Best of 2008: An abbreviated look back.
As promised, a few best of lists. I'd love to discover your best ofs from last year also, so feel free to respond in the comments.
MUSIC
ALBUMS
1. Kings of Leon-Only By the Night
2. Flobots-Fight With Tools
3. Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds-Dig, Lazarus!!! Dig!!!
4 Marnie Stern-This Is It and I Am It and You Are It and So Is That And He Is It and She Is It and It Is It and That Is That
5. Raphael Saadiq-The Way I See It
6. The Kills-Midnight Boom
7. The Raconteurs-Consolers of the Lonely
8. The Black Keys-Attack and Release
9. Girl Talk-Feed the Animals
10. The Ting Tings-We Started Nothing
Honorable mentions: Portishead-Third, The Watson Twins-Fire Songs, Vampire Weekend-Self-titled, Everlast-Love, War, and the Ghost of Whitey Ford
TOP 20 SONGS
(Because I can't just limit it to 10, it's impossible.)
1. Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds-Dig, Lazarus!!! Dig!!!
2. Flobots-Handlebars
3. Kings of Leon-Sex on Fire
4. Murs-The Science
5. Marnie Stern-Transformer
6. Death Cab for Cutie-I Will Possess Your Heart
7. The Kills-Sour Cherry
8. The Black Keys-I Got Mine
9. The Gaslight Anthem-Here's Looking At You, Kid
10. Raphael Saadiq-Sure Hope You Mean It
11. My Morning Jacket-I'm Amazed
12. R.E.M.-Supernatural Superserious
13. Tilly and the Wall-Pot Kettle Black
14. Katy Perry-I Kissed a Girl
15. Duffy-Mercy
16. Pink-So What
17. Madonna feat. Justin Timberlake & Timbaland-4 Minutes
18. Metallica-Cyanide
19. 3OH!3-Don't Trust Me
20. The Ting Tings-Shut Up and Let Me Go
Runners Up: Santogold-Lights Out, Flogging Molly-Float, N*E*R*D-Everybody Nose (all the girls standing in the line for the bathroom), Natasha Bedingfield-Pocketful of Sunshine, Vampire Weekend-A-Punk, Ludo-Love Me Dead, Portishead-Machine Gun, Scarlett Johansson-I Wish I Was In New Orleans
COMEBACKS
Portishead tops my list; after a long absence they shocked the senses with a powerhouse album that took us to places so dark even Dick Cheney might feel uncomfortable.
Surprisingly, Metallica returned to their rocking old selves this year. I hated hated hated St. Anger, and didn't think these guys were good at anything but going after music piracy anymore; but turns out I was wrong. I've listened to Death Magnetic a lot for someone who's not exactly a metal head, and I've really enjoyed it. Every bit as good as the Black Album.
R.E.M. also stormed back onto the scene with a solid effort in the form of Accelerate. Their last few albums have felt a bit repetitive and lackluster; but this one proves that Michael Stipe and company still have plenty to sing about.
In the not-so-great comebacks column we have Guns 'N' Roses with the long-awaited but not-really-worth-the-wait Chinese Democracy; and Weezer with the fun but not exactly groundbreaking Red Album.
TV
BEST SHOWS
1. LOST (Featuring some of their best writing EVER, definitely a return to season one greatness)
2. The Office (The Andy/Dwight rivalry alone made this season worth watching; some complained about the Jim and Pam long distance relationship storyline, but I thought it made sense and played out well.)
3. Dexter (Michael C. Hall portrays the most complex character on television with such precision and verve. This year, Dexter the serial killer learned how to be Dexter the best buddy when Jimmy Smits joined the cast as the suave but ruthless Miguel Prado.)
4. True Blood (It took a few episodes to warm me up, but Alan Ball's a genius and what's not to love about this delectable thriller that combines vampires, political satire, smoldering sex scenes, murder mysteries, and good old southern gothic charm.)
5. Real Time with Bill Maher (Thank goodness for HBO so we can hear uncensored commentary from comedian and brilliant political mind Bill Maher and his panel of actors, writers, politicians, and musicians. This year's political events gave them much to discuss.)
6. 30 Rock (Tina Fey, Alec Baldwin, Tracy Morgan, Jane Krakowski, and a whole slew of guest stars joined forces to bring us smart, off-the-wall but on-the-money comedy that hit all the right notes.)
7. Friday Night Lights (The best show you're not watching, featuring incredible acting and top notch dramatic writing and characters you care about more than you really should care about anyone who isn't a real person... it would be higher on my list but I only saw a few episodes in 2008; season 3 aired on DirectTV only this fall and comes back to network TV on January 16. Do yourself a favor and start watching it.)
8. Boston Legal (If a law firm like this actually existed, I would invent reasons to need an attorney just to interact with these zany, dedicated folks. This series came to a triumphant, bittersweet end this year, and I will miss its sharp political commentary and the ludicrous cases and the friendships of the characters. What a great show.)
9. The Amazing Race (If only all reality/contest TV were this compelling. A few teams I loved got knocked out before the end, but there was always someone to root for or against in this round-the-world spectacular.)
10. Entourage (Jeremy Piven and Kevin Dillon bring the comedy; and this season boasted one of my favorite ever celebrity cameos when Michael Phelps showed up for about 2 seconds.)
DISAPPOINTMENTS
Heroes, Heroes, Heroes. Too many characters, too many storylines, too much needless jumping around in time and changing things and bringing people back from the dead and ultimately making me not care who lived or died or how many times the world was destroyed because inevitably, someone would time travel and fix it all. I stopped watching this show after the Eclipse Part One aired, and I don't miss it at all. Sad, because season one was so incredible and I had high hopes for this show. How the mighty have fallen.
I also had high hopes for Lewis Black's Root of All Evil, but it featured too little Lewis Black and too much nonsensical posturing by wannabe funny guys. Sorry, Lewis Black. I think you're better off alone.
Eli Stone seemed promising, but failed to hold my interest. There are only so many episodes of a TV show that you can make based on George Michael songs, I'm afraid. At least it gave Jonny Lee Miller a chance to remind us he's still alive and kicking. But the show's canceled now, so who knows what he'll end up doing next.
And finally, I was disappointed that Back To You, featuring Kelsey Grammar, Fred Willard, and Patricia Heaton on a sitcom about a TV news crew, didn't get picked up by CBS. If you watched it, you probably laughed a lot. I know I did. Sadly, not too many people watched it, I'm afraid. Oh well.
I would list movies, but I didn't see all that many new ones in 2008. I will post my review of Milk in a separate entry, because that's probably the most important one for you to see and it's still playing.
MUSIC
ALBUMS
1. Kings of Leon-Only By the Night
2. Flobots-Fight With Tools
3. Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds-Dig, Lazarus!!! Dig!!!
4 Marnie Stern-This Is It and I Am It and You Are It and So Is That And He Is It and She Is It and It Is It and That Is That
5. Raphael Saadiq-The Way I See It
6. The Kills-Midnight Boom
7. The Raconteurs-Consolers of the Lonely
8. The Black Keys-Attack and Release
9. Girl Talk-Feed the Animals
10. The Ting Tings-We Started Nothing
Honorable mentions: Portishead-Third, The Watson Twins-Fire Songs, Vampire Weekend-Self-titled, Everlast-Love, War, and the Ghost of Whitey Ford
TOP 20 SONGS
(Because I can't just limit it to 10, it's impossible.)
1. Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds-Dig, Lazarus!!! Dig!!!
2. Flobots-Handlebars
3. Kings of Leon-Sex on Fire
4. Murs-The Science
5. Marnie Stern-Transformer
6. Death Cab for Cutie-I Will Possess Your Heart
7. The Kills-Sour Cherry
8. The Black Keys-I Got Mine
9. The Gaslight Anthem-Here's Looking At You, Kid
10. Raphael Saadiq-Sure Hope You Mean It
11. My Morning Jacket-I'm Amazed
12. R.E.M.-Supernatural Superserious
13. Tilly and the Wall-Pot Kettle Black
14. Katy Perry-I Kissed a Girl
15. Duffy-Mercy
16. Pink-So What
17. Madonna feat. Justin Timberlake & Timbaland-4 Minutes
18. Metallica-Cyanide
19. 3OH!3-Don't Trust Me
20. The Ting Tings-Shut Up and Let Me Go
Runners Up: Santogold-Lights Out, Flogging Molly-Float, N*E*R*D-Everybody Nose (all the girls standing in the line for the bathroom), Natasha Bedingfield-Pocketful of Sunshine, Vampire Weekend-A-Punk, Ludo-Love Me Dead, Portishead-Machine Gun, Scarlett Johansson-I Wish I Was In New Orleans
COMEBACKS
Portishead tops my list; after a long absence they shocked the senses with a powerhouse album that took us to places so dark even Dick Cheney might feel uncomfortable.
Surprisingly, Metallica returned to their rocking old selves this year. I hated hated hated St. Anger, and didn't think these guys were good at anything but going after music piracy anymore; but turns out I was wrong. I've listened to Death Magnetic a lot for someone who's not exactly a metal head, and I've really enjoyed it. Every bit as good as the Black Album.
R.E.M. also stormed back onto the scene with a solid effort in the form of Accelerate. Their last few albums have felt a bit repetitive and lackluster; but this one proves that Michael Stipe and company still have plenty to sing about.
In the not-so-great comebacks column we have Guns 'N' Roses with the long-awaited but not-really-worth-the-wait Chinese Democracy; and Weezer with the fun but not exactly groundbreaking Red Album.
TV
BEST SHOWS
1. LOST (Featuring some of their best writing EVER, definitely a return to season one greatness)
2. The Office (The Andy/Dwight rivalry alone made this season worth watching; some complained about the Jim and Pam long distance relationship storyline, but I thought it made sense and played out well.)
3. Dexter (Michael C. Hall portrays the most complex character on television with such precision and verve. This year, Dexter the serial killer learned how to be Dexter the best buddy when Jimmy Smits joined the cast as the suave but ruthless Miguel Prado.)
4. True Blood (It took a few episodes to warm me up, but Alan Ball's a genius and what's not to love about this delectable thriller that combines vampires, political satire, smoldering sex scenes, murder mysteries, and good old southern gothic charm.)
5. Real Time with Bill Maher (Thank goodness for HBO so we can hear uncensored commentary from comedian and brilliant political mind Bill Maher and his panel of actors, writers, politicians, and musicians. This year's political events gave them much to discuss.)
6. 30 Rock (Tina Fey, Alec Baldwin, Tracy Morgan, Jane Krakowski, and a whole slew of guest stars joined forces to bring us smart, off-the-wall but on-the-money comedy that hit all the right notes.)
7. Friday Night Lights (The best show you're not watching, featuring incredible acting and top notch dramatic writing and characters you care about more than you really should care about anyone who isn't a real person... it would be higher on my list but I only saw a few episodes in 2008; season 3 aired on DirectTV only this fall and comes back to network TV on January 16. Do yourself a favor and start watching it.)
8. Boston Legal (If a law firm like this actually existed, I would invent reasons to need an attorney just to interact with these zany, dedicated folks. This series came to a triumphant, bittersweet end this year, and I will miss its sharp political commentary and the ludicrous cases and the friendships of the characters. What a great show.)
9. The Amazing Race (If only all reality/contest TV were this compelling. A few teams I loved got knocked out before the end, but there was always someone to root for or against in this round-the-world spectacular.)
10. Entourage (Jeremy Piven and Kevin Dillon bring the comedy; and this season boasted one of my favorite ever celebrity cameos when Michael Phelps showed up for about 2 seconds.)
DISAPPOINTMENTS
Heroes, Heroes, Heroes. Too many characters, too many storylines, too much needless jumping around in time and changing things and bringing people back from the dead and ultimately making me not care who lived or died or how many times the world was destroyed because inevitably, someone would time travel and fix it all. I stopped watching this show after the Eclipse Part One aired, and I don't miss it at all. Sad, because season one was so incredible and I had high hopes for this show. How the mighty have fallen.
I also had high hopes for Lewis Black's Root of All Evil, but it featured too little Lewis Black and too much nonsensical posturing by wannabe funny guys. Sorry, Lewis Black. I think you're better off alone.
Eli Stone seemed promising, but failed to hold my interest. There are only so many episodes of a TV show that you can make based on George Michael songs, I'm afraid. At least it gave Jonny Lee Miller a chance to remind us he's still alive and kicking. But the show's canceled now, so who knows what he'll end up doing next.
And finally, I was disappointed that Back To You, featuring Kelsey Grammar, Fred Willard, and Patricia Heaton on a sitcom about a TV news crew, didn't get picked up by CBS. If you watched it, you probably laughed a lot. I know I did. Sadly, not too many people watched it, I'm afraid. Oh well.
I would list movies, but I didn't see all that many new ones in 2008. I will post my review of Milk in a separate entry, because that's probably the most important one for you to see and it's still playing.