Underrated / Overrated

UNDERRATED

The persistence of time: Seriously, it’s 2009? Wasn’t it just a few weeks ago we were stockpiling canned food before all the forecast Y2K mayhem? Instead of fixating on the years flying by, take comfort in knowing that many current pop culture favorites are bound for a lower profile in 10 years. Nothing against the pleasures of 1999, but how often do we look back on Smashmouth and “The Phantom Menace”?

‘Fringe’: After we initially resisted J.J. Abrams’ latest addition to his storytelling empire, the reruns of this spooky Fox series finally hooked us. Anna Torv may not be the most magnetic lead and John Nobel’s “Nutty Professor” shtick wears a bit thin, but the show rivals its network cousin “The X-Files” now that it’s built up a head of steam. We have no idea what’s happening, of course, but we identify with the Observer.

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OVERRATED

Tragic dog movies: We’re animal lovers to the core, but we don’t remember hearing a public outcry for new, more effective reasons to sob into our sleeves in movie houses. “Marley & Me,” the dog and the book were charmers, but maybe we’re just too sensitive to confront such matters over the holidays. Just because a new generation didn’t have its own “Old Yeller” doesn’t mean it needed one.

Indie-rock couplings: Last year, we weathered the puzzling (and short-lived) pairing of Natalie Portman and freak-folker Devendra Banhart, but the inter-scene trend reached an apex with the recently announced engagement of indie-cred-tastic couple Zooey Deschanel and Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie. There’s nothing wrong with like-minded people finding happiness, but is the scene really lacking its very own Brangelina that badly?