Thanks to last.fm, I can tell you what my personal favorite music of 2011 has been! Top 10 Artists of 2011 1. The Beatles (1,156) I’d say the number of tracks in my collection that are by The Beatles or by the Rx Bandits far outweighs the number of other tracks. It’s not a coincidence, since I love both bands, but I don’t think you’ll see these positions change much in the future. ...
I doubt that I could attend two more different shows than when I saw Wild Flag and The Civil Wars last week in DC. One was loud, raucous, and distorted while the other was quiet, pure, and crystal clear. Shockingly, given my predilection for loud, upbeat shows, I actually preferred The Civil Wars. Wild Flag I didn’t even know Black Cat had a second floor venue, but I guess that’s where the larger shows take place. Unfortunately it comes at the expense of the nicer bar downstairs and the intimacy of the smaller room. Wild Flag is just too big to play that room, I guess, but the upstairs room just feels colder and less fun (that could also be because I was right below an a/c vent). ...
Bizarre, but awesome. Not just because it’s centered around a baseball game, mind you. Love this band and the surreal imagery of bears playing baseball.
[caption id="" align=“aligncenter” width=“500” caption=“The Civil Wars were absolutely beautiful. What a fantastic show.”] [/caption] Movies 50/50 - What a great movie. It was funny and emotional at all the right times. After seeing it I just wanted to go home and hug my roommate (like Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s character, she got cancer at a young age). I’ve seen her in a grand total of four movies now, but I love Anna Kendrick. She is absolutely adorable and she will go far in this business. So cute! ...
[caption id="" align=“aligncenter” width=“500” caption=““Shit””] [/caption] It may look like I’m insulting Gears, but I’m really not. That’s legitimately the closest those guys come to eloquence most games. They’re fantastic games, but their stories are fundamentally idiotic. Movies Thor - I’m pretty sure that complaining about blatant product placement in a movie was last interesting five years ago, but I found the Southwest Airlines advertising in Thor to be too much. Did not like. The movie itself was cool, although Natalie Portman’s character had nothing to do but be a pretty damsel. Don’t get me wrong, she’s good at that, but I wouldn’t have minded her being more active (like Peggy in Captain America). Her portrayal of Jane was true to Thor: The Mighty Avenger, aside from her career, so at least there’s that. I hope she comes back for The Avengers (and that The Avengers is good). ...
[caption id="" align=“aligncenter” width=“500” caption=“I thought about posting a picture of Rob Corddry instead, but I think we’d all much rather see Malin Åkerman. (Image used courtesy of Gage Skidmore)”] [/caption] Movies The Wrong Side of Town - Danielle’s parents were watching the tail end of this terrible wrestler movie. It was pretty awful, so I read a Batman comic instead of paying that much attention. ...
[caption id="" align=“aligncenter” width=“333” caption=“Best NPR First Listen!”] [/caption] Movies Tokyo Godfathers - I wrote at length about this movie here, but I just wanted to take a few words to say how truly fantastic it was. Great movie. Crazy, Stupid, Love. - Tiffany and I were choosing between this and Our Idiot Brother (ostensibly because they were the only two “date” movies, but really because of my dual crushes on Emma Stone and Zooey Deschanel), but I think this would have been the better choice. Crazy, Stupid, Love. was sweet and funny. Only real downside was the C-plot being a little creepy. Easily the best romantic movie I saw this summer (Best comedy goes to Bridesmaids). ...