The First Echo

In a year that saw our beloved Avengers wrap up nearly two dozen films worth of narratives in one of the biggest spectacles seen in cinema, I saw a total of 75 movies at the theater. And throughout the past 365 days, these are the 10 that stood out, resonated, and moved me beyond words.

Well, actually, I do have some words...


1. PARASITE (99% RT Score) - Bong Joon-ho's pitch-perfect, meticulously detailed descent into nightmarish domesticity is more than a timely story satirizing class warfare. It's an absolutely absorbing and timeless tale that defies genre and demonstrates the writer-director's uncompromising clarity and vision.


2. US (93% RT Score) - Exponentially more ambitious than 2017's Get Out, Jordan Peele's big-themed, Easter-egg-filled horror show gleefully embraces its madness, sending us into a spiral that slyly comments on America's dark history while ingeniously servicing fans of 80s pop culture. Lupita Nyong'o (New York Film Critics Circle Aw…

Much like Marie Kondo's decluttering philosophy, I didn't want to let go of the following shows because they sparked so much joy (and other feelings) within me throughout 2019. These are the stories and characters I couldn't get enough of...


1. THE OTHER TWO (Comedy Central) - Easily the year's best new comedy, The Other Two is a wicked satire on social media-driven celeb culture, sharply crafted by executive producers Chris Kelly and Sarah Schneider and starring the wonderfully cast Drew Tarver and Helene York as struggling artists who must grapple with their 13-year-old brother's sudden rise to superstardom thanks to a viral music video. The delicious humor lies within the specificity of gags focused on targets like "Instagays" and Justin Theroux.


2. FLEABAG (Amazon Prime) - Emmy winner, creator, and star Phoebe Waller-Bridge topped herself with an encore round of her British comedy that no one thought was possible. Turning what was once a narrative gimm…

No one knows what the new decade will bring, but at least we can indulge in some new music to help us ease into what will hopefully be another Roaring Twenties.

Kicking off the new year is Dua Lipa with the neo-disco groove of "Don't Start Now," The Weeknd with his pulsating "Blinding Lights," an Ibiza-ready Celine Dion (see: "Flying On My Own"), and Harry Styles ("Watermelon Sugar") and Alanis Morissette ("Reasons I Drink") bringing us back down to Earth with some surprisingly good singles.

So once you've gotten over your champagne hangover, press play on these tracks while you focus on those resolutions you know you'll be breaking by February.

Enjoy:
@TheFirstEcho

This end-of-decade list was inevitable.

Out of the 712 films I've watched in theaters over the past ten years, here are the 25 that left an impact on me as well as most of the culture. I laughed, I cried, I felt my heart leap out of my chest. Since 2010, I had one helluva time at the movies.


1. Get Out (2017) - Jordan Peele's socially-conscious thriller is an instant classic, delivering frightful fan-service to genre aficionados while also crafting a resonating, philosophically rich story. The film is a definitive piece of Trump-era terror, arriving at a time when American culture started to question the status of its race relations and tapping into the primal fears of African-Americans, something rarely explored in mainstream entertainment. Star Daniel Kaluuya shines in one of the biggest breakout performances of the decade. Welcome to woke horror.


2. Weekend (2011) - One of the most heartbreaking and honest portrayals of modern romance, writer-director Andrew Haigh's inte…