Farewell 2011

2011 was an interesting year in pop culture. The Beastie Boys made a great comeback, Lou Reed and Metallica spooked music fans with an awkward album and some of my favorite shows had solid seasons.
So, this will be my year in review of things I enjoyed or hated in 2011.
Best Album
Hands down, Tom Waits’ “Bad As Me” was my favorite album of the year. I gave it a good listen driving to St. Cloud for Christmas, and the weird circus-style music with Waits’ gravelly vocals howling impressive lyrics floored me.
Worst Album
Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way.” If she was born looking like Marilyn Manson and her vocals sounded like convoluted robots, then sure. But I doubt that. Anyway, this was a terrible album.
Awkward Album
Lou Reed and Metallica’s “LuLu.” I tried to write an album review of this, but it was too weird for me to critique. It sounded like Jack Kerouac reading William S. Burroughs with heavy metal music. It was a rare moment for me because it was one of the few times I wasn’t sure if I loved or hated an album.
Best TV Show
This was tough because this was a great year for TV. The “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” seventh season certainly made up for the “eh” of season six. Also, its two-part season finale where the gang goes to their high school reunion was amazing. Honorable mentions go out to “The League,” “Parks and Recreation,” “American Horror Story,” “Beavis and Butt-head” and “Louie.”
Worst TV Show
Well, there were a lot of these as well. “Whitney” was an obnoxious show. “The Paul Reiser Show” reminded me of how much I hate Paul Reiser. I guess 99 percent of TV shows could fall into this category.
Best Film I
Saw on Netflix
Since I don’t go out to see movies often, I’ll just put down what I think was my favorite movie I hadn’t seen before thanks to streaming movies. The best film I saw on Netflix this year was “Magic Trip.” Director Alex Gibney took the many hours of film Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters made during a road trip from La Honda, Calif., to New York City. A very interesting film and a must for anyone whose read “The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test.”
Worst Film I
Saw on Netflix
I watched the first “Paranormal Activity” film and hated every minute of it. A bad concept with a bad script with boring actors with a weak ending.
Awesomely Awful Film I Saw on Netflix
“Hobo with a Shotgun” was one of those movies that is terrible, but great. Just some homeless guy wandering around a corrupt city shooting bad guys with his shotgun.
That’s about it. I’m sure I overlooked many things, but this list will work. Happy New Year to everyone!