*Sigh* My Top 5 Movies of the Year

I said I wasn't going to do it. And really, it should all be taken with a grain of salt, because there are plenty (Children of Men) of movies (Casino Royale) that I haven't seen (The Queen) this year (The Prestige) that might have (Pan's Labyrinth) made my list (Marie Antionette) had I seen them (Unaccompanied Minors... just kidding).

Still, since The Onion AV Club is doing its annual poll, I decided to go ahead and make a top 5 list.

1. The Pursuit of Happyness
2. Thank You For Smoking
3. Prairie Home Companion
4. The Departed
5. Little Miss Sunshine

The Pursuit of Happyness came along at the end of the year, caught me by surprise, and just edged out Thank You For Smoking for the top spot.

I'm surprised Prairie Home Companion isn't getting more attention than it is. It's an extremely good movie. It's Robert Altman, one of the greatest directors ever, at his best. It has death as a subtext, and ALTMAN DIED THIS YEAR. I would think that would have awards written all over it, but apparently not.

A few movies that were close to making my list but didn't quite do it...

I was debating between Little Miss Sunshine and Last King of Scotland for the #5 spot. I easily could have gone the other way.

Also, I considered a number of fairly silly comedies... Clerks 2, Borat, Talladega Nights... But none of them were quite good enough for a top 5.

So there you have it.

Ten Pop Culture Things I Liked This Year

Rather than pretending that I've seen enough movies, listened to enough new music, watched enough tv, etc, to prepare any definitive "top ten" lists.... Here's a random selection of ten things I liked this year.

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Heroes



Definitely my favorite new show of the year, quite possibly my favorite show period right now. Or maybe it's tied with.....

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The Office



'cause that show just keeps getting better.

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Thank You For Smoking



Overall, I'd say this is the best movie I saw this year. Maybe it's kind of a lightweight choice, it's obviously not going to win an Oscar or anything, but I can't think of a movie I more thoroughly enjoyed.

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Forest Whitaker



I already put actors who aren't Forest Whitaker on notice, because he gave hands-down the best performance of the year in "Last King of Scotland." Heck. Maybe best performance of the decade thus far. And the little bits I saw of him on ER were good too.

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S.R. Sidarth



Ok, so maybe it's a stretch to put him on a "pop culture" list, but if Time can completely wimp out on the "Person of the Year" thing, just try and stop me from putting "Macaca" on my list.

If you want to pinpoint one event that both showed the power of Youtube AND put the Democrats in control of Congress, it's Sidarth going to a George Allen rally with a camera, videotaping George being a douche bag and uploading it on the internet for the world to see. For this, I salute him and name him The Nose Knows's "Person of the Year."

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The Dixie Chicks



Speaking of politics in pop culture, The Chicks make my list for not backing down from the politics, even if their record sales and tour wasn't as successful as it could have been, and, incidentally, making one of the best albums of the year.

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Tom Petty - Highway Companion



So I never really got around to all my promised Tom Petty posting, but this album pretty much rules.

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Sacha Baron Cohen



This is as much for his performance in "Talladega Nights" as for "Borat."

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Samuel L. Jackson "Snakes on a Plane" phone calls



I never got around to seeing the movie, nor do I really care to, but having Samuel L. Jackson call my friends was definitely a highlight of the year.

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The World Series



Yeah, I kind of liked it this year.