Best of 2009
Best New TV
Bored To Death
Five-ish Awesome TV Moments
30 Rock - Liz Lemon's gay hipster cop roommate
The Big Bang Theory - Leonard, Raj, and Howard accepting random hippies' special brownies while Penny stayed far away
Bored To Death - Any time colonics are mentioned
Never Mind The Buzzcocks - Tie between the brass band emerging from the TARDIS playing "The Final Countdown" and Alex James passing around the plates of cheese
Skins - Effy bashing Katie in the head with a giant rock
Top 10 Movies
1. Fantastic Mr. Fox
--> I know I'm a Wes Anderson stan, but seriously, this one didn't miss a note. Everything was obviously micro-managed beyond reason, and I loved it.
2. The Brothers Bloom
--> This film was like Pushing Daisies and The Royal Tenenbaums having an awesome con artist baby. Great sense of style and the second-funniest movie I saw all year, beside In The Loop.
3. In The Loop
--> Funniest movie I've seen since Death At A Funeral, goodness know I love a good British comedy and creative swearing. I wish more people had seen this so I could get away with quoting it more. "Was it you, baby from Eraserhead?"
4. An Education
--> Unoriginal concept, but pulled off well via Carey Mulligan's performance and Nick Hornby's writing skills.
5. A Single Man
--> I hate to say it, but where this film was lacking in script, it more than compensated with aesthetics. I feel guilty about not putting this higher than #5 just because it was all so pretty. If it's not obvious yet, I love pedantic attention to detail, and this is no exception. Also, while I'll still have to refer to Nicholas Hoult as the kid from About A Boy, he has the potential for a great career.
6. Star Trek XI
--> Great ensemble cast, lens flares aside. Also, if you weren't tearing up during the first ten minutes, you have no soul.
7. (500) Days Of Summer
--> I feel vaguely as if I shouldn't have liked it just because I knew that I was supposed to like it, considering that I can spot a High Fidelity reference a mile away, seeing Morrissey live is on my bucket list, I listen to Belle & Sebastian and Black Lips, and I agree that clothes were great in 1964 London. But it shouldn't be too wrong to like something that panders directly to you, and I have to say that I still like Zooey Deschanel's singing much more than her acting.
8. Whip It
--> Sometimes, you just need a feel-good movie.
9. Taking Woodstock
--> The Woodstock type of stuff has never been my favorite side of the 60s, but it was definitely a solid film.
10. Watchmen
--> Considering the ridiculously intense three-month obsession I had, it had to go on the list somewhere. It feels like it came out years ago, and I honestly can't really remember that much about my initial reaction to it other than being impressed by the amount of attention to detail. I also still have my commemorative Nite Owl II coffee can and tacky Hot Topic t-shirt somewhere.
For music, I'm just ordering the lists based off of play counts. Obviously this gives an edge to releases from early in the year, but oh well.
Top 20 Singles
1. Franz Ferdinand - No You Girls
2. Franz Ferdinand - Ulysses
3. Muse - Undisclosed Desires
4. Lady Gaga - Bad Romance
5. Peter Bjorn and John - Nothing To Worry About
6. Coconut Records - Microphone
7. Animal Collective - My Girls/Taken By Trees - My Boys
8. Coeur De Pirate - Comme Des Enfants
9. Little Boots - New In Town
10. Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes - Home
11. Phoenix - Lisztomania
12. Vampire Weekend - Cousins
13. Amanda Blank - Might Like You Better
14. The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart - Young Adult Friction
15. Empire Of The Sun - Walking On A Dream
16. Editors - Papillon
17. Dead Man's Bones - In The Room Where You Sleep
18. Lily Allen - The Fear
19. Phoenix - 1901
20. Camera Obscura - French Navy
Top 20 Albums
1. Franz Ferdinand - Tonight: Franz Ferdinand
2. Coconut Records - Davy
3. Little Boots - Hands
4. Slow Club - Yeah So
5. Muse - The Resistance
6. The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart - The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart
7. A.C. Newman - Get Guilty
8. Coeur De Pirate - Coeur De Pirate
9. Dead Man's Bones - Dead Man's Bones
10. Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
11. M. Ward - Hold Time
12. Lily Allen - It's Not Me, It's You
13. Sondre Lerche - Heartbeat Radio
14. Mumford & Sons - Sigh No More
15. Animal Collective - Merriwether Post Pavilion
16. Maxïmo Park - Quicken the Heart
17. MSTRKRFT - Fist Of God
18. Julian Plenti - Julian Plenti Is...Skyscraper
19. Miss Li - Dancing The Whole Way Home
20. Florence + The Machine - Lungs
I'm going to stop looking at this before I just start wanting to punch myself in the face and re-do everything in alphabetical order.