Cash was flowing into movie theaters this year, that's for certain. Even I spent more time in theaters than ever before. We all know there were some big hits this year, but did they live up to the hype? I think they did.
10. Men in Black 3
When I first heard about this delayed sequel, I wasn't interested at all. I didn't enjoy the first two much, but Men in Black 3 went in a much different direction with a lot of focus on causation, the underestimated effect of what we do today on what happens tomorrow. Griffin, one of my very favorite new movie characters, has the ability to perceive all possible realities at once and continually hopes the one our world follows is not as disastrous as some of the others. These concepts combine for some fantastic story telling.
9. The Woman in Black
Because of my experience with horror video games, horror movies have never really been able to genuinely scare me; it's so much more terrifying to be a contender rather than a witness. When it comes to jump-scares, the Woman in Black is the most successful horror movie I've seen and I found its creepy premise thrilling. Scariest movie of its type I've seen so far, kudos to it.
8. John Carter
At first glance, John Carter seems like a decent sci-fi film, but then you consider that the movie was made on the 100th birthday of the book it's based on. The man who built this world is Edgar Rice Bulloughs, who, if you didn't know, also created Tarzan. To see his stunning imagination portrayed on the silver screen in a time so distant from his own is like nothing we've seen before in the film industry. Much respect and admiration to Burroughs.
7. Bourne Legacy
If you asked me for me three favorite actors, I'd pick Edward Norton, Jeremy Renner, and Rachel Weisz, and that's before they joined together as my movie dream team for Bourne Legacy. As you can imagine, I was pumped to see what this, the best cast I could hope for, could pull off. Although I think it would have been a better movie if it didn't try so hard to be connected to Bourne's completely separate story, this crew of actors had me smiling the whole way through.
6. The Dark Knight Rises
I think Batman's latest installment will claim spot #1 for many movie-goers this year, but anyway you slice it, it's still about a man dressed like a bat. That said, The Dark Knight Rises, felt surprisingly epic and while Christopher Nolan's Inception is much more my style, he really did an extraordinary job with this character throughout the trilogy and provided a stellar example of how super hero movies should play out. Can't wait to see what Nolan has in store.
5. Chronicle
Chronicle's premise had the potential to be one of my all-time favorites. Shot entirely in realistic-camera style (much like Cloverfield), it delivers some outstanding moments. Unfortunately, the story wasn't quite to my taste and all of the unrealistic high-school boy antics dimmed the overall experience. Still, this movie is exactly the sort of thing I want to see more of: original.
4. Prometheus
Speaking of big, epic movies, Prometheus takes the cake for me this year. The vast majority of story ideas take comfort in being set in the real world. As many of my favorite stories do, Prometheus dares to venture beyond what is familiar, to challenge what is commonplace, and to create a reality in which humanity is only a small piece of the universe. It's too bad the movie, because of the extremity of what it tries to express, feels like it was cut short. I surely look forward to any sequels that may be in store.
3. The Avengers
Like I've said before, a story about a team or a group beats one with a main character any day. I liking being able to pick a favorite, considering the web of relations, and seeing the power of unity in these stories. The Avengers involves one of the greatest teams we've ever seen (and can you guess who's my favorite?) so of course I love it. In my mind, comic-based movies really struggle to be serious and, dare I say it, touching, but The Avengers was a big success.
2. Seeking a Friend for the End of the World
Think apocalypse and movies like 2012, War of the Worlds, and just about any super hero flick likely comes to mind. Seeking a Friend for the End of the World makes it seem real. After one final failed attempt at destroying an incoming meteor, the world resigns to the fact that there are 21 days left to live. The movie does an amazing job at depicting how I think people would actually choose to spend that time. NFL players continue playing games, even though random people walk freely on the field. People hire assassins to kill them so they don't have to face the notoriety of suicide. And of course, crazy parties are found on every corner. The directions the movie's story takes create an inspiring, eye-opening look on what life means to us all.
1. The Hunger Games
Before this year, the most I'd ever seen a single movie in theaters wastwice. I saw The Hunger Games four times and, to be honest, I'd never thought it would happen that way. I wasn't crazy about the book and I wasn't one of the fanatics there at the premiere. I was, however, still very excited for the movie because its structure is very similar to a story I might construct myself. I will always have a special attachment to this tale because of its resonance with my own imagination. The desperate battle for superiority, the organization and portrayal of the fighters and their districts, the arguable ties to video gaming and virtual reality... it's a perfect concoction to me. Sad to say, I found this book far better than its sequels so I can't say I care much for the following movies. At least I know The Hunger Games will always be dear to me.
Winter break is usually my movie-watching crackdown time, but I'm fortunate enough to have had time to get to all the big ones earlier this year. Sure, the list may not be comprehensive of 2012, but I'm happy with my 2012 movie experience.
There are still two months remaining in the year, but I won't be here for them. My game playing, movie watching, and free music listening is over for a while, but I can't ask for much better than the last bit of it I'm enjoying before I depart. And so, while others in my position might use the last few days to take some deep breaths and buckle down for upcoming challenges, I'm here to make sure I bring you the things that have most impressed and comforted me in recent months. When I return, I'll be nearly 22 years old. That means this is my last chance to write to you as a teenager in normalcy and there isn't much I'd rather talk about than the things I love so dearly.
First, let's take a look at the things that have constructed my personal 2012.
January
Returning to college for my second semester was easier than I anticipated. Although I knew I had some GPA fighting to do thanks to a couple challenging 1st semester classes, I took the experience I'd gathered, turned it into confidence and buckled down for another rough group of classes. In the middle of the month, I finally finished churning through the mass of excellent items from the previous year and presented them in my Best of 2011 here on Slick Gimmick.
February
When I turned 19 in February, I found out that a college birthday is much different than a high school birthday. Fortunately, I also found out that I had gained the new college friends that I had been lacking the semester before and while no serious birthday plans were made, the loving acknowledgment I received from these people was enough to make my day. That, to me, was critical as I continued to build upon my college success and sociality.
March
March saw one of the most momentous video game releases of all-time. As the epic conclusion to an engaging trilogy, one might equate Mass Effect 3 with The Return of the King of Lord of the Rings or Return of the Jedi of Star Wars. As silly as it may seem for you non-gamers, the story and visuals of that game inspired me to a new level of imagination. It's not to hard to create characters, to create a story, but to create an entire world with complex interactions and causation...in March, I was reminded of my greatest desire: to be creative, to create.
April
The days in April went quick with my focus on study. With my youngest sister turning 13, I was in a house of teenagers. I began to crackdown on mission papers, hoping that my timing would result in an August departure so there would be no conflicts with school. Turns out, it wouldn't all go as hoped.
May
I finished up college butt-kicking with my last final on May 1st. My summer has basically been from that day until now. That's right, a full six months with no school, no job, not much of any stress at all ... well except for my physical exam papers getting lost in the mail, setting me back three, arguably four weeks in the mission process. Thanks to that break, however, I feel satisfied now; I feel ready. I know that if there's anything I missed out on, it was my own fault. I've had plenty of time to enjoy myself and the time for activity and dedication is overdue.
June
At the beginning of June, I played with the Young Single Adult Stake of Salt Lake City at the Conference Center in what I consider my favorite viola-related performance. A week later, my dad and I beat Diablo 3 (yeah, my dad's awesome), making it the first game we've completed together. On June 20th, I finally received my mission call and found it to be the perfect one for me. Traveling to my grandparents' birthplace for the third time elicits more excitement, faith, and confidence in me than any other result could have. I began brainstorming the things I wanted to get done in the 4 month wait ahead of me.
July
At the end of June and into July, I went to New York City for the first time for my sisters' dance competition, which is the biggest of its kind in the world. I marveled at the 9/11 memorial site and the rising Freedom Tower, saw some places I knew from television and films, found myself starstruck when encountering several internet personalities I like, and had a special moment with a particular song beside the Statue of Liberty. On top of all that, in what was probably the most memorable moment of the year, I cheered for my sister when her dance won the overall highest prize in the competition against nearly 200 others. Still gives me chills. All the while, I considered the bar in my chest as we passed our anniversary and I finally became able to transition from sleeping every night on the couch to my bed.
August
August 1st, I went to a live concert of my favorite band, the Dangerous Summer. Their noise quality at the venue was a downer, but I enjoyed seeing them again all the same. I also enjoyed watching many amazing bands perform at Lollapalooza via YouTube. Aside from that, the month was mostly filled with the departures of my two best friends and with Olympics-related events; I cheered for the US, Germany, and Iceland as always.
September
In September, I received my endowments at the Bountiful Temple. On that day, more than ever before, I was motivated in this endeavor to serve a mission. To be honest, at the beginning of the year, I didn't think it was something I wanted to do. Even now, I'd rather stay home, but I've been blessed enough to realize that these two years aren't time taken from me as much as they are time given to others. Unity is the single most inspiring thing to me, so working to unite the people of Germany in the greatest of unions will be unmatchably rewarding in my mind.
October
In October, I saw my sister dance as a Co-President of the Woods Cross High Dance Company. I heard some incredible news from President Monson at General Conference. I did all of the German-studying, music listening, and people visiting as I felt the need to. I saw The Jezabels perform with my two good friends in what was one of the best nights of the year. I was there when we got rid of our loveable dog, the saddest moment of the year. More relative to this post, I gathered the most desirable things from the year in a makeshift, self-bought Christmas. I had my mission farewell, and now this: the summary of it all. I leave on Halloween, the very last day of the month. With my four last days, my desire is to say all that I want to say, which includes everything you find here.
November and December remain unwritten and, in truth, I consider these next few days the end of the year and November 1st as the beginning of a separate time. With that, let's get to what this is really all about. I haven't had as much time to ponder these things as in previous years, nor have I been able to acquire all of it that I wanted to experience. Nevertheless, I loved every second of it and I'm ready for you to experience it now.
Here it is.
After ten months of searching, feasting, and constantly wondering how this year's best memories would line up, I present to you my 4th annual personal award show, my champions of emotion and artistry, my very favorite things in this, the most definitive year of my life:
I guess you can now call my summer ballads posting a tradition here on Slick Gimmick because even though I'm busy having lots of fun every summer and despite my occasional frustration with adjusting to new Blogger layouts (a la right now), I always make sure I bring the year's most fitting summertime songs to the site. This year's batch marks my fourth year of doing so.
Don't get me wrong, these songs are excellent any time of the year, but all of them, whether it's because of their lyrics, timing, or musical mood, are particularly excellent during these summer months. You can never have too many, so I've put together an offering of 16 songs through which I encourage you to browse and I hope you recruit some into your own collection. Of course, there are many more songs I could put here, but I'm favoring the most recent songs I have to assist you all in your fight for hipness and such.
This year I'm bringing these songs to you in a different fashion than before. Our first 8 songs are for when the sun is out. Perfect for your listening pleasure during boating trips, poolside romps, and all manners of daytime driving, these tunes accompany the more exciting of memories and bring some excitement to the more boring parts. The second 8 songs are more suitable in the nighttime - watching sunsets, stargazing, and just about anything else that's even a touch romantic or mellow.
I hope you enjoy the songs I've been enjoying most this time of year.
Summer Days
1. It's Time - Imagine Dragons "I'm never changing who I am."
We'll start things off right with It's Time by Imagine Dragons, a Provo/Las Vegas band I stumbled into at the first of the year. I'm glad to see this band taking off like it recently has because it deserves the hype. This particular song is my most-played of the year so far; I've learned it on the viola, memorized the lyrics, mastered the clap/stomp percussion... join in. Also, make sure you fullscreen these fellas. We've got some great music videos here.
2. Anna Sun - Walk the Moon "Live my life without coming up for air. Now it's all awash."
Walk The Moon is brand-spanking new. First EP came out this year. First album came out this month. iTunes featured this song as a free single of the week and just like that they're stars. Catchiness, summer-themed lyrics, it's own bit of choreography - all the right ingredients for a summer great.
3. Come Back Down - Greg Laswell ft. Sara Bareilles "All of your wallowing is unbecoming."
Here's the first of several vocal duets I've included here. Two superb solo artists joined up for this one, Come Back Down. Being a longtime fan of both Greg and Sara, I was thrilled to see their voices come together in such an unexpected, yet memorable composition. They should join forces more often.
4. Amanaemonesia - Chairlift "Spacing out in a nook and cranny. It's officially uncanny."
Chairlift is a strange bunch, that's for sure, but they know good music. Another vocal duo piece, Amanaemonesia has a tongue twister of a chorus/title and a dance choreographed by its own frontwoman that kinda makes me embarassed for her, but also makes me think she is in a separate league of awesome altogether. Stick to the audio if you can't keep yourself from laughing.
5. Good Time - Owl City ft. Carly Rae Jepsen "Hands up if you're down to get down tonight."
Owl City is the president of Summer Songs Inc., or so it seems, but Adam Young's bringing something new to the table this year: a collaboration. Now my close friends know well that I'm generally opposed to mega popstars, but I admittedly love Carly Rae Jepsen and have ever since she sang with my top Canadian band The Midway State a couple years back. This song's release this week tickled my fancy, to say the least. Preteens across the globe will embrace this as their summer anthem of 2012. For the first time, I'll be singing along with them.
6. Comeback Kid - Sleigh Bells "I know it's hard, but you've gotta deal with it."
It may surprise you to hear about this type song from me. It may surprise you even more to know that this is currently reigning as my #1 song of 2012. This is a headbang song if I've ever known one. We'll see if anything can top it in the coming months. In the meantime, lose control.
7. Carry On - fun. "If you're lost and alone or sinking like a stone, carry on."
I've had a love/hate relationship with Fun this year. First, they release a single (We Are Young) that I disliked from the first listen. Then they throw about 5 f-words at me in their latest album. Meanwhile, the songs from the CD that are clean and excellent have seemed to go unnoticed. Like this one. Because of it and others, I'm inclined to forgive them.
8. Animal Life - Shearwater "Chasing down an anodyne and half-reflected radiance."
We're going to start our shift to the nighttime with Animal Life, a perfect sunset song. Shearwater is a band I treasure more than most because of its unique vocals and fascinating lyrics. I've had more success sharing this group than any other here because they're just so dang amazing.
Summer Nights
1. Jump Music - The Big Pink "We'll stick together and we'll make it."
We kick off the vespertine tracks with some party music, or jump music, to be more specific. I consider songs this infectious as musical gems. This song, for lack of a better explanation, makes you feel like you're awesome, whether or not you actually are. I'll stick it on the soundtrack of my life for those less-than-cool times.
2. Endless Summer - The Jezabels "In my mind, you're the ephemeral night."
The Jezabels, an Australian crew, just established themselves as one of my favorite bands thanks to their latest masterpiece of an album. And here is the most fitting song and most stellar music video of the post: Endless Summer. This is one of those songs I actively restrain myself from listening to too often. I'd hate ever being desensitized to this brilliance.
3. Nightfall - Amethystium
New era is a genre of music that I'd wager most people have never heard of. Believe it or not, it is my favorite genre of music and not even my closest friends know that. I'm usually hesitant to share it because, well, it's strange, but it's incredibly beautiful. So here I am, taking a chance with Amethystium, which will likely sound totally new to you, but might just enchant you.
4. Boundaries - Kyte "Listen to the world."
Kyte's another of my favorite bands, and not just because their name is one line away from my own. This song here is fairly old, but I picked it up recently and found it's suitability here too significant to discount. The atmosphere Kyte creates is my style of music. If I were to start a band on my own, I couldn't help but take a bit from these guys.
5. I Am Yours - Churchill "I am yours if you want me."
Churchill is one of the youngest bands here. They released an EP in March and they put it up for free on NoiseTrade three months later. They are my heroes because I'd have paid a ton of money for those songs had I known how amazing and diverse they were. In reality, I stumbled into them with no prior knowledge and abruptly fell in love. Head to noisetrade.com to get all five songs for free. That set is my best find of the year, no doubt.
6. Don't Worry - SOJA "Why do we learn the right way by doing the wrong?"
We're switching gears here to some reggae, which always seems to have thoughtful, feel-good lyrics. SOJA, a new band for me, is a certainly a frontrunner in the inspiration department with this song on its top notch. SOJA has a way of making your little problems disappear by reminding you of the stuff that matters most. Their music also gets you thinking, which I'm a fan of.
7. Kinds of Light - Memoryhouse "The more I look, the more you fade."
As things stand now, Memoryhouse's new CD is set up to be my #1 album of the year. This song will give you a good idea why. Aside from having a slight crush on the singer, I'm addicted to the group's perspective on music. I'm saving songs like this for those late-night drives with the sweetheart...you know, when she shows up. Until then, I'll sink into these sultry notes solo.
8. Connected - I Can Make a Mess Like Nobody's Business "On a bright summer day, a big blue sky was calling out my name. What a beautiful surprise."
...And of course we have to bring back some old favorites. Winner of my 2010 album of the year, I Can Make a Mess Like Nobody's Business (code name for Ace Enders) never disappoints. I found this song to be the perfect end to this list. A little bit of summer (the sixth on the list to call it out by name, I believe), a little bit of love (the best part of summer, right?), and a whole bunch of musical passion. I'll leave you with this.
