Succession is so good that it basically made its own iconic brand of television humor (much like The Office). Succession truly felt like a phenomenon as it was happening with such a winning formula of morally questionable characters who somehow were collectively so addictively compelling despite their extreme wealth and privilege.

In retrospect, it's stunning that a show like Succession could even be as popular as it was because it's really not a satire with an "eat the rich" type of message like Blink Twice or Triangle of Sadness. It revels in its elitism and makes it equally desirable and detestable. Without its high level of humor and hilarious characters such as Greg and Tom, even Roman and Kendall at times, the series wouldn't work. Its backbone is the real family dynamics that still ring true even though the trust funds and cover-ups. It's truly brilliant and one of the best ever.

A film that will likely never be recreated. A true experimental cinematic achievement that somehow, magically, still works as a sold coming-of-age story. There is certainly some repetitiveness in its narrative, which isn't perfect or necessarily all that interesting, but it is incredibly authentic and blends the line between fiction and reality. This is what Richard Linklater does best and I'm so happy that he had the ambition and patience to pull it off.

Boyhood is a movie that is larger than cinema. It inherently showcases the other most magnificent part of filmmaking outside of storytelling, which is documenting history. The originality of its premise alone is enough to be in awe of it. It seems ridiculous to nitpick a film that was shot over the course of 12 years for its minute details in character or plot. The fact that Linklater did this and is going to do it again with the musical Merrily We Roll Along is incredible, plain and simple.

The Departed may just go down as the quintessential "Boston movie" right next to Good Will Hunting. The fact that Matt Damon stars in both makes me feel like The Instigators should have been way better. Regardless, The Departed finally earned Scorsese his first and only Oscar, and deservedly so. Even me, being from Boston, wouldn't call it his greatest cinematic achievement, but I do think The Departed is a masterpiece.

What's most impressive about The Departed is its sharp pace and palpable tension. It's a film that certainly has its flaws, including an outdated look at the Bostonian culture, but is right up there with Goodfellas as the greatest mob movie of all time. It's gritty, relentless at times, and sets up an enthralling ride with several great twists. Could Mark Wahlberg have toned down the accent? Yes. Could Nicholson have done more to distance himself from the Whitey Bulger comparisons? Also yes. Take The Departed for what it is - a timeless gangster epic.

Such a beautiful series through and through. Deserves more recognition and a larger audience. Matt Bomer and Jonathan Bailey give exceptional perfomances, arguably the best of their television careers. There's so much ion and care put into the construction of this series combined with a stark adherence to historical accuracy that it actually becomes very educational, not to mention highly entertaining.

One of the few television series that actually made me emotional, especially at the end of it. Even when you know what's going to end up happening from the get-go, the way that the story unfolds is so tragic and profound that you can't help but shed a tear. even though the characters are fictional, their hardships and decades of struggles are extremely real and felt in Fellow Travelers. One of the best and most heartfelt historical television series I've ever seen. It's a shame it wasn't nominated for Best Limited Series at the 2024 Emmys.

Not a big fan of how this series turned out, to be honest. I get that the series was meant to chronicle the Donald Sterling scandal that led him to sell the Los Angeles Clippers, but that wasn't enough to keep the series interesting throughout. I had an issue with the casting choice, particularly with the basketball personnel, that in some cases were so inaccurate they were distracting and laughable (looking at you Steph Curry).

Ultimately, this series didn't need to exist, nor was it fun to watch. The story is both outrageous and true, which you would think would make a great premise for a documentary as opposed to a live-action reenactment of sorts. It was unclear who it was trying to appeal to but it certainly wasn't basketball fans. Even outside of that context, the story may be bizarre and stranger than fiction, but it offered little more than a recap of a headlining story that just happened 10 years ago.

I'm still upset that this show was canceled by Max after two seasons, which seems to becoming a trend at Warner Bros. Rarely have I seen such an impressive expansion of its characters and story world as I did between Tokyo Vice seasons 1 and 2, which really makes me wonder what a season 3 might have looked like even though there was a strong sense of a conclusion at the end of season 2.

Tokyo Vice is almost entirely shot in Japan, something that Shogun can't even add its its list of accolades. While it may have been impractical for WB to continue production in Tokyo, which has a reputation for not being too accommodating to film productions, I really wish there could have been some way to pull it off. The series creators are still adamant about bringing Tokyo Vice season 3 to life somewhere. Even if it's not at WB/Max, I feel like it deserves it. More people should be watching this show.

Easily the best miniseries of 2024, until it was announced that it was actually the first season of a new drama series, making it the best new drama series of 2024. Shogun is one of the most visually stunning series quite literally ever made and still its story is its greatest achievement. All of the perfomances are phenomenal and the world is so rich with authentic texture and tone that it's easy to stay in despite the show's brutality.

I'm excited for the future of Shogun because very rarely are first seasons so expertly done, especially by relatively inexperienced showrunners. There is so much more to explore after the events of Shogun season 1 which would have been left to the history books otherwise, since the story is about the real life rise of the Tokugawa shogunate, but will be so much more interesting to see replicated and dramatized on screen. Cannot wait for season 2 and beyond.

Hit Man is an integral part of Glen Powell's path to superstardom but is also a smart and witty Richard Linklater film. Linklater was inspired by a newspaper article he read about a man who posed as a hitman for the local police and thought that'd make a pretty solid premise for a movie, which he was right about. He added a lot of the other stuff, particularly the romance with one of the hitman's targets, but it worked for the benefit of the storytelling.

In Hit Man, Powell really got to show what else he was made of after the surprise success of Anyone But You and the enormous impact of Top Gun: Maverick. Hit Man could have really broken Powell's stride gearing up to the summer blockbuster hit Twisters, but it actually worked quite well in his favor, earning the widespread praise of critics and getting to show that he was more than an action hero and a love interest. Hit Man is a rom-com at heart but it's also quite sharp.