My Favorite TV: 2013-2014

Here are my votes for the best television of the last year  (shows eligible only if vast majority of season takes place between July 2013 and June 2014):

* denotes winner

BEST DRAMA SERIES:
BREAKING BAD
GAME OF THRONES
*HANNIBAL
THE NEWSROOM
TRUE DETECTIVE

BEST COMEDY SERIES:
@MIDNIGHT
COMMUNITY
GIRLS
*LOUIE
REVIEW

BEST DRAMA EPISODE:
*Ozymandias, BREAKING BAD
Mizumono, HANNIBAL
Waterloo, MAD MEN
Who Goes There, TRUE DETECTIVE
The Secret Fate of All Life, TRUE DETECTIVE

BEST COMEDY EPISODE:
Elevator: Part 4, LOUIE
*Pamela: Part 3, LOUIE
Geothermal Escapism, COMMUNITY
Mouth Cancer Gig, MARON
Meeseeks and Destroy, RICK AND MORTY

BEST ACTOR, DRAMA:
Bryan Cranston, BREAKING BAD
Hugh Dancy, HANNIBAL
Mads Mikkelsen, HANNIBAL
*Matthew McConaughey, TRUE DETECTIVE
Woody Harrelson, TRUE DETECTIVE

BEST ACTRESS, DRAMA
Anna Gunn, BREAKING BAD
Diane Kruger, THE BRIDGE
*Allison Tolman, FARGO
Elizabeth Moss, MAD MEN
Emily Mortimer, THE NEWSROOM

BEST ACTOR, COMEDY
Andy Samberg, BROOKLYN NINE-NINE
Scott Aukerman, COMEDY BANG! BANG!
Louis CK, LOUIE
*Andy Daly, REVIEW
Thomas Middleditch, SILICON VALLEY

BEST ACTRESS, COMEDY
Alison Brie, COMMUNITY
Lena Dunham, GIRLS
Jessica St. Clair, PLAYING HOUSE
*Lennon Parham, PLAYING HOUSE
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, VEEP

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR, DRAMA
Aaron Paul, BREAKING BAD
*Dean Norris, BREAKING BAD
Peter Dinklage, GAME OF THRONES
Rory McCann, GAME OF THRONES
Laurence Fishburne, HANNIBAL

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS, DRAMA
*Betsy Brandt, BREAKING BAD
Gwendoline Christie, GAME OF THRONES
Maisie Williams, GAME OF THRONES
Christina Hendricks, MAD MEN
Michelle Monaghan, TRUE DETECTIVE

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR, COMEDY
Andre Braugher, BROOKLYN NINE-NINE
Adam Driver, GIRLS
Keegan-Michael Key, PLAYING HOUSE
*TJ Miller, SILICON VALLEY
Timothy C. Simons, VEEP

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS, COMEDY
*Chelsea Peretti, BROOKLYN NINE-NINE
Stephanie Beatriz, BROOKLYN NINE-NINE
Nina Conti, FAMILY TREE
Zosia Mamet, GIRLS
Anna Chlumsky, VEEP

BEST GUEST ACTOR, DRAMA
Michael Bowen, BREAKING BAD
Robert Forster, BREAKING BAD
Ciaran Hinds, GAME OF THRONES
*Pedro Pascal, GAME OF THRONES
Hamish Linklater, THE NEWSROOM

BEST GUEST ACTRESS, DRAMA
Diana Rigg, GAME OF THRONES
Gillian Anderson, HANNIBAL
Alicia Witt, JUSTIFIED
*Jane Fonda, THE NEWSROOM
Marcia Gay Harden, THE NEWSROOM

BEST GUEST ACTOR, COMEDY
Paul F. Tompkins, COMEDY BANG! BANG!
Jonathan Banks, COMMUNITY
Andrew Rannells, GIRLS
*Charles Grodin, LOUIE
Christopher Evan Welch, SILICON VALLEY

BEST GUEST ACTRESS, COMEDY
June Squibb, GIRLS
*Ellen Burstyn, LOUIE
Eszter Balint, LOUIE

Pamela Adlon, LOUIE
Ursula Parker, LOUIE

Nominations (Wins):

9 (3) BREAKING BAD
9 (4) LOUIE
8 (1) GAME OF THRONES
6 GIRLS
6 (1) HANNIBAL
6 (1) TRUE DETECTIVE
5 (1) THE NEWSROOM
4 (1) BROOKLYN NINE-NINE
4 COMMUNITY
3 MAD MEN
3 (1) PLAYING HOUSE
3 (1) SILICON VALLEY
3 VEEP
2 COMEDY BANG! BANG!
2 (1) REVIEW
1 @MIDNIGHT
1 THE BRIDGE
1 FAMILY TREE
1 (1) FARGO
1 JUSTIFIED
1 MARON
1 RICK AND MORTY

It took watching 23 Bond films twice to realize that I kinda like Bond...

A couple years ago I decided to fill a cinematic void and watch all of the Bond movies in chronological order.  I came away from that experience largely thinking of the series as pretty bad with some real highlights mixed in, mostly in the Connery/Craig eras.  After buying the blu-ray set for cheap last year, it sat on my shelf for a while as I didn't have much desire to dig into such a big collection again, but the new podcast "James Bonding" reinvigorated my interest (Matt Mira of Nerdist and Matt Gourley of Superego both discovered each other's love of all things Bond, and decided to start a podcast talking about each entry).  I think "James Bonding"'s decision to alternate between chronological and reverse-chronological order (Dr. No, Skyfall, From Russia With Love, Quantum of Solace, and so on...) helped me get into the mind of the series by alternatively examining its roots with how far (and sometimes how not far at all) the series has come.

As you'll notice below, I gave about as many bad ratings as good ones, but I was, for the most part, able to enjoy elements of all the movies.  And even though I finished by going through all the Roger Moore movies which left a bad taste in my mouth, I enjoyed the other Bonds significantly more, to the point where I'm sure I will revisit movies from every other Bond at some point in the future, not just Daniel Craig.

Here's a list of my overall rankings of the Bond films, along with a favorite highlight from each one:

1. CASINO ROYALE: A
Favorite Moment: B&W opening

2. SKYFALL: A-
Favorite Moment: Silva single-take first scene

3. THUNDERBALL: A-
Favorite Moment: Jet pack!!!

4. QUANTUM OF SOLACE: B+
Favorite Moment: Ending in Russia

5. DR. NO: B
Favorite Moment: "The name is Bond....James Bond" becomes instant legend.

6. ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE: B
Favorite Moment: "We have all the time in the world."

7. LICENCE TO KILL: B
Favorite Moment: The cold open.  Based on The Dark Knight Rises, Christopher Nolan was also a fan.

8. GOLDFINGER: B-
Favorite Moment: "No, Mr. Bond, I expect you to die!"

9. TOMORROW NEVER DIES: B-
Favorite Moment: Dr. Kaufman

10. GOLDENEYE: B-
Favorite Moment: 007/006 team up

11. THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN: B-
Favorite Moment: The ridiculous Nick Nack fight scene at the end of the movie.

12. OCTOPUSSY: B-
Favorite Moment: Bond commands a tiger to sit.....and it does.

13. A VIEW TO A KILL: C
Favorite Moment: Christopher Walken as a Nazi experiment gone wrong

14. MOONRAKER: C
Favorite Moment: "You missed, Mr. Bond." "Did I?"

15. FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE: C-
Favorite Moment: Red kills "Bond"

16. YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE: D+
Favorite Moment: "Japanese" Bond is good for a laugh.

17. THE SPY WHO LOVED ME: D+
Favorite Moment: Bond kills Stromberg

18. DIE ANOTHER DAY: D
Favorite Moment: Bond's North Korean capture (a surprising moment of realism before two hours of nonsense).

19. FOR YOUR EYES ONLY: D
Favorite Moment: "Well, you get your clothes on, and I'll buy you an ice cream."

20. LIVE AND LET DIE: D-
Favorite Moment: "Whose funeral is it?"  "Yours"

21. THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS: D-
Favorite Moment: John Rhys-Davies classes up the joint

22. THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH: F
Favorite Moment: The return of Valentin.

23. DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER: F
Favorite Moment: Honestly, nothing, this movie is terrible.