Anyone who saw my last post knows my feelings about The Departed. About once every 5-6 years, I agree with a best movie pick. That Scorsese won best director is just a great bonus.

In honor of the movie I think was the best this year- a mob movie- not in particular order except at the top.

10. Cotton Club- little known early Richard Gere movie about the famous club and the mob stuff that happened there.

9. Godfather pt.3- sorry, I just didnt like the first two.

8. On the Waterfront- Marlon Brando's best film by far. It coulda been a contender.

7. Scarface- not purely a mob film, but one of my favorite Pacino movies.

6. Gangs of New York- yes, it was extremely graphic and violent, but a great film nonetheless.

5. Payback- more of a crime noir film, but so good I had to put it somewhere- one of my favorites with Mel Gibson.

4. The Untouchables- pretty awful for historical accuracy, but a great movie anyway- Sean Connery deserved the best- supporting oscar he got for it.

3. White Heat- James Cagney's best movie- definite Mother issues here.

2. The Departed- it may surpass my current #1 after a few more viewings, but definitely the best movie of last year. Scorsese deserves his long overdue first best-director oscar for this one.

1. Goodfellas- I know a lot of people who think this, not The Godfather, was the best mob movie ever- I agree.

What I thought was the best new show this year, Jericho, returns tomorrow, 2/14, on CBS, at 8Eastern, 7Central and Mountain time, with an episode that recounts all of what happened in the fall episodes before it went on hiatus. this is a great show, and if you can catch this episode, you will know what is going on when regular episodes start next week. Also, I make no secret that I am a nut for certain reality series- Survivor is off to a great start, the Apprentice LA is fun to watch as an ex-homeless guy just to see all the wanna-be rich guys and girls whine about living in tents, and Amazing Race All-Stars starts this Sunday- talk about must see TV!

I was going over some of my old posts and found I hadnt done one on authors for a while. Two new guys Im reading a lot of right now as I have just discovered them are Lee Child, and James Lee Burke. Both are great reads. Also, James Patterson's Step on a Crack, which introduced a new series, was also a great read.