Monday, December 07, 2009

THE BEST OF THE DECADE

Wow, it's already been 10 YEARS!! Where did the time go? It feels just like yesterday I was going to high school. This has been a very crazy 10 years. So much has happened -- both good and bad.

The Election of Barak Obama is probably the biggest achievment of this decade, maybe this century? It truly was a leap forward in American History and a day none of us will forget.

Another day we won't foget is 9/11. It was a day of great confusion and panic for -- well everyone. But at the end of the day, after all the tragedy and hardship, the most miraculous thing was probably the outpour of support from all nations. It was truly inspiring.

Of course, that day also snowballed and became the 8 year war in Iraq and Afhganistan. As much as we pushed forward, we also set ourselves back.

Another tragedy was the big stock market crash. Not since the great depression have we seen the ecomnomy crash like this. Many lost their jobs and some questioned whether our way of life could continue.

Its also been a great decade for Technology. Viral video and sites like Youtube, forever changed the way we view videos and send information. Also Facebook and twitter have had a great influence on communication.

But my favorite tech item this decade -- IPOD! I love this little thing. For years I bought CD after CD, and let me tell you it got really annoying. But now I can travel anywhere with thousands of my songs at my finger tips. THANK YOU MAC!

Video Games also had a giant evoultion this decade. With things like X-BOX live and online gaming, people have become more and more connected than ever before.

Blu-ray also changed home video. With it razor sharp pictures and revoultionary bonus features, it will surely be interestiing to follow this new technology as it heads into the next ten years.

The cinema has had a really unique decade. We saw the rise of the Superhero genre, the musical and most important to me -- the Animated Feature! There have been so many great films this decade, also many bad ones -- but the ONE thing that this decade has benefitted from is the focus on character. I gotta say, soo many big blockbuster films (Spider-man-harry potter and batman) opted for less action and more character driven plots. Which, I thought was a great choice.

Although the characters were great, this decade suffered a much bigger problem -- the loss of origiality. 90% of the films made this decade were either rehashes of past franchises or based on a comic or novel. Come on people, let's get some fresh ideas in here! Lets hope and pray that the next decade is a litle more -- original?

Network television also went through a similar creative slump. How man reality shows or cop drams can you count? But I must say, where netowrk TV suffered, Cable TV triumphed. Channels like HBO, Showtime, FX and AMC benefitted form great shows like -- The Sopranos, Entourage, True Blood, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Weeds, Mad Men and Rescue Me.

The Music scene also saw some new changes. The rise of Indie rock was a big moment. Bands like The Killers, Death Cab for Cutie and Broken Social Scene really changed the rock scene.

The pop scene also benefitted from some new fresh talent -- Beyonce, Kelly Clarkson, Lady Gaga and Katy Perry. But as much as things changed the more they stayed the same -- just like the 90's the latter half of the decade returned to the gilr and boy band craze with bands like Miley Cyrus, Jonas Brothers. Oh well.

One genre I had high hopes for was Rap. The decade began with such great potential with rappers like Eminem, Jay-Z and Outkast - to name a few, really pushing the game forward. But then we kinda fell off the wagon and rap kinda became about rappers telling everyone how fly they were and how much more money and ho's they got.

All in all I would say even if you didn't like this decade - it was pretty eventful. We shared some great memories and some hard times, but we all came out stonger than ever and lets hope these next ten years are even BETTER!


Top 50 Movies of the Decade:

1. Donnie Darko (2001)
2. The Dark Knight (2008)
3. The Incredibles (2004)
4. Minority Report (2002)
5. Spider-Man 2 (2004)
6. Catch Me If You Can (2002)
7. Star Trek (2009)
8. Superbad (2007)
9. Pan's Labyrinth (2005)
10. Finding Nemo (2003)
11. Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004)
12. Wedding Crashers (2005)
13. Lilo & Stitch (2002)
14. X2: X-Men United (2003)
15. Constantine (2005)
16. Ratatoullie (2007)
17. Borat (2004)
18. Inglorious Basterds (2009)
19. The Hangover (2009)
20. Monsters, Inc (2001)
21. Casino Royale (2006)
22. Juno (2007)
23. Slumdog Millionaire (2008)
24. Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008)
25. The Prestige (2006)
26. Knocked Up (2007)
27. Iron Man (2008)
28. Talledega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2006)
29. Wall-E (2008)
30. Clerks 2 (2006)
31. Lords of Dogtown (2002)
32. Zombieland (2009)
33. Spider-Man (2002)
34. The 40 Year Old Virgin (2005)
35. Harry Potter and the Prisioner of Azkaban (2004)
36. The Emeperor's New Groove (2000)
37. Shaun of the Dead (2004)
38. V for Vendetta (2005)
39. Monster House (2006)
40. Disturbia (2007)
41. Batman Begins (2005)
42. Kung-Fu Panda (2008)
43. Surf's Up (2007)
44. Old School (2003)
45. X-Men (2000)
46. Shrek (2001)
47. Transformers (2007)
48. School of Rock (2003)
49. Gladiator (2000)
50. The Departed (2006)

Top 10 Television Shows of the Decade

1. Entourage (2004-)
2. Smallville (2001-)
3. The O.C (2003-2007)
4. Supernatural (2005-)
5. Family Guy (re-launch) (2004-)
6. The Big Bang Theory (2007-)
7. The Colbert Report (2005-)
8. Curb Your Enthusiasm (2000-)
9. The Office (2003-)
10. Weeds (2005-)

The Top 50 Albums of the Decade

1. Because of the Times - Kings of Leon (2007)
2. Kid A – Radiohead (2000)
3. Elephant - The White Stripes (2002)
4. A Rush of Blood to the Head – Coldplay (2001)
5. The Eminem Show – Eminem (2002)
6. Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix – Phoenix (2009)
7. The Black Album – Jay-Z (2004)
8. Transatlanticism - Death Cab For Cutie (2003)
9. In Rainbows – Radiohead (2007)
10. Mute Math – Mute Math (2008)
11. Monkey Business – The Black Eyed Peas (2006)
12. Dear Science – TV on the Radio (2008)
13. Graduation – Kanye West (2007)
14. Aha Shake Heartbreak – Kings of Leon (2006)
15. Oracualr Spectacular – MGMT (2008)
16. Black Holes and Revelations – Muse (2006)
17. Set Yourself on Fire– Stars (2005)
18. Hybrid Theory – Linkin Park (2000)
19. Only By The Night – Kings of Leon (2008)
20. Bows + Arrows - The Walkmen (2004)
21. Narrow Stairs – Death Cab for Cutie (2008)
22. All That You Can Leave Behind – U2 (2000)
23. The Fame – Lady Gaga (2008)
24. Crisis – Alexisonfire (2007)
25. American Idiot – Green Day (2004)
26. Heavier Things – John Mayer (2003)
27. Street Gospels – Bedouin Soundclash (2008)
28. Kayla – MIA (2007)
29. The Airborne Toxic Event - The Airborne Toxic Event (2009)
30. Cage the Elephant – Cage the Elephant (2009)
31. Youth and Young Manhood – Kings of Leon (2003)
32. Swoon - Silversun Pickups (2009)
33. Sounding a Mosaic – Bedouin Soundclash (2005)
34. Funeral – Arcade Fire (2004)
35. Meteora – Linkin Park (2004)
36. Romance Bloody Romance – Death From Above 1979 – (2005)
37. Writer's Block - Peter, Bjorn and John (2006)
38. The Marshall Mathers LP – Eminem (2000)
39. Fantasies - Metric (2009)
40. Gimmie Fiction - Spoon (2003)
41. Watch Out! – Alexisonfire (2003)
42. Future Sex/Love Sounds - Justin Timberlake (2006)
43. Back to Black – Amy Winehouse (2007)
44. Plans – Death Cab For Cutie (2005)
45. One of the Boys – Katy Perry (2008)
46. Start Something – Lostprohets (2003)
47. Untitled – Blink 182 (2003)
48. Rock Steady – No Doubt (2001)
49. Love & Death – The Stills (2008)
50. In Our Bedroom After the War - Stars (2007)

The Top 50 Songs of the Decade

1. Lose Yourself - Eminem
2. Seven Nation Army - The White Stripes
3. Knocked Up - Kings of Leon
4. Little House of Savages - The Walkmen
5. Wolf Like Me - TV On The Radio
6. Rebellion (Lies) - Arcade Fire
7. 99 Problems - Jay-Z
8. Somebody Told Me- The Killers
9. Paper Planes - MIA
10. Yellow - Coldplay
11. 1901 - Pheonix
12. Your Ex-Lover is Dead - Stars
13. Lazy Eye - Silversun Pickups
14. Taper Jean Girl - Kings of Leon
15. Supermassive Blackhole - Muse
16. Bigger Than My Body - John Mayer
17. The Scientist - Coldplay
18. Sound Of Settling - Death Cab For Cutie
19. Typical - Mute Math
20. Stan - Eminem
21. Wake Up -Arcade Fire
22. Bodysnatchers - Radiohead
23. Crawl - Kings of Leon
24. Mrs. Jackson - Outkast
25. No Transitory - Alexisonfire
26. Sex on Fire -Kings of Leon
27. A Movie Script Ending - Death Cab For Cutie
28. Ain't No Rest For The Wicked - Cage The Elephant
29. Bad Romance - Lady Gaga
30. Show Me How To Live - Audioslave
31. In The End - Linkin Park
32. The Way We Get By - Spoon
33. Beautiful Day - U2
34. St. Andrews - Bedouin Soundclash
35. Body of Years - Mother Mother
36. Daughters - John Mayer
37. Weapon - Matthew Good
38. All These Things That I've Done - The Killers
39. I Kissed A Girl - Katy Perry
40. Dead Disco - Metric
41. I Miss You - Blink 182
42. Love Game - Lady Gaga
43. Without Me - Eminem
44. Complicated - Avril Lavigne
45. A Millie - Lil' Wayne
46. Pieces - Sum 41
47. Young Folks - Peter, Bjorn and John
48. Lisztomania - Phoenix
49. Holiday - Green Day
50. Try Honesty - Billy Talent