黄 嘉 維

For this year’s best of lists in music, movies, and television, I’ve decided to change things up by ordering them in alphabetical order rather than the usual count down to the best. It’s not a statement on how even each entry is on the list – I’m just lazy.

Favorite Albums (20)

• Bon Iver :: For Emma, Forever Ago
• David Byrne and Brian Eno :: Everything That Happens Will Happen Today: It’s David Byrne and Brian Eno – what else needs to be said?
• Crystal Castles :: Crystal Castles
• Cut Copy :: In Ghost Colours
• Fleet Foxes :: Fleet Foxes
• Flight of the Conchords :: Flight of the Conchords
• Girl Talk :: Feed the Animals: There are 322 samples in this album and they’re all used to maximum effect.
• The Hold Steady :: Stay Positive: It’s no Boys and Girls in America but that’s a hard album to top.
• Hot Chip :: Made in the Dark
• Jaymay :: Autumn Fallin’
• Los Campesinos! :: Hold on Now, Youngster…
• The Magnetic Fields :: Distortion
• MGMT :: Oracular Spectacular
• Portishead :: Third
• Santogold :: Santogold
• She & Him :: Volume One: Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward (really!?) make beautiful music together.
• Thao and the Get Down Stay Down :: We Brave Bee Stings and All
• TV on the Radio :: Dear Science
• Vampire Weekend :: Vampire Weekend: Sure, they’re a buzz band but they’re fun to listen to.
• Wolf Parade :: At Mount Zoomer

Favorite Tracks (10)

• David Byrne and Brian Eno :: “Strange Overtones”
• Cut Copy :: “Hearts on Fire”
• Fleet Foxes :: “White Winter Hymnal”
• The Hold Steady :: “Constructive Summer”
• Hot Chip :: “Ready for the Floor”
• The Magnetic Fields :: “The Nun’s Litany”
• MGMT :: “Time to Pretend”
• Santogold :: “Lights Out”
• TV on the Radio :: “DLZ”
• Vampire Weekend :: “Oxford Comma”

Favorite Films (9)

• The Dark Knight: With the origin story out the way, Chris Nolan made an epic that will go down as one of the best films of the decade, period. Heath Ledger – what more can be said about his turn as The Joker?
• Doubt: A bit slow at (many) times but Philip Seymour Hoffman and Meryl Streep elevate the film above the lulls.
• Gran Torino: Clint Eastwood, even in his late 70s, can still kick ass.
• Iron Man: Robert Downey Jr. plays cocky son of a bitch alcoholic really well.
• Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist: Lord almighty was the music good in this movie. Michael Cera keeps playing the same character but there’s nothing wrong with that as long as the movies turn out well.
• Rachel Getting Married: A poignant family drama with an absolutely great performance from Anne Hathaway. It could have done without the long musical sequence in the final act.
• Slumdog Millionaire: There’s a strong underdog current that runs throughout this sweet story wrapped around a tense situation. The script deftly weaves multiple points in the past around the present to develop a coherent storyline.
• WALL·E: Quite possibly the best film Pixar has put out to date.
• The Wrestler: Mickey Rourke is a revelation as an aging wrestler who’s last grasp at glory comes with a great price.

Favorite Television Shows (9)

• 30 Rock: The best comedy on television.
• Burn Notice: A spy drama/thriller that’s light, loose, and funny – in other words, the perfect summer show.
• Chuck: The second season built on a solid first and is firing on all cylinders.
• The Closer: Still a solid crime procedural even if it is paint-by-numbers – at least it was until the mid-season finale.
• House M.D.: It’s starting to show some signs of aging but the medical mysteries continue to be fun to watch unravel.
• How I Met Your Mother: The show still has its moments but they’re past their creative zenith. That opinion is subject to change depending on what they do with the goat.
• Law & Order: The past season and a half have been a creative resurgence.
• Psych: The back half of the second season was a bit too silly and the beginning of the third a bit too heavy on the emotional end but they amped up the funny all the way to the midseason break.
• Scrubs: It finally righted itself after a bunch of seasons that tilted to much to fantasy and whimsy. Hopefully, they’re able to stay grounded in what should be the final season come 2009.