Last week, I reflected on the worst of arts, culture and entertainment during the school year. Now it's time to reflect on what I consider the finer moments of the school year.
Best TV Show: No longer on the air, EZ Streets, the atmospheric, complex saga of an unnamed city of fallen angels — rogue cops, corrupt politicians and tormented gangsters — was a riveting piece of auteurist television from Canadian writer/producer Paul Haggis (thirtysomething, Due South) and a breath of fresh air in a prime-time schedule of awful "Must-See" sitcoms and X-Files ripoffs. EZ Streets' brand of Shakespeare-meets-Scorsese-style drama was too depressing and different for the mooks at CBS, as well as Middle American viewers whose idea of a first-rate cop show is Walker: Texas Ranger.
Best Music Video (tie): The Roots' "What They Do," a brilliant skewering of rap video clichés directed by Charles S. Stone III; and Cibo Matto's surreal "Sugar Water," a split-screen masterpiece from director Michel Gondry (Massive Attack's "Protection").
Best Hiphop Single: Washington, D.C.-based DJ Kool's "Let Me Clear My Throat" was a mesmerizing, refreshing throwback to a simpler time, when hiphop wasn't plagued by senseless violence (like the murders of Tupac and Biggie Smalls) or the rantings and ravings of a repugnant anti-rap watchdog like C. Delores Tucker. "Let Me Clear My Throat," recorded two years ago at a live performance in a Philly club, was an intriguing fusion of old-school rap and the D.C. go-go sound.
Best Local Movie Theater: The Nickelodeon. Four words: No screaming teenage brats.
Wittiest UCSC Lecturer: Dr. Harry M. Benshoff, whose sardonic, biting lectures enlivened last fall's "Film Experience" course. After showing a clip of Michael Wadleigh's Woodstock, he said, "All you hippies — you're all wannabes." Hilarious.
Forget "Show Me the Money!": The best line in a movie this year was this nugget of wisdom from Ian Holm in Big Night: "Bite your teeth into the ass of life!"
And Forget Geoffrey Rush's Oscar-Winning Turn in Shine: The year's best male performance on the silver screen was a 23-year-old one: Muhammad Ali in When We Were Kings.
Who Will Save Our Soul?: Neo-soul artists like Erykah Badu, Maxwell and Me'Shell NdegéOcello, who are giving R&B the creative jolt it needs after years of tired New Jack cartoon-sleaze.
The Best Showcases for Future Luis Valdezes and Jessica Hagedorns?: Student-theater troupes like Rainbow Theater and such events as the Pilipino Cultural Celebration deserve kudos for giving UCSC's aspiring playwrights and actors of color a chance to represent.
Other Highlights of the School Year: EPMD got back together; the moments when Cuba Gooding, Jr. and documentary filmmaker Jessica Yu won their Oscars; By the Dawn's Early Light was the first Latino student-written play funded by the UCSC Theater Arts Board; Dexter's Laboratory; the Alaska-based Naa Kahidi Theater's The Faraway Drum: Raven Speaks, Coyote Sings; Big Night; Patrick Stewart's A Christmas Carol benefit for Shakespeare Santa Cruz; Brenda Wong Aoki's Mermaid Story; the inspired NewsRadio; KZSC-FM; Arthur Dong's Licensed to Kill; Robert Smigel's Ambiguously Gay Duo and Fun with RealAudio cartoons on Saturday Night Live; Pauly Shore doesn't have a movie out this spring.