-worship and an Armenian bride).

22.   Libe Barer as Carly Bowman, Sneaky Pete (Amazon)-The Brendon de Wilde to Alan Ladd’s Shane, Carly is the kid of the family (if you can believe a 27-year old actor passing as 16) who stars agape at her older cousin who fascinates her with hints of a less provincial life. What’s interesting behind Carly is that she’s one step behind the others but you can never count her out as she has traces of Bowman ingenuity herself.

23.   Connie Britton as Abby Clark, 9-1-1 (Fox)-No harm in adding a pollyanna to a procedural. Abby is middle-aged and single with an aging parent to care for but there’s a certain upbeatness to her that makes her a quiet sort of stand-out. Her scenes, set apart from the rest of the cast, make her an interesting narrator of sorts.

24.   Jonah Hill as Owen Milgrim, Maniac  (Netflix)-One of the best portrayals of a depressed character to appear on TV. Jonah Hill does an excellent job at portraying the quiet surrender and numbness as he goes about his every day life and eventually enters into the world of fantasy.  

25.   Dania Ramirez as Jacinda/Cinderella, Once Upon a Time (ABC)-When introduced in her featured episode, Jacinda is a femme fatale disguised as a typical Cinderella. It matches well with her real-life persona who’s down on her luck but refuses to play damsel in distress with the two men vying for her affections.

Honorable Mentions:

Armen Weitzman as Garfield, Another Period; Beth Dover as Linda Ferguson, Orange is the New Black; Charlie Cox as Matt Murdoch, Daredevil; Danielle Brooks as Tasha “Taystee” Jefferson; Dascha Polanko as Daya, Orange is the New Black; David Koechner as The Commodore, Another Period;  Henny Russell as Barbara Dennan, Orange is the New Black; Jane Adams as Maggie Murphy, Sneaky Pete; Jayma Mays as Carol Anne Keane in Trial and Error;  Kristen Bell as Eleanor Shellstrop, The Good  Place; McKenzie Phillips as Carol Dennan, Orange is the New Black; Parker Posey as Dr. Smith, Lost in Space; Rachel Brosnahan as Midge Masel, The Marvelous Mrs Maisel; Sally Field as Dr. Greta Mantleray; Sophia Black-D’Ella as Sabrina Pemberton, The Mick; Scott MacArthur as Jimmy, The Mick; Ted Danson as Michael, The Good Place; Tituss Burgess as Titus Andromedon, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt

Reviews: Ramy Season 2, Brockmire Season 2, Intelligence, Broke, Once Upon a Time Season 7, Where's Waldo (Peacock)

Ramy (Hulu)-One of the best shows of the year for sure. Review here: 

https://www.tvfanatic.com/2020/07/ramy-season-2-boasts-a-uniquely-introspective-character-despite/

Brockmire (IFC) -A lot of TV in the #metoo era is about men getting consumed by dark pasts. No one seemed more hopeless than the superhumanly aloof baseball broadcaster Jim Brockmire in the first season, but his redemptive arc that gelled in the final season makes such a light out of the tunnel not only seem possible but easy-peasy. 

The leap over a decade into our future is ambitious to say the least (especially for a show based on a Funny or Die sketch) and that's not counting all the emotional overtones. The show is now set at a time where global warming, automation, and split national interests have spiraled out of control and baseball is just one of the show’s casualties.

If you fell off this show due to any perceived dip in quality, that’s not a problem here.

Final Season Aired in 2020, Streaming on Hulu.

Intelligence (NBC Peacock)-The strokes are a little broad here but it’s essentially the egotistical elitist gets humbled by the peons office comedy formula. The gimmick of the show is that it takes place in the English CIA and the fish out of water is an American so it has a little bit of a satirical bent towards American arrogance from a Eurocentric lens.

If I’m complaining about the lack of originality it’s because Space Force just did this but, hey, it’s a good time as any to puncture the myth of American exceptionalism.

As a show, it’s mildly funny if a bit obvious. Whereas Space Force or similar shows about jerks in power (Newsradio, The Office) might have allowed some wiggle room for us not to hate the guy who’s taking up the majority of the screen time: Either he learned or got his comeuppance. In the three episodes I’ve seen, the consequences of this awful man’s actions are mostly sidestepped. Perhaps, it’s a British comedic sensibility to go darker?

The side characters have potential and if the Office improved, it’s possible that this one could go that route too.

Broke (CBS)-Natasha Leggero and her suave Latino husband Javier (Jamie Camil) are rich and out-of-touch people who lose all their money in a pyramid (not a scheme, mind you, but they buy a pyramid [cue laughter]). They have to move in with their lower-class sister (Pauley Perrette) and, like the dad-son combo in Frasier, there’s a class difference so enormous, it’s hard to believe the two are related and grew up in the same house. On the other hand, hey, they wouldn’t have a show if they seriously addressed this, so shhh.

This show has a laugh track which doesn’t disqualify it by being good for modern standards but puts it at a disadvantage. Watching this was an interesting exercise for me in studying just how much the laugh track has devolved; how weaker jokes might get into the script for the purpose of an immediate pay-off.

Still, as far as outdated laugh-track shows go, this one’s watchable. Javier’s wealth-based aloofness makes him a good scene-stealer and it helps that he has heart. His butler Luis (Izzy Diaz) is even funnier though he’s not used for as many punch lines.

 

On the whole, it’s comfort food.

Once Upon a Time, Season 7 (ABC)-There’s something that just clicks with this show. In the first couple seasons (and probably the ones after, I didn’t watch), the episodes alternate between two universes that are connected. There’s a small town in Maine with a corrupt mayor (Lana Pirella) and police sheriff (Jennifer Morrison) fighting over the soul of the town and influence over a young boy. The second is set in fairy tale land where a hodgepodge of fairy tale stories-Little Red Riding Hood, Rumplestilskin, Snow White, Alice in Wonderland, even Aladdin and Princess and the Frog-interact in some variation on the land of Mother Grimm (based in the forests of Germany).

What makes the show work is that these traditional fairy tales are given a twist and then re-interpreted through a modern universe where, say, Snow White is a school teacher who hooks up with Jiminy Cricket, and Rumplestilskin doesn’t just want a first-born but control of the whole town.

Like most serialized TV, however, six seasons is a lot to keep up with multiple levels of mythology to sort through. Fortunately, season seven gives a fresh restart. Henry Mills (the little boy who knows about the alternate universe) is grown-up and is now not just an adult but also a skeptic. And the evil mayor is now just a bartender and one of the good guys in true American Horror Story fashion. As someone who missed some of the in-between seasons, a background detail here and there gets confusing, but for the most part, it’s a self-contained story that balances episodic and serialized elements well.

 

Streaming on Netflix

 

I’m Dying Up Here, Season 2 (Showtime)-Relatively watchable serialized comedy set in the 70s that focuses on the arts. Ari Gaynor (a poor man's Kate Hudson) stars with Oscar winner Melissa Leo and Michael Angarono (Will and Grace, The Knick), Clark Duke and Jake Lacy co-starring. Duke and Lacy were the two last-season additions to The Office as entry-level twerps and they've both been carving out impressive careers for themselves. There's also a couple token black guys with Erik Griffin making the bigger impression of the two. The characters sort of blend into another and there's a lot of cocaine and sex in a premium cable sort of way. The series is meant as a time capsule of the 70s but I'd rather re-watch Baz Luhrmann's Get Down or watch some more Glow. In other words, it's not that insular of a genre. The biggest mistake of the series is that Melissa Leo's character doesn't get more screen time.

Where's Waldo (Peacock)-I could totally see a faithful adaptation of Where's Waldo working. Waldo likes to hide and he's in exotic places so that's something to run with. Instead the series is a weak knock-off of Carmen Sandiego and Wizard Whitebeard is too cartoonish to feel like the adult of the group.

The Eleven Films I've Seen This Year So Far Ranked from 1 to 11

Well, it's no secret that this has been a challenging year for a film viewer. I've previously complained about Marvel, Avengers, and sequel coming close to the point of ruining Summer. Last year, extremely unnecessary remakes of The Lion King and Aladdin; a bloated Avengers finale, a third Toy Story sequel, and a Men in Black reboot with diminishing returns was a tipping point for me. 

But with this temporary apocalypse having canceled Summer, I'm kind of missing the frivolous blockbusters. Nearly everything I've seen from the 2020 slate has been quirky indie fare. This kind of stuff would normally get drowned out in the Summer calendar and, at least, it has a chance to shine?


1. Palm Springs-As I wrote at TV Fanatic, I think this might have the makings of a classic on some future day. It operates on multiple levels: Charming, fun, sweet, and riotously funny on one level. On another level, it's poignant, thought-provoking, full of memorable moments, and laden with Easter eggs. Like Groundhog Day, it's endlessly rewatchable. Expect this to be a cult classic down the road.
2. 7500-Whatever happened to the days of Air Force One and Executive Decision? It's a shame tense airline thrillers have gone out of style (was it 9/11 sensitivity?). Joseph Gordon-Levitt takes every part he's given with great care and in his hands, this isn't just a psychological thriller but an existential tale of loss.
3. Blow the Man Down-I'd hesitate to use the word noir for something that doesn't have noir's stylistic elements but this tale of murder in a Maine brothel and two sisters who get caught up in the vice is a bit Fargo-esque in that it highlights the underbelly of the seemingly quaint. Few films have casts that are almost entirely old women and aren't romantic comedies (i.e. First Wives Club, Book Club) so let's celebrate June Squibb, Margo Martindale, and Annette O'Toole.
4. Radioactive-Standard fare biopic but the irony that these two (Marie and Pierre Curie) are discovering something that will kill them makes for pretty good drama and there is a courtship between the two that is kind of gripping. Too bad it on lt takes up the first half-hour of the film.
5. Buffaloed-A film of two low-lifes who try to one-up each other (Barry Levinson's Tin Men is an apt comparison) in the debt collection trade. Except that one of them is the spritely and cute Zoey Deutch so we know who to root for, don't we? The tough-as-nails chick isn't particularly new but it feels fresh coming from Deutch (just as she made the go-getter female lead in a rom-com fresh with Set It Up in 2018). The film's romance is somewhat sloppy but as a con film, it has lots of twists and turns. As an indie film, this is something with a lot of flavor as well.

6. Troop Zero-McKenna Grace (I, Tonya) stars as a Girl Scout in 1977 Georgia with ambitions to win some scouting award so she can send a message to space. But the man (in the form of a stern Allison Janney) won't let her do her thing for bureaucratic reasons that don't really matter if you think too hard. Also, this is Georgia in 1977 and maybe they don't like that Viola Davis is their scoutmaster. Like Blow the Man Down, the film has a strong sense of place as indies are known to do. Although there are some awkward moments, I can appreciate how it doesn't take the Disneyesque route.
7. Eurovision-Based on a true competition, the Netflix film takes place in Iceland and is a decent odd couple pairing between Will Ferrell and Rachel McAdams as idiosyncratic Icelandic yokels. Remember the days when Will Ferrell had two or three starring vehicles every year? Our appetites haven't abated for his aloof brand of manchild comedy just yet, but he doesn't always have the right scripts to work with. This comedy is a bit broad.
8. Wrong Missy-David Spade is an underrated comic presence for his generation of Saturday Night Live and he's done some amazing supporting work over the years. Still, it's definitely hard to find the right niche for him. Even though the real-life David Spade is a decent human being, his comic persona is that of a snark-master who probably wouldn't fit into a mature relationship unless they were matched romantically with an equally immature person. It's not hard to conceive of a storyline where David Spade realizes that he's not cut out for the corporate ladder and decides to become a stand-up comedian with a goofy woman who helped her alongside that life realization. Unfortunately, the film went the other way with the goofy love interest (Lauren Lapkus) being meaningless.
9. Sonic the Hedgehog-The only blockbuster I saw this year. As someone who grew up playing Sonic the Hedgehog and actually read the manual, I had the advantage of having some source material to work with. And to the degree that you can be faithful to a video game, yes, this is true to the source. But, come on, that's not really saying much. The film wasn't awful but it was uninspiring at best and forgettable at worst when dealing with certain plot lines. 
10. Horse Girl-Allison Brie (Community, Glow) stars as a sensitive girl with possibly some disorder. She wants companionship and love but seems to repel people and is averse to a deeper relationship. It's not particularly clear and neither is anything else about this film. The third act goes all Ingmar Bergman and at that point, it's no thank you!
11. Late Time Adolescence-Pretty much the same plot as King of Staten Island but, silly me, I watched this first and I don't have the patience for two Pete Davidson movies in one year. Sorry, Judd Apatow. Davidson was a decent addition to Saturday Night Live when he joined the cast in 2014 after resident stand-up Brooks Whelan got short-changed but in the last couple of years he's either coasted, complained about not getting enough screen time or simply been absent. I'm wondering if new hires like Chloe Finneman have even met the guy.

Now writing at TV Fanatic!

I wrote for TV Fanatic for a while in 2014 and 2015 but it didn't work out. I'm thrilled that I've recently been given a second chance to contribute editorials to the website and that's where a lot of my work has been going to leaving me less time to update this blog.

I wrote this essay about the TV show Ramy and how I felt like *spoiler alert* it dropped the ball at the end of a near-perfect season. The essay touches on how shows with comedians are a dime a dozen and it's hard to break away from that. It also touches on how shows (BoJack Horseman and Orange is the New Black as well) are reveling lately in male characters coping with past sins without much of a path forward or sense in-universe:

https://www.tvfanatic.com/2020/07/ramy-season-2-boasts-a-uniquely-introspective-character-despite/

This essay is about how shows maintain a distance from the current political climate even when they have something political to say. Why do they maintain such distance and how do they affect viewers if they're avoiding the issues? I touch a lot on Space Force and The Good Place here.

https://www.tvfanatic.com/2020/07/space-force-the-good-place-and-the-art-of-making-the-political-a/

This is essay came about because I was watching the Parks and Recreation reunion and remembering that the show in its later stages is just unwatchable to me. I found it too saccharine and artificially happy. So I posed the question: What if it stayed truer to its original tone? True, the first season was awkward but it had some good things going for it.

https://www.tvfanatic.com/2020/07/what-if-parks-and-recreation-had-stayed-closer-to-its-original-t/

Do the recent blackface and voice over controversies mean we should restrict art? I have written a lot of essays critical of the identity politics movement and wokeness and as that school of thought has accelerated beyond repair in the past two months, I felt the need to add my voice once more.

https://www.tvfanatic.com/2020/07/do-the-recent-blackface-and-voiceover-controversies-mean-we-shou/

The best performers of SNL alumni on film by year

One of those mega-lists I made because I had too much free time yet again (thanks, quarantine!), this is a cross-referenced list of any appearance I saw by an SNL alumni or cast member in a film. To keep me making more meaningless lists, donate on Patreon 

2019:

The contenders:

Eddie Murphy, Dolemite is My Name; Adam Sandler Murder Mystery; Chris Rock, Dolemite is        My Name; Ana Gasteyer, Wine Country; Tracy Morgan, What Men Want; Chris Parnell,                   Laundromat; Rachel Dratch, Wine Country; Amy Poehler, Wine Country; Maya Rudolph, Wine        Country; Tina Fey, Wine Country; Jason Sudeikis, Booksmart; Kristen Wiig, Where’d You Go Bernadette;  Michaela Watkins, Brittany Runs a Marathon; Nassim Pedrad, Aladdin; Pete Davidson, What Men Want; Mikey Day, Brittany Runs a Marathon

Notes:
This year was highlighted by two tour-de-force performances as Adam Sandler and Eddie Murphy both were in Oscar contention for Uncut Gems and Dolemite is My Name respectively. Murphy even hosted for the first time since his stint in the 1980s in promotion of the film.

2019 also featured a convenient vehicle for the ladies of SNL circa the Tina Fey era to just be themselves on screen. What’s exciting about Wine Country is that there’s the entire Dratch-Fey-Poehler-Rudolph crew together but the film makes room Ana Gasteyer too (who technically overlapped with that crew a little) and two of the writers behind the scenes  in Emily Spivey and Paula Pell. Spivey and Pell has been emerging in voice over work and more.  A nice merging of generations.

Elsewhere, Pete Davidson plays half-against type as a fratty closeted gay guy in What Men Want, Michaela Watkins continues her run in meaty supporting roles, Nassim Pedrad shines pretty heavily in a role that matches her ethnicity, and the current cast’s best newcomer Mikey Day has a one-scene role in his first movie debut since SNL (as a writer, he made his way into a Taran Killam vehicle Brother Nature a couple weeks before his on-screen SNL debut).

MVP: Eddie Murphy, Dolemite is my Name-Believe all the Oscar hype. It has always been apparent in whatever you’re watching Eddie Murphy that he’s a man who’s elated when he’s performing and that makes him a perfect fit for this historical character.

Runner-Up: Michaela Watkins, Brittany Runs a Marathon- A very complex and evolving relationship with the film’s protagonist.

2018:

Nora Dunn, Tag

Mike Meyers, Bohemian Rhapsody

Adam Sandler, Hotel Transylvania 3

David Spade, Hotel Transylvania 3

Sara Silverman, Wreck It Ralph 2

Tracy Morgan, The Clapper

Rob Riggle, Night School

Andy Samberg, Hotel Transylvania 3

Michaela Watkins, Ibiza

Jenny Slate, Hotel Artemis

Taran Killam, Night School

Vanessa Bayer, Ibiza

Pete Davidson, Set it Up

Jon Rudnitsky, Set it Up

Melissa Villasenor, Wreck It Ralph 2

Notes: 

We’re getting to the point where cast members of the 2010s are starting to get cast like it ain’t no thang. Jon Rudnitsky, Vanessa Bayer, Pete Davidson, and Taran Killam are all getting decent screen time in their movies. Tracy Morgan, who was recovering from a life-threatening car crash at the time, has a nice juicy role here in a supporting aspect to Ed Helms. Melissa Villasenor (who I’m not crazy about) is in a voice-over role but I wonder if she’ll ever start to get cast in films as a live-action actor.

Mike Meyers hasn’t had as much of a career post-Love Guru landed himself in Bohemian Rhapsody but it wasn’t well-received (as was the rest of the film) because it was historically inaccurate, reeked of nepotism (Mike Meyers popularized Queen’s magnum opus in Wayne’s World, they were likely returning a favor), and was largely superfluous.

MVP:  Tracy Morgan, Clapper-Simply because it’s nice to see him again and this is a meaty supporting role that still retains Tracy’s Tracyisms.

Runner-Up: Taran Killam, Night School-Killam plays a principal who was bullied by Kevin Hart and Ben Schwartz and the role serves as a reminder that Killam didn’t necessarily feel the need to cultivate a sense of cool (Adam Sandler, Jimmy Fallon, and Andy Samberg couldn’t drop that veneer when needed) .


2017:

Jim Belushi, Wonder Wheel

Sara Silverman, Battle of the Sexes

Molly Shannon, The Little Hours

Will Ferrell, The House

Amy Poehler, The House

Fred Armisen, The Little Hours

Rob Riggle, How to be a Latin Lover

Jason Sudeikis, Colossal/Downsizing
Andy Samberg, Brigsby Bear

Kristen Wiig, Downsizing

Michaela Watkins, The House/Brigsby Bear

Noel Wells, Mr. Roosevelt 

Kyle Mooney, Brigsby Bear
Beck Bennett, Brigsbty Bear

Sasheer Zamata, Lainie and Diedre Rob a Train

Aidy Bryant, The Big Sick

Notes: Well, sometimes the casting powers that be have bizarre ideas. Woody Allen hadn’t yet been re-cancelled so he still had his pick of any actor in Hollywood and he chose Jim Belushi?

Source: BaltimoreBlack.com

Good news: Sasheer and Aidy are cast in films I saw this year. Bad news: I’m not sure Sasheer established enough of a niche that she’ll be long remembered after SNL. Aidy might be typecast by her physical limitations though The Big Sick was a very body-positive portrayal of her.

MVP: Jason Sudeikis, Colossal-He grows from passive-aggressive friend to bad news to full-on villain over the course of the film. It’s frightening.

Runner-Up:  Sasheer Zamata, Deidra and Lainey Rob a Train-She gives the story a necessary punch by portraying well her character’s anxiousness that someone, anyone get accepted to college

2016:

Dan Aykroyd, Ghostbusters*

Bill Murray, Ghostbusters*

Christopher Guest, Mascots

Kevin Nealon, Popstar: Never Stop Popping

Ben Stiller, Don’t Think Twice

Tim Meadows, Popstar:  Never Stop Popping

Sara Silverman, Popstar: Never Stop Popping

Maya Rudolph, Popstar: Never Stop Popping

Tina Fey, Whiskey Tango Foxtrot

Jason Sudeikis, Race

Andy Sandberg, Popstar: Never Stop Popping

Bill Hader. Finding Dory*/Popstar: Never Stop Popping

Kristen Wiig, Ghostbusters

Jenny Slate, Zooptopia

Kate McKinnon, Ghostbusters/Finding Dory*

Cecily Strong, Ghostbusters/The Bronze

Kyle Mooney, Hello My Name is Doris

Leslie Jones, Ghostbusters

Chris Redd, Popstar: Never Stop Popping

Notes:

Two comic forces with singular brands--Christopher Guest and Andy Samberg (or more accurately, Samburg and his two Lonely Island mates)—both made films true to their style that I would count among the funniest of the decades. For Guest, it was his sixth such mockumentary and for Samberg, Akiva Schaffer, and Jorma Taccone, it was their first written collaboration on the big screen.  Next up, I’m hoping Kyle and Beck do a movie drenched with 90s irony.

There was also the reboot of Ghostbusters which provided some cameos and chances for Kate McKinnon, Leslie Jones and Kristen Wiig to shine which was controversial for non-existent reasons.

By my estimation the film was a solid popcorn movie though not something I remember heavily four years later.

Dan Aykroyd and Bill Murray are cameos and Ben Stiller just plays himself so I’m not sure how much they should count.

Source: Graffiti with Punctuation

MVP: Chris Redd, Popstar: Never Stop Popping-In the category of best role before landing an SNL spot (minus the 1984 or 1985 casts where they intentionally cast stars), this should be up there. Redd was initially considered for 2016’s SNL cast and then got bumped to a 2017 debut where he still killed it anyway.

Runner-Up: Andy Samberg, Popstar: Never Stop Popping-I’m not suggesting Samberg’s a great actor but when he’s going off his (and the Lonely Island’s) own material, he’s a lot funnier. Samberg often relies too heavily on goofy expressions and lazy drawling (like the Blizzard Man) but it works to perfection here. Write to your strengths, guys.

2015:

Garrett Morris, Ant Man*

Chevy Chase, Hot Tub Time Machine 2

Dan Aykroyd, Pixels

Adam Sandler, Pixels/Hotel Transylvania 2

David Spade, Hotel Transylvania 2

Chris Parnell, Hotel Transylvania 2

Fred Armisen, Staten Island Summer

Amy Poehler, Inside Out

Bill Hader, Inside Out

Andy Samberg, Hotel Transylvania 2

Kristen Wiig, The Martian

Bobby Moynihan, Staten Island Summer

Kate McKinnon, Staten Island Summer

Cecily Strong, Staten Island Summer

Mike O’Brien, Staten Island Summer

Colin Jost, Staten Island Summer*

Source: StudioScoop

Notes:

It isn’t some old-timers comeback that Garrett Morris, Chevy Chase, and Dan Aykroyd are on here. All of their roles are tiny. Colin Jost, of all people, premiered Netflix’s very first streaming films with Staten Island Summer and got several of his buddies in on the action. It’s actually not that bad of a role for Mike O’Brien (who has since turned into writing). Kristen Wiig appears in everything and is in a prestige movie again in a part that’s quasi-humorous but mostly straight.

MVP: Amy Poehler, Inside Out- Watching Joy learn the film’s moral is like if Leslie Knope got whacked in the head and given a stern talking to stop being so cheerful all the time.

Runner-Up: Adam Sandler, Hotel Transylvania-Generally, I rank live acting over voice-over acting (the degree of difficulty is considerably more, I’ll die on that hill) but there are a couple stand-outs here. I didn’t know that Adam Sandler had that kind of voice range when I saw this film. For a guy who plays multiple variations of his man-child shtick every year, it’s hard to remember that Sandler has talent.

2014:

      Bill Murray, Grand Budapest Hotel* 

      Joan Cusack, Welcome to Me

      Robert Downey Jr, The Judge/Chef

      Chris Rock, Top Five

      Sarah Silverman, A Million Ways to Die in the West

      Dean Edwards, Top Five*

      Jason Sudeikis, Horrible Bosses 2

      Kristen Wiig, Welcome to Me 

      Casey Wilson, Gone Girl 

      Jay Pharoah, Top Five

      John Milhiser, Camp Takota

      Leslie Jones, Top Five

Notes: Not much of a year: Bill Murray and Joan Cusack were both cameos and a lot of the supporting roles in Top Five are very thin. It’s kind of nice to see one-season wonder John Milhiser in a film after a brutal season in which six new cat members were debuted at once and torn apart by the press for being too white. On the other hand, Camp Takota (an experimental project by three YouTubers) turned out horribly and Milhiser didn’t make the case in this film that SNL should have be sorry for sacking him. Kristen Wiig (after Girl Most Likely and Skeleton Twins) was starting to really pigeonhole herself here as the go-to for dour women in indie movies. Robert Downey Jr., who is not a comic actor anyway, was so depressing in The Judge it felt like if Tony Stark had served hard time.


On the bright side, Sarah Silverman plays well off the anachronistic musings of Seth MacFarlane’s underrated Western send-up, Casey Wilson gets to do something, and Chris Rock makes his most personal movie to date. It’s also an upside that Jay Pharoah and Dean Edwards get to be in movies at all.

MVP: Sarah Silverman, A Million Ways to Die in the West-Silverman plays as a prostitute who’s saving herself for marriage. It’s a nice absurdist set-up made better that’s enhanced through Silverman committing to the bit.

Runner-Up: Casey Wilson, Gone Girl-It’s not a comic role but it’s a nice, plump supporting role. I’d put Chris here but that’s more a triumph of directing and writing than acting. When you write your own script, you often can play yourself.

2013:

Christine Ebersole, Wolf of Wall Street
Billy Crystal, Monsters University
Ben Stiller, Secret Life of Walter Mitty

Julia Sweeney, Monsters University

Will Ferrell, Anchorman 2/The Internship

David Koechner, Anchorman 2

Chris Parnell, Anchorman 2

Tina Fey, Admission/Anchorman 2*

Maya Rudolph, Turbo

Amy Poehler, Anchorman 2*

Will Forte, Nebraska

Rob Riggle, The Internship

Jason Sudeikis, We’re the Millers

Bill Hader, Turbo

Kristen Wiig, Girl Most Likely/Secret Life of Walter Mitty/Anchorman 2

Michaela Watkins, In a World

Taran Killam, 12 Years a Slave

With three movies in one year, Kristen Wiig was one busy bee. It’s hard to imagine that someone who came in on the tail end of the Fey/Dratch/Rudolph/Poehler era would carve such a strong niche afterwards amidst those strong personalities overshadowing her. A lot of that is that she has favored status with Lorne Michaels. Jason Sudeikis was coming into his own as a standard leading man on the level of Paul Rudd and Steve Carell and We’re the Millers is an able vehicle for his path-of-least-resistance dude persona.

Where do people stand on The Secret Life of Walter Mitty? It's a breezy family comedy that really feels at home in the 90s and seems to be on-brand for Ben Stiller-directed work since Night at the Museum.

Over half the cast members on this list come from Anchorman which includes a Fey/Poehler cameo that I’m not sure is even worth counting here.

The most noteworthy inclusion is Will Forte in Nebraska who must have had the audition of his life because he somehow got cast as the lead in an Alexander Payne film. Way to go Will. Still, there were two or three performances that moved me more:

MVP: Kristen Wiig, Anchorman 2-By starring in three movies in one year, Wiig increases her chances so it’s a little bit of a cheat, but she shows different sides of herself in all three films. Will Ferrell might be the MVP but he’s recreating a character he did before, so let’s acknowledge the fact that creating a woman as believably dumb as Brick Tambland is no easy task.

Runner-Up: Michaela Watkins, In a World-One of Lorne Michael’s biggest mistakes proves herself adept at sly character work yet again. She steals several scenes that straddle the line between comedy and drama as she deals with a marriage on the rocks (her slow seduction towards a charming hotel guest is nicely played), a needy sister and a difficult dad.

2012:

Dan Aykroyd, The Campaign

Bill Murray, Hyde Park on Hudson/Moonrise Kingdom

Martin Short, Madagascar 3

Joan Cusack, Perks of Being a Wallflower

Ben Stiller, Madagascar 3

Chris Rock, Madagascar 3

Sara Silverman, Wreck It Ralph

Will Ferrell, The Campaign/Casa de Mi Padre

Cheri Oteri, Bad Parents

Chris Parnell, The Dictator

Horatio Sanz, Wreck It Ralph

Fred Armisen, The Dictator

Bill Hader, Men in Black III

Nassim Pedrad, The Dictator

Notes: There’s an overwhelming amount of contenders here whose presence I didn’t remember until I looked through the IMDB cast lists: Aykroyd, Short, Cusack and Sanz are all eliminated. Will Ferrell taught himself Spanish just so he could sell the idea of a telenovela and it works beautifully. Sure helps ease the disappointment of his other major release this year in The Campaign. Elsewhere on the spectrum of wrong turns was Billy Murray in Hyde Park on Hudson or as Vanessa Bayer put it, “The film where the guy gives his cousin the hand job.”

MVP: Will Ferell, Casa de mi Padre-Talk about committing to the premise. Ferrell not only sounds believable as a Spanish speaker but he sounds believable as a Hispanic soap opera character. One of the most underrated comedies of the decade.

Runner-Up: Sara Silverman, Wreck-It Ralph-I was almost considering putting Fred Armisen in here (kind of a short list) for a memorable scene in The Dictator out of a need to recognize live performance over voice over. At the same time, can you imagine Wreck-It Ralph working as well without Princess Venelope’s spunk and sweetness?