How You Like Me Now? The Fighter Stands As One of 2010's Best

Because there are still a few key 2010 releases on my list of must-see movies — The King's Speech and True Grit among them — any 42 Inch Television year-end compilation will have to wait until later. Like January later. For now though — as 2010 slowly winds to completion — it seems like as good a time as any to discuss one of the films that will undoubtedly be near the very top of my final lisztomania of 2010: The Fighter.

Where to begin with David O. Russell's near-perfect film? How about with this: The Fighter is 2010's answer to The Departed, only without any CGI blood splatters and on-the-nose rat imagery; it's simply one of the most entertaining films of the year.

Lisztomania: The Top 10 TV Shows of 2010

This post appeared on Movieline in handy gallery form. Won't you click through and look at all the pretty pictures?

Who's ready for another top ten? If my selections for the ten best songs from 2010 weren't enough, here's my round-up of the ten best television shows of the year. Please note: There are some spoilers sprinkled throughout, so be careful. Disclaimer over, let's get to the list!

The Definition of a Rivalry: Why Cliff Lee Means Nothing to the Mets

Fans of baseball, New York and just plain good stuff should check out my friend Joe DePaolo's lengthy piece about the meaning of the Mets/Braves game on Sept. 21, 2001. You remember that game, even if the date doesn't set off any immediate alarms (though it really should): That was the first baseball game — first public outing, really — in New York following the terrorist attacks on 9/11.

Like Joe, I was there. I can remember to this very minute the feeling in Shea Stadium before, during and after the game. There was tension in the air — fear, too — but in the end, all the gathered throng of New Yorkers were looking for was a bit of hope; anything to remind us that after all the heartbreak, there was something good just around the bend. Thankfully, Mike Piazza provided that in the 8th inning with the most memorable home run of his career, and the rest, as they say, is history. That Piazza's monumental blast came against the Atlanta Braves — the Mets biggest National League rival — made the occasion all the more sweet. The entire country might have been on the same team during that raw, post-9/11 time period, but the Braves were still the Braves.

I bring this memory up, not to give Joe a plug — though here's his piece again; read it — but to remind Mets fans what the word "rivalry" means. The Mets and Braves have a rivalry. It might be one-sided at times — it might be diminished in recent years — but no matter what the circumstances, Mets fans (and hopefully players) find their hackles raised in anticipation when Atlanta's name is on the schedule.

The Mets and Philadelphia Phillies have a rivalry, too. Contrary to what plenty of fans think, however, it means nothing in the grand scheme of Mets history; no more than rivalries with the Florida Marlins or Washington Nationals do.

Lisztomania: The Top 10 Songs of 2010

To kick off what will be a month of lists — expect my favorite television shows and movies to arrive sometime before Snooki drops on New Year's Eve — ahead are my favorite ten songs of 2010. Disclaimer: some of these might be considered embarrassing — if you're the type of person who gets embarrassed by something as subjective as musical tastes — but all of them made my life more singable over the last twelve months. To the list!

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas: The Office's Sublime Christmas Spectacular

The original lyrics for "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" are wrist-slitting territory. Take the first two lines: "Have yourself a merry little Christmas / It may be your last." Oh, really? Thanks for that! Maybe I can wrap these extra Christmas lights around my neck and embrace the darkness.

Not very surprisingly, those lyrics were changed to brighter ones for Judy Garland, Frank Sinatra and the thousands of other artists who have recorded that Christmas classic over the years. Yet the song still remains one of the season's most melancholy. It's sad in ways that "Merry Christmas Darling" and other downers are not; there is a sense of loss and longing permeating throughout "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" that no amount of yuletide gayness can slow down.

Which brings us to the Christmas episode of The Office, a perfect confection of impossible romantic comedy conventions, bleak and unblinking reality, and the balance we strike between them.

Pay That Man His Money: Why Derek Jeter Deserves Every Penny

You don't necessarily have to be from New York to write about New York baseball, but it certainly helps. After all, unless you grew up around New York baseball fans, listened to WFAN religiously and considered breaking up friendships because of rooting allegiances, you probably don't understand the way baseball is the lifeblood of the city. Football might be America's game, but baseball belongs to New York. You won't find more passionate, stubborn, fervent, obnoxious, arrogant, loyal and knowledgeable fans anywhere else in the country. Yes, sometimes we're stupid, too. But, hey: St. Louis Cardinals fans wear red to every game and never boo their hometown heroes, but they also live in St. Louis. How smart can they really be?

I bring up St. Louis not because of my recent personal tie to the City That Always Sleeps, but because New York writer and editor Will Leitch counts the Cardinals as his favorite team. You probably know Leitch's story, but if you don't: He grew up in Mattoon, Illinois, went to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, loved-then-hated-then-loved Roger Ebert and was one of the founding editor of Deadspin. He knows his sports as well as anyone on the Internet, except for the well part. At least that's the only conclusion I can draw after reading his "Dump Jeter" piece from New York's year-end cultural wrap up.

Are Glee and Community the Same Show?

This post originally appeared on Movieline

Last spring, before the Great Tumblr Apocalypse of 2010, an intrepid personal blogger noticed the similarities between Alison Brie’s wardrobe on Community and Lea Michele’s on Glee. It was a funny bit of television crossover, one helped along by the fact that both actresses share a similar look and both were starring on then-first-season series. This fall, the Community/Glee connection sprouted up again, when the same joke (referring to a group of old people as “hipsters”) was made on each show. Coincidence? Probably! But that doesn’t mean Community and Glee aren’t more alike than you think (or probably want to admit).

How Three Veteran Series Got Their Groove Back

Not to make this blog only about self-promotion — and fear not, there will be top-10 lists and other great content to come this December — but I wrote this pretty well-reasoned and rational defense of three shows you may have stopped watching over at Movieline. Which veterans made the cut? Click ahead for a tease.

Why James Franco and Natalie Portman Won't Bring Youth to the Oscars

You know who isn't famous? James Franco. You know who else isn't famous? Anne Hathaway. Oh, sure, they're movie stars, in that they star in movies. But neither is a box office draw — Franco has the Spider-Man series under his belt, but he wasn't Spider-man; Hathaway is a long way from The Princess Diaries — and neither matters enough to the youth of today. "Youth of today" — what does that even mean?

Well, it means 18-34 year olds, and they matter to everyone working in television. Even the Oscar producers.