Well, here it is, a year end list of my favorite stuff in Entertainment. Some lists will probably be updated.
Movies
I didn't get to see near as many indie/art/foreign films as I would've liked since my girlfriend's taste in movies is more mainstream than mine, or at least she doesn't keep up as much with what all is out there than I do. There were a lot of movies that I generally liked, but these were my favorites.
The Avengers - I liked it so much, and it came out so early in the season, that it pretty much blew my cinematic load for the Summer.
The Perks Of Being A Wallflower - I loved the book, and I loved the movie. I could probably relate to it to the point of being painful at times.
The Silver Linings Playbook
The Cabin In The Woods
Tucker and Dale vs Evil - Not actually a 2012 release, but it did make its Louisville big screen debut last year. This was way better than I expected.
John Carter - I'm a sucker for epic Sci-Fi fantasy. I seriously want to drop a deuce on anybody who just wants to talk about what a big flop it was, especially if they haven't seen it. Just fucking see it, and if you don't like it, then you can continue to bash it, but otherwise shut the fuck up. Actually, dropping a deuce on them is too good, a better punishment for them would be to make them watch "Manos: The Hands Of Fate" on an infinite loop for the rest of their lives.
21 Jump Street - Probably the funniest movie of the year. I was almost crying from laughing so hard within the first ten minutes.
Shut Up And Play The Hits - Make a movie about one of the few "bands" to come out in the past 10 years that I'm actually enthusiastic about? I'll totally buy the Blu-Ray without seeing it first! And I'm so glad that I did. (BTW That band would be LCD Soundsystem.)
Django Unchained - The last movie I saw in a theater in 2012, but definitely not the least. This might possibly be my favorite Quentin Tarentino movie.
Music - Recorded
I seem to buy fewer new albums every year, partially due to lack of funds, but also due to lack of interest in newer music. I bought very few albums that came out in 2012, and the only two that I really liked were Metallica's "Beyond Magnetic" EP and Ministry's "Relapse". Mine is probably the only year-end list that you will find those on. While most of the other albums I bought were disappointing, there were quite a few songs on the radio that I liked, thanks to 91.9 WFPK and 93.1 The Fox. Not all of these came out in 2012, but they seemed to get attention in 2012. I've linked the songs to videos. Videos with asterisks are ones that I also consider among the best videos of the year.
Fun. - We Are Young (Come on, it was one of the biggest songs of the year, do I really need to link the video to it to give it more views?)
M83 - Midnight City
Mayer Hawthorne - The Walk
Jimmy Cliff - One More (For some reason, this song makes me want to start a revolution. And as far as I'm concerned, "One More" and "The Walk" were THE Songs of Summer 2012.)
Wild Flag - Romance*
Ryan Bingham - Heart Of Rhythm
Muse - Madness
The Shins - Simple Song*
Old Crow Medicine Show - Bootlegger's Boy
First Aid Kit - Blue (This song amused me because one of the singers from First Aid Kit reminds me of a less annoying Dolores O'Riordan)
Band Of Horses - Dumpster World (I love the Crosby Stills & Nash/America-esque beginning and end bookending the Hard Rock middle.)
Alejandro Escovedo - Man Of The World
The Naked And Famous - Young Blood
Alabama Shakes - Hold On
Bruce Springsteen - We Take Care Of Our Own
The Lumineers - Ho Hey
Of Monsters And Men - Little Talks* (Everybody compares The Lumineers and Of Monsters And Men to Mumford And Sons, but they really remind me of Edward Sharpe And The Magnetic Zeros, or more specifically the song "Home". Since Edward Sharpe And The Magnetic Zeros put out a new album in 2012, I thought these were their new songs when I first heard them.)
Gotye - Eyes Wide Open* (While I thought "Somebody That I Used To Know" was an interesting song compared to everything else on Pop radio, I thought it was okay at best. I was much more intrigued by "Eyes Wide Open.")
Music - Live
I only went to a few concerts this year, but they were pretty big deals to me. All shows were in Louisville, except the Danzig show. I linked the set lists to the band names.
Anthrax (Expo 5, January 29) - This was my fifth time seeing them, but the first with Joey Belladonna on vocals. Gene Hoglan filled in on drums since Charlie had a family emergency. Although I feel weird at most Metal shows anymore, and I was cranky because I had to work the next morning, it was still a pretty good show. I left when they played "Got The Time" because of my self imposed curfew but also because I had seen them so many times that I figured there were no surprises. I would've definitely stuck around a bit had I known that the next two songs were "Deathrider" and "Medusa". As for openers, I missed Death Angel and all but one of the local bands playing on the second stage, but got there in time to see Testament. I'm not a huge fan of Testament on record, but they were pretty jammin' live. The one local opener I got to see were Stonecutters, who I'm pretty familiar with, and they rock.
Jane's Addiction (Louisville Palace Theatre, March 23) - The stage show was really good, and they seemed to play well enough, but something about the sound was really weird. I don't know if it was the general acoustics and/or my shitty seats, or if it was the mix. I was glad that I got to see them, but wish I could've seen them when they played in Indianapolis to see if the sound was any better than at the Palace.
The Psychedelic Furs (Headliner's Music Hall, April 4) - This was my second time seeing them, it was quite a different lineup from when I saw them in Austin in 2000. I thought for sure that there was a set list for this show, but the Indianapolis set list is pretty much identical to the Louisville show.
Danzig (Egyptian Room @ Murat Centre, Indianapolis, IN, June 1) - I started to write an entry about the Danzig show and my trip to Indy, but never finished it. Anyway, it was great!
Fishbone (Headliner's, September 7) - Fishbone tend to be considered one of the best live bands ever, and if they come to your town, I suggest you go! You know a band has to be great when they play a pretty long set, mostly full of songs you don't know, and they fail to bore you.
One thing I want to mention: while I'm not a fan of crowds, I was disappointed by the size of the crowds at The Psychedelic Furs and Fishbone shows. It's like, geez, no wonder some people call Louisville "Loserville"!
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