My Top 5s of the Year
Dev Patel giving the performance of a lifetime in the movie he also wrote and directed…Nobody’s doing it like him.
I know everyone has been waiting with bated breath. I know my silence has been deafening. But wait no longer—the time is finally here. I am ready to make my voice heard.
Usually I make lists like this just for myself, but now that I have a blog, and I am my own master and commander, I’m going to share them publicly. Sometimes I feel like a one woman billboard, endorsing her newest favorite piece of media free of charge. Nobody asked, but she’s going to tell. So, whether or not you’re looking for film, television, or music recommendations, I subject you to my favorites of the year below. Each is accompanied by a one sentence synopsis and something it’s “best” at.
Top 5 Films of the Year:
1. Anora (dir. Sean Baker)
Ani (Mikey Madison) is a sex worker, a go-getter, and a girl with a dream who chooses the wrong Prince Charming—a twenty-one-year-old son of a Russian oligarch—and must spend the worst twenty-four hours of her life fixing the fairytale gone wrong.
Best: Final scene
*Be forewarned: lots of sex scenes, nudity, etc.
2.Challengers (dir. Luca Guadagnino)
Tashi (Zendaya) is going to be a star (a pro tennis champion), but loses everything when she breaks her leg and must pin her hopes on two mediocre white boys (Mike Faist, Josh O’Connor) who don’t really give a damn about tennis—all they want is her heart!
Best: Love triangle
3. Monkey Man (dir. Dev Patel)
Inspired by the Hindu deity, Hanuman, our unnamed protagonist (Dev Patel) has made it his life’s mission to avenge his mother, so he dons a monkey mask and sets an elaborate scheme into motion to kill his mother’s murderer, seeking both personal and political justice.
Best: Fight sequence (I’m thinking of one in particular…with a knife…in an elevator)
*Be forewarned: lots of violence and gore and death
4. Sing Sing (dir. Greg Kwedar)
A wrongfully imprisoned man, Divine G (Colman Domingo), unofficially leads the “Rehabilitation Through the Arts” program at the Sing Sing Correctional Facility, helping his fellow inmates find brief moments of joy and relief through theater—it is based on a true story and stars real formerly incarcerated individuals.
Best: Use of 16mm film
5. The Fall Guy (dir. David Leitch)
Ryan Gosling (playing himself) is a stunt man with a chip on his shoulder, but he will do anything to get back into the good graces of his ex-girlfriend and up-and-coming director, Emily Blunt (also playing herself), even if it means involving himself in an absurd crime ring.
Best: Improvised moments
Top 5 TV Shows of the Year:
1. Baby Reindeer (Netflix)
A struggling Scottish comedian/bartender (Richard Gadd) finds himself the victim of a charming yet terrifying stalker who digs up parts of his past he would rather keep buried.
Best: Rollercoaster of emotions
*Be forewarned: might be a hard watch if you’ve had a stalker or known a pathological liar, scenes of sexual assault
2. English Teacher (FX or Hulu)
Evan Marquez (Brian Jordan Alvarez) is a gay, English teacher at a public school in Austin, Texas, just trying to teach his Gen Z students common sense without getting fired.
Best: Writing for a sitcom
3. Nobody Wants This (Netflix)
Kristen Bell (playing herself) is a loud, impulsive podcaster and has practically resigned herself to singledom, until she meets a handsome rabbi at a dinner party (Adam Brody, playing himself)—surely they could never work?
Best: Use of Adam Brody since The OC
4. My Lady Jane (Prime Video)
Based on a YA novel fictionalizing the life of Jane Grey (Queen of England for nine days only), this show follows a young Jane (Emily Bader) as she is married off to Lord Guildford Dudley (Edward Bluemel) and realizes she is way in over her head, romantically, politically, and fantastically.
Best: Show to get cancelled that shouldn’t have been cancelled
5. Rivals (Hulu or Disney+)
Set in the 80s, Declan O’Hara (Aidan Turner) is one of the best television hosts in the UK and he’s promised the job of a lifetime at a small TV studio in the Cotswolds run by the ambitious but insane Lord Baddingham (David Tennant); so, the O’Hara family moves to the countryside, but they seem to be making more enemies than friends…
Best: Monologue in the final episode about the importance and beauty of television
*Be forewarned: lots of gratuitous sex scenes, nudity, generally ethically upsetting (it’s wildly entertaining if you can look past that)
Honorable Mentions: High Potential, starring Kaitlin Olson, is a fantastic new police procedural on ABC/Hulu. Imagine Castle mixed with Psych, except our main character is a blonde, single mother. Kaitlin Olson rocks. Also, St. Denis Medical is a new sitcom on NBC/Peacock chock-full of small time comedy actors you’ll vaguely recognize. It’s like the bastard child of Grey’s Anatomy and The Office. Network TV is back, baby!
Top 5 Albums of the Year:
1. “Kansas Anymore” - Role Model
The kindest break-up album I’ve ever heard. For a dance, listen to “Superglue.” For a cry, listen to “Compromise.”
2. “Cowboy Carter” - Beyonce
Yes, it’s second on my list, but it’s definitely the album of the year. For a dance, listen to “Tyrant.” For a cry, listen to “II Most Wanted.”
3. “Carrier Pigeon” - Odie Leigh
A perfect, no-skips album that will make you feel like everyone is in love with you. For a dance, listen to “No Doubt.” For a cry, listen to “Idiom.”
4. “Twisters: The Album” - Various Artists
This soundtrack (don’t even get me started on the actual movie) changed me in ways I can hardly explain…For starters, I listen to country music now. For a dance, listen to “Already Had It” by Tucker Wetmore. For a cry, listen to “Never Left Me” by Megan Moroney.
5. “Flood” - Hippo Campus
Like chicken soup for the soul but for your ears (and also your soul). For a dance, listen to “Paranoid.” For a cry, listen to “Closer.”
If you give any of these a watch or a listen, I hope you enjoy and do not feel led astray. If you completely disregard me, that’s also okay and I appreciate you reading anything I write at all. Happy holidays, and I’ll see you in the new year.