End of Year Lists for Film and TV

End of year lists - For my lists, I follow the rule that if I saw it or read it in a specific year, then it counts as that year - even if a movie or a book is 20 years old.  I don't want to do top 10 or 20 lists. I just want to list the few I've enjoyed that I think others might like as well.

Movies & Television

Since my tastes run anti-big budget and anti-action, I hope to elevate a couple of movies people may not have seen.

Best movies I've seen this year (In no particular order)

How to be a Man - Starts out great and then goes a bit too Hollywood toward the ending. Still, clever and funny.

Simon Killer - Great movie where the viewer's perception of the characters changes dramatically as the film progresses.

The Trip - Since there are at least a couple of these, this is the one starring Steve Coogan. The Trip to Italy, a sequel to The Trip, also came out this year. Netflix streaming will carry it later this month. I will add it to the list if it is any good. Reports so far have been mixed.

The Story of Luke - Interesting little film about an autistic young adult.

The Grand Budapest Hotel - Wes Anderson creates a visually beautiful setting for this funny, poignant little film.

Boyhood - Honestly, one of the most over-hyped movies ever. So much so, in fact, that it almost didn't make the cut for me even though it is a good movie. I went in with huge expectations and was disappointed when the film turned out to be very good (on reflection), but not great.

Pride - Here's a late entry (actually seen after this post initially went up). Pride takes place during the Thatcher coal strikes in Wales in the 80s. A gay group in London raises money to help the striking miners creating an odd alliance city/country, gay/straight, socially liberal/economically liberal. Many people know of the strikes. But few know about this. The film has the wonderful tone of Billy Elliot or Waking Ned Devine. Very much worth a watch.

Best Feature Length Documentaries I've Seen This Year

Desert Running - This film follows several athletes as they compete in 4 x 250km ultra- running races in South America, Antarctica, Asia, and Africa. It will make you want to get out and run.

Somm - Ever wonder how much training you need to be the world's best sommelier? This documentary is oddly revetting as it follows several people in their truly obsessive quest to know everything about wine.

Best Tevelvision I've seen this year

The League - Hands down one of the funniest series I've ever seen. The jokes don't change. The characters are truly despicable. But the yucks are non-stop. In trying to think of another series that comes close in hilarity, I could only think of The IT Crowd (which had a different type of humor, but still resulted in belly laughs). Binge watch warning.

House of Cards - What can I say? Good job Netflix.

American Horror Story Season 1 - Holy crap, is this a scary (and deeply disturbing) show! When all was said and done, I tried to watch Season 2, but ultimately had to put this series on the shelf until I am able to recover from the horror I had already witnessed.

Alpha House - A much less serious political series than House of Cards, but still very good. Amazon picked a good cast and writers for this comedy/drama (I hate the non-word, 'dramedy'). It follows the lives of 4 right wing Republican senators who share a house in DC - funnier than you would think it would be.

Betas - Also a decent series from Amazon that follows the trials and tribulations that a tech startup faces as it tries to get off the ground in the Bay Area. The series sometimes can't figure out if it is a comedy, a drama, a romcom, or what. But it is good diversion if you're looking for a series to follow.

Extreme Weight Loss - OK. . . guilty pleasure. This series follows a different morbidly obese person for a year as the host, Chris Powell, works with him/her to help them lose weight. In the process, Powell attempts to get to address the root cause of the behaviors that led to his client's obesity. The stories are compelling, the efforts to cure and restore seem genuine, and the transformations are uplifting to see. It is much better than many other shows of its type on TV.