Entertainment Decade-ly
So, everyone and their mother in the entertainment world is putting together "best of the year" and "best of the decade" lists right now. And so, of course, being the ever-obsessed entertainment whore, I decided to put together my own Best of the 2000s lists for your enjoyment and/or mockery.
Basically, what I did was go to Wikipedia and pull up the files on movies, books, songs, and television shows that were released each year from 2000 to 2009. Then, I made the longlists. Anything that interested me at all, even a little, went on there. Obviously, it was limited to things that I had read or seen or heard; it wouldn't make much sense for me to make a list of my favorite things that include things I'd never experienced. After that, I culled it down to fifteen or so by thinking about three criteria: 1) how much of an impact did it have on me, 2) how much did I enjoy it, and 3) how was it viewed by the rest of the world. More weight was given to 1 than 2, and more to 2 than 3. A little more pondering, and I had my lists in order. I'm actually incredibly curious to see what people think, so comment away, my friends. Procrastination is everyone's best friend right now, anyway, am I right?
I'll start with the Ten Best Books of the Decade:
1. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, J.K. Rowling
2. The Time Traveler's Wife, Audrey Niffenegger
3. The Dark Tower, Stephen King
4. The Lovely Bones, Alice Sebold
5. American Gods, Neil Gaiman
6. Me Talk Pretty One Day, David Sedaris
7. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, Michael Chabon
8. Mystic River, Dennis Lehane
9. House of Leaves, Mark Z. Danielewski
10. Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, Susanna Clarke
Honorable Mention (in alphabetical order): The Amber Spyglass, Philip Pullman; Atonement, Ian McEwan; The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, Mark Haddon; The Magicians, Lev Grossman
I wish I had the time to give detailed explanations for all of them. But in lieu of that ideal, I'll simply make a few general statements for each list. With books, I think it's pretty clear that I have a thing for the magical, or at least fantasy and escapism. David Sedaris, Dennis Lehane, Ian McEwan, Mark Haddon are all somewhat more realistic than the rest, but they instead offer humor, driving narrative, strong characters, unique plot twists, and/or stylistic flair. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is standing in for the entire series, which I think I will always consider a defining element of my adolescence, as well an instant collection of literary classics of the modern era. The Dark Tower is also representing the entire set of King books (some of which were written much earlier), which are his magnum opus. It's a shame that he's considered a pop lit author because certain of his works deserve further merit and critical attention. All in all, I would re-read any of these books in a heartbeat (if I had a second to spare... life is hard, you know, with the paper-writing and list-compiling I have to do), and I'm amazed at how much wonder and heartbreak these fictive texts have brought into our world in the last ten years.
Now, the Ten Best Songs of the Decade:
1. The Killers, "Mr. Brightside"
2. Outkast, "Hey Ya!"
3. The Fray, "Over My Head (Cable Car)"
4. Lady Gaga, "Paparazzi"
5. Jack Johnson, "Sitting, Waiting, Wishing"
6. Jason Mraz, "I'm Yours"
7. Amy Winehouse, "Rehab"
8. 3 Doors Down, "Kryptonite"
9. Rihanna, "Umbrella"
10. Kanye West, "Stronger"
Honorable Mention: Coldplay, "The Scientist"; The Killers, "All These Things That I've Done"; Kings of Leon, "Use Somebody"; Maroon 5, "She Will Be Loved"; Train, "Drops of Jupiter"
This one was much more subjective than the other three, I think, but then again, it's all totally subjective, so who knows? These songs were picked for their catchiness, the quality of the vocals, the lyrics, and all the factors listed above. Yes, I know, there's a pop/hip-hop/mellow beats bias, and no rap or country or polka, but I warned you at the beginning that this was going to be about my personal interests, things I actually like. And honestly you'd have a hard time convincing me that most rap songs are, biases aside, better musically than any of these songs. That aside, these songs were picked because they were personal favorites at some point ("Kryptonite") or because they have memories tied to them that resurface with every listen ("Over My Head (Cable Car)") or because they were simply so infectious that they pervaded my thoughts against my wishes ("Umbrella").
Moving right along to the Ten Best TV Shows of the Decade:
1. Pushing Daisies
2. Lost
3. Veronica Mars
4. Glee
5. How I Met Your Mother
6. Arrested Development
7. Alias
8. 30 Rock
9. Chuck
10. Mad Men
Honorable Mention: The Amazing Race, Dead Like Me, Fringe, True Blood
This was probably the easiest one to come up with a top ten, but the most difficult to put in order once I had my ten. Even as I write this, I'm actually still re-ordering (especially in light of the sheer, perfect amazingness that was last night's episode of Glee). You'll notice a pretty even split between dramas and comedies and a bias towards the latter half of the decade (what can I say, TV just keeps getting better with time). It was very difficult to decide on an order for 1 and 2, but ultimately as much as I think Lost is the most brilliant, unique television production ever made, it doesn't have the heart and soul that made every episode of the equally innovative and gone-before-its-time Pushing Daisies an absolute joy to watch. Pushing Daisies was simply never as frustrating as Lost often is (see especially the first few episodes of Season 3 as an illustration of the occasional pointlessness of Lost). All of the shows here are vastly entertaining in their own way, and they're all worth setting aside some time each week to see them.
Oh, and a bonus section on this one--TV shows from the 2000s that I fully intend to see some day because I've heard they're amazing and/or they sound interesting to me: Bones, Psych, The Sopranos, and The Wire.
And finally, the Top Ten Movies of the Decade:
1. Pan's Labyrinth
2. The Dark Knight
3. Lord of the Rings: Return of the King
4. Amelie
5. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
6. Slumdog Millionaire
7. Juno
8. Spirited Away
9. Memento
10. Inglourious Basterds
Honorable Mention: Crash, Kill Bill Volume 2, Mean Girls, Shrek, Wall-E
Another one where it took some serious agonizing to come to a decision about the order. And it'll never really settle down, and it's not necessarily actually my ten favorite movies of the decade (Kill Bill would be top ten if that were the case) because with this one I lent more weight to general opinion than with the other three lists. Again, a lot of magic and fantasy here. I think I take the idea of escapist entertainment at its word, haha. In most of the movies I really love, there's a bright new world on the screen. There's some more serious works up there, but I think all ten have at least a bit of wonderment about them, and as with the other lists, they all bear repeat viewings. And I think that with the possible exception of Memento, they will all stand the test of time.
Well, that's that, folks. Thoughts? Seriously, comment away, share your own lists, take some time to think back over how much has changed since 2000 (example: Destiny's Child --> Beyonce), and get ready to ring in another ten years of (hopefully) awesome entertainment. I know I'll be eagerly awaiting the next thing (and from the early reviews I'm hearing, Avatar may be just that). Till it gets here, though, there's always filling in the gaps, seeing and hearing and reading the things I missed the first time around. After finishing these tricky papers, of course...
Basically, what I did was go to Wikipedia and pull up the files on movies, books, songs, and television shows that were released each year from 2000 to 2009. Then, I made the longlists. Anything that interested me at all, even a little, went on there. Obviously, it was limited to things that I had read or seen or heard; it wouldn't make much sense for me to make a list of my favorite things that include things I'd never experienced. After that, I culled it down to fifteen or so by thinking about three criteria: 1) how much of an impact did it have on me, 2) how much did I enjoy it, and 3) how was it viewed by the rest of the world. More weight was given to 1 than 2, and more to 2 than 3. A little more pondering, and I had my lists in order. I'm actually incredibly curious to see what people think, so comment away, my friends. Procrastination is everyone's best friend right now, anyway, am I right?
I'll start with the Ten Best Books of the Decade:
1. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, J.K. Rowling
2. The Time Traveler's Wife, Audrey Niffenegger
3. The Dark Tower, Stephen King
4. The Lovely Bones, Alice Sebold
5. American Gods, Neil Gaiman
6. Me Talk Pretty One Day, David Sedaris
7. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, Michael Chabon
8. Mystic River, Dennis Lehane
9. House of Leaves, Mark Z. Danielewski
10. Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, Susanna Clarke
Honorable Mention (in alphabetical order): The Amber Spyglass, Philip Pullman; Atonement, Ian McEwan; The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, Mark Haddon; The Magicians, Lev Grossman
I wish I had the time to give detailed explanations for all of them. But in lieu of that ideal, I'll simply make a few general statements for each list. With books, I think it's pretty clear that I have a thing for the magical, or at least fantasy and escapism. David Sedaris, Dennis Lehane, Ian McEwan, Mark Haddon are all somewhat more realistic than the rest, but they instead offer humor, driving narrative, strong characters, unique plot twists, and/or stylistic flair. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is standing in for the entire series, which I think I will always consider a defining element of my adolescence, as well an instant collection of literary classics of the modern era. The Dark Tower is also representing the entire set of King books (some of which were written much earlier), which are his magnum opus. It's a shame that he's considered a pop lit author because certain of his works deserve further merit and critical attention. All in all, I would re-read any of these books in a heartbeat (if I had a second to spare... life is hard, you know, with the paper-writing and list-compiling I have to do), and I'm amazed at how much wonder and heartbreak these fictive texts have brought into our world in the last ten years.
Now, the Ten Best Songs of the Decade:
1. The Killers, "Mr. Brightside"
2. Outkast, "Hey Ya!"
3. The Fray, "Over My Head (Cable Car)"
4. Lady Gaga, "Paparazzi"
5. Jack Johnson, "Sitting, Waiting, Wishing"
6. Jason Mraz, "I'm Yours"
7. Amy Winehouse, "Rehab"
8. 3 Doors Down, "Kryptonite"
9. Rihanna, "Umbrella"
10. Kanye West, "Stronger"
Honorable Mention: Coldplay, "The Scientist"; The Killers, "All These Things That I've Done"; Kings of Leon, "Use Somebody"; Maroon 5, "She Will Be Loved"; Train, "Drops of Jupiter"
This one was much more subjective than the other three, I think, but then again, it's all totally subjective, so who knows? These songs were picked for their catchiness, the quality of the vocals, the lyrics, and all the factors listed above. Yes, I know, there's a pop/hip-hop/mellow beats bias, and no rap or country or polka, but I warned you at the beginning that this was going to be about my personal interests, things I actually like. And honestly you'd have a hard time convincing me that most rap songs are, biases aside, better musically than any of these songs. That aside, these songs were picked because they were personal favorites at some point ("Kryptonite") or because they have memories tied to them that resurface with every listen ("Over My Head (Cable Car)") or because they were simply so infectious that they pervaded my thoughts against my wishes ("Umbrella").
Moving right along to the Ten Best TV Shows of the Decade:
1. Pushing Daisies
2. Lost
3. Veronica Mars
4. Glee
5. How I Met Your Mother
6. Arrested Development
7. Alias
8. 30 Rock
9. Chuck
10. Mad Men
Honorable Mention: The Amazing Race, Dead Like Me, Fringe, True Blood
This was probably the easiest one to come up with a top ten, but the most difficult to put in order once I had my ten. Even as I write this, I'm actually still re-ordering (especially in light of the sheer, perfect amazingness that was last night's episode of Glee). You'll notice a pretty even split between dramas and comedies and a bias towards the latter half of the decade (what can I say, TV just keeps getting better with time). It was very difficult to decide on an order for 1 and 2, but ultimately as much as I think Lost is the most brilliant, unique television production ever made, it doesn't have the heart and soul that made every episode of the equally innovative and gone-before-its-time Pushing Daisies an absolute joy to watch. Pushing Daisies was simply never as frustrating as Lost often is (see especially the first few episodes of Season 3 as an illustration of the occasional pointlessness of Lost). All of the shows here are vastly entertaining in their own way, and they're all worth setting aside some time each week to see them.
Oh, and a bonus section on this one--TV shows from the 2000s that I fully intend to see some day because I've heard they're amazing and/or they sound interesting to me: Bones, Psych, The Sopranos, and The Wire.
And finally, the Top Ten Movies of the Decade:
1. Pan's Labyrinth
2. The Dark Knight
3. Lord of the Rings: Return of the King
4. Amelie
5. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
6. Slumdog Millionaire
7. Juno
8. Spirited Away
9. Memento
10. Inglourious Basterds
Honorable Mention: Crash, Kill Bill Volume 2, Mean Girls, Shrek, Wall-E
Another one where it took some serious agonizing to come to a decision about the order. And it'll never really settle down, and it's not necessarily actually my ten favorite movies of the decade (Kill Bill would be top ten if that were the case) because with this one I lent more weight to general opinion than with the other three lists. Again, a lot of magic and fantasy here. I think I take the idea of escapist entertainment at its word, haha. In most of the movies I really love, there's a bright new world on the screen. There's some more serious works up there, but I think all ten have at least a bit of wonderment about them, and as with the other lists, they all bear repeat viewings. And I think that with the possible exception of Memento, they will all stand the test of time.
Well, that's that, folks. Thoughts? Seriously, comment away, share your own lists, take some time to think back over how much has changed since 2000 (example: Destiny's Child --> Beyonce), and get ready to ring in another ten years of (hopefully) awesome entertainment. I know I'll be eagerly awaiting the next thing (and from the early reviews I'm hearing, Avatar may be just that). Till it gets here, though, there's always filling in the gaps, seeing and hearing and reading the things I missed the first time around. After finishing these tricky papers, of course...