Tuesday, January 10, 2006
2005: My Favorite Things...
Talk about procrastination! Everybody else did the "In-Out"/"Best Of" lists nearly two weeks ago.
So sue me!
Rather than run off a list for every little category, I thought I would just give a relatively random list of about 20 things or so that entertained/amused or in some way intrigued me last year. Believe me, the order is truly random.
"Since U Been Gone" -- Kelly Clarkson (song): Gwen Stefani can do all the "holla-in" back, girl, all she wants. Kelly's the one who produced the real up-tempo anthem that had everyone screaming along.
Brokeback Mountain (film)
U2 (live in the Meadowlands & Madison Square Garden)
Batman Begins & Sin City (film): Two movies that restored faith in the minds of comic book fans everywhere that good big-screen adaptations were truly possible (besides the X-Men).
Walk The Line (film)
Hot Fuss -- The Killers (CD)
Paul Mooney (stand-up comedy): From Richard Pryor to "In Living Color" to Dave Chappelle, Mooney has always been around the most cutting-edge black comedy. He definitely has to be experienced live -- though he's not, as they say, for the faint of heart. Keep an eye out for him when he's touring. If you're in New York, you can catch him at least once a month at Caroline's on Broadway!
24 (TV)
Real Time w/Bill Maher (TV): It took him while, but he has managed, post 9/11, to strike the right balance in discussing politics in the context of a comedy show. Maher still gets outraged, but is able to convey his point in a way that even Republicans (well, this one, anyway) can find hilarious.
The Boondocks (TV/comics): Oddly, the Cartoon Network's "Adult Swim" show finally got me to go out and by the compilation trade paperback, A Right To Be Hostile)
NCIS (TV): It's an odd mutant cross-breeding of my late, lamented fave, JAG, and the C.S.I. franchise iterations, but it somehow works)
Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang (film): So, Heath Ledger & Jake Gyllenhaal may have the straight-guys- playing-gay market cornered, but Val Kilmer acquits himself only too well in this film noir flick that is often hilarious. Robert Downey's pretty damn good too!
Commander-In-Chief (TV)
Numbers (TV): The is a cool schtick, but the relationships between brothers (played by Rob Morrow and David Krumholtz) and their father (Judd Hirsch) make this more than just another crime-science drama.
Green Lantern (Comics): Written by the best comics "historian-author" today, Geoff Johns. The "Rebirth" miniseries iterally brought the power-ringed Hal Jordan back to life and removed the stain of his being an insane, homicidal-suicidal mass murderer where ill-advised earlier plot devices had rendered him. The ongoing series -- with Hal once again a jet pilot! -- keeps the momentum going.
Infinite Crisis (Comics): One hopes that this DC miniseries -- a sequel of sorts to the best-selling two-decade old Crisis On Infinite Earths continues through March -- will, ahem, "restore honor and dignity" to a DC Universe gone astray. The company's attempt to "out-Marvel" Marvel has had decidedly mixed results. In terms of sales, it can't be denied. But, having certain iconic heroes actually kill bad guys? Sorry, that's just wrong! If anything can pull this cosmic, complicated, story off, it will be the aforementioned Mr. Johns. He's already off to a good start with the amazing return of...heh, heh...
Soul Asylum (live at Bowery Ballroom)
New York Giants 36-0 win over the Redskins in the Meadowlands (first NFL game I've seen in person in many years)
Four Brothers (film)
"(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" (Kuaui, Hawaii) -- um, you hadda be there is all I can say.
Tags: comic books, movies, television, Geoff Johns
|
So sue me!
Rather than run off a list for every little category, I thought I would just give a relatively random list of about 20 things or so that entertained/amused or in some way intrigued me last year. Believe me, the order is truly random.
"Since U Been Gone" -- Kelly Clarkson (song): Gwen Stefani can do all the "holla-in" back, girl, all she wants. Kelly's the one who produced the real up-tempo anthem that had everyone screaming along.
Brokeback Mountain (film)
U2 (live in the Meadowlands & Madison Square Garden)
Batman Begins & Sin City (film): Two movies that restored faith in the minds of comic book fans everywhere that good big-screen adaptations were truly possible (besides the X-Men).
Walk The Line (film)
Hot Fuss -- The Killers (CD)
Paul Mooney (stand-up comedy): From Richard Pryor to "In Living Color" to Dave Chappelle, Mooney has always been around the most cutting-edge black comedy. He definitely has to be experienced live -- though he's not, as they say, for the faint of heart. Keep an eye out for him when he's touring. If you're in New York, you can catch him at least once a month at Caroline's on Broadway!
24 (TV)
Real Time w/Bill Maher (TV): It took him while, but he has managed, post 9/11, to strike the right balance in discussing politics in the context of a comedy show. Maher still gets outraged, but is able to convey his point in a way that even Republicans (well, this one, anyway) can find hilarious.
The Boondocks (TV/comics): Oddly, the Cartoon Network's "Adult Swim" show finally got me to go out and by the compilation trade paperback, A Right To Be Hostile)
NCIS (TV): It's an odd mutant cross-breeding of my late, lamented fave, JAG, and the C.S.I. franchise iterations, but it somehow works)
Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang (film): So, Heath Ledger & Jake Gyllenhaal may have the straight-guys- playing-gay market cornered, but Val Kilmer acquits himself only too well in this film noir flick that is often hilarious. Robert Downey's pretty damn good too!
Commander-In-Chief (TV)
Numbers (TV): The is a cool schtick, but the relationships between brothers (played by Rob Morrow and David Krumholtz) and their father (Judd Hirsch) make this more than just another crime-science drama.
Green Lantern (Comics): Written by the best comics "historian-author" today, Geoff Johns. The "Rebirth" miniseries iterally brought the power-ringed Hal Jordan back to life and removed the stain of his being an insane, homicidal-suicidal mass murderer where ill-advised earlier plot devices had rendered him. The ongoing series -- with Hal once again a jet pilot! -- keeps the momentum going.
Infinite Crisis (Comics): One hopes that this DC miniseries -- a sequel of sorts to the best-selling two-decade old Crisis On Infinite Earths continues through March -- will, ahem, "restore honor and dignity" to a DC Universe gone astray. The company's attempt to "out-Marvel" Marvel has had decidedly mixed results. In terms of sales, it can't be denied. But, having certain iconic heroes actually kill bad guys? Sorry, that's just wrong! If anything can pull this cosmic, complicated, story off, it will be the aforementioned Mr. Johns. He's already off to a good start with the amazing return of...heh, heh...
Soul Asylum (live at Bowery Ballroom)
New York Giants 36-0 win over the Redskins in the Meadowlands (first NFL game I've seen in person in many years)
Four Brothers (film)
"(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" (Kuaui, Hawaii) -- um, you hadda be there is all I can say.
Tags: comic books, movies, television, Geoff Johns
