The Best Movies Ever? No Way!

Rotten Tomatoes has a list of the best fifty movies ever. Normally, I like these types of lists, but this one is terrible. I honestly think it is the worst best list ever (yes, I meant to say that). Here are their top ten picks from that list. Tell me if you agree with me or if you think their list is just fine:

1. A Hard Day's Night (1964)

2. The Third Man (1949)

3. The Wizard of Oz (1939)

4. Modern Times (1936)

5. The Godfather (1972)

6. Dr. Strangelove (1964)

7. King Kong (1933)

8. Metropolis (1927)

9. All About Eve (1950)

10. Singing in the Rain (1952)

A bad list, right?! That's not to say there aren't some good movies on this list, but these are supposed to be the best movies EVER. Really?! By the way, only one movie from the past decade made the cut for the entire top fifty. Was it Lord of the Rings? The Dark Knight? WALL*E? No, it was Man on Wire (#28). Hmmm.... A rotten tomato for Rotten Tomatoes on this one.

Conan Has a Concussion and Other TV News

The start of the television season is busy and there are a lot of things going on. Here are just some of the highlights:

* Conan slipped and fell and hit his head hard on the floor while filming a triathlon skit with Teri Hatcher for The Tonight Show Friday night. She reports that he has a concussion. The show was cancelled and Conan went to the hospital by ambulance. He is expected to be back at work today.

* Good news for some new series: NCIS: Los Angeles, The Good Wife, Modern Family, FlashForward, and Cougar Town. All had strong ratings in their debut episodes.

* The Emmy Awards had 1 million more viewers this year compared to last and host Neil Patrick Harris has been unanimously praised for his opening number, quick wit, and likeable presence.

* The Jay Leno Show started with high ratings (18 million viewers), but has now slipped to average nightly viewership of around 5-6 million per night. This still is likely to make the show profitable for the network because of the low costs, though.

* The first casualty of the new season was Ashton Kutcher's The Beautiful Life starring Mischa Barton. It pulled in a meager 1.1 million viewers and was cancelled after only the second episode.

* Dancing with the Stars still pulls in ridiculously good ratings, while the vastly superior So You Think You Can Dance can never quite catch fire, bringing in less than a third of the numbers of its competitor.

The Amazing Race is Back

The Amazing Race picked up its seventy consecutive Emmy for best reality show last week--and there's a reason for that! It really is an incredibly good show that is well-worth watching. Here is a preview of what you can expect from the 15th season of the show:

* For the first time, a team gets eliminated a few yards from the starting gate.

* The teams fly from L.A. to Tokyo where they must eat a Wasabi-bomb that horrifies the Japanese people watching.

* Contestants have to herd 2,000 ducks in Vietnam.

* They have to build a 5-foot tall snowman in the scorching heat of Dubai.

* The race takes place over 3 weeks with practically no break from the action.

* Among the contestants are two Harlem Globetrotters and a guy with Asperger's named Zev.

It starts tonight at 8pm on CBS. Definitely worth checking out!

Who's the Greatest Working Film Director? Round Nine: Sam Mendes vs. Wes Anderson

Today, we compare the work of two well-respected directors who have produced some good work over the past decade. Wes Anderson has given us some quirky, fun stuff, while Sam Mendes has produced some major emotional intensity onscreen. Here's how their best three films of the past decade stack up:

Round Nine:

Sam Mendes

Road to Perdition (2002) - 72

Revolutionary Road (2008) - 67

Jarhead (2005) - 58

Average: 66

Wes Anderson

The Royal Tenenbaums (2001) - 75

Darjeeling Limited (2007) - 67

The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004) - 62

Average: 68

So Wes Anderson squeaks by with a narrow victory over a strong opponent. Neither looks to be in the running for the top ten, however. Come back next week for our final round before we wrap this series up.

10 New Albums to Check Out This Fall

The crop of new music in the coming months looks a little stronger than the first part of the year. So far, we have not had a banner year for great music. Excluding American Idol albums, here are ten worth checking out:

New Moon Soundtrack (10/20) - Really? Yes, really. Why? Because it features music from Death Cab for Cutie, Thom Yorke (Radiohead), Bon Iver, Muse, and The Killers, among others.

The Roots (10/20) - The Legendary Roots Crew is back at it with their first CD since taking the Jimmy Fallon gig.

Flight of the Conchords (10/20) -What can I say? It should be big fun.

The Swell Season (10/27) - Remember the Once soundtrack? Glen Hansgard and Marketa Irglova return after basking in Oscar glory.

Michael Jackson Remixes (10/27) - Twelve well-known producers like Paul Oakenfold and the Neptunes remix MJ's classics.

Glee: The Music (11/3) - I predict this will turn out to be an unexpectedly big seller for the fall.

Norah Jones (11/17) - The woman with the beautiful voice is sounding strong on this new CD.

OneRepublic (11/17) - Expect this one to be a huge hit--and a very well-produced album.

Justin Bieber (11/17) - He's hugely talented and he's soon to be the biggest thing since the invention of Hannah Montana among the tween girl set.

John Mayer (11/17) - The multiple Grammy winner's latest should stand out on this very big day of album releases.

House Jumps the Shark

Last night's season opener of House was a pure stinker and undoubtedly the worst episode ever for the series. There wasn't an honest emotional moment during its never-ending two hours. The depiction of mental illness and mental health care seemed painfully stuck in the 1970's Cuckoo Nest with a bunch of cartoonish, two-dimensional characters. And the nice, tidy re-birthday changes that House and all the rest experienced were, well, let's just say weak.

I couldn't believe my eyes when the little music box brought the woman back to life. What a miracle! To say the episode was a cliché-fest is a remarkable understatement. I would also think House rapping onstage has got to be a low-water mark for Hugh Laurie. Maybe this episode can all be just one of House's hallucinations and everything will be right with the world again.

The only saving grace of the entire LONG night was Andre Braugher, who has screen presence to burn. But the writers couldn't resist wrecking that character with the hokey scene where he invites House to his dad's hospital room for a second opinion. House realizes he is the man's only friend in the world. What a touching moment (for me to poop on). Still, someone needs to give Braugher his own show pronto! Or at least invite him back to an episode that is actually well-written.

Call me crazy, but when the preview at the end of the show called this "The best season of House ever," for some paranoid reason, I didn't believe it. What a rough start. I really like the show, but if I'm being honest, I'll have to give the opener a D+.

Best Actors for the Buck

Forbes took a look at the 100 biggest film stars who had been in at least three movies over the past five years, not counting animated voice work. Then they calculated the movie's cost, the movie's earnings, and came up with a figure for return on investment for the actor's salary. Here's their list of best actors for the buck, along with one of their films:

1. Shia LaBeouf - Indiana Jones IV

2. James McAvoy - Wanted

3. Michael Cera - Superbad

4. Christian Bale - The Dark Knight

5. Daniel Radcliffe - Harry Potter

6. Robert Downey Jr. - Iron Man

7. Javier Bardem - No Country for Old Men

8. Ryan Reynolds - The Proposal

9. Christian Bale - The Dark Knight

10. Aaron Eckhart - The Dark Knight

Who's the Greatest Working Film Director? Round Eight: Michael Mann vs. David Fincher

This week we take at two well-respected American directors who have given us some terrific films over the years. Michael Mann's work has ranged from biopic (Ali) to thriller (Collateral), while David Fincher has made films that range from terrifying (Panic Room) to sentimental (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button). Here's how there recent work stacks up against each other:

Round Eight:

Michael Mann

Collateral (2004) - 71

Public Enemies (2009) - 70

Miami Vice (2006) & Ali (2001) - 65 (tie)

Average: 69

David Fincher

Zodiac (2007) - 78

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008) - 70

Panic Room (2002) - 65

Average: 71

David Fincher wins the round, but his score isn't high enough to put him in the top ten so far. We've got two more rounds to go, so come back next week for more.

12 Actors or Actresses with Serious Oscar Buzz

It may be too early to know, but there are already some actors and actresses who are already generating some online buzz for their onscreen performances. Here are a dozen of them:

George Clooney - for both Up in the Air and The Men Who Stare at Goats

Carey Mulligan - for An Education

Christoph Waltz - for Inglorious Basterds

Matt Damon - for The Informant!

Meryl Streep - for Julie & Julia

Paul Bettany - for Creation

Vera Famiga - for Up in the Air

Alfred Molina - for An Education

Mo'Nique - for Precious

Viggo Mortensen - for The Road

Brad Pitt - for Inglorious Basterds

Sharlto Copley - for District 9

Which American Idol Album Will Sell Best This Fall

Eight American Idol contestants have albums scheduled for release in the next few months. Here's my prediction for the order in which they will all shake out in album sales:

1. Carrie Underwood (Nov. 3) - her third album should be a monster. Expect this to be a big seller.

2. Adam Lambert (Nov. 24) - I don't predict Daughtry-level sales, but maybe close. I think it will be big. A single from the 2012 soundtrack with some early great buzz should help generate even more excitement about the album.

3. Kris Allen (Nov. 17) - this could be hit or miss. If it is one of those schmaltzy, sappy Idol albums, it will do poorly. If they let him do his thing (think of the acoustic version of Heartless or his cover of She Works Hard for the Money), it could do well.

4. Jason Castro (Nov. 17) - going head to head with Kris Allen may be a gamble, but the early word on this album is that it has the potential to be excellent. He has the power of a major label and some top-drawer producers in his corner. It could do surprisingly well.

5. David Archuleta (Oct 13) - a safe album of traditional Christmas classics. A decent number of people will pick it up. It's nothing that anyone will get too worked up over.

6. Allison Iraheta (Nov. 10) - no one knows much about what direction she has decided to take this album. There is little buzz. It should sell fair, but not well.

7. Blake Lewis (Oct. 6) - talented guy with a potential excellent album, but the Tommy Boy label suggests it is headed for limited sales.

8. Katherine McPhee (Oct. 6) - meh. She seems like a lovely person, though.

The Jay Leno Show: First Night Review

Here's a rundown of the show, one element at a time:

* The show opens with an incredibly understated, fairly lame intro package that does nothing to inspire confidence that this is going to be a good night. I'm already feeling nervous about this.

* The set looks nice and classy. Good to see Kevin Eubanks back.

* Leno comes right out and does the monologue and is loose and in good form. Standard Leno material.

* Cut to a Cheaters skit that is predictable but fairly funny.

* Leno intros a package by comic Dan Finnerty who sings a lady through her car wash experience. It doesn't sound like a good idea, but it completely works. It is the first great moment of the night, though it may have gone on just a little too long.

* Seinfeld is the first guest. He is pretty funny and having him and Leno sit in two big chairs (instead of behind a desk with a couch to the side) works well. Nice surprise appearance from Oprah.

* The Obama "interview" is standard Tonight Show fare, but was worth a couple of laughs.

* Kanye West comes out for an INCREDIBLY awkward interview. West seems contrite, but it has that Michael-Richards-awkwardly-apologizing-too-soon vibe to it. It's clear he has a lot of work to do to get his head on straight. Still, it is news-worthy and undoubtedly drew a crowd.

* The musical number by Rihanna, Jay-Z, and Kanye is very good.

* I love Headlines, what can I say? I think that means I'm officially old.

The whole affair felt mostly familiar. It felt more like The Tonight Show than different from it, but it seems like a show that can work in prime time. There were definitely laughs tonight and some good material. There is room to grow, but this was a solid--though safe and familiar--debut. (B+)

Woo Hoo! More TV to Watch!

Both Glee and So You Think You Can Dance kicked off their seasons last week and now its time for even more mind-numbing, life-wasting television as some of our favorites return. Not only that, there are a handful of new shows that might tempt you to give up another hour a week of your life. Personally, it looks like I've got about 6 hours of TV watching per week. Here's the rundown of what's coming up in the next month:

Thurs., 9/17

Survivor Samoa (8pm, CBS)

The Office (9pm, NBC)

Fringe (9pm, FOX)

Mon., 9/21

House (8pm, FOX)

Thurs., 9/24

CSI (9pm, CBS)

Fri., 9/25

Law & Order (8pm, NBC)

Smallville (8pm, CW)

Sat., 9/26

SNL (11:30pm, NBC)

Sun., 9/27

The Amazing Race (8pm, CBS)

And here are five new shows you may want to consider adding to the DVR schedule:

The Jay Leno Show - starting 9/14 at 10pm on NBC

Community - following The Office on 9/17 at 9:30pm on NBC

NCIS: Los Angeles - starting on 9/22 at 9pm on CBS

Flash Forward - starting on 9/24 at 8pm on ABC

Trauma - starting on 9/28 at 9pm on NBC

Kanye West Acts Like a Jerk at MTV Music Video Awards

If you don't know why, here's MTV's own account and you can check out this link...

...or this one...

...or this one...

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...or this one...

...or this one...

...or this one...

...or this one...

...or this one...

...or this one...

...or this one...

Yuck! What a ridiculous, selfish, rude thing to do. I will never buy another Kanye CD, song, or video ever again. Let's hope others do the same. My blog moved over 20,000 unique visitors this month which might not make a huge dent in record sales, but I hope other bloggers take the same view.

Congrats to Taylor Swift for her win and her great (though previous recorded) performance following her abusive treatment onstage. She is a classy and talented young woman and I WILL buy her next CD.

Updated 11:15pm - Lots of respect for Beyoncé for her classy move by giving her time following her Video of the Year Award to Taylor Swift. She earns about a million cool points.

Who's the Greatest Working Film Director? Round Seven: Ron Howard vs. Ridley Scott

In this week's round, we compare the recent work of two populist directors who have done some excellent work over the years. Ridley Scott has been nominated for three directing Oscars. Ron Howard has been nominated twice and won once (he won a second for producing). Here's how there best three films of the past decade were rated by metacritic:

Round Seven:

Ridley Scott

American Gangster (2007) - 76

Black Hawk Down (2001) - 74

Gladiator (2000) - 64

Average: 71

Ron Howard

Frost/Nixon (2008) - 80

A Beautiful Mind (2001) - 72

Cinderella Man (2005) - 69

Average: 74

Ron Howard wins this round. And by the way, I thought Cinderella Man was way underrated. It was one of the better movies of the past five years and, for some reason, it was highly undervalued. If you haven't seen it, you should check it out.

Ellen Replaces Paula on American Idol

In a press release from Fox and the producers of the show, it was announced today that Ellen Degeneres will be the new fourth judge on this season's American Idol. Degeneres, who describes herself as a longtime fan of the show, will replace Paula Abdul who left the show after a salary dispute.

There have been several guest judges that will lead up to Ellen's debut as the permanent judge for this season and perhaps beyond. In case you missed it, here is a list of the guest judges this season:

Neil Patrick Harris

Katy Perry

Mary J. Blige

Shania Twain

Kristin Chenoweth

Joe Jonas

Victoria Beckham

Avril Lavigne

Summer Movies: Does Quality Make a Difference at the Box Office?

I took the top twenty grossing films of the past summer, which combined brought in more than $3.2 billion during a period of recession, and compared them to their Metacritic and Rotten Tomatoes scores to see if there was a connection between their rating of quality (the Metacritic or RT score) and how much money they generated. In other words, as the film's quality increased, did the box office also increase? Or was it the other way around? Was it important for people to see a good movie--or would they be content with mindless summer fare?

The results say that there was a weak and insignificant relationship between a movie's critical acclaim and how much it makes at the box office (r=.35 for you stat nerds). Movies like Transformers 2, which got a score of 19 on Rotten Tomatoes, for example, earned huge box office ($399 million, to be exact). Good movies like Star Trek and Up made some box office jack, but there were enough Wolverines and G.I. Joes on the list to make it almost a wash. People apparently did not necessarily want to see bad movies, but the movie's quality (at least as judged by critics) was not a factor in whether they decided to go see it or not.

By the way, the Metacritic and Rotten Tomatoes scores correlate very highly (r=.94), so it doesn't really matter which scores you use. Metacritic's average score for the top summer movies was 57, while Rotten Tomatoes gave them a 56 on average. Rotten Tomatoes tends to give more extreme scores, giving well-reviewed films higher numbers and lower-rated movies worse ratings. In the end, they all average out about the same, but the rich get richer and the poor get poorer on RT. For example, Star Trek earned a Metacritic score of 83, while RT gave it a 95. On the other end, The Ugly Truth got a 28 on Metacritic and a 15 on RT.

The bottom line for our question of whether quality makes a difference, is no, it does not. Good movies are not necessarily rewarded with bigger audiences and more money. We might complain about the loud, noisy, mindless movies of the summer, but it looks like we get what we want.

The Five Best Films of the Summer

Based on the overall scores from both Metacritic and Rotten Tomatoes, there is a critical consensus as to the best movies that were released this summer. Both sites give the same five films the highest scores, almost in the exact same order. First, here's a look at Metacritic's top five films in wide release:

1. The Hurt Locker (94)

2. Up (88)

3. Ponyo (86)

4. Star Trek (83)

5. District 9 (81)

Now here's the top five from Rotten Tomatoes:

1. The Hurt Locker (98)

2. Up (97)

3. Star Trek (95)

4. Ponyo (91)

5. District 9 (89)

If we take the average of both scores, sort of a meta-metascore, then it evens out some of their formulas and maybe a little bias and we get our definitive list:

1. The Hurt Locker (96)

2. Up (92.5)

3. Star Trek (89)

4. Ponyo (88.5)

5. District 9 (85)

A great list for the summer. With ten films being nominated for best picture this year, I would expect at least a couple of these will make it onto the final ballot.

Come back tomorrow for a post about whether there is a connection between the quality of a movie and how much money it makes at the box office.

Who's the Greatest Working Film Director? Round Six: Ang Lee vs. Pedro Almodovar

Each week, I’m pitting two acclaimed directors’ three top-reviewed films (as determined by their metacritic score) against each other. So far, we’ve seen some good head-to-head battles among some awesome directors. This week, we are looking at the work of Ang Lee and Pedro Almodovar. I waited until this week to see if Taking Woodstock made the cut for Lee, but it didn’t. Here’s how it shakes out:

Round 6

Ang Lee

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) – 93

Brokeback Mountain (2005) – 87

Lust, Caution (2007) – 61

Average: 80


Pedro Almodovar

Talk to Her (2002) – 86

Volver (2006) – 84

Bad Education (2004) – 81

Average: 84

Ang Lee had the two highest rated films of the whole bunch, but Almodovar wins by being more consistent overall. Neither of them is in the overall lead, however. Peter Jackson has a deathgrip on that title with a seemingly unbeatable score of 91, followed by Paul Greengrass who has an overall average score of 88. Come back next week for more.

Asperger's Syndrome: Did Adam Get It Right?

Adam is a love story about a young man with Asperger's who begins to venture out of his routine for the first time in his life after he loses his job and meets a woman that really likes. The film has been met with mixed reviews. The L.A. Times called it a "most welcome summer treat" and USA Today said it was "a cut above most romances," but others, like Salon calling it "predictable." As with any movie that depicts someone with a unique condition, people also debate whether it was an accurate portrayal. Film Threat said, "None of these movies ever come close to accurately depicting what it's like to to live with mental challenges." The reviewer, Jessica Baxter, went on to say of Adam's depiction of Asperger's, "I'm not buying it."

So, there are two questions: First, is it a good movie? Second, did they get the portrayal of Asperger's right?

First, I can tell you the movie is good. It's well-written, well-acted, and engrossing. The characters are believable and you feel drawn into a world that feels real and lived-in. I'd give it a B+, but I could be talked into an A-. It's definitely on the recommended list for the year.

Now the second question of whether it was an accurate portrayal of Asperger's. The answer to that question is also yes. On metacritic, a man named Michael posted a review of the film saying, "As a person with Asperger's, I think this movie is completely accurate in depicting what the disorder is like. I think it is safe to say that the Film Threat reviewer does not have the disorder, otherwise she would realize how well the writers and the actor, Hugh Dancy put this character together." I agree with him. Not everyone with Asperger's is the same, of course, but the movie did an excellent job of nailing the problems with eye contact, the anxiety in social situations, the rigidity, the tendency to overfocus on certain topics, the overly literal understanding of language, and the tendency to miss social cues. It was well-written and well-acted in a way that had nuance and real affection for this character. Congrats to writer-director Max Mayer and Hugh Dancy, for his extraordinary performance. If you want to see a strong depiction of Asperger's--or if you just want to see a sweet, well-made film--go see Adam.