One of the widespread myths of the 2016—and there seem to be many—is that Bernie Sanders could’ve beat Trump where Hillary failed. This myth usually runs parallel to the myth that Hillary ran a bad campaign, a convenient theory that lets the voters (and the media) off the hook without acknowledging history, demographics, just how…
Author: Alabama Liberal
The Most Likely Candidates to Fill Jeff Sessions Senate Seat…
Will Jeff Sessions be confirmed as Attorney General? Sad to say—and despite a noble effort from Corey Booker to block it—but yes, he probably will be. And that means that there is an open senate seat in Alabama for the first time in almost thirty years. Gee, who can believe Alabamians have won the Turd Lottery…
It’s Actually Next Friday I’m Afraid Of…
Sure, Friday the 13th is a terrifying time. The more superstitious among us barely want to leave the house, and all day long most people may be looking for confirmation-bias to suggest the day is unlucky: “Damn, I specifically said no mustard on this sandwich, and look–mustard! I knew this day was cursed.” But it’s…
Why “Weiner” is the Best Film of 2016 (and “Hacksaw Ridge” the Worst)
Following up on my “Best of 2016” rankings, I didn’t post proper reviews of “Weiner” or “Hacksaw Ridge” before the listings in order to keep things a surprise. I thought I would expand a little bit on both… Hacksaw Ridge: It’s true that I may stand alone among critics in listing this as one of…
Oscar Predictions: Who Will Be Nominated…AND Win
Note: I can usually predict about 4 out of 5 nominees and 2/3rds of winners, for whatever that’s worth in your Oscar betting pool. The rankings are how sure I am they’ll be nominated (so the 4th or 5th placers may very well not make the cut) and the top choice is who I think will…
The Reason White Racists Love FX’s “Atlanta”
Opening Defense: I know the pushback I’ll most likely receive is “but wait–black people love ‘Atlanta’ too.” Sure, but this year saw a variety of black-starring and created TV shows from “Loosely Exactly Nicole” to “Insecure” to “Luke Cage” to “Queen Sugar” and none of them received the universal adoration from white critics that “Atlanta” did….
300 at 30: Episode 18–Your Authority Figures Were Wrong, It’s Ok to Throw Away Food
A PAINFUL episode as I throw away perfectly good junk food.
300 at 30–Episode 17: Do Milestones Matter?
Does it matter that I regained all the weight I lost in 2016? How to get back on the weight-loss-horse even after regaining, and talking about New Year’s Resolutions. Happy 2017 everyone! We’ll re-lose last year’s weight together.
Every 2016 Movie From Worst to Best
It’s a proud Alabama Liberal tradition to rank all of a completed year’s movies from worst to best—beat that paid-critics with your limited “Top 10” lists—and as always there’s just a few qualifiers: 1. Just because movies share the same letter grade (like a C grade) doesn’t mean they’re equal, and the rankings reflect which movies of…
The 10 Best TV Shows of 2016
You’ve seen the Best (and Worst) Characters, and the Best Scenes or Episodes, but still, there can be only one true list of the year’s 10 Best TV Shows… Honorable Mention: “Real Time with Bill Maher” is about to become the most important voice for “The Resistance.” Let’s quit kidding ourselves that Trumpers will ever listen to…
The Best TV Scenes or Episodes of 2016
Note: This is a combination of TV episodes, scenes, moments, shots, or whatever you want to call it. This is not to be confused with “The Best TV series of 2016” which ranks an entire season, and will be posted shortly… Honorable Mention: “The Good Wife” Iowa episode…”The Good Wife” gave us a lot of good…
The BEST TV Characters of 2016
People Vs. OJ…Veep…Westworld…The Night Of… Best Self: Campbell Scott as himself in “Sex, Drugs, and Rock and Roll”…Having a celebrity play themselves rarely leads to anything other than smiles or a soft chuckle, but “Sex” gave Scott his most interesting role since “Roger Dodger,” as a manipulative, hilarious genius trying to stage a Hamilton-rip-off. He has only…
The WORST TV Characters of 2016
Note: As always, these are bad characters in otherwise good shows. There has to be a certain element of “ruining a good series” present, otherwise I could just list participants at an RNC debate… Have to Include It: The “Sand Snakes” and Ellaria Sand (Indira Varma) in “Game of Thrones”…Actually, they didn’t get on my nerves so much,…