2011 was a great year for me personally. Got married, went to Paris for our Honeymoon, and moved to Jersey city. 2011 was also great in music and movies as well but think 2012 will be even better with movies. The Hobbit, Dark Knight Rises and the Avengers! Wowza! In 2012, ReadJunk.com/Ska Punk Other Junk will be 15 years old! The site is still going (not strongly haha, but still going). I’ll also be starting a new web venture that I’m looking forward to starting but I’ll talk more about in the upcoming months. For now, see what I liked/disliked of 2011! Happy New Year Folks!

Music

My Top 20 Favorite Albums of 2011:
1. The Rifles – Freedom Run
2. Mat Kearney – Young Love
3. Noel Gallagher’ High Flying Birds – Noel Gallagher’ High Flying Birds
4. Frank Turner – England Keep My Bones
5. Beady Eye – Different Gear Still Speeding
6. Hard-Fi – Killer Sounds
7. Mighty Mighty Bosstones – The Magic of Youth
8. Nick 13 – Nick 13
9. Old Man Markley – Guts N Teeth
10. Chixdiggit! – Safeways Here We Come
11. William Elliott Whitmore – Field Songs
12. Planet Smashers – Descent into the Valley of…
13. The Kooks – Junk of the Heart
14. Tom Waits – Bas As Me
15. Jon Fratelli – Psycho Jukebox
16. Swingin’ Utters – Here, Under Protest
17. Screeching Weasel – First World Manifesto
18. Mayer Hawthorne – How Do You Do
19. The Decemberists – King Is Dead
20. Face to Face – Laugh Now, Laugh Later

Reissue of the Year:
The Levellers – A Weapon Called the Word

Favorite Live Albums of the Year:
Carbon Leaf – Live, Acoustic…and in Cinemascope CD/DVD
The Levellers – Levelling The Land Live

Disappointing Album of the Year:
Kaiser Chiefs – The Future is Medieval

Album I Should Have Included On Last Year’s Best-Of List:
Fitz and the Tantrums – Pickin’ Up The Pieces

Funniest Album of the Year:
Lonely Island – Turtleneck and Chains

Favorite Music Videos of 2011:
Lonely Island – Jack Sparrow

Favorite Concerts of the 2011:
Fitz and the Tantrums @ Central Park Summerstage
Carbon Leaf @ Mexicali Live, Teaneck NJ
The Pogues @ Terminal 5
Griffin House & Charlie Mars @ City Winery

I Want To Hear New Music From:
The Levellers
The Cranberries
Babylon Circus
Carbon Leaf
New Model Army
Stereophonics
Alternate Routes

Top 5 Favorite Film/TV Scores:
Game of Thrones
The Help
Super 8
War Horse
X-Men First Class

Movies

My Favorite Movies of 2011:
1. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II
2. The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
3. The Trip
4. X-Men: First Class
5. Horrible Bosses
6. Bridesmaids
7. Captain America
8. The Help
9. Crazy, Stupid Love
10. Conan O’Brien Can’t Stop
11. Thor
12. Source Code

The Worst Movies of the Year:
Take Me Home Tonight
Green Lantern
No Strings Attached

Cool Action Movie but Still Stupid:
Transformers: Dark of the Moon

I liked The Movie but could have been better:
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

Favorite Documentary of the Year:
The Other F Word

Documentary I’m Looking forward to:
Paradise Lost 3

Movies I Know Suck just from looking at the Movie Poster and/or the Actors in it:
The Zookeeper
Season of the Witch
Drive Angry 3D
Jack & Jill
Priest
Big Momma’s House: Like Father Like Son

Stupidest Movie Titles of the Year:
Mars Needs Mom

Most Gruesome Deaths I’ve Seen In A Movie This Year:
Brian Cox in Ironclad

Most Annoying Movie Characters This Year:
Anyone in Transformers: The Dark of the Moon

Movies I Haven’t Seen Yet That I Will Probably Like:
Muppets
Hugo
War Horse

Most Quotable Movie of the Year:
The Trip

Best Movie Quotes of the Year:
“May I Kill Him?” – The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
“Gentlemen to bed, for tomorrow we rise at daybreak, and we battle…at 9:30…ish” – The Trip
“Go fuck yourself.” – X-Men: First Class
“fuck! Seriously? It’s like you’re Photoshopped! ” – Crazy, Stupid Love
“Why would you put his whole bathroom in your ass?” – Horrible Bosses

Scene Stealers in 2011:
Jennifer Aniston – Horrible Bosses
Michael Fassbender – Xmen First Class
Melissa McCarthy – Bridesmaids
Octavia Spencer – The Help

Most Anticipated Movies of 2012:
The Hobbit!
The Dark Knight Rises
The Avengers
American Reunion
Brave
The Amazing Spiderman
Skyfall
The Bourne Legacy
The Hunger Games
Frankenweenie

We Don’t Need Another Sequel For:
Saw
Final Destination
Paranormal Activity
Fast & The Furious
Scream

You Know Hollywood Is Out Of Original Ideas When They Want To Remake:
Red Dawn
Revenge of the Nerds
Child’s Play
Total Recall
Commando
The Crow
Porkys
Short Circuit
Pet Sematary

TV

Favorite TV Series of the Year:
1. Game of Thrones
2. Homeland
3. The Walking Dead
4. The Big Bang Theory
5. Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations / The Layover
6. Louie
7. Modern Family
8. Castle
9. Californication
10. American Pickers
11. Justified
12. Peter Lik’s On The Edge

Shows I Bailed On This Year:
The Office

Shows I’m Close To Bailing On:
Fringe

Best New TV Series:
Games of Thrones
Homeland
The Layover

Best TV Show Intro of the Year:
Game of Thrones

Best Political Shows:
Real Time With Bill Maher
The Daily Show
Colbert Report
Countdown with Keith Olbermann

Best Comeback This Year:
Beavis and Butthead

I Will NEVER Ever Watch:
Glee
Jersey Shore
Real Housewives of [insert city]
Dancing With The Stars
Two and A Half Men
Biggest Loser
The Bachelor
Keeping Up With The Kardashians

TV Shows I Haven’t Seen That I’d Probably Like:
Dexter
America Horror Story

Most Boring Plotline This TV Season:
Sophia being lost on The Walking Dead

Most Annoying Commercial:
T-Mobile’s “Walking in an Orgy Wonderland” commercial
Hyundai commercials
Citi Bank commercials

Best Late Night Talk Series:
Conan
Jimmy Kimmel Live

Mobile

Best Mobile Apps:
Netflix
HBO Go
Max Go
Pandora
Angry Birds

Mobile Apps That Need to Improve:
YouTube
Team Coco

Random Stuff

Favorite Books I Read In 2011: (Yes, I can sort of read):
Game of Thrones
A Clash of Kings
A Storm of Swords(!!)

Biggest Headaches of the Year:
Moving
Driving in Traffic on Rt 17
Being stuck behind buses and shuttle buses on JFK Blvd

Phrases/words that need to go away:
Bro
Mancave
Really?? Really??
Seriously?
Oh Noes
For reelz
FAIL
EPIC!
FTW
Just saying…
OMG.
ohhhh…myyyy…godddd
crowdsourcing
staycation

Best Day of 2011:
July 16th