31
Dec
2011 Top Ten Lists
A lot of historic events occurred in 2011, but its impact on pop culture will probably be fleeting. Working on my top ten movies list, I realized there were a lot of pretty good movies, but nothing truly great. The superhero freight train produced some truly watchable films like Thor, Captain America, and X-Men: First Class, but there were no transcendent classics released (either commercial or critical). There was a lot of great television produced, but nothing to completely fill the void of Lost. Then there was the music scene. I can at least partially blame my inability to go out and find new music for my dissatisfaction, but even asking more attentive friends didn’t produce stellar results. Nevertheless, 2011 still produced some pleasing flavors of the moment … and here are my rankings of what kept me entertained this year.
Best Movies of 2011
- Moneyball
- Fast Five
- Mission Impossible 4
- Bridesmaids
- Young Adult
- Drive
- The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
- Captain America
- We Bought a Zoo
- Paul
Honorable Mention: Transformers: Dark of the Moon for being the first Transformers that didn’t actively try to destroy my childhood.
Worst Movies of 2011
- Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
- Sucker Punch
- Drive Angry 3D*
- No Strings Attached
- The Rum Diary
* I understand this movie was trying to be ‘so bad it’s good.’ Unfortunately, it only got half of that right.
Best Albums of 2011
- The Airborne Toxic Event - All At Once
- The Caretaker - An Empty Bliss Beyond This World
- Death Cab for Cutie - Codes and Keys
- Cut Copy - Zonoscope
- The Strokes - Angles
- The Joy Formidable - The Big Roar
- Boys & Murderers - Songs for Songs
- Kevin Devine - Between The Concrete and Clouds
- M83 - Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming
- Grouplove - Never Trust a Happy Song
Best Television of 2011
- Parks and Recreation
- The League
- Community
- Game of Thrones
- Curb Your Enthusiasm
- American Dad
- It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia
- Fringe
- The Walking Dead
- Archer
