The A.V. Club - Best Of The Decade

Best Of The Decade: Newswire: See a trailer for the My Year Of Flops book. Also, see Nathan Rabin in person.

Mon, 25 Oct 2010 16:21:00 -0500

You've heard about the My Year Of Flops book. But have you seen the trailer? Probably not! The book is out now and you can order an autographed copy here. (Or, if you prefer a version untouched by Nathan's hands, go here.) Also, if you live in Chicago, New York, Milwaukee, Madison, or Detroit, you can see Nathan in person on these dates. He will sign your book and regale you with stories, and that's an A.V. Club guarantee. October 27 DEPAUL UNIVERSITY BOOKSTORE 1 East Jackson Boulevard Chicago, IL 6:00PM (Joint appearance with Maria ...

Best Of The Decade: Feature: The best films of the '00s

Thu, 03 Dec 2009 00:00:00 -0600

The scene was not unlike 12 Angry Men (or, in this case, 3 Shlubby Men, 1 Exasperated Woman, And A Dude On Speaker Phone From Arkansas): Armed with lists of their favorite movies of the decade, the five core A.V. Club film writers spent days sequestered in a stuffy, un-air-conditioned room—okay, it was actually just a few hours, and we were comfortable—in an effort to forge consensus on the Top 50 films of the ’00s. The result: A ranked list that is in no way arbitrary and will serve as the canonical standard for decades to come ...

Best Of The Decade: Feature: Almost the best films of the '00s: orphans and personal favorites

Thu, 03 Dec 2009 00:00:00 -0600

With only 50 titles making the big list, a lot of great films wound up on the cutting-room floor, including many that ranked high on our individual lists, but didn’t find consensus support. Here are 25 more films (five apiece) that appeared on one film writer's list, but no others: NOEL MURRAY American Splendor (2003) Faced with the challenge of adapting comic-book writer Harvey Pekar’s life and work (which in many ways are one and the same), writer-directors Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini smartly zero in on several anecdotes about Pekar losing his voice, literally and ...

Best Of The Decade: Feature: The best bad movies of the ’00s

Wed, 02 Dec 2009 00:00:00 -0600

As we honor the best films of the decade, let us not forgot those who also played their part in making the decade memorable. Here are our picks for the most entertaining bad movies produced in the ’00s. 15. The Perfect Man (2005) Ah, the zeitgeist: So ever-present and yet so elusive. Hence this 2005 movie, which tried to update Cyrano De Bergerac for the Internet age. Well, sort of. Sparkly-skinned teen sensation Hilary Duff plays Cyrano to her single mom Heather Locklear (presumably chosen because there aren’t that many name actresses not big enough to star in their ...

Best Of The Decade: Feature: Our favorite film scenes of the ’00s

Wed, 02 Dec 2009 00:00:00 -0600

We're not going to try to come up with a comprehensive list of this decade's best scenes. Instead we asked each of our core movie writers to share the scenes they'll never forget and explain why. Noel Murray “Cousins?,” Coffee And Cigarettes (2003) Jim Jarmusch’s Coffee & Cigarettes strings together a series of disconnected scenes in which celebrities play “themselves” and interact in short conversations about fame, food, music, and intoxicants. The best of the bunch? A chat between Alfred Molina and Steve Coogan that has the former fawning over the latter (“Shall I be mother?” Molina ...

Best Of The Decade: Feature: The best film performances of the ’00s

Tue, 01 Dec 2009 00:00:00 -0600

A gigolo, a cowboy, an academic, a barber, an addict, a long-strawed consumer of your milkshake—these are just a few of the indelible characters given life by our favorite performances of the ‘00s. The five core A.V. Club film writers only found universal agreement on #1, but it was not hard to coalesce around the 20 lead or supporting players that made the strongest impression on us. 20. Anne Hathaway as Kym, Rachel Getting Married (2008) Princess Diaries star Anne Hathaway established her credentials as a serious actress with a devastating lead performance in Rachel Getting Married as ...

Best Of The Decade: Feature: The best books of the ’00s

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 00:02:00 -0600

Anyone looking for trends in our selection of the best books of the ’00s might have a hard time finding them amid the wizards, 19th-century serial killers, dysfunctional families and such. Narrowing down our decisions was pretty tough, and the process required a number of back-and-forths about what was significant as well as beautifully executed, which book from a given author represented his or her best of the decade, and so on. So consider these alphabetically listed selections 30 of the many, many memorable books published this decade, and as always, let us know what we missed. Non-fiction: Devil In ...

Best Of The Decade: Feature: The 10 best short-story collections of the ’00s

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 00:01:00 -0600

Not all the action in the ’00s was in novels and non-fiction books, so here’s a selection of the decade’s best short-form collections. Pastoralia, George Saunders (2000) George Saunders’ prose is a rare thing: It’s deftly funny while deeply perceptive about human nature. His Pastoralia collects a series of stories set in a vague future that could pop up years from now or tomorrow, a place where consumerism and corporate culture account for nearly all human interaction. It could be kind of a drag, or it could be the latest failed spin on Orwellian fear-mongering, but somehow ...

Best Of The Decade: Comics Panel: The best comics of the ’00s

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0600

The ’00s were a turbulent time for the comic-book business, as mainstream publishers like DC and Marvel suffered the sales declines affecting nearly all print-purveyors, while publishers of what used to be known as “alternative” comics saw some of their products hitting bestseller lists and turning up on the front page of The New York Times Book Review. Superheroes were more popular at the multiplex, but in terms of readership and buzz, the story of the decade was how a handful of high-profile non-genre books helped advance the medium’s standing in literary society. And there were other big stories ...

Best Of The Decade: Feature: The 15 best videogames of the ’00s

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 00:01:00 -0600

We keep coming back to videogames for the same reasons we always have. Or do we? Games in 2009 look considerably different now than they did in 2000, and not just because the graphics have improved. What was once a lonely pursuit has gotten social, whether by way of a party-friendly round of Rock Band or a late-night online session of Modern Warfare. The thrills have gotten more complicated, too. Even the shoot-’em-ups aren’t just about shooting ’em up anymore. (Or at least not shooting ’em up without some careful planning.) As the ’00s close, The A.V ...

Best Of The Decade: Best of: Best music: the orphans

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 15:00:00 -0600

Our list of the decade’s best music naturally didn’t cover every album our music writers loved in the ’00s, so we’re giving them the chance to big-up their personal favorites here—these are the discs that didn’t make our big list, but that nevertheless are worthy of your attention. Unless otherwise noted, these are presented in chronological order; the authors want you to love them all equally. JASON HELLER Botch, We Are The Romans (2000) 10 tracks - We Are The Romans (Deluxe Edition) (2xCD) by Botch Released on New Year’s Day, 2000, Botch’s full-length ...

Best Of The Decade: Best of: The best music of the decade

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 14:00:00 -0600

For our best-of-the-decade music list, it was more about the gut than the strict math we use to determine the best albums of each year. We took a general poll of our music writers, then whittled things down to a manageable number, then talked some more about what should go where. It probably doesn’t need saying that not everyone will agree with these choices, but that’s what the comments are for—let us know what your favorite records were from 2000-2009. (Try and make an intelligent case that doesn’t start with “You guys are retards!” if you ...

Best Of The Decade: Best of: The decade’s best metal

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 11:45:00 -0600

Around this time every month, The A.V. Club forgets to lock its back door, and Texas-dwelling scumbag Leonard Pierce lets all of his disreputable longhair friends in to spike the water cooler with SoCo and listen to thrash until someone calls security. This month, however, is different. This month, as part of The A.V. Club’s wide-ranging end-of-year coverage of the best culture of the decade, Metal Box forsakes its usual barely coherent ramblings and focuses on the best metal releases of the 21st century. So grab a pen, look up your local record store (it’s a ...

Best Of The Decade: Best of: The best electronic music of the ’00s

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0600

The past decade in electronic music has been fitful and fruitful, with slews of new sounds and progress both big and small. Here’s an attempt to take stock of some of the main movements and the albums that attended them. (Some of the biggest ones appear in our upcoming Top 50 Albums Of The ’00s list, so take this list as an addendum.) Various artists, Clicks + Cuts (Mille Plateaux, 2000) The prevalence of minimalism in sounds of all kinds was the biggest story in electronic music throughout the 2000s. It served as a specific distinction in various styles that ...

Best Of The Decade: Best of: The best comedy albums of the decade

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 13:40:00 -0600

The ’00s will likely be remembered as the era “alternative comedy” broke. After the boom and bust of stand-up in the ’80s and the distinctly Seinfeld-ian ’90s, a new generation of smartasses arrived to stretch the limits and help redefine it. David Cross proved stand-up didn’t need to be performed in traditional two-drink-minimum comedy clubs. Neil Hamburger created comedy that’s funny because it’s so incredibly not funny. Mike Birbiglia went from traditional stand-up to a storytelling format that became one-man shows. Scharpling & Wurster reignited the radio comedy of days gone by. And Tenacious D and Flight Of ...

Best Of The Decade: Feature: The best TV series of the ’00s

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0600

1. The Wire (HBO, 2002-08) Taking full advantage of the generous breadth of the television format—and HBO’s commitment to ambitious, form-expanding programming—The Wire unfolded like a great American novel, trusting viewers to pick up on the intricate connections between seasons, characters, and myriad details. Starting as an impressively scrupulous, evenhanded depiction of the Baltimore drug trade, the show opened up into an ever-expanding portrait of a city, one weakened institution at a time, from the unions to the schools to the newspaper business. At every turn, Simon and his crack team of writers (including crime novelists George ...

Best Of The Decade: Feature: The best TV episodes of the decade (from shows not on any of our other lists)

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0600

Sex And The City, “Easy Come, Easy Go” (August 6, 2000) Several years removed from its heyday, it’s easy to spot the flaws in HBO’s fairy tale about a single girl in the big city. The much-lauded dialogue feels creaky with age—less witty repartee and more a stereotypical vision of how sophisticated women might gab about their lewdest moments. But it’s also hard to ignore Sex And The City’s cultural impact. It was one of the shows that vaulted HBO to the top of the heap, and fizzy episodes like “Easy Come, Easy Go”—in ...

Best Of The Decade: Feature: The best reality series/competitions of the ’00s

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 12:00:00 -0600

1. Top Chef/Project Runway (Bravo, 2006-present/Bravo & Lifetime, 2004-present) After America’s Next Top Model showed that there was an audience for a TV show about the fashion industry, Project Runway proved that ANTM fans weren’t just looking at the pretty girls, but also the clothes. The basic Project Runway formula—sleep-deprived, half-drunk professionals competing in impossible challenges and displaying remarkable creativity—has remained durable even when the designers aren’t the most talented. Yet in terms of quality competition and heated drama, Project Runway has been outpaced by the similar Top Chef, which replaces struggling fashion designers ...

Best Of The Decade: Feature: The best made-for-TV movies/miniseries of the ’00s

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 11:57:00 -0600

1. Generation Kill (HBO, 2008) It’s no coincidence that this intense, impressive seven-episode look at the early days of the Iraq War was the work of the men who made The Wire; the two projects share the same love of internal argot, the same sensitivity to men doing a dangerous job that some of them don’t really believe in, and most of all, the same cutting perspective on how those at the bottom of a broken system are perpetually frustrated by the bad decisions of those at the top. Embedded reporter Evan Wright was the perfect choice for ...

Best Of The Decade: Feature: The best late-night comedy/talk shows of the ’00s

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 11:09:00 -0600

1. The Daily Show/The Colbert Report (Comedy Central, 1996-present/2005-present) Comedy fans and policy wonks can bicker all they want about whether The Daily Show is better than The Colbert Report or vice versa, but doesn’t everyone watch the two as a package? The Daily Show is more direct about its political commentary, to the extent that in the waning days of the Bush administration, the show briefly became an unappealing gloat-fest, more interested in making the studio audience whoop than in making them think. But that was just a brief speed bump. In the first half of ...