Damn.

A decent number of pictures I've been posting on previous posts are broken and were probably taken down. I'll fix that in the next couple days.

Rooney's Christmas Vacation!

Here's a short list of my favorite films to watch during the holiday season, or the ones I find appropriate.

There's something about mobster films that seem fitting for the holidays. Maybe it's because there's a strong theme of "family" in a lot of gangster films? Maybe it's Frank Sinatra? Anyway, Goodfellas is one of my ten favorite films and it's somehow better around this time of the year.

Die Hard is the best Christmas movie ever made. I will fight anyone. Let's throw in Die Hard 2: Die Harder as well.

To be honest, I've only seen When Harry Met Sally... once, but I absolutely loved it. This is the best romantic-comedy ever made and it'll be a holiday staple for many years.

Maybe it's nostalgia, or Mel Gibson's hair? But these films always remind me of the holidays. I'm pretty sure the first one is set around Christmas, right? There's that Christmas tree lot scene early in the film. Eh, who cares.

It doesn't get better than Aliens. If you don't see the value of watching this on Christmas or during the holiday season, then I can say with confidence, we won't have a lot to talk about. Because I get social anxiety.


Merry Christmas!

Hey everyone, just remember we're in a golden age of science-fiction in film.

All of these films have been released in the last ten years. I don't believe there's ever been a better decade of science-fiction than what we've seen in the past few years. Hell, even a a good number of popcorn films have been pretty good to great (Star Trek, Avatar (shut up, my inner-sever year old self thought it was great), Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes, Cloverfield, Pacific Rim, etc.). Christopher Nolan's Interstellar is right around the corner, we have the new Star Wars saga to look forward to (eh?), Jurassic Park 4 (I'll watch the shit out of anything with dinosaurs), and I'm sure there are plenty of others I'm forgetting.

I'd say we're pretty lucky.

American Hustle and my premature best of 2013 in cinema list. UPDATED!

I saw American Hustle last night! And I liked a lot! Out of the few I've watched, it's certainly one of the better films I've seen this year. I recommend it, especially if you're a fan of David O. Russell's films.

Oh, I guess I could post my favorite films I've seen this year. Keep in mind this list is far from finished, there's a couple dozen films I've been really looking forward to that I haven't seen yet. Here's a rough order:

**UPDATE** somehow I forgot to mention The Place Beyond The Pines on this list.

12. Only God Forgives (I forgot to add this to my list)
11. Everything is Terrible! Does the Hip Hop Vol. 1: Gettin’ a Bad Rap! (I saw Tiny Mix Tapes adding this to their best of list, I figured I can too!)
10. Room 237
9. American Hustle
8. The Conjuring
7. This Is The End
6. You’re Next
5. The Place Beyond The Pines
4. Mud
3. 12 Years A Slave
2. Gravity (The best spectacle in years.)

1. Before Midnight (This is a pretty solid hook for my number one spot. I can't imagine anything impacting me as much as this film did this year. It's a perfect end to my favorite trilogy of films, and probably my favorite of the three. And I really love Before Sunset.)


Here's my basic list of films I've yet to see...

Her, Inside Llewyn Davis, The Wolf On Wall Street, Frances Ha, Nebraska, The Act Of Killing, Short Term 12, Blue Ruin, All Is Lost, Captain Phillips, Computer Chess, The Counselor, Fast & Furious 6, A Touch Of Sin, Leviathan, Spring Breakers, To The Wonder, A Hijacking, Blue Caprice, Prince Avalanche, Joe, Fruitvale Station

Yeah. Don't expect my list until March or April... Also, I'm wondering when I'll get bored and start making fart jokes on this thing?

Not O.K.

Kool A.D. just released a mixtape!

Everything Is Terrible! Does The Hip-Hop: Gettin' A Bad Rap!

Everything Is Terrible! Does The Hip-Hop: Gettin' A Bad Rap!

As painful as it is to watch at times, if you're a fan of the Everything Is Terrible! website, I highly recommend their hip-hop film. It's basically all the worst parts of early hip-hop compiled into a strange, often hilarious mushroom-haze. It stands as a great piece showcasing the dregs of hip-hop history. It's exhausting, slightly soul-crushing, and amazing all at once.

Oh, I have it on a DVD paired with their other film from this year. Comic Relief Zero. It's a compilation of all the worst gimmicky, tacky stand-up acts imaginable. Not sure if I have the heart to watch it yet. I'll let you know when I do.

Top 30 Tracks of 2013

I might as well start this off with a couple best of lists. Here are my favorite songs from the year, roughly. I'm sure I've forgotten one or two and I limited it to one song per artist, not quite sure why. But I’m not going back in there to change it!

30. Oneohtrix Point Never - Zebra

29. Pissed Jeans - Cafeteria Food

28. Baths - No Eyes

27. Austra - Home

26. Devendra Banhart - Mi Negrita

25. Daft Punk - Get Lucky (ft. Pharell)

24. Youth Lagoon - Dropla

23. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - We Know Who U R

22. Tyler, The Creator - Awkward

21. Haerts - Wings

20. Postiljonen - Atlantis

19. The National - Sea Of Love

18. Queens Of The Stone Age - If I Had A Tail

17. Earl Sweartshirt – Hive (ft. Vince Staples & Casey Veggies)

16. Jai Paul - Track 3

15. ANTWON - DARK DENIM

14. Fuck Buttons - Brainfreeze

13. Phosphorescent - Song For Zula

12. Unknown Mortal Orchestra - So Good At Being In Trouble

11. Foxygen - San Francisco

10. Majical Cloudz – Bugs Don't Buzz

9. Deerhunter - Neon Junkyard

8. A$AP Rocky – Long Live A$AP

7. Danny Brown - Side B (Dope Song)

 

6. Chance the Rapper - Acid Rain

5. Ducktails - Under Cover

You can bet your peeper this song will be playing my future wedding.

4. Local Natives - Heavy Feet

This album has been slowly creeping up on me all year...

3. Kanye West - New Slaves

No song pumped me up as much as this one did this year. Kanye is six albums in and he's still releasing consistently incredible music. If you can separate the ego from the musician (which you should, you're probably adults), I think it's safe to say that Kanye West is the best rapper alive.

2. Rhye – Last Dance

 

1. Drake – Hold On, We’re Going Home (ft. Majid Jordan)

I can't think of single track from this year that grabbed me quite like this one did. Speaking of "Wedding Songs", this is one of my five favorite songs about love ever. Maybe I should make that list?

Other amazing songs in no particular order…

Rhye - Open

Kanye West - Blood On The Leaves

Jackson Scott - Sandy

Ty Segall - The Man Man

A$AP Rocky - Wild For The Night (ft. Skrillex)

Queens Of The Stone Age - I Appear Missing

Chvrches - The Mother We Share

Disclosure - Latch

Daft Punk - Doin It Right (ft. Panda Bear)

Pusha T - Numbers On The Board

Vampire Weekend - Step

Boards Of Canada - Come To Dust

Local Natives - Breakers

Earl Sweatshirt - Sunday (ft. Frank Ocean)

Foxygen - No Destruction

Deerhunter - Back To The Middle

Black Atlass - Paris

Devendra Banhart - Never Seen Such Good Things

Jai Paul - Jasmine

Yo La Tengo - Cornelia and Jane

Phosphorescent - Ride On, Ride On

Majical Cloudz - Childhood's End

Tyler, The Creator - 48

Kurt Vile - Never Run Away

Akiine - Sunglassey

Darkside - Metatron

Drake - Worst Behavior