2011 A Quick Year in Review

Every site has an end of the year list, or two or three.  We do too.  Here are a few of  the things we’ll remember most about  the year that was 2011.

NEWS

1.  We Got Em!  In 2011 not 1, but 3 ruthless dictators took the big dive.  First, Bin Laden Gets Capped.  By now we all thought it wasn’t going to happen, or he was dead already and it was some huge farce, but it all went down like a video game.  A real time, real life assassination mission against the world’s number one villain and it went, as far we know, flawlessly.   In other news, Momar Khadaffi was killed and Kim Jong Il left the planet but both of those events seemed a bit anticlimatic by comparison.

 

2.  We had an Arab Spring.  So we finally found a practical use for Twitter and Facebook– civil revolution applied in the 21st century. We got to watch an entire block of the world’s countries revolt against oppressive governments, and actually win.

3.  The Birth of the Occupy Movement.  Right on the heels of Arab spring, the 99 percenters of New York decided they’re mad as hell and they’re not going to take it anymore.  At least not quietly.  What started as a small Wall Street protest of corporate greed quickly grew into an occupation that spread throughout the country and the rest of the world.  For the first time since the sixties, you couldn’t call the youth of America apathetic.   They camped out in tents, taking over public spaces in every major city across the country.  Through the miracle of U Stream and mobile webcasting we also got to see stun guns, rubber bullets, and of course we all know what it looks like to be sprayed down with tanks full of pepper spray.

   

4.  New York Legalizes Gay Marriage.  It may be bad news for Vermont, because now New Yorkers who want to marry their same sex partners don’t have to pick up and move to New England.  Finally!  Bob can marry Ted and Carol can marry Alice right here in the big apple.  And even though it took way too long, we’re proud to join the ranks of Vermont, New Hampshire, Iowa, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the District of Columbia.

  

PERSONALITIES

5.  Herman Cain.  Every election there is one person who captures the excitement of bloggers and monologue writers across the country, and the 2011 candidate who grabbed the biggest share of that was Herman Cain.  The owner of Godfather’s Pizza stuck out among a group of seasoned politicians.  He had everything you would want in a nutty political candidate, a catchphrase even he had trouble explaining, “9-9-9”, great video moments like when he had trouble explaining how he felt about Obama and Libya, and then scandal.

6.  Charlie Sheen’s Meltdown.  While we don’t like to bask in the misfortune of others, you couldn’t help but be glued to this story– particularly the real early days of Sheengate. At first, we only knew that he had partied with some porn stars, and then came those first two interviews.  He bangs 7 gram rocks, he has his own “Goddesses”, and he brought us the much unneeded phrase “Winning.”  Of course it got so old so incredibly fast it actually hurt. But for those first couple of days, it was one of the most public and insane train wrecks we’ve seen in a long long time.

7.  Tebowmania.  We’re calling it now, Tebow Mania was fun, exciting, and maybe even playoff worthy.  But it’s not going to continue into 2012.  Whether it’s because of The Rapture or just NFL defensive coordinators getting their shit together, you gotta assume that Tebow will get figured out.  In fact, it seems to have already begun.  But, that doesn’t change what a fun ride it was to watch him play…and pray…in 2011.  The worst part of Tebowmania ’11?  The guy you love to hate seems to be a really great guy.

8.  Weinergate.  It didn’t get weirder than this.  One politician had us all giggling like first graders who heard someone say pee-pee out loud.  I mean really.  A guy named Weiner sent dick pictures to girls he didn’t even know?  And right when we decided it couldn’t possibly be true– he admitted it!  Weren’t our politicians supposed to be better than this?  Or at least more discreet?

FILM, TELEVISION, and MUSIC 

9.  Louie C.K. Beats the Sophomore Curse.  2011 brought us Season Two of what’s now the best comedy on television.  Louie is much more than a comedy.  It’s more what you’d call genre-less– which is of course, our favorite genre.  Touching, frustrating, thought provoking, surprising, funny and incredibly genuine.  But most of all it’s original.

10.  Homeland Debuts as a Force.  On the other end of the spectrum, but also one of our favorite things on television is Showtime’s hit new series Homeland.  With Claire Danes and Damian Lewis at the helm, it’s gripping, it’s intense, and like Louie, it’s thought provoking and entertaining at the same time.  It’s real ‘what the fuck just happened’ tv. Get on demand and catch up!

11.  A Banner Year for Great Documentaries.  Yes this was a great year for film generally, but most of all we were astounded by the number of great documentaries released in 2011.  In fact, we can’t even imagine choosing  favorites (check out  our list of our favorite documentaries of 2011).  This sometimes overlooked segment of the film industry shone in many arenas from small, short, and internet only works like Sean Dunne’s American Juggalo, to the complete other end of the spectrum with the first ever fully corporate sponsored documentary, Morgan Spurlocks’ Pom Wonderful Presents, The Greatest Movie Ever Sold, and a tremendous list of great subjects, and great films run the gamut in between.

12.  New York Theater is Revived. Several new creative and original concepts brought new life to the stage this year. The Book of Mormon from the minds of Trey Parker and Matt Stone brought a whole new style to the Great White Way and people who had never been to a Broadway show came out like crazy to see a bunch of Mormons sing.  War Horse also changed how we think about staging.  You don’t have to be a fan of puppetry to be mesmerized by the unique way non-digital-but-completely-high-tech way in which they bring the horse to the stage.   Of course trying new things doesn’t always lead to greatness, as 2011 also brought us the total debacle that was Spiderman, Turn Off the Dark.  

13.  Veteran Performers Put Out Great Music.  This year we heard some amazing albums by seasoned artists. A few of our favorites?  Tom Waits gave us Bad As Me, his first album of new music in nearly seven years sounds like the soundtrack of a David Lynch movie: dark and mysterious, yet hauntingly beautiful.  Robbie Robertson is another familiar songwriter who gave us greatness in 2012 with How to Become Clairvoyent.  Although technically released in 2010, it was in early 2011 that Bryan Ferry promoted Olympia in the US, and he knocked it out of the park.  Also check out Garland Jeffreys’  The King Of In Between.  Thirteen years after his last album, the New York-born singer-songwriter made a triumphant return with a ripe mix of blues, folk, and old school rock n roll.

   

14.  Up and Coming Singer-Songwriters From All Over the Map.  Check out a few of our favorites this year including Austin-based Gary Clark, Jr.  who released a four song EP that runs the gamut from rock n roll, blues, and a sweet dose of soul.  With a full album on tap for 2012, Gary Clark, Jr is poised to be one of our next big guitar heros.  Philly based singer-songwriter Nikki Jean brings her full length debut by reaching out to her all-time favorite songwriters with the hopes of collaborating on songs for the album.  And most of them responded yes!  The list reads like a Who’s Who of American music: Bob Dylan, Burt Bacharach, Jimmy Webb, Lamont Dozier of the Motown hit machine Holland-Dozier-Holland, Paul Williams, Carly Simon, Bobby Braddock, Jeff Barry; Cynthia Weil and Barry Mann, Carole King, and Thom Bell. check out all of these greats on Pennies in a Jar.   And Interrobang favorite Mike Zito is an emerging force on the blues scene, whose new album Greyhound was recently nominated by the Blues Foundation for Rock Blues album of the year.

  

15.  Live From Daryl’s House.  This didn’t fit into any other category so it gets its own.  If you’re not already watching this web-based show, stop reading this and go to lfdh.com.  Each month Daryl invites a talented musician (or group of musicans) to his home to hang out, talk music, eat great food and jam.  The music is outstanding, the conversations are fresh and the series is so technically fine tuned, that you won’t even remember you’re watching a web series.  It’s also a great way to discover great new artists as Daryl seems to be a beat ahead of everyone else with knowing who is worth talking to.

16.  The Filtered Excellence.  Here are a few of our favorite things that have been featured here on the site for the last few months, and a few that would have been if the site had launched sooner.

AMERICAN JUGGALO (SEAN DUNNE), JOHN WESLEY HARDING THE SOUND OF HIS OWN VOICE, THE DESCENDANTS, CATCHING HELL (THE STEVE BARTMAN STORY), BORED TO DEATH SEASON 3, EL CAMINO (THE BLACK KEYS), THE NEW YORKER STORIES (ANNE BEATTIE), BLACK SUICIDE HEART ATTACK MACHINE (TOM MORELLO), EASTSIDEDAVECOUNTRY.COM, ATTACK THE BLOCK, TEAS TEA, MAGIC TRIP, GEORGE HARRISON LIVING IN THE MATERIAL WORLD (MARTIN SCORSESE), THE IRON LADY, TATUAJE CIGARS, BILL CUNNINGHAM NEW YORK, ROCKPILE LIVE AT MONTREAUX 1980, FREEDOM (JONATHAN FRANZEN) IN PAPERBACK, THE TREE OF LIFE (TERRENCE MALICK), BERGER COOKIES, EVERYTHING ON IT (SHEL SILVERSTEIN),  THE WAY (EMILIO ESTEVEZ), SHAME (STEVE MCQUEEN), UNDUN (THE ROOTS), A DANGEROUS METHOD (DAVID CRONENBERG), 12 ANGRY MEN ON DVD (SIDNEY LUMET), PULPHEAD, TABLOID (ERROL MORRIS), SONGBOOK (CHRIS CORNELL), ASHES & FIRE (RYAN ADAMS), THE DOORS: A LIFETIME OF LISTENING TO FIVE MEAN YEARS (GRIEL MARCUS), BIBLION THE BOUNDLESS LIBRARY, ANOTHER HAPPY DAY (SAM LEVINSON), LUCKING OUT: MY LIFE GETTING DOWN AND SEMI-DIRTY IN 70S NEW YORK (JAMES WOLCOTT), THE SKIN I LIVE IN (PEDRO ALMODOVAR), THE ARTIST, TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY, BEATS RHYMES & LIFE: THE TRAVELS OF A TRIBE CALLED QUEST (MICHAEL RAPAPORT), MIDNIGHT IN PARIS, THE HIGH LINE IN NYC, SAINT’S MISBEHAVIN THE WAVY GRAVY MOVIE, BACKPACK MAGAZINE, INFILTRATING HOLLYWOOD: THE RISE AND FALL OF THE SPOOK WHO SAT BY THE DOOR,  THE SMILE SESSIONS BOX SET (THE BEACH BOYS), 50 WORDS FOR SNOW (KATE BUSH), COOLWORKS.COM, THE WORLD SERIES, PAUL GOODMAN CHANGED MY LIFE, TOMBOY (CELINE SCIAMA), 2030 (ALBERT BROOKS), ON THE SHOULDERS OF GIANTS (STORY OF THE HARLEM RENS), LE FREAK: AN UPSIDE DOWN STORY OF FAMILY, DISCO AND DESTINY (NILE RODGERS), THE GUARD, WOODY ALLEN A DOCUMENTARY, INTO THE ABYSS, LUTHER BBC, THE BALLAD OF MOTT THE HOOPLE, PILGRIMAGE (ANNIE LIEBOWITZ), GAME OF HONOR (ARMY/NAVY), INTO THE ABYSS (WERNER HERZOG), VAN DYKE PARKS ARRANGEMENT VOL. 1,  BEGINNERS, WIN WIN, FEAR AND LOATHING AT ROLLING STONE: THE WRITINGS OF HUNTER S. THOMPSON, BLACK AND BLUE THE RED FOXX STORY, SUPERHEROS (HBO), GROWN UP SODA, AND SO IT GOES (KURT VONNEGUT BIO), THE INTERRUPTERS, THE SINGING MAILMAN DELIVERS (JOHN PRINE), DRIVE, CORMAN’S WORLD: EXPLOITS OF A HOLLYWOOD REBEL (ALEX STAPLETON), PAGE ONE: INSIDE THE NEW YORK TIMES, BATMAN ARKHAM CITY, KEN JENNINGS THE DEBUNKER, MELANCHOLIA, REVEREND VINCE ANDERSON AND HIS LOVE CHOIR, ROADFOOD.COM, JAY MOHR’S MOHR STORIES, SCROOGED ON BLU RAY, PROJECT NIM (JAMES MARSH), MY WEEK WITH MARILYN (SIMON CURTIS), RED STATE, HOWARD COSELL: THE MAN, THE MYTH AND THE TRANSFORMATION OF AMERICAN SPORTS, CRAZY CLOWN TIME (DAVID LYNCH), SENNA, WE BOUGHT A ZOO (CAMERON CROWE), ALABAMA SHAKES, ARGUABLY: ESSAYS BY CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS, 270TOWIN.COM, PEPPERMINT BARK, JOI PRESENTS HOTHEAVYBAD, BLACK POWER MIX TAPE, MELTDOWN (PILLOW THEORY). 

 

17.  The Interrobang is born.  Need we say more?

 

 Send us your favorite things from 2011 in the comments.