THE BEST OF 2011 - The Best TV Of The Year

THE YEAR IN TV - 2011

- There was a lot of great television in 2011, but you had to know where to look to find it. More than ever, the quality offerings on the major networks were few and far between, with cable increasingly becoming the home for top-tier scripted content. Perhaps not everyone agrees, but to me, Fall 2011 was one of the weakest Fall seasons - in terms of great new shows - that I can remember. But a mix of great Spring and Summer TV, and returning hits hitting their stride, ensured that I was glued to the tube just as much as ever. That said, this was also a year in which I found myself watching way too many middle-of-the-road series. I'm usually an optimist when it comes to certain sorts of TV, and if I see a spark of potential, it's hard to give up on a show early in its run. At the same time, with so many legitimately great series on the air, I realized that I no longer had the time or patience for shows that were only okay. I began dropping series midway through the Fall, and never looked back. Between new and old favorites, TV on DVD, blu-ray, Netflix, and Hulu, and competition from movies, videogames, books, and the interwebs, I just wasn't going to waste time on TV that I didn't feel passionately about. But 2011 was a year of new TV discoveries, new insights into what I do and don't like, new ways of watching my favorite shows, and a year in which - for me - the very bar of what great TV can be was raised. So here's what the year in TV was to me:

- The Year Of Breaking Bad: Late last year, I finally dove in to Breaking Bad, and I've never looked back. This year, I powered through the entirety of the series to date in preparation for the then-upcoming Season 4. It was almost a come down, to watch only one episode per week and not be able to marathon the show as I had with the past seasons. But Breaking Bad was so good, so incredible, that I actually felt sort of embarrassed that I hadn't begun watching it earlier. Breaking Bad was THE event television of 2011, and I suspect the same will be true of 2012. Quite simply, the show raised the bar for what I want out of a TV show. The writing is so unpredictable, the acting so good, the production so lush, that I began looking at other, lesser shows with a more critical eye. Not every show is going to be as good as Breaking Bad, but now, the standard has been set, and any new TV drama in development had better take notes.

- The Year of Summer TV: TV got a kick in the pants this past Summer when Game of Thrones debuted and promptly redefined the TV landscape. TV had never been this epic, and the show, I think, may just usher in a new era of genre TV, along with other high-concept series like The Walking Dead. But overall, this Summer had nearly as much good TV as the Fall. With shows like Game of Thrones, Louie, Futurama, Curb Your Enthusiasm, and Children's Hospital - my DVR was pretty much filled to capacity.

- The Year I Dropped Glee and Gave Up On American Horror Story: Confession time, people - for a few years now, I've watched Glee. And in its first season, despite the show's ups and downs, I looked forward to each new episode. The show had an entertaining, unpredictable mix of subversive humor and teen melodrama, and I thought it was a fascinating example of how a hit TV show can offer up something new and different in a landscape of sameness. Glee was something totally unique, and for that, I kept watching. But this year, I got fed up. I was sick of the show's overbearing angst and preachy lessons, it's weird sensibilities and lack of likable characters. Once, the fact that the show was so different week to week was a strength - now, that just translated to no plot or character consistency, and no compelling plots to latch on to. The show had simply settled into a pattern of trying to have each episode top the last in terms of randomness, shock-value, and grating moralizing. Interestingly, the exact same thing happened to Ryan Murphy and Brad Fulchuk's other show, American Horror Story - only at a much more rapid rate. After a weird but intriguing pilot episode, the show just became a freakshow of absurd moments and nonsensical plotlines. I had learned my lesson - there would be no reward for investing in the show for the long haul - no payoffs, no justification to keep watching except to be part of the conversation of "what weird, random, obnoxiously stupid stuff is going to happen *this* week?" Thanks, but no thanks. I'd rather be watching legitimately great shows like Breaking Bad and Justified.

- The Year of Going Out With a Bang: It's funny, this past Summer, if you had asked me about the state of two of my favorite shows - Chuck and The Simpsons - I would have not been very kind to either. Chuck had a boring, plodding Season 4, and The Simpsons was in the midst of an extended streak of mediocrity that really and truly made me want to see the show receive a mercy killing. Much to my surprise, both shows have managed a turnaround in recent months. Chuck's fifth and final season has been fantastic so far, with a winter finale that ranks among the show's best-ever episodes. The Simpsons has, remarkably, strung together several great episodes, something the show hasn't done in years. It's nice to be reminded of why I loved these shows in the first place.

- The Year of Don't Call It a Comeback: Who would have ever, ever thought that Beavis & Butthead would be on the air with new - and hilarious! - episodes in 2011? Not I. Even for me, someone who grew up with the show, the show now only existed to me as a hazy memory from back when I lived and breathed all things MTV. But lo and behold, Mike Judge's crude cartoon creations are back, and man, has it been fun to watch their triumphant return. Funny as ever, it' a blast to see Beavis & Butthead riff on the latest and not-so-greatest in pop-culture.

- The Year of High-Concept Fall Failures: Trust me, I had enough TV shows to watch that part of me was hoping that there wouldn't be a lot to like in this year's Fall TV offerings. But I never expected that, when all was said and done, when the smoke cleared, there wouldn't be a single new Fall TV show that 100% won me over. I had been excited by several new shows, but almost all turned out to be creative flops, if not also ratings flops. Terra Nova was the one I couldn't wait for, but after watching three episodes, I quickly realized that watching this sci-fi dinosaur series would be an excercise in pain. I tried to watch Once Upon a Time, but it just didn't measure up to the level of quality I look for if I'm going to commit to a weekly serialized show. On the comedy front, I liked Suburgatory at first, but it quickly fizzled into standard sitcom fare. 2 Broke Girls intrigued me thanks to Kat Dennings, but I was rapidly turned off by its lowest-common-denominator laugh track-infused attempts at humor. The only new Fall TV show I'm still watching? New Girl. I don't yet love it, but there's some smart writing, a good cast, and it seems to be slowly but surely finding its comedy legs.

- The Year TV Went Full-On Geek: Game of Thrones solidified it: TV can now do just about any genre, and in some ways, it can do 'em better than the movies. I mean, movies have their limitations. They're one-and-done. Even with an ongoing franchise like Harry Potter or The Dark Knight, you miss out on a lot of the richness and detail of the books or comics. But Game of Thrones showed that longform storytelling is often where it's at for geek-friendly adaptations. Walking Dead also made a compelling case. And both proved that we no longer have to talk about TV geres in terms of boring old cliches like medical drama, law drama, cop drama, etc. - now, add zombie apocalypse and high fantasy to the list.

- The Year That Steve Carrell Left The Office: There were some great episodes of The Office in 2011, but overall, the show felt all-over-the-place as it struggled to figure out how to handle the departure of Michael Scott. The send-off episodes were a mixed-bag, with a guest stint from Will Ferrell disappointing. So far, this season has felt directionless, with Ed Helms' Andy character still trying to find a consistent voice. There are still glimmers of the old Office hilarity here and there, but time will tell if the show still has one last great run ahead of it.

- The Year That The Friday Night Death-Slot Kills and Kills Again: Fringe is one of the best shows on TV, but it's been relegated to an obscure Friday night timeslot where few watch it, and even fewer watch it live. Some might say that the lowered expectations of Friday nights actually help the show to survive, but to me, it's just sort of a shame. Even as FOX pushed the heck out of new show Terra Nova, it continued to all but ignore its best drama, and one of the best series on network TV. I don't know what the future holds for Fringe, but I do know that it deserves better than Friday nights.

- The Year That Smallville Ended: I wrote a long retrospective peice about Smallville over the summer following the series finale, so I won't go into too much depth about the show here - but certainly, the end of Smallville was the end of an era. Though the show never matched the potential of its best episodes with any degree of consistency, it still opened the door for more high concept series that would follow in its footsteps. What will the next big superhero TV show be? 2012 may hold the answer.

- The Year That Cable TV Takes Over: The best shows on TV in 2011 were inarguably on cable. AMC, FX, HBO, Cartoon Network, and other nets housed the best shows of the year, by and large. But therein lies a problem. Cable TV is pricier than ever, with premium networks like HBO and Showtime adding even more heft to absurd cable bills. Something has to be done, whether it's a la carte channel packages, over-the-top subscription services, or shortened windows for DVD and blu-ray release. Cable TV has never been more creative, but it's also never been less consumer-friendly. Something's gotta give.

- The Year That FX Cancelled Great Shows: It's hard to fault FX for cancelling a terminally low-rated show, but man, it was a double-dose of pain early this year when, only months after unceremonously axing the great Terriers, a similar fate awaited Lights Out - yet another critically-acclaimed but low-rated FX drama. FX is to be credited for developing high quality shows, but man, what can they do to get people to watch? And on that note, this was ...

- The Year That Comedy Kicked Ass, And Nobody Watched: What is with you people? Sorry, don't mean to be accusatory, but it just hurts me that amazing comedies like Community and Parks and Recreation garner such relatively low ratings, even as every pile-o'-crap show with a laugh track or celebrity dancing proves to be a hit. In 2011, these two network comedies were so good that they vaulted into the upper-echelons of the all-time greats. But their ratings stagnation proves a couple of points: a.) people are stupid, b.) older people are stuck in their comedy ways, and won't watch shows that don't feature a chorus of fake, annoying laughter that follows every overly-telegraphed joke, and c.) the younger people who like shows like Community aren't watching it on the air, which means lower Nielsen ratings. Interestingly, Community was just the recipient of a first-of-its-kind deal with Hulu, who paid a hefty sum for the rights to make available past seasons of the show - which shows the value of the show in the world of online streaming. This whole phenomena is nothing new this year - we've seen young-skewing shows like Family Guy, Arrested Development, Veronica Mars, and more all get the axe due to low ratings, only to find post-mortem success in other mediums. And this is a trend that stretches across all genres. Shows like Breaking Bad, Justified ... these are modern classics, but they are watched only by niche audiences. It's all part of the fragmentation of modern TV, I know, and it's probably only going to get worst from here. But dammit, it's still sad to me that a show like Community doesn't get the recognition it deserves in the here and now - except from bitter critics and bloggers like me.

- The Year Where The Fall Felt Like Only a Prelude to The Winter of 2012: Like I said, this Fall's crop of ne shows was mostly underwhelming, but more and more, it felt like the Fall TV season was only a warm-up to mid-season, when a lot of the big-guns will be unleashed. Not only are great shows like 30 Rock, Justified and Eastbound & Down set to return, but high profile new series like Alcatraz, Touch, The River, and Smash are all set to debut in the new year.

- The Year When The Next Big Thing Was Right Around The Corner: We've already seen a lot of changes to the way we consume TV - and now, for many of us, things like DVR, Netflix, and Hulu are a regular part of our television diet. But still, there is a sense that these services are in some ways a prelude to the next major paradigm shift. That shift may involve the a la carte cable packages I mentioned earlier. It may involve a company like Apple or Microsoft circumventing the cable companies and offering some kind of competitive service (already, we're seeing the seeds planted for that with some of the new services available on XBOX). Or it may be the cable companies reestablishing some relevance with things like TV Everywhere (see: Comcast Xfinity as an example). Who knows. And it may not happen in 2012. But soon enough, the other shoe will have to drop.

It was a year of highs and lows to be sure, but now it's time to honor the year's best. I didn't see everything of course (I hear great things about Homeland, and I'm behind on True Blood!), but I did see a lot, and I think that's reflected here. So here they are ...

DANNY'S TOP SCRIPTED TV SHOWS OF 2011:

1.) Breaking Bad

- Season 3 of Breaking Bad ended on one of the most intense, nail-biting cliffhangers I've ever seen, and Season 4 picked right back up and never lost an ounce of narrative momentum. Season 4 was a giant chess game, between Walter White and Gus Fring, between Fring and Walter's brother-in-law Hank, between Skyler and her scheming boss Ted, between on-edge Jesse and the hard-to-read Mike The Cleaner. Everything eventually came to a head in one of the most amazing season finales I've ever seen, with Walter finally getting the best of Gus. In this season, Walter in fact became "the man who knocks," and in witnessing his transformation, we're witnessing one of the great American stories of a good man gone bad. Funny, action-packed, completely unpredictable, and intense-as-hell, Breaking Bad this year was the best thing on TV, bar none. We already knew it was great - in 2011, it became legendary.

2.) Community

- Explosively funny, mind-bendingly clever, and unfailingly ambitious, Community will do anything and everything in the name of comedy. This year, the show parodied everything from Apocalypse Now to Glee, and in between it packed in more gags, references, and witty asides than I could count. This was also the year where each and every member of the Community cast finally felt fully formed. Jeff, Britta, Annie, Piere, Troy, Abed, Chang, and The Dean - joined by a calvacade of great side characters and bit players. There hasn't been a world this full of awesome concepts and characters - or a show this sharply and smartly funny - since the heyday of The Simpsons. If you're not watching Community, then you're not watching the best comedy currently on TV.

3.) Louie

- As good as Community is, Louie is so fresh and unique that it was close to coming in at #2. Louie isn't always laugh-out-loud funny, but when it is, it's gut-bustingly hilarious. Louie isn't always poignant and dramatic, but when it is, it's as powerful as any drama on the air. What Louie is, always, is a gloriously unfiltered look into the mind of comedian Louis CK, and it just keeps getting better and more must-see as it goes on. In a world where so many TV shows feel processed and created-by-committe, it's amazing to see a show that is this raw and the product of so singular a voice. And what a voice it is.

4.) Justified

- Justified was great in Season 1, but man, did business pick up in Season 2. The show's sophomore season upped the ante by pitting hero Raylan Givens against the veangeful Bennett clan, led by the formidable villainy of Mags Bennett (brought to life by a phenomenal performance from Margo Martindale). Jeremy Davies was a standout as Mags' loose-cannon son Dickie, and Walton Goggins continued to be a scene-stealer as the unpredictable Boyd Crowder. This was an awesome season of TV - 100% certified badass.

5.) Boardwalk Empire

- Boardwalk Empire has a deep, deep bench of talented actors that comprise its sprawling cast, but it wisely ended its second season by refocusing on the central conflict between its two leads - Steve Buscemi's bootlegging kingpin Nucky Thompson, and Michael Pitt's emotionally-scarred prodigal son Jimmy Darmody. To that end, the final few episodes of Season 2 were so good that I had to reevaluate my thoughts on the show. To me, the exploration of Jimmy's tortured past in S2's penultimate episode, followed by his shocking confrontation with Nucky in the finale, put this show over the edge for me. Boardwalk Empire is now, officially, one hell of a show. The standout performances on the series are simply too numerous to mention, the characters too uniformly great to single out just one or two favorites (though I'll echo others and say that Richard Harrow is the man). I can't wait to see where the show goes from here.


6.) Fringe

- Fringe ended last season with a total shocker: in an effort to bridge the gaps between two parallel earths, Peter Bishop somehow blinked himself out of existence, becoming unstuck in time and space. Now, after having seen numerous alternate worlds and realities, we were confronted with yet another - a world where an adult Peter never existed. At times, learning all the ins and outs of yet another reality became a bit tiring, but even when the overall mytharc faltered, Fringe was still awesome sci-fi drama. John Noble remains underrated - in Walter Bishop he continues to create one of the best-ever characters on TV - funny, tragic, and entertainingly insane. Anna Torv continues to impress, playing multiple iterations of Olivia Dunham without missing a beat. And Fringe is still capable of delivering amazing standalone episodes that are pure sci-fi goodness: witness this past November's memorable ep "And Those We've Left Behind," guest starring Stephen Root in a time-travel mind-bender. It was proof that Fringe is still on top of its game.

7.) Parks and Recreation

- Parks is another show that, to me ... well, it's crazy that more people aren't watching. What they're missing is a show that's clever, hilarious, filled with great characters, and that even has plenty of heart mixed in with the irreverant humor. The cast of Parks & Rec continues to amaze me, and it feels like each week I have a new favorite character. The show smartly has evolved to take full advantage of its ensemble. Sure, Amy Poehler's Leslie Knope is still front and center, but she's surrounded with the best group of funny people on TV - Nick Offerman, Aziz Ansari, Adam Scott, Rob Lowe, Chris Pratt, Aubrey Plaza, Rashida Jones ... the talent here is insane, and the writing is up to the level of the talent. A modern-day comedy classic.

8.) Game of Thrones

- It took me a little while to learn to love Game of Thrones. After watching the pilot, I was literally on Wikipedia trying to figure out who all the characters were. But the show's creators had faith that, in time, the show's sprawling storylines would start to gel into a cohesive whole ... and gel they did. By the second half of the season, GoT became must-watch TV, a fantasy epic marked by several fantastic performances. By the time we got to the amazing finale, I was 100% hooked and dying for Season 2. This show simply felt epic. From the amazing production value to the huge scope of the storylines, this show was not only awesome, but redefined kinds of stories are possible on TV.

9.) Children's Hospital

- I've always hated the notion that comedy can only be great if it incorporates the elements of conventional drama. I don't buy the idea that comedy has to adhere to traditional notions of plot or character to be great. I love absurdist humor - to me, when done right, it's as praiseworthy as any other type of comedy - and no one is doing it better than the mad geniuses behind Children's Hospital. In short, fifteen minute episodes, Rob Cordry and co. pack in more crazy gags and jokes than most shows do in twice the time. Anything can happen, and usually does. And the comic timing of the cast is the best in the biz. Rob Cordry, Megan Mullally, Ken Marino, Rob Huebel, Erinn Hayes, Lake Bell, Malin Ackermann, Henry Winkler, and a parade of guest stars make for a veritable comedy dream team.

10.) 30 Rock

- 30 Rock has been off the air since early this Summer, but man, the second half of Season 5 was so good that I had to put the show in my Top 10. For a while there, it seemed like perhaps 30 Rock had lost some of its comedic mojo. But Season 5 was a return to form, and the show absolutely nailed it with a strong of classic eps to close out the season. Even with tough competition from shows like Parks and Community, 30 Rock remains perhaps the most quotable show on TV - when the show is on its A-game, there's no better written comedy out there. And the cast remains amazing - there are few people on TV who reliably crack me up more so than Alec Baldwin and Tracy Morgan.

THE NEXT BEST:

11.) Lights Out

- Here's one that I'm sure is going to fly under-the-radar of a lot of Best-Of-2011 lists, as it premiered way back in January and ran through the Spring. But man, Lights Out evolved over the course of its single season into one heck of a show - the first time I've ever seen a TV show that encapsulated the big-fight feel of the Rocky movies, but with the story expanded to a season's worth of drama and build-up. For whatever reason, this FX show failed to pick up a big audience, and it was a little slow coming out of the gate. But man, once Eamonn Walker joined the cast as an ultra-intense trainer, the show began firing on all cylinders, and it rode that wave of momentum all the way up to its awesome series finale. Holt McCallany was fantastic as our hero, "Lights" Leary as well. This was a show that deserved a bigger audience.

12.) Curb Your Enthusiasm

- I love Curb - it's one of the best comedies of all time, but I have to admit it had something of an inconsistent season. When it was up, it was really up - witness the instant classic "Palestinian Chicken" episode. But even when it was only okay, there are always little gems - conversations, one-off jokes, musings, and Larry David-isms - that make Curb one-of-a-kind. More, please.

13.) Beavis & Butthead

- As I said earlier, it's a complete trip to have this show back on TV and on an MTV that is a universe away from what it was during the duo's 90's heyday. But while MTV has changed, B&B haven't, and thankfully so. Mike Judge's playground to mock culture and society remains as sharp and hilarious as ever.

14.) The Walking Dead

- Season 2 of The Walking Dead struggled at times, and though there were moments of awesomeness, certain plotlines dragged, and the show had a hard time making its characters truly pop. The same characters that I loved from the comics too often felt boring or annoying on the show. But there were signs ... as the season went on, the show picked up some serious steam, all culminating in a legit-awesome mid-season finale that gave me hope for what's to come. Can't wait to see where things go from here.

15.) Chuck

- Chuck is almost at its end, so as a longtime fan of the show and its endearingly geeky world, it pleases me greatly to say that Season 5, so far, has been pretty great. Season 4 was often a struggle to get through, no question. But Season 5 has been getting better with each episode, and the recent Christmas episode, which saw the return of Brandon Rough as arch-villain Shaw, was absolutely awesome - a reminder of just how great Chuck can be. It also reminded me that, man, I am going to be sad when this show is done. Even through the rough patches, Chuck's got some of the best characters on TV, and I've always been happy to spend time with them through thick and thin.

16.) Tie: Futurama / The Simpsons

- Okay, I decided to double up on this one, but I'm happy to do so given how cool it is to see these shows putting out great episodes here in 2011. Futurama continues to have a great run following its return to TV, and The Simpsons is in the middle of its best season in years. Craziness! Futurama has some duds this past Summer, but it had several awesome episodes as well. As for The Simpsons ... okay, so the first couple of episodes of the seasons weren't that great, and the Halloween episode was a mess ... but over the last several weeks, the string of "The Food Wife," "The Book Job," "The Man in the Blue Flannel Pants," "The Ten-Per-Cent Solution," and "Holidays of Future Past" were each legitimately great episodes. How did this happen? Is it a fluke? Will the rest of the season go back to nu-Simpsons mediocrity? I don't know, and I'm trying not to question it. For now, I'm just happy that the greatest TV show of all time still has a little gas left in the tank.

17.) Modern Family

- Modern Family has slid a bit in my estimation since it's breakthrough first season, but it's still one of the best comfort-food shows on the air - a show with great characters and an always-awesome cast. I think the show is getting repetitive in its storylines (how much bickering do we need between Mitch and Cam?), but the brilliance of Ty Burell as Phil Dunphy always makes the show reliably funny and entertaining.

18.) Eagleheart

- If you haven't seen Adult Swim's oddball action-show parody starring Chris Elliott, then it's time you tune in to one of the most delightfully wacky shows on the air. From a team of former Conan O'Brien writers, this show puts its Walker, Texas Ranger-esque lead in all sorts of insane situations, and gets a ton of laughs from the always-great Elliott and a very funny supporting cast.

19.) New Girl

- New Girl has been the one new comedy of 2011 that's been reliably funny and that shows a lot of potential. So far, the cast is strong, the writing has glimmers of real wit, and the show seems to be finding its legs after a bumpy first couple of episodes. This could definitely be one to watch in 2012.

20.) Mildred Pierce

- Okay, so it was a miniseries and not an ongoing show, but I wanted to give a shout-out to this HBO drama. It featured some fantastic performances from the likes of Kate Winselt, Guy Pierce, and Evan Rachel Wood, and it morphed from conventional period drama into a truly twisted tale of love and revenge. Certainly, a memorable miniseries from HBO.


OTHER TOP TV:

- A lot of what I make a point to watch on television is scripted, but every so often, something off the beaten path catches my eye. One show that was a total must-watch for me in early 2011 was AN IDIOT ABROAD. The brainchild of Office creators Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, An Idiot Abroad sees the pair send their beleaguered buddy Karl Pilkington off on one globetrotting adventure after another. Karl, a man who barely likes to leave his house, is totally out of his element, and his reactions as he visits each of the fables Seven Wonders of the World are always hilarious. Karl's everyman insights are often boneheaded, yet at times oddly brilliant in some strange, simplistic way. The great thing about Karl is that he has no pretentions of culture whatsoever. He'll never be in awe of something just because - and sometimes, that makes him a moron, yet sometimes, you can't help but admire his simplistic worldview. The cool thing about An Idiot Abroad is that, even though it's hilarious, it also functions as a fantastic travelogue, with great scenes of world culture and historic sites. Mostly though, there are few things that crack me up more than the idiot-savant mad genius of Karl Pilkington. A second season of An Idiot Abroad premieres on the Science Channel in early '12, and personally, I can't wait.

- I thought that CONAN had a pretty darn good year, particulary this past winter when he really brought his A-game. His series of shows in New York were consistently hilarious, and he finished out the year with some strong new comedy bits (the Human Centipede Menorah, anyone?) and the return of some old favorites (Clutch Cargo!). Conan is still my go-to choice for late-night hilarity.

- That said, I've also got to hand it to LATE NIGHT WITH JIMMY FALLON. Jimmy's show has been getting better and better. He's got the best band on TV in The Roots, and his comedy sketches, musical parodies, and guest bands are increasingly becoming the best in late night. The writing on the show is very, very strong, and Jimmy keeps getting better as a host. Mostly though, Late Night has, in the last year, become the source of more buzzworthy comedy clips than any of its competitors.

- Of course, even if I don't watch them as much as I'd like, I once again have to hand it to John Stewart and THE DAILY SHOW, as well as Stephen Colbert and THE COLBERT REPORT. In these tumultuous political times, Stewart and Colbert are the one-two-punch that helps to bring some sanity back into the national political discussion. There is so much absurdity in national politics at the moment, it's nice to know that Stewart and Colbert are there to make sure it doesn't go unnoticed.

- I still feel like SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE can be wildly inconsistent, but I will say that I've enjoyed seeing a new wave of talent slowly but surely take over the show, even as old hands like Bill Hader continue to impress. Hader's Stephon is probably the best and most consistently hilarious recurring SNL character in years, and few other things on TV in 2011 made me laugh harder than the always-awesome club recommendations of Stephon.

- Finally, here's the Best Show I Watched on DVD/Blu-Ray This Year: DEADWOOD. In 2011, an episode or two of Deadwood became a weekly tradition, and I came to admire the show's Shakespearean drama and Old West grit. The cast of the show - maybe even more so in retrospect - was absolutely stellar. And Ian McShane's Al Swearengen has quickly shot to the top of my list of all-time great TV characters. Okay, I'll admit - sometimes a few minutes of Deadwood go by and I'll realize I have no idea what the characters just said (even if I can tell their mood from some strategically-placed expletives). But in general, it's been a pleasure to immerse myself in David Milch's Old West epic.

INDIVIDUAL AWARDS:

The Best TV Heroes of 2011:

1.) Hank Shrader - Breaking Bad

2.) Raylan Givens - Justified

3.) Ned Stark - Game of Thrones

4.) Olivia Dunham - Fringe

5.) Patrick "Lights" Leary - Lights Out

The Best TV Villains of 2011:

1.) Gus Fring - Breaking Bad

2.) Mags Bennett - Justified

3.) Dickie Bennett - Justified

4.) Walternate - Fringe

5.) Gillian Darmody - Boardwalk Empire

The Best TV Anti-Heroes of 2011:

1.) Walter White and Jesse Pinkman - Breaking Bad

2.) Nucky Thomspon, Jimmy Darmody, Richard Harrow - Boardwalk Empire

3.) Boyd Crowder - Justified

4.) Tyrion Lannister - Game of Thrones

5.) Daenerys Targaryen - Game of Thrones

Best Actress in a Comedy:

1.) Gillian Jacobs - Community

Runners Up: Alison Brie - Community, Amy Poehler - Parks and Recreation

Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy:

1.) Jane Krakowski - 30 Rock

Runners Up: Aubrey Plaza - Parks and Recreation, Erin Hayes, Malin Ackermann, and Lake Bell - Children's Hospital


Best Actor in a Comedy:

1.) Joel McHale - Community

Runners Up: Alec Baldwin - 30 Rock, Louie CK - Louie

Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy:

1.) Donald Glover - Community

Runners Up: Danny Pudi - Community, Nick Offerman - Parks and Recreation, Adam Baldwin - Chuck

Best Actress in a Drama:

1.) Kelly MacDonald - Boardwalk Empire

Runners Up: Anna Torv - Fringe, Emilia Clarke - Game of Thrones


Best Supporting Actress in a Drama:

1.) Margo Martindale - Justified

Runners Up: Anna Gunn - Breaking Bad, Gretchen Mol - Boardwalk Empire


Best Actor in a Drama:

1.) Bryan Cranston - Breaking Bad

Runners Up: Sean Bean - Game of Thrones, Steve Buscemi - Boardwalk Empire, Holt McCallany - Lights Out

Best Supporting Actor in a Drama:

1.) John Noble - Fringe

Runners Up: Dean Norris - Breaking Bad, Giancarlo Esposito - Breaking Bad, Aaron Paul - Breaking Bad, Peter Dinklage - Game of Thrones, Mark Addy - Game of Thrones, Michael Shannon - Boardwalk Empire, Michael Pitt - Boardwalk Empire, Jack Huston - Boardwalk Empire, Eamonn Walker - Lights Out

- And that wraps up my coverage of the best in television of 2011. Thoughts? Comments? Critiques? Hit me up - and stay tuned for further coverage of the Best of 2011!

Riding Into Battle With WAR HORSE

WAR HORSE Review:

- I'll admit, I feel a little torn about War Horse. Spielberg's latest war epic is beautifully shot, occasionally poignant, and has a handful of scenes that were among my favorites of any movie this year. And yet ... it's a Spielberg movie about a horse. My inner sentimentalist couldn't help but get caught up in the bombast of it all. My inner cynic couldn't stop groaning at the cheese-factor. Regardless, War Horse is a well-told story that is pretty much as advertised: a Hallmark card of a WWI movie. Spielberg knows, more than any other director, how to tug at heart strings. But when Spielberg is at his best, he also goes the extra mile. When he made E.T., Spielberg struck a nerve because he told a great story, filled with awe and wonder, and also captured the feeling of loneliness and isolation that can oftentimes be inherent in childhood. With War Horse, Spielberg strikes at an important and heartfelt message - the futility and tragedy of war - but he does so through the perspective of ... a horse. Not to undermine some of the film's genuinely powerful moments, I just think that it's a very, very tricky balancing act. A horse is not a person - it doesn't take sides in a war, and it would have the same attachments, fears, and reflexes whether it was on the side of the English or the Germans. With that in mind, WAR HORSE, to me, has moments where it truly shines - but it is also limited by its non-human protagonist.

The story of War Horse is simple but effective, particularly in the way that the plot goes around in a satisfying and elegantly-structured circle. We begin the film in the rural village of Devon, England, just prior to the start of World War I. A farmer by the name of Ted is in need of a new horse to plough his farm. At a horse auction, Ted goes against his better judgement, and rather than spending wisely on a work horse or mule, he spends a large sum of money on a thoroughbred - swift and graceful, but not exactly built for ploughing a farm. The purchase actually has the potential to be a huge mistake for Ted and his family, as, if they can't properly farm their land, then they can't pay off their rather cruel landlord, and stand to lose their farm. Luckily, Ted's teenaged son Albert takes to the horse - he names it Joey - and, against all odds, he teaches it to plough. Just as the boy and horse have formed a special bond, however, the war is on, and the British army offers to buy the horse for military use. Ted obliges despite his son's protests, and Joey is shipped off to war.

As War Horse progresses, we see Joey go on an odyssey through some of the various battlefields of World War I. He rides into battle as part of the British cavalry, gets commandeered by German forces, gets used in an escape attempt by two young German deserters, and finds temporary respite on a French farm, where he's cared for by a precocious young girl and her grandfather. In the film's climactic showpiece scene, Joey finds himself caught in a devastating, apocalyptic battle between British and German forces.

For me, the movie took a little while to get going. The opening scenes with Albert bonding with his horse struck me as the movie at its cheesiest. With John Williams' sweeping score blasting, we're treated to scene after scene of this 16 or 17 year old boy who inexplicably loves this horse with all his heart. It was all a bit much, but I thought the movie picked up a good deal when the scene shifts to the battlefields of World War I, and the film's focus moves to Tom Hiddleston as a courageous British officer, who's sworn to Albert that he'll keep his horse safe. Hiddleston brings some much-needed gravitas to the film, helping in the transition from boy-and-his-horse theater-of-the-aw-shucks to legit war movie.

Spielberg knows how to craft epic and horrific scenes of wartime combat, and such scenes are where War Horse really soars. When the bullets are flying and the threat of death is real, that's when I began to sit up and get 100% absorbed in the goings-on. And that too is when the central message of War Horse shines through. The somewhat manufactured relationship between a boy and his horse? Only went so far with me. But what did get to me was the idea that this war was destroying the beauty of the world bit by bit, that it was devouring up the land, and turning the earth's most majestic creatures (not to mention us humans) into cannon fodder. When the movie sticks to this sort of big idea, I think it really works. There's one phenomenal scene, for example, in which, during a lull in the fighting between the British and Germans, two soldiers - one from each side - have an unusually cordial encounter in the middle of the battlefield. It turns out that both want to help Joey, who's been caught by barbed wire in the middle of the combat zone. For a moment, the enemy combatants are just two people - but the absurdity and tragedy of the scene is that despite their friendliness, they're about to go back to trying to kill each other. Spielberg handles the scene with a deft, light touch - and though it's perhaps something we've seen before, few other directors could do so with such grace.

Where the movie lost me though was in the moments where it walks the line between following this horse's journey and actually making the horse into a person - a real character. To me, that's cheating. In an otherwise realistic movie, I felt that War Horse had too many instances where Joey acts less like a horse and more like a human. To me, those moments actually took me out of the movie and to some extent undermine its message.

As for the acting, I thought it was pretty good all around. Newcomer Jeremy Irvine is decent as Albert, but he is also probably the most guilty of anyone in the movie of laying on the schmaltz a bit too thickly. Tom Hiddleston is a standout, as mentioned. And generally, the cast is solid, though there's also a lack of truly commanding performances. In terms of the score, I actually think there are some fantastic themes here by John Williams - certainly, some of the more memorable work he's done in a while. I think the only issue is that the score is so bombastic and sweepingly sentimental - sometimes the action on screen doesn't quite live up to it. The effect is that the score, good as it is, can seem a little overbearing at times.

I will reiterate, however, that the film looks incredible. It was only days ago that Spielberg wowed me with the visuals of Tintin, and now he's wowed me again, but in a much different manner. With War Horse, much of the film has the classic quality of an old-school Hollywood epic. There are sprawling shots of the pastoral countryside, screen-filling sunsets that frame everything in lush, golden hues. As per usual, Spielberg infuses scenes with the maximum levels of awe and wonder. At the same time, there are a handful of scenes where the director cuts loose. One battle scene brings to mind the chaotic combat of Saving Private Ryan. And the previously-mentioned showpiece scene, in which the camera tracks Joey's desperate gallop through a hellish battlefield, is one for the ages. It's the one scene in the film where my jaw was truly on the floor.

Ultimately, I don't know that War Horse will be placed at the top tier of the Spielberg cannon. It's an excellent family film, and a simple yet effective cautionary tale about the horrors and futility of war. But Spielberg can be prone to diluting his films with too much sentimentality, and I think that's the case here. It's not that War Horse should have been devoid of sentimentality, it's just that the manufactured throughline of the boy and his horse never hit me as hard as the real-life horrors that both were witness to. It's nice that the two shared this bond, but it seems hard to get too caught up in it given the horrific backdrop. And let's face it, a horse is never going to be as effective of a character as a human being. I don't want to harp on that too much though. If you can get past all that, War Horse is a rewarding film in many ways. It's cheesy at times, sure - but it's also a classically-composed, stunningly-shot epic, and if you watch it, well, maybe - just maybe - a heartstring or two will be tugged.

My Grade: B+

RED STATE: Swing and a Miss

RED STATE Review:

Note: Red State was released for a short theatrical run earlier this year, and was also screened as part of a travelling roadshow shepharded by writer/director Kevin Smith. It's been available for rental, download, and via Netflix Instant Streaming for the last few months. I was recently able to catch the film via Netflix.

- I'm a longtime fan of Kevin Smith, and I'll defend his earlier works (and even a couple of his later works - Clerks 2, anyone?) any time I hear them come under critical attack. Clerks was a life-changing film for me - when I saw it in college, it opened my eyes to what was possible in independent film. Smith's films made many like me realize the power of low-budget, dialogue driven movies - movies that were as effective as anything that Hollywood was churning out, because they came from a very real, very authentic place. Not only that, but Smith's films like Clerks and Mallrats spoke to me - the characters in these movies were some of the first I remember seeing who were part of the new breed of geek - pop-culture obsessed, fluent in the worlds of comics and videogames, but not nerds of the glasses and hiked-up-pants variery. For a while there, Kevin Smith felt like one of us - the fanboy who had made it in movies, who was now making cool films for his people.

To this day, I enjoy hearing Smith speak, and the guy is often hilarious. But one thing that's evident from hearing Smith talk is that he's lost some of his passion for the movie biz. He's talked for a long time now about calling it quits following his next (and purportedly last) film. And much of his time is spent on podcasting and other non-movie-making pursuits. I have to wonder if some of that indifference seeped through to RED STATE. I've heard Smith talk about the movie at length, and he seems very passionate about some of the underlying ideas behind the movie - he can talk all day about the Westboro Baptist Church and how they inspired the film and how he can't stand (and rightfully so) their particular brand of religiously-justified intolerance. He also seems particularly passionate about the way in which the film was distributed. And again, I think he has a right to take some pride in this. Smith bucked the typical system for putting out a film. He distributed it independently, circumvented traditional theatrical release windows, and he took it around the country via his roadshow, where he accompanied the sceenings with speaking engagements. And I have no doubt that Smith speaking - hilarious as he usually is - was a highlight of those screenings. I think both of these things - Smith taking on intolerance, and innovating in terms of distribution, are admirable in their own ways.

Of course, all of this admiration has to do with the stuff surrounding Red State. At the end of the day though, the question remains: how is Red State as a film? Short answer: well, it's sort of a mess. It's one of Smith's more ambitious and out-there efforts, sure, but it's not one of his better films. I say this as someone who wanted to like this one, as someone who's fascinated by the subject matter, and as someone who's liked a lot of Smith's more recent stuff - I loved Clerks 2, I thought Zack & Miri was hilarious. But Red State, to me, mostly fell flat.

The first thing you might notice about Red State, if you're a Smith fan, is that it looks nothing like most of Smith's other films. The movie is shot in distinctly horror-movie tones, with the green-brown textures of a modern-day grindhouse flick. There's a videogame-like HD slickness to the film that's a far cry from the primitive-by-comparison look of movies like Clerks or Chasing Amy. Even the movie poster gives the impression that this is a game adaptation or something. Smith is clearly trying something new and different here, and that's commendable. At the same time, I felt like I was watching Smith learning-on-the-fly how to shoot a horror movie. There are all sorts of random shots, camera angles, and editing tricks used that just don't really add up to much, in terms of effectiveness. There are awkward camera-placements that obstruct the action, choppy editing that feels pretty pointless given what Smith is trying to accomplish, and action that lacks the proper oomph.

Still, Smith has a great cast to work with, and the interesting germ of a story to base his premise around. Basically, we follow three sadsack teen boys as they giddily journey to meet up with a woman they've been in contact with via an online sex site. What the boys don't realize is that they're actually being lured into a trap - a trap set up by the followers of a bugnuts insane fundamentalist church group. The group, led by their charismatic leader Abin Cooper, routinely snatches up people they consider to be deviants so as to inflict punishment, torture, and death on the gorunds of their hidden-away compound. As it happens, the same night that the boys are kidnapped by the church, local law enforcement is tipped off to shady activity at the compound. Given that the church is comprised of family members by blood or marriage, outsiders have never been ableto infiltrate its ranks to get proof of their misdeeds. But police and government officials have had enough of the church - they decide to stage a full-on raid of the compound, even though odds are it's going to be a bloodbath.

It's a cool setup, no doubt. And there are some great actors here who really do good work. Michael Parks, for example, is really good as church leader Abin Cooper. He talks with a soothing yet half-crazed Southern drawl, and alternates between kindly old grandfather and evil sonofabitch. At one point, Smith gives Abin a long, long monologue, and it could have been interminable, except for the fact that Parks' delivery makes it entertaining. John Goodman is the other real standout as the ATF agent assigned to lead the raid on the church compound. Goodman is rarely not awesome, and he brings a great intensity, mixed with world-weary resignation, to the role. Finally, Melissa Leo is scary and crazy as Abin's daughter, the woman who lures the teens to the compound. A couple of other really good actors are in the movie - Stephen Root, Anna Gun (and Matt Jones, Badger on Breaking Bad - a BB reunion!), but they're both underutilized. The actors who play the three teens are decent, but the characters are pretty half-baked, not quite up there in the pantheon of great Kevin Smith slackers.

But let's face it, Kevin Smith movies have always been scrappy affairs, and we watch them for the characters, the dialogue, and the humor - not for mind-blowing cinematography. Here though, Smith stumbles when it comes to story and characters, and that's surprising. The script jumps all over the place. We spend a ton of time with Abin at his church, but most of that time is just Abin monologuing about his hatred of deviants and homosexuals. It's scary stuff, but it's also standard-issue, and after a while, it feels like we're just listening to the same hate-filled rants over and over again. The problem is that while the film revolves around Abin, everything else on the periphery feels thrown together. The three teen boys are introduced as potential protagonists, but none of them have much personality, and they quickly fade into the movie's background. Stephen Root is introduced as a potentially fascinating character - a local sherrif with a secret - but he is ultimately a non-factor in the movie. Late in the film, Abin's teenage niece suddenly becomes a key player in the drama, but it all happens too suddenly, and it feels forced. Characters pop in and out of the movie with reckless abandon, and there's never any one throughline. And I also felt like a lot of the conflict in the film felt manufactured. Smith sets up a situation where, as it turns out, the ATF agents raiding the compound are ruthless killers who, by movie's end, are almost as bad as the church members they're taking down. But why? It feels pointless to make John Goodman's crew so unsympathetic and malicious in the way that they take down the church. I'm not sure what Smith was going for here at all -whatever point he's trying to make is lost in the movie's haphazard plotting and nonsensical storytelling.

Now, there is a moment towards the end of the film - and I won't spoil it - where I really thought that Smith was going to throw us a curveball and take the movie into really weird, Dogma-esque territory. But instead, it's all a red herring, and we end in a baffling debriefing where Goodman's character is being grilled by his superiors. Smith seems to be going for some sort of No Country For Old Men thing here, abruptly cutting away from the action to end on a sombering bit of narration. But man, it does not work. In general, there are all sorts of fragments of interesting ideas and notions and social commentary scattered about this movie, but none of them are ever fully realized. It feels like Smith got lost after making his main point, which is simply that fundamentalists are crazy and scary. True, but no big revelation there. Meanwhile, any deeper insight or satire or commentary is totally drowned out. I hate to say it, but the storytelling here has the rambling characteristics of the kind of story you might hear from a high-as-a-kite stoner. Even the dialogue - always a strength of Smith's work, is only so-so. There are little nuggets of goodness to be found in the film, to be sure - many courtesy of Parks as Abin - but the dialogue just doesn't feel as sharp as what we're used to from Smith. But speaking of high-as-a-kite, it makes you wonder if perhaps Smith's heavy pot habit is taking a toll on the quality and coherance of his creative output (judging by this and his recent Batman comics work, the answer may well be yes).

I think there is some really fertile ground here for a great movie to spring out from. Smith toys with a number of tantalizing ideas that a better movie would have more fully fleshed-out. There are some good moments of creepiness, and some interesting attempts at social commentary. But Red State ultimately has little to say that makes sense or makes you think. As a fan of Smith, I hope that he can rebound from this miss before he hangs it up.

My Grade: C

Slicing and Dicing With 13 ASSASSINS ...!

13 ASSASSINS Review:

- Sometimes, a movie comes around that is quite simply 110% pure and total badassery. And 13 Assassins is one of those movies. This is one that I had intended to see in theaters earlier this year, but somehow never ended up getting to see. Eventually, I spotted the blu-ray on sale on Amazon.com and very quickly ordered myself a copy. Of course, somehow, the movie that I had eagerly waited to see ended up getting lost in the mail ... I was frustrated, but the good folks at Amazon were pretty awesome about the whole thing - they agreed to re-send the blu-ray to me free of charge, with two-day shipping thrown in at no cost. So, finally, 13 ASSASSINS arrived in my mailbox, in glorious HD, and man, it was worth the wait. This is a kickass samurai flick of the highest order.

Directed by prolific Japanese genre-specialist Takashi Miike (best known in America for Ichi the Killer), 13 Assassins tells the tale of the waning days of Japan's feudal system, during the mid 1800's, where the once-proud Samurai had been largely reduced to bureaucratic peace-keepers, either part of the Shogun's army, or else essentially living in early retirement, given that this was a time of relative peace. There was no great war to fight, but there was still a lot of death, violence, and suffering - in this film, largely courtesy of Lord Naritsugu, the sadistic brother of the Shogun, poised to eventually be handed the keys to the kingdom. Given that Naritsugu is prone to wanton murder, rape, pillaging, and general evilness, even his closest advisors worry what would happen to the kingdom should he be allowed to rule. And so, one of his lieutenants, Sir Doi, secretly recruits the famed samurai Shinzaemon to lead an assassination attempt against Naritsugu. Though there is a growing rebel faction in the kingdom, even those who despise Naritsugu are weary that an uprising would lead to all-out war that would tear the country apart. So assassination carried out by a small group of mercenaries is deemed the best way to go. And so Shinzaemon, the legendary warrior, basically unretires after a long period of inaction, and recruits a team of 13 assassins to bring down Naritsugu and his entourage of loyal samurai.

The movie is basically split into two distinct halves. The first part of the film is slower-paced and more character-driven. The threat of Naritsugu is established, and we see Shinzaemon gather his team and plan his strategy. The team-gathering part of the film is a lot of fun though. While we don't necessarily get a lot of insight into all 13 assassins, several of them are given pretty intriguing backstories. There's Shinzaemon's playboy nephew who decides to quit gambling and womanizing so as to follow his uncle's footsteps and become a real samurai. There's Shinzaemon's former student - a master swordsmen - who has now taken on a teenaged student of his own. There's even a non-samurai who joins the team after they save him from a trap - he helps them elude Naritisugu with his tracking skills, and turns out to be handy in a fight as well thanks to his trusty sling. Meanwhile, the movie does great job of building up Naritsugu as one hell of a villain. We see flashbacks to some of his most vile deeds, and, as played by Goro Inagaki, Naritsugu is almost completely devoid of emotion or remorse while committing all manner of horrifying acts. In short, you can't wait to see Shinzaemon and co send him straight to hell. And by the way, actor Koji Yokusho is awesome and super badass as Shinzaemon.

After the slow build of the first half, the second half of the film is just pure, unadulterated samurai mayhem, as the 13 assassins collide with Naritsugu's small army. Holy lord, do things get crazy - it's just one hour of balls-to-the-wall craziness. Insane sword battles, last-minute heroics, dramatic death scenes, and a final mano-e-mano confrontation that just ripples with blood-drenched intensity. Miike doesn't let up for a second, and he gives most of the characters a chance to shine and have their moment of awesomeness.

All the while, however, Miike also uses the carnage to comment on the changing state of Japan at that time. Where once the samurai fought with honor and purpose, now, things were not quite so clear. On one hand, Shinzaemon and his men were fighting against their ruler - a clear violation of the traditional samurai code. On the other hand, those loyal to Naritsugu were putting their lives on the line for a man who was clearly evil and insane. There's definitely some interesting stuff to think about when all is said and done - even if the tropes might be familiar to viewers of other samurai films, there's enough of a fresh twist here to make 13 Assassins stand out.

With so many characters to juggle, it's inevitable that some get the short shrift, and also that some character arcs aren't quite as satisfying as they might have been if the movie had less elements to juggle. Still, Mikke packs in a lot of cool little moments for many of the characters, even if some of the deaths - and the final tally of who's still standing vs. who isn't - at times feels a little bit random.

All in all though, this movie kicked ass like few others I've seen this year. Despite the language barrier, I was still completely caught up in the carnage, and on many occasions my jaw was on the floor in disbelief due to the sheer level of badassery on display. Elegantly brutal and gorgeously violent, 13 Assassins is one sick samurai flick.

My Grade: A-

Werner Herzog is the Captain of the Cavemen, With CAVE OF FORGOTTEN DREAMS

CAVE OF FORGOTTEN DREAMS Review:

Note: This film was released theatrically earlier this year, but I recently watched it via Netflix.

- In the Chauvet Caves in France, archaeologists have recently found paintings dating back 37,000 years, made by primitive man. They are the oldest man-made drawings yet discovered. Sealed off for untold ages following a rock collapse, the caves and their secrets have been remarkably preserved. Now, they are sealed off for scientific research, with toxins in the caves preventing anyone from entering for more than a few hours at a time. Few people will ever see the caves and their ancient drawings in person, but thanks to Werner Herzog, we have the next best thing - a fascinating documentary that takes us inside the Chauvet Caves and lets us have a look at this relic of our primitive forefathers.

What I love about Werner Herzog is that he is a filmmaker who is also a philosopher of sorts. When confronted with phenomena like the drawings in the Chauvet Caves, Herzog is interested not just in the scientific and cultural findings, but also in the wider implications of this discovery. Sometimes, you don't know whether to nod in agreement at Herzog's musings or chuckle at their grim sincerity, but regardless, there's no one you'd rather have as your guide on this journey. Werner himself, I suspect, is half-mad (and I say that in the most endearing way possible), and so he has a way of tapping into the madness of others. He turns his camera on all manner of eccentrics and questions them sans irony or judgement, only with genuine curiosity. Herzog is accompanied to the caves by a motley crew of scientists and researchers, but in addition to his more factual questions, he asks them things like "what is human-ness?", and probes for the spiritual connection between the primitive cave artists and modern man. Herzog's distinct narration only pops up occasionally in the film, but his calming, questioning voice combined with the film's evocative, moody score makes the entire film itself into a sort of soothing, quasi-spiritual experience. Herzog will often simply let his cameras sit on the ancient paintings, slowly guiding our view, inviting us to ponder the works and their implications.

To that end, I do wish that there was a little more science to accompany the spirituality. As various subjects were brought up - the various, now-extinct animals depicted in the caves, for example - I found myself wishing that we were given a bit more context. I was eager to know more about the broader background here - what was the age that these men lived in like? At what points were some of these species killed off or driven to extinction? Herzog however isn't as interested in creating a true science doc, however. Instead, he is more interested in recreating the experience of descending down into these caves, and of recreating the awe and wonder that he felt as he visits this primordial world.

Overall, it's somewhat of a bare-bones production, rarely diverging from the caves and the drawings, with little attempt to recreate the time or place of the art, except via the experience of the caves. It's funny though, because Herzog can't seem to help himself from, almost by accident, making some of the scientists and researchers the unintentional stars of the film. There's the former circus performer, now an archaeologist, who ruminates on the spiritual nature of drawings. There's the doddering scientist who awkwardly tries to show us how ancient man used throwing spears to kill their pray. There's a crazy old cave-hunter who literally sniffs out caves with his nose, proudly sharing with us that he is the former president of France's national association of perfumers. Somehow, all of these oddballs are drawn to the equally eccentric Herzog, and vice versa.

And don't worry, if the movie proves too straightforward for you for most of its runtime, Herzog also includes a whacked-out postscript in which he visits a nature preserve nearby to the caves, where various species of animals are bred. With his camera focused on a group of "mutant" albino alligators, Herzog wonders what they would think should they happen into the Cave of Forgotten Dreams. It's all pretty insane, but wonderfully so. Who else but Herzog would close a documentary on ancient cave drawings with eerie, lingering shots of the eyes of an albino gator? God bless this man, he really is one of a kind.

In any case, while I don't think this film can hope to supplant the Planet Earths of the world as any sort of definitive science/nature doc, this is the history of ancient man as only Werner Herzog could deliver it. It's a glimpse into some truly thought-provoking paintings, that, indeed, stir the imagination and make you wonder about the life and times of prehistoric man. All this, of course, with a distinctly Herzogian twist.

My Grade: B+

MARGIN CALL: A Call To Action For the 99% ...?

MARGIN CALL Review:

Note: Margin Call received a limited theatrical release this past Fall, but was also released day-and-date digitally, and is currently available as a digital download, rental, or via video-on-demand.

- Want to be depressed? Then check out MARGIN CALL ... a bleak, soul-sapping look at some of the events that led to Wall Street's catastrophic meltdown a few years back. That's not to say that Margin Call isn't a well-done, smartly-written film. On the contrary, it has some very interesting things to say about the Wall Street culture that helped get the big banks into the sort of apocalyptic states that led to the crisis. But man, this movie offers a lot of cynicism and little in the way of hope - and it's all so straightforwardly presented that it almost feels like a docudrama, cooly chronicling our age of greed. This movie reinforced some of the anger I've felt towards the big banks in light of the collapse, but it also made me wonder if part of the problem is something larger and less tangible - a widespread plague of greed and moral bankruptcy. In any case, Margin Call feels like it sort of gets halfway towards making its point. It does a good job of identifying some of these broader problems, but seems content to stop there. There's no real twist, no other shoe that drops. That means that in my book, it lands as a good but not great film.

Certainly, this is a film that, if nothing else, can boast of a well-pedigreed and star-studded cast. Kevin Spacey, Jeremy Irons, Zachary Quinto, Penn Badgely, Paul Bettany, Stanley Tucci, and Demi Moore all turn in some great work, and help elevate a lot of the otherwise dreary boardroom scenes to occasional high drama. The direction, from J.C. Chandor, has a moody, into-the-night darkness, to some extent evoking classics like Glengarry Glenross. The entire film takes place over the course of one night and early morning, and so there is a sort of symbolic weightiness to the darkness. In some ways, these Wall Street bankers are like real-life vampires - sucking the "ordinary people" dry, okay with it, as long as they themselves survive. And that, they will say, is simply the natural order of things.

The story here is a relatively simple one, although it deals with an extraordinarily complex world that not even those involved in it day-to-day seem to fully understand. Oftentimes, characters in the film - like Jeremy Irons' head honcho - insist that the particulars of the problems facing his company are explained simply, in plain English. But that proves difficult. The loopholes that the banks used to bleed the public were labyrinthine, but it boils down to this: Iron's company is on the verge of going belly up - they're about to lose far more money than they're going to make, and the only option is to sell all holdings in a last-minute ploy to essentially liquidate - commit corporate suicide so as to have a slim chance of surviving - even if it means screwing everyone who they've unloaded their assets to under false pretenses.

Margin Call can be commended for painting all of its characters in varying shades of gray, but this also means that there are no real good guys here. Zachary Quinto is the young risk management analyst who sounds the alarm on the whole situation. We eventually find out that he's a rocket scientist who left for Wall Street for a bigger paycheck. His even younger colleague, played by Penn Badgely, is 23 and making a quarter of a million a year. He has no real vested interest in his work, but is oddly obsessed with the rat race and what others are making in his office. The most intriguing character here might be Paul Bettany as a middle-manager who, though he makes millions, has sort of seen through the whole sick joke of it all, and seems just a tad unbalanced because of it. Bettany does a great job here as a guy who sees all of this for what it is, but also finds himself lacking the will or conviction to really do anything about it. At least he has no pretensions of moral superiority, like Kevin Spacey's weary VP. Spacey voices all kinds of objections to Irons about the company's plans to liquidate, but ultimately, he's a survivor -a company man of 30+ years who knows when to be obedient, even if it costs him his soul. Stanley Tucci is also excellent as Quinto's boss, the man who started the risk management report that Quinto takes over after Tucci is unceremoniously laid off. Tucci seems glad in some ways to be free of the whole mess, but ultimately, he comes crawling back as a consultant rather than risk his severance package. Demi Moore is a corporate lawyer who's set up as a fall-guy for the whole implosion.

It's a sad, sorry group of individuals we're presented with in this film, with the sneering Irons presiding over everyone with a sinister, "let 'em burn" attitude. There are no heroes here, no rebels, and few voices of reason. Well, I suppose there *is* reason, but the reason presented by the likes of Irons - through dramatic monologuing - sounds more like the ravings of a megalomaniac supervillain than of a rational member of society. Margin Call isn't approving of these guys - on the contrary, it condemns them - but it does so in a manner that feels defeatist and, frankly, dramatically unsatisfying. Maybe there's a certain realism inherent in the all-encompassing coldness and sterility of this corporate hell, but the drama just isn't heightened enough to make an impression beyond a chill of recognition. I think of the aforementioned Glengarry Glenross, and its brilliant characters, dialogue, and pacing that heighten office drama to great theater. Margin Call lacks that same sort of intensity, and its characters all seem cut from the same overpriced, designer cloth.

Some standout performances help to make this one watchable and give it some meat, and the moody direction sets an appropriately ominous tone. But I just was left wanting something a little more from this movie. I wanted some sort of greater insight into the Wall Street meltdown, some better understanding of these people, of this system, of how all the pieces fit together. I wanted a story that went beyond the headlines. Margin Call takes a stab at the men behind the meltdown, but to me, it doesn't quite cut deep enough.

My Grade: B

THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN: Steven Spielberg, Peter Jackson, Edgar Wright, Joe Cornish, and Andy Serkis = Adventure Movie Dream Team

THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN Review:

- The Adventures of Tintin is a geek-out-worthy movie of the highest order. It's got Steven Spielberg returning to Indiana Jones-style pulp adventure. It's got Peter Jackson producing and Andy Serkis starring and doing motion-capture. It's got a script written by Edgar Wright (Shawn of the Dead, Scott Pilgrim) and Joe Cornish (Attack the Block). Nick Frost and Simon Pegg co-star as bumbling inspectors. It's got gorgeous motion-captured animation, and some of the best, most rollicking action scenes that Spielberg's ever put to film. In short: awesomeness.

Based on the classic comics of Belgian writer-artist Herge, The Adventures of Tintin is the stuff that boyhood dreams are made of. I was only vaguely familiar with the character going in, but I quickly discovered that Tintin is sort of like a European version of Jimmy Olsen - a boy-reporter whose investigations take him on all kinds of weird and wild adventures. Clashes with criminals, thieves, pirates, and saboteurs are common for Tintin, but he usually manages to scrape by with a combination of smarts, wits, resourcefulness, and luck. And of course, the everpresent help of his faithful dog Snowy.

This new take on Tintin very quickly sees our dogged young hero wrapped up in a classic mystery that sends him on a globe-spanning adventure, involving treachery on the high seas, buried treasure, exotic locales, and a centuries-old feud between warring families. Along the way, Tintin crosses paths with a sinister character by the name of Sakharine, who's after a model ship that Tintin happened to acquire at the local market. As it turns out, the sip holds the key to a great treasure, and Sakhrine is determined to discover its secret. But Tintin soon finds out that the ship has ties to one Captain Haddock, as the ship was crafted by his ancestor, the pirate Sir Francis Haddock. Tintin and Haddock (with Snowy in tow) set off to unravel the mystery of the model ship, pursued on air, land, and sea by Sakharine and his crew.

All of the voice-acting is excellent, with Jamie Bell bringing a boyish exuberance to the wise-beyond-his-years Tintin, and Daniel Craig turning Sakharine into an enjoyably devious adversary. Meanwhile, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost are hilarious as the mustachioed, bowler-hat-sporting crime-fighting team of Thomson and Thompson, two lookalike inspectors who bumble their way to the heart of the movie's mysteries. The standout though - no surprise - is the great Andy Serkis as Captain Haddock, who in many ways is the movie's main character. Serkis, so phenomenally good in Planet of the Apes earlier this year, makes Haddock into a hilarious, lovable, all-around awesome character. He's a past-his-prime sea captain who long ago lost himself in a bottle, but who still has a fierce temper and is handy in a brawl. What's amazing though is how Serkis makes Haddock's character arc so genuinely involving and exciting. Yes, this is a pulpy adventure story that's heavy on action, but by god, when Haddock fights for his family's legacy and for his own well-being, well, you can't help but smile, cheer him on, and root for the old captain to kick some ass.

And speaking of kicking ass, Spielberg just directs the hell out of this movie, once again showing why he's the unchallenged master when it comes to crafting set-piece action scenes that tell a story all while keeping you on the edge of your seat. The entire movie is essentially a roller-coaster ride from start to finish, with a couple of action scenes in particular that are simply astounding. One climactic sequence that sees Tintin, Haddock, and Snowy being chased through a North African village is, in all honesty, one of the coolest action scenes I've ever seen. It's kind of funny, in a way, because Spielberg movies like Raiders of the Lost Arc were so, so influential on movies, videogames, etc. - and now you're seeing Spielberg not only top himself, but also show up all those who have followed in his wake. I definitely felt like there were nods to things like Uncharted and Tomb Raider in Tintin - even as those franchises have, of course, borrowed heavily from the Spielberg playbook.

Now, what frees up Spielberg to just go balls-to-the-wall visually here is the fact that Tintin utilizes state-of-the-art motion capture animation. So, unrestricted by the physical confines of real-world sets and cameras, Spielberg can really get crazy and go for broke. I've seen some criticize the use of motion-capture for a variety of reasons: it betrays the clean, simplistic look of the original comics, it crosses the "uncanny valley" so characters look real but not quite completely real, it's too stiff as compared to traditional animation and not as satisfying as live-action. To all those criticisms, I say: whatever. I'm not saying mo-cap should be used for every movie, but to me, it can offer an eye-popping blend of stylized animation with stunningly-detailed and ultra-immersive environments. And as for Tintin, well, to me the movie just looks amazing - great character design, gorgeous locations, amazing detail, and a fluidity and dynamism in the animation and cinematography that can't be beat. I think that Spielberg and Jackson made a good choice here. This is one that's worth seeing on a huge screen and in 3D - it's immersive, stunning to look at, and like I said, a complete roller-coaster ride.

The movie has a great script as well though courtesy of Wright and Cornish. There's lots of their trademark humor, and their gift for imbuing frenetic action scenes with both humor and heart is equally evident. There's something pretty amazing when you realize you're watching an Edgar Wright/Joe Cornish movie directed by Spielberg. It's one heck of a one-two punch.

The Adventures of Tintin isn't a movie about deep plot or complex themes - it's pure adventure, and it's very much in the spirit of imagination-filled, larger-than-life stories that Spielberg has, clearly, always loved - and this is him getting back into that Indiana Jones mode of pure fun and two-fisted action. Maybe not everyone will get this movie - and certainly, we here in America don't have the same attachment to or familiarity with Tintin as they do over in Europe. But if you share Spielberg's love for classic, old-time pulp adventure - and I do - and if your thirst for said adventure is, as Capt. Haddock says, unquenchable, then by all means run out and see Tintin immediately.

My Grade: A-

Going Dark With THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO

THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO Review:

- Being only mildly familiar with the "Millennium Trilogy" of books and with the earlier Swedish adaptations, I went into the new David Fincher version of THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO with an open mind and a genuine curiosity about the material. I'd heard so much hype about the series - I even read a fairly fascinating article in Rolling Stone a while back, about the life and times of author Stieg Larson - but I still didn't quite understand what it was about this series that seemed to captivate so many people. Now that I've seen the new film, I get it, and I am onboard. Not so much because the particulars of the mystery here are that interesting, or because of some sort of overarching mythology that is particularly gripping - but because of this fact: Lisbeth Salander is one hell of a character. The #1 reason to check out this film, even more so than the typically-great direction from Fincher, is that Rooney Mara as Lisbeth is, in my mind, a revelation. True, I went into this a blank slate, so I can't compare with the novels or with Noomi Rapace from the Euro-version. But I came away from this one fairly blown away by Mara and excited to see more of the adventures of Lisbeth. So yeah, as a self-contained movie, I can see some flaws here. But as an intro to this character and the dark world she inhabits, Fincher and Mara knock it out of the park.

Overall, this is definitely a movie that ebbs and flows. The whole epic affair kicks off with an incredible bang, with Fincher cutting loose with a mood-setting intro set to a Karen O. cover of Led Zepellin's "Immigrant Song," that absolutely shreds. From the get-go, Fincher sets the tone for the movie - it's dark, dangerous, and 100% rock n' roll. After the mind-blowing credits sequence, however, the movie slows down a great deal. Much of our time is spent with Daniel Craig's Mikael Blomkvist - a journalist and co-publisher of Millenium, a magazine that investigates crime and vice. Craig is very solid as Blomkvist, and he does a good job of mixing his usual intensity with a bit of intellectualism and dorkiness. But, there's also a bit of a disconnect between Craig - he is James Bond, afterall - and this character who, as I understand it, is usually portrayed as a bit shaggier and frumpier. Ultimately though, the main issue is just that Mikael just isn't as interesting as Lisbeth, and so the main mystery story only truly begins to crackle with real consistency once the two of them are united. Unfortunately, it takes a good hour or so for that to happen. To get to that point, we alternate between Mikael's exposition-filled segments, and Lisbeth's much-more-compelling storylines.

Mikael, as it turns out, has been recruited by a billionaire industrialist, Henrik Vanger, to help solve a forty-year-old mystery. Decades ago, Henrik's daughter went missing - presumed dead. Henrik always suspected murder, but since his entire extended family lived on a small, isolated private island, that meant that one of the family members had to have done the deed. Mikael -whose magazine is having financial problems after a libel suit from a scheming competitor - decides to take Henrik up on his generous financial offer. He takes up residence on Henrik's island - an increasingly dangerous place given that one of the Vanger clan is potentially the killer.

Meanwhile, the young, sullen, goth-punk girl Lisbeth scrapes by as a researcher for a large investigative firm. Even though she's technically just a gopher, she's considered a secret weapon by the firm due to her genius-level computer skills and photographic memory. As it turns out, this firm is hired by Henrick Vanger to investigate Mikael. Before Henrik hires him, he wants to make sure that he can be trusted to work this secret case. We see Lisbeth's resourcefulness and cold bluntness in action as she digs up dirt on Mikael (her assessment of his sex life is particularly amusing as a callous critique). But we also see that Lisbeth is dealing with some very serious baggage. Her father is a near-vegetable. She's on her own, essentially, with no friends or confidantes. Her job is just barely keeping her from being institutionalized following her past indiscretions. And one state worker in particular is intent on abusing his position of power, with Lisbeth as his unwitting victim.

That to me is where the film suddenly kicks into overdrive - when Lisbeth is confronted with this horrible man who reveals himself as a monster, a rapist. Suddenly, we see that Lisbeth isn't just some goth poseur, but something entirely different. She is the monster that men like this created - a new-age girl who is a reaction to and reflection of the worst that society has to offer. Fincher and Mara take us to some very, very dark places with Lisbeth, but they do so in a way that makes the character that much stronger and more resilient. This is an antihero who has suffered, and now, we want to see her make others suffer.

When Lisbeth and Mikael finally meet and begin working together on the Vanger mystery, the build-up of Lisbeth's character has been so strong that it's a thrill to now see her in this other, bigger situation. The strange relationship she has with Mikael is a little hard to get a handle on, but the two of them slowly but doggedly putting the puzzle pieces together is thrilling. Once the killer is revealed, well, that's when Fincher seems to really start having fun, taking the movie into delightfully twisted, Silence of the Lambs-style territory. By this point, I was on the edge of my seat.

Finally, though, the film continues with an extended epilogue that goes on long after the Vanger mystery has been solved. It feels like a bit of a comedown after such an exciting resolution and hero vs. villain face-off. If this were a TV show, then things might feel more organic. But Fincher is constrained to some extent by the structure of the novel, and so there is, ultimately, A LOT crammed into this film. A sprawling mystery involving dozens of Vanger family members and possible suspects, the ongoing personal issues of Mikael and Lisbeth, and then, a long final sequence that addresses the fate of the Millennium magazine.

The movie has its ups and downs, but I felt like when it was firing on all cylinders, it really and truly kicked ass. There are some fantastic, applause-worthy scenes - most of them coming via Rooney Mara, who again, just owns it as Lisbeth, mixing droll humor with genuine pathos and pain and a good, old-fashioned dose of sex, drugs, and rock n' roll. That said, there is some stellar work here from actors like Craig, Christopher Plummer, Stellan Skarsgard, and more. I'll also give credit to Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, who turn in another moody, ominous score. Not quite as strong as their work in The Social Network, perhaps, but very good nonetheless. I will say though, there is some great use of music in this movie. The aforementioned "Immigrant Song"-infused opening, for example - and, one of the most ingenious and whacked-out uses of Enya probably ever in a movie.

As for Fincher, I think his work here is strong. I think we've gotten so used to him outdoing himself that it's, almost, strangely disappointing to see him here relying on his old bag of tricks to a large extent. There are shades of movies like Zodiac and The Social Network in the direction (though this one again proves that no one can make computer-research cool like Fincher). But generally, the direction is pretty straightforward. Other than the opening credits, there aren't many scenes where Fincher really stretches much or lets loose. Still, few could tell this story as well as Fincher, and one thing you've got to give the guy is that he can do dark, cold, dank, and ominous better than anyone. The frosty Swedish landscape is made all the more foreboding due to Fincher's directorial prowess.

At the end of the day, I came away from this one a believer in the awesomeness of Lisbeth Salander, and am now eager to see her further adventures. While I do think the film's pacing was at times lagging, and its mystery plot at times confusing, as an introduction to these characters and this franchise, I felt that this was really strong, absorbing, stuff. At a certain point, I was simply won over by the movie's formidable badass-quotient and, eventually, I found myself totally sucked in to its dark world. What can I say, Mara-as-Lisabeth is a new punk rock princess for the ages.

My Grade: A-

So You Got Yourself a Kindle Fire: aka, The Must-Read New and Classic Comics for Your Brand-New Tablet! Plus: The 10 Best Books In DC Comics' New 52!

- Well, first off, I'd like to take a second to say "Happy Hanukkah!" to all of my fellow members of The Tribe. After a long couple of weeks at work, post-Thanksgiving, it's nice to be able to celebrate Hanukkah and look forward to a couple of days of R&R. Over Thanksgiving, I flew back home to Connecticut to see friends and family. It was a fun trip - I had a lot of great food (east coast pizza and bagels!), caught up with old friends, and even got to spend a couple of days in NYC. With that behind me though, I'm now looking forward to staying put in LA for the rest of the year, laying low, maybe even catching up with my much-neglected PS3 (I've got Uncharted 3, Arkham City, and Skyrim all begging to be played). And of course, I plan to continue blogging with more movie reviews, and yes, my annual Best-Of-The-Year year-end columns.

Now, speaking of the holidays, I'm sure that many of you have or will be unwrapping (or possibly purchasing) new tablet devices for Hanukkah or Christmas. I know that I myself have been seriously considering the iPad and Kindle Fire. Both appeal to me for for a variety of reasons, but I would be lying if I didn't admit that one of the key reasons I want a tablet is so that I can dive into the world of digital comics. The fact is, as much as I am a traditionalist and love reading comic books the old-fashioned way, comics can be a pain to store and organize. Some people may have the means to devote large spaces to a comic book collection, but for many of us with limited storage space, it just gets to be too much. I'm not saying that I'd ever 100% abandon traditional comics - nothing will ever beat the tactile feel of holding and paging through a comic book. But I could see myself transitioning a sizable chunk of my comic reading to digital within the next year or two.

Two key factors make now the time to make the jump. One is the devices themselves. Reading comics on a laptop or desktop PC was never ideal, and never felt right. But tablets like the iPad have a near-perfect form factor for comics. The art looks fantastic, and the reading experience is intuitive. Sure, there are still some things you can't quite replicate on a tablet (double-paged spreads, for instance), but the experience is really starting to get good. And I'm sure that, going forward, comics will become increasingly tailored for digital reading, and more and more devices will be optimized for comics. Secondly, 2011 was the year that many if not most comics are finally starting to go day-and-date digital. This means that the same day that new issues are released in comic shops, they're also available for digital download, via apps from DC, Marvel, and Comixology - which aggregates comics from a variety of major publishers into one digital comics mega-store. Not only are individual issues finally available in a timely manner, but digital versions of trade-paperbacks - the volumes that collect storyarcs into one handy book (you've probably seen 'em at Barnes & Noble, etc.) are also starting to become widely available for digital consumption. This means that, through digital distribution, you can not only keep up on the latest monthly comic books, but also get caught up on classic stories, from Watchmen to Y: The Last Man.

Finally, there's a third reason that now might be the time to jump into digital comics - or comics in general. You may have heard that, this past September, DC Comics rebooted their entire line of books, restarting legendary franchises like Action Comics, Detective Comics, and Green Lantern with new issue #1's. So if movies or TV shows have got you interested in the ongoing adventures of Batman or The Flash, you've now got a perfect jumping-on point, with minimal catch-up to do. Now, some of the comics were rebooted more cleanly than others. Meaning: while you can pick up the new adventures of Superman in Action Comics with absolutely no past knowledge under your belt, you may want to brush up on some pre-reboot stories of Batman or Green Lantern before sampling the new stuff.

All in all though, the new DC reboot has yielded some awesome new comics that are very much worth checking out. In some cases, the cream of the crop includes mainstream superhero stuff like Batman, but there are also some slightly less-mainstream books that are also must-reads. There are already a whopping 52 DC Universe comics and counting, so you may be wondering: "hey, I've got my new Fire or iPad, which of the New 52 should I check out?" Well, I am here to help. So here is my guide to ...

THE BEST 10 COMICS OF DC COMICS' NEW 52:


1.) Animal Man

- Written by one of comics' rising superstars in Jeff Lemire, Animal Man is a strange, atmospheric tale of a man who's trying to raise a family and live a normal life, but who keeps finding himself at the center of some major weirdness. This comic is a gripping read, mixing horror with adventure. And Lemire is absolutely knocking it out of the park, telling the story of Buddy Baker - a man who can tap into something called the Morphonogenic Field, channelling the power of earth's animal kingdom. But what Lemire is revealing is that there's a lot more to Buddy's strange powers than meets the eye. In fact, Buddy and his family may very well be at the center of a war that determines the fate of earth itself.

Recommended Reading: Not necessary to enjoy this new series, but to get more of the backstory on Animal Man, you may want to check out Grant Morrison's 80's/90's-era run on the previous iteration of this series - it's a modern classic that establishes the weird, surreal tone that Lemire picks up on here.


2.) Swamp Thing

- Like Animal Man, Swamp Thing is another character who had a legendary run in the 80's, and who's now being revitalized by one of today's best writers (in this case, Scott Snyder). Snyder is crafting a gothic-horror adventure in which Alec Holland - the man who once was Swamp Thing - has reverted back to human form, even as he discovers new insight into the origins of the creature he once was. Another creepy, atmospheric, and ultra-compelling read - this latest version of Swamp Thing continues the older title's tradition of looking at the dark underbelly of American through horror and sci-fi storytelling. Think Stephen King, only greener.

Recommended Reading: Again, similar to Animal Man in that there's nothing you *have* to read to understand the new Swamp Thing, but it can't hurt to check out the acclaimed run that writer Alan Moore had on Swamp Thing in the mid-80's. All off those issues are collected in a series of several volumes, and they're awesome. Also, it's worth noting that Scott Snyder and Jeff Lemire are planning, at some point, to weave together threads from Animal Man and Swamp Thing, and it looks like they may be setting up something pretty epic. Read both of 'em, I say!


3.) Batman

- That Scott Snyder, he can do no wrong. Even as he kicks ass on Swamp Thing, he's also doing a bang-up job on Batman. Snyder's been setting up a fascinating mystery, in which a secret society that's long had an association with Gotham City has come out of the shadows to wage war on Bruce Wayne and his makeshift family. Snyder brings his knack for great characterization, fantastic mystery-writing, and atmospheric prose to this rebooted Batman title, and the art from Greg Capullo is super-dynamic. There are several Bat-titles that are part of the New 52, but this one is, so far, far and away the best.

Recommended Reading: The Bat-books actually maintained a lot of their pre-reboot continuity, so it doesn't hurt to check out recent Bat stories from the last few years while checking out the new books. Most relevant though is Scott Snyder's run on Detective Comics from just prior to the reboot, in which Dick Grayson temporarily takes over for Bruce Wayne as Batman. Snyder wrote some amazing stories as part of that run, and there is some thematic and story carryover into his new run on Batman. As far as the other New 52 Bat-books go, Batman & Robin is very solid stuff (Bruce Wayne teaming with his son Damien, who's now Robin), and the new Nightwing book is also very good so far (for those who don't know, Nightwing is the first Robin, Dick Grayson, all grown up). Batgirl, starring a recently-healed-from-crippling-injury Barbara Gordon, is also showing some signs. But other than Batman, the best new Bat-title is ...

4.) Batwoman

- If you want to see the most stunningly gorgeous art in comics, all you need to do is take a look at the new Batwoman comic. Written and illustrated by JH Williams, Batwoman is jaw-dropping in terms of the sheer awesomeness of Williams' artwork. If you have preconceptions about what comic book art looks like, please, look at this. But, Williams is also crafting a great story that is unfolding with the pacing of a great HBO drama. And Kate Kane, the new Batwoman, is a fascinating character - a crimson-haired Jewish lesbian who kicks ass with style.

Recommended Reading: While the new Batwoman is fairly accessible on its own, I highly, highly recommend that you check out the Batwoman: Elegy trade paperback which collects the first Kate Kane storyarc that ran a few years back in Detective Comics. It's an amazing story that tells Kate's origins - her family history, her stuggles in the military, and her first adventures as a costumed hero. It's well worth tracking down.


5.) Justice League

- I'll admit, with all the hype around the dream-team pairing of writer Geoff Johns and artist Jim Lee, the new Justice League hasn't quite been the must-read blockbuster I was hoping for. But, as an introduction to the new DC Universe, this is essentially ground zero. This one takes place five years in the past, showing the first meetings of DC's biggest heroes, like Superman, Batman, and The Flash. So this is definitely one that will make you feel like you got in the ground floor of the new DC. Also, if you're not familiar with Jim Lee, you're in for a treat. This book is a perfect showcase for the legendary artist's bleeding-cool style, and he is at the top of his game here, drawing the heck out of DC's biggest superhero icons.

Recommended Reading: None necessary. But if you want to see more of Jim Lee drawing DC's heroes, you may want to check out Batman: Hush, which saw Lee tackling Batman and his rogues gallery in a rollercoaster ride of a story that first saw print several years back.


6.) Frankenstein: Agent of S.H.A.D.E.

- Here's another left-of-center comic that may go under some people's radars, but trust me, it's badass. I mean, who doesn't want to read about Frankenstein's Monster leading an army of creature-feature soldiers in a secret war against supernatural threats? Plus, this one is written by Jeff Lemire (same writer as Animal Man), so you know it's from a guy who knows how to write awesomely weird adventure stories.

Recommended Reading: This particular version of Frankenstein - a sword-swinging, poetry-reciting badass who works for the top-secret government group called S.H.A.D.E. - was first introduced several years ago by writer Grant Morrison in an epic story called 7 Soldiers. It's well worth tracking down if you want a good read.


7.) Green Lantern

- For several years now, writer Geoff Johns has taken Green Lantern and recast him as an epic, cosmic hero engaged in Star Wars-esque space opera. The recent movie adopted certain elements of John's run, but trust me, the comics are much more awesome. With the DC reboot, Johns kept most of his past GL stories intact, but added a new wrinkle to coincide with the comic's new #1 - a new storyline in which Hal Jordan has been stripped of his GL ring, and his most evil of enemies, Sinestro, has iexplicably been chosen as Hal's replacement in the Corps. Johns continues to make Green Lantern one of DC's most riveting, epic titles, and the new focus on a morally-conflicted Sinestro is the perfect way to breathe some new life into the franchise.

Recommended Reading: Okay, you *could* dive into the new GL series sight unseen, but because the title's pree-rebbot continuity is mostly still intact, you may also want to catch up on the major story-arcs since Geoff Johns began writing Green Lantern in the mid-00's. Key collections include Rebirth, The Sinestro Corps War, Secret Origins, Blackest Night, and War of the Green Lanterns. I'd also say that, overall, the entire line of New 52 GL titles has been pretty solid. GL Corps - focusing on the intergalactic adventures of Lanterns John Stewart and Guy Gardner - has been enjoyable so far. As has GL: New Guardians, focusing on Kyle Rayner, who replaced Hal Jordan during the 90's. Red Lanterns, focusing on the rage-filledRed Lantern Corps, has also been interesting thus far.


8.) All-Star Western

- If you only know Jonah Hex from the movie of the same name, well, you might think that Jonah Hex sort of sucks. Not so, says I, or any fans of the character from his long history in comics. In recent years, for example, writers Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray have penned many awesome stories featuring the badass bounty hunter of the Old West. Now, they continue that run with All-Star Western, which kicked off with a multipart arc in which Hex finds himself in Gotham City circa the late 1800's. As it turns out, even then, Gotham was a scary place. All-Star Western is just great, gritty, pulpy Western adventure.

Recommended Reading: The dynamic-duo writing team of Palmiotti and Gray had a long, pre-reboot run on a comic called Jonah Hex, featuring kickass Old West adventures of the title-hero. Not necessary to read All-Star Western, but if you want to read some amazing Jonah Hex stories, then look no further than these recent comics.


9.) Action Comics

- Comic's longest-running title (dating back to the 1930's) got a reboot just like every other DC book this past September. And the new Action, which re-introduces Superman to the DC Universe, had a lot of hype going in. Afterall, writer Grant Morrison had previously written one of the best Superman stories ever - All-Star Superman. Now, Morrison was reinterpreting Superman as the superhero equivalent of Bruce Springsteen - a crusader who fights for the working class and takes on society's bullies (and, you know, alien invasions and stuff). Like Justice League, this title takes place in the new DC Universe's past, so this is a Superman who's just starting out - he doesn't even have a proper superhero outfit yet. To date, I feel like this one's been a little shaky, but I remain curious as to what Morrison has planned. If nothing else, this is a must-read just to see this semi-radical new take on the Man of Steel play out.

Recommended Reading: None necessary, though if you want to see Grant Morrison, at the top of his game, writing Superman, then by all means, read the collected editions of All-Star Superman.

10.) Birds of Prey

- There's been some criticism already that DC's New 52 hasn't had enough strong female characters feaured in prominent titles. There may be some truth in such criticism, but one title that stands as a shining display of girl-power done right is the new Birds of Prey. I was definitely weary of this one going in, as pre-reboot, BoP was one of my all-time favorite titles. I was nervous about the new lineup of characters and new take on a modern-classic concept. But fear not, crime writer Duane Swierczynski is crafting a rollicking espionage-adventure story, teaming fan favorite femme-fatales like Black Canary and Kitana with a super-cool new character named Starling, who's quickly become a breakout Bird.

Recommended Reading: If you want to know more about the history of the Birds, check out the classic runs on the previous incarnation of the title by writers Chuck Dixon and Gail Simone. Otherwise, no prior reading necessary.


So that's my round-up of, in my opinion, the best of the New 52 from DC. Thoughts? Comments? Any titles you're eager to try? Any additional recommendations? Let's hear 'em.

Now, say you're not just interested in what's new and current, but also in catching up on the classics. Well, the Recommended Reading bullets above should point you towards some legendary comics like Grant Morrison's Animal Man or Alan Moore's Swamp Thing, but, you may be wondering, what are some of the other all-time classic, must-read comics. Well, ask and I shall answer. Below, here is a quick sampler of what I consider to the major works in the modern comic book cannon. Many of these you can download, some you may have to (gasp!) visit a store or hit up Amazon in order to purchase. But here they are ...


10 MUST-READ MODERN COMIC BOOK CLASSICS (FOR THE COMIC BOOK NEWBIE):


1.) Y: The Last Man

- A funny, harrowing, thought-provoking journey into a world where all men - save one - have been killed by a mysterious plague, Brian K. Vaughan's modern-classic series, about a world where women rule, is a must-read piece of comic book literature.


2.) The Walking Dead

- Even if you've seen the TV show, you may not be prepared for the sheer intensity of The Walking Dead comic. Completely gripping and unpredictable, this zombie-apocalypse series from Robert Kirkman gets maximum shock value by placing characters-first. This is comic-book crack, and one hell of a horror adventure.


3.) Watchmen

- Again, you may have seen the movie, but you have to read this groundbreaking comic that forever changed the face of the medium. With Watchmen, writer Alan Moore deconstructed the superhero myth to craft a world where it was hard to tell the heroes from the villains. Moore's uber-detailed writing paired with Dave Gibbons' meticulously drafted artwork combines to form a comic book for the ages.


4.) The Dark Knight Returns

- Perhaps Frank Miller's defining work, this dystopian vision of a future Gotham City from the writer/artist is also one of the best Batman stories ever told. In fact, Miller's vision of an aging, grizzled Bruce Wayne changed how the character was written forever after. Along with Watchmen, DKR helped to usher in the modern age of comics in the 80's.


5.) Fables

- This long running comic has been oft-imitated in pop-culture in recent years, but it remains singlularly unique. In Fables, Bill Willingham imagined a world in which fairy-tale characters have fled their homelands after an all-consuming war, and, in exile, secretly taken up residence in New York City. As it progressed, Fables veered away from that premise, getting bigger and more fantastical and larger-scaled each year. But the thing that made Fables so great remains intact - Willingham's ability to find fresh, funny, subversive takes on these classic characters.


6.) The Sandman

- Speaking of modern takes on classic stories, that's exactly what Neil Gaiman's seminal Sandman series was all about. Crafting a new mythology of dreams and nightmares, the story of Dream and the Endless became Gaiman's forum for tellng all kinds of modern-day myths. There are whimsical fairy-tales, dark horror stories, and epic adventures. It's hard not to get caught up in Gaiman's gothic vision.


7.) Preacher

- Talk about subversive and balls-to-the-wall. Garth Ennis' all-American adventure of a pissed-off preacher named Jesse Custer and his quest to kill God, well, it's about as ballsy as comics get. Ennis shocks, enlightens, and entertains in this landmark series, which adopted brought the storytelling conventions and maturity of great serialized TV to comics in the 90's, and was hugely influential.


8.) Kingdom Come

- Want to read what is basically the ultimate superhero epic? Look no further than Kingdom Come, which imagines a near-future in which Superman, Batman, and the rest of DC's legendary heroes have been replaced by violent, attitude-infused antiheroes. When Magog, the leader of the new breed, goes too far, Superman and the rest must come out of retirement to wage war on the young guns. This is epic, biblical stuff - made even more so by the realistic, painted art from Alex Ross, and the gravitas-laden prose by Mark Waid.


9.) All-Star Superman

- A few years ago, Grant Morrison wrote a standalone Superman story that blew readers away with its visionairy, ultra-imaginative take on the Man of Tomorrow. In this far-out tale, Superman finds out that he is dying. But before he goes, he must complete a series of challenges that will test his mettle like nothing has before. This is like the 2001 of Superman comics - a trippy, mind-bending epic that takes you through time, space, and reality itself.


10.) Ex Machina

- I wanted to limit this list to one entry per writer, but I just couldn't leave off this amazing book from Brian K. Vaughan, who also did Y: The Last Man. If you're at all a political junkie, Ex Machina is a must-read, as it blends sci-fi, superheroes, and politics in a completely compelling and intellgent manner. This one tells the story of Mitchell Hundred, who was elected mayor of New York City when, after using his strange powers to prevent the attacks of September 11th, 2001, he became a national hero. Ex Machina tackles major social and political issues, all while weaving an intriguing sci-fi mythology around Mayor Hundred and his unique origins.


And there it is - now get to reading. And Happy Holidays!