Showing posts with label 2008. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2008. Show all posts

Sunday, February 01, 2009

My Top 49 Songs of 2008

So I know we're one month into 2009 already, but I wanted to wait until I held my annual End of the Year Power Hour Countdown before posting this. Why 49? Well I didn't want to repeat any artist twice and I'm not including any mash-ups, and I could only come up with 49. I'm sure I'm missing one that should make this list so let me know and we'll make Adrian Monk happy with a nice, round 50.

Most songs are through imeem and you may have to sign up to listen (it's free, don't worry). The others I either found on YouTube or just linked to the album on Amazon so you could hear the sample. So here they are:

49. The Dirt Whispered - Rise Against

48. Gettin Up - Q-Tip

47. More Bad Times - The Presidents of the United States of America

46. Machine Gun - Portishead

45. Everyone Nose - N.E.R.D.

44. Re-Up Intro - The Clipse

43. Forever - Chris Brown

42. Cappuccino - The Knux

41. ILL Vacation - The Mighty Underdogs

40. War on Machines - Blitzken Trapper

39. Peace Sign / Index Down - Gym Class Heroes

38. Love Lockdown - Kanye West

37. Disloyal Order of Water Buffaloes - Fall Out Boy

36. You Are the Best Thing - Ray LaMontagne

35. Love Like This - Natasha Beningfeld

34. I'm Innocent - Murs

33. Say Hey (I Love You) - Michael Franti & Spearhead

32. Spaceman - The Killers

31. I Gotcha - Killer Mike

30. Money - The Game

29. What Up Man - The Cool Kids

28. American Boy - Estelle

27. Lonely People - B.O.B.

26. On the Edge of a Cliff - The Streets

25. Let's Take a Walk - Raphael Saadiq

24. The Lightning Strike - Snow Patrol

23. Gilt Complex - Sons & Daughters

22. Consoler of the Lonely - The Raconteurs

21. Do the Panic - Phantom Planet

20. After Hours - Living Legends

19. Wait for Me - Jamie Lidell

18. Robots - Flight of the Conchords

17. Grounds for Divorce - Elbow

16. Today's Your Day (Wachagonedu?) - Fatlip

15. Green Light - John Legend

14. Take Off Your Sunglasses - Ezra Furman & The Harpoons

13. Universal Mind Control - Common

12. Blindsided - Bon Iver

11. Hiroshima (B B B Benny Hit His Head) - Ben Folds

10. Death and All His Friends - Coldplay

9. The Re-Arranger - Mates of State

8. Bleed It Out - Linkin Park

7. Let the Beat Build - Lil Wayne

6. Down to Earth - Peter Gabriel

5. Sleepyhead - Passion Pit

4. Sex on Fire - Kings of Leon

3. Hometown - Adele

2. Guarantees - Atmosphere

1. Bixby Canyon Bridge - Death Cab For Cutie

Thursday, January 01, 2009

My Top Ten Films of 2008

As another year comes to an end, and every other website on the planet is having their "Best Of..." lists, I thought I would join in as well. Becasue, as everyone knows, bloggers think their opinions matter more than everyone else's. So feel free to comment and let me know if there are some obvious omissions.

10. Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day

Frances McDormand, Amy Adams, and Lee Pace have some fun at a lingerie showing in old timey England.

9. Be Kind Rewind

Sweded films have become a new obsession of mine and I hope to do a Fight Club version myself.

8. Happy-Go-Lucky

This movie will make you think "Man, I wish I was as happy as her" or "She is so goddman annoying!" Either way, it leads to a good post-movie conversation. Oh, and you'll never think of your car's mirrors the same again.

7. Forgetting Sarah Marshall

Never heard of Russell Brand prior to this and he has the best line in the film. Also, any film that can make me think Mila Kunis is a good actress has done something right.

6. Man on Wire

A film about the twin towers that doesn't even mention 9/11 but can still cause me to get teary eyed is just plain beautiful.

5. Ghost Town

Ricky Gervais proves that not only is he a great lead for films, he also can play a lovable character. And extra kudos for taking The Sixth Sense and actually making it funny.

4. Iron Man

I thought Robert Downey Jr was a badass back when he was doing Elton John music videos, this just confirmed it for the rest of the world. Also, an actual decent love story is brewing here.

3. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

A great story of one man's life that is also shown with amazing visuals. You'll question whether you're living the life you wanted to as well as your sexuality when you see Brad Pitt with his shirt off 17 times.

2. Wall-E

After Ratatouille I was nervous Pixar had lost me, but they came roaring back with an amazing film that had me in awe for the first 20 minutes, laughing after that, and then wiping tears from my face in the end. +10 extra points for a great song by Peter Gabriel

1. The Dark Knight

Call me a fan boy or claim I have bias for living in Chicago and my response will be "Why so serious?" Having watched it in IMAX and being blown away by the visuals, the opening bank robbery is one of the best heists in a long while and the many scenes with the Joker are just excellent.

Films that didn't make the list that I also saw:
Pineapple Express - Not that funny except when Danny McBride is on screen, which is very little
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull - Why were there CGI gophers? WHY?!
Definitely, Maybe - I thought with a great cast would come a great movie. I was definitely wrong, maybe.
Flash of Genius - Not bad, just predictable. Greg Kinnear plays these roles well.