Before I bust out the always exciting end-o'-the-year Favorite Films list, here's something a bit more fun-size and digestible: my favorite scenes of the year. In no particular order!
THE SOCIAL NETWORK / Dating the Stairmaster This opening scene--a back-and-forth, give-and-give-harder between Mark Zuckerberg and the future Mrs. Dragon Tattoo--is a showcase for Sorkin's razor-sharp dialogue and Eisenberg's sparkling delivery of it. It's a perfect set-up for a fascinating character and what makes him tick. And it displays a David Fincher that's committed to his characters, that's going to give us as much story as style. It's a promise of things to come, and that promise is kept.
HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON / Guided Tour Maybe my favorite use of 3D this year was the spectacular flight over and through animated rocky islands. The audience soars along with Hiccup (boy) and Toothless (dragon) as the young Viking gets a test drive on the winged creature and the experience is surprisingly breathtaking.
THE A-TEAM / Team Building I liked The A-Team, ok?? And I'm using the term "scene" loosely here, since I'm essentially highlighting the film's first fifteen minutes in which we meet every character and steamroll from one tightly-wound, cleverly-choreographed action beat into the next. It's giddy, roller-coaster fun that makes use of helicopters, speeding vans, and discarded tires. You can't help but feel like you're following the trail of a sparking lit fuse toward the climactic bomb. OK, poor choice of words there, but you know what I mean.
BLUE VALENTINE / The Song-and-Dance Blue Valentine is pretty heavy on the blue, but it also makes good on its promise of a valentine. As Cindy (Michelle Williams) slowly gives in to Dean's (Ryan Gosling) relentless wooing, she finds herself outside a storefront, offering her "hidden talent." As she dances, pushing through the embarrassment and putting herself out there, he begins to croon "You Always Hurt the Ones You Love." It encapsulates the relationship, despite being a rather warm, happy moment.
INCEPTION / Lionel Richie Predicted This You know which scene. Joseph Gordon Lovett is mid-kick (or whatever--I've forgotten a lot of the terminology) and battling a ...Subconscious Protector Agent. OR WHATEVER. Anyway, gravity ceases to exist, and the hand-to-hand combat is literally off the walls. Visually, it's incredibly arresting, but let's not forget how sonically impressive this film is either. The kicks, punches, and crashes all pop with crisp aural details and if you don't sit up in your seat, you should get your spine checked.
THE TOWN / Whiplash! I think maybe Ben Affleck watched his buddy Matt's Bourne films a few times in order to understand how thrillingly in-the-moment a car chase can be. (I haven't seen Friends of Eddie Coyle, so I can't speak to the film's--or the scene's--plagiarism.) The getaway car chase, in which a collection of rubber-faced nuns flee the convent with a sack full of spending money, puts you directly in the action with its license plate-level camera angles and perfectly timed choreography. I jumped in my seat a few times and, at the end, let out a held-up breath.
ANIMAL KINGDOM / One Bad Mother It's downright impossible to talk about my mixed feelings regarding Animal Kingdom without giving too much away and, indeed, it's difficult to even discuss this particular scene without giving away details from the film's brutal first two acts. But for those who have seen it, it's clear what moment in the film has brought Jacki Weaver her flurry of accolades; after a prison visit with her criminal offspring, Janine Cody (Weaver) meets with a lawyer and sets a plan in motion. She does it so calmly--with such self-preserving logic--that you suddenly understand how her kids inherited their psychoses.
TRON LEGACY / Daft Punk Mario Kart As underwhelming, and confusing, and full of arbitrary rules as the story was, I would have happily watched "people" play hopscotch in the Tron world for 2 hours. The laser-on-leather look of the world was pretty damn awesome, and it made me understand why people like video games. The scene that really grabbed my attention due to its whiz-bang hypnotics was the light cycle race. As someone who played with Marble Track rather obsessively as a child, I was totally won over by the twisting tracks, speed-burst arrows, and boomerang energy attacks.
GET HIM TO THE GREEK / The Geoffrey I've gotten bored with the drug-use-is-inherently-funny theme that runs through several Apatow(ian) films, and they must have picked up on that because Nicholas Stoller raises the game big time in Get Him to the Greek. In one Vegas-set scene, our main characters--along with Diddy and Colm Meany--take a hit of a joint that, apparently, has every street drug laced into it. All of them. It's called, amusingly, a Geoffrey. The physical comedy and verbal chaos that ensues is roll-on-floor hilarious, although I suppose it would make more sense, in this case, to roll across a furry wall.
TOY STORY 3 / Trail of Tears I would say "the scene that makes me cry" but then you would all say in unison, "WHICH SCENE THAT MAKES YOU CRY, AARON?" Toy Story 3 could have easily filled four slots on this list, but I'm going to skip over the montage of Andy growing up, Woody's first playdate with Bonnie's toys, and the hand-holding. OH MY GOD, THE HAND-HOLDING WHEN THEY'RE ALL ABOUT TO DIE. (Deep breath.) No, let's go with Andy and Bonnie, playing with the toys together, a passage of ownership--and partnership--that reminds every viewer how special the relationship between kid and toy is, especially a toy that requires no batteries but tons of imagination. It magically transports every viewer back to his/her childhood while confronting the (emotional) reality of growing up. It's cinema at its best.
Listed in an order that is consciously meaningless but probably somehow subconsciously revealing, here are my 50 favorite tracks of the year. Due to an, ahem, actual work schedule this year, I had few chances to grab my pickax and go spelunking in the musical blogosphere. The music I listened to this year is less a product of exploration and more a mix of previously-established artist loyalty and referrals from friends and various monthly and weekly publications that I peruse while waiting for things to load on my computer. And, yes, I realize a couple of these technically came out in 2009, but they didn't reach the (read: my) consciousness until after the New Year. Also, sorry for the complete lack of country music; there's usually at least ONE country track that makes my year-end list, but nothing grabbed me this year.
OK, on to the music:
"Somebody to Love Me" by Mark Ronson & The Business INTL *It's like a lost Smokey Robinson song that Mark Ronson dusted off, injected with his usual retro-cool soul (albeit with less funk than usual), and then recruited Boy George to come in and do what can only be described as "his thang."
"Cheers (Drink to That)" by Rihanna *Rihanna sampling Avril Lavigne's throaty wail seems like some of kind of weird time-loop malfunction, but it works beautifully on the most melancholy party jam since that time we realized "Hey Ya!" is about a depressing break-up. "Your Body on Me (Trash Yourself Remix)" by Kids at the Bar *If you consider dancefloor one word--and why wouldn't you, really?--then the lyrics consist of, I think, ten total words. I don't plan on taking ecstasy at any point in my lifetime, but this song makes a pretty good (implicit) argument for it. "All of the Lights" by Kanye West (and, like, 14 other people) *Kanye's new album is a fascinatingly introspective journey, but I can only pick a few highlights, so let's grab this track, laden with guests (Rihanna, Elton John, Alicia Keys, rapping Fergie!) and rich with metaphor--all of the lights are judgment, exposure, temptation, and enlightenment.
"Rolling in the Deep" by Adele *I don't know who pissed off Adele, but dude, thanks.
"Hang With Me" by Robyn *Robyn churned out multiple perfect pop songs this year. I could've easily given this spot to "Stars 4-Ever", "Include Me Out", or "Criminal Intent", but "Hang With Me" boasts a chorus filled with so much fear and excitement--she warns a potential lover that loving her will be the most painful thing he'll ever do--that to include it out would have been criminal.
"Wonderplanes" by Mash-up Germany aka BenStiller *I really enjoy "Wonderwall" and "Airplanes" on their own, but the former's lyrics mashed over the latter's lyrical hip-hop instrumentation is a bit of a revelation. The hope in Liam Gallagher's love letter is amplified and the result is shockingly romantic. "Something Bigger, Something Better" by Amanda Blank *When the Amazon women take over the world and make us all their slaves, this song will accompany the montage in which they set things on fire and laugh. (That was a compliment.) "Gimmie Dat" by Ciara *I'm a Ciara apologist, sure, but no apologies are necessary when a song designed to make you break-it-on-down pretty much forces your body to just that. A club jam at its very hookiest.
"Dream About Changing" by Sally Seltman *Your mom will like this song and that's ok. It's perfectly-engineered singer-songwriterly pop made for sunny days and, for three minutes and 30 seconds, you might feel like you're in a movie about people falling in love in the south of France.
"Ambling Alp" by Yeasayer *Let's celebrate individuality and wisdom-with-age! But let's be really weird about it!
"Lark" by Josh Ritter *The Animal Years are behind us, but Josh Ritter can still play the "Paul Simon from Idaho" card when he wants to, and with "Lark"--a sweet, poetic song about, of all things, optimism--it wins the hand.
"I Don't Believe (Don Diablo Remix)" by Rox *I'm American and I forget that Kylie Minogue isn't still somewhere doing the Locomotion. So while I'm over here forgetting, here's a great cut from Don Diablo that takes Rox's well-sung affections and slices them into gibberish and then reassembles.
"Window Seat" by Erykah Badu *It's so easy to focus on the attention-grabbing nudity-at-the-JFK-assassination-site video, that you might not realize how this song layers Erykah's sensual ache over a groovy bass line. "Miracles" by Norwegian Recycling *A mash-up that blends, oh, 50 songs or so, to create a inspirational ballad that seems clever at first, but then it starts to become intoxicating.
"Tighten Up" by The Black Keys *No one's been able to replicate The Black Key's beautiful distortion. And that's because people forget that, underneath the lite distortion, there's passion.
"Bad Romance" by Lady Gaga *She wants our love, our disease, our despair, and even our leather accessories! She's so needy! But, like, in a musically good way.
"The High Road" by Broken Bells *This is all I've wanted from The Shins for a while now. Thank God someone told Danger Mouse for me.
"Stillness is the Move" by Solange Knowles *Good job, Beyonce's sister! You took one of my favorite songs from last year, tweaked the melody, layered in a sample from Erykah Badu's "Bag Lady" (which I'm sure is a sample from something else but I don't care enough to look it up) and made one of the most amusing--and sexy--viral hits of the year.
"True Romance (Penguin Prison Remix)" by Golden Silvers *With music like this, I have a tough time picturing British people without supercool sunglasses. "Raise Your Glass" by Pink *"Don't get fancy, just get dancey"? I'm willing to accept a lyric like that from Pink, especially in such an uplifting underdog anthem. One of the few major pop stars who actually sounds like she believes every word she sings.
"Rude Boy" by Rihanna *A perfectly produced, hook-laden track that made the best possible use of Rihanna's snarls, moans, and Barbadian 'tude.
"Diplomat's Son" by Vampire Weekend *The Columbia prepsters upped their game this year in a major way and "Diplomat's Son" felt like a track that encapsulated the breakthrough. A bit of vocal experimentation, heartfelt storytelling, and a sense of cleverness that never felt suffocating.
"I Can Talk" by Two Door Cinema Club *I love this little collection of Northern Irish teens because, well, they're not afraid to be joyful. "I Can Talk" is a straightforwardly simple pop song that's all too easy to get lost in. "Your Song (Blackmill Dubstep Remix)" by Ellie Goulding *Elton John's song has been covered, like, a lot. It's been cloying (Ewan McGregor) or downright bizarre (The Streets), but I haven't heard a version as hauntingly romantic as Goulding's and Blackmill's. It may be your song, but she's the one who seems totally possessed by it.
"The Black and Gold" by Wale *Wale rapping over a remix of Sam Sparro's "Black and Gold" that, with a wink, flips Sparro's spiritual rumination into commentary on minor celebrity? Where do I download?
"Mowgli's Road" by Marina & The Diamonds *I just... I dare you to not enjoy this.
"Ray Ban Vision" by A-Trak feat CyHi Da Prince *With a beat that sounds like a Rube Goldberg one-man-band and fresh, at-times-silly rhymes, these guys almost make me care about sunglasses as much as they do.
"Triple Double" by Girl Talk *I was a bit disappointed with ALL DAY--I like my Girl Talk as cacophonous as possible and ALL DAY is a lesson in restraint--but "Triple Double" manages to make every artist it samples sound better. That Ludacris-over-Phoenix opening? Don't talk to me while I'm listening to it.
"All Things Go" by Chiddy Bang feat. Sufjan Stevens *Oh, Chiddy Bang. Never grow up. Keep playing with Pro Tools and indie rock samples and rapping about your time in college. I'll tell you when I've had enough. "Waka Waka (Esto Es Africa)" by Shakira *A bit of a ringer since I went to Cameroon this year and this World Cup anthem uses choral vocals from the country. But I truly can't imagine a more jubilant bit of world pop than "Waka Waka".
"Shutterbugg" by Big Boi feat. Cutty *HOW WAS THIS NOT A HUGE HIT?!?! In a totally rational world, this would have been #1 for 12 weeks.
"Shark in the Water" by VV Brown *Animal metaphors and similes can be really annoying, but, like a majestic eagle, this song soars.
"Dance Yrslf Clean" by LCD Soundsystem *I guess I'm in the confused minority that thought This is Happening was a post-Sounds of Silver letdown. Oh well, at least the kickoff track, which sounds like it takes place at a board game night for people slightly cooler than you, is small-to-big electric shock that reminds me what James Murphy is capable of.
"Tightrope" by Janelle Monae *This is the self-esteem/individuality/screw-the-haters anthem that everyone's tried, but no one's pulled off with this much energy, verve, or... well, individuality.
"Cosmic Love" by Florence + The Machine *I keep trying to find a reason for why this might not be the most romantic song ever in the history of all time, but damn if I'm having trouble coming up with one.
"F**k You!" by Cee-Lo *You've already watched the video too many times so I'm not embedding it. But you watched it so much because it just added to the mythology of the song--a viral, buoyant, flippant send-off that had everything you could want in a song (heart, humor, story, funk, nostalgia) without ever feeling overcrowded. Or crowded at all. No, this song has flow.
"Love The Way You Lie" by Eminem featuring Rihanna *I hate that the Eminem track I chose is the one that so easily lent itself to massive mainstream radio airplay, but I still can't listen to this song without feeling invested in the beyond-destructive relationship it depicts. I can't think of the last #1 single that captured hurt so well.
"Rome" by Yeasayer *A gloriously unhinged rock song that still has bounce--it feels like maybe it came from a soundtrack to a Muppets movie that couldn't possibly exist.
"I Need a Dollar" by Aloe Blacc *Many artists create time-machine soul that's perfectly serviceable, but Sharon Jones has, for the most part, been carrying the weight by herself. Sharon, meet Aloe.
"Get Some" by Lykke Li *The Scandavian pixie who used percussion and heartbreak to woo us in 2008 has changed up her method. Now she just wants to be sultry and, hey, the music hasn't suffered for it.
"Xxxo" by M.I.A. *She became bizarrely, aggressively iconic this year, a year in which her music seemed less inspired than ever before. But we got "Xxxo," a hypnotic, tech-referencing single about changing who you are--until you can't anymore. "Monster" by Kanye West *Creepy, crazy, and downright engrossing. Put it on repeat, but have a straightjacket ready.
"Glass Mountain Trust" by Mark Ronson & The Business INTL *D'Angelo makes his triumphant return... while not quite sounding like himself. Ronson holds back on the horn section, too--normally a blasphemous move--but the restraint creates a mood that washes over you rather than clamors for your attention.
"Riot Rhythm" by Sleigh Bells *Everyone went gaga for "Rill Rill" which its own special brand of basement-headbashing, but gimme "Riot Rhythm" with its competing layers of sound, and a feeling of making-it-up-as-they-go-along that imbues the song with a fun unpredictability.
"Dancing on My Own" by Robyn *Plain and simple, the best pop song of the year.
I saw more good television this year than a standard Time Warner DVR can actually hold. (Curses, Time Warner!) The number of shows that almost made this list is about as long as the list itself and I was shocked at what didn't crack the Top Ten. (Seriously, there are ten shows I consider better than Modern Family? Apparently so.) Thanks to the exponential growth in the number of original series on cable, we're no longer stuck with network fare, most of which--this season at least--is frustratingly safe and formulaic even when it succeeds.
Cable introduced or developed several unforgettable characters this year, though it sounds downright inaccurate to call it the "Year of the Antihero"--Tony Soprano and Vic Mackey set the mold for that modern archetype at the turn of the millennium. But the complexities that made those two men so fascinating has trickled down into both dramas and comedies, and we're left with some of the most imaginative and unapologetically theme-driven work on television.
A quick run-though of excellent shows that didn't make the cut: Better Off Ted (Somebody please give Victor Fresco a hit show); Burn Notice (a show that consistently reminds us how much fun a one-hour can and should be); Community (some time in October it eclipsed 30 Rock as the best show on NBC's new Thursday night line-up); Eastbound and Down (so much anger, so much unexpected heart); Friday Night Lights (always stunning, but the fifth season is feeling a litte... tired); Greek (one of the funniest, bounciest shows cable has to offer); In Treatment (Debra Winger is the greatest actress alive, if you're interested); Modern Family (consistently gets laughs from characters and set-ups that are both fresh and traditional); Party Down (another cancelled-too-soon comedy with a pitch-perfect ensemble); Survivor: Heroes vs. Villians (one of the best editions of reality's gold-standard game) and Top Chef (although All Stars Edition will almost definitely be on the list next year).
10. SOUTHLAND A cop show that's actually about the life of cops, not how they solve cases. Southland follows them on the job, watches them scowl through their grimy windshields and question witnesses with alternating compassion and reluctance. It goes home with them, into the kitchens and bedrooms where brittle marriages crumble and loneliness breeds addiction. It makes no promises about clear answers and it sure as hell doesn't promise any happy endings. But Southland--which TNT wisely picked up when NBC canceled it to make room for Leno--involves you so deeply in the up-and-down lives of its characters that I found myself caring about every beautifully-crafted storyline, each one anchored by a bravura performance.
9. ARCHER Archer, FX's irreverant comedy, is the (only slightly) less eccentric sister of Adam Reed's also-fantastic Frisky Dingo. With its unique computer-animated pen 'n' ink look, Archer seems like it was adapted from some demented comic strip that came with cheap bubble gum, but these tricks are not for kids. Archer is a James Bond that milks his James Bondness for all it's worth--he's oversexualized, hyperviolent, and sociopathically aloof. And, oh, the mother issues. Archer brilliantly layers in call-backs and inside jokes while providing machine-gun blasts of comedy both situational and verbal. It's not just the sister of Frisky Dingo, it's the punk grandchild of Arrested Development.
8. JUSTIFIED U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens (Timothy Olyphant) is pure badass. And Justified could simply rely on that, but it'd rather complicate him with a beautiful ex-wife, an equally beautiful (kind-of) girlfriend, and a scum-of-the-earth backwoods Pa whose abuse made Raylan so damn badass in the first place. Halfway through the first season, the show abandoned its fugitive-of-the-week formula and dove into Raylan's Kentucky-bred emotional scars while he used every muscle in his body--but mostly his trigger finger--to bring down the meanest meth-cookin' family in the Bluegrass State. It's one of the first times I've ever really bought Timothy Olyphant in a role, but as Raylan, he's steely without sacrificing his charisma. And Walton Goggins, as the maybe-reformed Boyd Crowder, gave the most underappreciated supporting performance of the year. Again.
7. THE GOOD WIFE A big, network, by-the-books procedural can still be done beautifully and The Good Wife is the cleverest of the bunch. Julianna Marguilles quietly underplays Alicia Florrick; she's a calm lionness, addicted to the law's rules and logic after her husband's public betrayal. The Good Wife also lets its case-of-the-week and its rich, serialized B stories bleed into one another, turning every relationship on the show into a narratively crucial bond. It asks open-ended questions about morality without ever seeming leading and it argues both sides without ever seeming patronizing. It occasionally makes big leaps of logic, but it's always for the sake of showing how much modern politics have become a circus sideshow. And one of its greatest riches? It has a treasure trove of strong, female characters without ever making a big deal about it. So they're women? So what, who cares?
6. RUBICON Three Days of the Condor should have been a TV series. And Jason Horwitch figured that out. Rubicon had a bright, urban coldness to its look that reminded me of Sydney Pollack's best films. Except that this time, the characters had cell phones. (Though, to be fair, Rubicon used modern technology sparingly. The characters' own brains found the patterns and deciphered the clues.) Rubicon followed Will Travers and his underling analysts as they picked apart a terror threat. But the terror threat may be part of a bigger conspiracy (of course it is) that might be related to Will's bosses (of course it is). Rubicon got the feel of office politics and mindless busy work just right and it consistently raised the stakes with intriguing twists that always felt earned, never cheap. I wish the four-leaf clover motif would have brought it better luck, ratings-wise.
5. NURSE JACKIE I still don't know if it's a drama or a comedy, but I'll never call it a dramedy. Let's call it a half-hour character study, in which Edie Falco's Jackie Peyton tenuously balances her extramarital affair, her high-strung young daughter, and her expensive pill addiction. Oh, and the many patients she treats, the only people in her life to whom she shows sympathy. Everything hinges on Jackie's many deceptions and the lies that snowball from episode to episode, building the tension but keeping the scenes intimate. Merritt Weaver's perky, fidning-her-strength nurse and Peter Facinelli's cocky doctor added several moments of pure, bombastic humor, but Jackie's quirky characters have hearts full of angst and it's satisfying to watch them bleed.
4. PARKS & RECREATION A show about public works that really works. (Zing!) Amy Poehler is infectiously charming as Leslie Knope, the idealistic director of the Pawnee Parks Department. And although the excellent supporting cast (special nod to Nick Offerman) and guest stars bounced their cynicism, hopelessness, and, well, rationality off of her all season long, she wore optimism as a suit of armor. In an age in which so much comedy comes from sarcastic one-liners and too too much, Parks and Recreation, in the second half of its second season, is courageously sunny. It comfortably settled into the relationships of its characters and provided just the right kind of highjinks to test and stengthen them. It's also, easily, the most lovable cast on television, and I eagerly await its too-delayed January return.
3. MEN OF A CERTAIN AGE Who would have predicted this as Ray Romano's second act? "This" being a wry, reflective one-hour about everyday men with real problems (awkward divorces, strained relationships with parents and children, getting reading glasses) who achieve small victories. Andre Braugher is excellent as Owen, a car salesman who worries that his father is as disappointed in him as he is in himself. Scott Bakula is perfectly cast as Terry, an aging actor who sets the bar so low for himself that he always feels at ease. Ray Romano shows more subtlety and depth of emotion than you would guess as Joe, an aspiring pro golfer whose marriage fell apart when he gambled with their savings. For a look at how great this series can be, check out the last act of the episode "Powerless" and watch the scene in which Joe sits in the car with his daughter's ex-boyfriend outside of the house Joe used to inhabit, and they ruminate on just how much it hurts sometimes. It's finely-crafted, heartbreaking work.
2. MAD MEN AMC, you make it so hard to choose! I went back and forth about what my favorite show of the year was. You missed it by only a single slicked-backed hair, Mad Men. Season 4--perhaps my favorite season yet--amped up the turmoil by filling SCDP's hallways with mild desperation. It stuck to its base metaphor--we are all faulty products disguising ourselves as advertisements; Dick: product / Don: advertisement--while dragging Don through one emotional low point after another. As often as he made the wrong decisions, losing his weekends to alcohol and one-night stands, I rooted for him to be a better man. And so those moments in which refused another drink felt just as victorious to us as it did to Don himself. Meanwhile, the office life popped with timely politics this season and the home lives were marked with deep senses of loss (absent fathers, dying mentors and stalwarts, husbands in Vietnam). So yeah, it was bleak. But bleak can be honest, and when Mad Men provides hours of such high quality as "The Suitcase"--the single best episode of television this year--bleakness is worth it.
1. BREAKING BAD And so, the crown remains firmly on the king's head for one more year. (Yes, topping my personal "Best TV" list is just like inheriting a monarch's throne.) Breaking Bad plays like Quinten Tarantino's version of Arthur Miller: it's raw, chilling, and consistently edge-of-your-seat absorbing (and gorgeously photographed). Walter White's tortured rise through the meth-cooking ranks in season 3 only made him more enemies, each with their own nastily violent strategy. The ax-wielding twins who kick off the season's opening scene--most. ominous. scene. ever.--were only one element in the colorful, haunting, high-stakes world into which Walter has inserted himself. But he hasn't only inserted himself, he's one of its creators. Walter--played by rightful three-time Emmy winner Bryan Cranston--is the ultimate ends-justify-the-means mastermind, a man deeply in denial about the loose moral code he's adopted and what he's actually willing to do to anyone who gets in his way. The very people he's fighting for, his fragmented family, have started to feel the pull of the meth business's darkness and Walter's strained relationship with apprentice Jesse (Emmy winner Aaron Paul) produced wrenching emotional moments of regret and reunion. Action, suspense, family drama, dark comedy--Breaking Bad toggles between them effortlessly and it always left me breathless.
Before I bust out the always exciting end-o'-the-year Favorite Films list, here's something a bit more fun-size and digestible: my favorite scenes of the year. In no particular order!
BLUE VALENTINE / The Song-and-Dance 
TOY STORY 3 / Trail of Tears
