I only saw All the President’s Men for the first time two years, so it was a shock to realise Sideshow Bob Roberts is such a perfect parody, including Smithers as Deep Throat and the crane shot when Lisa is going through public records.

The only genuinely good performance he’s given in the last decade was Moonrise Kingdom, where Wes Anderson appears to have forced him into actually trying. But even that was nearly seven years ago now.

Scruffy believes in the future of this website.

Elisha Cuthbert was my teenage crush (I blame The Girl Next Door), so I always remember being disappointed that Colin shelved her for the love interest in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (although she was presumably still on people’s minds after American Pie).

An interesting list. As with any year, I don’t agree with every selection (I found First Reformed to be rather dry and miserable, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs was fun but inconsistent), and there are some films I would have found space for (A Star is Born and Widows were both among the best films I saw this year), but…

Glad to see Neko Case deservedly high. Would have been good to see Snail Mail and Foxing make the cut. Also, have IDLES not made it across the pond yet? Joy in the Face of Resistance is the best punk album of the year and one of the very best albums full stop, yet the AV Club don’t seem to have mentioned them anywhere.

Again, what were your favourite and least favourite films of the year?

You know it’s bad when Dinesh’s film is only the second worst film of the year.

He paid the men to hold up the sign, then laughed as they did it. What are you talking about?

Elliott Smith has so many haunting lyrics. A Fond Farewell is my favourite song of all time, and has a few contenders:

This is why Raising Arizona and The Big Lebowski are my favourite Coen Brothers movies. They have the same sense of humour and sharp writing, but they both end on an optimistic note.

I really hope one day I Love You, Phillip Morris is embraced as a cult classic. It takes the central relationship and sexual identity of its protagonist seriously and basically challenges homophobic audience members to walk out.

Gave the Foxing album a go on Spotify and wow, it’s something special. There’s a little bit of Radiohead in there, a bit of The Antlers, some early Biffy Clyro, even Prince and 70s soul. Definitely up there with the best albums I’ve heard this year.

Surprised by the low score, as this has been getting rave reviews in the UK so far. I can’t say it sounds particularly original, but I think Joe Cole is a terrific talent and a future star, so I’ll probably still seek this one out.

It baffles me that Drake Doremus continues to be a prolific director. Has he made any genuinely good, acclaimed films? Like Crazy did reasonably well (despite being First World Problems: The Movie), but nothing else he’s done seems to have been liked or seen.

To anyone who’s already seen this film: How jumpy is it? I really want to see this in the cinema, but I’m a massive pansy when it comes to jump scares. Is it more creepy/atmospheric than Insidious style loud noises and sudden cuts?

Journal for Plague Lovers is absolute dynamite! I think everyone was worried when they said they were going to use Richey’s old lyrics and it could very easily have been an awkward rehash of The Holy Bible, but it somehow manages to feel like something entirely different and really fantastic.

Manic Street Preachers are amazingly consistent considering how long they’ve been going and how many albums they’ve released. They had a bit of a slip in the late 90s and early 00s (This Is My Truth had a few great singles but was a bit Britpop, Know Your Enemy and Lifeblood were patchy), but since Send Away the…

Trainspotting is still my favourite film of all time, and the music is a huge part of that. When I first saw it as a teenager, I wasn’t even aware of most of the bands featured, yet I instantly felt like Lust For Life and Born Slippy were the coolest songs I’d ever heard.

I’m not sure about the rest of the world but in the UK, Men At Work are famous for Down Under and nothing else. However, Overkill is their best song by a mile, and should have been their biggest hit.