As we all turn our backs on the God-Level Troll that was 2016, it helps to at least consider the few good things that snuck through last year. The following films, games, and (for the first time ever) TV series and podcasts may not save 2016 from the dustbin of history, but at least they made the year tolerable. (Part I covers TV and podcasts; part II film and gaming.)
TV
This is the first time I'm covering television, which is a bit surprising given that it's probably the best mass art form right now. In fact, there's far too much great stuff on-air right now, so I've had to limit myself to new series only. (Sorry, Veep, Silicon Valley, and Girls!)We begin with Louis C.K., the brains behind two of the year’s best new comedies, BETTER THINGS and BASKETS.
The former features C.K.’s long-time writing/producing partner Pamela Adlon as a lightly fictionalized version of herself, a 40-something mother and actress (in that order) navigating love, race relations, gender roles, Feminism, and (of course) sex.
The latter, an exceedingly weird black comedy, stars Zach Galifianakis as a Paris-trained Clown-artiste with lofty ambitions, despite an unfulfilling job at a rodeo in Bakersfield, California. It’s absurdist in the Camus sense: sad, funny, but deeply sympathetic towards the many oddballs who inhabit its universe. Louie Anderson won a deserved Emmy for his decidedly non-mocking (it would be belittling to call it "drag") portrayal of the family matriarch, Christine.The best dramas were, of course, on Netflix.
STRANGER THINGS came at the right moment, an 80’s throwback sci-fi adventure starring Winona Ryder and a bunch of non-precocious American child actors. Alternately fun, scary, and awesome, it was the year’s must-watch event. But then you know that already, because everyone watched Stranger Things.
That said, the far stranger thing to come out last year was THE OA, an auteur-driven sci-fi series unceremoniously released by Netflix mere days before Christmas. That weird timing underscores the weirdness of the whole endeavour: a young woman (the brilliant Brit Marling) resurfaces after a seven-year disappearance, sporting strange scars and even stranger ideas about life and death. At its core, it’s another series about decent people trying to do the right thing, including Phyllis Smith (The Office), in a breakout role as the kind-hearted schoolteacher.
PODCASTS
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| The return of Bowe Bergdahl |
Probably the most-anticipated podcast of 2016, SERIAL: THE BOWE BERGDAHL STORY did not disappoint. Journalist Sarah Koenig investigates and interrogates the story of PFC Bergdahl, an oddball Idaho boy deployed to Afghanistan, gone missing in 2009, and resurfaced in 2014 as part of an infamous hostage-swap deal negotiated by President Obama. That deal is mere backdrop for a gripping and heart-rending tale of a war gone FUBAR, the camaraderie of soldiers, and the tragedy of a lost son. (And for what it's worth, it's a more interesting story than Adnan Syed's.)
Finally, further proving he can and should do everything, Oscar Isaac co-stars in HOMECOMING, the year’s best fiction podcast. Also a war story (coincidence?), this one is about the soldiers who come home, the ones who don't, and how society struggles to deal with what that means. The near-future setting allows for a modicum of sci-fi shenanigans, but the core of the story - about the rehabilitation of soldiers - carries an entirely contemporary message. Catherine Keener and David Schwimmer co-star.
SURELY YOU CAN'T BE SERIOUS? BONUS AWARD:
Do you like Airplane!? Do you like The Naked Gun? Have you ever seen a grown man naked? If you answered yes to any of these questions, go watch Angie Tribeca, the hilariously goofy police satire from Nancy and Steve Carell.
Coming soon in PART II: Creepy movies and even creepier video games.
