Oh lord. So long since I've posted a thing! Mea culpa, blog. The last two months have been absolutely flat-out, but I DO have lots to say about the year end movies and awards season, so I'd love to get back into the swing of things. In that spirit, let's leave the movies aside for now and have a little media endorsements/year-end roundup.
Best pop-culture quote: "I can't get married. I'm in tech."
Runners-Up: "Yeah, Bitch! Magnets!"
"Aca-scuse me?"
"His name is Susan and he wants you to respect his life choices."
Best tv episode (drama): Game of Thrones - Blackwater
Runner up: Sherlock - The Reichenbach Fall (it was on US tv in the spring, right?)
Best tv episode (comedy): Community - Basic Lupine Urology
Runner up: Mockingbird Lane - pilot
Best drama show: Breaking Bad. Still. Some more.
Best comedy show: I'm actually going to go with Parks and Rec this year over Community, Always Sunny, and Archer just for being more consistent.
Best miniseries/movie: Sherlock
Runner up: The Hour. Only because it isn't over yet, so I'm not sure how it will play out...
Best recaps: Vulture's Smash recaps by Rachel Shukert. The best show for hate watching last season (I'm expecting it to get good next year). Take, for instance, these gems from just one review: "Greetings, People of the Book (by Arthur Laurents)!...Which is why I couldn’t have been more thrilled to see this week open
with Tom and Token singing “Another Openin’ to Another Show” as the Bombshell gang
girds their collective loins for their first out-of-town tryout in
Boston. Yes, it’s delightful to hear actual Broadway musical actors
Christian Borle and Leslie Odom Jr. do what is by my count only the
second-ever non-Marilyn-related show tune to appear on this show about
show tunes. The sight of an interracial gay couple performing a Cole
Porter song while gazing lovingly into each other's eyes across a grand
piano is exactly the big gay lefty dick-slap across the kisser we’ve
been yearning for since this farkakte show went on the air...We see everybody pack, but leave it to Ivy to bring the one thing you
need for an out-of-town Broadway tryout: a framed photograph of
Bernadette Peters....Sit down, Karen. You’re obnoxious and disliked, you know that, sir." It goes on.
Runners up: True Blood, both Vulture: "Look, I love a good
lesbian incest plotline. Love it. But I have zero desire to see this relationship
play out that way, at least until they end what I assume is a vitriolic feud
with the hair and makeup people." and io9: "So there you have it. Was this the most disjointed episode in a while?
Yes. But was it saved by two gay vampires and their new puppy? Yes, yes
it was."
And Vulture's American Horror Story: "Hi everybody! Happy Thanksgiving! What are you doing reading
this? Shouldn't you be hanging out with your families instead of reading
an American Horror Story recap? Haha, kidding. People who watch
this show don't have families. I'm sorry I wasn't here last week, I was
on that plane with Rihanna, which was basically like being in
Briarcliff. Before we get started, I have to go out of order and get one
thing out of the way. Remember when Lily Rabe did the "You Don't Own" me
in an obvious homage to the great giallo horror film, The First Wives Club?
Man oh man. Was that amazing or was that amazing? When we go around the
table today and say what we're thankful for, I'm picking this!"
Best editorial correction: "A Lens column earlier this month about introverts and extroverts
misquoted the French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre. The correct quote is
“Hell is other people,” not “Hell is other people at breakfast.”"
Runners-up: "Correction: An earlier version of this article claimed that journalists
at Bloomberg Businessweek could be disciplined for sipping a spritzer at
work. This is not true. Sorry. We must have been drunk on the job."
"This post originally referred to Jennifer Grey as “Ferris Bueller’s
sister.” As commenters have pointed out, her role alongside Swayze in
Dirty Dancing is clearly the more relevant. We regret putting Baby in a
corner."
"I misspoke this evening on the Special Report panel. I suggested that
Godzilla was less destructive than King Kong. And everyone knows that
it’s the other way around. I apologize for any offense to the Kong
family or to Godzilla’s fans — or victims."
"François Mitterrand, the former French president, is reported to have
said that Margaret Thatcher had the mouth of Marilyn Monroe and the eyes
of Caligula — not Stalin, as reported in an earlier version of this
article."
Best book (that I've read this year): The Tenderness of Wolves
Best beach book (that I've read this year): The Night Circus
Best graphic novel: Locke & Key vol 5: Clockworks
Best new name for a book: Lord of the Flies -> Well That Escalated Quickly
Best album: Not Your Kind of People - Garbage. Obviously.
Best musical discovery: I'm digging the Raveonettes and the Presets at the moment.
Best summer song: I Love It - Icona Pop
Most played song: Black White and Blue - Ladyhawke (who knew?!)
Runner up: Do It With a Rockstar - Amanda Palmer and the Grand Theft Orchestra
Most unexpected upset: Christian Borle over Andrew Garfield. Whoa.
Runner up: Dragon Tattoo for Editing
Best tweet: My fellow
Republicans: We can now stop pretending that we like Mitt Romney.
Hallelujah."— @GovChristieNJ
Runners up: “Thanks for
stopping.” “Where ya headed?” “Gotham. But really anywhere in America would be
great.” “This is Algeria, and I’m riding a camel” - @dankois
Too bad Anne Frank never saw Home Alone. Could have been a serious game changer in my opinion. - @Robfee
Paul
McCartney is teaming up with Nirvana to play all the hits, like "This
Is Too Loud" and "Not So Fast Guys" and "I Regret This Idea" - @chasemit
Just told my Secret Santa I murdered a plumber in Vermont in 1995 or is that not how it works? - @robdelaney
For someone so concerned with marriage licenses, God sure was focused on dinosaurs for 180 million years. - @ariscott
BREAKING: Apple Maps projecting Barack Obama to win Brazil. - @fauxjohnmadden
The
Canadian version of Breaking Bad is kind of lame. It ends after he gets
cancer and his treatment is totally paid for by the government. - @larryapocalypse
Best sports moment: Tie between the Giants winning their first playoff game 7 in franchise history and the first perfect game in franchise history. In summary: Matt Cain.
"You know what? It felt like the World Series,” Cain
said after the game, according to the Chronicle, “but it almost felt a little
bit louder, a little bit crazier than that. Every strike, they were going nuts
for. It was truly amazing. I’ve never had that much excitement in every pitch,
every strike, every swing."
Best sports blog post: This.
Best musical: The Book of Mormon
Runner-up: The Scottsboro Boys. SO good. And Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson made me laugh. A lot.
Best play: Humor Abuse
Best concert: Garbage. Aaaaaahhhhh.
Runners Up: Amanda Palmer (both kickstarter and full tour) and Foo Fighters at Outside Lands.
Best webcomic: Animals Talking in All Caps.
Best Year: Joseph Gordon-Levitt.
