Bottom 10 – The Suck List
Most of the other Best/Worst lists of 2011 – Seriously, I don’t get music critics. Or most movie or tv critics. There are some exceptions but I did not see a single mention of the Foo Fighters in ANY top 100 list of 2011. Really? No one? Oh, but we all love Adele and Lady GaGa. . . .pbbbblt.
Steve Jobs death – Yes, it was sad to lose someone like Steve Jobs. But even more than that, it was ridiculous the lengths people went to in lionizing the man. He was the CEO of a computer company, not Jesus.
Glee – Glee has gone on a bigger downward plunge than Heroes, and that’s saying something. This season just started getting ridiculous, even more so than last season. And cut it out with the “very special episodes” and the intentionally salacious storylines seemed designed to be entertaining or provocative but only to massively piss off the Parents TV Council or whomever. . . . bleh. What happened to the subversion of season 1? I miss that. But not enough to keep coming back to this crapfest any more.
The response to Occupy Wall St – it’s just hilarious how quickly people change their tunes when it no longer fits their own political ideology. Supporters of Tea Party rallies and protests suddenly now had a problem with people gathering together in protest. Pepper spray was not only a reasonable response to college students who refuse to bathe and are mad at banks, but it was also “basically a vegetable.” The response of suddenly having the spotlight on them didn’t help the movement, either– who didn’t seem to be able to communicate a clear, concise message. By saying everything, they ended up saying nothing. “What do we want?” “Here’s a detailed list of our 28 demands!” “When do we want it?” “At different times depending on the demand!” Oh, and depending on the day, Mitt Romney was either expressing empathy for the protesters or telling them “Corporations are people, my friend.”
The New 52 – A big comic “event” that they promise will change everything in the universe and make their weird-ass continuity “work”– just like Crisis on Infinite Earths, or Infinite Crisis, or Final Crisis, or… I don’t read DC for the continuity, I read it for their characters. And why did they all need to get rebooted again? And who let Jim Lee have authority to start redesigning characters? A blatant marketing attempt to sell more comics to inane collectors who will want to own a “Superman #1”? Yup. And it worked. Sigh.
Japanese Earthquake/Tsunami and meltdown at Fukushima – This had huge effects on almost everything else that happened this year. And while it’s generally inconsequential to talk about the fact that the iphone was delayed by a month because of disruptions, it was true. The death and destruction created by this was huge. . .and was I the only person who kept waiting for Godzilla to show up?
Rebecca Black – Why? Why did this happen? And can we make it stop? I hate to be mean to a 13 year old, but this was barely her fault. I think our culture’s obsession with irony finally came to a head with this. Please, let’s stop.
Twilight Breaking Dawn Part 1 – the funniest movie I saw all year. Even my wife, a devoted Twilight fan, was forced to admit that this movie was not good and we would not be owning it on DVD. Ummmm. . . .yeah. What was it that made it so terrible? The “talking” werewolves? The sex scene? The violent rapey subtext? The immediate pregnancy with the psychic vampire baby? The birth of the baby via vampire c-section– with the vampire biting her chest and uterus open, meanwhile we get to see it from the fetus’s point of view, who is inexplicably making “nom-nom-nom” noises?
Transformers 3 – There was 15 minutes of this movie that was pretty fun near the end where it was just giant robots fighting each other. But between the ridiculous “plot”, the misuse/underuse (again) of great acting talent like John Turturro and Alan Tudyk (who stole the entire movie), the bordering on misogynistic casting of the somehow necessary girlfriend who isn’t any longer Megan Fox but displays all the acting talent of Megan Fox, this was just beyond bad. And then it got worse. When Leonard Nimoy said “The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few,” I literally booed. I have not booed at the screen in a movie in. . . forever. I’m not one to say that this thing or that thing “raped my childhood,” but this was just about the last straw.
Atlas Shrugged – of all the turds of this year, this was by FAR the biggest. As I said in my review at the time, “For those of you who are fans of Ayn Rand’s ode to capitalism and brilliance and objectivism, I’m very sorry. For many reasons, but especially tonight because of what has happened to this film. If I didn’t know better, I’d call it a liberal conspiracy to discredit everything Rand stood for by making her ideas even more boorish, heavy-handed, and unpleasant than they already were in written format.”
So, that was the worst– on to the best!! But first, let me tell you a bunch of things I just never got around to seeing or doing this year but probably deserve to be on here. So, if I left it out and it was your favorite, I just didn’t get to see it. Sorry. Ahhem:
(American Horror Story)
(Skyrim)
(Game of Thrones)
(Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy)
(The Ides of March)
(Drive)
(The Artist)
(Homeland)
(The Muppets) — I know! I know!! I’m working on it!
Now for my Top 30 of 2011:
Foster the People – These guys ROCKED Austin City Limits this year. Beyond that, their mix of pop hooks and indie surrealist sounds was just what I needed. Also, somehow, my kids love it. My three your old knows all the words to “Pumped Up Kicks” which is both cool and disturbing at the same time.
Kindle / Nook – Will e-readers revitalize print? I can only hope so. Not only are these cool readers, but the Kindle Fire and the Nook Tablet are honest to god just fun gadgets.
Sons of Perdition – This is one of the best documentaries I saw this year, and its release coincided with the trial of that bastard Warren Jeffs, may he rot in jail and then in hell for what he put these people through. This is the story of the young men who are exiled from Jeff’s polygamist communities and their problems with lack of education, getting into drugs, and so on. Just tragic, and an amazing look into what these people face.
The New 52 – Yes, it’s on both my top and bottom list. Why? Because some of this was really good. I’m liking the Animal Man reboot, and people can’t shut up about Catwoman. And when it comes right down to it, DC needed a really hard reboot. Let’s just hope this one sticks.
Fear Itself – Better among the comics events of this year was Marvel’s event. What makes even Odin and the Gods of Asgard afraid? We find out. Some nice twists and turns. My only complaint? It wasn’t as good as past events– Seige, Secret Invasion, Civil War, etc.
Teen Wolf – There was not a tv show I was more skeptical about than this. An MTV reboot that has pretty much nothing to do with the Michael J Fox/Jason Bateman movies from my childhood. . .and that ends up being a really good thing. In a year when vampires and werewolves were everywhere, this was my favorite.
Netflix/Hulu/Roku box – I shut off my cable this year after realizing we watched more stuff on Netflix than on cable. Netflix brought the goods this year, despite some of their idiocy with Quickster, etc. I have now watched every single Star Trek episode of every franchise ever, and I thank Netflix. Plus this will always be the year when my kids and I discovered the wonder that is Phineas and Ferb. Hulu filled in the rest of the tv gaps, bringing me my Daily Show and Colbert and most other shows. On the same theme, none of that would have been possible without my awesome Roku Box. My only complaint? Not everyone is on the Roku bandwagon yet. I’m looking at you, Current TV. Why no streaming Keith Olbermann channel? Eh? Glenn Beck has his own channel. Get on that. Also, a super-easy way to stream Amazon movies has made Redbox and other video rentals far less important. A great device.
Bridesmaids – This was the year of the r-rated comedy, again. And this one just knocked it out of the park. Jon Hamm cast against type, Melissa McCarthy almost stealing the movie (it made me miss The Gilmore Girls but did not make me want to watch Mike and Molly, ironically), and a cameo by Tim Heidecker of Tim and Eric made this just too much fun. Plus, Kristen Wiig was great. And it even made me enjoy Wilson Phillips.
PJ20 – Wow. Remember when Cameron Crowe knew how to direct a movie? A great documentary about a band who I still love a ton. And the accompanying album was also great, giving us gems like Eddie Vedder singing old Mother Love Bone songs. My only complaint? For a “warts and all” documentary, there were some big warts left out. Like, say, Crowe and Vedder’s fued that led to the writing of Corduroy, one of PJ’s best songs, and helped inspire parts of Almost Famous, one of Crowe’s best movies. Seems like something big to gloss over.
Castle – It’s Murder She Wrote, but starring Nathan Fillion. But somehow it’s a step above every other police procedural out there and just a rollicking good time.
Tucker and Dale vs. Evil – The very first article I wrote for BigShinyRobot was a writeup of SXSW 2010, where I named this movie the best of the festival. Unfortunately, it took it until 2011 to get released widely in theaters. Still one of the best of the year. Haven’t seen it yet? What is wrong with you?
Attack the Block – another SXSW movie, but this time from 2011, this was an amazingly fun film I’m glad found a broader audience. Scary aliens attacking British street thugs? Awesome. Turning their leader into a reluctant anti-hero? Even better. Let’s hope if they remake it they don’t ruin it.
Beavis and Butthead – Did this show get far more mature in the intervening dozen or so years they’ve been off the air? It almost seems like it. While they still laugh at words like “long” and “tool,” Beavis and Butthead seemed to have developed a sixth sense for irony as they make fun of Jersey Shore, MGMT videos, and The Human Centipede meets Sex and the City.
New Girl – the best new show of 2011, hands down. Zooey Deschanel is impossibly cute in this show and made me wish Jess were a real person so I could hang out with her.
Community – speaking of comedy, this is the funniest show on network tv, and NBC is ridiculously stupid to ever think about canceling it. Six Seasons and a Movie, baby! Bringing in John Goodman as the mysterious head of a secret society of air conditioning repairmen only ups the ante, even as we have left unexplored what happens in those other 6 universes we created and are titillated -z2s4″ target=”_blank”>as Allison Brie asks us how to understand Christmas in the most provocative holiday dance since Mean Girls. Also, their continued mocking of Glee is appreciated, as are their epic paintball episodes.
Nintendo 3DS – This isn’t just a GameBoy anymore. The 3DS might be the best gaming platform out there today. Not that the graphics and screen aren’t better on an XBox or PS3 or even a Wii, and even in spite of the gimmicky 3D that is more an annoyance, but because of the fun factor built into every system. Not only can you game on it, but it’s a social networking tool, you can stream Netflix on it, oh, and most of those neat features somehow tie back into actual games you can play. Mario Kart 7 may be the best MarioKart ever. Mario 3D land is impossibly fun and far more engaging than Super Mario Galaxy. The Ocarina of Time re-boot is also spectacular.
Parks and Recreation – Just because Community is the funniest sitcom on network tv doesn’t make it the best. That goes to Parks and Recreation, which this year saw the evolution of Ben and Leslie’s relationship, the death of Lil’ Sebastian- who we found out in song was “5,000 candles in the wind.” We also had the rise and fall of Entertainment 720, Ben buying a Batman suit (Treat yo’self!), and more Ron Swanson wisdom than you could shake a perfectly whittled stick at. And somehow there’s still more, with Rob Lowe as literally the best side character in any sitcom today as well as the impossible couple of Andy and April. This show has more heart than anything else out there today. Just amazing.
Geek Show Podcast/The Big Movie Mouth Off – The BEST collection of geeks collected every week to discuss various topics. These guys keep me sane and laughing, reminding me weekly to “eat more ham.” The best nerd podcast out there from people I just love. Thanks guys. And then Jeff and Jimmy have now started their “Big Movie Mouth Off”with both reviews and a pretty-much-weekly podcast, often guest starring Geek Show Camerman/Big Movie Mouth Off producer Bryan Young and sometimes Shannon from Geek Show, their podcast is the chaser to Geek Show’s cocktail.
Lost at the Con – in the same vein as Geek Show/BMMO, since this was also written by Bryan Young, BSR’s own Swankmotron, so I have to give props to one of my favorites from this year: a novel about a drunken political reporter attending a sci-fi convention full of sex, drugs, and… a robotic Abraham Lincoln? Sometimes described as “Fear and Loathing. . .at Dragon*Con” I just had a great time with this tale of debauchery and eventual redemption.
Republic, Lost – Yes, it’s another book. Yes, it’s about an issue some might think is dry– campaign finance– but the way Lawrence Lessig tells it we see it for what it is: a system of legalized bribery masquerading as “free speech.” This book not only details what is wrong with the system, how, and why, and also details how both liberal and conservatives ideals for government are symied by the money chase, but he also gives us a smart solution. In a list full of a lot of stuff that is relatively inconsequential, this actually is incredibly important.
And now, the TOP 10:
[adult swim] live action shows: Eagleheart and Childrens’ Hospital – Who would’ve thunk that the best thing on Cartoon Network’s evening programming block would be their live action shows? Eagleheart gave me two of my biggest laugh out loud moments all year long with both a game of leapfrog that ends in disaster and a public service announcement about cougar attacks/gay hookup sex in the mountains. Oh, and my neverending crush on star Maria Thayer. . . whose in person beauty stunned me so much at Comic-Con that I got really tongue tied. No problem interviewing Chris Elliot, but her. . . .speaking of awesome Comic-Con interviews, the time I spent with the cast of Childrens’ Hospital was also amazing. Childrens’ Hospital took some risks this year, straying from their basic formula quite a bit with insane theme episodes that included Our Town, disco/the 70’s, and an “after dark” episode featuring porn stars. . . but no one is more beautiful than the girls on this cast themselves. Except maybe Maria Thayer. . . .
Harry Potter – A really fun movie to cap off the series that I was initially quite skeptical of. This was a lot of fun, and there’s a reason it made like eleventy billion dollars.
Super 8 – I think everyone should get Super 8 and Attack the Block and watch them back to back in a double feature of alien invasion movies. This, aside from being huge on the nostalgia factor of the simpler-by-comparison 1980’s, was just a great movie about kids finding an alien in their small town. The other thing I loved about this movie? In an era where spoilers are posted all over the internet months before a movie hits theaters, everyone kept the secret on this.
Foo Fighters Back and Forth – Hands down, my favorite movie and experience of SXSW 2011. And compared to the other major rock doc from this year, PJ20, this was far better storytelling, far more insightful, and was far more warts on the warts and all storytelling. Grohl is honest about his mad scientist side and how it almost broke up the band several times. They’re honest about Cobain, his legacy, and drummer Taylor Hawkins’ overdose. And we get an amazing, behind the scenes view of Wasting Light, in my opinion, the best album of the year (more on that in a second). We get to see Dave Grohl the superstar who rocks Wembley Stadium, and the dad who promises to go swimming with his daughter. I don’t know if this had enough of a wide release to qualify for a Best Documentary Oscar, but it deserves it.
Phineas and Ferb Across the 2nd Dimension – speaking of Oscars, if this had played in theaters it would be my choice for Best Animated Feature of the year. For the uninitiated, Phineas and Ferb are two brothers who try to make the most out of every day of summer, usually by building huge contraptions or robots, and then their older sister Candace tries to “bust” them for their age-inappropriate activities. Oh, and they have a pet platypus who is also a secret agent, who fights the evil Dr. Doofenschmirtz, preventing him from taking over the tri-state area. BSR’s Scarlett Robotica reviewed it earlier this year and was spot on in how good this is. There are moments in movies that bring me pure joy: when the X-wings lock their s-foils into attack position in Star Wars, when Darth Maul lights up the second blade on his lightsaber in Episode I, when Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli jump off the boat in Return of the King. . . .and now, when Phineas and Ferb discover all of the awesome inventions they’ve ever built in the tv show, and then use them to fight off a huge robot army. This movie also has a huge heart- it’s essentially a story about two boys and their pet. But it also involves travel across dimensions, and an alternate dimension (one of my favorite sci-fi concepts of all times), and a soundtrack that features Slash. But when the boys discover their pet has been lying to them all these years about his double life, they’re incredibly hurt. By the end of the movie, the boys have forgiven him, making the incredibly mature decision that sometimes lying to them, as children, is ok in order to shield them from the much scarier world out there. Interesting moral. Oh, and did I mention the voice of Perry (well, the one sound he makes) is none other than Dee Bradley Baker? Yeah, awesome sauce.
Star Wars: The Old Republic/The Clone Wars series – 2011 has been the best year for Star Wars since we had both prequels in theaters and Bioware’s Knights of the Old Republic on our computers. This year’s episodes of the Clone Wars were epic, and yet also able to scale down to the very personal and fun. The perfect mix of action and fun. And then we have The Old Republic, which I have been raving about since I played it at Comic-Con. How fun is it? Just getting small tastes of it earlier this year, I cancelled my World of Warcraft subscription. It was kind of a “one you’ve seen the bright lights of the city you can never go back to the farm” situation. As Star Wars fans, we’ve been blessed this year.
The Descendants – this is the best film of 2011. Hands down. CinemaBlend also gave it the #1 line of dialogue of the year, with which I HEARTILY agree. Everything about this movie is pitch perfect and spot on. This should win all the Oscars. No need to say any more than that.
Foo Fighters – Wasting Light – The documentary was amazing, but the album is epic. It has not left my car’s cd player since I bought it in April. I gave this album 6 stars in my review, and it deserves it. And why the hell isn’t this on ANYBODY’S top lists for 2011? Oh, right– I hate music critics.
The Walking Dead – This series had big shoes to fill in terms of expectations– namely of its last season. And fans and critics were concerned that the loss of Frank Darabont would cripple the series creatively. Well, we still miss Frank, but I think I heard more discussion of the final episode this year of any other show or movie except maybe American Horror Story. If you would have told me 3 years ago that the Walking Dead would be a major cultural phenomenon, I would have laughed at you. And here we are. Bravo. Oh, and everyone who just got a nook for holidays, all of the comics are available to download as apps. Fun times.
And the #1 of 2011 is. . . .
Marvel movies – Captain America, X-men: First Class, and Thor. Every time I watch these movies I like them more and more. Marvel Studios, as an entity, continues to impress the hell out of me. And given the HUGE amount of skepticism I came into the film regarding Fox’s handling of X-men as a franchise, I was beyond pleasantly surprised. Michael Fassbender may be a better Magneto than Ian McKellen? Preposterous!! But. . . maybe? Thor was incredibly fun, and Cap was maybe the best of the three. . . but it’s almost like picking among favorites of my children. Certain parts of each was my favorite of each. Just a ton of fun, and makes me want to see Joss Whedon’s The Avengers all the more.
And that is why it is my #1 most anticipated thing of 2012.
Have a happy new year everyone!