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Hola, friendly readers. It is once again time for our annual tradition of list making. Because Erik is stupid and posted his a day early, Kyle and I thought it would be awesome to go ahead and post our Top 10 movies of the year to show him up so I'll start with that. Please note that I can't actually remember all the movies that came out this year so this list is basically just made up of things I can remember. They might not have even come out in 2005. I don't care.
10) Junebug- This is without a doubt, the most pretentious movie I have ever seen in my entire life. The reason it is number ten on my list is because it took me an entire day to realize that it starred Benjamin McKenzie of OC fame. It also had a few good moments. To be fair, Sky High should really have taken the #10 spot, but I would feel far too lame listing that here, so instead I will bash a pretentious art flick instead, even if I kinda liked it.
9) Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith - Neat things happen and are pretty. Lightsaber fights will get me every time.
8) Crash - Crash was a quality flick with several intertwining tales about race in America. Excellent performances and a well crafted story.
7) Sin City - Relatively perfect comic book adaptation. Over the top and tons of fun. Would have been nicer had Jenny not ditched me when we saw it.
6) Downfall - Can you tell I don't really feel like writing little things about all the movie I saw this year? Because I don't. Downfall was about Hitler bouncing children on his knee and it was absolutely adorable.
5) The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe - If you are able to shut off your brain and stop functioning like an adult, this movie is near perfect. I think it capture the world of Narnia perfectly, though I feel that Narnia is best experienced from a child's perspective. Everything in the movie was beautiful (including Susan ::wink wink:: ) and the fight scenes were fantastic.
4) The Baxter - Oh-kay. This movie was not knee slappingly funny the way Wet Hot American Summer was. Still, it was sweet in a way that WHAS wasn't. Full of Showalter's absurd humor, but also a good date movie. Plus, David Wain makes a reference to Cedar Point. This kind of humor really caters to a specific audience, and I don't think that audience is very wide. It's a shame more people are too stupid to really appreciate stupidity.
3) Batman Begins - It's Batman. Batman was already the most incredibly badass super-hero ever, and this movie pretty much stuck to that. Christian Bale was the best Batman yet. I could say some more nice things about it but I'm really lazy and the fact that IT'S BATMAN should be enough for you.
2) Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - Wow. Each movie has progressively gotten better, and as all the other movies were awesome, that really says something about this. I loved this film. It did everything it needed to do, and then some. It helped move the series along to the next level (the PG-13 level) and was some sort of clever adjective. It made me laugh out loud, the final confrontation with Voldemort really did have me on the edge of my seat, even though I knew the outcome. In short, it was perfect.
1) Serenity - And then there was this. Surprised? Joss Whedon managed to craft an absolutely amazing film. We laughed, we cried, we cheered, we cried, we bit our nails in anticipation. This was everything a great movie should be. Unfortunately, unless you're Star Wars, people aren't going to flock to a sci-fi film. It really is quite a shame, because even though Star Wars made my list, it's mostly eye candy. Serenity had more depth than most films can even hope to achieve.
Okay, and now for the music.
10) Maria Taylor - 11:11- Both of the girls from Azure Ray have really pretty voices and they sing really pretty songs. That doesn't change the fact that pretty much every Azure Ray album sounds the same, as do most of the songs. Maria pretty much put out another album full of Azure Ray songs, sans Orenda. Still, something she did on her own stands out because this album actually stands out, something all the other Azure Ray albums have failed do for me
Best Track: Speak Easy
9) Bright Eyes - I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning - This album was a lot better than Digital Ash which wasn't very good at all. The biggest problem I had with it was that I'd already heard all the damn songs live far too many times before they ever hit an album. Still, it's a good effort and I can still tolerate most of the songs, something I can't really do with a lot of the older Bright Eyes stuff I was in love with mere years ago.
Best Track: Road to Joy
8) Orenda Fink - Invisible Ones - The second part of the Azure Ray solo album spectacular! Unlike Maria's album, this one doesn't just sound like a bunch of Azure Ray songs. Orenda actually does stuff, and I like stuff.
Best Track: Dirty South
7) The New Pornographers - Twin Cinema - I wish I liked this more. Lots of great pop songs but it just didn't catch me the same way Electric Version did.
Best Track: Twin Cinema because it's the only one I listened to.
6) The Decemberists - Picaresqueties - You know, it's probably my fault that I don't really listen to much new music, Picaresqueties, which is not a real album, nor something I even own, managed to make it onto my list. Picaresqueties came with the vinyl version of Picaresque which may or may not be seen further up my list. It's got 5 songs on it, though two are different versions of The Bandit Queen. And I love them. Every single song is pretty much perfect. As good as anything on the album.
Best Track: The Kingdom of Spain
5) Death Cab for Cutie - Plans - ::hangs head in shame:: I tried to hate this. I really, really did. The first time I heard Soul Meets Body, I literally laughed out loud. And then I listened to it a thousand more times. This album is just too damn catchy for it's own good. And they didn't sell out. I don't care that they're on a major label; this is still as much of a Death Cab album as anything else. There are a fair amount of songs which are probably going to be forgettable, but that's Death Cab, ain't it? It just sounds good and it stays in your head and I love it.
Best Track: I Will Follow You into the Dark
4) Spoon - Gimme Fiction - I didn't really like Kill the Moonlight. I didn't think I'd get this CD. Then they kept playing it on WDET and I kept really liking it and then I just had to buy it. It turned out to be a whole lot better than my previous Spoon experience. Some of the songs were just plain danceable and that didn't really fit with the Spoon I knew. Lots of great songs and a lasting impression on me.
Best Track: I Turn My Camera On
3) Broken Social Scene - Broken Social Scene- WHAT THE FUCK?! WHAT THE FUCK?! Why is Broken Social Scene on my list?! I only gave this album a chance because I liked one song on You Forgot it in People and then it ends up kicking my ass and then some. I think BSS might just be the coolest band in the world. Still, I tend to agree with most people when they say a lot gets lost in the mix after hearing the songs live. Seeing these guys in concert was the best experience of the year, but even though the songs are all still good on the CD, they were all a whole lot better in person.
Best Track: Superconnected
2) Sufjan Stevens - Illinois- Sufjan writes songs about states and life and has a very nice voice and sometimes there are horns or girls with pretty voices and other things. It's neat. Sometimes when people at work would buy this I would ask if they'd heard Michigan and they'd say no. I'd be sure to tell them that they had to check that out because it was better than this. I went back and listened to Michigan and realized how wrong I was. Illinois is epic. I think that's the best way I can think to describe it. But everyone else likes it so it can't be #1.
Best Track: Casimir Pulaski Day
1) The Decemberists - Picaresque - So, yeah. A funny thing happened this year. The Decemberists managed to replace Five Iron Frenzy as my favorite band. I don't really know how it happened. I got Picaresque and I played it a lot and never really seemed to get sick of it. I loved all of the songs and listened to Picaresque made me go back and listen to my older Decemberists stuff even more. I hunted down some of their rare songs, plus both Tarkio discs. And it's the end of the year and I can still listen to every song from Picaresque or Picaresqueties without getting sick of them. That's rare, especially for an album that came out so early in the year. I love this band. I love Colin Meloy. I love his lyrics, I love his voice, I pretty much love everything. I really don't even care that much that they signed to a major because I'm positive it's not going to alter their sound at all. This album is amazing. I agree with Erik as far as Castaways being the superior album, but regardless, this kicks ass. Sometimes with bands you'll listen to their new CD and be like "yeah, that was good, but you should hear their first album!" but that's not really the case with this. The album can still hold it's on, despite an impressive catalogue of amazing songs on other albums. I highly doubt something will come along to knock The Decemberists away from the coveted spot above my favorite band list, as I maintain that they are truly amazing.
Best Track: The Engine Driver
So, that's my list. I'm well aware that it is kinda weak. I mean, seriously. Maria Taylor and Orenda Fink? Honestly, I don't think 2005 was that great as far as music goes. There were some things that came out like Wolf Parade and The Boy Least Likely To, which were sorta neat but failed to keep my attention for a very long time. And there were other things which were just sorta disappointing like Sleater-Kinney's The Woods or Digital Ash. I mean, I had to put a fake Decemberists album on my list just because there weren't any other albums I actually liked enough. Maybe 2006 will be better or maybe I'm just getting old and bitter and hate everything I used to listen to and am too lazy to find new music. I dunno! But that's that. Thanks for reading. Erik, Kyle, Ian, and hopefully Gayle should all have lists and they won't be as good as mine.
10) Junebug- This is without a doubt, the most pretentious movie I have ever seen in my entire life. The reason it is number ten on my list is because it took me an entire day to realize that it starred Benjamin McKenzie of OC fame. It also had a few good moments. To be fair, Sky High should really have taken the #10 spot, but I would feel far too lame listing that here, so instead I will bash a pretentious art flick instead, even if I kinda liked it.
9) Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith - Neat things happen and are pretty. Lightsaber fights will get me every time.
8) Crash - Crash was a quality flick with several intertwining tales about race in America. Excellent performances and a well crafted story.
7) Sin City - Relatively perfect comic book adaptation. Over the top and tons of fun. Would have been nicer had Jenny not ditched me when we saw it.
6) Downfall - Can you tell I don't really feel like writing little things about all the movie I saw this year? Because I don't. Downfall was about Hitler bouncing children on his knee and it was absolutely adorable.
5) The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe - If you are able to shut off your brain and stop functioning like an adult, this movie is near perfect. I think it capture the world of Narnia perfectly, though I feel that Narnia is best experienced from a child's perspective. Everything in the movie was beautiful (including Susan ::wink wink:: ) and the fight scenes were fantastic.
4) The Baxter - Oh-kay. This movie was not knee slappingly funny the way Wet Hot American Summer was. Still, it was sweet in a way that WHAS wasn't. Full of Showalter's absurd humor, but also a good date movie. Plus, David Wain makes a reference to Cedar Point. This kind of humor really caters to a specific audience, and I don't think that audience is very wide. It's a shame more people are too stupid to really appreciate stupidity.
3) Batman Begins - It's Batman. Batman was already the most incredibly badass super-hero ever, and this movie pretty much stuck to that. Christian Bale was the best Batman yet. I could say some more nice things about it but I'm really lazy and the fact that IT'S BATMAN should be enough for you.
2) Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - Wow. Each movie has progressively gotten better, and as all the other movies were awesome, that really says something about this. I loved this film. It did everything it needed to do, and then some. It helped move the series along to the next level (the PG-13 level) and was some sort of clever adjective. It made me laugh out loud, the final confrontation with Voldemort really did have me on the edge of my seat, even though I knew the outcome. In short, it was perfect.
1) Serenity - And then there was this. Surprised? Joss Whedon managed to craft an absolutely amazing film. We laughed, we cried, we cheered, we cried, we bit our nails in anticipation. This was everything a great movie should be. Unfortunately, unless you're Star Wars, people aren't going to flock to a sci-fi film. It really is quite a shame, because even though Star Wars made my list, it's mostly eye candy. Serenity had more depth than most films can even hope to achieve.
Okay, and now for the music.
10) Maria Taylor - 11:11- Both of the girls from Azure Ray have really pretty voices and they sing really pretty songs. That doesn't change the fact that pretty much every Azure Ray album sounds the same, as do most of the songs. Maria pretty much put out another album full of Azure Ray songs, sans Orenda. Still, something she did on her own stands out because this album actually stands out, something all the other Azure Ray albums have failed do for me
Best Track: Speak Easy
9) Bright Eyes - I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning - This album was a lot better than Digital Ash which wasn't very good at all. The biggest problem I had with it was that I'd already heard all the damn songs live far too many times before they ever hit an album. Still, it's a good effort and I can still tolerate most of the songs, something I can't really do with a lot of the older Bright Eyes stuff I was in love with mere years ago.
Best Track: Road to Joy
8) Orenda Fink - Invisible Ones - The second part of the Azure Ray solo album spectacular! Unlike Maria's album, this one doesn't just sound like a bunch of Azure Ray songs. Orenda actually does stuff, and I like stuff.
Best Track: Dirty South
7) The New Pornographers - Twin Cinema - I wish I liked this more. Lots of great pop songs but it just didn't catch me the same way Electric Version did.
Best Track: Twin Cinema because it's the only one I listened to.
6) The Decemberists - Picaresqueties - You know, it's probably my fault that I don't really listen to much new music, Picaresqueties, which is not a real album, nor something I even own, managed to make it onto my list. Picaresqueties came with the vinyl version of Picaresque which may or may not be seen further up my list. It's got 5 songs on it, though two are different versions of The Bandit Queen. And I love them. Every single song is pretty much perfect. As good as anything on the album.
Best Track: The Kingdom of Spain
5) Death Cab for Cutie - Plans - ::hangs head in shame:: I tried to hate this. I really, really did. The first time I heard Soul Meets Body, I literally laughed out loud. And then I listened to it a thousand more times. This album is just too damn catchy for it's own good. And they didn't sell out. I don't care that they're on a major label; this is still as much of a Death Cab album as anything else. There are a fair amount of songs which are probably going to be forgettable, but that's Death Cab, ain't it? It just sounds good and it stays in your head and I love it.
Best Track: I Will Follow You into the Dark
4) Spoon - Gimme Fiction - I didn't really like Kill the Moonlight. I didn't think I'd get this CD. Then they kept playing it on WDET and I kept really liking it and then I just had to buy it. It turned out to be a whole lot better than my previous Spoon experience. Some of the songs were just plain danceable and that didn't really fit with the Spoon I knew. Lots of great songs and a lasting impression on me.
Best Track: I Turn My Camera On
3) Broken Social Scene - Broken Social Scene- WHAT THE FUCK?! WHAT THE FUCK?! Why is Broken Social Scene on my list?! I only gave this album a chance because I liked one song on You Forgot it in People and then it ends up kicking my ass and then some. I think BSS might just be the coolest band in the world. Still, I tend to agree with most people when they say a lot gets lost in the mix after hearing the songs live. Seeing these guys in concert was the best experience of the year, but even though the songs are all still good on the CD, they were all a whole lot better in person.
Best Track: Superconnected
2) Sufjan Stevens - Illinois- Sufjan writes songs about states and life and has a very nice voice and sometimes there are horns or girls with pretty voices and other things. It's neat. Sometimes when people at work would buy this I would ask if they'd heard Michigan and they'd say no. I'd be sure to tell them that they had to check that out because it was better than this. I went back and listened to Michigan and realized how wrong I was. Illinois is epic. I think that's the best way I can think to describe it. But everyone else likes it so it can't be #1.
Best Track: Casimir Pulaski Day
1) The Decemberists - Picaresque - So, yeah. A funny thing happened this year. The Decemberists managed to replace Five Iron Frenzy as my favorite band. I don't really know how it happened. I got Picaresque and I played it a lot and never really seemed to get sick of it. I loved all of the songs and listened to Picaresque made me go back and listen to my older Decemberists stuff even more. I hunted down some of their rare songs, plus both Tarkio discs. And it's the end of the year and I can still listen to every song from Picaresque or Picaresqueties without getting sick of them. That's rare, especially for an album that came out so early in the year. I love this band. I love Colin Meloy. I love his lyrics, I love his voice, I pretty much love everything. I really don't even care that much that they signed to a major because I'm positive it's not going to alter their sound at all. This album is amazing. I agree with Erik as far as Castaways being the superior album, but regardless, this kicks ass. Sometimes with bands you'll listen to their new CD and be like "yeah, that was good, but you should hear their first album!" but that's not really the case with this. The album can still hold it's on, despite an impressive catalogue of amazing songs on other albums. I highly doubt something will come along to knock The Decemberists away from the coveted spot above my favorite band list, as I maintain that they are truly amazing.
Best Track: The Engine Driver
So, that's my list. I'm well aware that it is kinda weak. I mean, seriously. Maria Taylor and Orenda Fink? Honestly, I don't think 2005 was that great as far as music goes. There were some things that came out like Wolf Parade and The Boy Least Likely To, which were sorta neat but failed to keep my attention for a very long time. And there were other things which were just sorta disappointing like Sleater-Kinney's The Woods or Digital Ash. I mean, I had to put a fake Decemberists album on my list just because there weren't any other albums I actually liked enough. Maybe 2006 will be better or maybe I'm just getting old and bitter and hate everything I used to listen to and am too lazy to find new music. I dunno! But that's that. Thanks for reading. Erik, Kyle, Ian, and hopefully Gayle should all have lists and they won't be as good as mine.