Little Dorrit

The new adapation of Masterpiece Classic's "Little Dorrit" got off to a rousing start last night and quickly proved to be the best -- thus far -- of the the series latest crop of Dickens-inspired teledramas. It's not that I didn't care for the recent "Oliver Twist" ('tho I wasn't too wild about Timothy Spall's take on Fagin--and I usually love everything he does), but maybe I've just seen too many other adaptations. And the rebroadcast of the '99 "David Copperfield" seemed nothing more than a time filler (altho Maggie Smith's Aunt Betsy is a delight).

But this new "Dorrit" grabbed me right away. It's big and expansive and complete with Alun Armstrong on hand as the best possible Dickensian villain. OK, the streets of London are a bit too clean, the costumes perhaps a bit too lovely, and the dreaded debtors' prison not that particularly dreadful. But Andrew Davies' script is up to his brilliant "Bleak House" from a few years ago and the casting is top notch. Any opportunity to see Tom Courtenay, Judy Parfitt, Eddie Marsan and especially Matthew Macfadyen is reason enough for me to stick this one thru til the end.

A popular posting over at Awards Daily, courtesy of one very passionate and articulate Ben Woulds, features the author’s interesting list of all the Oscar Best Picture nominees ranked from worst (the ’62 remake of “Mutiny on the Bounty”) to the best (“Grand Illusion” takes the top spot followed by “Citizen Kane” and then “Brokeback Mountain”)

This, is of course, one person’s opinion, but it’s a very impressive undertaking. It generated, needless to say, lots of commentary, including some heated and hysterical feedback, not to mention a few rambling replies from yours truly.

I was inspired to do my own consideration of Oscar’s choices --and oversights-- and came up with my top five contenders for the best of the year. It’s actually an exhausting task; I only made it back fifteen years, but hey, it’s a start. (Besides, I’m tired and a little worn out after last night’s viewing, at long last of Melville’s great penultimate classic, “Le Cercle Rouge” in all its Criterion Collection glory…. but I digress).

So if anyone is interested, here are my picks going back to ’93. These are the top Five in my book as of tonight. Remember, anything could change. All it could take is another visit to, say, "The Wrestler" or "Road to Perdition" and everything starts falling apart.

An asterisk indicates my choice for the best of the best. Interestingly, I only agree with the Academy twice (“Return of the King” and “Schindler’s List”)

2008
*Milk/The Reader/ Revolutionary Road/ The Dark Knight/ Happy-Go-Lucky or In Bruges

2007
*Assassination of Jesse James…/ No Country for Old Men/ There Will Be Blood/ The Diving Bell and the Butterfly/ Atonement

2006
*The Lives of Others / Volver/ United 93/ Casino Royale/ Little Children

2005
*Brokeback Mountain/ Munich/ The New World/ A History of Violence /The Constant Gardener

2004
*Vera Drake/ Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind / The Motorcycle Diaries /La Mala Educacion/ Kinsey or Closer

2003
*LOTR: The Return of the King /Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World/ Elephant/ Lost in Translation/ Mystic River

2002
*Far From Heaven/ The Hours/ Y Tu Mama’ Tambien/ Habla con Ella / Chicago

2001
*Gosford Park/ Moulin Rouge!/ Mulholland Drive/ LOTR: The Fellowship of the Rings/
Black Hawk Down or Lagaan

2000
*Almost Famous/ Amores Perros/ Crouching Tiger…/ Billy Elliot/ Sunshine

1999
*Topsy Turvy/ All About My Mother/ The Insider/ The Talented Mr. Ripley/ American Beauty

1998
*The Thin Red Line/ Saving Private Ryan/ Out of Sight/ Gods & Monsters /Elizabeth

1997
*Boogie Nights/ LA Confidential/ Titanic/ The Ice Storm / The Sweet Hereafter or In & Out

1996
*Fargo/ Secrets & Lies/ Lone Star/ The English Patient/ Evita/

1995
*Sense & Sensibility/ Dead Man Walking/ Apollo 13/ Babe/ The Usual Suspects

1994
*Pulp Fiction/ Ed Wood/ Queen Margot/ Quiz Show/ The Madness of King George

1993
*Schindler’s List/ The Age of Innocence/ Short Cuts/ The Remains of the Day/ The Wedding Banquet