Best of 2012: Film

Sorry for the delay... but it's still the first month of 2013. I held off because I wanted to see a few more films (catch up). Here's what I picked as best of 2012.


Marvel's Avengers
This will probably never happen again: a culmination of several movie franchises into one. I am sure they'll try again, but you know something will go wrong. Yes, it's a popcorn film, but so was Jaws. Robert Downey still stands out in the cast, but the rest do their part well.

Prometheus
Yes, I'm a nerd. It felt sloppy for sci-fi, but it really did its job here: scary, interesting, advanced.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
It honestly didn't feel that long. Skyfall and Django Unchained were much more boring (longer).


Casa de mi Padre
I think Will learned a few things from Tim and Eric here. The gags are good, and if you go in to this movie ready to laugh out loud, you won't be disappointed.

Dark Knight Rises
Even though I wrote about how horrible this film would be, I was pleasantly, pleasantly surprised. It's better than The Dark Knight (but not by much). It is packed with good scenes, characters, and toys. The tie-in with Batman Begins seemed a bit tacked-on, but who the hell cares? It's the best, most complete film I saw this year.

Best of 2012: Song

Since the advent of Spotify USA about two years ago, I have been exposed to massive amounts of music. You would think that would make finding the best music of the year, but it does not. It makes it harder. And I even made a 2012-specific playlist, only to find myself not really satisfied. Maybe it was a rough year for my musical tastes. But, here's the songs I had on a loop for a little while.


"To the World"
KanYe West, R. Kelly, & Teyana Taylor
This is good music. Hits the spot and is just the right amount of pop. A Rick James/Chappelle's Show shout-out here, which is kind of funny considering Dave Chappelle also lampooned the guy. Oh well

"Bones of Birds"
Soundgarden
Really loved the album, and it's hard to pick the best on it. Cornell says that this song is about childhood and losing innocence, but I don't really care. It's dark and Soundgarden in its truest, best form.

"Panopticon"
The Smashing Pumpkins
I liked Oceania, and really couldn't filter the "best song" from the album. "Pale Horse" came close, but it didn't have that sonic punch like "Panopticon". Really looking forward to what else comes out of Corgan next year!

"Dirty Rotten Bastards"
Green Day
Hard to pick a song in the triple album release... but this one seemed the most epic and all-encompassing. It reminds me of "Jesus of Suburbia".

"Tantalus"
Menomena
Moms is a really rockin' album, and doesn't disappoint for a Menomena fan.

Honorable mentions:

"Song Groove"
Michael Jackson
Also known as "Abortion Papers", this track was never released legitimately until now. It's a classic.

"She's the Woman"
Van Halen
Have to shout-out VH at least once this year.

"Opera Obscura"
...and You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead
This band is really good at combining punk and metal into something arty. A lot of their stuff was good this year.

"There's That Grin"
Deerhoof
Pitchfork made a really good point about this band's music: all of their albums are different. High praise when a lot of bands just rehash and remix.