2009 was an embarassment of musical riches. After a lackluster year last year, this is the best 365 days of musical releases for me since at least 2003 (maybe ever). I expanded the list to my top 20 meanwhile a third of my “most anticipated” albums weren’t even released and I still have a few albums I didn’t even get around to. Translated: I did the best I could but it was nearly impossible to include all the noteworthy music, let alone rank things appropriately. The “also receiving votes” section has more quality to it than ever, but just because I got tired of writing don’t ignore those entries. With that in mind, here are my subjective highlights of the year in music:

Old School:

Van Morrison – Astral Weeks
Bruce Springsteen – Born To Run
The Who – Who’s Next
Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros – Global A-Go-Go
The Clash – Anything and Everything

Disappointments:

New Found Glory – Not Without A Fight
This album isn’t as bad as the other albums in this section, but if I wanted to listen to something that sounds like this, I’d pull out one of their superior albums from ten years ago. I may be in the minority here, but I thought this was a step back after displaying some growth in Coming Home.

Eminem – Relapse
There were a couple stand out tracks, but this was mostly trash (and not the good kind like his earlier stuff).

Two Tongues – Two Tongues
How can two of the genre’s top song writers produce such an unmemorable collection of songs? Say Anything was clearly saving it’s best material for their self titled release. Hopefully Saves The Day does the same with their upcoming album.

RX Bandits – Mandela
The talent in this band is undeniable, but I had always listened to them because of the horn element, which unfortunately was completely taken out in this latest album. The keyword in this categorization is clearly “disappointing” instead of “bad.”

Also Receiving Votes:
They do not get a thumbnail but they can try again next year.

Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
Fightstar – Be Human
Ace Enders and a Million Different People – When I Hit The Ground
Umphreys McGee – Mantis
Mutemath – Armistice
Franz Ferdinand – Tonight
Animal Collective – Merriweather Post Pavilion
MeWithoutYou – It’s All Crazy! It’s All False! It’s All A Dream It’s Alright
Harlem Shakes – Technicolor Health
Mew – No More Stories / Are Told Today / I’m Sorry / They Washed Away / No More Stories / The World Is Grey / I’m Tired / Let’s Wash Away
Dashboard Confessional – Alter The Ending

Favorites:

20. The Mighty Mighty Bosstones – Pin Points and Gin Joints
Ska
“I was in a barroom that was somewhere on the southern shore of Boston/The tender of the bar poured me a whiskey on the house/I had a love for whiskey, I chased it with a beer/I have a love for Boston and I loved writing it there.”

Out of all the reunion albums I was expecting this year, this was the one that actually happened (not sure what Blink 182 and Eve 6 are out there doing right now). Considering how many ska bands regularly get played on my iPod, it’s surprising that for the most part I’m pretty cool towards most of the Bosstones’ discography. The exception is 2002’s A Jackknife To A Swan which I really dig. Considering they have been on hiatus since that album, my anticipation for PP&GJ ended up not matching up with the final result. There are some quality jams to be found here (thus a presence on this list), but overall I was disappointed, particularly with some lazy songwriting.

Best Tracks:

I Wrote It
The Bricklayer’s Story
A Pretty Sad Excuse

19. All Time Low – Nothing Personal
Pop-Punk
“Maybe it’s not my weekend/But it’s gonna be my year/And I’m so sick of watching while the minutes pass as I go nowhere/And this is my reaction/To everything I fear/Cause I’ve been going crazy/I don’t want to waste another minute here.”

I just can’t help myself. I like crappy music sometimes and this is an example of that vice. All Time Low popped onto my radar because they were a local band to me when I was living in Maryland. Now they seem positioned to be this generation’s Blink-182 (when I say “this generation” I mean the horrible, thieving, whoring, Twilight-loving, Hot Topic generation who are too young to know who Monica Lewinski or Lou Bega are). The lyrics are stupid and poppy and this album will probably rot your brain, but it really is great driving music. At its best it sounds like New Found Glory in their heyday. “Keep The Change You Filthy Animal” seriously could have been written by NFG in 2002.

Best Tracks:

Weightless
Break Your Little Heart
A Party Song (The Walk Of Shame)

18. Arctic Monkeys – Humbug
Rock
“The next time that I caught my own reflection it was on its way to meet you/Thinking of excuses to postpone/You never looked like yourself from the side/But your profile could not hide/The fact you knew I was approaching your throne/With folded arms you occupied/The bench like toothache/Stood and puffed your chest out like you’d never lost a war/Although I tried so not to suffer the indignity of a reaction/There was no cracks to grasp or gaps to claw”

Let me start out by saying that if this were the Arctic Monkeys’ first album I would not have listened to any of their other ones. I definitely had to let it grow on me. Every song still sounds like it belongs in a James Bond movie, but now they belong in the boring parts. Maybe the parts in M’s office. There are still a few standout tracks that will grab you on the first spin, but enjoyment of this album comes just relaxing and going along with the looser feel. While I like this album, it’s not really what I’m looking for from this band. I’d gladly trade in some maturity and band growth in favor of some of the infectiousness of their first two albums.

Best Tracks:

Crying Lightning
Pretty Visitors
The Jeweler’s Hands

17. Fake Problems – It’s Great To Be Alive
Indie Rock/Punk
“You said I do not love him anymore/And as the words left your mouth/I should have went for the door/But I forgot how skilled an actress you are /So I stuck around like a fool asking for more.”

Fake Problems’ sophomore album It’s Great To Be Alive is my first exposure to the band and it definitely made an impression. The album tackles issues ranging from relationships to religion to loneliness. The band seems to come from a punk background, but has expanded on that base to include a wide array of instruments that will always keep you on your toes. At times this band even sounds like something that would be concocted by the Muppets (and I mean that in the best possible way).

Best Tracks:

You’re A Serpent, You’re A She-Snake
Level With The Devil
Heart BPM

16. The Dangerous Summer – Reach For The Sun
Pop-Rock
“So tell me what you think of the atmosphere/And all those months inside my head/Well do you really believe in me?/I will hold this like a gun/Because I’ve got some things to do.”

This is that album that I kept forgetting about but when I would listen to it I’d still be surprised by how good it is. Instrumentally, there isn’t anything groundbreaking going on here, but it is catchy enough. What sets this album apart is the deceptively dark lyrics that if you’re not paying attention would not seem to go with the style of music being played. I’d also recommend this Ellicott City, Maryland band to anyone who is missing The Starting Line (at least their later work), because the similarity of styles, particularly the vocals, is striking.

Best Tracks:

Settle Down
Surfaced
This Is War

15. Chuck Ragan – Gold Country
Americana/Folk/Acoustic
“A wise old friend recently told me/An idle mind is the devils playpen/Mind the gaps and watch them closely/Spread the love but choose your friends wisely/Love yourself to love your family/And find the difference between wants and needs/Be sure to stop and count your blessings/Smell the roses and fight for something.”

Chuck Ragan was a part of the inexplicable folk phase I went through for a couple months this year. I got hooked on his first solo album Feast Or Famine and anticipated this album for much of 2009. There’s something about this style of music that takes me to a peaceful place. This was my soundtrack to several summer sunsets on my deck this year with a beer in hand. I’m not sure why this style of music has never clicked with me until now, but I know I’ve never needed a peace of mind more than I have this year so maybe it all makes sense.

Best Tracks:

For Goodness Sake
Done And Done
10 West
Ole Diesel

14. AFI – Crash Love
Pop-Rock/Punk
“I thought you sang so tastefully/But now I see I was wrong/Your serenade turns to filth/when I leave so, please, cut the love song.”

First of all, thank God somebody got a haircut, so I don’t have to vomit every time I think about this band. I guess it’s better to vomit because of hair than because of your music though (I’m looking at you, BrokeNCYDE). Thankfully, this is not AFI’s problem. I really only started listening after Decemberunderground so my frame of reference is ridiculously small but Crash Love is my favorite release by this band. Gone are the synthy grooves of Decemberunderground replaced with a more poppy sound while still remaining true to the band’s goth-punk roots.

Best Tracks:

Okay, I Feel Better Now
Medicate
Darling, I Want To Destroy You
Cold Hands

13. Big D And The Kids Table – Fluent In Stroll
Ska
“8-6-5/Baby study the rhyme/Dancing in the street all loopy and blind/2-3-9/My little partner in crime/Didn’t study for the test and it’s past bedtime/8-6-5/Baby study the rhyme/Feeling like we’re moving through water tonight/2-3-9/It’s a victimless crime/Just digging on the feeling of feeling sublime”

This album really came out of nowhere to become a staple of my summer soundtrack. I’ve never been a fan of this band. Like, at all. So I’m not sure why I even gave it a chance, but I’m glad I did. They call their new style “stroll,” which is described on Wikipedia as “a mix of double-dutch, ska, reggae, and soul.” Double-dutch? I’m pretty sure that’s as made up as “stroll,” but the final result is a breezy, relaxed album that I will probably breaking out for many summers to come.

Best Tracks:

Doped Up Dollies On A One Way Ticket To Blood
Describing The Sky
A Kiss A Week
Fluent In Stroll

12. Cartel – Cycles
Pop-Punk
“Let me reintroduce myself/As a man with a cause/I’ve had a lot of time to think/And look at who we are/And I’ve got nothing left to say/But we’ve got to carry on/And I’ve got so much left to do/But I’ll start with this song.”

Following Cartel’s pop-punk classic Chroma, there were a lot of high hopes for their follow up self titled album. I, and many others apparently, were left a little disappointed. Only this year did I finally decide that I was perhaps too harsh on the self-titled, but Cycles really represents more what I’m looking for out of this band: upbeat pop-punk tunes. While Cycles doesn’t reach the heights of Chroma, it is more a step in that direction. In fact, if I have a criticism of this album it’s that it’s a bit too homogenous and could maybe use a couple more change of pace songs. Regardless, this album is exactly what you’d expect with catchy summertime driving tunes and terrific vocals.

Best Tracks:

The Perfect Mistake
Only You
It Still Remains
Retrograde

11. Elvis Costello – Secret, Profane, and Sugarcane
Americana/Country/Acoustic
“If you were my life’s companion/As it seems you may turn out to be/I’m contemplating/How I hope I’ll find you waiting/At the very end of this crooked line.”

As prolific as Costello is (he’s released 11 albums in the past 8 years), I try to always to at least check out every release. Last year’s back-to-basics album Momofuku was certainly a highlight of recent years but in years past this bluegrassy offering would have been pretty quickly discarded by yours truly. Oddly, I was actually in the midst of a folk/Americana kick inspired primarily by Chuck Ragan, so this was released with impeccable timing.

Best Tracks:

Complicated Shadows
Hidden Shame
The Crooked Line
Changing Partners

10. Green Day – 21st Century Breakdown
Punk
“Mayday this is not a test!/As the neighborhood burns/American is falling/Vigilantes warning you/Calling Christian and Gloria!”

Note to Green Day: you are not The Who, no matter how much you’d like to be. The first couple of times I listened to this album I hated it. Part of that was probably based on my thoughts on the first single, “Know Your Enemy,” which could be summed up with, “It took you five years to write…this?” That song fits a lot better within the context of the album, but still I don’t find much that really sticks out in the first half of this record. Luckily it’s so freaking long, that there’s still plenty of material that packs a punch in the second half. The bottom line is that I can appreciate wanting to give your fans as many new songs as possible after producing nothing for five years, but someone really needed to tell Green Day to take a hatchet to maybe a quarter of these songs. It would have made the final product a much more enjoyable listen for me.

Best Tracks:

Peacemaker
Restless Heart Syndrome
21 Guns
American Eulogy

9. The Decemberists – The Hazards of Love
Indie
“And here I am, softer than a shower/And here I am, to garland you with flowers/To lay you down in a clover bed/The stars a roof above our heads/And we’ll lie until the Corn Crake crows/Bereft of the weight of our summer clothes/And I’d wager all/The hazards of love.”

This band is so weird, but so good. After the critically acclaimed The Crane Wife, The Decemberists got even more ambitious and wrote a musical. As best I can tell the story is as follows: a girl falls in love with a boy who occasionally shape shifts into a fawn. They do it on a clover bed and the girl gets knocked up. The dude’s mom is some sort of forest queen witch who forbids him from being with the girl. Meanwhile a Rake who has murdered his wife and children has kidnapped the girl. SPOILER ALERT: I’m pretty sure everyone dies. I knew a guy who did that in high school once. You want something a little more mainstream, perhaps you should be looking elsewhere.

Best Tracks:

The Hazards of Love 2 (Wager All)
The Wanting Comes In Waves/Repaid
The Rake’s Song
The Hazards of Love 4 (The Drowned)

8. Manchester Orchestra – Mean Everything To Nothing
Rock
“You mean everything to nothing/You mean everything to nobody/But me.”

The theme of this album can pretty much be summed up by the second line of the first song: “I am the only son of a pastor I know who does the things I do.” The lead singer’s religious hang-ups hang heavy from beginning to end and it’s a bit ambiguous where he’s ended up with the bulk of the album seeming to deal with the fallout of a newfound disbelief, but ending with the line, “Oh my God, let me see again.” As someone who grew up in a very Christian household but ended up not as well behaved as my parents would like, I always find albums like this interesting. I only wish the music itself were more consistent. This album contains some of my favorite songs of 2009, but also some tracks that I can hardly ever get through without skipping. This would probably be an album of the year contender if it was able to maintain the highs that it often achieves.

Best Tracks:

Shake It Out
Pride
Everything To Nothing
The River

7. Say Anything – Say Anything
Emo/Pop-Punk
“Your life is always the post of something else/Where is the present in the way that you present yourself?/And it’s disgusting how little that you try/The existential equivalent of pink eye/Drink alone and watch TV/You’re expecting harmonies/To tap your tunes with silver spoons/Anthem of impending doom/Guiding Satan’s steady hand/Forcing Beatles to disband/It’s ego freaks and drama queens/The young at heart know what I mean.”

Max Bemis, the Jewish, foul mouthed, pill-popping man ho, has apparently married and converted to Christianity and now he writes songs about Jesus and, oddly, the Lehigh Valley. Not that any of those developments are bad, but a fan of Say Anything would have a right to be skeptical of the band’s future output given their past material. I’m happy to report that this self-titled release is the best material they’ve done this side of the classic …Is A Real Boy. I’m apparently the only person left who still enjoys In Defense Of The Genre, but I will admit that double album was just flat out too long. I have a hard time imagining a fan of IARB who did not enjoy IDOTG not being won over yet again by this album. SA is quick and to the point, but still maintains the lyrical wit that you would expect from Say Anything. You would think that a spiritually content Max Bemis, who is apparently finally in a stable relationship, would not be as interesting. As he says in “Mara and Me,” “I can’t keep writing the same damn song over and over again,” and this new mature and content tone wrapped up in the poppiest melodies they’ve ever written is surprisingly satisfying given that background.

Best Tracks:

Hate Everyone
Do Better
Mara and Me
Ahhh…Men

6. Morrissey – Years of Refusal
Rock
“It’s not your birthday anymore/There’s no need to be kind to you/And the will to make you smile and belong has now gone/It’s not your birthday anymore/Did you really think we meant all of those syrupy, sentimental things that we said yesterday.”

Years of Refusal was the first album this year that really made an impression on me, which I was not expecting given my history with Morrissey (my history with Morrissey being listening to “Every Day Is Like Sunday” maybe twice a year). The difference this time around is that he has traded in a little bit of his old man emo for some old fashioned rock and roll. The dude is still mopey and battling hang ups that he should have shed decades ago, but this time around the music behind it is equally interesting. I’m not nearly well versed enough in Morrissey’s discography to know if there’s an equivalent album out there, but this is the first material I’ve ever heard from him where he sounds like he’s almost having fun while doing his sad clown routine.

Best Tracks:

Mama Lay Softly In The Riverbed
When I Last Spoke To Carol
It’s Not Your Birthday Anymore
I’m OK By Myself

5. The Avett Brothers – I And Love And You
Americana/Folk
“There’s a darkness upon me that’s flooded in light/In the fine print they tell me what’s wrong and what’s right/And it comes in black and it comes in white/And I’m frightened by those that don’t see it”

I’m taking a huge risk ranking this album where I am and I have a feeling that I may be splitting the difference one way or another. At the time of writing I simply have not had enough time with it to make a final judgment so I could see it being in my top 3 albums for 2009 or I could see it being lower than this. As you can see from the preceding albums on this list, my tastes shifted slightly towards a more rustic sound this year (while never quite going all-out country). I feel like all those albums may have just paved the way for me to fall in love with I And Love And You. My instincts are telling me that this will be a “gateway drug” if you will into folk music just as Dog Problems was for me into indie music. Whether that pans out or not is yet to be decided, but what is certain is that The Avett Brothers have written an album full of touching lyrics set to melodies that are simplistic, yet beautiful almost in a spiritual way. While I don’t want to get tired of this album any time soon, I’m anxious to dig into their back catalogue whenever that eventually happens (or perhaps even before).

Best Tracks:

I And Love And You
Head Full Of Doubt/Road Full Of Promise
The Perfect Space
Ill With Want
Incomplete And Insecure

4. John Mayer – Battle Studies
Pop
“I was a killer/Was the best they’d ever seen/I’d steal your heart before you ever heard a thing/I’m an assassin and I had a job to do/Little did I know that girl was an assassin too.”

Continuum was the album that took John Mayer from someone I never listen to to someone that I listen to when I’m in a certain mood. Battle Studies may very well be the album that turns him into an anytime, anywhere entry in my playlist. The bluesy elements of Continuum are gone in favor of a more straight up acoustic sound, although there is also some experimentation with his traditional sound. What is most striking to me about this album is how relatable all these relationship-based songs are while being written by a dude whose actual love life can’t possibly be relatable to more than .3% of the general population. I’m certainly not included in that .3%, yet I can’t seem to get enough of this album.

Best Tracks:

Heartbreak Warfare
Perfectly Lonely
Assassin
Friends, Lovers, Or Nothing

3. Brand New – Daisy
Rock
“Little light/Lead us through the night/And if we die burn down the forest/Chariots/Carry us distances we don’t care to walk/I’m on my way out.”

It took me three albums but I finally cracked Brand New’s code. I knew before listening to Daisy that a) I wouldn’t like it right off the bat and b) what I was expecting is not what I would be getting. Even expecting the unexpected it’s hard not to be taken aback by the sheer brutality of the opening track “Vices.” The second track settles back down into familiar BN acoustic territory, but the edge of that opening track rears its head fairly regularly. I usually don’t care for the whole screamo thing but it didn’t take many spins before realizing that the screamy songs were my favorites.

This is also the first album where Jesse Lacey hands the reins over for the bulk of the album lyrically and unfortunately it shows. While there were a few cringe worthy moments in The Devil and God are Raging Inside Me, they seem more prevalent this time around (“I’d serve you drugs on a silver plate?” “Run a million miles if you want first prize?”), and the nonsensical filler track, “Be Gone” is even more obnoxious than “Untitled” in TDAGARIM. With the disclaimer that this soon after its release my attitude was the same towards The Devil and God (which I now consider a much-loved classic), Daisy appears destined to merely be an album I like a lot instead of an album I love. Ask me again in a year though.

Best Tracks:

Vices
At The Bottom
Gasoline
Sink
Noro

2. Muse – The Resistance
Rock
“They will not force us/They will stop degrading us/They will not control us/We will be victorious.”

OK, so I’m waaaaay late to the Muse bandwagon, but I’m glad I’m hopping on when I am. My first exposure was to the single “Uprising” and it dawned on me that I was listening to a non-country band that actually seemed on the same bandwidth as me politically. Whether that was their actual intent or not, it’s certainly easy to interpret this album as a collection of libertarian “fight the power” anthems. Yes, this fit my mood every well this year. It’s almost as if they sat down and tried to write 1984: The Album and it is every bit as epic as the novel.

In a year where every day’s news headlines seemed to bring a new outrage it felt good to drive home from work in the evening cranking up this album and feel a little more empowered to fight back. I don’t know how this album will age on me years from now, but I do know that I will have a hard time listening to it in the future and not have it instantly take me back to 2009.

Best Tracks:

Uprising
Resistance
Unnatural Selection
MK Ultra
Exogenesis Symphony: Part 1 (Overture)

1. fun. – Aim & Ignite
Indie-Pop
“We were the get rich quick kids/We never got it right/So we settled for the center of town/Where all the rich white kids is out looking for a fight/Got the blonde one staring me down/And I really want to take a swing/I can’t help but remember James Dean/See we are part of the few who agree/That hey he lived life fast but he died/Me, I’m gonna live forever.”

This was probably my most anticipated release since The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me, and even in a musically dense year with many great releases, this is easily my favorite album of 2009. The Format’s Dog Problems was an immensely influential album for me, so after that band’s demise I couldn’t help but accept with some trepidation the announcement of lead singer Nate Ruess’s new band. That trepidation disappeared completely upon hearing the demo for “Benson Hedges,” and while listening to the complete album I realized that Mr. Ruess has reached rarified air (matched only by Jim Adkins in the Clarity through Futures era), where every song he writes seems to hit me in just the right spot.

From the chaotic and ironically titled opener “Be Calm” to the 7 minute-plus closer “Take Your Time (Coming Home)” you’re never sure what twists and turns the album will take instrumentally, yet it is simultaneously accessible and poppy. In a better world the ELO-esque single “All The Pretty Girls” would dominate the summertime radio waves. All songs are bolstered by Ruess’s confessional lyrical style with the best example probably being his moving tribute to his parents, “The Gambler.”

I could go on, but let me close by saying that the older I get and the more music I’ve listened to, the harder it is for an album to really affect me the way music did regularly when I was younger. Aim & Ignite is like a more mature, contented, and orchestral version of Dog Problems. Years from now I will be cherishing Aim & Ignite alongside Dog Problems as essential albums of my life.

Best Tracks:

Be Calm
Benson Hedges
All The Pretty Girls
Walking The Dog
Barlights
The Gambler

  

1. Green Man! (February 11 – Disney World)

2. Give me a Gob (February 13 – Disney World)

3. Yuengling Bock (May 9 – Yuengling Factory)

4. The Only Team We Can Still Beat (May 23 – Nationals Park)

5. Today we celebrate our Independence Day (July 4 – Washington DC)

6. FeFe hits people (July 8 – Coca Cola Field)

7. Beer me one beer please (July 17 – Hofbrauhaus in Pittsburgh)

8. Checking out what a government funded name sponsorship can buy you (August 15 – CitiField)

9. The New Evil (September 7 – New Yankee Stadium)

10. Greatest pub ever! (September 7 – McSorley’s)

11. What to do at the US Open if tennis bores you (September 7 – US Open)

12. The Lord blesses these proceedings (September 19 – PSU vs Temple)

13. Old Maining (September 25 – State College)

14. What time is it?! (October 24 – PSU vs Michigan)

15. Drinking + Ice Skating = Not so bad (December 29 – Rockefeller Center)

  

Wow, it’s really getting hard to write new stuff for this one every year since it’s basically the same list rearranged. Of course, it’s a real possibility that five of these programs won’t be on the air next year so I guess I need to find some new shows to like:

7. Scrubs
“For the record, he was the best that ever came through this dump. John Dorian was the first and only doctor I ever met who cared as much as I do. And you can forget about him being a just and exceptional physician, because the fact of the matter is, he’s a damn exceptional person. It’s why people gravitated to him. It’s why I did.”

Die, Scrubs, DIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIE! As far as I’m concerned Scrubs did die after season 8…finally. And thankfully, it died with dignity…before it was resurrected for a ninth season which I am ignoring. I am ignoring it because this show, which was so great in its earlier seasons, and was running on fumes in its later seasons, beat the odds and returned to respectability for what was supposed to be one last run. The final minutes of the series finale though were perfect and worthy of some of the best material that preceded it.

Best Episode: 8.19 – My Finale: Part 2

6. Prison Break
“Men in my employ anticipate, they cover their bases. They refuse to fail, which you seem to be doing with unyielding consistency.”

I didn’t watch a single episode of this show live on the air and that’s probably for the best because this show works best when it’s moving too fast for you to notice how implausible everything is. I always viewed this as 24-light and while not up to the quality of the Jack Bauer Power Hour, this show was just flat out entertaining. The constant set backs our protagonists faced occasionally frustrated me, but I guess that means I cared about the characters. I always recognized this show’s ability to create some highly hateable bad guys, but I didn’t realize how much I cared about the good guys until the finale of the show, which was surprisingly touching.

Best Episode: 4.22 – Killing Your Number

5. The Office
“Well, well, well. How the turntables.”

I’m not sure there’s anyone who would consider season four of The Office a highlight of the series, but like many TV shows it seemed like it got messed up because of the writer’s strike. Some of the momentum of the first couple of seasons was regained in season five, but the “magic” truly was gone the second Jim and Pam got together. They tried to get us to care about Dwight/Andy and Angela or Michael and Holly, but those relationships will never be as successful as the original, which I think is the real lacking factor here because the show is still pretty funny taking into account how long it’s been on the air. The Michael Scott Paper Company story line was a good one, so I was surprised they axed it as quickly as they did. Pam’s character also got shaken up and taken in a direction I’m not sure I like. I still watch the show regularly, but it is no longer a guaranteed good time like it was in it’s heyday.

Best Episode: 5.23 – Broke

4. 24
“So help me God I will kill you, and you will stay dead this time!”

After a, ahem, lackluster season six and an entire year off due to the writer’s strike 24 finally came back with some vengeance, but I think at this point that the show will never really be “back.” Saying season 7 was better than season 6 is akin to saying Mike Doyle was a better character than Erin Driscoll’s crazy daughter. It’s faint praise. That’s not to say that this season was not full of great moments. Tony’s return as a good guy turned bad guy turned good guy turned bad guy again was welcomed as was the change of settings to DC. The take over of the White House (which apparently was built on top of the Potomac) was exciting, although probably the most implausible thing they’ve ever done, and new characters Renee Walker and President Taylor were great additions. The promos seem to be implying that season 8 will be 24’s swan song. I’m on board with this idea and I’m hoping it reaches the heights of it’s glory days, but if it merely is up to the standards of season 7, I will not be disappointed.

Best Episode: 7.3 – 10 AM - 11 AM

3. Lost
Don’t worry, dude. Everything will be fine when Jack changes the future. Or the past. One of those.

Year-to-year this is always the hardest show for me to write about. After almost giving up on Lost during season three, the past two seasons have been ridiculously entertaining, but after being off the air for six months I’m always thinking, “What the hell happened this year?” Of course, I’m often thinking that right as an episode is ending too. From what I remembered, Jack and the rest of the people who got off the island successfully go back while all the folks who remained on the island are jumping around time like a skipping record. In the end a bomb goes off and presumably the plan being hatched is successful because failure means every single one of our main characters was incinerated with one full season left to go. Next season sees the conclusion of the Lost saga and we’ll finally see if all this nonsense was worth the time invested.

Best Episode: 5.17 – The Incident

2. It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia
“Tabitha: So, he does have a drinking problem?
Charlie: Oh, big time, big time. But if I’m being honest, my problem’s less with the fact that he’s drinking more that he’s doing it without me. And then I start thinking, “What’s wrong with me? Am I not fun to drink with?”
Dennis: Oh, no, don’t do that to yourself. No, you’re plenty of fun to drink with, trust me, Charlie. You get really, really drunk, and then you get reckless, and it’s a lot of fun.”

Even the best of comedies are well into their decline by their fifth season (see: The Office), but It’s Always Sunny seems to keep getting better somehow when you would think they would start running out of ridiculous scenarios for The Gang. (In fairness to The Office, they have like 30 episodes per season while IASIP only has 12). This year The Gang “exploits the mortgage crisis,” performs an intervention on Frank, goes on a road trip to the Grand Canyon (but ends up never leaving Philly), celebrated the 2008 World Series victory in a basement, enacted the D.E.N.N.I.S. system for taking advantage of women, and of course tried to deal with their cousin “Gail the Snail” played by none other than Chloe O’Brien.

Favorite Episode: 5.4 – The Gang Gives Frank An Intervention

1. Flight of the Conchords
“You guys are dorking up my vibe with all the dicks. You need to spread the dicks out a little, create some lady space.”

After being hastled for probably more than a year to watch this show, I finally gave in to find out that I deserved all that hastling. As is tradition, I just got hooked on the show right as it was ending it’s run on HBO (after only two 10 episode seasons). The greatness of FOTC slaps you in the face during season one and this second season has many great moments, but it was starting to wane towards the end so it may have not been a terrible thing that creators Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie decided to call it quits even though I was a little disappointed where the characters ended up. I’ll always have the DVDs and albums I guess.

Favorite Episode: 2.5 – Unnatural Love

  

Taking into consideration that I have yet to see Sherlock Holmes and Avatar, I submit to you my 2009 movie roundup.

Worst:

Knowing
It started out with a pretty interesting concept, but quickly descended into … another Nicolas Cage movie.

Where The Wild Things Are
I know I’m in the minority here, but I really wanted to punch the kid the entire film and I got tired really quick of the endlessly whining monsters. I really wanted to like it too.

Also Receiving Votes:

Watchmen
I really need to see this again. There was a lot to absorb in only one viewing.

District 9
A very entertaining, but very flawed movie that had the guts to be different and I can respect that.

Terminator Salvation
This franchise is still barely treading water. I really wish this movie had a plot to go along with the excellent action and effects though.

Taken
It’s like a watered down (and shortened) remake of 24: Season One!

Favorites:

11. 2012
“When they tell you not to panic… that’s when you run!”
Ever since Independence Day (which was my favorite movie in high school up until The Matrix came out), I’ve had a soft spot in my heart for disaster movies. Yes, this would probably have the title of dumbest movie of the year easily wrapped up were it not for Transformers 2 and yes, it is maybe the most excessive movie ever made, but that is why I enjoyed it. I can still appreciate well digitized eye candy and that’s all this movie is trying to be. Sure, maybe this film could have been more if they had decided to develop even one of the characters instead of introducing us quickly to about 75 new characters throughout the film, each with a relative or friend to say goodbye to tearfully and then never see again, but this film isn’t aiming for the Oscars. You should know going into this exactly what you’re getting and if you’re going to complain about “story” and “character development” you really have no one to blame but yourself.

10. Drag Me To Hell
“You’d be surprised what you’ll do, when the Lamia comes for you.”
This was a great rebound by Sam Raimi after the cluster eff that was Spider-man 3 (seriously, I hate that movie more every time I see it. I should stop watching it). This is no Evil Dead, but it has the same spirit despite its PG-13 rating. It’s not exactly going for a horror-comedy thing like Shaun of the Dead but it’s nice to see a horror movie that doesn’t take itself completely seriously and doesn’t rely completely on over-the-top gore. It occasionally veered a little bit too much towards ridiculousness (Hello talking goat!), but this was probably the most intense horror movie from beginning to end that I saw this year.

9. Inglourious Basterds
“We got a German here who wants to die for his country! Oblige him!”
Speaking of rebounds, Quentin Tarantino needed one badly after the meh-fest of Grindhouse and that is exactly what he achieved. I could be mistaken, but this might be his first film that occurs entirely in chronological order. It’s a little distracting seeing the Fire Guy and Neal Schweiber in this movie, and unfortunately neither of them have a large enough role to really break out from being anything beyond the other roles we know them in. This is my main complaint about this film actually: where were the titular basterds throughout this movie? The story is compelling, but the best characters were absent from the screen most of the time and even if I was mostly wrapped up in what was going on, a part of me was also just hanging in there until Brad Pitt showed up again.

8. Fantastic Mr. Fox
“If what I think is happening is happening – it better not be.”
Just when you thought claymation was dead comes the greatest entry to the genre since Rudolph!...except maybe The Nightmare Before Christmas and James And The Giant Peach. George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray and others voice characters in this film about a fox who quits his bird stealing job when he starts a family, but wants to launch one more “Master Plan” when he becomes restless in his day-to-day life. It’s probably too early to judge something like this, but this movie probably has the potential to become a classic. Having not seen all of his movies, I would say this is my favorite Wes Anderson movie since The Royal Tenenbaums.

7. Zombieland
“You see? You just can’t trust anyone. The first girl I let into my life and she tries to eat me.”
If you’re going to rip off another movie, it might as well be one of the best movies of the decade. Perhaps zombie movies just lend themselves to mixing horror and comedy better than other sub-genres of horror, but I have to assume that Shaun of the Dead played a major factor in this film’s existence. Replacing Shaun trying to win back his ex-girlfriend is adolescent Columbus trying to woo his first girlfriend. Replacing the crazy and irresponsible sidekick Ed is the crazy and irresponsible sidekick Tallahassee (played by Woody Harrelson). The two movies are, of course, not entirely the same but since SOTD is one of my favorite movies ever, this has to be a distant second favorite zombie romcom. I will say that the scene where they break into a certain celebrity’s house is probably the hardest I’ve laughed at any movie in 2009.

6. Star Trek
“Your father was captain of a starship for twelve minutes. He saved 800 lives, including your mothers and yours. I dare you to do better.”
Let me preface anything I’m going to write on this topic by saying that prior to this movie’s release I kind of prided myself on knowing very little about Star Trek. I have my areas of geekdom where I thrive but this was not one of them and when they announced they were rebooting the franchise I kind of groaned because I was completely cool with Star Trek being dormant. Then came the reviews calling it a “Star Trek movie for people who hate Star Trek,” and of course this Onion story. I figured it was a risk worth taking and it was. It felt good to watch a fun summertime movie without feeling like it was rotting my brain.

5. Trick R Treat
“Wait, there’s another tradition. Always check your candy.”
Every year in October I have a Horrorthon of movies that I watch. It’s not something that I do for any other holiday except the usual Christmas staples. I love Halloween movies, but it’s not so much because I love “scary” movies but because I love the fall ambiance. It’s why Sleepy Hollow is a Halloween staple for me every year and The Exorcist isn’t. Trick R Treat isn’t the scariest movie out there (although it has its share of intense scenes), but it completely nails the fall/Halloween feeling that I love. It seems designed to be a love letter to the holiday with its four interweaving storylines and I would be surprised if it doesn’t end up being a Halloween classic for me.

4. Up
“Thanks for the adventure. Now go have a new one.”
After creating a new classic year after year I should not be surprised at how good a Pixar movie is, but I always am. This one is probably my favorite since The Incredibles. While most Pixar movies reach your inner child, this one reaches your inner old man. The opening following the entire life of Carl Frederickson and his wife Ellie (complete with a “not able to have children” scene and ending in Ellie’s death) is a little shocking in how dark it is. It grounds the movie early in that dark reality and it makes some of what comes later more out of place than they would in the usual Pixar film. While the talking dogs were a little odd, by the end of the film I was thinking that this is exactly what movies should be about. It takes you to a different place with a completely original idea. Unfortunately, that is a rare thing from Hollywood these days.

3. (500) Days Of Summer
“This is a story of boy meets girl, but you should know upfront, this is not a love story.”
When I like a romantic comedy, you know it has to be exceptionally good. I don’t necessarily hate the concept (pretty much every movie has a romantic element to it, right?), it’s the formula that I find infuriating: boy and girl fall in love; boy does something a-holish (in the worst examples the dickish move is completely justified); boy grovels on his hands and knees and tells the girl what a worthless piece of trash he is and she mercifully accepts him back. The quote above kind of says it all about this movie and that’s why I loved it. Not to necessarily say this movie is of the quality of Swingers (another favorite of mine), but it follows that pattern of the ending not being what you expected, or what you were even rooting for for the entire film, but you’re still completely satisfied by it. The soundtrack is superlative as well. It even manages to rip off the worst thing in Spider-man 3 and make it awesome. In all honesty, if you asked me to rewrite this list a year from now, I could see this being at the top of the list, but I just saw it last week. It’s the kind of quality you’d expect from the chick in Elf and the kid in Angels in the Outfield.

2. The Hangover
“You guys might not know this, but I consider myself a bit of a loner. I tend to think of myself as a one-man wolf pack.”
This is the only movie I saw twice in the theaters this year. Easily the best comedy since Superbad for me. Umm, yeah that basically sums things up doesn’t it? This movie was so random that it’s difficult for me to latch on to one specific thing that I liked about it, but I guess that’s what makes it so great. Anyone who’s had a wild night out can relate to the next morning conversation of, “I did WHAT? I don’t remember that happening at all!” This film (obviously) takes that to an absurd degree, and even though the unpredictability of the movie is a major strength it still held up on the second viewing, which will probably be the second of many.

1. The Hurt Locker
“Colonel Reed: What’s the best way to go about disarming one of these things?
Staff Sergeant William James: The way you don’t die, sir.”
War movies that actually portray the troops as the heroes that they are in real life are so rare these days that I can’t think of a single example since Black Hawk Down. That standard may be a bit high so in general I’ll settle for one that doesn’t portray them as scoundrels and/or psychopaths. The Hurt Locker portrays soldiers in Iraq in 2004 that are certainly flawed (i.e. human beings) fighting heroically which is a miracle in and of itself, but even better it is an endlessly intense action flick that instantly puts you in the shoes of a Baghdad bomb squad at the height of the Iraq War. If there were any justice in the world, Jeremy Renner (who played a somewhat similar role in 28 Weeks Later) would have become a star from this role. For now though I’m grateful to have a great, non-political war movie to enjoy for the next decade until the next one comes out.

  

Huzzah! And I’m still doing that thing that I always do whether anyone is here or not. Here’s the schedule:

Favorite Movies: January 3
Favorite TV: January 10
Favorite Pictures: January 17
Favorite Music: January 24

As you were…

  

Maybe I should start doing this one at the beginning since there are always some releases that come out in between me writing it and actually posting it. Anyway, 2009 looks very not great for movies, while promising to be maybe the greatest year in music of all time. The list of names is staggering and even if half of these scheduled albums are duds, it will still be a pretty good year (not even including the no names that I haven’t even heard of yet).

Music

1. Fun – Untitled
It’s the second coming! The Format is no more, but the former band members can still make music. If the single “Benson Hedges” is any indication then this has the potential to live up to Dog Problems. Or that may turn out to be the most absurd notion since, “Wings is going to be better than The Beatles!”

2. Jimmy Eat World – Untitled
The drama here isn’t so much will it be good (it will be), it’s will these guys ever hit a target release date? They’re saying summer 2009, so I’m guessing fall 2010.

3. Brand New – Untitled
I’m still waiting for the lyric booklet from The Devil And God that I paid one American dollar for. That was a lot of money back then.

4. Blink-182 – Untitled
Yeah. You read that right and I’m not crazy (speaking of second comings). No way that after 5 years of musical maturation under my belt this ends up disappointing me, right?!

5. Say Anything – Say Anything
I hate when bands have self-titled albums that aren’t their first release, but I’ll graciously make an exception here.

6. Green Day – 21st Century Breakdown
Will this top American Idiot? No. Will it really be released this year? Maybe. They can’t distract us with this Foxboro Hot Tubs nonsense forever.

7. Kay Kay And His Weathered Underground – Introducing Kay Kay And His Weathered Underground
Their self-titled is so great. Can’t wait to see what these stinky hippies do next. Dance for me stinky hippie, DANCE!

8. Arctic Monkeys – Untitled
More awesome beats and indecipherable lyrics! Count me in.

9. Morrissey – Years of Refusal
I plan on purchasing this when it is released, but let’s just say that if it were to have leaked or if I were to have accidentally heard it before now, I would probably think it was phenomenal.

10. New Found Glory – Not Without A Fight
Has NFG ever slipped up? Not really. This will be good, not great. You heard it here first.

11. Eminem – Relapse
One of these things is not like the others. One of these things just doesn’t belong. Can you tell which thing is not like the others by the time I finish my song?

12. Eve 6 – Untitled
I can’t prove that this is actually happening, but they’re reformed and touring so a guy can hope, right?

13. The Mighty Mighty Bosstones – Untitled
This one I can prove! They’re back and recording, baby! 2009 seems to be the year of the reformed bands.

14. Cartel – Untitled
Cartel, there was a time when I called you friend. Stand with me now and make something that doesn’t bore the crap out of me.

15. My Chemical Romance – Untitled
I really liked The Black Parade. Maybe I’ll like this one too!

16. Saves The Day – Daybreak
I’m never sure what to expect with these guys other than vocals like raking a chalkboard, yet I can’t help but anticipate this.

17. Mark Hoppus – Untitled Solo Album
+44 was mediocre, but Angels & Airwaves is terrible. Mark + Tom > Mark or Tom. (Edit: I’m not even sure this is happening any more. I’ll live either way).

18. John Mayer – Untitled
John Mayer has bedded half of the women you’ve ever seen at the magazine rack in your grocery store. The other half is Oprah. He also makes good music.

19. MxPx – On The Cover 2 and Untitled Studio Album
Eh, why not? Should be good for 2 weeks of entertainment come summer.

20. Reel Big Fish – Fame, Fortune and Fornacation
I’d be more excited about this covers album if it wasn’t 65% Poison songs.

21. Two Tongues – Two Tongues
Don’t look now, but I’m pretty sure Chris Conley and Max Bemis are dating.

22. Motion City Soundtrack – Untitled
Still waiting for this guy to cut his hair and lose his powers.

23. AFI – Untitled
Don’t click here. It will ruin it for you.

24. Dropkick Murphys – Untitled Live Album
I don’t usually go for live albums, but I’m curious if the mics pick up the many bloody deaths that take place in the pit of every DKM show.

25. Taking Back Sunday – New Again
Carpathia sounds not so great, but when do the labels ever pick the right first single for punk bands?

26. Thursday – Common Existence
I would have liked A City By The Light Divided a lot more if it didn’t sound like they recorded it at a friend’s apartment party . . . and the microphones were with the neighbors.

27. All Time Low – Untitled
It seems I will never tire of generic pop-punk.

Movies
Behold the mediocrity! (With a few notable exceptions)

Arrested Development
Watchmen
Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen
X-Men Origins: Wolverine
Inglorious Bastards
Terminator Salvation
Friday The 13th
Toy Story 3D
Avatar
Futurama: Into The Wild Green Yonder

  

I have to say that I found this year to be a bit lackluster in its musical offerings. It may have just been a lack of effort on my part. I promise to do better next year. I can, however, guarantee that my list is better than Rolling Stone’s even though we share a few picks. Why? The Jonas Brothers and The Academy Is… are on the RS list. That actually has me rethinking the entries on my list that are also on theirs (although the TAI… album was actually OK). Whatever…

Old School:
Here are some older releases that received plenty of play by me this year:

The Clash – London Calling
Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros – Streetcore
Miles Davis – Bitches Brew
Santana – Santana
Elvis Costello – Trust
The Beatles – Magical Mystery Tour

Also receiving votes:
No pictures for these guys!:

Jimmy Eat World – Bleed American [Deluxe Edition]
Yeah, this is a cheat, but this is a rare re-release that is worth the cash featuring 18 b-sides (including Last Christmas, Firestarter, and (Splash) Turn Twist) and a new version of “Your House.”

The Foxboro Hot Tubs – Stop Drop And Roll
Just make a new Green Day album already!(!!) This actually made for a pretty good retro-punk diversion in the summer, but I want the real thing.

Styrofoam – A Thousand Words
Euro-electro-pop never sounded better. Bright Red Helmet almost sounds like it could fit on Clarity, and one track even features Mr. Jim Adkins, eater of worlds.

Alkaline Trio – Agony & Irony
Woo, summer album.

Millencolin – Machine 15
Pop-punk has come a long ways since the `90’s (sort of). Millencolin hasn’t, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

Panic At The Disco – Pretty. Odd.
Don’t judge me! I’d rather these guys be emulating The Beatles than Fall Out Boy, but a song on this album has just as much a chance as being painfully boring as it does being a valid channeling of the `60’s. There’s some impressive instrumentation here, assuming the band actually played everything themselves (doubtful).

Jason Mraz – We Sing, We Dance, We Steal Things
Yeah, I listen to Jason Mraz sometimes. So what?

Weezer – Red Album
I really like half this album and really hate the other half. “Everybody Get Dangerous” is handcuffed-to-Fran-Drescher painful.

Favorites:

15. Murder By Death – Red Of Tooth And Claw
Americana Indie Rock
“By the light of the moon, I’m coming home/Howling all the way, I’m coming home.”

I’m not even sure how to label this band’s style (I stole the genre listing from their Myspace page). Imagine Johnny Cash singing songs about slaughtering people in the old wild west in a rock band playing the soundtrack to The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly. That’s about as close as I can get. ROTAC is one of those albums where I love it sometimes and then other times I just can’t seem to get into it. That’s the only reason why it isn’t higher on this list because the quality of the music itself is pretty high. Dare I say this is my favorite cello-punk band?

Best Tracks:

Comin’ Home
Rumbrave
Spring Break 1899

14. British Sea Power – Do You Like Rock Music?
Rock
“Beer is not dark/Beer is not light/It just tastes good/Especially tonight.”

Terrible album cover. Worse band name. Even worse album name. The music? Pretty good! While the similarities to U2 are pretty unmistakable (I’ll let you decide if that’s a good thing or not. Remember, Bono isn’t involved here at all!), the music seems considerably more chaotic (in a good way). The downside to that is that when the band doesn’t seem on the cusp of complete musical anarchy, all else seems to blend together (in a bad way). This band is clearly better when it’s just going nuts.

Best Songs:

Lights Out For Darker Skies
Waving Flags
Atom

13. Jack’s Mannequin – The Glass Passenger
Pop
“And even if your voice comes back again/Maybe there’ll be no one listening/And even if you find the strength to stand/It doesn’t mean you won’t go missing.”

This is maybe the best “disappointing” album of the year for me. It’s not even disappointing; it just fails to live up to the classic album that precedes it on JM’s discography. This was one of my most anticipated albums of the year and it certainly has a fair share of high points, mostly dealing with frontman Andrew McMahon’s battle with leukemia. The tone is understandably a bit more downtrodden than Everything In Transit, which is basically the perfect summer album. However it’s impossible to miss the optimism that is still strung into every song even when dealing with heavy issues.

Best Songs:

Crashin
Bloodshot
Hammers and Strings (A Lullabye)

12. Ben Folds – Way To Normal
Piano Pop
“If there’s a God, He is laughing at us and our football teams.”

Until now, most of my exposure to Ben Folds was his song featured on the Godzilla soundtrack from back in the day. I’m not sure if that statement speaks more ill of my music tastes in 1998 or now. I’ve listened to him here and there, but this is the first album of his that I’ve actually given a good amount of listening to. It’s eclectic, fast paced, odd, and frankly, all over the place, but it’s because of that weirdness that I really dig it.

Best Songs:

Hiroshima (B B B Benny Hit His Head)
Bitch Went Nuts
Effington

11. Brave Saint Saturn – Anti-Meridian
Astro-Rock
“And these frail hands/They tremble as they pen for us their last/And these weak words/Can never say what cannot be surpassed.”

So apparently this album isn’t never happening after all. I don’t think I’m overstating it when I declare this album the Chinese Democracy of Christian astro-rock. It’s been five years since BSS’s last release and I had long since moved on from hoping that they’d complete their space trilogy, so when I learned that this album was in the works I greeted it with a big fat, “Meh.” While it was great to hear the voice of Five Iron Frenzy again, my first listen could pretty much be summed up with the same word. Then one-by-one songs started to grab me until I one day realized that I liked this album quite a bit. There are plenty of throwaway tracks here for me and I’d still take new FIF over this any day, but this was a pleasant surprise for me.

Best Songs:

Mercenary
Starling
Hero’s Homecoming
These Frail Hands

10. Coldplay – Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends
Pop
“I hear Jerusalem bells-a-ringing/Roman calvary choirs are singing/Be my mirror, my sword and shield/My missionaries in a foreign field/For some reason I can’t explain/I know St. Peter won’t call my name/Never an honest word/And that was when I ruled the world.”

I’m not nearly familiar enough with Coldplay’s previous discography to really compare this with their previous works, but I do know that this is their first release that really grabbed me. I think the fact that I heard “Viva La Vida” about 6,000 times over store intercoms in June alone backs me up on that one. VLVODAAHF (as I assume it’s known to their fans), reminds me a lot of my favorite album last year, Arcade Fire’s Neon Bible, in both tone and theme. The instrumentation is just as lush, however it does lack the epic qualities that I felt with Neon Bible. As I said, I never really listened to Coldplay much, but this album made me a fan.

Best Songs:

Lovers In Japan/Reign Of Love
Yes
Viva La Vida

9. Gaelic Storm – What’s The Rumpus?
Celtic/Folk
“The closest I’ve come to ending up dead/Was the night that I punched Russell Crowe, the Gladiator, in the head.”

This band has somehow flown under my radar until this year. Unlike Dropkick or Flogging Molly, this is just a flat out Celtic band with no hints whatsoever of a punk influence (even though they actually hail from Los Angeles). The band that made its public debut as the steerage band in Titanic mainly plays upbeat, humorous songs, but it isn’t afraid of to occasionally tell a serious story and even has a healthy dosage of instrumental tracks.

Best Song:

What’s The Rumpus?
Slim Jim And The Seven Eleven Girl
Floating The Flambeau
The Night I Punched Russell Crowe

8. Flogging Molly – Float
Irish Punk
“Drink away the rest of the day/Wonder what my liver’d say/Drink/That’s all you can.”

Every year there seems to be one album where I look at where I placed it, can’t believe it’s so low, and double check to make sure I didn’t screw up only to find out that I can’t justify knocking down any of the albums above it. This is that album for 2008. It wasn’t always that way as I was initially a little disappointed with Float coming on the heels of the much punkier Within A Mile Of Home. After adjusting to the folkier Float I’ve realized that not only is it better than Within A Mile Of Home, it may very well be my favorite Flogging Molly album to date.

Best Songs:

Float
The Lightning Storm
Punch Drunk Grinning Soul

7. Fall Out Boy – Folie à Deux
Pop
“And does your husband know the way that the sunshine gleams from your wedding band?/I will never end up like him/Behind my back I already am/Keep a calendar this way you will always know/The last time you came through.”

After Infinite On High, I figured that I was all but done listening to this band on a regular basis. There were a few standout tracks, but the majority of the songs were quite disposable. When “I Don’t Care” was released as the single for this album, I thought I might be done altogether. Then I listened to it again. And again. And, damn it, this is just the best band ever at making songs that I like even though I know I shouldn’t. Listening to the first half of FAD for the first time, I thought this might actually be the best album they’ve made to date. Unfortunately, there’s a bit of a drop off in the second half, but this is still a step back in the right direction for them. There are also some bizarre forays into politics from time-to-time. Now, I don’t mind some liberal lyrics (I’d be a country fan if I did), but there are some bands that should seriously just shut up and play. FOB belongs in the latter category. If you wear guyliner, I really don’t care about your opinion on the geopolitical challenges of the day.

Best Songs:

Disloyal Order of the Water Buffaloes
I Don’t Care
Headfirst Slide Into Cooperstown On A Bad Bet
What A Catch, Donnie

6. Brian Wilson – That Lucky Old Sun
Pop
“Up in the morning/Out on the job/I work so hard for my pay/But that lucky old sun has nothing to do but roll around heaven all day.”

This year seems to be a year for the old folks to rediscover their groove. I’m not a huge Beach Boys fan per se, but Pet Sounds is inarguably one of the greatest albums ever recorded. That Lucky Old Sun is not a towering achievement comparable to Pet Sounds, but it is impressive and that’s even before you consider that Wilson is 66 years old with a fried brain from his `60’s drug usage. TLOS is a wistful look back at Wilson’s youth in California with mentions here and there of the mental breakdown that postponed the release of Smile for almost four decades. It doesn’t seem like there’s a linear story being told here, but almost all the songs run into each other, sometimes connected by a spoken word narrative. If there’s a criticism to be found here, it is that the songs at times seem a bit too trite and sappy, but that’s kind of the point of a 60-year-old singing about his 20s in southern California, right? That said, even in his 60s Brian Wilson’s pop sensibilities remain unsurpassed.

Best Songs:

Good Kind Of Love
Forever My Surfer Girl
Going Home
Southern California

5. Kay Kay And His Weathered Underground – Kay Kay And His Weathered Underground
Psychedelic/Indie
“I got a tendency to go and run my mouth/Cause I can depend on no one else/I’ve got my living costs and a bumper sticker that reads ‘All who wander are not lost.’”

Honestly, if this were an objective list rather than having my own personal biases factored in, this would be at the top of the list. Kay Kay is the only thing that remains of the once powerful Gatsbys American Dream empire. You can certainly hear the Gatsbys influences, but this band is primarily psychedelic with only a dab of the GAD craziness. I’d say it’s like The Beatles on acid, but The Beatles were on acid. This is Kay Kay’s debut studio album, but the band initially released a live recording last year, which comprises the bulk of the first half of this self-titled album. Perhaps for the reason of lesser familiarity, I feel the second half is inferior to the first half. However, whatever negatives can be found in this album are more than made up by the incredible instrumentals and melodies to be found here. Definitely one of the year’s best, and the band’s forthcoming release should be right back up there next year from what I’ve heard of it so far.

Best Songs:

Hey Momma
Birds (On A Day Like Today)
Simon Courage Flees The Coop
All Alone

4. Less Than Jake – GNV FLA
Ska-Punk
”Cause I know I’ve wasted way too many times/Living way too many lies/How can this be my fault?/I’m always right/There’s a devil in my DNA/Programmed parts from all the starts/Or is there no one else to blame for my tangled up gears and turnstile jobs?/Fact is I’m just a living sum of all my parts.”

Wow. This is a band that responds well to criticism. I’m an LTJ fanboy, so I’ll listen to anything they put out (except maybe Greased), but I have to admit that I’m glad so many people hated In With The Out Crowd, because the result is the band starting their own label and producing their best album in a long time. This was my official summer driving album and after almost a decade where each successive album seemed a little poppier and a little less horny, it’s great to hear 14 new horn-driven punk songs. I don’t think too many people would list this as their favorite LTJ album, but it is the first time since 2003 that Less Than Jake has sounded like Less Than Jake and that’s enough for me.

Best Songs:

Does The Lion City Still Roar?
Golden Age Of My Negative Ways
This One’s Going To Leave A Bruise
Devil In My DNA

3. The Hold Steady – Stay Positive
Bar Rock/Indie
”Raise a toast to St. Joe Strummer/I think he might have been our only decent teacher/Getting older makes it harder to remember we are our only saviors/We’re gonna build something this summer.”

This band is also the maker of one of the best albums of 2006, Boys And Girls In America; I just didn’t know that at the time. The Hold Steady is way more Springsteen-ian than I am typically used to, so it took me a little while to get into them, but once I did I fell in love with both BAGIA and this year’s Stay Positive. SP features more instrumental experimentation than their previous efforts, but the band still stays true to its rock roots and lyrical storytelling. If you can get past the vocals, this album is full of great “sing-a-long songs.”

Best Songs:

Constructive Summer
Sequestered In Memphis
Stay Positive
Magazines

2. Elvis Costello And The Imposters – Momofuku
New Wave
”The night is black as cracked shellac that landed in an attack/Stella is silent as the grave until a needle drags her through the static/Don’t bring me down/I’m trouble bound/Blue song red alert/Who made Stella hurt?”

I’ve long been a fan of Costello’s early work, but this one came out of nowhere to totally rock me in a way I was not anticipating. It’s hard not to admire EC’s eclectic discography as he’s dabbled in almost every major genre (gangsta rap has remained curiously untouched), but for years I’ve wondered why he can’t be bothered to occasionally throw in an album that sounds like he did in the `70’s. This is that album at long last. I’m betting this is the first time I’ve said this about any artist and probably the last: this is his best album in 25+ years since 1982’s Imperial Bedroom. Since IB came out 3 weeks before I was born I’ve basically been waiting for this my whole life. Released “only on vinyl” (for two weeks), this was clearly meant to be a throwback and it succeeds entirely. The keyboard is back, the punchy lyrics are back, and most importantly the fun is back. There are solid reflective tracks here too, but the upbeat songs are clearly the highlight. American Gangster Time, which is basically an anti-American screed, is infectious enough to make even me want to sing along. I’ll probably enjoy whatever direction Costello chooses to go next as well (perhaps polka-country?), but I do hope he starts releasing these old-school rock albums with increased frequency.

Best Songs:

American Gangster Time
Harry Worth
Stella Hurt
Pardon Me Madam, My Name Is Eve

1. The Gaslight Anthem – The `59 Sound
Rock/Punk
“Did you hear the `59 Sound coming through your grandfather’s radio?/Did you hear the rattling chains through the hospital walls?/Did you hear the old gospel choir when they came to carry you over?/Did you hear your favorite song for one last time?”

I’ve got to admit that I only started to listen to this group because I thought their band name was cool. Needless to say, I think their music lives up to their name. The `59 Sound is a significant departure from TGA’s solid debut album, Sink Or Swim. Replacing the gruff punk rock of the latter is nostalgic, country-inspired lyrics fused with echoey 80’s-like vocals (think The Killers – but not painful to listen to), and pop-punk melodies. While it would be a stretch to call this album patriotic outright, it’s refreshing to hear music in this genre that is so inspired by Americana. Unlike my favorite album last year, The `59 Sound probably won’t be winning any Grammys, winning over the pretentious among us, or even topping other similar lists, but to me this album still feels as fresh and invigorating now as it did the first time I listened to it many months and spins ago. In a year of much musical parity with no clear personal favorite, that’s enough for me to give it the top slot.

Best Songs:

The `59 Sound
High Lonesome
Miles Davis & The Cool
The Patient Ferris Wheel
The Backseat

  

Here are my favorite pics for 2008 in chronological order. You can see the whole shebang here. As I did last year, I followed a Scrubs-style naming convention:

1. My Keg Tap Disaster (February 9 – Welcome Home Party)

2. My St. Patrick’s Day Meal (March 17)

3. My First IronPigs Game (June 27 – IronPigs Game)

4. My Weird Hair (June 29 – GF/LTJ/DKM Concert)

5. My Massive Footlong (August 9 – Shea Stadium)

6. My Projected Dream (August 16 – Brew Expo)

7. Our Uncomfortable Timed Shot (September 12 – PSU Roadtrip)

8. Our Terrifying Walk (September 13 – Penn State vs Syracuse)

9. Our Syracuse Road Trip (September 13 – Penn State vs Syracuse)

10. Our Wanting To Know If You’ve Ever Seen The Rain (September 26)

11. My Fire (September 26)

12. My Kick In The Head (November 16 – Homecoming Weekend)

13. My COME TO PENN STATE!! (November 21)

14. Our Big Ten Championship (November 28 – Penn State vs Michigan State)

15. Our Ugly Christmas Sweaters (December 20 – Ugly Christmas Sweater Party)

16. My Family Takes Forever To Get A Group Shot Right (December 25 – Christmas 2008)

17. My Lucky Day (December 28 – Eagles vs Cowboys)

  

This has been a rough year for movies (and pretty much all media as far as I can tell), and I’m assuming the aftermath of the writer’s strike won’t even be felt until next year! This year it seems Hollywood just sucks. That’s as much enthusiasm as I can muster:

Worst of the Year:

Semi-Pro
The only half-funny moment in the entire movie was a 10 minute long segment revolving around the phrase “jive turkey.” It wasn’t worth it.

Speed Racer
Good to know I’ll never have to experiment with acid because the Wachowskis are obviously doing enough for all of us.

Mediocre of the Year:

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
I had nothing but bad vibes for this film since I got that same old “They’re seriously calling it The Phantom Menace???” feeling when they announced the name. I need to see it again, but my impression the first time through was that it was a mixed bag and probably worse than it would have been if Spielberg had made this independently from Lucas’s influence.

Hancock
This was surprisingly watchable, mostly due to Jason Bateman’s awesomeness and Charlize Theron’s hotness.

Favorites of the Year

10. Cloverfield
”Shut up! All right, we don’t know what we saw. The point is it’s still here, all right? So we need to get the hell out of Manhattan! Now!”

This movie really didn’t hold up well seeing it the second time on DVD, but man, it was a load of fun in the theater. It’s like The Blair Witch Project but with less suction and (if it’s possible) even more puke-o-rama shaky cam! (Thank you soooo much Jason Bourne). The dialogue is bad (if you took out the word “dude” in the script I’m pretty sure it would cut the run time by a third), the plot is ridiculous if you apply any logic at all (sure she can run away from the monster! We un-impaled her like 5 minutes ago!) the acting is embarrassing at times, and the monster is disappointing when you finally get a look at it after an hour and a half of teases. What keeps this movie together is the suspense of not knowing what’s going to happen next and the imaginative set pieces. It’s certainly worthy of one viewing, but probably not more than that.

9. Pineapple Express
“In case you haven’t noticed – which you haven’t, ‘cause from what I can tell, you don’t notice anything ever – we are not very functional when we’re high.”

This is the Seth Rogan comedy of 2008 that I actually saw, so by default it’s “The Best Seth Rogan Comedy of the Year!” It seems the competition gets stiffer with every passing year. This time he brings along fellow Freaks and Geeks alum Harry Osborne as Saul the drug dealer. The two are forced to become fast friends as one of them witnesses a murder while leaving behind a joint filled with a rare kind of weed that is only dealt by Harry. I’m not big into stoner comedies like I am for beer comedies (both of them!), but in a year dominated by comedies, this was still a highlight.

8. The Incredible Hulk
“Hulk smash!”

LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOUD NOISES! If great comedies was one trend of 2008, a superhero movie mini-renaissance was the other. This movie, written partially by Edward Norton, is mercifully a clean break from Hulk, which was directed by Ang Lee and was duller than soccer play-by-play in sign language. Instead of pondering super close-ups of still life we get loads of ultra close-ups with angry, screaming abominations unto the Lord (pun intended). While the CGI gets a little out of hand at the end (would it be a true summer blockbuster if it didn’t?) this was an overall satisfying experience that quickly faded from memory only because it was outshone by several other new classics in the superhero genre.

7. Step Brothers
“You have the voice of an angel. Your voice is like a combination of Fergie and Jesus.”

It’s been a while, but Will Ferrell has finally returned to form. Perhaps his star just burned too bright in Anchorman, but since then his filmography has been a long list of tepid mediocrity. I’m just going to ignore the fact that he was also in Semi-pro, which is saved from being the worst movie I saw this year only because I was stupid enough to watch Speed Racer. It’s Ferrell’s crudest comedy since Old School (maybe even ever), and even though his shtick has worn a bit thin, this is full of hilarious moments. Just reading the quotes page on IMDB to write this had me laughing out loud.

6. Futurama: The Beast With A Billion Backs
“Now I’ve often said ‘good news’ when sending you on a mission of extreme danger; so when I say this anomaly is dangerous, you can imagine how dangerous I really think it is.”

This is the second of four planned Futurama movies and it is about on par with the first one (the third one, Bender’s Game, was a bit tedious for me). While I personally think Futurama is best told in 30 minute episodes, I’ll take any new material I can get. This entry features, well, in the words of Fry, “I went to another Universe and fell in love with a giant octopus; and now I’m Pope of a new religion.” It’s complicated, but no more so than any other storyline on this show. If this show doesn’t come back at some point then this might be the last hurrah for Futurama with the third film being a dud and the forthcoming finale seemingly centered on the obnoxious environmental theme that popped up from time to time on the show. I guess I’ll always have my DVDs…

5. Get Smart
“Agent 99: Did you see anything while I was dancing?
Maxwell Smart: Just once, but I don’t think you expected him to lift you that high.”

Up front, I’ll just say I was and am a huge fan of the original TV show starring Don Adams. I grew up with that show on Nick at Nite every night, so I was somewhat leery of the idea of a remake. Casting Steve Carell as Max was a good first step in winning me over even though no one can ever replace Don Adams in that role. Unfortunately, my geekiness over the show kept me from fully loving the movie. Maxwell Smart was a well trained idiot, not a smart analyst with no field experience. Siegfried was a German Nazi type, not General Zod. And for the love of God, Larabee was NOT freaking Champ Kind. You can’t just take whatever actor you want, let him do the same terrible shtick he always does and expect everything to be fine by giving him the name of a beloved character who acts completely different from what is in the movie!! Argh!! That being said, the last minute appearance of Puddy as Hymie was genius. I’d be up for a sequel as this movie was surprisingly solid in both action and comedy. Also Anne Hathaway is strikingly gorgeous in this movie. The movie would be worth seeing just to watch her for two hours.

4. Tropic Thunder
“I think I can spot a prop head when I see one!”

Speaking of old shtick, this one is starring, written, and directed by Ben Stiller. It’s a surprisingly smart and hilarious spoof on Hollywood in general. You have the aging action star Tugg Speedman, played by Stiller, the lame comedian who plays multiple roles in his movies played by Jack Black, the energy drink swilling rapper-turned-actor played by some other guy, and the “serious” Australian actor who gets awards for playing a gay priest with Toby Maguire played by Robert Downey, Jr. Together they form a cast trying to film a war movie but inadvertently get involved in a real war zone. However, I got my money’s worth on this movie just from the fake trailers they showed before the movie even started.

3. WALL-E
“This is called farming! You kids are gonna grow all sorts of things! Vegetable plants, pizza plants… Oh, it’s good to be home!”

Death. Taxes. Good Pixar movie. I didn’t care for Cars and Ratatoille as much as some of the old classics, but they still had their charm. WALL-E on the other hand is a return to form even if they didn’t drift too far from form to begin with. I don’t know how long this film went without any dialogue, but it’s amazing how interesting the beginning of the film is while not saying anything! I’d love to see the script just to see how it was all mapped out. Pixar movies are also always nice to look at, but they certainly seemed to have stepped up their game in the animation department for this one. I’m new to the BluRay thing, but thus far WALL-E, by far, has been the best looking movie I’ve watched in the medium. Nothing can ever top the Toy Story movies or The Incredibles, but WALL-E may become a classic as well, despite it’s somewhat obnoxious imbedded political message.

2. Iron Man
“Let’s face it, this is not the worst thing you’ve caught me doing.”

I’m not going to say that anything Jon Favreau touches turns to gold (I remember Daredevil, buddy!), but he has created a few classics in his day. Swingers is one of my favorite all time movies, Elf is a new holiday staple, and now Iron Man set a new high bar for super hero movies . . . for about three months before (#1 MOVIE SPOILER!) The Dark Knight came out. Even though I had only a vague knowledge of the Iron Man story, the casting of Robert Downey, Jr excited me more than any super hero casting since Christian Bale. It seemed even more inspired (maybe even obvious?) after seeing the movie itself. Like The Incredible Hulk, it does get bogged down with CGI (and some iffy acting by Gwyneth Paltrow) in the end, but on the whole the film balances action, plot, and comedy brilliantly. Bring on Iron Man 2!

1. The Dark Knight
“Why so serious?”

This movie, on the other hand, I’m not so sure I want a sequel to. Why? Because I don’t think it can be topped. The first thing I said after I saw TDK for the first time was, “This was sooo much better than Batman Begins.” And I loved Batman Begins! In describing this film to others who hadn’t seen it (I’m a midnight movie geek), I would use the “Best movie since ____” method. Except the release date of the movie in the blank kept on getting pushed back the more I thought about it. I think I finally settled on The Empire Strikes Back. In the Batman movies of the past there was always a clear definition between the films. It was as if the villains of the previous films just disappeared for the new one. Not only is The Dark Knight a clear follow up to Batman Begins, but it masterfully balances a large cast of supporting characters including Jim Gordon, Harvey Dent/Two Face, Alfred, and of course The Joker. The subject’s been worn out, but Heath Ledger is spectacular in this movie. From his very first appearance the writing combined with his performance makes The Joker completely unpredictable, menacing, and maybe the greatest villain in super hero movie history. There are two movie clichés that are pulled off here without problem: the villain with no real motive, and the good guy who turns bad guy almost instantly and at no point did I not buy into it. I’ve already written about the War on Terror commentary (yes, I still think Batman is George W. Bush), so I won’t beat a dead horse on that topic. Maybe what impresses me the most about this movie is that on paper, the threat is so much smaller than it was in Batman Begins, yet it feels so much bigger and more threatening. In a day when there seems to be so few releases that even interest me, it’s so refreshing to have this film come along and remind me why I love movies so much to begin with.

  

Welp, it’s that time again when I spent waaaaaaay too much time writing down what I liked about the ending year. In 2008’s case, media wise, not much. I could just say “The Dark Knight and The Shield are good!” in one post and be done with it, but that’ just not my style is it? Here is the tenuous schedule subject to change (if only because the picture part seems pretty unlikely to get done):

Sunday, January 4: Favorite Movies
Sunday, January 11: Favorite TV Shows
Sunday, January 18: Favorite Pictures
Sunday, January 25: Favorite Music
Sunday, February 1: Looking ahead to 2009

Have a Happy New Year!

-MPAW

  

Here’s what I can’t wait for in 2008:

Movies

The Dark Knight
Top of my list right now. Never thought I’d say this, but Heath Ledger looks amazing as the Joker!

Indiana Jones and The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
My delusional desire for this to be good supersedes my incredible skepticism of this not sucking. Hopefully this won’t disappoint.

Bond 22
Casino Royale was so good and I don’t expect anything less from the followup.

Iron Man
Jon Favreau direction and Robert Downey, Jr. starring? Where do I sign up?

Cloverfield
Awesome advertisement campaign from the creator of Lost. I swear to God though, if the monster ends up being a cloud of smoke I’m going to crack skulls.

Get Smart
PleasedontsuckPleasedontsuckPleasedontsuckPleasedontsuckPleasedontsuck. This was a Nick at Nite favorite of mine back in the day so I’m hoping this doesn’t crap all over my childhood.

Fanboys
Second year’s the charm!

Hobgoblins 2
It’s an MST3K thing. You wouldn’t understand.

Futurama
Keep it coming guys! I don’t want this show to ever get canceled. If The Simpsons can do it, then so can this show.

The Incredible Hulk
I’d say a rebooted franchise was a pretty good idea.

Jackass 3
Yeah, it’s not the classiest thing ever, but it makes me laugh harder than most real comedies released these days.

Sin City 2
A guy can hope, right? These actresses need to stop getting knocked up.

Rambo
Hey, I doubted Rocky VI so maybe this will be better than expected as well.

The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt
Note to Martin Scoresese: I know Leo Dicaprio is Italian, but that doesn’t mean he’s right for a starring role in every one of your movies!

Speed Racer
Looks like the Wachowski brot…er…siblings have finally found a way to film their acid-laced nightmares.

Valkyrie
Can Tom Cruise do a German accent?

Music

The Format – Untitled
Huuuuge expectations following the amazing Dog Problems

Less Than Jake – Untitled
These guys still have the magic! I still believe!

Weezer – Untitled
These guys I don’t believe in as much, but we can always hope they can return to form someday. Why not today?

Saves The Day – Daybreak
Each release has been better than the last since In Reverie. Let’s hope that trend continues.

New Found Glory – Untitled
All NFG is gold.

Rise Against – Untitled
Why the anger, guys?

Houston Calls – Untitled
I guess.

Jack’s Mannequin – Awake and Dreaming
Hey! If you’re going to release another perfect summer album, release it in the summer this time!

Green Day – Untitled
No way does this live up to American Idiot, but it’ll be interesting no matter what happens.

Flogging Molly – Float
The soundtrack to your St. Patrick’s Day beatings!

  

OK, so here’s the annual disclaimer: I don’t know what I’m talking about. You really shouldn’t listen to what I say. Let’s get on with it!

The Old School
Before we get into the best of 2007, I thought I should share some albums that are older that got play by me this year. Some of them I heard the first time and some of them I grew a new appreciation for (a lot of these are due to listening to them on vinyl for the first time). They are, in no particular order:

Elvis Costello – Imperial Bedroom
Pink Floyd – Dark Side of the Moon
The Cure – Disintegration
The Beatles – Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
ELO – Out of the Blue
Brian Wilson – Smile
The Beach Boys – Pet Sounds
Kemuri – Principle
The Mighty Mighty Bosstones – A Jackknife To A Swan
Neutral Milk Hotel – In the Aeroplane Over The Sea

The Worst
If I don’t like an album, I usually just cast it away from my memory forever. Sometimes however, an album is bad enough to leave a mark. These are those albums:

Linkin Park – Minutes To Midnight
Shockingly (or maybe not so), this actually made Rolling Stone’s Top 50 Albums of the Year list (in the top half, no less!). I couldn’t make it the whole way through (and I’m not even a Linkin Park hater).

Good Charlotte – Good Morning Revival
I checked this out for old time’s sake. I’ve moved on because I’m not 18 anymore. These guys should consider doing the same.

Smashing Pumpkins – Zeitgeist
Confession: I’m not a huge fan of the Pumpkins. However, this is the only album in this list that I gave a legitimate shot to. I just flat out don’t like it.

The Disappointments
These weren’t terrible, but I really wanted so much more.

Cartel – Cartel
This is the disappointment of disappointments. I had huge expectations following Chroma (one of my favorite pop albums ever), and this is just not what I wanted. Where’d the energy go?

Suburban Legends – Infectious
I wonder what exactly the decision process is like when a band in a dead genre (ska) decides to migrate to one that’s even deader (disco). I actually like some of the jams on this disk, but all to often it left me scratching my head asking, “Why?”

The Starting Line – Direction
It’s possible I just don’t like this band that much. I like their older poppier stuff, but I only liked a few songs here. Maybe I just didn’t give it enough listens.

Straylight Run – The Needles, The Space
On one hand, I admire the guts that it takes a band to take a completely different in their style. On the other, I listened to this a lot trying to get into it and I really miss the old Straylight style.

The “Also Receiving Votes”
Worthy of my time, but not quite worthy of pictures.

Bright Eyes – Cassadega
This is flat out the best album of 2007 that I never felt like listening to. This should probably be closer to the top than in this section, but I just rarely spun this. My bad.

Saves The Day – Under The Boards
If 2007 were a couple weeks longer this probably would creep into the main list as it’s been growing on me lately. It’s the darker, more intricate, second entry in STD’s in progress trilogy of albums. While the vocals are less grating, they still manage to ruin a few songs for me.

Sondre Lerche – Phantom Punch
The Norwegian Elvis Costello! Stylistically only though. The lyrics are a little iffy at times.

Yellowcard – Paper Walls
Comeback of the year! I’m glad Yellowcard decided to go back to what they do best: crappy pop-punk.

The White Stripes – Icky Thump
I’ve never cared for this band until this album. They’re way weird sometimes, but I still dig it.

Rocky Votolato – The Brag and Cuss
Well, it finally happened. I finally found some country music that I like.

Iron & Wine – The Shepherd’s Dog
Get a shave, hippie!

New Found Glory – From The Screen To Your Stereo: Part II
I’d prefer some fresh material from NFG, but I at least got about 5 listens out of this album before I got bored with it.

Fall Out Boy – Infinite On High
Fall Out Boy gets crap (sometimes deservedly so), but they’re good at what they do if you’re into that kind of thing.

The Favorites of 2007
If you only listen to 15 of my favorite albums from the past year, make sure you scroll past these!

15. Cary Brothers – Who You Are
Indie-Acoustic

“Is it too much to ask of you to stay inside with me?/Is it too much to ask of you to keep me alive?”

First off, this isn’t a family band or a band of any sort. It’s just a dude – a dude with a weird name. Cary Brothers is the voice of your favorite Zach Braff movie, but not being a Garden State aficionado, I just heard Cary Brothers for the first time this year (at least for the first time while not watching Scrubs). This is the perfect mellow album for peaceful times. The weakness of this album, in my opinion, is that while the first half is fantastic, I find that my mind drifts in the second half – particularly when I’m listening to it from beginning to end. Could be that the quality drops off, or it could be that my tastes just aren’t mellow enough to listen to this type of music for long periods of time…man. Also, what’s up with the faux-Brit accent? I thought this guy was from Nashville.

Best Songs:

Jealousy
Who You Are
Glass Parade
Honestly

14. Motion City Soundtrack – Even If It Kills Me
Synth-Pop

“Calling all cops and Autobots!”

After Commit This To Memory, I had huge expectations for this album. I suspect that those expectations were a large factor in an initial chilly reception for MCS’s latest offering. I did grow to like this album for what it is, but there is definitely some “pop” missing in EIIKM. Of course, one thing you can always count on from this band is some crazy-ass lyrics (with hair like this, you’d expect no less!), and this album certainly delivers that. You’ll also learn, if you’re like me, that all it really takes to like a song is a reference to Transformers. Yah, I’m that easy.

Best Songs:

Calling All Cops
The Conversation
Broken Heart
Even If It Kills Me

13. Maroon 5 – It Won’t Be Soon Before Long
Pop

“Caught you in the morning with another one in my bed/Don’t you care about me anymore?/Care about me?/I don’t think so/Six foot tall/Came without a warning so I had to shoot him dead/He won’t come around here anymore/Come around here?/I don’t think so.”

Yeah, I like to keep you on your toes. This one really shouldn’t make much sense to anyone (including me), but I really can’t help but like this album. With few exceptions, I’ve really detested this band if only for having a truly terrible song on the otherwise stellar Spider-man 2 soundtrack. I much prefer the funkier first half of this album to the mellower second half, but it’s pretty good throughout. This is a change of pace album for me and a surprise entry on this list.

Best Songs:

Makes Me Wonder
Little Of Your Time
Wake Up Call

12. MxPx – Secret Weapon
Left Coast Punk Rawk

“Take to the street tonight/To live your life; to do what’s right/Sometimes you gotta stand and fight/Do you hear the bass so low?”

I’ve already written more extensively on this album than possibly anyone on the planet (I’m probably at least in the top 5 I’m guessing), so I’m not going to go into great detail again here on the latest MxPx offering. This was my favorite pop-punk album of the summer and it felt great to hear MxPx get back to basics. In an age where every crappy band thinks they’re The Beatles and can just change their sound successfully, it’s always comforting to know that every two years I’ll get 15 new songs with the same ol’ MxPx sound – and that’s a very good thing.

Best Songs:

Secret Weapon
Chop Shop
You’re On Fire
Bass So Low

11. All Time Low – So Wrong, It’s Right
Pop-Punk

“I’m just a face for every picture/A smile for your scrapbooks/And a story to be told/But I’m loving every second/So commemorate this hour/As the last I spend regretting what I have.”

2007 marked somewhat of a comeback of 90’s style pop punk, which I would consider a good thing. Out of those stellar albums put out by MxPx, Yellowcard, and Mayday Parade in particular I consider All Time Low’s to be the best. Don’t be fooled by the atrocious album cover, this is great pop music from cover to cover. In fact, the only thing that betrays the fact that this was made in 2007 instead of 1997 is that the vocals emulate Fall Out Boy instead of New Found Glory. I wouldn’t be surprised if this band is the next breakthrough pop-punk band to make it big on MTV. Of course, I also said the same thing about Cartel, and we all know how that sadly ended up.

Best Songs:

Let It Roll
Remembering Sunday
Vegas

10. The Graduate – Anhedonia
Pop-Punk

“So here’s to being alone/To anyone on their own/If anyone’s listening/Think of me when I’m gone/It’s not gonna hurt for long/And you can just forget/And I can live without regret.”

This is one of those “loved it when it first came out and then completely forgot about it until now” albums for me. Not only does this album boast one of the coolest covers of the year, but it is chock full of quarter-life crisis lyrical goodness packaged with a sleek pop-punk sound and earnest vocals. I wouldn’t consider this album mind-blowing but it’s solid and then some. Definitely worth a try if you’re looking for something new.

Best Songs:

Sit & Sink
I Survived
The City That Reads
Justified

9. Reel Big Fish – Monkeys For Nothin’ & The Chimps For Free
Ska

“While you were never ever in the places I would go/You never showed yourself/All those heart-felt conversations were with me and no one else/When I called your name/You never answered/Am I insane?”

I have never loved a Reel Big Fish album right off the bat. Frankly, they are not great artists (and I think they’d admit to that), but they are great entertainers. They’re probably my favorite live act of all time. That being said, this is my favorite studio album that they have put out in a while. Of course, my favorite is Cheer Up, which seems to be regarded by most RBF fans as the worst of their discography so what do I know? I do know that this was one of the staples of my summer soundtrack. It’s just a flat-out fun album which is quite a contrast from their last album which was a bit of a downer. As long as these guys tour forever, I really don’t care what else they do!

Best Songs:

Party Down
Slow Down
Everybody’s Drunk

8. The Dear Hunter – Act II: The Meaning Of, And All Things Regarding Ms. Leading
Rock

“Pray’d I would leave this place someday/Joined to alarm from long ago now unconcerned/Euphorically floating upon wax wings where is the sun?/I still see her face/Her beauty her grace/Transfixed like a light in front of me/It follows my soul/And swallows me whole.”

I’m guilty of underplaying this album, but coming in at a length of almost exactly 80 minutes, do you blame me? That’s a freaking commitment! AII:TMO,AATRML (nothing about this album is short, folks) continues the story from The Lake South, The River North EP of a young man who falls in love with a whore. I admit it is a bit of a chore to get through from beginning to end, but what I find is that you can put on any random part of the album and it is never boring, which is pretty amazing given the length of the record.

Best Songs:

The Lake And The River
The Oracles On The Delphi Express
Red Hands

7. Bloc Party – A Weekend In The City
Indie-Rock

“Sitting in silence in bars after work/I’ve got nothing to add or contest/Can still kick a ball a hundred yards/We cling to bottles and memories of the past.”

I admit I’m waaaay late to the “party” (Ha!) when it comes to this band. I still have not listened to “Silent Alarm” despite my deep appreciation of A Weekend In The City. I don’t know if this is Bloc Party’s style in general or whether this is unique to this album, but this seems to be a declaration of quarter-life crisis disaffection and a cry for help overall. Songs like “Waiting For The 7.18” yearns for younger days while wishing things could have gone differently. “Kreuzberg” is basically a song waving a white flag of surrender in love. This is an impressive album, but I find the lyrics a little too matter-of-fact to merit a higher rating. If this band ever finds a way to say what they’re trying to say in a less literal sense I could totally see a future release of theirs topping one of these lists. I have no doubt they’re furiously working right now trying to gain my full approval.

Best Songs:

Waiting For The 7.18
Kreuzberg
I Still Remember

6. Streetlight Manifesto – Somewhere In The Between
Ska

“We’re going down, down, down to Mephisto’s Cafe/Down, down, down to Mephisto’s Cafe/We’re going down/And the gears will spin and the sinners sin, but at least we’ll give them hell/And the righteous few will spit on you, so bid them all farewell.”

I’m a rare person that still loves ska (1997 forever!), but Streetlight Manifesto’s first album was too ska for even me (even after seeing them live accidentally at least twice). Lucky for them I was willing to give them a second chance and they delivered with SITB. The horn section is the strength of this band, and they certainly know it. If you’re sick of “ska” bands trying to go all punk/emo (I’m looking at you Less Than Jake – but I love you), then this is for you. Featuring some of the best horn sections I heard all year (in a surprisingly strong year for ska), this is 10 energetic tracks that are worth checking out.

Best Songs:

Down, Down, Down to Mephisto’s Cafe
Watch It Crash
The Receiving End Of It All

5. Say Anything – In Defense Of The Genre
Rock

“Yes, I know my addictions run the gamut/The drugs, the smokes, the booze, the 24/But you can’t make the turkey colder/Or skew me less bipolar/Let me list the things about you I abhor”

“This is f^*king ecstasy.” I think that song title from Say Anything’s sophomore release pretty much sums up my feelings for this album. What’s shocking is how few weak tracks there are amongst the 27 included in this double album. This release is substantially more eclectic than their previous release, the modern day classic ...Is A Real Boy, and of course much longer. At first glance this is a weaker effort than said ...IARB. That first glance would be accurate, but unfair. You cannot fully appreciate IDOTG until you sit down with the lyrics and really appreciate the epic storytelling at work here. By the time lead singer Max Bemis bellows, “I’m praying darling/Maybe someday we/together can be/the king and queen,” you feel like you’ve been on the same journey that he has, which is a tribute to his graphically honest style of songwriting (so graphic in fact that this is the first album I’ve ever seen with a content warning for “Sexual Content”). In addition, there are so many artists involved in this album that it almost seems like it’s a collaboration of the entire punk/emo genre (Artists contributing: Pete Yorn, Taking Back Sunday, Paramore, Dashboard Confessional, Saves The Day, Alkaline Trio, My Chemical Romance, New Found Glory, and The Starting Line amongst others). Of course, there is the occasional “WTF?” song that you have to wonder how it made the cut (“Died A Jew” is a prime example of this). I find myself enjoying the upbeat first disk more than the second disk, but the second disk is more pertinent to the story. No matter what though, this is an impressive effort and a worthy follow up to one of my favorite albums of all time. The fact that an album I liked this much is this low on this list (let alone a pre-season favorite) is evidence of how great this year was musically.

Best Songs:

That Is Why
Baby Girl, I’m A Blur
People Like You Are Why People Like Me Exist
Spay Me
You’re The Wanker If Anyone Is
Spores
Have At Thee!
Plea

4. Arctic Monkeys – Favourite Worst Nightmare
Rock

“You used to get it in your fishnets/Now you only get it in your night dress/Started all the naughty nights with niceness/Landed in a very common crisis/Everything’s in order in a black hole/Everything was pretty in the past though/That Bloody Mary’s lacking in Tabasco/Remember when he used to be a rascal?“

How does anyone not like this band? Every song on this album sounds like it belongs in a James Bond movie, and what’s cooler than ol’ 007? NOTHING! That’s what! Except Joe Paterno, of course. Favourite Worst Nightmare is significantly more mature, and frankly, darker lyrically than the Arctic Monkeys’ first release (which ended up at the way-too-low position of #9 on last year’s list). From the frenetic opener of “Brianstorm” to the ballad closing of “505” there simply is not a weak track to be found here. It’s a rare album that I am able to not only listen to from beginning to end, but then repeat it without the ADD kicking in.

Best Songs:

Brianstorm
Fluorescent Adolescent
This House Is A Circus
Old Yellow Bricks
505

3. Dropkick Murphys – The Meanest Of Times
Irish Punk

“God willing, It’s the last time I’ll say goodbye/God willing, I’ll see you on the other side/It’s the last time I’ll put my arms around you/The last time I’ll look into your eyes/I’ve come here to put my arms around you/And say one final goodbye.”

My blood demands that I enjoy the Dropkick Murphys, and that I do quite a bit. What I love beyond the obvious pipe-infused punk rock sound is that the folksy/traditional subject matters of their songs just aren’t found elsewhere. It’s refreshing to listen to a band that never has an emo song about an ex-girlfriend. This is the band’s first release since their big hit “Shipping Up To Boston” caught on thanks to its inclusion in The Departed (and of course after their last album single-handedly broke the Curse of the Bambino). Any concern of DKM going mainstream with their newfound success can be tossed aside as the band sticks to what they know in The Meanest Of Times. If anything, it’s a “back to their roots” album with a much punkier sound than the more-on-the-Celtic-side Warrior’s Code. Frankly, I love it. It may even be my favorite DKM album yet. Warrior’s Code had to grow on me, but this one I was instantly attached to. If “Flannigan’s Ball” doesn’t get your heart racing, then you’re seriously reading the wrong list.

Best Songs:

God Willing
State of Massachusetts
Vices and Virtues
Flannigan’s Ball
Rude Awkenings
Johnny, I Hardly Knew Ya

2. Jimmy Eat World – Chase This Light
Pop

“Because tonight the world turned to me/Because tonight I don’t dare to breathe/Oh babe I know it’s alive/And somewhere for us to find/Tonight, chase this light with me”

When a new Jimmy Eat World album is released, my attitude isn’t so much “I wonder what the new stuff is going to sound like.” It’s more like “I wonder what the soundtrack to my life is going to be for the next 3 years.” This was particularly true of Futures as that album, almost song for song, was pretty much an audio biography for who I was and what I did in 2004. Futures is not only my favorite JEW album (yes, I like it better than Clarity) it’s pretty much my favorite album ever. With expectations this high, what could go wrong? I’ll say up front that Chase This Light was a slight let down. It’s poppy sound feels like it would be a more natural follow up to Bleed American, but after Futures this I would consider this a step back. Please note however, the “was” part in the “let down” sentence. This album has grown on me considerably since my initial disappointment (so much so that I had to re-write my original write up). Keep in mind that I find all JEW to be good JEW. Who doesn’t love the JEW? While I prefer the sadder side of the band (demonstrated perfectly in Futures and the Stay By My Side EP), and I find the songs “Feeling Lucky” and “Electable (Give It Up)” to be filler songs (unheard of in a Jimmy album), “Big Casino,” “Carry You,” “Chase This Light,” and “Dizzy” will all end up being all time great JEW tunes. Song-for-song though, the collection of b-sides that go with this album is superior to the album itself. The exclusion of “Be Sensible” is borderline criminal.

Best Songs:

Big Casino
Let It Happen
Here It Goes
Chase This Light
Dizzy

1. Arcade Fire – Neon Bible
Indie

“Do you know where I was at your age?/I was working downtown for the minimum wage/And I’m not gonna let you throw it all away/I’m through being cute/I’m through being nice/O tell me Lord, am I the antichrist?”

Neon Bible is my favorite album of the year. It is not the kind of album that you can put in your car stereo and have it click immediately. When I say it’s my favorite album I mean that if I want to sit down with headphones and a lyric book and listen to an entire disk, this is what I’d want to be listening to (and I certainly have done so on more than one occasion). It’s the kind of album you have to just saturate yourself with to fully appreciate. With the main topic tackled in the album being religion, I suspect that you will get out of this what you bring into it, or possibly what you want it to be. I find this album to be cynical of religion on the whole, yet in the end, uplifted by it. It’s a complete spiritual journey starting with a conversion in “Neon Bible”, plunging into a cynicism that culminates in “(Antichrist Television Blues)”, and ends triumphantly with “No Cars Go” and “My Body Is A Cage.”

  

I like having my lists have an even number of entries, but I can only include what I watched, so here are my favorite nine shows of 2007!

9. The Sopranos
“Historically, Carmine always said the Sopranos are nothing more than a glorified crew. Plain and simple—we decapitate and we do business with whatever’s left.”

Well. . .got that done. I was never a Sopranos addict, but I certainly understood why the show was as popular as it was. Here’s the thing about good stories – they should all have good endings. At the very least they should have an ending. The craptacular finale doesn’t completely negate all the good stuff that transpired in “Part II” of season 6, but it did leave a sour taste in most people’s mouths. Frankly, I think anyone who claims to like the “ending” of the finale is only trying to justify it in their minds because of all the time that they wasted expecting a culmination that never came. Because in the end, The Sopranos was just a fantastic journey that had no destination. The untied ends really shows nothing but contempt for the audience, which would be OK if it were a poorly made show. It wasn’t and the great buildup that occurred throughout the bulk of the season deserved a much better payoff.

Favorite Episode: 6.20 – The Blue Comet

8. Lost
“I’m going to lead my people up to the radio tower and I’m going to make a call. I’m going to get them rescued. Every one of them … And then I’m going to come find you, and I’m going to kill you.”

I came dangerously close to quitting on this show all together early on. If I hadn’t invested two whole seasons worth of time already I probably would not have pressed on after the miserably bad first half of season three. Thankfully, I did and Lost recovered to give us some of the best stuff they’ve made since season one. There’s still no protagonist on the air today that rubs me the wrong way more than Jack (say what you want, but this show is really good at making hateable characters), and in the back of my mind I keep thinking we’re headed towards an ultimate disappointment that will dwarf that of The Sopranos, but for the second half of this season at least I enjoyed the ride.

Favorite Episode: 3.22 – Through The Looking Glass

7. It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia
“’Peaked,’ Dee? Let me tell you something. I haven’t even begun to peak. And when I do peak, you’ll know. Because I’m going to peak so hard, that everybody in Philadelphia will feel it.”

I just started watching this show this year, which is surprising because the fact that this show centers around a group of guys that own an Irish pub in Philadelphia places me in the exact center of their target demographic. I didn’t care for the first season that much, but I’m glad I plowed on through because once Danny Devito joined this cast, things really took off. The show is a little hit or miss sometimes (OK, a lot), but I definitely detect shades of Arrested Development here – and that’s a hell of a compliment. Unfortunately, IASIP is way more uneven than AD ever was and sometimes those moment where they just seem to be trying too hard makes me miss the genius of Arrested Development even more. That being said, how do you not laugh at Danny Devito dropping acid at a tailgate during an Eagles tryout?

Favorite Episode: 3.14 – Bums: Making A Mess All Over The City

6. 24
“I’m feeling ambivalent. I’m gonna go.”

This is painful for me to do, and it’s strange not to see 24 in the top slot but I have to be honest here. I’ve already spoken at length on the problems 24 had this year and I take no joy in trashing my favorite show of all time so I’m going to focus on some of the positives that kept me tuning in every week despite the lowered quality of the product. Season six was well short of being a classic, but did feature some great 24 moments: Jack having to kill Curtis, the terrorists finally succeeding in detonating a nuke, the Graem torture scene, the return of the Logans, Fayed’s brutal death (“Damn, Jack!”), Tom Lennox’s awesomness in general, and the final silent scene finding Jack saying goodbye to Audrey facing an uncertain future. 24 is in new territory with it’s first “bad” season, but guess where I’ll be every Monday at 9 whenever it returns? Hopefully next year I’ll be back to laughing with, not at, the show in my random thoughts.

Favorite Episode: 6.17 – 10PM-11PM

5. Heroes
“Every hero must learn his purpose. Then he’ll be tested and called to greatness.”

And David takes out Goliath. Yes, I have newcomer Heroes ranked over 24. Although this show has plenty of problems of its own, it was just flat out more entertaining than 24 this year (so were a lot of shows, really). The basis of the show (if I may borrow an observation from Mike Nelson) is a completely un-X-Men-like premise of normal people suddenly discovering they have amazing powers. I wish the show was a bit more even (there are moments of astounding stupidity), it has more of a TV feel than the more cinematic production values of 24 or The Shield, and I want to punch Mohinder in the head, but this is one of those shows where you’ll want to watch the next episode immediately after you finish one.

Favorite Episode: 1.9 – Homecoming

4. Scrubs
“So what rhymes with baptism? Raptism? Schmaptism? Naptism? I’m so tired I could use a naptism…and there’s my opening joke! I should write ‘pause for laughter’ so I don’t forget!”

It’s taken me forever, but I’ve finally caught up with Scrubs in its entirety via DVD. It’s been great finally filling in the back story (I only started watching this show regularly a couple years ago), but it also is apparent to me that unfortunately, its best days are behind it. That being said, it’s still one of my favorite shows on the air. Season six was the pregnancy season where Dr. Cox, the Turks, and JD were all dealing with their new arrivals. In the meantime, Elliot becomes engaged to become Mrs. Keith Dudemeister and Sacred Heart loses a long time cast member when Laverne dies. This season also featured a classic musical episode. As previously stated, season six was not the best, however it was a step up from the previous couple of seasons.

Favorite Episode: 6.7: My Musical

3. South Park
“Mrs. Clinton, it appears that the terrorists have snuck a snuke up your snizz.”

I’m starting to think that this show will never lose it’s mojo. Season 11 finds Randy Marsh on Wheel of Fortune trying to solve “People who annoy you” with the board showing N_GGERS (the correct letter is ‘A’), Cartman “stumbling” into a compromising photo with Butters, Kyle having to kill Jesus to save Easter, and Mrs. Garrison discovering she/he is into chicks (and apparently the movie 300). The highlights of this season, however, was the 24 spoof, “The Snuke,” and the Imaginationland Trilogy where we finally see Al Gore’s worst nightmares regarding Manbearpig coming true. I think last season was more solid overall, but this was still a great year for Matt and Trey.

Favorite Episode: 11.4 – The Snuke

2. The Office
“Love that Andy right? Solid fellow. Seems smart enough, likes me a lot. A lot. Too much, like a crazy person, a little. Not super crazy, just…there’s something about him that creeps me out, I can’t really explain it. He’s always up in my bidness, which is Ebonics for “being in my face and annoying the bejesus out of me”. I don’t understand how someone can have so little self-awareness.“

How does anybody not love this show? The Office is now clearly the best comedy on television and season three was maybe the best yet. After Pam’s rejection, Jim leaves the Scranton branch until Scranton absorbs Jim’s new home branch. This leads to a whole slew of new cast members, with only Andy and Karen remaining in the end. Highlights of this season include Dwight hatching a coup against Michael, the celebration of Diwali, the gang making nog-a-sakes in “A Benihana Christmas” (which also shows Michael “marking” an asian girl with a Sharpie so he can tell her apart from her co-worker), Phyllis’ wedding, Michael speaking in Ryan’s class, and several employees compete for Jan’s job. The grand finale, of course, was Jim dumping Karen to finally, finally go on a date with Pam. What is amazing about this show in it’s third season is that it simply delivered week after week after week. I never recalled ever being disappointed and this show, along with Scrubs, made Thursday nights one of my favorite times of the week.

Favorite Episode: 3.10 – A Benihana Christmas

1. The Shield
Vic: You think I’m a cop killer. Maybe I am. You’re a cop, right?
Kavanaugh: That sounds like a direct threat on my life, Detective. You know what that means?
Vic: It means you just stepped onto an entirely new playing field. And for your sake, I hope you know the rules of the game.

Following the fall of 24 this year, it makes me appreciate all the more what The Shield is accomplishing in it’s sixth season. This show is still getting better! This year saw Vic Mackey consumed ever more by rage and vengeance to try and find the one who killed his team member Lem – only to finally realize that it was another member of his Strike Team. Meanwhile, the Kavanaugh investigation into Vic’s past sins reaches a dramatic conclusion and Claudette enacts a plan to purge the Barn of the Strike Team’s corruption once and for all now that she is finally in charge. In a parallel story, Shane is borderline suicidal as he tries to deal with his guilt over Lem’s death. Season six was oppressively dark as the walls closed in on our “heroes” paying the price for their past mistakes. It’s hard to impress someone who has seen all of Jack Bauer’s torture techniques, but seeing what Vic did to who he thought murdered Lem literally gave me chills. This season of The Shield was the best yet, and I can’t wait to see how this series concludes with the last season next year.

Favorite Episode: 6.3 – Back To One

  

This is a new category where I get to shove my favorite pictures down your throat! For the sake of simplicity, they are ordered in chronological order and titled in such a way as to rip off Scrubs. Click on the pictures to see a larger image if you so desire. Here is my 2007 in 20 pictures (that’s worth 20,000 words!):

1. Our Accidental Album Cover (February 3 – Pop Pop’s 80th Birthday)

2. Our Beer Shelf (March 3)

3. Our Frozen Faces (March 16 – St Patrick’s Day Eve in State College)

4. Our “What’s Going On?” Moment (March 17 – St Patrick’s Day in State College)

5. Our Communion (April 21 – Blue/White Game)

6. Our Last Stand (May 16 – The Ropewalk’s Last Night)

7. My Das Boot (May 19 – Bob’s Bachelor Party)

8. Our “Hooray!” (June 30 – Bob & Kristal’s Wedding)

9. My Toast (June 30 – Bob & Kristal’s Wedding)

10. My Favorite Things (July 15 – The Phillies’ 10,000th Loss)

11. My Car Bomb (July 20 – 25th Birthday)

12. My Enshrined Hero (July 28 – Cal Ripken and Tony Gwynn’s Hall Of Fame Induction)

13. My Ride (August 11 – Family Trip to Washington DC)

14. My Enemy’s Territory (August 18 – Yankee Stadium)

15. Our White House (September 8 – Penn State vs Notre Dame)

16. My Baby Sister (September 29 – Jill & Nate’s Wedding)

17. My Cousins (September 29 – Jill & Nate’s Wedding)

18. My Undiscovered Seat (November 11 – Penn State at Temple)

19. My Hand Up Your Keister (November 23 – University of Maryland)

20. My New Year (December 31 – New Year’s Eve in Baltimore)

  

...Yes, I’ve completed writing all those billion-word-long lists, but I’m going to space out their “release dates” to make it seem like I did more work. I also finished the annual photo gallery (on time this year!), which you can check out here if you want. The movie list is already posted below so that should give you something to do until next Sunday. I know you all just sit around your computers hitting refresh to see if I wrote anything. Sorry that only happens every month or so. Anyway, here’s how the schedule looks:

Saturday, January 5 – Favorite Movies
Sunday, January 13 – Favorite Pictures
Sunday, January 20 – Favorite Television Shows
Sunday, January 27 – Favorite Music
Sunday, February 3 – Looking Ahead to 2008

I also feel like maybe I should have something to write about on a weekly basis since I won’t have 24 this year. Any suggestions?

-MPAW

  

The following is my round up on the movies I saw in 2007. Have at it:

Didn’t See:
Just as a disclaimer

The Darjeeling Limited
Beowulf
Whatever Harry Potter movie came out this year

The Surprisingly Tolerable:

Halloween
The original Halloween is my favorite horror movie and one of my favorite movies of all time. Needless to say, I was wary, yet also somewhat excited, to see Rob Zombie’s remake. It wasn’t terrible, but it doesn’t hold a candle to the original.

Superman: Doomsday
I know I’m a Superman geek, but I usually don’t like animated superhero movies. This proved to be pretty entertaining even though it strayed from the original storyline quite a bit. This is a story I’d really like to see in a live action film.

Hot Rod
Maybe the dumbest movie I’ve ever seen. For true. That being said, it also made me laugh so good for Andy Samberg.

Disappointing:

Spider-man 3
Arrrrrgh! It’s almost unfathomable how much potential was flushed down the toilet here. How do you give Venom 15 minutes of real screen time and then pretty much eliminate the possibility of him ever showing up again? I’m not even going to start on the jazz dance routine. There are parts of this movie I really like, but there are even more parts that I hated.

Blades Of Glory
Maybe my expectations are too high and Will Ferrell will never make another movie of the caliber of Anchorman or Old School. Given the cast involved here, I thought this film should’ve been much, much better.

Bee Movie
This movie was actually exactly what I was expecting. I just wish Jerry Seinfeld didn’t tarnish his name by putting something out that was this mediocre.

The Worst:

Pirates of the Carribbean: At World’s End
I’m pretty sure that whatever showing I went to is still playing. This is just one of those movies that subbornly refused to end. I’m just going to pretend that the sequels didn’t happen so I can still enjoy the original.

TMNT
If there is an antonym to the word “entertainment” then put that down as my one word review of this animated piece of fecal matter.

Fantastic Four: Rise Of The Silver Surfer
I can’t believe I fell for this again. Michael Chiklis: you’re better than this! The rest of the cast: you’re not so much.

The Ex
Positively the worst movie of the year. No laughs, no likable characters, no discernible plot. You would think a movie combining the talents of Zach Braff and Jason Bateman would have at least made me laugh once.

Also Receiving Votes:

Grindhouse
American Gangster
Ratatouille

The Best of 2007:

15. 3:10 To Yuma
“Now I’m tired, Alice. I’m tired of watching my boys go hungry. I’m tired of the way that they look at me. I’m tired of the way that you don’t.”

I’m not all that partial to westerns in general, but let’s face it: it’s Maximus vs Batman. I wasn’t gonna turn that down. 3:10 To Yuma is about a man (a Batman in fact) struggling to keep his family afloat and the opportunity arises to make some extra cash by escorting an extremely dangerous convict (Maximus) to the titular 3:10 train. As expected, the acting is tremendous and despite the fact that I’m predisposed to disliking westerns, I not only enjoyed this one quite a bit, but it inspired me to rent Unforgiven.

14. Stephen King’s The Mist
“As a species, we’re fundamentally insane.”

The Mist is one of the most creatively horrific movies I’ve seen in a long time. At it’s core it’s just a monster b-movie, but there are things in this movie that you’ve never seen before (Warning: don’t watch this movie if you’re afraid of spiders). In addition to some truly horrifying scenes throughout, this movie features one of the most fantastically brutal endings I’ve seen in a long time. So this is a great film, right? Wrong.

Unfortunately, the filmmakers felt it necessary to do some social commentary. I’m totally OK with that normally, but it’s not exactly subtle when you have the characters openly debating the nature of man. There’s also some character actions that are astoundingly illogical even for a horror movie. My final complaint is that this movie is flat out Christophobic (to use the common vernacular). I don’t consider myself overly sensitive about this stuff (I liked Dogma for crying out loud!) but when you have a group of “believers” trying to literally sacrifice a 10 year old kid, I would say that you’re going out of your way to make Christians look bad. And that’s a shame because there’s a lot of good stuff in here that makes it worth seeing despite the major flaws I’ve listed.

13. No Country For Old Men
“I’m fixin’ to do something dumber than hell, but I’m going anyways.”

I’m still not sure exactly how much I liked this movie, but one thing’s for sure: it is well made. NCFOM follows Llewelyn (thank goodness for copy and paste because there’s no way I’m typing that name more than once) who stumbled upon a heap of cash left behind from a drug deal gone bad. Needless to say, there are some people that want that money back and the bulk of the remainder of the movie is a cat and mouse game between Llewelyn and the psychopath who was sent to find and kill him.

This movie is amazing up until a certain major event occurs off screen. (I’d say more, but I fear spoilage). Unfortunately, the first thing that entered my mind when the screen went black was the Sopranos finale. This is so close to being a great movie and the ending is just completely botched. I’m all for non-conventional endings, but this left me really unsatisfied.

12. The Simpsons Movie
“Look at that, you can see the four states that border Springfield: Ohio, Nevada, Maine, and Kentucky!”

Confession: I’ve never been a huge Simpson’s fan. I don’t dislike the show, but I didn’t watch it in it’s day and now, a decade or two later, it just seems lame. However, it seems that the writers saved some magic for the big screen event 15 years in the making!(TM)

The movie has Homer creating an environmental crisis (this green-speak from Hollywood just never gets old!) and the government has to seal off Springfield with a giant dome. Also, we “get” to see Bart’s Tootsie Roll and Funyons. I say it’s “funyon” for the whole family!(TM)

11. Ocean’s 13
“Willie Banks: This town might have changed, but not me. I know people highly invested in my survival, and they are people who really know how to hurt in ways you can’t even imagine.
Danny Ocean: Well, I know all the guys that you’d hire to come after me, and they like me better than you.”

The first Ocean’s film was so great that it forced me to overcome my initial skepticism and go see two sequels I ordinarily would not pay to see in the theater. I got burned horribly by Ocean’s 12, but Ocean’s 13 is a great rebound especially considering the second movie was so painfully stupid.

The gang is back in Vegas and even though the number don’t quite add up (they lost Julia Roberts and Cathy Z so who are these 13 people exactly?) the magic is back as well with Al Pacino filling the roll of the bad guy. 13 isn’t quite on par with 11, but it outdistances 12 by a huge margin. Hopefully, this will end the franchise on an up note.

10. Live Free Or Die Hard
“You know what you get for being a hero? Nothing. You get shot at. A little pat on the back, blah blah blah, attaboy. You get divorced. Your wife can’t remember your last name. Kids don’t wanna talk to you. Get to eat a lot of meals by yourself. Trust me kid, nobody wants to be that guy.”

Moving on with another movie that should have never been made that actually ended up half decent, Die Hard 4 kicks off the top 10. I have to admit that I was skeptical as anyone about a PG-13 Die Hard movie (because knocking down the rating worked sooo well for Alien vs Predator, right?), but this film is just as intense as any of it’s predecessors. The only really noticeable difference is that a gunshot is fired over the ending of McClain’s signature phrase. The ending was a tad over the top featuring a fighter jet blowing up the DC Beltway (with the LA Freeway clearly substituting over the real thing) but just a straight up fun summer action movie. The only thing I didn’t enjoy was the idiot 14 year old sitting behind me who felt he had to comment every time something was “so fake.” You’re in a Die Hard movie, kid. You were expecting Gods And Generals perhaps?

9. 28 Weeks Later
“Abandon selective targeting. Shoot everything. Targets are now free. We’ve lost control.”

I did not see the original until this year and found it to be pretty decent until the filmmakers inexplicably decided that having our protagonists flee from sex starved soldiers was more interesting than freaking zombies. Needless to say, I was disappointed with the way they whizzed that film’s ending down their pant legs.

No worries here in the follow up film. In fact, it’s a little too focused as the film is relentlessly tense. I’m ignoring the fact that a weak anti-War on Terror message is embedded here (presumably), and saying this this movie is worthwhile just for having the balls to make who we assume is our main protagonist a zombie less than a third into the affair.

8. Transformers
“Freedom is the right of all sentient beings. You all know there’s only one way to end this war. We must destroy the cube.”

I don’t like all of Michael Bay’s films (in fact it’s been a while since he’s made one I’ve really enjoyed), but I’m not a hater and can recognize his talents as a visual filmmaker. Frankly, there isn’t anyone I’d rather see tackle this movie and as a result we got was an action extravaganza the likes of which only seems to come around every five years or so.

The problem here isn’t at all what you’re seeing – it’s what you’re hearing. Transformers is populated with maybe the most irritating group of characters ever captured on celluloid. Thankfully, I wasn’t in this for character development. I was in it for big ass robots kicking the crap out of each other, and that’s exactly what we got.

7. The Bourne Ultimatum
“You listen very carefully to what I’m about to tell you … I remember … I remember everything.”

The Bourne Trilogy went somewhat like The Ocean’s 11 Trilogy for me – didn’t care so much for the middle installation (although I didn’t outright hate The Bourne Supremacy like I did Ocean’s 12) and the third film recovered in a big way. In Ultimatum, Jason Bourne finally find the answers he’s looking for and busts some skulls in New York. Along with a pretty intense plot, there’s some crazy stunts involved in this movie and one major crash that I’m doubting anyone – even Matt Damon – could walk away from. My one gripe: does every single frame of this series have to be hand held? I know I’m in the minority here, but some of us don’t like motion sickness.

6. Hot Fuzz
“Well, I wouldn’t argue that it wasn’t a no holds barred, adrenaline fueled thrill ride. But, there is no way you can perpetrate that amount of carnage and mayhem and not incur a considerable amount of paperwork.”

I love these guys so much. Shaun of the Dead is one of my favorite movies ever and I’m currently working my way through Spaced. Hot Fuzz doesn’t quit reach the heights of those two projects, but it’s still a ridiculously fun ride. Instead of fighting zombies, this time our heroes are just fighting crime in a quaint little English town . . . or is it??? Before long a conspiracy is uncovered, leading to an enormous firefight obviously meant as an homage to the entire action/buddy cop genre. I can’t wait to see the next Pegg/Frost project.

5. Futurama: Bender’s Big Score
“Leela: What’s the secret of time travel doing on Fry’s ass?
Fry: It was bound to be somewhere!“

Futurama’s back, baby! Remember how happy everyone was when Family Guy was coming back? Then it actually came back and you realized that this isn’t as good a show as it used to be. There are absolutely no worries about that here. The first direct-to-DVD movie fires on all cylinders with all the laughs and touching moments you loved about the show’s original run. The plot revolves around a secret time code that allows people to travel through time. Infected with a virus, Bender is used by the bad guys to go through time and steal priceless artifacts. I personally couldn’t ask for more and can’t wait for the next three installments. Hopefully these will be successful enough so that the show can just come back on the air instead of having to recut the movies into episodes. All glory to the hypnotoad!

4. Knocked Up
“Marriage is like a tense, unfunny version of Everybody Loves Raymond, only it doesn’t last 22 minutes. It lasts forever.”

Judd Apatow can do no wrong. Look at this resume: Freaks and Geeks (which I just caught up on this year. It’s awesome), Undeclared, Anchorman, The 40 Year Old Virgin, and Knocked Up. (OK, I admit I left off Kicking and Screaming. Apparently he can do wrong, but that list is still really impressive).

With Seth Rogan being to 2007 what Steve Carrell was to 2005, one wonders if he will be able to maintain this hot streak like Carrell or whether he will fizzle a bit like Will Ferrell. Regardless, this film is everything you’d expect from an Apatow flick: hilarious from start to finish with a dab of sentimentality to realistically ground all the ridiculous things that transpire.

3. 300
“The world will know that free men stood against a tyrant, that few stood against many, and that before this battle is over, even a god-king can bleed.”

300 is a manly film with manly men doing manly things with other nearly nude manly men. It’s cliche to say so, but this film is just an all out assault on your eyes and ears. It almost seems like a moving painting at times. I’m pretty sure the run time would be about 25 minutes if all the slow motion scenes were sped up, but that’s OK because with everything going on, you want to soak up every frame of this movie that you can. Plus there’s nothing more fun than screaming something in your Leonidas voice.

2. Juno
“Mac MacGuff: Did you see that coming?
Bren: Yeah… but I was hoping she was expelled, or into hard drugs.
Mac MacGuff: Or DWI… anything but this.”

Unplanned pregnancy movies seem to be the trend of 2007. Another trend emerged this year: amazing movies starring Michael Cera. He’s not in it as much as the advertisements indicate (presumably trying to capitalize on his new found Superbad fame), but frankly, this film doesn’t even need him. Every year seems to have a breakthrough indie film and this was it for me. I couldn’t wait to see it again after leaving the theater (and I still can’t). Think Little Miss Sunshine, but it doesn’t make you want to cut yourself. This movie strikes a perfect balance of funny and touching.

1. Superbad
“Evan: The guy’s either going think ‘here’s another guy with a fake ID’, or here’s McLovin, 25 year old Hawaiian organ donor. Okay? So what’s it gonna be?
Fogell: I am McLovin!”

Superbad is super good! Wokka! Wokka! [Duck quack]. Out of like the three years I’ve been doing these lists I’ve never had a comedy in the top slot, but this movie is that good. I don’t think I got in a complete breath the first 20 minutes of this movie. At some point I actually turned to my friend and said, “This might be the greatest movie of all time.” I was half joking of course and I spoke too soon because the movie did slow down eventually, but this is the best comedy of the past several years – and maybe the most filthy movie I’ve ever seen. Let’s just say more than one person I talked to used the words “taken aback” when talking about the film. Written by the afore mentioned man of the year Seth Rogan, Jonah Hill and George Michael Bluth are our protagonists trying to get laid at the end of their senior year of high school. Along the way they encounter two crazy cops (played by Bill Hader and Rogan) and, of course, the scene stealing McLovin. Not only is this the “gross out” comedy of the year, it’s probably the best comedy since Anchorman. Chka chka yeah!

  

This list ultimately will mean absolutly nothing come this time next year when I’m doing my favorites of 2007, but it’s still fun to look ahead. Before we do though, take a look at how many bad and/or ill-advised sequels are coming out this year:

Cinderella III: A Twist In Time
Hannibal Rising
The Hills Have Eyes II
Shrek the Third
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End
Ocean’s Thirteen
Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer
Evan Almighty
Rush Hour 3
Saw IV
Alien vs Predator 2
National Treasure II: Book of Secrets

Ugh. Make it stop, please.

Movies
In no particular order, here are my most anticipated films of 2007:

Spider-man 3
OK, so there is some order, but this is where it starts and ends. Anyone who doesn’t have this at the top of their list instantly loses all credibility with me.

300
Looks a little homoerotic and very loud, but still pretty cool.

TMNT
The early 90’s revival is a little ahead of schedule, but welcome anyway.

Smokin’ Aces
Well, the trailer and cast look good anyway.

Reno 911: Miami
I don’t watch the show, but this looks funny.

Aqua Teen Hunger Force: The Movie
Prediction: this will either be the greatest or the worst thing ever created by man. Possibly both.

Fanboys
I relate too much.

Transformers
All I want from this is a light plot that gives a barely adequate excuse to have Transformers destroy things in kick-ass fashion. Sounds like a Michael Bay film to me. Screw the haters.

Blades of Glory
Will Ferrell + GOB Bluth + Napoleon Dynamite + Amy Poehler + Pam Beesley + Craig T. Nelson = Greatest cast ever assembled

The Simpson’s Movie
Blah. I guess 10 years late might be better than nothing. Unless of course Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, and Harrison Ford are reading this. Then nevermind.

The Bourne Ultimatum
I just got over the motion sickness from the last one too.

Halloween
Giving Rob Zombie a chance to remake one of my favorite movies could prove ill-advised.

My Name Is Bruce
Bruce Campbell is Bruce Campbell in My Name Is Bruce. I’m there opening night.

Music
Again, in no particular order:

Jimmy Eat World – Chase This Light
Actually, I lied slightly about the order thing again. Give me that precious JEW gold now.

Brand New – Untitled
Sorry. Force of habit.
Motion City Soundtrack – Untitled
Follow-up to one of my favs of 2005

Goldfinger – Untitled
I swear this is their last chance to not suck.

Fall Out Boy – Infinity On High
At heart I’m a 14 year old girl.

All Time Low – Untitled
Should be a fun summertime album.

Straylight Run – Untitled
I would kill for this, just a little bit. Now I’m going to kill myself for the bad pun.

Say Anything – Untitled
Album of 2007 contender.

Brave Saint Saturn – The Dreams That You Dare To Dream
Featuring a title that’s perhaps a bit too appropriate. I’m not holding my breath, but I said the same thing about the Brand New album last year.

  

I know very little about music besides the fact that I enjoy listening to it. With that in mind, here is my completely uninformed and unqualified recap of my musical year in 2006. Every band listed has a link to their Purevolume page (except the Beatles, but you may have heard of them already), so if you want to check them out, just click. It will open in a new window for your listening pleasure. . .

If Only I Had Known: 2005 Edition
If I were to do 2005 over again, I would’ve found and listened to:

John Mayer Trio – Try! John Mayer Trio Live in Concert

Disappointments
I expected so much more from:

Yellowcard – Lights and Sounds
Oh my. This was just Q-Tip jabbingly painful. Didn’t this band have a violin of some sort at one point?

Thursday – A City By the Light Divided
The only album I can think of that was completely ruined for me because of poor production. So much so that I actually harbor anger towards it.

Angels and Airwaves – We Don’t Need to Whisper
I really thought we were in for something special when I first heard “The Adventure,” but all we got was a bad U2 rip off with worse vocals. Plus Tom Delonge is bat s$!t insane.

+44 – When Your Heart Stops Beating
This band is the true heir to the Blink 182 legacy, but I wanted so much more out of this album. I enjoyed it, but it just had very little staying power for me.

Breaking Benjamin – Phobia
Do I technically have to care before I can be disappointed?
Incubus – Light Grenades
I’ll always have S.C.I.E.N.C.E.

EPs
I’m not big on EPs, but here are the ones I enjoyed the most, in no particular order, alphabetically:

All Time Low – Put Up Or Shut Up
I can’t wait to hear this pop-punk Towson band’s debut album next year.

Flogging Molly – Whiskey On A Sunday
You can’t go wrong with Irish punk – even if this EP is mostly live performances of previously released songs.

Less Than Jake – Absolution For Idiots and Addicts
It’s criminal that “We, The Uninspired” didn’t make the cut on In With The Out Crowd.

Suburban Legends – Dance Like No One’s Watching
I listened to this fusion of ska and disco more times than I care to admit. If third wave ska was popular during the late 70’s it would sound like this.

The Dreaded “Also Receiving Votes” Section
Good, but not quite good enough to get pictures:

Forgive Durden – Wonderland
Hooray for Gatsbys American Dream rip-offs! Now with horns!

Gnarls Barkley – St. Elsewhere
Who could ever get tired of “Crazy”? ::Raises hand with gusto::

The Beatles – Love
Check out these young up-and-comers!

Sufjan Stevens – Songs for Christmas
This is technically a compilation of previous releases, but who cares? I love me some Christmas tunes.

The Matches – Decomposer
What a freakin’ weird CD. No two songs sound like they’re even by the same band.

Punchline – 37 Everywhere
I really liked this album for about three weeks and then didn’t think about it again until this very moment.
Taking Back Sunday – Louder Now
Cranking “Spin” in my car has caused me to go nearly deaf.

+44 – When Your Heart Stops Beating
Less techno, more punk, please.

Hoobastank – Every Man For Himself
Stop making fun of me. Not even I know why I like this band, but they keep sucking me in.

The Killers – Sam’s Town
Good music. Now about that “singing” thing. . .

Alien Ant Farm – Up In The Attic
AAF is back and a little pissy.

AFI – Decemberunderground
Best good music to macabre man-woman ratio in the business. (Keep re-reading that painfully awkward sentence. You’ll figure it out eventually. Hint).

Saves The Day – Sound The Alarm
Finally back to Stay What You Are form! Again, about that “singing” thing. . .

The List
Here are my favorite 15 albums of 2006:

15. Hit the Lights – This Is A Stick Up . . . Don’t Make It A Murder
Pop-Punk
“You’re gonna need a body bag/I’ll break bones you didn’t know you had/When I’m done there will be nothing left of you/For your friends to hold on to/When they find you cold and blue tonight/Face down in a parking lot.”

Guilty-pleasure-o-rama! There is absolutely nothing on this album that a billion other bands haven’t done before, but this is probably my favorite sing-along-in-the-car punk album of the year. This is the kind of band that makes songs about turning up the volume on your radio (a genre that I am a sucker for, by the way), and even though you’ve heard it all before you still sing along with the NFG-ish vocals. It also features what is probably the most cheerful and upbeat song ever written about murdering and mutilating another human being (lyrics above), which is worth checking out if only for the laugh. It’s like a song written by Korn and performed by Mandy Moore.

Best Songs:

Three-Oh-Nine
Bodybag
Speaker Blown

14. RX Bandits – . . . And The Battle Begun
Indie/Ska
“Locked inside your myth completes me/I’m intrigued by your demise/We need a rager/So we can burn it all to the ground/It’s contagious, we can’t slow down.”

I’m guilty of underplaying this album. If I had listened more, perhaps And The Battle Begun would be higher on this list as I enjoyed the listen every time I spun it. On the other hand, perhaps the fact that I wasn’t compelled to listen to it more signifies that it belongs exactly where it is. The RX Bandits’ style is composed of frenetic guitars highlighted by horns, but definitely unique from their brethren in the ska genre. Their sound is as exotic as the naked spider woman holding the vacuum tube on the cover would suggest. The vocals are nothing spectacular, but go well with their overall sound.

Best Songs:

And The Battle Begun
Only For The Night
Crushing Destroyer

13. Head Automatica – Popaganda
Pop
“Everybody knows you’re a liar/Why don’t I?/I just heard about your lovin’ on the side.”

The name pretty much says it all with this album. This is a CD chock full of radio-friendly, good old fashioned, toe-tapping pop tunes. There isn’t a whole lot of substance here, but it’s a fun, safe listen from start to finish. If I have a complaint, it’s that I’m not too keen on the vocals. They’re a bit, um, overzealous at times. This isn’t the national anthem here and you’re not Whitney Houston so let’s keep it to the basics here, OK? It also bothers me a little bit that the beginning of the album sounds like the theme song for The Office.

Best Songs:

Graduation Day
Lying Through Your Teeth
Million Dollar Decision

12. New Found Glory – Coming Home
Pop-Punk
“I’m still here but I’m waiting/For our long conversations/I’m still here but I’m waiting/To go home.”

Here’s the comeback of the year. Not that NFG went anywhere or was even in a deep decline, but with Coming Home they have reinvigorated their sound and created an album that’s almost as refreshing as their self-titled album. NFG’s self-titled was one of those “right albums at the right time” for me and has remained an all-time favorite of mine. Their albums since have been good-but-not-great and while I consider Coming Home in the same category, it is the closest they’ve come to recapturing the magic. They slowed down the pace a little bit, un-whine-ified the vocals, got a little bit darker, and added a keyboard. The result is new, slightly more mature, but still extremely catchy New Found Glory. I’m anxious to see where they go with their sound from here.

Best Songs:

Hold My Hand
It’s Not Your Fault
Coming Home
When I Die
Boulders

11. Gatsbys American Dream – Gatsbys American Dream
Alternative/Emo
“We’re being drowned out in our own fucking sound/Now the teenage brigade has opinions/And I can’t get respect ‘cause I’m not at the bar/Now the teenage brigade has opinions.”

As you may, but probably don’t remember, last year’s Volcano was number 2 on my favorites list of 2005, so chalk this one up as a minor disappointment and a slight drop off for GAD. The first misstep was having a self-titled album that isn’t their first release. That just pisses me off. I was a big fan of Volcano’s mythological motif, and maybe it’s unfair for me to be comparing albums, but this latest release comes off as bitter and angry. Plus it’s not like it’s a novel approach to write about what’s wrong with the music industry (anger directed at your fans, however, is certainly less common). That criticism said, GAD is still pretty unique and there are a couple standout tracks. Listen to “My Name is Ozymandias” and it will be stuck in your head forever. . . FOREVER. Take this seriously because it’s almost impossible to undo. I also mostly dig the raw production of this album (although I do wish the vocals were a bit more refined) and the addition of a keyboard really adds a lot. All-in-all, I admire the fact that this band isn’t afraid to mix things up even if the results aren’t always ideal.

Best Songs:

We Can Remember It For You Wholesale
Badd Beat
My Name is Ozymandias
Station 5: The Pearl

10. My Chemical Romance – The Black Parade
Rock
“We’ll carry on/We’ll carry on/And though you’re dead and gone believe me/Your memory will carry on.”

No, seriously. I guess everyone reaches the point in their lives when they stop wearing eyeliner and writing crappy, whiney songs about how awful their barely-pubescent lives are. OK, so I guess the makeup is still there, but the lesson learned here is never pre-judge an album based on a band’s previous releases. I kind of liked a couple songs on My Chemical Romance’s last album, but found most of it a bit whiney and just flat out boring. Well, the whine is all but gone and The Black Parade is anything but boring to me. The truth is, it took several people recommending it to me before I even considered listening to it, and thankfully I did. Even Rolling Stone has this listed on their top albums of the year list (of course, that actually makes me think that maybe my opinion is way off). While I still really hate the whole eyeliner thing this band has going, I can’t deny how much I dig their new epic sound. There are a few valleys here (I utterly loathe “Teenagers,” but then again, I’m not one anymore), but it’s hard not to be impressed overall with what I would label the surprise album of the year.

Best Songs:

The Sharpest Lives
Welcome To The Black Parade
House of Wolves
Famous Last Words

9. Arctic Monkeys – Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not
Indie-Rock
“I bet that you look good on the dancefloor/I don’t know if you’re looking for romance or/I don’t know what you’re looking for/I bet that you look good on the dancefloor/Dancing to electro-pop like a robot from 1984”

I actually had this album in my hands around the time that it came out. The only problem was that it wasn’t the album I ordered from Amazon so I sent it back. About 10 months later, I’m regretting not just keeping it because this band has taken over my life in the short time that I’ve been listening to them. The truth is, this album could either be over or under ranked simply because I haven’t had enough time to digest it. It’s catchy enough, but I have problems understanding our former rulers’ accents in song so I can only decipher about 35% of what’s being said. (When are these Brits going to learn to speak English, anyway?) Further, I don’t know if it has any staying power just because it’s only had to have enough power to stay in the rotation for a couple weeks at this point. If I had to guess though, I would say this isn’t an album that I burn through quickly.

Best Songs:

I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor
Riot Van
Mardy Bum
A Certain Romance

8. Reel Big Fish – Our Live Album Is Better Than Your Live Album
Ska/Punk
“And that, ladies and gentlemen, is more shtick than you can shake a stick at!”

See, this is the kind of album that you won’t see on the Rolling Stone list. I haven’t built up nearly enough credibility (if any at all) to throw in something like this, but this is seriously the best live album I’ve ever heard so I’m doing it anyway. I’m actually not a huge Reel Big Fish fan when it comes to their studio albums, but they are one of my favorite live bands, having seen them several times. The three disk album (one of which is a DVD) also doubles as a greatest hits compilation with favorites such as “Beer,” “Sell Out,” and “Take On Me” included with surprisingly good audio quality. In between, the Fish do what the Fish do – make you laugh. Thankfully, there isn’t an excessive amount of talking as that can be irritating. Overall, there are very few albums that I listened to this year that I enjoyed more than this one.

Best Songs:

The Set Up
S.R.
Take On Me
Sell Out
Where Have You Been?

7. The Early November – The Mother, The Mechanic, and The Path
Rock
“I been trying for the past 4 years/Broken lie to get this here/It’s not the heart that makes the man/It’s the money in his hand.”

I have heard good things about this band for a while, but I had never really gotten into them. Even on this triple-disk album, I wasn’t completely sold on them until I reached the captivating third disk. This is a concept album based on the story of a father and a son and how the sins of the father eventually pass on to the son. Unfortunately, you don’t know that until the third disk, “The Path,” which is a series of sessions of the son talking to his therapist. It’s a little bit on the experimental side (and it includes a punk version of “If You’re Happy And You Know It”), and while it doesn’t sound exciting in theory, the third disk is surprisingly gripping. Once you know the story, the other two disks make more sense and become more enjoyable. “The Mechanic” (disk 1) is apparently the closest disk to The Early November’s earlier work stylistically (again, I haven’t heard it). “The Mother” (disk 2) is much softer and melodic. This album should probably be higher on the list but I frankly just didn’t listen to it enough. I didn’t listen to it enough for the same reason why not too many people name Schindler’s List as their favorite movie – it’s just a little depressing. Not to mention time-consuming.

Best Songs:

Decoration
The One You Hated
1000 Times A Day

6. Rise Against – The Sufferer And The Witness
Punk
“Give me the drug/Keep me alive/Give me what’s left of my life/Don’t let me go/Pull this plug/Let me breathe/On my own I’m finally free/Don’t let me go.”

Sometimes you just have to rock out. I’m way past the teenage punk rock rebellion thing, but when the music is this much fun to crank up in the car stereo, I don’t mind ignoring the lame political statements and misplaced anger. (Indonesian children enjoy sewing my shoes, OK? Let it go). Like a couple other bands on this list, I had known of Rise Against for a long time, but had just never given them much of a listen. This album happened to come out at a time when I had become over saturated with mellow emoness and I was desperate for something aggressive. Consider the spot hit. This is exactly the kind of band I would have eaten up in high school, and even though I like to think that I’ve matured somewhat in my musical tastes since then (and no, I haven’t forgotten that Reel Big Fish is actually on this list), sometimes I like to listen to music just for the adrenaline rush. There certainly wasn’t an album that came out this year that accomplished that better than The Sufferer and the Witness.

Best Songs:

Chamber The Cartridge
Injection
Under The Knife
Behind Closed Doors

5. John Mayer – Continuum
Blues/R&B/Acoustic
“No it won’t all go the way it should/But I know the heart of life is good.”

Yeah, you read that right. I really enjoy telling people that I like this album because most people think I’m joking. I have to admit, every time I slap in this disk and “Waiting for the World to Change” (which is actually my least favorite track) starts up, I think to myself, “Good Lord, what’s happened to me?” and yet every time I still end up getting sucked into it. I haven’t heard any of Mayer’s other albums, so I don’t have a frame of reference as to how this fits in with the rest of his discography, but considering the music that I typically listen to, this is a great change of pace and I’ll probably start checking out Mr. Mayer’s earlier work if I ever get tired of Continuum. The lyrics are deeper than I was expecting and the album features what is maybe the best anti-Iraq War song to date, “Belief,” which is not exactly a category I typically enjoy.

Best Songs:

Belief
The Heart Of Life
Stop This Train
In Repair

4. Less Than Jake – In With The Out Crowd
Pop-punk with Horns
“All the things that I say/Will someday fade away/But the message in these songs/Have kept me sane all along.”

I have to admit that I was initially a little disappointed with this album. Not because it is bad, but because there are a million and one bands these days that have the same emo/pop-punk sound that is adopted for this album and there is only one band that sounds like Less Than Jake (or at they least used to). The horns only make appearances in about half the songs and the lyrics are decidedly more introspective and less upbeat. You could argue that a Less Than Jake album without a song about excessive alcohol consumption isn’t really a Less Than Jake album. Despite the change in style, this album is still as pop-tastic as any other LTJ album and eventually I learned to love it for what it was even though it was not quite what I expected it to be. All-in-all, this might actually be the most consistent album in LTJ’s career. The only song I routinely skip is “Overrated,” which they actually remade in a much more pleasing manner. “The Rest Of My Life” might just be my favorite song of the year and probably the most played if my iTunes can be trusted. I’m not the same person I was when I started listening to LTJ, and I respect the fact that the band has changed too and want to reflect that in their music.

Best Songs:

Soundtrack Of My Life
Still Life Franchise
In-Dependence Day
The Rest Of My Life
PS – Shock The World

3. Say Anything . . . Was A Real Boy
Indie-Punk
“So what say you/And all your friends/Meet up with my friends/In the alley tonight?”

Yeah, I know. This is a huge, huge cheat since this album was originally released two years ago. Well, you know what? Unfortunately, I didn’t listen to this band in 2004; it was re-released in 2006; and it’s my list on my blog so I’m making this my #3 album of 2006. From the beginning, you can tell this band is a little . . . different. Multiple drugs should probably share writing credits, but that doesn’t mean that it isn’t terrific in it’s quirkiness. As previously mentioned, I was a little late onto this bandwagon, but once I “got it,” I couldn’t stop spinning it. The lyrics are strong and personal, and while the song writing and vocals aren’t the best in the world, the three elements just go well together and create a very unique album that you won’t easily find the likes of elsewhere.

Best Songs:

Alive With The Glory Of Love
Yellow Cat (Slash) Red Cat
Every Man Has A Molly
Admit It!

2. Brand New – The Devil And God Are Raging Inside Me
Indie-Rock
“I used to pray a god was listening/I used to make my parents proud/I was the glue that kept my friends together/ Now they don’t talk and we don’t go out.”

Even though I’ve had this album for a while and I’ve been listening to it constantly since I got it, I still feel like I need more time to absorb it. Of course, that’s one of the beautiful things about this band – I still feel like I’m absorbing Deja Entendu at times. I was initially a little disappointed with this album, but I was prepared for that. The line “I love you so much that it hurts my head” and “Would you be my babe?”, just seem below this band. On the other hand, the highlights of TDAGARIM are arguably better than anything found on Deja Entendu. There’s really only one song here that sounds like a radio-ready single, but Brand New’s musical story telling is still top-notch. The soft-loud-soft pattern that BN has always followed is more noticeable here, but given the theme it is understandable, even though the pop-punk/emo sound of Your Favorite Weapon, that found it’s way from time-to-time on Deja Entendu is completely gone now. The songs range from beautiful to disturbing (and in the case of “Luca,” actually a little scary). There are several parts in this album that literally give me chills.

Best Songs:

Millstone
Jesus Christ
Limosine
Luca
The Archer’s Bow Is Broken

1. The Format – Dog Problems
Folksy Indie-Pop
“Can we take the next hour and talk about me?”

The first time I played this album I knew it would be topping this year’s list. It isn’t often that a new band enters my list of all-time favorites and it may be too early to say so after only two albums but The Format has been damn near perfect thus far. After a brief intro song, Dog Problems begins with the carousal-y “I’m Actual” where lead singer Nate Ruess invites us to “take the next hour and talk about me.” The album hits its poppy groove reminiscent of their debut album Interventions and Lullabyes with “Time Bomb,” and from here on out you should be hooked. My personal favorite from this album is the title track, “Dog Problems.” It’s so weird and different, yet endearing. It actually most resembles a show tune, but it’s hard not to get into if only for the heartfelt, mood-swingy lyrics. Other highlights include the poppy yet somewhat self-loathing “Oceans,” the Beatlesque “The Compromise,” the folksy “Snails,” and the horn-powered and country-inspired “Inches and Falling.” I’ve recommended this album to almost all of my friends, none of which are inclined to like this kind of music (myself included), and every single one of them have ended up falling in love with it. As for me, not only is this my favorite album of 2006, but it’s one of my favorite albums ever. If this album doesn’t make you crack even a little bit of a smile or make you feel gay (in the older definition of the word), then you just have a heart of stone and will probably go to hell.

Best Songs:

Time Bomb
She Doesn’t Get It
Dog Problems
Oceans
Snails
Inches and Falling

  

I didn’t realize how much more TV I watched this year until I started compiling this list. In contrast, I watched fewer movies but that seems to be the trend with television on the upswing and movies declining. As always, you know what the show is at the end of this post, but maybe the other nine shows will be a surprise.

10. My Name Is Earl
“Earl, is she going to keep squeaking like that? It’s making my toes hurt.”

I eventually lost interest in this show over time, but for a couple months this was a weekly show for me. It should have been on my radar from the beginning since it is written by several Arrested Development alumni, but I didn’t get into it until I received several positive word-of-mouths from some friends. Jason Lee stars as Earl, who has decided to make a list of all the terrible things he’s done and in every episode attempts to cross something off of it. I haven’t seen any of the second season, but the first season was pretty solid and while it rarely had gut-busting laughs, I was very rarely not entertained.

Favorite Episode: 1.10 – White Lie Christmas

9. Scrubs
“Dr. Cox: You know, Bobbo, I find you less repungent of late. Dare I say I’m developing a begrudging indifference to you.
Dr. Kelso: You’re so edgy and cantankerous. You’re like House without the limp.”

Scrubs is one of those shows where I really love it when I actually watch it, but for some reason rarely make time for it. This season everyone gets pregnant, which should make the up coming season even crazier. Also featured in season 5 is a memorable cameo by Jason Bateman as an ostrich farmer (“I make belts out of their necks”) that refuses to thank JD. Good stuff.

Favorite Episode: 5.8 – My Big Bird

8. The Sopranos
“We are a family, and even in this fucked up age that means something, so we are going to deal with this like a family.”

OK, so I hopped on this bandwagon very late. I only started watching the old DVDs last year to catch up for season 6. This past season was the first one I watched as it aired and as a result I don’t know if that impacted my opinion of the season as a whole. It started out very strong with the shocker of Tony getting shot by Junior, and I also enjoyed Tony’s parellel dream life when he was in the coma, but let’s face it – this season will forever be known as the “Johnny Cakes” season. It wasn’t so much that it was gay, but that it was just boring and nobody wanted to see those two characters get intimate (not to mention that it made it obvious who was going to end up getting whacked).

This season also included Paulie dealing with new information regarding his upbringing, AJ continuing the path to following in his father’s footstep (and getting himself a MILF along the way), and Lauren Bacall getting assaulted for her gift bag. While the finale was pretty disappointing, I’m hoping it’s just the calm before the storm and is setting up a turbulant series finale next year where we finally find out how the Sopranos saga ends.

Favorite Episode: 6.1 – Members Only

7. House
“When guys have brain/crotch problems, it’s usually the result of using one too much and the other too little.”

This is yet another show that I just started watching this year. I haven’t watched any of season 1 or 3, but House is a great mid-week filler when I’m waiting for the next episode of 24 (although you gotta watch out for those spoiler-filled ads). Hugh Laurie really is great playing the irritable title character. This isn’t appointment television for me, but I’ve never not enjoyed an episode of House, even if I have problems remembering character names that the show isn’t named after.

Favorite Episode: 2.21 – Euphoria: Part II

6. South Park
“Do you have any idea what it’s like? Everywhere I go, ‘Hey Cartman, you must like Family Guy, right?’ ‘Hey, your sense of humor reminds me of Family Guy, Cartman.’ I am NOTHING like Family Guy! When I make jokes, they are inherent to a story! Deep, situational and emotional jokes based on what is relevant and has a POINT! Not just one interchangeable joke after another!”

Ahhh, we finally have an old classic making the list. I’ve been in and out of watching South Park for the past 10 seasons it’s been on the air, but I managed to see every episode this season. This season was certainly not it’s best and was a little peak-and-valley, but there were several classic episodes mixed in here. My personal favorite was the two-part “Cartoon Wars,” which was maybe the smartest episode they’ve ever done managing to mix in statements on their Scientology episode mess, the world’s reaction to the Mohammed cartoons in Europe, and censorship in general all wrapped around Cartman’s plot to get Family Guy taken off the air. Other highlights include Al Gore trying to catch Manbearpig, the death of Chef, Cartman braving the poisonous air of San Francisco, discovering who really blew up the World Trade Center (“A bunch of pissed off Muslims. What are you retarded?”) and who “pinched a little mud monkey in the urinal (“Oh, you think it’s funny?!”). Cartman freezes himself so he can get the Nintendo Wii, Oprah’s nether regions discuss matters, and Stan coaches Pee Wee Hockey. As I said, this season wasn’t as steller as some previous ones, but it did produce it’s fair share of quotable and hilarious material.

Favorite Episode: 10.4 – Cartoon Wars: Part II

5. Lost
“Is this what you were talking about, Locke? Is this your destiny? All roads lead here?”

No show on television this side of 7th Heaven pisses me off as much as this one, and yet I can’t stop watching. Season 1 of Lost was nothing short of fantastic, and season 2 was entertaining but definitely a large step back. The truth is, I might only be watching to see if they can actually make the whole picture make sense eventually on this show because it is maddeningly illogical at times. I find individual episodes of the show highly enjoyable but I got frustrated by the overall plotline of season 2 and thus there is a slight drop from Lost’s ranking last year.

Favorite Episode: 2.20 – Two for the Road

4. The Office
“ID badges are long overdue. Security in this office park is a joke. Last year, I came to work with my spud gun in a duffel bag. I sat at my desk all day with a rifle that shoots potatoes at sixty pounds per square inch. Can you imagine if I was deranged?“

This show really found itself in season 2. I was a little lukewarm on The Office after it’s very short first season. Some episodes were hilarious while others were a little dull. What separates this comedy from other shows that are just as hilarious is the character development. The season 2 finale, of course, had “the kiss” which was featured on about 90% of all NBC promos this fall. We all know eventually Jim and Pam will get together, but it’s still fun watching it happen even though it’s even more drawn out than Lost’s plotline. After winning a Best Comedy Emmy and now about half way through it’s third season, the show has definitely found it’s groove and I have officially decided it is my favorite comedy currently on the air.

Favorite Episode: 2.22 – Casino Night

3. Arrested Development
“It was Arrested Development.”

I’ve already written a little bit about this show, mostly begging the 3 people that read this blog to watch it in a desperate attempt to save it. Sadly, AD’s third season was it’s last and it went out with a bang with a four episode finale that wrapped up all the loose ends in the Bluth family saga while leaving a little bit of an opening if they wanted to continue it (they obviously did not, however a movie still seems to be a possibility). The third season was the shortest and the weakest in the series and things got a little too wacky at times for a show that is supposed to be grounded in reality. Michael almost married a mentally challenged Charlize Theron, Tobias got hair plugs, George Sr. finally got out of jail, Lucille was revealed to be the mastermind behind all the Bluth’s misdeeds, Lindsay finds out she’s adopted, GOB deals with his new found son, Steve Holt (STEVE HOLT!), and George Michael goes into his cousin’s second base head first (like Pete Rose). Sadly, I think Arrested Development was just a couple years ahead of its time and unless you tuned in early, it’s almost impossible to get all the in-jokes. One wonders how this show might have flourished had it premiered this past year now that other laugh track-less shows like The Office have found an audience. I guess we’ll never know. I’ll always have my DVDs and my eternal resentment at all you people that never bothered to tune in to what was maybe the best sitcom in television history.

Favorite Episode: 3.13 – Development Arrested

2. The Shield
“We’re gonna find out who did this… and we’re gonna kill him.”

I just got into this show over the summer and I absolutely love it. It’s like an R-rated 24, but instead of having Jack Bauer and counter terrorism, we have Vic Mackey and gang busting. While Bauer and Mackey are both antiheroes, Mackey is clearly in deeper with the dark side. What they both have in common is doing anything to get the job done. Season 5 featured Mackey’s Strike Team under investigation by Forest Whitaker’s Tom Kavanaugh, who applies the pressure on Lem to rat out the rest of the strike team. As I was watching the entire series on DVD, I wondered at what point this show would get the 24 bug and start killing off characters. As it turned out, it happened in the finale of season 5 as Lem is killed by fellow Strike Team member Shane. I can’t tell you how much I’m looking forward to season 6, which is supposed to be the final season, to see how Vic manages this situation and see if his misdeeds finally catch up with him or whether he can escape his past.

Favorite Episode: 5.11 – Post Partum

1. 24
“There is nothing that you have said or done that is acceptable to me in the least. You are a traitor to this country and a disgrace to your office and it’s my duty to see that you’re brought to justice for what you’ve done. Is there anything else, Charles?”

Did you know that I really like this show? As always, 24 tops the list, but this year was special as it was the first season to be better than the previous one since season 2 (in my opinion anyway). After season 4 it seemed like 24 was little bit on the ropes as far as ideas go as plot lines were burned through faster than ever. Season 5 slowed down the tempo just a bit, but ramped up the tension with the early deaths of David Palmer and Michelle Dessler. The bloodbath continued later in the season as Edgar Stiles, guest star Sean Astin, and everyone’s favorite sidekick Tony Almeida all met their ends trying to stop a Russian terrorist plot to release nerve gas in the constantly-targeted city of Los Angeles. However, this season was owned by the Logans as Charles and Martha returned the show to its political conspiracy roots. Some favorite action scenes included the CTU nerve gas attack, the motorcade attack, Jack’s beat down of Walt Cummings, the gas plant explosion, “I shot her above the knee cap!,” and the submarine finale. It was also great to see Aaron Pierce finally getting the spotlight.

Looking back on it, I had forgotten how many jaw-dropping scenes this season produced. I’ll never forget looking around the room after Edgar’s death and seeing everyone with their mouths wide open. It was easily the most shocking and sad moment since Chappelle’s death, and season 5 will always be one of my favorites.
Favorite Episode: 5.12 – 6 PM - 7 PM

  

Welcome to Mike’s Favorites of 2006: Movies Edition! There were actually a surprising amount of good movies that were released this year. Despite the fact that I’m seeing less movies than ever, I didn’t have problems filling out a top-10 list. I’ve packed the past month or so in with a bunch of movies that I didn’t get a chance to see in the theaters, but there are still a few that I just wasn’t able to check out, including:

Rocky Balboa
Hollywoodland
Snakes on a Plane
Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny
Flags Of Our Fathers
Letters From Iwo Jima

Now that that’s out of the way, let’s begin!

Worst Movies of 2006
As mentioned above, I have had limited viewing experiences this year, but there were a few that were notably below par:

Poseidon
The worst Kurt Russell movie since his Sky High, which means he almost went an entire year without a terrible movie. While this movie has a pretty impressive cast, it really means absolutely nothing because the entire 2 hours is nothing but huge explosions in unidentifiable locations with absolutely no sense of where the action is in relation to any of our intolerable characters. Every once in a while, the action becomes almost entertaining, but you still have a sense of dread in the back of your mind because you know it’s only a matter of time before a character speaks again. Also, how is it possible to lose track of your 10 year old in a sinking ship? Why would he even wander? I swear that damn kid got lost and subsequently endangered 6 separate times in this stinker.

Final Destination 3
Dear Hollywood, Please stop making these even though I feel compelled to see every single installment in this franchise that is getting progressively worse. That is all.

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dean Man’s Chest
This movie is everything that everyone feared the first movie would be. In a word: stupid. This is simply a movie trying too hard to outdo its predecesor. What’s so enraging about this movie is that everyone is so filled with goodwill towards the original (which is slightly overrated anyway), that apparently they went and saw the sequel 14 times this summer even though it is clearly inferior in almost every way to the original. Frankly, this just isn’t a movie that should have been made, let alone be breaking records. I’ll see the third film because I feel obligated somehow and hopefully it will redeem this film, but I’m not holding my breath.

The Dreaded “Also Receiving Votes” Section:

X-Men: The Last Stand
Outstanding action, but none of the depth and charm of the first two.

Lucky Number Slevin
A pretty solid, if overlooked, film.

The Omen
Liev Schreiber is no Gregory Peck, but considering how much I like the original, I was surprised how much I liked this remake, even if it was pointless to remake it to begin with.

Nacho Libre
If you like Napoleon Dynamite and Jack Black I don’t see how you couldn’t like this. Goofy and hilarious.

Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan
The promotion for this movie pissed me off to no end (as it literally never seemed to end), but the movie itself is pretty good.

Beerfest
We need more films devoted entirely to the consumption of alcohol if you ask me.

Clerks II
I actually liked this better than the original. The Star Wars vs Lord of the Rings scene alone is worth the price of admission. Pillowpants cracked me up as well.

Over the Hedge
I know, yet another animated movie with talking animals, but I swear this one is actually funny. I wouldn’t have even checked it out if my sister didn’t recommend it though.

The Prestige
In all honesty, I probably would be in line to see any movie featuring Wolverine and Batman, but this one was actually very good.

Favorite Movies of 2006:

11. Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut
“Come to me, Son of Jor-El! Kneel before Zod!”

I felt this needed mention even if it didn’t crack the top 10. It may yet do so because I’ve only seen it once and it’s jarring to watch a movie you grew up with shown in a completely different way. I won’t discuss the whole history of it (if you’re really interested, you can go here) but if you don’t know, basically Richard Donner (director of Superman I) simultaneously was filming Superman II. When a dispute with the producers broke out, a new director was hired and the sequel was reshot (this director, by the way, is responsible for the attrocity of Superman III). It isn’t surprising that this cut seems a little cut-and-pasty. Not everything Donner wanted was shot and so the movie seems cut back and forth quite a bit. What you sacrifice to watch this version is completely worth it for the more serious tone, the lack of made-up powers (no cellophane “S”), and mostly for the re-insertion of Marlon Brando as Jor-El. Not only that, but it explains a line that did not completely made sense to me for 20+ years: “the son becomes the father, and the father, the son.” Another terrific addition is the new scene in which Lois discovers Clark Kent is Superman. Unfortunately, this was never officially shot so they had to use a screen test (which is very obvious), but the payoff is so terrific. Unfortunately, due to it’s rough-around-the-edges and incomplete feel, I don’t think it will ever replace the original version of Superman II, but it certainly is a fascinating outcome to what has to be a pretty unique scenario in film history. I regret that Richard Donner was’t able to finish this movie and continue on with his plans for the franchise.

10. Jackass Number Two
“My head stopped my body from getting really hurt on that.”

Well, I think I’m officially innoculated from being labeled a film snob (not that I was in any danger of that). I have to be honest about what movies I enjoyed the most this year, and almost no movie had me laughing as much as this one. Unfortunately, it also had me wincing more than any other movie this year. When things are being censored in a rated R movie, you know you’re in for a wild time. It’s pretty much the cinematic equivalent of a Tijuana donkey show at times. What’s at work here, clearly, is the car wreck effect and since I deliberately don’t slow down for car accidents, I have to get my fill of human suffering here. I enjoy watching people get hurt as much as anyone, but I don’t enjoy the gross stuff as much. Personally, I say there needs to be a line somewhere and I would put it somewhere before chugging horse spunk. That’s just me though. I’m also not a huge fan of snakes so I wasn’t a huge fan of this scene, or the opening skit involving, well, a certain valuable appendage dressed as a mouse and fed to a snake in a cage. Overall though, you can’t beat the comedic value of seeing a human being launched into the air by a Wile E. Coyote-sized rocket or a naked midget running on top of a table in the middle of a board meeting.

9. Mission: Impossible III
“Who are you? What’s you’re name? Do you have a wife? A girlfriend? Because if you do, I’m gonna find her. I’m gonna hurt her. I’m gonna make her bleed, and cry, and call out your name. And then I’m gonna find you,and kill you right in front of her.”

Let me start out by saying that I think Mission Impossible II was a border-line war crime, punishable by death. I actually liked it when it first came out, but that is because I was 18 and an idiot. Now I’m 24 and an idiot and I say praise Xenu, because the franchise is back on track! It’s a shame that Tom Cruise outted himself for the derenged lunatic that he is because M:I-III (I hope I punctuated that correctly), is possibly the best Mission: Impossible yet and certainly deserving of more box office bucks than it received. Clearly borrowing elements from 24 (at one point, Ethan Hunt even screams, “We’re running out of time!”), the plot is centered around . . . oh, right. It’s a Mission Impossible film so the plot is really irrelevant and probably doesn’t stand up to scrutiny anyway. Let’s just say that the stunts were top notch (most notably the incredible skyscraper stunt finale), and the storyline is much more personal this time around. Philip Seymour Hoffman is a terrific bad guy. I had a bad headache when I saw this movie and I still liked it.

8. Thank You For Smoking
“Michael Jordan plays ball. Charles Manson kills people. I talk. Everyone has a talent.”

This movie’s got balls. The good kind. It’s based on, and shares a title with, the novel by Christopher Buckley, and yes, that’s “Buckley” as in “the son of William F.” It isn’t every day you see a movie that when the word “environmentalist” is spoken, dares to put the subtitle “Pussy” below it. Are you beginning to see now why I like this film? While the film is genuinely hilarious, it also tackles (and you may have guessed this) the issue of smoking. Our “protagonist,” Nick Naylor, is a spokesman for big tobacco, who is trying to sell his product through whatever means necessary. We see Nick struggle with the morality of what he does for a living as well as trying to validate it to his young son. It also takles the issue of personal responsibility and the role government is trying to take in that. Included in a fairly star-studded cast is Aaron Eckhart, Katie Holmes, William H. Macy, Robert Duvall, Rob Lowe, Sam Elliot, the creepy “Cure” kid from X-Men III, and Champ Kind.

7. Casino Royale
“Vesper Lynd: It doesn’t bother you; killing all those people?
James Bond: Well I wouldn’t be very good at my job if it did.”

Let me start out by saying that I was a Pierce Brosnan fan. Heck, even though his movies got a lot of flack, I still enjoyed them quite a bit. I don’t think that every single movie has to be serious and realistic to be enjoyable. I’ve always thought of Bond movies as great escapism, and nothing more. As long as there are big explosions, hot women, exotic locales, and Bond saves the day, I’m happy. In other words, if I wanted to watch one of those Bond marathons on TV, I wouldn’t turn it off if a “bad” one was on. They’re really all the same to me. All that being said, Casino Royale is everything you look for in a Bond movie, plus it actually has the advantage of being a good film. This is a prequel of sorts in that it features Bond before he is Bond. He is a newly promoted double-0 and is still getting his feet, and other apendages, wet. He meets Vesper Lynd and together they work to bring down a funder of terrorists who also happens to cry tears of blood (hey, they may be taking the material more seriously, but it’s still Bond afterall).

One of the few negatives to the movie is the long running time used to explain a twist which is almost impossible not to see coming. The result of that twist, however, is apparently a major contributor of the characteristics we know and love about Bond. Daniel Craig is great as 007, and despite the “realistic” approach of this film, the opening crane action sequence is one of the most fantastic action scenes I saw in any movie this year.

6. Little Miss Sunshine
“Olive: Grandpa, am I pretty?
Grandpa: You are the most beautiful girl in the world.
Olive: You’re just saying that.
Grandpa: No! I’m madly in love with you and it’s not because of your brains or your personality.”

This is such a great movie. Every year seems to have that underground movie that emerges into the mainstream, and Little Miss Sunshine is clearly the most popular indie film of 2006. And deservedly so. Featuring a great cast highlighted by Greg Kinnear, Steve Carell, and Alan Arkin, this film is about a dysfunctional family (is there any other kind?) taking a roadtrip to a beauty pageant for the youngest member, Olive. Greg Kinnear is the failed motivational speaker, Alan Arkin is the druggie grandpa with Nazi bullets still stuck in his ass, Paul Danno is the silent teen trying to make it in the Air Force Academy, Toni Collette is the overwhelmed wife, and Steve Carell is the depressed uncle. The film isn’t exactly a happy one, but somehow leaves you uplifted in your depression.

5. Strangers with Candy
“Hello, I’m Jerri Blank and – I’m an alcoholic. I’m also addicted to amphetamines as well as main line narcotics. Some people say I have a sex addiction, but I think all those years of prostitution was just a means to feed my ravenous hunger for heroin. It’s kinda like the chicken or the nugget. The point is, I’m addicted to gambling. Thank you.”

Oh, how long I’ve waited for this movie. You would think of all the television shows that were cancelled during their prime, this would not be one of the final candidates to make into a movie. Probably only about 13 people actually paid for tickets to see this and 8 of them probably did it accidentally, but I don’t really care because I was one of them. I’ve been a fan of this show since high school, and this film is a perfect big screen adaption. Actually, it was a little too perfectly adapted since there are a surprising amount of repeated jokes. The plot, of course, follows 46 year old Jerri Blank as she is released for prison after being a teenage runaway for 32 years. When she returns, she finds her father in a coma and decides the best way to wake him up is to return to high school and pick up her life exactly where she left off. Once there she finds teachers Chuck Noblet (Stephen Colbert), Geoffery Jellineck (Paul Dinello, who also directs), and Principal Blackman (Gregory Holliman who, as you may have guessed, is a black man). The only missing element from the TV series is some of the kids. I really would have liked to see Orlando, but he looked like he was pushing 27 even when the show was on. Fortunately, there is another “native boy” to take his place. I’ll be honest. The show was not for everyone, and neither is the movie. In fact, there’s probably something sick and twisted inside of me for liking Strangers With Candy, but if you’re in the mood for an offbeat comedy (and you weren’t one of the 13 that already saw it), you may just like this movie.

4. V For Vendetta
“People should not be afraid of their governments; governments should be afraid of their people.”

Is it just me or does it seem like this movie came out forever ago? V For Vendetta was hyped as a movie that was sympathetic towards terrorists. Erroneous! A terrorist is not defined by his technique, he is defined by those he targets. Some people saw al Qaeda in the character of V. I saw the founding fathers. There are things worth dying for and there are things worth killing for. Freedom is one of those things and V For Vendetta is an amazing story illustrating the cost of liberty. Unfortunately, it has become trite and cliche to say so, but freedom does come at a cost in our world. Our generation has been relatively lucky thus far in what we have been forced to pay, but if not our generation, then a later one will be forced into the scenario that is faced in this film. The basic question that is being asked is what do you value more? Being able to live, albeit in fear, or living the way you wish meaning that there is a risk of death even if you are successful. Whether or not this film was meant as an indictment of the Bush administration is irrelevant as there are some basic truths being illustrated here no matter what the intent was. A film this entertaining while simultaneously fairly cerebral is unfortunately all too rare.

3. Superman Returns
“The son becomes the father, and the father, the son.”

Did you ever have an event you couldn’t wait to arrive and then when it came and past you felt a little empty? It wasn’t so much that the event was bad, but that it was impossible to live up to the build up inside your head. That’s exactly what happened to me with Superman Returns. I simultaneously was thrilled and disappointed with it. I have to say though that I am loving the film more with every viewing now that it’s on DVD. I think Superman Returns is a terrific film, that sadly has many more flaws than it should given the pedigree of those that made it. What this film got right is casting, visuals, plot, reverence towards the source material, and imagery. What it got wrong was action and pacing. There’s an awful lot to like about this movie, it’s just that action is a weighted priority with superhero movies for those that aren’t geeky about the character (such as yours truly). That being said, the plane sequence is probably the best and most intense action scene of the year as far as I’m concerned.

While I’m not keen in general on the idea of giving Superman a kid, I did like how it was played in this movie. The problem is that this needlessly complicates the plot for future films unless you decide to kill him off. However, the relationship between Superman and Lois is what really drives this film and humanizes what is essentially an invicible, god-like hero (and boy do they ever drive home the Jesus imagery). Regardless of the problems, this will be getting it’s share of play in my DVD player and I’m highly anticipating the sequel.

2. United 93
“Are you guys ready? Let’s roll! Come on, let’s go!”

It didn’t take long after September 11, 2001 before people began to speculate about when Hollywood would start re-enacting the events that took place on that day. When it was announced that this and World Trade Center were going to be made, I had absolutely no faith that these movies would be made in the right spirit. I did not see World Trade Center, but in the case of United 93, I was completely wrong. Everyone involved clearly only wanted to create a monument to those that died and to speculate how things might have went towards the end of that flight. Obviously, this is an event in history that is very personal for everyone, and the doumentary feel for this movie captures what happened perfectly. Everyone in the movie finds out about the attack the way we did – from CNN. I was reluctant to put this movie so close to the top simply because I typically don’t enjoy rewatching depressing movies such as this one. Movies for me are supposed to be escapism. In the case of this movie, however, I will force myself to watch it. We see the fallout of 9/11 every single day, but we so often forget why it is all happening. United 93 is a sober reminder of the evil in the world that we would prefer not to think about.

1. The Departed
“When I was your age they used to say you could become cops or criminals. What I’m saying to you is this: when you’re facing a loaded gun, what’s the difference? “

Amazing cast. Amazing director. Amazing plot. Amazing movie. Oh yeah, and Chase Edmunds is in it! (Who, in a cast that is supposed to be all Irish Bostonians, is probably the only one who is actually of Irish descent). Jack Nicholson is amazing while playing Irish mob boss Frank Costello. The plot centers around Leonardo DiCaprio’s Billy Costigan, who is an undercover cop imbedded in Costello’s crew trying to take down the mob boss. Meanwhile, Colin Sullivan (played by Maaaaaaatt Daaaaaamon) is a cop imbedded by Costello to keep an eye on the investigation. While trying to achieve these objectives, both are trying to find out who the mole is in their respective organizations. In the middle is a love triangle and some memorably quirky performances from Alec Baldwin and Mark Mark of all people. It all leads to a bloody and shocking climax that you won’t see coming (or at least I didn’t). To top it all off, you have an incredible soundtrack, highlighted by the Dropkick Murphys’ “Shipping Up To Boston.”