My TV of 2011 List

Here is a summary of the TV I watched in 2011. Or, as I like to call it, "The stories I watched instead of the stories I wrote."

The Best:

My Favorite Comedies
Happy Endings
Parks and Recreation
New Girl
30 Rock
Community
Modern Family
South Park
Bob's Burgers
Up All Night
Saturday Night Live

My Favorite Dramas
Friday Night Lights
Justified
Southland
Sherlock (Masterpiece Mystery)
Mad Men
Downton Abbey
American Horror Story
Suits

Alphas

Person of Interest

Show that Hates Its Viewers
The Killing

Six Seasons and a Movie
Community

Shows I Want to Start or Catch Up On Someday
Breaking Bad
Parenthood
Vampire Diaries
Dexter
Rescue Me
Eastbound and Down
Chuck
Fringe

What do you like to watch?

My Movies of 2011 List

Here are, I think, all the movies I saw that were released in 2011.

As with my previous lists, I have tried to break them down according to how I feel about them right in this moment. It should be noted that any in the top 3 could have taken the top spot but right now my gut says it's The Muppets. Some days it's Drive. Outside the Top 10, I rank them this way: If I had to see them again, would I pay Full, Matinee, or Rental Price or would I just pass altogether?


Top 10
The Muppets
Drive
Midnight in Paris
Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows
The Artist
Bridesmaids
The Descendants
Moneyball
Super 8

Hugo

Full Price

Thor
Mission: Impossible -- Ghost Protocol

Rango

X-Men: First Class
Captain America: The First Avenger
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II
The Tree of Life
Tucker and Dale vs. Evil
Contagion
Hanna
Rise of the Planet of the Apes

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Source Code
Kung Fu Panda 2
Point Blank (France)

Matinee
Melancholia
Troll Hunter
Our Idiot Brother
Fast Five
Puss in Boots
Tower Heist
The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn
Limitless
Friends with Benefits
The Adjustment Bureau

Rental
Attack the Block
Insidious
13 Assassins (Japan)
30 Minutes or Less
The Trip
Bellflower
Submarine
The Green Hornet
The Mechanic
Cowboys and Aliens

Meh/Pass
Green Lantern
Battle: Los Angeles
Hop
I Am Number Four
Transformers: Dark of the Moon
Hangover 2

What did you enjoy (or not) this year?

Note: Republished after I had seen more 2011 releases.

My Top 11 Albums of 2011

I pretty much ignored music most of the year. I find I do that more that I'm married and alone a lot less and tend to really only enjoy music if I can really listen to it. So here's what I think made me the happiest this year where music is concerned. Enjoy

Nine Types of Light - TV on the Radio
From release day until October 3rd, this was in my car's CD player. Actually, I think it's still in there.
Recommended track: "Second Song"

No Color - The Dodos
I smile from ear to ear every single time I listen to this. Every time.
Recommended tracks: "Black Night" and "Don't Stop"

The Rip Tide - Beirut
Unique without being different for different's sake. A better use of accordion I have not heard.
Recommended track: "Vagabond"

Circuital - My Morning Jacket

Got back to what made me fall in love with them in the first place.

Recommended track: "Wonderful (The Way I Feel)"

Helplessness Blues - Fleet Foxes
For the smelly, hacky-sack playing hippy in all of us.
Recommended track: "Someone You'd Admire"

Bon Iver - Bon Iver

They're just great, aren't they?

Recommended track: "Holocene"

The Year of Hibernation - Youth Lagoon

Far away, earnest and melancholy, reaching out to you from inside a winter dream.

Recommended track: "Cannons"

Days - Real Estate
Dreamy floating tune after dreamy floaty tune.
Recommended track: "Wonder Years"

Kaput - Destroyer

Some people may not enjoy Daniel Bejar outside of New Pornographers but I've became an even bigger fan when I heard the album Destroyer's Rubies for the first time.

Recommended track: "Chinatown"

Tomboy - Panda Bear

Loops and reverb and happiness and sadness and echo and loops and it just puts me in the zone.

Recommended track: "You Can Count On Me"

Torches - Foster the People

It's not perfect but I have a lot of fun with it when I'm in the right mood.

Recommended track: "Houdini"

Honorable Mention:

Collapse Into Now - R.E.M.
I'll miss you Michael, Mike, Bill, and Peter.

What were your favorites?

I'm a "Modern Mormon Men" Contributor

From the About section of the website:

"So, what is a modern mormon man? All three words – modern, mormon and man – are open to diverse interpretation. Figuring out the modern mormon man is less about defining who he is and more about exploring what he's made of. This blog, then, will explore those things the modern mormon man interacts with most and celebrate the spectrum that is sure to be found." 

I'm excited to be a part of this new site and look forward to seeing where it goes. How about you? Do you think it will be a smash hit? Or are there already too many Mormon-themed blogs out there? 

P.S. Please let me know what topics you'd like to see written about, either by me or my colleagues. 

My 2010 Favorite TV List

I feel like I watch a lot of TV. I didn't used to. I watched X-Files, Star Trek: TNG and Ed often back in the day but I never really scheduled my evening around what was on the Tube. In the Fall of 2002, I moved in with my best friend Eric D. Snider and was quickly was absorbed into his condo culture of watching a few shows with hardcore loyalty using a new technology called TiVo. It changed my entertainment life. I could go about my day and then come home and watch the shows I wanted. Back then, we watched with regularity Alias, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, The Simpsons, Saturday Night Live and a few others. By the time I moved out in 2004, I was hooked on serial TV programs and DVRs. I always got one with my cable wherever I lived from that point on. If I found something I liked, I set it up as a "Season Pass" and watched my shows each night before bed. Harmony.

When I got married in 2006, Amelia wasn't really a TV watcher either. But DVRs are a beautiful thing and now we have a handful of shows we watch together and some we watch apart (she's more of a Reality TV fan and I'm more of an Inappropriate Comedy fan). I love watching shows with her. She's in the industry and her technical understanding of how shows work, her comments about wardrobe, her understanding of story and genre make it a priceless experience. It's also great to have someone who laughs just as hard at the brilliance of 30 Rock and Community as I do.

OK, so about the list ... I'm sure I'm forgetting things but here is a summary of my TV life that was in 2010.

My Favorite Comedies
Community
30 Rock
Parks and Recreation
Modern Family
Adventure Time with Finn and Jake
The IT Crowd
South Park

My Favorite Dramas
Mad Men
Dexter
The Walking Dead
Southland
Justified
Monday Night Football

Hit and Miss but When It Hits, Oh Man, It's Great
Saturday Night Live
So You Think You Can Dance
Conan
Late Night with Jimmy Fallon

Not As Good Anymore but Still Fun

The Office

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia

Futurama

Just OK but I Still Watch Sometimes
Outsourced
The Amazing Race
Project Runway
Undercover Boss
Ancient Aliens

Shows I Want to Catch Up On
Friday Night Lights
Vampire Diaries
Dexter
Eastbound and Down
Venture Bros.

Shows I Hate but Sometimes Watch Anyway

America's Next Top Model

The City

American Idol

The Bachelor/Bachelorette

Millionaire Matchmaker

Tool Academy

Shows We Tried but Gave Up On
The Event
Chase
No Ordinary Family
Running Wilde
The Mentalist
Louie
Hawaii 5-0

Shows We Watch that Were Cancelled
The Whole Truth
Lone Star
Rubicon
Lost