I’m going to do things a bit differently this year. For as long as I’ve been doing my end of year Top 50 Films list, I’ve seen the majority of the movies each year at film festivals and end of year awards screenings. Film festivals were quite different in 2020 (save Sundance) and awards screenings were non-existent so I was left with a drastically shorter list of films to choose from. But instead of going back to the tried and true Top 10 list, I’ve decided to expand the criteria.

This year’s list includes TV series, video games, podcast series, and a few other forms of content that I felt could apply. In order to qualify there had to be some sort of connection to 2020. I was pretty liberal here. Did the last episode come out in January? That works! Was a game released for the first time on a new platform? In! Was it released for the first time on Xbox Game Pass? Cool with me. As long as it sort of came out in 2020 and I experienced it this year, then I called it good.

This list is obviously far from exhaustive. So this year more than ever, please let me know what I missed that you totally loved. Say hey in the comments or on twitter @RylandAldrich – but not on Facebook as that platform is pretty much dead to me. Thanks 2020.

50. On the Rocks (Feature – Narrative)
Sofia Coppola’s A24/Apple TV+ outing just barely snuck onto my list as one of the last movies I caught in 2020. While it falls short of her best efforts, the obvious fun had by Bill Murray makes it well worth the watch.

49. Wind of Change (Podcast)
This Crooked Media, Pineapple Street, and Spotify limited series documentary podcast (LSDP) bounces around a fair bit as it looks to uncover the full story of the Scorpions hit song (and if it was actually CIA propaganda). But along the way it delves into some quite fun territory.

48. Win the Wilderness (Series – Reality)
This silly little series on Netflix finds a handful of English couples in the Alaskan wilderness, competing to be the one couple gifted a remote plot of land complete with a self-sustaining cabin, way off the grid. It’s rather enjoyable and adheres to the tenet of all good British reality series that the contestants have to be quite lovely to each other.

47. Belgravia (Series – Narrative)
Julian Fellowes of Downton Abbey fame created this limited series that features some of that show’s same delicious intrigue. It snacky but it is a perfectly watchable soapy period drama.

46. Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets (Feature – Documentary)
This fascinating look at the last day of a Las Vegas dive bar blurs some lines but does so in very interesting and entertaining ways. It’s available to watch on VOD now.

45. Sanditon (Series – Narrative)
I quite enjoyed a lot about the Masterpiece series adapted from a Jane Austen story. Most of it is silly but very enjoyable. In fact, it would have been considerably higher on the list if not for the fact that like the Austen novel, the story is completely unfinished. Unfortunately the show’s writers didn’t bother to come up with their own conclusion for her.

44. Song Without a Name (Feature – Narrative)
This spiritual sibling to Roma was on the festival circuit in 2019 but I totally missed it. Film Movement put it out this year and it was selected to be Peru’s Best International Feature Oscar entry.

43. Beastie Boys Story (Feature – Documentary)
While this Apple TV+ docu is technically directed by Spike Jonze, it’s not exactly an innovative film. It’s just the two surviving members giving an AV presentation and telling their awesome story. But that awesome story of the origin of these wild musicians is too enjoyable not to acknowledge. Anyone who digs their music will get a kick out of the doc.

42. The Alpinist (Feature – Documentary)
We’ve been spoiled for excellent rock climbing docus lately with Free Solo and The Dawn Wall two of the best. Nick Rosen and Peter Mortimer’s story of Marc-Andre Leclerc is right up there. It was supposed to world premiere at SXSW but now is perhaps stuck in covid limbo. Red Bull produced it so they’ll make sure it finds its way to screens soon.

41. Charm City Kings (Feature – Narrative)
If you saw the documentary 12 O’Clock Boys then you know about the dirt bike and 4-wheeler culture on the inner city streets of Baltimore. Angel Manuel Soto’s Sundance premierer is a dramatized version of that subculture and features a particularly strong performance by Meek Mill. It’s available on HBO Max.
CHARM CITY KINGS is a 21st Century Boyz n the Hood. Young star Jahi Di’Allo Winston is fantastic but I was totally blown away by Meek Mill. Director Angel Manuel Soto is the real deal.

40. Possessor (Feature – Narrative)
Brandon Cronenberg’s sophomore follow up to Antiviral is not for the feint of heart — but it’s an incredible movie and points to even more amazing things to come from this young member of genre royalty.

39. Dream Home Makeover (Series – Reality)
I’m guessing the audience crossover between my numbers 40 and 39 is pretty slim. Slot this in the guilty pleasures column but the family of home remodelers/interior designers is just so damned likable and there are plenty of useful tips to glean along the way.

38. Hillbilly Elegy (Feature – Narrative)
It’s been some time since a Ron Howard film cracked my top list, but 2020 almost saw two (his doc Rebuilding Paradise narrowly missed out). It’s awards bait for sure but I enjoyed the JD Vance novel adaptation. Clearly Glenn Close deserves a lot of that credit.

37. Half-Life: Alyx (Video Game – PC VR)
The first game on this year’s list is pretty clearly the best specifically designed for VR game in the medium’s short history. It’s worth the PC upgrade, but it’s still hard for me to get up the energy at game time to go full VR.

36. Citizen Penn (Feature – Documentary)
If you only know Sean Penn as an actor, then this doc will teach you a lot about his impressive humanitarian work in both Haiti more recently during the pandemic. The doc won’t necessarily make you like him more, but you’ll at least be impressed.

35. Cuties (Feature – Narrative)
The “controversy” over this movie is completely ridiculous. It’s actually just a very well made movie and smart commentary on cultural oversexualization of minors. Good on Netflix for pushing back on the dumbness.

34. Get the Hell Out (Feature – Narrative)
No word yet on distro for this Taiwanese horror comedy I caught as part of virtual TIFF. But it’s super wild and wacky so keep an eye out.

33. Enemies of the State (Feature – Documentary)
Also part of virtual-TIFF, Sonia Kennebeck’s stranger than fiction hacker justice doc twists and turns in all the right ways. …or does it? No word on distro yet.

32. The Dissident (Feature – Documentary)
Bryan Fogel’s follow-up to Icarus (2017 #6) is a deep dive into the Jamal Khashoggi case. It’s “in theaters” now so should be available online soon.
Bryan Fogel’s Icarus follow-up THE DISSIDENT is a searing indictment of Saudi Arabia/MBS’s assassination of Khashoggi and continued campaign against dissidents. Expertly crafted balance of focus between characters and issues. Very interested to see who picks this up.

31. Touhou Luna Nights (Video Game – Xbox)
This little Metroidvania adventure has some strange anime storyline that I completely ignored. But the gameplay and time freezing mechanics are pretty cool and made for an enjoyable play through.

30. Beast Beast (Feature – Narrative)
Danny Madden’s Sundance-premiering directorial debut makes me reminiscent for those heady days when covid was only ravaging Wuhan. The story follows a group of high schoolers affected by violence and the filmmaking is top notch. No word yet on distribution.
Loved loved BEAST BEAST! Strikingly authentic performances from the young cast. Tough subject matter handled with astonishing grace. Director Danny Madden is a breakout talent.

29. Love is Blind (Series – Reality)
One of Netflix’s pandemic cultural touchstones, it’s worth remembering that before everyone became less likable and overly dramatic, the first few episodes of the experiment felt pretty damned innovative.

28. Mrs. America (Series – Narrative)
FX’s tale of women’s lib is propelled to greatness by the epic cast that includes Cate Blanchett, Rose Byrne, Uzo Aduba, Elizabeth Banks, Ari Graynor, Melanie Lynskey, John Slattery, Jeanne Tripplehorn, and Tracey Ulman.

27. The Trial of the Chicago Seven (Feature – Narrative)
Aaron Sorkin’s feature debut in the big chair Molly’s Game was #3 back in 2017. But his latest is still very enjoyable with some of the more memorable courtroom scenes of recent years.

26. Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness (Series – Documentary)
#DontFreeJoeExotic

25. Slow Burn S04 – David Duke (Podcast)
The latest edition of Slate’s LSDP, this one by Josh Levin, is a great exploration of Klansman/Politician David Duke and all of his assholery. Well worth the listen.

24. Celeste (Video Game – Switch)
This one is the biggest qualifying stretch of the list but it was released on PC in 2020 (though I played it on Switch). But I had too much fun grinding away on this platformer not to include it. It’s really hard to grab some of the bonus strawberries, some of which took me hours. But man is it satisfying when you get one you’ve spent that long on.

23. The Good Place (Season 6) (Series – Narrative)
Some of the earlier seasons might have been in the top 10 had I done those lists this way. The final season was pretty satisfying but perhaps not as transcendent as some of the earlier efforts. Still I’ll miss the show quite a bit.

22. Cheer (Series – Reality)
Greg Whiteley’s docuseries on junior college cheerleading hits all the highs from his junior college football docuseries Last Chance U. That series eventually got a bit stale so we’ll see if this one can live up to the first season’s heights in the season to come.

21. Chameleon: Hollywood Con Queen (Podcast)
Campside Media’s 12-part LSDP series is a pretty fantastic story of a really odd con with twists and turns galore.

20. Ted Lasso (Series – Narrative)
If you’re not charmed by this Jason Sudeikis Apple TV+ series then you have a heart of stone. Bonus points for the subject matter of an English Premier League football manager.

19. My Octopus Teachers (Feature – Documentary)
I had no idea what to expect from this but my dad said he heard it was great. It was indeed great. If you have no idea what it is or have been on the fence, go watch it on Netflix now.

18. The Good Lord Bird (Series – Narrative)
Ethan Hawke wrote and stars in this limited series adaptation of the book by James McBride that comedically tells the story abolitionist John Brown. Along with Hawke and star Joshua Caleb Johnson are such awesome names as Daveed Diggs, Wyatt Russell, Adam Shappy Shaps Shapiro, Maya Hawke, Rafael Casal, Steve Zahn, and Ellar Coltrane.

17. Assassins (Feature – Documentary)
This Sundance-premiering documentary about the murder of Kim Jong-un’s brother truly needs to be seen to be believed. Director Ryan White did a phenomenal job reporting the story. Greenwich has it out “in theaters” so it should be available online soon.
ASSASSINS is an extremely well-made docu and well-reported account of the two young women at the center of the brazen assassination of Kim Jong-un’s half brother in Malaysia. Hard to imagine anyone doing a more definitive job than Ryan White and his team.

16. Sundered Eldritch Edition (Video Game – Xbox)
This rogue-lite adventure was a big hit for me in the first days of the Pandemic when I was justified playing games all day long. The story is super bizarre, game mechanics awesome, but the graphics are some of the coolest and most stylized ever. Big fan.

15. The Fight (Feature – Documentary)
This Sundance-premiering ACLU docu is super inspiring, even if it feels a bit like ancient history now. It’s available to stream now (perhaps free on Hulu).
ACLU docu THE FIGHT is fantastic! The team behind Weiner takes us into the trenches with the ridiculously charismatic lawyers on the front lines of 4 of the biggest Trump-era cases. Tears, cheers, and some of the biggest laughs I’ve had at this year’s #Sundance. Do not miss!

14. The Social Dilemma (Feature – Documentary)
The top documentary feature on my list is this tale of the evils of social media… more or less. If nothing else, it is an inspiring introduction to Tristan Harris and the Center for Humane Technology which is an incredible organization.
Jeff Orlowski’s (Chasing Ice, Chasing Coral) latest THE SOCIAL DILEMMA about big tech’s influence economy is itself one of the most influential docus I’ve ever seen. So motivating. Irony of tweeting this is not lost on me. Also kudos for artfully filmed talking heads.

13. The Best Is Yet to Come (Feature – Narrative)
This feature debut from Jing Wang, 1st AD of Jia Zhangke (who produced this film) is not just one of the best recent contemporary chinese dramas, but also one of the best journalism films of recent memory. No word yet on US distribution but catch it when you can.

12. The Messenger (Video Game – Xbox)
Another great Metroidvania game, The Messenger takes Ninja Gaiden action and adds some very cool adventure elements plus a really cool play mechanic. It’s also got a fantastic sense of humor that makes it a joy to play.

11. The Queen’s Gambit (Series – Narrative)
Having just finished this series a day ago, it’s hard for me to know if recency bias is putting this so high or if I’ll rue its exclusion from the top 10 in the weeks to come. Regardless I ridiculously enjoyed this Scott Frank series. Pawn to rook 4!!

10. Rabbit Hole (Podcast)
This New York Times LSDP by Kevin Roose is the top podcast on my list. It explores the darker side of the information superhighway including a deep dive on QAnon. If you loved this, be sure to check out episode #166 of Gimlet’s excellent ReplyAll as well.

9. The Crown S04 (Series – Narrative)
This series has consistently been one of the best on “TV” and this season is no different. This is due in a large part to the portrayal of Princess Di by Emma Corrin.

8. Ori and the Will of the Wisps (Video Game – Xbox)
Top spot in the video game column goes to this absolutely gorgeous Metroidvania adventure. It’s easily as good, if not better, than the first with a story that gave me a serious case of the feels. I am looking forward to playing through this one again soon.

7. What We Do in the Shadows S02 (Series – Narrative)
Two words: Jackie Daytona. This show is so consistently hilarious and brilliant. The second season completely builds on the success of the first. I really hope these guys can keep this going.

6. Mank (Feature – Narrative)
David Fincher’s love letter to classic Hollywood is a sumptuous experience. I look forward to someday seeing it at a revival screening in some wonderfully restored Hollywood movie palace.

5. Ben Gibbard: Live from Home (Live Stream)
So this is the only thing like this on my list. Death Cab for Cutie and The Postal Service frontman Ben Gibbard started these hour long sessions at the very start of the pandemic. At first they were every day and eventually became less frequent. But Ben brought us into his home studio where he shared the fears and concerns we were all going through. It was cathartic and communal and really helped. This is what I will remember most about those early days when I look back in years to come. That and drinking many Manhattans.

4. Palm Springs (Feature – Narrative)
Max Barbakow’s directorial debut is such a fun and finely crafted comedy that I wish more than anything it could be a series so we could spend more time with these characters and this world. Someone please make that happen.
Loved PALM SPRINGS! Can we get a series remake so we can go on new adventures in that world every week? So much fun.

3. Hamilton (Recorded Live Performance)
At least the Pandemic brought us one great thing. Originally set to premiere on Disney+ in late 2021, it’s a wonderful thing we can switch on Hamilton and home watch whenever we want. I do it perhaps a bit too often.

2. The Great (Series – Narrative)
This might be a bit of a surprise to some people but this Tony McNamara’s Hulu series starring Elle Fanning and Nicholas Hoult is the best show (and one of the most underrated) of the year. With razor sharp writing, gorgeous production design, and sumptuous cinematography, I feel like this period dramedy is made for me. I can’t wait for season two.

1. Tenet (Feature – Narrative)
Everyone I’ve mentioned this to as my favorite film of the year is shocked. But not a single one of them has seen it either. I didn’t really tune into any negativity around the time of its release but I did go in with tempered expectation. I just let it all wash over me and enjoyed the hell out of the ride. More than anything, Tenet is the big movie experience I was hoping for this year.

All right! Lemme have it.

The last two weeks have absolutely flown by (hmm, that might be an exaggeration) but the Sochi 2014 flame has been extinguished and all eyes now turn to Rio 2016 and the next Summer Games. Before we get ahead of ourselves, here is a look back at my Top 10 moments of the Sochi Winter Games — both the hits and the misses.

See the list

It’s Winter Olympics time again and anyone who was around four years ago will remember just how damned excited I get for the Games. USA won the total medal count last games with 37 with host country Canada winning the most Golds (14 to USA’s 9). Russia finished way back in the pack with only 3 gold medals and 15 medals total. That was good enough for sixth place (behind Austria). You can bet the Ruskies are going to be looking for some redemption.

UPDATE: I’ve created a Public Google Calendar with all of the event discussed in this post. See the Calendar below.

Click here for all the fun

Yeah, they’re coming. The London Olympics Opening Ceremonies are on Friday, July 27th… that’s a week from FRIDAY!! But wait, because the games actually start before the opening ceremonies. In fact, the women’s soccer tournament, where USA looks to win its 4th Gold Medal, actually kicks off next Wednesday July 25th. Did you know that there have only been 4 Gold Medals ever in women’s soccer and USA has 3 of them (we took the Silver in Sydney, losing to Norway)? That means the USA has never failed to make a Women’s final!

Oh, and don’t forget there is a men’s tournament taking place as well. Remember the Euro Cup last month? Yeah, this is a-whole-nother 16 team tourney, the same size as that one (actually there is one more game in the Olympics as the 2012 Euro Cup did away with the 3rd place – aka Bronze Medal match). Unfortunately there is no USA for the men’s tourney. Moving on.

So NBC has put together a pretty substantial website that let’s you sort listings by sport, time, network, etc. I’ve decided to take it a step further and have created a public Google calendar that I’ll be using to keep track of all the big events and when they are being televised. To start things off, I’ve added all the air times for every game in both the Men’s and the Women’s soccer tournaments. It’s live now and you can add it to your own Google calendars or use it all on its own. Check it out:

You can also access it via this link or at http://tinyurl.com/nbcolympicscal or probably by searching the “other calendars” for my email address.

I’ll likely put some of the other big events in as the Games draw nearer, but for now, you’ve at least got what really counts. I hope you find it useful!

Everything from Game of Thrones to Marvel superhero art (I guess that isn’t the widest of ranges) is on display on the Tumblr home of very talented artist Phil Noto. I particularly like his series of drawings masquerading as candid celebrity photos of superheroes from different decades. Some very cool stuff over there.

Link

The Oscars crash down on H.wood tonight in what has been called one of the least contentious contests in years. Is the script already written or will there be some twists and turns? I’m expecting Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin to be a great team but what about the rest of the show? We’ll find out soon enough. Until then, here are my picks for what will win the statues.

Best Pic – Avatar
Should it win? Yes. Even though there are 10 noms this go around, only 2 of them are really in contention. Most odds makers have money on The Hurt Locker but I think its early peak and late controversy will cost it the win. The Hurt Locker would have won 6 or 7 years ago in the indie-friendly awards climate but it just feels like the year of Avatar to me.

Best Director – James Cameron
Should he win? Yes, though I won’t be completely surprised if the academy splits and gives Bigelow this one. The question is, are we talking about a director in the classical sense of directing actors or in the Cameronian sense of inventing new technologies and creating an entire world? Every movie is a collaboration but Cameron helmed his production through incredibly complex waters and deserves the award.

Best Actress – Sandra Bullock
Should she win? No way. Even though she did speak with an accent, Bullock’s character was straight off the shelf. It wasn’t until the films last few scenes that we actually started to get some sense of the character’s motivations. Is that Bullock’s fault? No, the movie isn’t very good. I loved Carey Mulligan in An Education and she gets my pick – but this has been dubbed the year Bullock gets her statue so whatareyagonnado?

Best Actor – Jeff Bridges
Should he win? Yep. Bridges is one of those actors who becomes his character right down to his every subtle movement and Bad Blake is a character with Oscar written all over him. I don’t even remember what Jeremy Renner looks like. If I had to go for someone else my pick would be for Colin Firth who embodies those same qualities and whose character in A Single Man was good enough to win most other years.

Best Supporting Actress – Mo’Nique
Should she win? Yes. She was crowned before any of her competitors’ films were released and she stayed on top throughout. A Vera Farmiga upset is the only one that wouldn’t be a travesty.

Best Supporting Actor – Christopher Waltz
Should he win? Hell yea. Is there anyone who didn’t come out of Inglourious thinking, “Who the hell was that guy and why don’t we just give him the Oscar now?” Best. Nazi. Ever.

Best Original Screenplay – Mark Boal for The Hurt Locker
Should he win? Sure. But mostly because I am picking Avatar to win the main cats. It is pretty close between Boal and Tarantino and I would be pretty happy to see Quentin take the stage and get what he deserves for a film I enjoyed a lot more.

Best Adapted Screenplay – Reitman and Turner for Up in the Air
Should they win? No. This is maybe the toughest category of the big guys. Both Geoffrey Fletcher’s script for Precious and Nick Hornby’s An Education script were great. But how can you not vote for the four-tet behind the almost completely overlooked In The Loop? A gigantic surprise win for them would be fantastic.

Best Foreign Language Feature – The White Ribbon
Should it win? NO! I am sorry to say I have only seen a couple of these noms but France’s A Prophet is good enough to win a best picture award regardless of language and I was certainly no fan of The White Ribbon. It seems unlikely that it will be upset in this category though as it won Palme d’Or (also over 2nd place A Prophet) and has been a critical darling. Ugh.

A quick run down of the rest of my predictions: After the jump

There have been rumors of a long awaited Arrested Development movie swirling around even longer than the TV DVDs have topped the Amazon charts. If it will ever see the light of day is anyone’s guess. On the other hand, this documentary titled The Arrested Development Documentary Project (pretty lame site btw) seems to have come out of nowhere. With the trailer touting its rejection from this year’s big fests, there’s a pretty good chance that the movie is nothing special – but at least it exists.

Coming next fall to NBC is the new comedy Community from Sarah Silverman writer Dan Harmon. With a cast featuring Joel McHale, Chevy Chase, and John Oliver, it looks like it could be a real winner. If this teaser featurette is any indication, it is gonna be funny as hell.

NBC’s Official Page

The Oscars are this weekend so I figured I better throw my hat into the prediction game ring. Predicting Oscars is really way more like guessing. Things like which studio has spent the most money and who has the most friends who vote are more important than the actual quality of the film (how else could Crash have won?). Now I’m not one of those jaded Hollywood types who complains about all this – I just think it is important to recognize the system that is in place. I mean, it is all subjective anyway, right? So I’ll try to focus a bit more here on who I would choose to win if I had a vote.

One other note – anyone notice that Hugh Jackman is hosting this year? Odd choice (and in a year when he has a big summer blockbuster coming, if you can believe it) – but I think the guy can be pretty funny so I am keeping my hopes up.

Best Picture All right I give in – Slumdog Millionaire is the year’s best picture. I know, both Milk and Frost/Nixon were on my Top10 – but I’ve gotten swept up in the fanfare and I’ve converted… but I’m not giving it any writing awards. I wouldn’t complain if Benjamin Button snuck out the win (please not The Reader) but I think it’s looking like this will be the final answer.

Best Supporting Actor Heath Ledger played one of the best villains ever on screen in Dark Knight and it would be a shame if he wasn’t awarded for it. All of these roles were just supremely played and any of them are deserving (especially Brolin in Milk) but this is Heath’s award.

Best Supporting Actress This category is a little less clear. I think the odds are on Penelop Cruz for VCB but I am giving my pick to Taraji Henson for her lifetime spanning role in Benjamin Button.

Best Actor Wow, what a category this is. This was a fantastic year for acting and I have to say the best performance I saw was Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler. He may get beat to the finish line by Penn, but Rourke’s role was so much more challenging both physically and emotionally and he certainly deserves the statue.

Best Actress This one is all me and I don’t care what Harvey Weinstein has to say about it. I loved Rachel Getting Married and I’d love to see Anne Hathaway get the award.

Adapted Screenplay The writing categories are a bit strange this year. Usually the writing awards go to the indie darlings that coudn’t squeak out awards/noms for the big categories. Isn’t this just all the Best Pic noms? Well fine – I guess my choice would be Benjamin Button then.

Original Screenplay I don’t like these noms much at all. The writing in Happy-Go-Lucky was atrocious (plot? character arc?) and the screenplay of Milk was its low point. But In Bruges was brilliantly written and deserves the award, even if Wall-e was seen by millions more people and probably a lot more Oscar voters.

Best Director …whatever wins best picture.

And the rest will go to movies that certainly deserve it (unless they go to The Reader). It isn’t the most exciting list of awards ever assembled (except the male actor categories). Heath winning a posthumous award could be a real touching moment, especially if Michelle Williams accepts the award. There is always the chance that Sean Penn will win an award and get another chance to talk about what a fine actor and man Jude Law is, no matter what Chris Rock says (it was a joke, dude). Or it could just be a night of getting way too drunk playing the game where you have to take a shot every time Slumdog wins an award. I’m just hoping I see people I know in the audience.

Mark the date folks – January 18. Oh glorious day.