Monday, January 6, 2025
2024 Top 5 Lists
Tuesday, January 9, 2024
2023 Top 5 Lists
Ah, 2023! For me and hopefully for you too, it was a return to normalcy- we saw some outstanding live music/theater performances and finally got to take the EU/UK trip we'd been planning. Any year you visit record stores in 5 different countries on 2 continents is a good year! Sonoma Arts Live, the theater company my wife Jaime and I run, is going strong and last summer we were back onstage together for the first time in years in Guys & Dolls. Plus, I'm still doing my radio show, ALL KINDSA GIRLS, every Saturday night on KSVY. We finished 2023 spending the holidays at home joined by family and friends- all in all I'm thankful for a pretty great year. As always, 2023 was further enriched by the movies, TV shows, records and books I saw, listened to and read. You'll even see a new category, Top 5 Rockumentary Workouts, because if you don't watch something cool while you're on the elliptical you will go insane- it's a medical fact. So, in a tradition that dates back to 1999, I humbly submit my 2023 Top 5 Lists:
Saturday, January 7, 2023
2022 Top 5 Lists
Friday, January 7, 2022
2021 Top 5 Lists
Well, here we are. What can we say about 2021? Was it better than 2020? Uh.... 2021 did have less sheltering in place and fewer wildfires but our political divisions- yikes! On balance though, I'm feeling more optimistic. My family just got back from a great holiday trip to NYC and Boston on what a Comedy Cellar comedian dubbed "Omicron Eve." Things first started looking up last fall when Sonoma Arts Live, the theater Jaime and I run, returned with a triumphant production of Sunset Boulevard. I was also thrilled to bring my radio show ALL KINDSA GIRLS back to KSVY. And, as is the case every year, in 2021 I was diverted, comforted and inspired by the movies, TV shows, records and books I saw, listened to and read. So now, in an annual tradition that started in 1999, I humbly submit my 2021 Top 5's:
Tuesday, January 5, 2021
2020 Top 5 Lists
Let’s face it- 2020 was brutal. So much so that it defies a witty, pithy or
God forbid snarky summation. What can be
said is that never has quality viewing, listening or reading material been as
essential as it was in 2020. Just
getting out of your own head and into someone else’s- doesn’t matter if that
other “head” is prospecting for gems on a distant planet, hunting bail jumpers
in suburban Atlanta or making the best selling fictional album of the 70’s-
gave us a much needed break from the politics, pandemic, wildfires, etc. that
sucked all the fun out of our lives in 2020.
That said, The Loves are all okay, crossing our fingers for the return
of Sonoma Arts Live theatrical
productions and All
Kindsa Girls to the KSVY airwaves in 2021.
I know I say this every year, but in 2020 I was especially
thankful for the movies, TV shows, records and books I saw, listened to and
read. In what is now a 22 year tradition, I humbly submit my 2020 Top
5's:
TOP 5 MOVIES (+5 DVD/streaming because 2020 killed theaters)
Never Rarely Sometimes Always (Thank God for Cousins)
Slut In A Good Way (Make way for Charlotte!)
Prospect (The best Pedro Pascal space epic)
The Handmaiden (Park does it again)
The Lovers (middle-age marriage story)
Banana Split / Never Goin’ Back (WWBFFD?)
Freaks (sci-fi genius)
Queen + Slim (this has got to stop)
The Assistant (this also has got to stop)
The Invisible Man / Emma (the last movies I saw in a theater-sigh-)
TOP 5 ALBUMS
Cheap Trick- Out To Get You! Live 1977 (hear the masters at work)
The Zulus- Cockfight In A Bullring (a shoulda been huge Boston band)
Kurt Baker- After Party (Maine/Spain Man!)
Nick Piunti & The Complicated Men- Downtime (it’s “pyoon-tee”)
The Yum Yums- For Those About To Pop! (Norway’s finest)
TOP 5 BOOKS
The Nix- Nathan Hill (the past isn’t)
Saint X- Alexis Schaitkin (family vacation)
City of Girls- Elizabeth Gilbert (NYC theater survives)
Dopefiend- Donald Goines (heroine not-chic)
Daisy Jones & The Six- Taylor Jenkins Reid (sex&drugs&rock’n’roll)
TOP 5 TV SHOWS
Mr. Inbetween S1&2 (The Ray Way)
Teenage Bounty Hunters (Twin Powers, Activate!)
The Great (Catherine>Peter)
Brockmire S3&4 (The Redemption & The Future)
Normal People (beautiful heartbreak)
Not all of the above came out in 2020, but that’s when I caught up with them. Sadly, Covid-19 killed the “Theatrical Performance” category in 2020, though I’m sure the stellar Berkeley Playhouse production of Memphis we saw in February would have made the list. During the early months of the pandemic I was watching a movie every night (check here for an ongoing rundown of those I liked). Podcasts will likely have their own category next year- this year’s favorite being The Ballad of Billy Balls, an NYC rock & roll/love/murder story. Please respond with your own 2020 favorites- I'm always on the lookout for quality viewing/listening/reading material and your selections may end up on next year's list. Here's wishing you a happy, healthy and safe 2021!
Sunday, January 5, 2020
2019 Top 5 Lists
TOP 5 MOVIES
The Last Black Man In San Francisco (Jimmie Fails? I think not)
Fighting With My Family (Florence Pugh owned 2019!)
Booksmart (WWBFFD)
Rocketman (party time in the Tower of Babel)
Parasite (how we are now)
TOP 5 STREAMING MOVIES/DVDs
A Vigilante (righteous fury)
Columbus (dancing about architecture)
Capernaum (suffer the children)
The Hate U Give (Starr story)
Support The Girls (we all need a Lisa)
TOP 5 ALBUMS
Nervous Eaters- Record 10 (Boston Rock still rules!)
Pernice Brothers- Spread The Feeling (Power Pop perfection)
Sidewalk Driver- For All The Boys and Girls (Boston Glam Kings!)
Redd Kross- Beyond The Door (McDonald bros still rockin')
Giuda- Racey Roller (Roman stompers)
TOP 5 BOOKS
Clothes, Clothes, Clothes. Boys, Boys, Boys. Music, Music, Music.- Viv Albertine (not in that order)
There There- Tommy Orange (the crushing weight of history)
Super Sad True Love Story- Gary Shteyngart (Deny and Imply)
Cherry- Nico Walker (how we got here)
Moonglow- Michael Chabon (rocket ride)
TOP 5 TV SHOWS
Lodge 49 (unlike any show I've ever seen)
Fleabag / Undone (listen to the woman)
Unbelievable (Dever + Wever + Collete= incredible)
Fosse/Verdon (as artists- genius; as people- meh)
Watchmen (you can't heal under a mask)
TOP 5 THEATRICAL PERFORMANCES
The Who and The What Marin Theater Company 3/6/19
Spring Awakening Marin Musical Theater Company 3/8/19
Rapture, Blister, Burn Lucky Penny Theater Company 5/9/19
Once 42nd Street Moon 6/19/19
Eureka Day Spreckels Theater Company 8/30/19
(I did not consider our Sonoma Arts Live shows though one or two easily could have made the list.)
Several of the selections above did not come out in the past 12 months but that's when I got around to them. Please send your own best of 2019 lists- I've a feeling during this election year I'm going to need the distraction/immersion of quality viewing/listening/reading material more than ever. And your selections might even end up on next year's list! Wishing you all the best in 2020!
Sunday, January 20, 2019
2018 Top 5 Lists
TOP 5 MOVIES
Eighth Grade (Gucci!)
Sorry To Bother You (Truth To Power Caller)
The Death of Stalin (leadership vacuum cleaner)
Hearts Beat Loud (a dad's dream)
Lean On Pete (lost boy)
TOP 5 STREAMING MOVIES/DVDs
Revenge (no one puts Jen in a corner!)
Brigsby Bear (grin and bear it)
First Reformed (holy father)
A Ghost Story (truly haunting)
Blockers/Game Night (Smart R rated comedy is back!)
TOP 5 ALBUMS
Sloan- 12 (Canadoozie!)
Nick Piunti- Temporary High (Power Pop Prime)
The Genuine Fakes- Issues (ruling Swedes)
Bill Lloyd- Working The Long Game (The Master returns)
Geoff Palmer- All The Hits and Some Other Sh*t (Granite State Rock!)
TOP 5 BOOKS
Manhattan Beach- Jennifer Egan (living history)
Before The Fall- Noah Hawley (media monsters)
American War- Omar El Akkad (rise of The Red)
Six Four- Hideo Yokoyama (Mikami in a maze)
The Power- Naomi Alderman (Mother Eve gets even)
TOP 5 TV SHOWS
The Good Place Seasons 2-3 (forking smart/hilarious)
The Sinner Seasons 1-2 (searing drama)
Sharp Objects (Crellen curse)
Atlanta Robbin' Season (meet Teddy Perkins)
Barry (killer theater)
TOP 5 THEATRICAL PERFORMANCES
Good People Cinnabar Theater 2/2/18
By The Water Spreckels Theatre Company 4/7/18
Straight White Men Marin Theatre Company 6/20/18
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time Spreckels Theater 9/15/18
Hedwig and The Angry Inch Ray of Light Theatre 9/21/18
(It didn't feel right to consider Sonoma Arts Live shows, which was tough because one or two might have made the list.)
Not all of the above came out last year but that's when I got around to them. Please respond with your own 2018 favorites- I'm always on the lookout for quality viewing/listening/reading material. Who knows, your selections might end up on next year's list! Here's wishing you a happy, healthy and prosperous 2019!