Top 10 Paste Lists (and bottom 5)

if, like me, you are a fan of Paste Magazine, you have been overwhelmed by their year-end, decade-end and normal assortment of lists thrown at you during the past month or so. How do you wade through 1 or 2 lists thrown at you per day (especially if you follow them on twitter). Well, never fear... Rick is to the rescue. I have combed through the Paste lists and found 10 must read lists. Here they are:

10. The 20 Best Movie Scenes of the Decade- good list with 3 notable mistakes (1) the Klan meeting from Oh, Brother Where Art Thou (2) either the opening of ending scene from Children of Men (3) the chase scene from The Departed in which "Shipping Up to Boston" are played.

9. The 25 Best American Breweries of the Decade- possibly the most helpful list Paste has ever devised.

8. The 20 best Live Acts of the Decade- any list in which the top 3 are Arcade Fire, Flaming Lips and Radiohead is a great list.

7. The 25 Best Movie Performances of the Decade- terribly flawed list which gives much reason for debate (the reason to make these lists is to incite anger and arguments)

6. The 10 best Food Shows of the Decade- I could care less about many of the shows on the list, but #1 is one of the reasons I love food and television. Long live King Anthony!

5. The Five Best Drug Dealers on TV- any list that names Avon and Stringer, even if it is cheating, is a good list. Of course, I believe a better list would be top 5 drug dealers on The Wire followed by a second list, Top 5 other drug dealers.

4. The 20 best Graphic Novels of the Decade- Geeks unite! Another flawed list with some serious bias, but any list that brings this art form to the masses is a good list. By the way, my faves on this list are #14, #8, #6 and #2.

3. The 10 Best Producers of the Decade- really good list highlighting masters ( #4 and #2- the best really), fresh faces (#10 and #8) and visionaries (#5 and #1).

2. 15 Best TV Shows That Were Canceled too Soon- many on the list are obvious, but I am happy for the trip down memory lane along with acknowledgment of the unheralded genius that was Undeclared, Sports Night and Pushing Daisies.

1. 10 Most Iconic Opening Scenes in Cinema History- this is the kind of list Rob Fleming/ Gordon of High Fidelity would be proud of. It is obscure and geeky. By the way, I disagree with how low number #9 and #10 are. they seem like afterthoughts.

Bonus: Top 5 Scenes from The Wire (language warning)- BTW, their #5 is #1 in my heart.

the flawed lists that I cannot include:

1. 8 Shows that hung on too long- agree with The Office and X Files. Completely disagree with the inclusion of The Wire (which is done just to set people off, but not actually believed unless a person is missing major chunks of their frontal lobe).

2. The 20 Best Shows of the Decade- it is actually a decent list with a couple of obvious mistakes, but putting what is arguably the best comedy of the decade #1 over what is inarguably the best show ever created is asinine.

3. 5o Best Albums of The Decade- Even more flawed than Pitchfork's list, which is saying something. So many superior albums not on the list to give us obvious choices. C'mon, it is trendy to say Sufjan's Illinoise was the best of the decade, but if this album (which is very good) is the best this decade produced, it needs to be forgotten. Of course, they said She and Him was the best album of the year in 2007 and left it off the decade list, so I am sure they will see the light in a few years regarding this list.

4. 50 Best Movies of the Decade- okay, I do actually like this list, but the lack of inclusion of the Lives of Others is unforgivable.

5. 10 Best Comedians of the Decade- Where is Daniel Tosh? Where is Gaffigan? Where is Louis CK? Where is Lewis Black? I love Aziz Ansari, but he has not been around long enough for inclusion. Shouldn't there be something that says the comedian has been active for 5 years, kinda like we do in sports (number of bats). And I love Zach, but is he #2 for his standup or for his great 2009 on TV and in film?