2012

Having a blog gives me the license to make one of the best of lists. But, always the pessimist, I'll start with what sucked

The Worst

Dwight Howard
Remember that time Van Gundy was being interviewed about the problems with Dwight, and he was being pretty candid about the rocky relationship, and then Dwight popped up, put his arm around his coach without any knowledge of what was being talked about? That was hard to watch.

The Hobbit
Okay, I haven't seen the movie, so this isn't a critique on it's quality, the point is... I haven't seen the movie. The guy who attended the midnight showings of the last two Lord of the Rings films. The guy who was inspired by Aragorn to grow his hair out. The think is, when news broke that The Hobbit was going to be a trilogy, it was like a balloon was deflated. It feels like a cash-grab, and one that I can avoid, for the time being. I'm sure I'll eventually see it, and that it may be pretty good, but it won't be the whole story; just a tease.

The Public
Blaming mass murders on video games. Backing religious extremists politicians. Letting Chris Brown be relevant. The sad state of social media. George Carlin once said, “Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.”

The Meh

Superhero Movies
The Avengers, Spider-man, Dark Knight Whatever... While all commercial successes, failed to excite. They all, kind of, just lived up to expectations. If this was the 90s, that would be more than enough, but I want something more. If you're not going to inspire or do something different, what's the point?

Streaming Services
Netflix stayed more expensive. Hulu has commercials even if you're a paid user. Content owners still make their content difficult to get to. Who cares, anymore?

The Walking Dead
Season 3 started out pretty great; it moved at a faster clip and had some seriously freaky moments, but has since become bogged down in it's own lore. Some characters act without motivation and often, the show just feels trite. If it didn't do so many cool, nasty things you wouldn't normally see on TV, it wouldn't be worth watching.

Video Games
Nintendo came out with a new console, which has failed to garner excitement. The 3DS and Vita are just kind of there. All the big games were part 3s or 4s, so if you weren't already invested, there wasn't a lot to be excited about. The saving grace, for me, were downloadable games, like Rock Band Blitz and The Walking Dead. The new systems can't come soon enough.

The iPad Mini
A retina screen away from being on the next part of this list.

The Best

Perfume - Fake It

This song may have been a B-Side in 2010, but it became a single this year... so... it's my list, anyway.

CM Punk
This year he became the longest reigning champ of the past 25 years, even surpassing the golden boy, John Cena. He had great matches with Ziggler, Jericho, Cena, Henry, Kane, Bryan, Ryback, Big Show, and even Vince. He was hilarious and threatening. The Rock's stint at WrestleMania may have been what lured me back to wrestling, but Punk is what kept me here.

Boardwalk Empire
Somehow, this show got even better. It was always good, although a little light on plot. The first two seasons were about character development. Season 3 was about turning points and consequences. The show was made by Bobby Cannavale's portrayal of Gyp Rosetti.

Gangnam Style
I don't need to link to it, I just had to bring it up so I could say, "I told you so!"

Smart Toilets
My biggest revelation of 2012. In the future, our grandkids are going to say, "You did what with paper?"

Kane & Tim Meadows

The similarities are eerie.

 


Both were part of legendary and fondly remembered 90s casts.

And both stuck around for a long time.

Both have genius, eccentric bosses.

Both starred in poorly received movies.

And both are brothers.

A Quote from Woody Allen

From "Annie Hall"

There's an old joke.  Uh, two elderly women are at a Catskills mountain  resort, and one of 'em says: "Boy, the food at this place is really terrible." The other one says, "Yeah, I know, and such ... small portions."

Romantic Comedies

They used to be funny when they starred guys like these...

Instead of guys like these...

I'm just sayin'.

 

Leno

I don't like The Tonight Show, but then again, it's not for me. It's for older folks and tourists. He does a damn good job on that formant, it's just not very exciting.
I don't like that I don't like him. By all accounts he's a good guy. And, at times, he can be a hell of a comedian. His stand up is well-respected by the kind of comedians who don't blow smoke up anyone's ass.
The problem is he was involved in screwing another comic. The comic I grew up with. I'm sure it wasn't his fault. In everything I've read, he was just another piece in the game. Another screw-up by NBC.

The Simpsons

'The Simpsons' is simultaneously one of the best sitcoms off all time and one of the worst. When it was good, it was fantastic. It was smart, heartwarming, and insanely hillarious. But numerous creative changes and a prolonged run has left it a below average show, even by Fox standards. It has already ran 23 seasons, but the very best of the show is only seasons 3 through 8. Those episodes are classic TV, as good as 'I Love Lucy' or 'The Dick Van Dyke Show'. Unfortunately, the best of 'The Simpsons' will be buried by the rest of the over 500 mediocre episodes.

I leave you with a clip from one of my favorite episodes, 'Mountain of Madness'.

My Favorite Bill Murray Performance

He's iconic in Caddyshack. Makes Ghostbusters a classic. And reinvents himself in Lost in Translation. But for me, nothing says Bill Murray quite like Groundhog Day. He gets to be witty, dry, over the top, haunted, psychotic, and still lovable.
Here's my favorite scene, where Bill get's several attempts to woo Andie MacDowell. Watch for comedic genius when finally gets the toast right.



The 'Amen' at the end was brilliant. That hesitation. The way he played her. Quietly hilarious.