Ten by Ten by Ten

1. Saraband

Ingmar Bergman's big-screen comeback after a 20-year hiatus was greeted with indifference when it should have been a major event. Saraband revealed a master still at the top of his game and capable of heart-rending emotional integrity. It was as good as his best, and very possibly his last.

2. Broken Flowers

Working with writer-director Jim Jarmusch, Bill Murray enhances his deadpan persona with a new emotional resonance, cynical and dismissive in every aspect of life except with women, who for him still remain a wonderful, horrible mystery.

3. A History of Violence

Cronenberg was finally rewarded with his biggest budget, his biggest financial success and his most universally acclaimed film, confirming a genius that a handful of us already understood and appreciated.

4. The World

Set in a massive, oddly beautiful, but vaguely disturbing theme park, this new film by Jia Zhang-ke (Platform, Unknown Pleasures) brilliantly explores the rewards and punishments of crossing boundaries and the tentative nature of human connection.

5. 2046

Continuing his string of tragically missed romantic connections, Wong Kar-wai burrows ever deeper for this elusive, visually expansive yet intensely private view of a writer, his own little world, and the women he can't quite fit inside it.

6. Land of the Dead

George A. Romero's zombie films stand the test of time as more than mere fright flicks; they have all managed to tell us a little something about ourselves. Sometimes they wonder about the condition of human kindness or capacity for heroism, or sometimes they tackle larger stuff, like our consumer culture or military fetish. This new film, Romero's first in 20 years, takes a scathing look at the current dislocation of American class structure and the quality of leadership, and finds both wanting. An evil entrepreneur (Dennis Hopper) promises a safe haven for those who can pay. At the same time, a zombie leader emerges and zombies begin to form their own class structure, even as ours erodes. It's the year's best message movie, far subtler than Syriana, Crash or North Country, and loads more fun. Images of zombies rising from the river or temporarily dazzled by fireworks will remain in the horror lexicon, simply because they mean something.

7. Capote

Maybe not one of the year's best films, but one of the most haunting in its depiction of the compulsive need to write about the truth—even at the cost of one's soul. As Truman, Philip Seymour Hoffman gave the performance of the year.

8. Good Night, and Good Luck

A companion piece for Capote, taking place during the same decade and following another compulsive truth-seeker; this time Edward R. Murrow debunks Sen. Joseph McCarthy when doing so could have meant personal ruin. America ought never to sink so low again.

9. Mysterious Skin

Gregg Araki's brave, devastating coming-of-age film tells the story of two boys, one aggressively gay, the other emotionally withdrawn, both molested as children by their baseball coach. This film is surprisingly gentle and tonally perfect.

10. The New World

Terrence Malick's fourth film in 32 years, The New World watches as Pocahontas (Kilcher) and John Smith (Colin Farrell) slowly enter and absorb one another's worlds. Malick tells the familiar story using the natural environment in a profoundly physical way. It's the year's only act of artistic lunacy and a messy masterpiece.

1. The New World

Terrence Malick's wonderfully beautiful film about the life of Pocahantas won't be out in Vegas until January 13, but it's easily the best film in a year that's had its ups and downs. With breathtaking visuals, astonishing performances (especially from newcomer Q'Orianka Kilcher) and heartbreaking romance, Malick's film transcends its historical context and becomes a deeply moving meditation on love and tradition.

2. A History of Violence

Thoughtful and gruesome, David Cronenberg's deconstruction of violence in America is a haunting triumph.

3. Nobody Knows

This story of Japanese kids forced to fend for themselves finds poetry in the everyday, while perfectly capturing the innocence and intensity of childhood.

4. Sin City

More than just a comic book come to life, this is a funny, dark, inventive and exhilarating film experience from Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller.

5. Thumbsucker

Mike Mills makes a striking debut with this insightful and well-acted drama that takes familiar ideas about suburbia and presents them in a fresh way.

6. Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang

Comedies rarely get the respect they deserve, but this clever madcap mystery from Shane Black deserves plenty.

7. The Aristocrats

In exploring the endless variations on a famous dirty joke, Paul Provenza provides a surprisingly deep insight into the construction of comedy and the way its creators think.

8. Match Point

Woody Allen's latest comeback (which opens locally January 20) is an uncharacteristically dark and restrained romantic thriller that explores what people will do to protect their comfortable lives.

9. The Exorcism of Emily Rose

A challenging philosophical musing in an unexpected package, and worth a second look from critics who blithely dismissed it as simplistic.

10. The Weather Man

Flawed and overly ambitious, but admirable for tackling probing questions about life and not flinching in the face of troubling answers.

1. Sin City

Anyone still whining that movies never do anything new should treat themselves to this hardest of hard-boiled film noirs.

2. Munich

Spielberg's take on senseless violence will leave you pondering its themes and final shot for hours.

3. A History of Violence

Cronenberg takes the premise of pretty much every Steven Seagal movie and fashions a gripping character study.

4. Syriana

Sure, it's all left-wing breast-beating, but to the right people that can be more addictive than crack, and there's seldom so satisfying a dose as this.

5. Batman Begins

Leaves the stink of Joel Schumacher behind and makes us believe that anyone with millions of dollars, ninja training, and a big cave under their house could really be Batman.

6. Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith

It may not be Oscar bait (except in the technical categories), but this film was made specifically for me and every other guy who still has at least one Star Wars toy floating around the house. It dodges the missteps of the last two by relegating Jar Jar into the digital backdrop and giving us only one cheesy 62-second (I checked) love scene. The rest is sci-fi action bliss.

7. Capote

Between Phillip Seymour Hoffman's brilliant portrayal of the famous author and Paul Giamatti's breakout role in Sideways, short, overweight, talented actors are finally getting their due.

8. The 40 Year-Old Virgin

As far as I'm concerned, the movie poster alone is funny enough for it to make the list.

9. Pride & Prejudice

Though it may be the ultimate chick flick, even guys can enjoy the rhythms of Jane Austen's meticulously constructed verbal combat.

10. Millions

An unexpectedly touching, family-oriented delight from the guy who brought us ravenous zombies and heroin addicts.

1. The Squid and the Whale

The kind of sharply written story—delivered with wit and acuity by Noah Baumbach—that only comes from the most personal of places. Laura Linney and Jeff Daniels are upsettingly convincing as divorcing parents who set in motion a tragic chain of events that leads to their children's thorough corruption. It's bitingly funny yet uncomfortable to watch because it's so full of truthful observations.

2. The Curse of the Were-Rabbit

The best British Claymation vegetarian monster spoof ever made.

3. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe

The CGI animals look like well-groomed pixels, but this comes closer to my enjoyment of the source material than any other recent fantasy film.

4. Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang

Shane Black's hilarious reinvention of the buddy cop flick begins with the best opening credits sequence of the year and doesn't stop until it's subverted every Hollywood cliché in sight.

5. A History of Violence

David Cronenberg's meditation on the repercussions of violence is by turns disturbingly honest and enticing.

6. Howl's Moving Castle

Hayao Miyazaki keeps turning out animation of boundless imagination that few people in this country bother to see.

7. Crash

Far too fascinating a film to worry about assessments of quality.

8. The Exorcism of Emily Rose

Features intelligence greater than at least a dozen other horror movies this year put together.

9. The Constant Gardener

This thriller from Fernando Meirelles is an infinitely more involving piece of international intrigue than Syriana.

10. In Her Shoes

Curtis Hanson keeps switching gears and finding new ways to delight.

1. Frank Miller's Sin City: Recut, Extended, Unrated

A special edition that really is special.

2. Chappelle's Show: Season 2

Last spring, Dave Chappell disappeared from public view, eventually turning up in South Africa. It cost him a $50 million deal with Comedy Central, but couldn't prevent the uncensored Season 2 DVD from setting another sales record—his first setting the record for single-day sales for TV discs. The truth behind Chappelle's shocking fall from grace can be found at
www.chappelletheory.com.

3. The Harold Lloyd Collection

The "third genius" revealed.

4. Grass: A Nation's Battle for Life

Before the original Kong, director Cooper's epic journey through a faraway land.

5. Heimat: A Chronicle of Germany

Even at 15 hours, this miniseries felt short.

6. Alfred Hitchcock: The Masterpiece Collection

The maestro's Universal period.

7. The Val Lewton Horror Collection

True terror on a B-movie budget.

8. Garbo: The Signature Collection

Why we couldn't leave her alone.

9. The Warner Gangster Collection

Turning monsters into icons.

10. The Wages of Fear: Criterion Collection (Restored Edition)

If at first you don't succeed ...

1. Resident Evil 4

I still wake up in the middle of the night thinking about that chainsaw guy, and then I stay up till dawn playing RE4 for the sixth time.

2. God of War

Horrific violence, gratuitous nudity, moral ambiguity—those ancient Greeks really knew how to make a video game.

3. Burnout: Revenge

When the cost of the damage you're causing dwarfs the national deficit, you know you're having fun.

4. Indigo Prophecy

Relax no more. Cut-scenes that were once scripted cinematics now require lightning reflexes. When your character does something strenuous, the clever controls make you physically feel the strain. This is one of those games that will never quite get its due, but its innovations will send ripples through the industry. It's an immersive story so well crafted, you'll be outraged at the end when it starts to feel like a mere video game.

5. Shadow of the Colossus

Climbing Mount Everest is pretty impressive, but killing Mount Everest scores you bragging rights for life.

6. Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory

Half the time you die, it's because you're distracted by how gorgeous the background is.

7. Mario Kart DS

If you trigger a lightning bolt when your rival hits a ramp, he'll shrink and fall into the abyss. It's better than sex.

8. Psychonauts

Whether you're sorting out emotional baggage (with luggage tags) or tackling personal demons, this game is never less than mind-blowing.

9. Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath

After getting used to the live ammo of bees and skunks, you'll never be able to go back to boring bullets.

10. Doom 3

You know your childhood fears have reawakened when you feel safer behind your flashlight than your Big F--king Gun.

1. The National, "Abel"

A Brooklyn band that gives American topics a British sound, the National's angst-ridden single sounds like a man trying to talk someone out of jumping off a 20-story building, only to wind up on the ledge himself.

2. The Dirtbombs, If You Don't Already Have a Look

Fifty-two songs means you're getting even more soul-garage bang for your buck from Detroit's best rock 'n' roll band. What—did you think it was someone else?

3. Sleater-Kinney, The Woods

Entering their second decade, Sleater-Kinney has left the "girl band" label far behind and continue exploring new territory with this disc that's equal parts rage and melody.

4. The Blood Brothers at Jillian's, June 17

I drank a lot of Jagermeister, got knocked over a few times, tried to pick a fight and emerged half-deaf and sweat-soaked. What more evidence of a good show do you need?

5. Queens of the Stone Age, "Little Sister"

Perhaps the new album wasn't all one hoped (Nick: Clean up and come home!), but this mix of catchy chorus, scratchy guitar and stomping percussion is one hell of a song.

6. DangerDoom, The Mouse and the Mask

Underground overlords Dangermouse and MF Doom combine their beat and rhyme powers with the talents behind the Cartoon Network's Adult Swim to make an album that is no joke.

7. Helmet at the Joint, January 12

Putting Helmet on a bill between Crossfade and Chevelle was like doing a dozen shots of Everclear in the midst of drinking a six-pack of Zima.

8. Louis XIV, The Best Little Secrets Are Kept

Silly hipster haircuts. A mediocre David Bowie homage, a Marc Bolan outright rip-off. Badass posturing from boys who got beaten up on the playground, imperious misogyny from guys who couldn't get a date in high school. Not the ingredients for a great album—but this isn't great, just irresistible. I defy you not to bob your head to "Finding Out True Love Is Blind," not to pump your fist to "God Killed the Queen," not to have these songs stuck in your head for days and not to enjoy every second of it.

9. Amerie, "1 Thing"

The hit single from the latest Will Smith flick: Usually cold crap on stale toast. But the squeal 'n' scratch in Amerie's voice and that rough-edge Meters drum break make a killer track.

10. Heavy Trash at the Thunderbird Lounge, November 12

NYC hipster kings Jon Spencer and Matt Verta-Ray brought their stripped-down, cranked-up take on rockabilly to the Strip and kept us dancing and drinking all night long. Lissa Townsend Rodgers

1. Unarocks.blogspot.com

The best music blog for sensitive indie souls and the boys and girls who can't help but love them.

2. Calla, Collisions

The band known for music you listen to during all those hours you should be asleep has made a great album for those times when you're supposed to be awake, too.

3. "Come Clean" on Laguna Beach

I haven't watched more than 10 minutes of this show, but that Hillary Duff theme song gets me every time.

4. Stars, "Set Yourself on Fire"

Life is full of happy accidents and chance encounters. Thousands of songs have been written about these happy accidents and chance encounters. This is probably the best one.

5. Kanye West, "Hey Mama"

West rhymes "chocolates" with "doctorate," and the song gets better from there.

6. Jenny Lewis with the Watson Twins, Ben Gibbard, Conor Oberst and M. Ward, "Handle With Care"

One glance at the names involved might have you feeling that this Traveling Wilburys cover is too precious by half. And it is, but it's also pretty wonderful. Lewis' new album doesn't come out until January, but this song is already showing up on more blogs than Veronica Mars. It might well become the big indie hit of next year.

7. Pussycat Dolls featuring Busta Rhymes, "Don't Cha"

This song isn't even that great for a hot summer single, but I saw Michael Olowokandi dance to it at Light and that's an image that's difficult to erase.

8. Okkervil River, "For Real"

This favorite song of music bloggers trumps Conor Oberst in its determination to be dour. It makes me happy every time I hear it.

9. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah

They're not nearly as cheery as their name implies, and the singer seems to think that mumbling is an art form. But you can't quibble with how pretty the songs can be when they decide to play it straight.

10. www.myspace.com/theios

Home to Brooklyn's best band. Look for them next year on The OC.

1. The Shins, Vegoose festival, October 29

There's nothing more hilarious than guys dressed as nuns, playing guitars and drinking cans of Bud. OK, so the Shins' costumes weren't that funny, but they did add to the playful vibe for the indie-pop quartet's bouncy performance as the sun set on Vegoose, Day One.

2. Harry Connick Jr., Green Valley Ranch, February 19

Don't laugh. The crooner earned five stars from me, and I'm not even a fan. Who knew he could play piano like that? And how about that band!

3. Jill Scott, Mandalay Bay Events Center, August 6

The neo-soul vocalist soared past more famous billmates Queen Latifah and Erykah Badu at this Sugar Water Festival stopover.

4. The Arcade Fire, Vegoose festival, October 30

I had sky-high expectations for this one, and I wasn't let down. Covers of New Order's "Age of Consent" and Bruce Springsteen's "State Trooper" were unexpected treats, but the band's batch of rapturous originals were the true highlights on Vegoose, Day Two.

5. Dinosaur Jr., House of Blues at Mandalay Bay, August 13

Mascis, Barlow and Murph on stage together again? Miracles really can happen.

6. Tom Petty, the Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel, August 16

Intimate club surroundings brought out the best in Petty, who tossed aside his usual set list and dug deep into his repertoire.

7. Paul McCartney, MGM Grand Garden Arena, November 25

Will we still need Paul when he's 64? If he rocks out the way he did this year at 63, absolutely.

8. Mos Def, Talib Kweli and Pharoah Monch, House of Blues, November 6

A Black Star reunion with a cherry from Pharoah on top. Hip-hop heaven.

9. T.S. Monk, Jazz in the Park, June 11

The drummer's crack sextet worked through a tight set that would have made Monk's legendary father proud.

10. TV On the Radio, the Joint, October 11

One of the indie scene's most unique bands put headliner Franz Ferdinand to shame, and had the Scottsmen's adorers scratching their heads.

1. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, "The Skin of My Yellow Country Teeth"

Vocalist Alec Ounsworth channels David Byrne. A wee bit of synth and an all-consuming bass line. It all adds up to the year's most addictive anthem.

2. Okkervil River, "For Real"

Shimmering and ominous, an epic for the ages.

3. DangerDoom, "The Mask"

Wu-Tang vet Ghostface jumps through your speakers on this guest spot.

4. Dirty Three, "Great Waves"

Who could complement D3's haunting soundscapes but the bewitching Chan Marshall?

5. The USA Is a Monster, "Clay People"

A frenetic leadoff cut on a concept album focused on the plight of Native American tribes? Count me in.

6. Wolf Parade, "I'll Believe in Everything"

This one quickens the pulse and stirs even the most unfeeling of hearts.

7. Sufjan Stevens, "Decatur, or, Round of Applause For Your Stepmother!"

"Stephen A. Douglas was a great debater/ But Abraham Lincoln was the great Emancipator." Hear history and geography come alive in music.

8. Bonnie "Prince" Billy & Matt Sweeney, "My Home Is the Sea"

Superwolf duo cops a Zeppelin vibe for this collab standout.

9. Sigur Rós, "Hoppípolla"

If I had my own walking-around theme music, this might be it.

10. Silver Jews, "Punks in the Beerlight"

"Ain't you heard the news?/ Adam and Eve were Jews."

1. Shannon McNally, Geronimo

Rock, country, blues and soul intersect in the perfect blend of Americana.

2. Nikka Costa, can'tneverdidnothin'

Blue-eyed soul sister gets help from Prince and Lenny Kravitz, and outshines them both.

3. Nickel Creek, Why Should the Fire Die?

The most daring band in bluegrass proves to be one of the most inventive groups in music with their brilliant third album. Embracing their dark, layered songwriting and elements of folk and indie pop, Nickel Creek have made an album that gets more rewarding with each listen, full of music that fans of country, bluegrass, folk and indie can love with equal fervor.

4. Ryan Adams, Jacksonville City Nights

The second of Adams' three 2005 albums is by far the best, a melancholy country ode to drink and depression.

5. Shelby Lynne, Suit Yourself

Lynne finds her comfort zone on this laid-back and beautiful down-home set.

6. Nine Inch Nails, With Teeth

Trent Reznor kicks drugs, gets buff, remains angry.

7. God Forbid, Constitution of Treason

Heavy metal concept album about American political corruption from New Jersey's answer to In Flames.

8. Avenged Sevenfold, City of Evil

Proof once and for all that emo and metal are the same thing.

9. Shooter Jennings, Put the O Back in Country

Waylon's son successfully puts a vowel back in country, and puts some Skynyrd, Aerosmith and Tom Petty in there while he's at it.

10. Better Than Ezra, Before the Robots

Not quite their 2001 masterpiece Closer, but Kevin Griffin remains the finest songwriter in adult pop-rock.

1. Akron/Family, Akron/Family

Great albums reveal themselves over time, and the sprawling debut from this bearded, Brooklyn-based quartet clings to its charms as if it hopes to keep them secret. Unhurried yet energetic, Old World earthy yet terrifically fresh, experimental folk music has rarely sounded so purposeful.

2. The New Pornographers, Twin Cinema

The indie-pop brigade perfects its catchy craft on its third full-length release.

3. The No-Neck Blues Band, Qvaris

Finally, a widely available release from NYC's famously secretive noise collective. A trippy journey that should delight daring newcomers along with the established cult of followers.

4. Kate Bush, Aerial

Britain's mystical songstress has gathered no moss during a 12-year recording hiatus.

5. Wolf Parade, Apologies to the Queen Mary

This year's answer to 2004's Arcade Fire. So what's gotten into Canada lately, anyway?

6. Smog, A River Ain't Too Much to Love

Lo-fi pioneer Bill Callahan churns out another sparse, heart-wrenching masterwork.

7. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah

How much buzz can an unsigned band generate? When its debut disc is this much fun, there's no telling.

8. Devin Davis, Lonely People of the World, Unite!

A power-pop tour de force.

9. Lightning Bolt, Hypermagic Mountain

Dense, abrasive and relentless, this is heavy rock for the 21st century.

10. Emperor X, Central Hug/Friendarmy/Fractaldunes (And the Dreams That Resulted)

Nifty production and spellbinding songs collide on one-man band Chad Matheny's latest.

11. Cyne, Evolution Fight

Backed by live instrumentation, this Gainsville, Florida, crew trumps 2005's more heralded hip-hop fare.

1. Sleater-Kinney, The Woods

To call The Woods Sleater-Kinney's masterpiece would demean their earlier discs. But, like Fugazi, Sleater-Kinney make punk for adults, and that will always be an acquired taste.

2. The Fall, The Complete Peel Sessions, 1978-2004

Late BBC personality John Peel's favorite band returned the love by always spitting first-rate bile on his show over the years. The Fall, and its sole permanent voting member Mark E. Smith, are a British institution and yet remain almost unknown here. This disc won't change things. But it should give a few the chance to catch up on the wild and unwieldy history of this prolific and still going concern.

3. New Pornographers, Twin Cinema

This is fun, fun, fun indie music, with songs so good that you can imagine them appealing to not just fans of Bright Eyes but also fans of Britney. Someone alert The OC. It's a low blow but why not? The cool person's Death Cab for Cutie.

4. Roky Erickson, I Have Always Been Here Before: The Roky Erickson Anthology

The beauty of a life's work reaped from a sadly sick mind.

5. System of A Down, Hypnotize/Mezmerize

6. Shakira, Oral Fixation, Vol. 2

Popular music at its most inspired and ambitious.

7. Old 97's, Alive & Wired

8. Lucinda Williams, Live @ the Fillmore

9. Patti Smith, Horses 30th Anniversary (with 2005 concert of Horses featuring Lenny Kaye, Flea and Tom Verlaine)

10. Robert Plant, Mighty ReArranger

1. Sunday pool parties Rehab at the Hard Rock and Nirvana at Green Valley Ranch.

2. Las Vegas' newest residents AM, Skribble, Donald Glaude, Kid Capri, Mark Ronson ... the list goes on.

3. Tao Nightclub's grand opening gala, September 24.

4. Pure Nightclub's New Year's Eve grand opening bash hosted by Mariah Carey.

5. Wynn Las Vegas's grand opening on April 28. Lure ultralounge and La Bête nightclub debuted to tepid receptions, a minor snafu that will be summarily resolved this weekend when the Steve Wynn-Victor Drai partnership presents us with their reinvention of La Bête as Tryst. Lure has also received some love, and will—along with Mirage's Jet—enjoy the honor of being the new year's babies of 2006.

6. Body English and Tangerine turned 1; Ice, Mist, Tabú and Teatro turned 2; Light turned 3; V Bar turned 4; Seven turned 5 (and then expired); and Studio 54 turned 8!

7. Stack's cucumber martinis.

8. Jack Lafleur.

9. Cocktails that cost a mortgage payment—if only to know they exist.

10. Being able to say you're "partying Downtown tonight" and feel cool.

1. Veronica Mars, UPN

The best show on TV started the year with the fantastic second half of its first season, and returned with a second season that retains the complexity, intelligence and rich characterization of the first while striking out in new directions.

2. Lost, ABC

The monster hit sometimes gets bogged down in its litany of cryptic mysteries, but the dangling prospect of finding out what's really going on with the polar bears, French women and ominous film strips (not to mention the troubled characters) is more than worth tuning in for.

3. My Name is Earl, NBC

This season's most entertaining new show takes a potentially sappy premise (white-trash man wins lotto, atones for mistakes) and makes it funny, touching and delightfully quirky. Plus it proves Jaime Pressly can act.

4. Invasion, ABC

If Lost is slow, then this show is nearly at a full stop; its atmospheric tale of aliens infiltrating a small Florida town developing meticulously but fascinatingly, serving as much as an allegory for the disintegration of the modern family as a sci-fi tale of strange creatures.

5. The Closer, TNT

With all the indistinguishable police procedurals on the air, this summer show set itself apart with its firebrand of a lead character and quirky supporting cast, even with some routine cases.

6. It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, FX

Perhaps the funniest show on TV, Sunny is dark, caustic, freewheeling and little-watched, but FX has given a green light to a second season and added Danny DeVito to the cast.

7. Battlestar Galactica, Sci Fi

Who would have thought that a remake of a much-maligned 1970s space opera would be 2005's more sophisticated take (over FX's Over There) on the tough decisions and harsh realities of warfare? Uncompromising and often brutal, this is sci fi with its feet on the ground, trading alien invasions for political intrigue, and remaining an exciting adventure at the same time.

8. Weeds, Showtime

Forget Desperate Housewives; for a smart, nuanced and insightful look at the dark underbelly of suburbia, this show about a pot-dealing mom hits all the right notes, and features a magnificent lead performance from Mary-Louise Parker.

9. Eyes, ABC

It lasted only five episodes in mid-season, but this stylish and morally ambiguous comedic drama should have been part of ABC's resurgence in quality, if only they had bothered to promote it.

10. Kitchen Confidential, Fox

One of this fall's early casualties, Darren Star's adaptation of chef Anthony Bourdain's memoir had wit and sophistication, but a tough time slot. It deserved better.

1. Adam Baum and the Jew Movie, Test Market theater troupe at SEAT

Fascinating play, haunting performances, capable direction, devastating impact. In short: the goods.

2. Avenue Q, Wynn Las Vegas

Vegas has always had sex but it never had puppet sex till this funny, raunchy, ultimately touching Broadway import.

3. Katie Harper in Once Upon a Mattress, Super Summer Theater

A star is born—shooting out of the womb with comic ferocity.

4. Ernest Hemmings in Pounding Nails in the Floor with My Forehead, Test Market at SEAT

A virtuoso performance—furious, hilarious, sad, inventive—to cherish.

5. Seussical, Super Summer Theater

A Day-Glo, Crayola-colored, candy-cane magical-musical for both the kiddies and grown-uppies.

6. T.J. Larsen, all around town

This local actor-director continues not only to impress but to grow from a performer of considerable talent (Sexual Perversity in Chicago at Community College of Southern Nevada) to a director with increasingly dead-on instincts (Speed the Plow with Test Market at SEAT, and especially The Turn of the Screw at Las Vegas Little Theatre.) Have him design a few outstanding sets and he could become the scene's go-to, do-it-all guy.

7. Lori Kay, all around town

A blast of fresh air to the theater community, Kay lends a radiance to everything she does, whether pratfalling in goofy physical comedy (LVLT's Insomniac Project), flinging outrageous shards of Mamet dialogue (Sexual Perversity) or racing from humor to terror in one riveting monologue in Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All for You (Stark Theatre).

8. Never the Sinner, LVLT

This absorbing piece of drama about the infamous case of rich, murdering college pals Leopold and Loeb soared thanks to inventive staging by director Courtney Sheets, powerful performances by C.J. Maldonado and Tony Blosser as the lead killers, and the gentleman who's next on our list ...

9. John Wennstrom, all around town

With a pair of grab-you-by-the-throat performances this season—as the conflicted Jewish movie producer in Adam Baum and as Leopold and Loeb's impassioned attorney Clarence Darrow in Never the Sinner—Wennstrom continually marks himself as an actor to savor.

10. Jacob Marley's Christmas Carol, LVLT

This satiric take on the old Dickens chestnut, with minimalist staging and fine, fun performances, was a refreshing Christmas change-up.

1. The appointment of Libby Lumpkin as consulting executive director at the Las Vegas Art Museum could be the first step in having a real, local art museum.

2. It has been argued that Las Vegas is something of a public art project all to itself, but the Las Vegas Centennial Celebration Committee's "City of 100 Murals" project proved there's always room for more. Artists, local and not, teamed up with various groups around the Valley to help us celebrate our centennial with murals and other types of public artworks. Each is intended to stay for five years, but some undoubtedly will last longer. Among the highlights of the program was the county's "Zap!" project, which commissioned 10 artists to apply designs to utility boxes around the Winchester Cultural Center. The program even aroused controversy—it wouldn't be public art otherwise, right?—when some locals objected to California artist Alexis Smith's planned 30-foot mural, Scarlet Letter, intended for outside the Sahara West Library.

3. Talking about art became almost as important as looking at it, as Dust Gallery and Godt-Cleary Projects collaborated on a Third Thursdays series of gallery talks, the city-sponsored screenings of the PBS series Art:21 and UNLV's visiting artists lecture series flourished again this fall.

4. Downtown continued to grow with the addition of the Holsum Lofts and MTZC.

5. Dirk Vermin's decision to close Gallery Au Go-Go was a blow to the general scene, but there's hope the artists and art-lovers whom the gallery served will continue to find outlets Downtown.

6. The Guggenheim Hermitage did not go away; in fact, it got a seven-year, rent-free lease from the parent company of its host, the Venetian.

7. And its stopgap exhibition, The Quest for Immortality: Treasures of Ancient Egypt, which the Gugg-Herm brought in when other plans collapsed, turned out to be a delight, one of the year's top shows.

8. Sculpture professor Robert Wysocki's use of a UNLV faculty grant to print phrases about first-time occurrences on billboards was perfect for our sign-saturated city. Wysocki, who also organizes the school's fall visiting-artist lecture series, showed the full version of his 4,500-item list of personal firsts at the 2005 Nevada Triennial at the Nevada Museum of Art in Reno.

9. It was encouraging to see a Downtown venue, Contemporary Artists Collective, host Keepers of the Flame, a Las Vegas centennial project organized by Left of Center gallery director Vicki Richardson.

10. Once again, the art world had a snit because we grubby Las Vegans paid to install some Brahmin art in the desert. Gives you a warm feeling inside, doesn't it? The Impressionist Landscape from Corot to Van Gogh, works on loan from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, continues at the Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art through April.

1. Voices from Chernobyl by Svetlana Alexievich

If there is any book that brought home the power of testimony, it's Alexievich's haunting work of oral history, which collects interviews the Ukranian journalist performed with survivors of the worst nuclear disaster in history. Here were men and women who lost entire families, homes and livelihoods. All they had left was their voices, which Alexievich captured with a sensitivity that borders on grace, suggesting that—in the face of the worst news—it is not our nationality nor beliefs but our empathy which keeps us human.

2. The March by EL Doctorow

The big breakout novel of the fall was an epic story set on a battlefield during a trying time for America—only this hard time was 1865, the year Union Gen. William Sherman marched from Georgia to the Carolinas.

3. Refusing Heaven by Jack Gilbert

A haunting collection of lyrics by one of poetry's most enigmatic and elusive veterans.

4. Night Draws Near by Anthony Shadid

Soldiers aren't the only ones paying the steepest price in Iraq, as Shadid portrays Operation Iraqi Freedom through the eyes of Iraqis themselves, who waited out the Shock and Awe campaign with their windows taped shut.

5. The Great War for Civilisation by Robert Fisk

Reporter Fisk shows how wars of "liberation have failed" because war is "primarily not about victory or defeat but about death and the infliction of death. It represents the total failure of the human spirit."

6. Post War by Tony Judt

Probably the definitive history of Europe since the end of World War II.

7. On Beauty by Zadie Smith

A reworking of E.M. Forester's Howard's End, addressing love, friendship and a college's attempts to police both.

8. Crush by Richard Siken

A supersonic debut which ought to become the mother of all breakup books.

9. Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin

A reminder that the cabinet who helped steer Lincoln through the Civil War was all, in one way or another, forged in loss.

10. Human Cargo by Caroline Moorehead

A far-reaching study of the 17 million refugees who languish on our planet.