Bests of TV 2014-2015

Last year I wrapped up the TV season by naming 10 best drama episodes, which was not surprisingly led by The Good Wife's masterful Hitting the Fan. This year, I decided to name favorites in  more categories, party because I've not written here for quite a long time and mostly because I've watched a lot drama series [38 Emmy eligible shows]. Traditionally, I've divided "awards" in drama and comedy category.

I applied minor changes to Emmy rules. First, I consider Shameless as drama and especially current season, which has two major dramatic story lines - Ian's illness and Fiona's marriage/personal issues. Second, I included some guest performers in Supporting actor/actress nominations, because I find it extremely hard to follow or remember most guest performers. For that reason, I did not make top choices in respective categories.

[Huge disclaimer: I have not watched House of Cards S3 yet]

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3 days until Oscars: 3 Academy Awards record no one will ever break

There are dozens of official Oscar records, by age, number of nominations/wins, for movies, for individuals, etc. Some are recent, some are really old. I find reading articles about those record very entertaining and I know some of them well. Even though, I believe most of them will never be broken due to simple fact that these years are alot more competitive compared to past. However, there are 3 records that will NEVER, EVER be broken. So they are:

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6 days until Oscars: 6 Best Losing Performances

There are exactly 1,322 loser and 344 winner acting performances in 86 years of Oscars. Nevertheless the winners deserved the glory or not, there always have been losing performances that were no less equally good to have their name on that envelope. So, before we add up 16 more losers and 4 winners to these numbers, here is my 6 best performances that lost their battle to other nominees.

The honorable mentions, in alphabetical order:

Bette Davis (All About Eve, 1950) - lost to Judy Holliday in `Born Yesterday`

Robert De Niro (Taxi Driver, 1976) - lost to Peter Finch in `Network`

Al Pacino (Dog Day Afternoon, 1975) - lost to Jack Nicholson in `One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest`

Kate Winslet (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, 2004) - lost to Hilary Swank in `Million Dollar Baby`

So, my top 6 losing performances are:

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Top 10 Movies of 2014 (and few other awards)

TOP 10 MOVIES

1. Gone Girl 9.8/10

2. How To Train Your Dragon 2 9.7/10

3. The Imitation Game 9.4/10

4. The Grand Budapest Hotel 9.3/10

5. Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) 9.2/10

6. Whiplash 9.1/10

7. Guardians of the Galaxy 9/10

8. The Skeleton Twins 8.9/10

9. Pride 8.4/10

10. Enemy 8.3/10

I love books no less then I love movies. Gone Girl is one of few book to movie adaptations that both are equivalently brilliant, intrigue and thrilling. David Fincher managed to film Gone Girl in the way that it did not disappoint any book reader, even more, we were surprised how amazingly it was shot, esp. Cool Girl part. Plus, phenomenal acting by Rosamund Pike makes this movie a perfection, leaving alone the rest of pretty amazing cast. The same time, movie goes through so many social issues, including marriage, society's perception of women, misogyny, etc. It's this years the most complex and memorable film for me and one of all time favorites.

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Top 10 Performances in 2014

The year 2014 is over and traditionally, here is another MUST list of top performers from movies. I've divided this list in awards-like sequence, separately for actors/actresses, lead/supporting.

Top 5 Supporting Actresses

5. Rene Russo in Nightcrawler

4. Mackenzie Foy in Interstellar

3. Emma Stone in Birdman

2. Tilda Swinton in Snowpiercer

1. Keira Knightley in The Imitation Game

Keira was the biggest surprise this year, her quiet, natural performance was a definite highlight. I was also unexpectedly charmed by young actress Machenzie Foy, who's performance in Interstellar was just heartwarming and extremely emotional.

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Top 10 Movie Characters in 2014

This has been an amazing year because of so many good films, but most of all I will remember some of the characters that made their movies more interesting and compelling. While thinking on this list, I observed that it is possible that I liked a movie without significantly well written or interesting characters and vice verse. In fact, some of memorable characters featured in not so memorable movies. Only two of my Top 10 Characters are from my favorite films of 2014.

So, here is my list:

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Top 10 movies I can't wait this season

We are more than half way through the end of this movie season, however most high calibre films are still to be premiered. As usual, a big number of my favorite films come out in theaters either in the Autumn or Winter. 

I've already watched some films that most probably fall into my top ten movies of 2014 like How To Train Your Dragon 2, Guardians of the Galaxy and The Grand Budapest Hotel. But there are 7 more spots left and I have quite many pictures I desperately want to see this year and here are ten most wanted:

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Top 10 Movies That Tear Me Emotionally Apart

I love the movies I remember. We all have a lot reasons to remember specific films - our favorite actors, directors and simply a touching story, that runs through your body and explodes all emotions inside you. Emotional influence is the most powerful weapon of director to make audience love his/her film.

Most of my favorite pictures have made a huge impact on me and some brought me to tears, which I'm not ashamed of at all. So, here are my Top 10 such kind of films [massive spoilers are ahead]:

Honorable mentions

• Up
• Life is Beautiful
• The Hours

Maybe Mel Gibson has not done many memorable movies, but he sure did one of classic flicks such as Braveheart - a movie from my childhood which I used to watch so many times. Winning 5 Academy Awards, film manages to bring most tragic period of Scottish history in a heartbreaking manner.

The moment that kills me: Scene where William Wallace screams out FREEDOM which costs him life.

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Top 10 Tattoos in Movies

I have a great passion about tattoos, obsession that never goes away. In movies tattoos are either used to somehow express the character or just make their bodies hotter. In any case, they always double my thirst to watch these movies. 

So, here are my Top 10 Tattoos in Movies, which I would not mind to wear some time:

They say Brad Pitt can be sexy in everything and this pretty much proves it. I like his very minimalist and carefully designed tattoos. Those who have seen Snatch might remember that it almost covers every inch of Brad's top.

I'd not be willing to have those tattoos but what I really like about them is diversity and mix of colors. They are also massive and for the purposes of movie truly expresses the character.

This is kind of tattoo that does not make sense separately but all together it is pretty cool. Those numbers, japanese alphabet and stuff - it's pretty lame. But as a whole, they look kind of one great work.

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Top 10 TV Drama Episodes of 2013-2014

This TV season has ended. In fact, only Emmys are left to conclude 2013-2014 season of television to celebrate bests of this year. 

It's been an amazing year for my favorite series and we had some newcomers, like True Detective. I watched Shameless for the first time, finished long awaited Game of Thrones and House of Cards. Had some disappointment with The Following and Dexter and I did not expect that Hostages would only last for one season.

Finally, all comes down to these 10 TV Drama episodes as the most outstanding achievements this year, that I will remember quite long and quite well: [spoilers ahead]

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Top 10 Sports Movies of All Time

Inspired by this WorldCup hysteria,  here are my Top Ten sports movies of all time. Before I start, I should acknowledge that not big fan of any kind of sport, except Tennis, therefore I'm not into films that are related to any of these sports. However, some of them managed to grab my attention and I actually remember many of them. So, here is my list:

Story of Harvard student Matt Buckner (Elijah Wood), who was falsely convicted in drag abuse and is forced to move to London, where he falls in with West Ham football firm [aka the Green Street Elite].

It tells the story of two athletes in the 1924 Olympics: Eric Liddell, a Scottish Christian who runs for the glory of God, and Harold Abrahams, a discriminated Jew who runs to overcome prejudice he faces in University of Cambridge.

This is not another sports movie, it's a brilliant picture about what drives people to succeed, to be outstanding and to achieve something they've always dreamed. Though Chariots of Fire is best picture of 1981 it is often criticized for being chosen over  Raiders of the Lost Ark, which I actually agree.

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Top 5 Performances of 2013

2013 year ended long ago, but I've just started to list my favorite movies & performances. In previous post announced my top 10 movies of 2013, lead by Ron Howard's Rush.

 

Top 5 Supporting Female Performances

 

5. Nicole Kidman in Stoker

4. Jennifer Garner in Dallas Buyers Club

3. Margo Robbie in The Wolf of Wall Street

2. Scarlett Johanson in Her

1. Jennifer Lawrence in American Hustle

 

Note: J.Law did her best performance so far. She was just mind blowing in AH nailing each and every scene of 20-something minutes on the screen. Johanson's voice made Her so sensible and heartwarming. She managed to deliver emotions, frustration, character via merely voice and this is what I have not seen (heard) before.

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Top 10 Movies of 2013

Here comes the time for my very late lists of 2013. This was an amazing year for movies, because they were all so diverse and interesting, I found it very hard to pick favorites. That is why my top ten largely differs from Oscars best picture nominees (compared to last years list). During last 12 months I saw around 100 feature films, including animations and here are my choices:

 

10. Only Lovers Left Alive review 8/10

 

Not a big fan of Jim Jarmusch. But I liked Only Lovers Left Alive very much, because it was creepy and fresh view of vampire (eternal) life. I will remember this film for a very long time, because of original ideas, good performances and terrific music.

 

9. August: Osage County review 8/10

Tracy Letts's stage adaptation has two things I enjoy most in movies: good dialogues and brilliant performances. Leaving alone everyone else in the cast, Julia Roberts and Meryl Streep deliver one of the most memorable performances lately. AOC is a movie with big names who really did big performances.

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My top 10 Directors according to their Movie Ratings

My fellow blogger Tom from At the Back came up with a brilliant idea of ranking directors according to the ratings you gave to their movies. When I did some calculations, results were quite surprising, so I decided to share them. Some of the directors, who made final top ten, are not actually qualified as my favorite ones, at least when someone asks who my favorite filmmaker is, I never say their names. 

How it works: I took a full list of my feature film (including animations) ratings from IMDB and calculated average ratings for each director. Only those with at least 5 movies in the list made final top ten.

It turns out that Steven Spielberg is the most popular director for me, because I saw 17 of his movies, followed by Martin Scorsese, Woody Allen and David Fincher with 8 films. Pete Docter (Up, Monsters Inc.) & Lee Unkrich (Finding Nemo, Toy Story 3) are the only directors who have perfect average score 10, but since I saw only two feature films of each, they did not make top ten list.

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(Top) 10 Actors Whose Careers Went Down After They Won Oscars

I can't imagine an actor not willing to win any award for their work, especially Oscar. I agree that six figure check is the best compensation, alongside the huge crowd of fans, but still - it's a great honor. Winning Academy Awards is especially crucial if it's in the beginning of your career, because it dramatically changes your chances to become a megastar. At least, this is what every Oscar nominee hopes for, but some of them maybe now willing that they never won the Gold. 

Here are the "honorable mentions":

• Kim Basinger winning for L.A. Confidential
• Roberto Benigni winning for Life is Beautiful

And the (top) 10 list:

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Top 10 Female Performances on Television of All Time

Out of 116 TV series and TV movies I've watched, I decided to choose my most favorite performances. We begin with actresses who created most iconic characters for me, delivering heartbreaking and funny performances that made me spend many long hours at the screen.

Honorable mentions:

• Lisa Kudrow Friends
• Sofia Vergara Modern Family
• Tina Fey 30 Rock
• Sarah Jessica Parker Sex and the City
• Christina Hendricks Mad Men
• Jennifer Carpenter Dexter

My top choices are:

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Top 10 Drama TV Episodes of 2013 (Excl. Breaking Bad)

2013 was a great year, many of my favorite shows premiered, or aired new seasons. Here are my top ten TV Drama episodes of 2013, which does not include any of Breaking Bad episode, because I have not watched it yet. Whenever I finish it, I know I have to updated this list, but as for now, there are my favorites:

*spoiler alarm*

American Horror Story has become one of my favorite show after terrifying first and phenomenal second season. Despite having quite mixed feelings about Coven, BITCHCRAFT was a great episode, introducing new theme of show. It is brilliant from the opening scene to the end. Bringing together new characters, telling different stories from the past and uniting them in the present.

I found BITCHCRAFT to be phenomenal start.

Under the Dome is either hated or loved. As a great fan of King, I loved this show. It had its ups and downs but final episode of season one was quite shocking. It suggest many plot twists, putting major characters in danger, turning darkness into lights etc. And most importantly, it tips very carefully about what happens in season two. Reason I liked CURTAINS is that it somehow concludes story and opens many other question for next season too. Cliffhanger in the ending is always fun to watch, especially when this cliffhanger shocks you.

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Top 10 Movies Where Bad Guy Wins

Most of movies are about endless battle between good guys and bad guys. If good guys win, we call it "Hollywood Happy End", but some films are more realistic and follow the idea that villains win too, as usual. But some movies really surprised me the way they ended. Here are my Top Ten Movies, where Bad Guys Win, eventually.

P.S. Spoiler alert.

The Wicker Man is surprisingly good movie, in any sense. Left alone the plot & cast, the last scene is definitely worth being rewatched and remembered. Killing Edward Mallus when he is trying to find "lost" daughter, was a jaw-dropping twist for me. However this is a good thing, because movie ends exactly as it's supposed to.
How it ends: Character of Nicolas Cage is killed by women settled on the island. It turns out that his daughter has never been missing and this whole story was a trap to bring a sacrifice to their gods.

In this case, it’s the suburban couple Oliver and Cheryl Lang.  Their neighbor, Michael Faraday, believes that the Langs are maniacal terrorists.
How it ends: Well, the Langs are terrorists, and after planting a bomb in the trunk of Faraday’s care that kills almost 200 people, they get away, having framed Faraday for the explosion

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Top 10 Films of Last Decade [2000-2009]

After drafting Top 10 Male and Female performances of 2000-2009, it's time for movies. My movie list is mostly based on IMDB rating I give each film after watching it. Having taken a close look at feature films premiered from 2000 to 2009, here is my TEN most favorite ones:

Moulin Rouge! is my favorite musical of all time and the second highest rated (after Les Miserables). Baz Luhrmann has managed to unite a spectacular story, with greatest visuals and beautiful music, amazing cast and heartbreaking finale in one movie masterpiece. 

A very crazy, dark comedy by insane brother Coens. Ethan and Joel are great directors, one of the greatests, each their movie is a lot enjoyable and close to perfection. However, Burn After Reading is the most extraordinary among them with delightful sense of humor, brilliant cast and perfect directing. You can't see such entertaining movie each year.

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Top 10 Male Performances of Last Decade

Here is another list of my Top Tens: Top 10 Male Performances of Last Decade (2000-2009). The list includes actors who did an outstanding acting job, created or portrayed memorable characters and generally had the best years of their careers. 

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