Since I'm probably not going to see another movie in the next 4 hours, I think it's time to drop my 2008 list on the world (wide web). It was a pretty rough year... I can only imagine what the Oscar films will be, there truly wasn't much art in the cinema to be consumed. Not only wasn't there any artistic cinema achievement, there weren't even too many action or comedy winners; it seemed everything fell under the shadow of The Dark Knight. Still, there was a handful of standouts...

Top Ten of 2008
10. Tropic Thunder
9. The Dark Knight
8. Hamlet 2
7. Be Kind Rewind
6. The Bank Job
5. Wall-e
4. Choke
3. In Bruges
2. Slumdog Millionaire
1. Pineapple Express

Worst 5
5. Babylon AD
4. Speed Racer
3. Swing Vote
2. Surfer Dude
1. The X-Files 2

Strike shortened though it was, there was still plenty of good...no GREAT television to be watched over the last 365 days.

So heres how my list plays out.

Theres L O S T, and then theres everything else.
L O S T is so many leaps and bounds above and beyond anything else on television, that it doesn't even belong on any list. So it wouldn't be fair to even put it on the list.
So heres my Top Ten TV Shows Of 2008...After L O S T. (Last years positions are in parenthesis.)

1.It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia (2)
2.30 Rock (5)
3.House (6)
4.The Office (3)
5.My Boys (-)
6.Burn Notice (8)
7.Saturday Night Live (-)
8.The Shield (-)
9.Aqua Teen Hunger Force (-)
10.Dinner:Impossible (-)

Falling off my list is Peep Show, Family Guy, South Park, Scrubs, and Entourage. Peep Show I just didn't get to watch all of because of its not being on TV in America and I didn't feel right ranking it, but it is still as funny if not funnier.
Family Guy and South Park kind of fell off and for me it came down to ATHF or Family Guy, and I chose ATHF based on the pure AWESOMENESS of the whole heretofore unseen continuous arc where the Aqua Teen's landlord Marcula imprisoned them, leaving Carl to deal with even weirder situations alone in New Jersey. That and just because Family Guy was definitely funnier last year and I know it could be better.
Scrubs is simply a shell of what it once was and denied its real ending, so now it drags on for another season on ABC.
Finally, I don't have HBO, so I didn't see any new Entourage episodes.
As for my actual list, nothing more can be said about the greatness of Sunny...same goes for 30 Rock, House, and The Office.
The new season of My Boys was really enjoyable and the cliff-hanger left me wanting more.
SNL is really funny again, and I actually go out of my way to TIVO it on Saturday nights.
The final season of The Shield was just some of the most intense TV I've EVER seen, and the ending was an amazing and sensical way to wrap it all up.
Burn Notice is jolly good fun, so check it out when it comes back in a couple weeks.
And finally the new chef on Dinner:Impossible, Michael Symon is great and the show is just impossible not to watch.
I really just wish I was writing a list that included the new season of Bradley Cooper's Kitchen Confidential. But it will just have to live on in the 13 episode boxed set on my shelf.

Once again it's that time of the year faithful readers! Mike and I post our Year End Top Ten Lists and tell you what goes! We're kicking it off with the best CD's this year...so without any further build up I give you....

Justin's Top Ten Albums Of The Year:

1.The Academy Is... - Fast Times At Barrington High
2.The Airborne Toxic Event - (self titled)
3.Jack's Mannequin - The Glass Passenger
4.Weezer - The Red Album
5.Coldplay - Viva La Vida
6.Presidents Of The United States Of America - These Are The Good Times People
7.Straylight Run - Un Mas Dos EP
8.My Chemical Romance - The Black Parade Is Dead!
9.The All-American Rejects - When It All Comes Down
10.The Ting Tings - We Started Nothing

Four years ago, Justin posted his Top Ten Holiday Movies. I've spent the last four years considering what he wrote, contemplating my own preferences, and reflecting on the true meaning of the holidays. Finally, I've prepared my response:

10. Nightmare Before Christmas
9. Scrooged
8. Surviving Christmas
7. A Christmas Story
6. Reindeer Games
5. Bad Santa
4. National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation
3. Love Actually
2. Die Hard
1. Gremlins

As one might expect, Ben Affleck reigns supreme over this list. Also, I might have rated Nightmare Before Christmas higher but I still can't figure out if that is a Christmas movie or a Halloween movie.

So there you have it. I challenged you to find a better Christmas story than the tale of a teen who gets the gift of a furry, anthropomorphic teddy bear-looking creature and is then forced to fight its spawned hoard of hideous reptilian killing machines that take over his town, all while trying to nail Phoebe Cates.