Seanan McGuire (seanan_mcguire) wrote,
Seanan McGuire
seanan_mcguire

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The best of 2010: cinematic media edition.

So, like, disclaimers and stuff: this post, more than almost any other, represents 100% personal opinion, do not pass go, do not collect two hundred dollars. I am not drawing from critical sources, focus groups, or anything but my own impressions of things. This means you may disagree with me, and that's totally cool. Just be aware that I speak not from a position of on high, but from a position of "that weird girl who likes weird stuff sometimes."

With all that out of the way, I present...

Seanan's Best Cinematic Media Moments of 2010.

***

Movies.

I went to surprisingly few movies in 2010...or maybe not surprising, if you factor in how insanely busy I've been. Yes, there are some Syfy Originals in here. No, I have no regrets. And so...

Best Horror Movie: The Crazies. Yes, I'm opening my list with a remake. No, I don't care. I probably watched this movie differently than most of the target audience, since I was rooting for the government quarantine squad (good job wiping out mankind, heroes), but I loved it all the same.

Best Bad Horror Movie: Sharktopus. Shut up. And Dinoshark takes a close second place, in part because Dinoshark himself was hanging out on Twitter for a while.

Better Than I Expected: Resident Evil: Afterlife. Did I hate Resident Evil: Extinction? Why, yes. Yes, I did. Did I go to Resident Evil: Afterlife expecting to be horribly disappointed? Again, yes. So when the movie wasn't horrible, I was pleasantly surprised.

Most Unexpected Pleasure: She's Out of My League. This was one of the movies available on my flight to Australia. I watched it on a whim...and I loved it. Seriously, it was sweet and funny and fun, despite all the requisite sex comedy embarrassment jokes. There's one sequence I couldn't watch (the Chasing Amy problem), but it was otherwise awesome.

Best Animated Feature: Tangled. Hate the title, love the film. I cried, and I'm not ashamed to admit it.

Most Unmitigated Fun: Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. I'm totally adding this to my list of "movies to watch when you need to be cheered up, lest all humanity feel your undying wrath." Seriously adorable.

Best Comedy: Easy A. Possibly the tamest teen sex comedy ever made, in terms of actual amounts of sex and naughtiness, but the cast was awesome, the script was great, and Emma Stone nailed it. So much win.

Best Movie I Saw In 2010: How to Train Your Dragon. It doesn't take "Best Animated" because it was just plain the best movie of the year, at least for me. Forget genre labels. Hiccup and Toothless rocked. Thank you, Chris Saunders.

***

Television.

I may not have seen that many movies, but wow, did I watch a lot of television. I have no regrets.

Best New Doctor: Eleven. Oh, Matt Smith, never leave us. You make bow ties cool.

Best Surprise Upset On a Reality Show: Did anyone see Lauren winning this season of So You Think You Can Dance? You made my inner Verity proud, lady.

Best New Show: Tower Prep. Beginning to end, this show nailed it, and the thought that we might not get a season two makes my knees go weak. Seriously, if you have the opportunity to catch up, take it.

Most Unexpected New Obsession: Phineas and Ferb. STOP JUDGING ME.

Most Unexpected Loss of Give-a-Shit: The Wizards of Waverly Place. I hate everything about the new season (well, everything except the permanent addition of Mason to the main cast). The current plot arc is terrifying in its social implications, and no amount of sparkly candy coating can change that.

Best Unadulterated Fun: Warehouse 13. It's like a delicious can of whipped cream. The whipped cream is cursed. But it's sooooooo tasty.

Best Single Episode: We have a tie! Between "The Pandorica Opens" (Doctor Who) and "Entrada" (Fringe). I love me some science fiction.

Worst Second Season: Glee. It's gone from "must see TV" to "only if it doesn't conflict with something that doesn't make me cringe constantly." Get it together, people.

Best Season Finale: Another tie! Between "Fathers" (Tower Prep) and "The San Lorenzo Job" (Leverage). Nicely done, gentlemen. Nicely done.

Best Show of the Year: Fringe. Beautifully played, from the end of season two in the summer through to the first half of season three in the fall. I can't wait to see what happens next.

***

Next up, books, comics, and anything else I think of that needs listing. (Best Kitten of 2010: Thomas!)

What were your bests of 2010?
Tags: at the movies, making lists, too much tv
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  • 88 comments
Based on what I've seen so far:

Best Movie: Inception
Best Non-Genre Movie: The Social Network
Best Animated: Toy Story 3
Best Unexpected Pleasure, Television: Mike and Molly
Best Movie Quote: "Mark, you're going to spend the rest of your life thinking that women don't like you because you're a nerd. I tell you from the bottom of my heart, that's not true. It's because you're an asshole." - from Aaron Sorkin's brilliant script to "The Social Network"


In in complete agreement with you on Fringe, Matt Smith (with a Best New Companions to Amy and Rory), Warehouse 13, and Lauren (though I did think of her as a contender starting at about week 4). I partially agree on Best Single Episode - I think of "The Pandorica Opens" and "The Big Bang" as one episode, and as much as I loved season 3 so far, my favorite Fringe of the year is "Peter".
See, I really thought they were setting Lauren up for a second place, with Kent for the win. I was pleasantly surprised!
Oh, I'm sure the producers have favorites, and try to slant things towards those favorites. But I'm also pretty sure the voting itself is honest, and the producers don't always get what they want. It looked to me like Nigel's Season 5 displeasure with their inability to get rid of Evan was all too real.
Absolutely. I really do think that's why Ryan got cut, and then never returned.