The 2017 _thony Awards

I don't post to this blog much anymore but I'm not giving up on the _thony Awards yet.  I like "best of" lists and I'm going to make one and I might as well put it here.  If anyone happens to be reading this and they want to know what's been taking my attention away from this dumb blog, well.... it's another dumb blog.  With the housekeeping taken care of let's just get right into it:

Best Movies

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2

The first Guardians movie was a nice action adventure like most Marvel movies, but in space.  It also benefited from director James Gunn's slightly offbeat sense of humor and a wonderful 70's soundtrack.  The sequel has all that and so much more.  The plot follows Chris Pratt's Peter "Star-Lord" Quill as he meets the father he never knew, who turns out to be a celestial godlike being and kind of a dick named Ego.  The b-plot focuses on Quill's teammates Rocket (a tough talking raccoon) and Groot (a shrunk tree that says "I am Groot") as they ally themselves with Quill's adopted father/captor Yondu to escape from Yondu's mutinous pirate crew and get to Quill to save him from Ego.  I guess when you put it like that it sounds really weird, and it is, but weird in all the right ways.  It's a wonderfully sentimental story about family and friendship but the real star is the jaw droppingly vivid cosmic scenery.

Get Out

It's rare for a piece of art to immediately feel like an important, landmark work but that's exactly what Get Out did.  Almost before release there was a feeling that it would be something special.  A study of race relations in modern America it updates the classic Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, about white progressives meeting their daughter's black boyfriend for the first time, and takes the events to horrific extremes.  Overtime, it becomes clear that despite all their talk the seemingly perfect liberals don't really care about the well-being of black people.  Skillfully crafted by writer, first-time director, and long beloved comedian Jordan Peele, with layers of subtext that reward close attention in dividends, Get Out is no less than a masterpiece.

Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi

Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back is one of the greatest film sequels ever made.  It is darker, stranger, and richer than its predecessor.  In a way, The Last Jedi wasn't following up Episode VII: The Force Awakens but Empire.  Director Rian Johnson's challenge was to make a movie that would defy expectations set by a movie famous for defying expectations.  He accomplished it by pushing back against the legacy that was threatening him.  The Last Jedi critiques the worst parts of the Star Wars franchise, namely a through-line of elitism, and embraces all the things that make it wonderful, clearing room for greatness to come.  The final result is a beautiful movie about war, populism (the good kind), legacy, and spirituality.  It's a true space opera for the modern age.

Honrable Mention: The Dukes of Hazzard reboot you would get if you mashed up Baby Driver and Logan Lucky.

Baby Driver is a movie set in Atlanta, Georgia about cold hearted criminals and one good soul in the mix.  It's got some great urban car chases and a killer soundtrack of alt-rock and hip hop.  Logan Lucky is a movie about decent working class folks from Virginia who rob the mega-corporation that laid off Jimmy Logan.  If you were to make a movie or TV show set in rural Georgia with a close-knit working class family like the Logans taking on the one percent and cool driving sequences on dirt roads with a country/Americana soundtrack it would be a lot like the best possible version of The Dukes of Hazzard.  If you could do it with the same amount of style as directors like Steven Soderbergh and Edgar Wright it could be really, really, rad.  You could maybe even do it without the neo-Confederatism of the original series.

Movies That Most Surpassed Very Low Expectations

Power Rangers

If you knew how much I loved Power Rangers when I was a child you might think I would have high hopes for a new movie based on the show.  However, looking back with a more attuned critical eye it is clear to me that the original Power Rangers series is absolute trash and perhaps the very worst thing that I loved the most at that young age.  As an adult, the best thing I can say about it is that the quality is so low that it's almost charming in a rainbow-trashy kind of way.  So, when I went to the theater to watch the new movie against my better judgment I was thoroughly impressed.  It's a little rough around the edges, to be sure.  The young actors are mostly wooden and the pacing is bumpy but the ambition is through the roof.  The idea to combine Wachowski-esque philosophy with elements of The Breakfast Club and mix that into the mythology of Power Rangers, a mythology that was given less intellectual consideration than this run on sentence, is fascinating to watch unfold.

Justice League

Man of Steel is my least favorite movie ever.  I hate it with a passion greater than any reasonable human should have towards a wasted three hours.  I reveled in its sequel's low box office returns and Rotten Tomatoes score.  By the time director Zack Snyder made his third attempt at a movie with Superman in it I unfortunately had things much more important to be angry about (have I mentioned my new blog, which is overtly political?).  With my rage diverted I was able to take in a matinee of Justice League without any baggage.  What I found is a truly bad movie.  The plot is sloppy, the villain is unformed and lifeless in more ways than one, and it's just unpleasant to look at.  Nevertheless, I can't say it isn't fun to watch.  There's a handful of fun jokes, charming performances, and cool action sequences.  Best of all, the last act features a version of Superman far, far removed from the grouchy manslaughterer of Man of Steel.  It's real bad but it put a smile on my face, and that's something.

Happy Death Day

I'm traditionally not a fan of the whole Groundhog Day thing.  Watching the same scenes several times over is not enjoyable for me.  The premise has been run into the ground since Harold Ramis and Bill Murray did it in 1993 which is especially rough considering the premise itself is the very definition of repetitive.  I'm also not inclined to watch movies written by comic book writers with a "Controversy" section in their Wikipedia page.  Still, the trailers for Happy Death Day charmed me enough to get me in the theater.  Admittedly, the script, which follows a vapid sorority girl who relives her birthday every time she dies at the hands of a slasher villain at the end of it, is solid and funny, although the gender dynamics are only slightly better than what you would expect from a comic book writer with a "Controversy" section in his Wikipedia page.  Ultimately, what works most about the movie is the same thing that worked about the trailer: the star.  Jessica Rothe is so watchable its scary.  She plays every second of her redemption arc perfectly and delivers every joke better than it deserves.  She's certainly someone to keep an eye on.

Best TV Shows

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, whenever the Whedon family is involved in a TV show you need to give it at least a season to really get good but it's worth the wait.  Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. showrunners Maurissa Tancharoen and Jed Whedon, sister-in-law and brother of Joss Whedon, have stepped up their game significantly with each season, finally reaching spectacular heights in season four.  Unusual for a TV show, season four is broken into three acts, rather than two, creating a fascinating pace.  The first act, which aired in 2016, focuses on the demonic gearhead Ghost Rider and other dark magic while introducing an artificially intelligent robot.  Things really heat up in the second act, beginning in January of 2017, when that robot has gone full evil, until the third act, which is so insanely cool I don't want to risk spoiling it even six months later.  On top of just being rad as hell it's also a meditation on morality, philosophy, and the essence of humanity.  But it's also really, really rad.

The Leftovers

I once described The Leftovers as "one of those Jesusy Kirk Cameron movies except for people who are 'spiritual but not religious.'"  There are plenty of movies about America's most popular religion for its followers who want to be told that their faith is right and good.  There are less options for people whose relationship with the divine is more complicated.  In its third and final season The Leftovers dove deeper into the messiness of faith and love.  Like the ocean, the deeper you go the weirder things get but at every level there's really only one thing that matters; one thing that unites every religion and philosophy and secular belief system: how we connect with one another.

The Deuce

The Deuce is HBO at its HBOest.  It's full of sex, drugs, and crime but it's also high quality television.  The series is set in the seediest parts of New York City in the 1970's, following the lives of prostitutes, pimps, and bartenders.  Thanks to creators David Simon and George Pelacanos of The Wire the writing creates the feeling of watching a beautiful, clever novel come to life.  The cast is headed by James Franco, who performs admirably in a dual role as solid-ish guy Vincent Martino and his fuck-up twin brother Frankie.  Meanwhile, Maggie Gyllenhaal is magnificent as Candy, a prostitute with a future in adult film.  Pair all that with a great look and it's clear that in just one season The Deuce has proven its capacity to rival The Wire.

Best Comic Book Series

Rocket

I can assure you that my love for the Rocket Raccoon limited series has little to do with my love for Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 2 and a lot to do with writer Al Ewing's hilarious genre-bending script.  Rocket follows the titular non-raccoon in a neo-noir space heist/adventure.  When Rocket gets mixed up with a bad crowd and a femme fatale he steals some stuff and breaks out of prison.  It's like Ocean's Eight with strange and exotic space creatures.  Highlights include an issue guest starring Deadpool and two pages dedicated to just making fun of Daredevil.  Although, like the Guardians movie, the space adventure angle wouldn't work as well without a lot of heart and Rocket has a big one that gets broken to bits.

Mister Miracle

This year the late "King of Comics" Jack Kirby would have been 100 years old and although he is best known for his work at Marvel their rival DC has loudly reminded readers of his contributions to the Metropolis and Gotham set.  Kirby's ambitious "Fourth World" epic of gods and devils is back with a vengeance and the centerpiece is the 12 issue Mister Miracle mini-series.  With seven remaining issues planned for the new year from Tom King and Mitch Gerads, writer and artist behind the acclaimed Sheriff of Babylon, the series promises to be on a lot of "best of" lists this time next year as well, but I couldn't wait.  It follows Scott "Mister Miracle" Free's battle with depression and questions of his own sanity in the midst of a grave threat from the dreaded Darkseid.  It's some dark, heavy shit for sure but the gooey center is Scott's relationship with his wife, the towering warrior Big Barda.  The art is gorgeously grimy and the story is intensely mind bending.  Throw in some biblical themes and you've got an epic tale worthy of the King himself.

Generation X

X-Men characters frequently serve as a metaphor for oppressed minorities, a metaphor that has resulted in many fantastic stories.  However, the misfits and outcasts known as mutants are also prime for another metaphor; youth.  At any given time there is usually at least one ongoing X-Men comic that follows the teenage students of the Xavier School for Gifted Mutants (or the Jean Grey school).  This year saw the rise and untimely demise of Generation X, a quirky teen soap opera that follows the B-squad of Xavier students written with relatable punchiness by Christina Strain (The Magicians) and oddly dynamic art by Amilcar Pinna.   The student's drama is immensely absorbing but the real star is fan favorite character Jubilee, a graduate of a previous incarnation of Generation X.

Best Albums

Colors by Beck

In 2015, the year after Beck won a (hotly contested [by Kanye West]) "Best Album of the Year" Grammy for his gently moving folk album Morning Phase, the alt-rock titan released the fantastically upbeat, danceable single "Dreams."  Two long years later he released the gorgeously rainbow trash album that goes with the single.  It's the peppiest, most vivid pop album of the year.  Highlights include the anthem of joyous relief "I'm So Free," the trap influenced "Wow," and the driving pop-rock of "Up All Night," with its bonkers cool video.

Felony Blues by Jaime Wyatt

Country artists from Sturgill Simpson to Blake Shelton love to shout out the Outlaws of the 70's but no one walks the walk like Jaime Wyatt.  After a stint in prison on a drug charge Wyatt has released the best country album of the year.  However, going to prison does not necessarily make a good musician.  Wyatt is also a terrific singer and songwriter.  Every song is rich with confinement, freedom, love, and loneliness, from the poppy romance of "Your Loving Save Me" to the cosmic song of longing "From Outer Space."  The only problem is that thirty minutes isn't nearly long enough.  Hopefully a life as fully lived as Wyatt's will have plenty to offer in the future.

Rainbow by Kesha

At the end of this year we've heard a lot of talk about the rash of molestation and assault charges against powerful men as a major news stories, which it is, but it's also something that personally affects far too many women.  Kesha is one of those women, and after a legal battle with the man she has accused of "emotional distress, gender-based hate crimes and employment discrimination," she released a new album by the new Kesha (her first in five years and her first without the dollar sign in place of an "s").   What makes Rainbow the album of the year isn't that it captures the zeitgeist but that it's one person's story of surviving a torturous experience.  It's the artistic achievement of a free woman, more joyous and optimistic than it is vengeful.  Most exciting for me, Rainbow signals a stylistic shift for Kesha.  It's a little less dance pop and a little more country and alt-rock, as you would expect from a music nerd who grew up in Nashville and befriended the Eagles of Death Metal.  Don't get me wrong, there's plenty of partying to be done on songs like "Boogie Feet" (featuring EoDM) and "Woman" (featuring the Dap-Kings and a few hearty chuckles) but the real standout is the stripped down, earth scorching ballad "Praying."  It's a new Kesha for the new world; a soundtrack for everyone who feels like they're looking down the wrong end of a barrel but is glad they're looking up.

The Philosophy of 'Power Rangers'

There are certain expectations fans have for anything bearing the Power Rangers name; essentially, they want to see a diverse group of teenage superheroes fighting evil with karate, robot dinosaurs, and friendship.  In the new film reboot of the franchise the last part is a more literal factor in the equation.  The Rangers are incapable of accessing their full powers until they come together as friends.  That’s really all you need to know about the movie.  If you find such a sentimental concept unappealing than this movie is not for you, but if you can get behind it then you can look past all the ways that it’s an objectively bad movie and just enjoy the schmaltz.  Or there’s a third possibility: maybe the concept will worm its way into your brain, becoming a full blown obsession until you realize Power Rangers cannot be judged by typical cinematic standards but instead should be read as a religious text and really should have been directed by the Wachowskis.

Behind the dumb action scenes and the unconvincing adolescent drama there’s an interesting spiritual philosophy to Power Rangers.  The Rangers, athletic Jason, nerdy Billy, pampered Kimberly, rebellious Zach, and self-isolating Trini, are dependent on human fellowship for the powers, a kind of oneness similar to the concept central to Buddhism.  When the movie begins the main characters are only vaguely familiar with each other even though, in some cases, they’ve gone to school together since kindergarten.  Then they all coincidentally come together and happen upon the magic coins that give them superpowers and a spaceship buried underground in a goldmine.  The spaceship belongs to Zordon, the former Red Ranger and a mentor to the new generation.  It is there that Zordon teaches them of the legacy they have just joined and they train to use their powers for good.

They bond over their shared experience but struggle to “morph,” the term for accessing the armor that should appear at their command.  The key to acquiring the armor is total selflessness; to think of each other and not themselves.  The entire second act is spent by the Rangers trying, failing, and waiting to morph.  After Billy manages to briefly morph in a heated moment Zordon sends the Rangers away in disappointment.  They decide to stay and build a campfire at the mine.  In this intimate setting they pour their respective hearts out, or at least two of them do.  Zach tells of his sick mother and Trini comes out as bisexual or a lesbian, it isn’t clear because she’s still in the process of questioning her sexuality for herself.  Billy, being naturally earnest doesn’t say much that hasn’t already been revealed.  Kimberly, who cyberbullied a fellow cheerleader, holds back out of guilt.  Jason claims that as the star quarterback in a small town he has no secrets to share.  Nevertheless, it’s an important bonding moment for the team, but still not enough. 

The turning point comes when the Rangers confront the villain and former Ranger, Rita Repulsa, despite their lack of preparedness.  Rita wipes them out easily and (here’s the big spoiler) kills Billy.  The other four take him back to headquarters but it’s too late.   They unite over their fallen friend and express a shared wish that they could take his place.  This moment of solidarity and altruism opens the “Morphing Grid” and allows Billy to come back to life so that the five of them can finally morph and take on Rita with the full Power Rangers’ arsenal.

There’s also an overarching theme of holistic oneness with all things, not just friends and loved ones.  The plot is driven by a mysterious and powerful object buried beneath the earth called the Zeo Crystal, which is the source of all life on the planet.  If it’s removed or destroyed everything dies, so of course that’s Rita’s motivation.  The opening scene shows the final moments of a deadly battle between Rita and her once-teammates in a prehistoric wasteland.  In the Cenozoic era Rita was defeated by Zordon, who on his last legs called for an asteroid to crash into the Earth.  Rita was thrown into the ocean and all evidence of the Rangers’ existence was buried under ground.  Eventually, the small town of Angel Grove was built over the battleground.  This prologue establishes the power used by the Rangers and the evil they fight as primordial forces of nature.  Rita, Zordon, and the technology they brought with them are from a distant alien world but they landed on Earth several millennia ago, making them artifacts of both science-fiction and fantasy, equal parts H.G. Wells and George R.R. Martin.

An odd quirk of the film is the way it is so busy world-building and exploring teen angst that it treats robot dinosaurs as an afterthought.  About halfway through the film Zordon’s small robot friend shows the Rangers their “Zords” for a few seconds then walks away, and after a quick joyride by Zach, they are quickly forgotten in the tide of adolescent emotion.  Then, in the final act, the Rangers call on their Zords to help them defeat Rita’s giant monster Goldar, making the Zords the centerpiece of the entire last twenty minutes of action.

The Zords are important because of more than just being giant robot dinosaurs which are cool as all-get-out.  They are also the ultimate realization of the Rangers’ connection to nature.  For every Ranger there is a color coordinated Zord.  Billy, the Blue Ranger, drives a blue Triceratops Zord, for instance.  The Zords have cockpits so the Rangers can get inside them and drive them like cars or airplanes except they’re giant robot dinosaurs.  At one point, the movie shows an “arm” that reaches out from the back of the seat in Kimberly’s pink Pterodactyl Zord and plugs into the spine of her armor.  Clearly the Rangers have some kind of innate kinship with their Zords, whether biological, spiritual or both, which is why they need almost no training to pilot these giant robot dinosaurs designed by prehistoric aliens.

Finally, the theme of unity reaches its apex in the last moments of the final battle with Rita.  Goldar rustles all of the Zords together and pushes them into the recently dug fiery pit that holds the Zeo Crystal.  Somehow, the power of the crystal melds the Zords together in all the right ways, creating the MegaZord. The Rangers are one with their Zords and each other, resulting in a single, humanoid, giant robot.  It calls to mind the “body of Christ,” a way of referring to the followers of Jesus.

Again, Power Rangers is an objectively bad movie on a lot of levels; the plot is sloppy, the pacing is frustrating in all the wrong ways, and the performances are largely forgettable with the exceptions of Elizabeth Banks’ villain and RJ Cyler’s blue Ranger.   To be fair, the beloved children’s show it’s based on might actually be worse on even more levels, but somehow the movie’s creators managed to mine it for some interesting ideas and to add some of their own.  Interestingly, writer John Gatins also wrote the story for Kong: Skull Island which shares the themes of humanity’s relationship with nature and giant monsters.  Maybe it’s a bit of an overstatement to call Power Rangers a religious text but the people behind it clearly put a lot of thought and care into it and it shows.  You couldn’t ask for more from a movie based on truly terrible but thoroughly beloved unapologetic cash grab of a TV show.

_Thony Awards 2016: An Obligatory List

Okay, 2016 was rough.  I can hardly believe that 2017 will be much better, but I am certain that it won't be all bad.  There will still be good people doing good things.  There will still be a chance for organized resistance to overcome societal ambivalence like it did at Standing Rock.   Believe it or not, there will still be high quality print journalism.  It will exist more often in 1s and 0s than ink but it will retain the capacity to speak plain, unbiased, stalwart truth to power.  (I highly recommend getting your news from the Washington Post.)  There will also be kick-ass movies, TV shows, and music to make us feel warm and bubbly inside.  I feel obligated to mention that I'm resolved to be less reliant on escapism as a crutch in the future.  I've leaned on entertainment far too often in the past and I want to focus instead on reality.  However, I still feel there is great value in good art, so today is about celebrating the best of the best.  (My favorites of the favorites.)

Best TV Shows

BoJack Horseman

Talking horses have come a long way since Mister Ed.  They now come fully formed with complex emotions, clinical depression, and nihilism.  The third season sees Hollywoo's (not a typo) favorite anthropomorphic horse BoJack coming into more career success than ever before, but he didn't quite earn it.  In the end BoJack tries to reconnect with his best self only to realize that comes with the risk of repeating past mistakes.  The series has had its fair share of acclaim but it definitively entered the ranks of TV legend with this season's fourth episode, "Fish Out of Water."  BoJack visits an underwater city to promote his new film, forcing him to wear an oxygen helmet that limits his ability to communicate with those around him.  That concept, combined with the show's trademark animation and deep understanding of emotion, make for a beautiful story with hints of homage to the modern film classic Lost in Translation and maybe a little bit to SpongeBob SquarePants.  This is one for the history books, as much as any single episode of a TV show can be one for the history books.

Supergirl

In it's second season Supergirl has definitively staked its claim: it is by far the best superhero show based on DC comics and a strong contender for the best superhero show period.  The series markets in inspiration, all the main characters have the noblest intentions and perform admirable deeds, from the mega-powered title hero to her spy/scientist sister to the dork with the keyboard, to say nothing of the constant rays of sunlight beaming down on star Melissa Benoist, casting her in an eternally ethereal glow.  And yet, they stumble and fall, not just in battle against mighty villains but also in their personal actions and beliefs.  The current season sees Supergirl herself struggling with her own prejudice towards a survivor of Daxam, a rival planet to her native Krypton.  The storyline of her adopted sister, Alex, coming out as a lesbian has received well-deserved praise thanks to an impressive performance by Chyler Leigh.  The writing has handled it delicately, including a realistically disappointing reaction from Supergirl.  Rather than knowing just the right words to say she responded with surprise and confusion.  The right words came eventually, of course, but the struggle was there.  Supergirl has found a well-proportioned blend of social metaphor, blunt commentary, and examinations of morality and the fabric of heroism.  Put simply, the recipe of Supergirl's heroism is compassion and empathy paired with affirmative deeds and a dedication to those ideals even in contrast to our own worst tendencies.

American Crime Story

Who knew a twenty-year-old murder trial could be a mirror for a dozen different modern social issues?  I mean, murder never goes out of style but the level of current relevance in the O.J. Simpson case seems uncanny.  David Schwimmer's portrayal of Robert Kardashian (Simpson's friend/lawyer and father of Kim, Khloe,  and the other K's) drew a direct parallel to the case and our current celebrity culture while also earning empathy from those who know what it's like to lose faith in a hero, whether it's a friend who commits murder or a beloved comedian who is secretly a serial rapist.  Sarah Paulson as prosecutor Marcia Clark faced sexism not unlike any woman in a high profile position still would today.  The controversy surrounding Simpson's race was addressed and embodied by Sterling K. Brown and Courtney B. Vance's portrayals of Chris Darden and Johnnie Cochran.  There's a reason The People v. O.J. Simpson received five Golden Globe nominations; because it's easily the best written, directed, and acted show of the year by a mile.

Honorary Mention: Black Mirror

I saw the highly acclaimed "San Junipero" episode on New Year's Eve and it absolutely lives up to the hype.  It's a beautiful story about life, love, and death.

Best Movies

Arrival

Are you paying attention, CBS?  Actually, you may want to go ahead and hire Arrival scribe Eric Heisserer for the Star Trek: Discovery writer's room if you can swing it.  Arrival is science fiction at its very best; smart, imaginative, and inspiring.  The concept is well-tread; aliens land on Earth for the first time, causing military brass to freak out, but a noble intellectual saves the day.  However, Arrival is exceptionally well written, acted and directed.  Amy Adams is captivating from beginning to end as the clever linguist Louise Banks, who leads the charge in establishing communication with the strange creatures.  Louise proves to the world the vitality of information and understanding so that we can learn to see through another's eyes.  With a moral like that Arrival could have easily come off as cheesy but director Denis Villeneuve handles the themes with poise, despite, or perhaps because of, his previous work having a tendency towards cynicism like last year's Sicario.  One or two storytelling devices cause Arrival to be a bit confusing at times but when you put the pieces together the message is clear: the future won't be perfect, but it will be worth it and the only way to get there is together.

The Nice Guys

There may be no greater master of the action-comedy in Hollywood than Shane Black.  To follow up his Iron Man 3, featuring Marvel's literally highest flying hero, he brought things a little closer to the ground.  A noir based in 1977, three years after the release of the iconic Chinatown, Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe play a pair of private detectives with wildly different methods forced to work together on the biggest case of their careers.  Together they unwind a complicated web of conspiracy full of currently relevant social allegory.  Did I mention it's a noir?  A really well executed, funny, smart noir?  It is.  Crowe and Gosling are joined by an extraordinary supporting cast including Kim Basinger, Matt Bomer, The Leftovers' Margaret Qualley, and character actor Keith David.

Ghostbusters

Steve Martin is known to advise young people to "be so good they can't ignore you."  When a reboot of the beloved Ghostbusters film franchise was announced many fans were livid, mostly for ridiculous reasons that don't bear mentioning.  The answer to their anger was to make a movie so good it couldn't be ignored.  It starts with a cast of some of the finest performers in comedy; megastar Melissa McCarthy along with three Saturday Night Live cast members/alumni Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon, and Leslie Jones, and a supporting cast including hunky superhero Chris Hemsworth, the legendary Andy Garcia, another SNL star (the woefully underappreciated) Cecily Strong, and a thoroughly creepy and squirrelly villain in Neil Casey.  Then there's an incredible script by Katie Dippold and director Paul Feig.  On top of being the funniest movie of the year, it was also one of the most exciting and visually spectacular.  Ghostbusters, much like its namesake, is one of the finest action-comedies of our time.

Best Albums

A Sailor's Guide to Earth

In 2014 Sturgill Simpson made a name for himself as one of the best/weirdest voices in country music with a philosophical outlaw concept album, placing him in a strange place between alternative country and the Nashville establishment.  This year he clarified that he is there to stay.  He followed up his breakthrough with another concept; a letter from a sailor to his son, drawing from Simpson's life on tour away from his own young son and his background in the Navy.  Sonically, the album is less traditional than Simpson's Waylon-esque breakthrough.  It mixes in more soul and rock influences but that Kentucky drawl isn't going away anytime soon.  Simpson is as good a songwriter as anyone in the country game but his talent for adaptation once again steals the show.  His cover of new wave classic "The Promise" was a highlight of Metamodern Sounds and likewise Nirvana's "In Bloom" is the star of Sailor's Guide.

Blackstar

Let's not mince words; David Bowie was a genius.  Period.  No "if'"s, "and'"s or "but'"s.  Ziggy Stardust is a work of genius.  Heroes is a work of genius.  His 2013 album The Next Day is a work of genius.  Blackstar is possibly a genius's magnum opus.  Bowie was never one to shy away from uncomfortable conversations.  He almost single-handedly changed the way society sees gender.  In 2014 he was diagnosed with liver cancer and he saw it as a challenge from the most uncomfortable conversation of all.  An artist to the very end, Bowie used his dying days to create Blackstar, a meditation on mortality.  With seven tracks, at times Blackstar is regretful, angry, accepting, ethereal, lustful, and hopeful; a space-god's seven staged-swan song.  It was released on his 69th birthday, January 8th.  He died two days later.  Birth.  Bowie.  Blackstar.

ANTI

For almost a decade Rihanna has been the unquestioned queen of the radio.  Perhaps there was a time that you could argue that Gaga or Beyonce had more quality but none of her peers have more hits than Rihanna.  Period.  Now she's put a new twist in the qualitative argument.  As hip-hop and R&B are moving away from singles and towards sonically ambitious concept albums Ri-Ri is getting on board and taking over.  ANTI is a completely immersive listening experience and emotional journey.  (I suppose you could say the same thing about Beyonce's Lemonade but the difference is I don't have Tidal and I never will.  There comes a time when a man has to take a stand.)  Of course, Rihanna hasn't entirely abandoned the hit machine.  The hooks are just more subtle; they grow on you then they stick with you, and you never want them to leave.  "Kiss it Better," "Love on the Brain," and the chief earworm "Work" are a few standouts.

Best Comics

Archie

Archie Comics holds an odd status in the comic book community.  It's possibly the only non-superhero comic book franchise to make a lasting impact on pop culture at large, but the consensus in the comic community has largely been that it's an outdated concept that doesn't know when to quit.  Changing Archie's image posed a massive undertaking, but by-gum they are pulling it off.  Last summer the franchise was subject to a massive reboot, with hall-of-fame writer of acclaimed DC and Marvel runs Mark Waid taking the reigns of the main Archie title, and other top creators taking on accompanying series like Jughead, Josie and the Pussycats and Betty and Veronica.  Waid and Fiona Staples, the artist of the first several issues of the reboot, immediately made a splash, turning the sleepy town of Riverdale into a sleek, modern, stylish comedy-drama.  Waid, along with Staples' replacement Veronica Fish, has maintained the momentum beautifully.  Every month the series reveals new depth and freshness to the characters and relationships once thought tepid and bland.  The upcoming Riverdale TV series could stand to take a few notes from Waid's humor and insight.

Ms. Marvel

For three years Ms. Marvel has seen near-unanimous praise.  It has been consistently well-crafted, funny, and the epitome of the word "enjoyable."  This year writer G. Willow Wilson has pushed her hero, New Jersey's pubescent Pakistani paladin Kamala Khan, to new lengths.  The Marvel comic book universe, like the cinematic universe, was plagued by conflict that pitted hero against hero.  Kamala found her moral confidence shaken along with her faith in her own heroes, including her idol and inspiration, Carol Danvers, also known as Captain Marvel.  Kamala had her worldview challenged in ways that all people must, young and old alike, but are still uncomfortable to watch.  Wilson continues to chart her growth with nuance, empathy, and just the right amount of humor while Kamala continues to be the hero we need as our need for heroes embiggens and embiggens.

All-Star Batman

With Scott Snyder being one of the biggest stars of the comic industry there was a lot of curiosity and excitement surrounding whatever he chose to do after finishing his impeccable run on Batman.  It turns out, he chose to do more Batman, but with a very different version of Batman than the last one.  Snyder's All-Star Batman immediately set a tone most wouldn't expect from the Dark Knight, but it all just works.  The new Batman is strange, quirky, and surreal.  Snyder's previous series about the "World's Greatest Detective" carried plenty of noir influence, meaning that the city of Gotham was a major part of the fabric, but All-Star sees Batman on wacky road-trip outside of the city limits.  With a new title comes a new artist, following Greg Capullo's horror style is the legendary John Romita Jr, whose work is more cartoonish but strangely primal.

Most Horrifying Pattern that I Hope Isn't an Omen of What's to Come

Game of Thrones

The second-to-last episode of the sixth season of Game of Thrones was one of the most impressively cinematic feats to ever appear on television.  That is keeping in line with every other season of the fantasy epic; the penultimate episode has the most exciting action while the finale is more about wrapping up old stories and setting up new ones.  This year, the finale took the wrapping and setting to new extremes.  Finally the Starks (Sophie Turner, Kit Harrington) have been partially reunited and returned to their family home, Daenarys (Emilia Clarke) is headed for Westeros, and Cersei (Lena Headey) obliterated all of her enemies and destroyed the Great Sept in a single massive explosion, killing off a significant fraction of the main cast.

Preacher

One of the most surprising successes of the year was AMC's Preacher.  Like the acclaimed comic series it's based on, Preacher is a darkly comedic supernatural philosophical Western.  What's even stranger than that description is the unlikely creators, the lords of stoner comedy Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg who executive produced along with writing and directing the first two episodes.  The show follows a rural preacher who has recently returned to his hometown after turning his back on a life of crime.  The preacher (Dominic Cooper) finds himself at the center of the war between Heaven and Hell and tries to take advantage of the situation, putting himself at odds with angelic visitors and the motley crue of townspeople including a corrupt meat maker and an S&M good ol' boy.  Fortunately, he can rely on his friends, a murderously repressed single mom (Lucy Griffiths), an affable Irish vampire (Joseph Gilgun), his violent ex (Ruth Negga), and a disfigured teenager nicknamed "Arseface," (Ian Colletti).  Unfortunately, most of those peculiar personalities perished along with the town in a single sewage based explosion

Rogue One

The first movie set in the Star Wars universe without a Roman numeral since the franchise was bought by Disney set out to answer questions no one was really asking.  Specifically, "how exactly did Princess Leia get her hands on the Death Star plans she gives to R2-D2 to give to Obi-Wan at the beginning of A New Hope?"  Director Gareth Edwards, along with writers Tony Gilroy and Chris Weitz, admirably pull off the feat of exposing the darker, more war-like parts of the Star Wars while keeping things relatively Disney friendly.  However, the film raises a new question; "what happens to Jyn Erso, Cassian Andor, Chirrut Îmwe, (Felicity Jones, Diego Luna, Donnie Yen) and the rest of the Rogue One crew considering they aren't seen in any of the other movies?"  The answer is, they all died in a single massive explosion caused by the very weapon of mass destruction they were attempting to destroy.  On the bright side, Rogue One ends with a message of hope, as a soldier places the plans into Leia's hands shortly before she is captured by Darth Vader and taken to Grand Moff Tarkin who forces her to watch as the same Death Star destroys her entire home planet in A New Hope.

In Rogue One Princess Leia represents a narrow ray of hope in a film full of destruction.  Now Carrie Fisher, the actress best known for portraying Leia, has passed away, putting a truly sorrowing cap on a year full of loss.  It's hard to not see that as a finishing blow but I'm certain that in the face of such despair neither Carrie nor Leia would give up hope.  Neither will we.

My Thanks to Poets and Fighters

Donald Trump won the election.  How and why doesn't really matter now.  The fact is that an awful, immoral megalomaniac will be President of the United States for at least several years unless a miracle takes place.  But I don't really want to talk about Donald Trump right now.  I've done enough of that and will continue to do so, as will many people much better than I.  Dark times lie ahead and I want to celebrate the lights that have shone so bright in the recent past, who I hope will continue to do so as best they can.  I would like to highlight scholars and intellectuals but that's not really my area of expertise.  Instead I will speak of writers, directors, and performers.

It may seem silly to praise superheroes and joke makers when the President-elect poses a threat to our very way of life, and that's something that has bothered me for the past few weeks.  For the first time in my life I have had little interest in escapism and have almost been repulsed at the idea.  That's why I want to start with a somewhat obscure TV show called Dead Like Me.  The time and place in which I grew up actively encouraged a hatred for gay people.  Despite that, I have become a passionate supporter of LGBTQ rights.  It wasn't because of a gay friend or mentor or college roommate.  It was because of the the TV and movies I watched and the music I listened to.  The biggest turning point was an episode of Dead Like Me called "The Bicycle Thief."  Dead Like Me is about death and that episode saw a reaper come for a gay couple, one man before the other, in the same day.  Seeing a gay man grieve for his partner opened my eyes to the humanity of LGBTQ people.  Looking back, I see it as irrefutable proof of the impact art can have.  One hour on Netflix spent streaming a years old episode of a canceled TV show changed my life.  Thank you to Bryan Fuller for creating Dead Like Me and thank you to Paul Lieberstein for writing the episode.

Thank you to Supergirl.  Star Melissa Benoist and the crew led by showrunner Ali Adler recovered from a bumpy start to become a truly magnificent show.  The characters, Martians, Earthlings, and Kryptonians alike, are dumb, flawed humans but still manage to inspire, to awaken that part of us all that yearns for heroism.  Perhaps best of all, Supergirl has given the girls and boys of America a female President with the help of a former Wonder Woman, Lynda Carter.  Maybe, if they can believe that a woman can fly, they can believe that she can become President, despite all evidence to the contrary.

Thank you to Pussy Riot.  You were imprisoned by Vladimir Putin in your native Russia for a peaceful punk rock protest then when you were finally released you came to America only to watch another dictator rise to power and you decided to piss him off too.  I don't know for sure if the women of Pussy Riot currently call the United States home or not, but it is still incredibly brave and the best kind of dumb for them to challenge the next President the way they have.  We should all aspire to be even half as courageous.



Thank you to Kendrick Lamar, who has almost single-handedly raised the bar for ambition and social conscience in music.

Thank you to Daisy Ridley and Star Wars: The Force Awakens.  My little cousin didn't think a girl should be the one to save the day and I think you helped change her mind.

Thank you to Ms. Marvel's G. Willow Wilson and Sana Amanat for reminding America monthly that Muslim people are as passionate, loving, determined and heroic as anyone else.  I'm ashamed to admit that any of us need reminding.

Thank you to Laverne Cox for your grace, courage, and poise.  Thank you to the Wachowskis for breaking barriers of what female and LGBTQ directors can accomplish.  It's been almost two decades since you made your universally adored breakthrough but your more recent work is loved with a depth of passion that critics can't even begin to comprehend.  I'm disgusted that my state would police your identity and invade your privacy because of baseless fears and prejudice.

Thank you George Takei and the rest of the cast and crew of the musical Allegiance for reminding us of a dark time in our nation's history, one far too often overlooked and which must not be repeated.  Thank you to Lin-Manuel Miranda and everyone else responsible for giving us Hamilton.  Many of you represent the groups with the most to lose under the upcoming administration and you expressed your fears to a man who threatens you with perhaps more respect than he deserves, even after being unjustly criticized for your honesty and compassion.  In the past year Hamilton has served as a stark reminder of what our country once was and what it can be with the help of passionate, principled leaders and citizens.

Thank you to David Bowie, Prince, Alan Rickman, Harper Lee, Glenn Frey, George Martin, Gary Shandling, Gene Wilder, Merle Haggard, and all the other artists who died in the past year.  It seems that 2016 has taken artists at an accelerated rate.  Just days after the election Leon Russell, Sharon Jones and Leonard Cohen passed.  Cohen wrote poetry before he realized that it would be more profitable to add music call them lyrics.  However, he wasn't the only poet of the group.  None of these people were mere singers and actors; they were all poets.  Even the legendary boxer Muhammad Ali, who passed in June, had a poetic streak a mile wide.  But these were the poets of another age.  A new, darker time is upon us and the old poets had to move on to make way for the next generation.  The poets are dead, long live the poets!

Imagine Lin-Manuel Miranda as a Marvel Character

Last week I proposed a few DC Comics superhero characters that could potentially be played by Lin-Manuel Miranda, creator of the brilliant musical Hamilton, in live action.  This week I am continuing that premise for the Marvel Cinematic Universe.  I browsed through the official Marvel Encyclopedia I had lying around for inspiration and came up with a few ideas for characters ready to make the leap to the big screen if they haven't already.

Fandral

The character of Fandral already exists in the Marvel Cinematic Universe but he has been played by two different actors in as many movies.  One third of Asgard's "Warriors Three" was played by Josh Dallas in Thor and Zachary Levi in Thor: The Dark World.  If another recasting should be needed perhaps Miranda would be up for the part of the swashbuckling warrior.  He would surely bring an appropriate amount of energy and humor to the role.

Voice of Warlock

The Technarchy is a species of space travelers who are innately very aggressive.  Warlock is an outcast of his race because he is naturally kind.  He escapes the wrath of his menacing father and goes to Earth, where he happens to be found by the New Mutants, a team of X-Men in training.  He is quickly embraced even though he is by far the most alien in every way in the group of misfits.  Lin-Manuel Miranda is too old and too human to play a teenage alien living computer outright but a Warlock would have to be CGI anyway and he would need a voice actor.   Miranda, as someone who tends to wear his feelings on his sleeves, could surely relate to the raw emotion of the naive fish out of water.

Beyonder

The Beyonder is similar to Warlock in that they are both new to Earth and the ways of humanity but they are very different in a couple of important ways.  The first is that the Beyonder is much more powerful.  The second is that he is an adult, or he was born yesterday depending on how you look at it.  The Beyonder is an entire multiverse made sentient.  When he first gained consciousness he formed a new planet and forced the Marvel heroes to fight each other.  Later on he tried to live among humans by taking the form of one.  It didn't go well.  That was more or less the end of the Beyonder.  He was an omnipotent celestial being who sought to understand human life but he really screwed things up in the process.  For Lin-Manuel Miranda, a widely beloved and famously warmhearted performer, to play the Beyonder, an almighty sociopath who seeks to understand humans but lacks the capacity for human morality, would be quite striking.

Jim Power

Jim Power is not a superhero but a humble scientist and father.  However, his young children aged 5, 8, 10, and 12, form the super team known as Power Pack.  They gained their abilities after Jim created a device that drew attention from an alien race of reverse-centaurs.  Power Pack went on to face some of the most deadly villains in the marvel universe and wrestle with serious issues like addiction, homelessness, and the moral implications of a 5 year old who can fire deadly laser bolts out of her hands at will.  Fortunately, the team had two loving parents they could count on even if they weren't included in the secret of their children's dual identities.  Jim and Margaret Power are a perfect model of two-income, prime-of-their-life, figuring-it-out-as-they-go parents of young children.  What I'm saying is, Jim Power is a cool dad not unlike Lin-Manuel Miranda.  Followers of Miranda's social media are familiar with his son Sebastian and how important he is to Miranda.  Also, fatherhood plays an important part in Hamilton, from the lead's wartime cry of "gotta start a new nation, gotta meet my son" to that son's premature death.  So, even though it's only a supporting role it's easy to see Miranda in the part of an early 30's parent whose life becomes very strange very quickly but he takes it all in stride and with a healthy dose of love and understanding.