Best (and worst) stuff of 2009

Long time – no post.

Sorry for not updating this in a while.

I got lazy toward the end. Let me know if you want captions for some of the latter ones. Here are my top and bottom things of last year:

Best Album:

Animal Collective – Merriweather Post Pavilion

2009 was a great year for music. With new music from greats like The Decemberists, Grizzly Bear, The Dirty Projectors, Sufjan Stevens and not to mention one amazing soundtrack; picking just one seems like an impossible feat.

However, there is one album in particular that came out at the beginning of the year that I’ve gone back and listened to over and over. Animal Collective’s Merriweather Post Pavilion is a near-perfect collection of raw talent. I’ve been following Animal for several years now, and I would have to say, if this outing is any indication of where this band is headed… Bring it!

Runner up: Grizzly Bear – Veckatimest

Best Movie:

Up

2009 was an amazing year for the kid in me. With Where the Wild Things Are, and The Fantastic Mr. Fox coming out within a month of each other, as well as Coraline coming out at the beginning of the year, this was certainly a year that appealed to my childlike psyche.

Pixar’s Up is something everyone has to experience. If the film doesn’t move you within the first ten minutes, then something is wrong with you. You’re not human. Up is also my most viewed of 2009, totaling a whopping 4 views!

Runners up: Avatar, The Fantastic Mr. Fox

Best Videogame:

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

The game is just a masterpiece, plain and simple. No matter how you look at it, the sequel to 2007′s Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune exceeds expectations on every level!

The graphics are the most polished I’ve ever seen, the game plays like a (good) Indiana Jones movie, the soundtrack is phenomenal; it is something every videogame fan should experience!

Runner up: Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story

Best TV Series:

Lost

Ok, this may be a little biased, but it is hard NOT to pick the penultimate season to my all-time favorite show. So many questions have been answered, and we now have a picture of what is yet to come.

It is not often a show like this comes around. Season 6 is going to be one heck of a good time. February 2 can’t come soon enough!

Runners up: Flashforward, 30 Rock, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia

Best Surprise:

District 9

To be honest, I wasn’t expecting much when I went to see District 9. It was just going to be another alien movie with cool visuals. However, it turned out to be one of the more inventive films I’ve seen all year.

I don’t want to give anything away for those who haven’t seen it, but no-name actor Sharlto Copley gives an amazing performance. As his character progresses through the movie, every last bit is believable, and it is not until the last 5 minutes of the movie do you realize just how much he has changed (beyond the obvious physical changes).

Runner up: Xbox’s Motion Controller

Best Performance:

Brad Pitt as Lt. Aldo Raine

Out of all the movies I’ve seen this year, Brad Pitt’s role in Inglorious Basterds stands out the most by far. The Italian scene alone should win an award. His role in this movie showed us all just how versatile this actor is.

This get’s me excited to see what he has in store for the future. IMDB says he has 25 movies in development.

Runner up: Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock

Best Director:

James Cameron – Avatar

You gotta love this guy’s passion. Where some directors are spitting out a movie a year, this guy has been working on Avatar since 1997′s Titanic, and it shows! The tremendous amount of detail put into this project is just phenomenal. Much like Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, a project like this could make or break a career. Avatar is far from a failure.

Runner up: Wes Anderson, The Fantastic Mr. Fox

Best Song:

Animal Collective – My Girls

Runner up: The Welcome Wagon – But For You Who Fear My Name

Best Show:

Animal Collective – May 11, 9:30 Club

Runner up: The Decemberists – June 5, The National

Best old movie I saw for the first time:

Rear Window

Runner up: The Goonies

Best Time Wasting Binge: [TIE]

Fables (Volumes 1-12)

& Avatar: The Last Airbender (Seasons 1-3)

Runners up: 30 Rock (Seasons 1-3), MS Paint Adventures: Problem Sleuth

Best Web Comic:

Superpoop

Best Photo: Sleepy Harvey

Runner up: The guy doing construction work in the back yard one morning.

Best YouTube Video:

Lost Babies – Let The Fear In

Runner up: David After Dentist

Best Tea:

Winter White – Carytown Teas

Best Coffee:

Anything from Blanchard’s

Creepiest Purchase:

Giant Conquistador painting hanging over my bed

Runner up: Dead Space – PS3

Best Week:

Wyldlife Camp at North Bay

My first camp as a leader would be a hard one to forget! It was a blast!

Best Weekend:

Wintergreen Weekend with the guys.

Runner up: Beach Weekend (would be first if we weren’t robbed that weekend.)

Best Trailer:

The Last Guardian

Who said it had to be a movie trailer?

Runner up: Where the Wild Things Are

Worst Movie:

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

Two words: Robot balls.

Runners down: Year One, Paul Blart: Mall Cop

Worst Purchase:

Triops

These things would have been awesome if they didn’t DIE all the time.

Worst Person:

Kanye West

Runner down: Jeff Dunham

Worst thing that happened during a fun time:

House getting robbed while away at Hanover’s Beach Weekend.

Runner down: Stomach Flu during MAGFest

Worst Animal:

Opossum

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