PopMatters. Bests.

• Cynthia Fuchs, who's edited the package, presents an unranked list, but numbers pop up anyway, making it look as if Jonathan Demme's The Agronomist is her #1; even if it isn't really, how refreshing it is to see it there at all.

• Erich Kuersten definitely leads with Dogville and surprises with his very next entry, The Merchant of Venice.

• "This past year's films are at once peculiarly individual expressions and easy to group by genre: studio comedies were funnier than usual; horror films were intriguing in concept but disappointing in execution; science fiction was undercooked." That's Jesse Hassenger, introducing a list with Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind at the top.

• Simply because I'm so sick of reading critics beat up on Todd Haynes lately (and where's that coming from, anyway?), I'm quoting Daniel Mudie Cunningham's entry for Safe in full: "If I had made a Top 10 list in 1995, this would have been on it. If I ever get around to making a 'Best Films of All Time' list, it will be in the Top 5. Nine years after Haynes's dystopic masterpiece was released, it was finally distributed in Australia with a new 35mm print (apparently some legal reason had kept it from being screened down under). Julianne Moore's quiet disintegration from the toxins of her late 20th century environment is all the more devastating on the big screen."

• Marco Lanzagorta's "Best Horror Films" list leads with Zack Snyder's Dawn of the Dead.

• PopMatters political editor Terry Sawyer compiles a "Worst Media Events" list.

• By law, Bill Gibron has to place the Extended Edition of Return of the King at the top of his "Best DVDs" list, but it's nice to see the Disinformation discs there, too, not mention The Legend of Leigh Bowery.

• Michael Abernethy looks "for treasures in hidden places" to draw up his "Best Television" list.

• More from Australia: Nikki Tranter on what the rest of the world's been missing.

• Mary Colgan's DVD list is surprising, but one sentiment expressed here is pretty winning: "If I could choose one movie world to visit any time I liked, it would be Halloween Town."

• And Cynthia Fuchs again, wrapping it up with a "Best Music Videos" list. For more on her #1 choice, see Armond White.

Posted by dwhudson at January 8, 2005 2:08 PM