Another year has gone by and 2014 really sucked or stressful personally at the end of the year. Music-wise, there was a lot of good albums this year but not so much in the punk genre. At least that’s what I think. I didn’t get out to see too many movies this year but still manage to come up with 10 movies that were my favorite. Besides a few titles, 2014 wasn’t that great for movies. I thought it was another outstanding year for TV series, especially from HBO. 2015 seems like it will be a better year in all aspects: movies, music, concerts, TV and hopefully my personal life. Here’s my long ass list of random things from favorite albums to favorite podcasts. Congrats if you can read all of this!

Music

My Top 20 Favorite Albums of 2014:
1. Chuck Ragan – Till Midnight
2. The Primitives – Spin-O-Rama
3. Emerson Hart – Beauty in Disrepair
4. Mad Caddies – Dirty Rice
5. Walk The Moon – Talking is Hard
6. JAWS – Be Slowly
7. Willie Nile – If I Was A River
8. Johnny Marr – Playland
9. Rude Boy George – Confessions
10. The Riptide Movement – Getting Through
11. The Mahones – The Hunger and the Fight
12. Mustard Plug – Can’t Contain It
13. New Model Army – Between Wine and Blood
14. Planet Smashers – Mixed Messages
15. Me First and the Gimme Gimmes – Are We Not Men? We Are Diva!
16. The Talks – Commoners, Peers, Drunks and Thieves
17. The Alternate Routes – Nothing More
18. Uke Hunt – Uke Hunt
19. Survay Says – Observations of the Human Condition
20. Deal’s Gone Bad – Heartbreaks & Shadows

Album that was good but too slow for my liking:
Mark Chadwick – Moment

Albums I Should Have Included On Last Year’s Best-Of List:
The White Buffalo – Shadows, Greys & Evil Ways
Radkey – Cat & Mouse

I’m Looking Forward to Hearing New Music From:
Pilfers
Trapper Schoepp & The Shades
Mat Kearney
Sammy Kay
Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds
Mighty Mighty Bosstones

Top 20 Favorite Songs of the Year:
1. “Something May Catch Fire” – Chuck Ragan
2. “Lose the Reason” – The Primitives
3. “Best That I Can Give” – Emerson Hart
4. “Shut Up & Dance” – Walk The Moon
5. “Easy Money” – Johnny Marr
6. “All Works Out” – Riptide Movement
7. “Tear It Up” – Planet Smashers
8. “Gold” – JAWS
9. “Dangerous” – Mad Caddies
10. “The Metro” – Rude Boy George
11. ”If I Was A River” – Willie Nile
12. “Someone Saved Me” – The Mahones
13. “Here Comes Trouble” – Chronixx
14. “All Over” – CRUISR
15. “The Fool” – Deal’s Gone Bad
16. “The Coolest Person” – Koo Koo Kanga Roo
17. “Angry Planet” – New Model Army
18. “All in a Day” – the Talks
19. “I Aim To Misbehave” – Survay Says!
20. “Word Crimes” – Weird Al

Best Holiday Song of 2014:
“It’s That Time” – The Alternate Routes

Top 5 Favorite Music Videos of 2014:

Top 10 Favorite Concerts of the 2014:

Chuck Ragan / White Buffalo @ Irving Plaza
Mustard Plug / Deal’s Gone Bad/ Butcher Knives / The Fad @ Knitting Factory, NYC
Slow Gherkin / “Mu330” / Survay Says @ Rock Shop, NYC
Carbon Leaf / Gaelic Storm @ Watermark Bar, NYC
Mad Caddies / Mrs Skannotto / Across the Aisle @ Santos Party House, NYC
Rude Boy George/ Scofflaws @ Otto’s Shrunken Head, NYC
Johnny Marr @ Gramercy Theatre, NYC
Rise Against @ Best Buy Theater, NYC
Pilfers @ Gramercy Theatre, NYC
Aquabats @ Irving Plaza, NYC

Best Live Band of the Year:
Butcher Knives – They put on an insane live show!

Bands that aren’t the same since being on Major Labels:
The Gaslight Anthem
Gogol Bordello

Old Band I Just Got Into This Year:
The Humblebums

Top 5 Favorite Film/TV Scores:

1. Interstellar – Hans Zimmer
2. Game of Thrones: Season 4 – Ramin Djawadi
3. Guardians of the Galaxy – Tyler Bates
4. The Hobbit: Battle of The Five Armies – Howard Shore
5. X-Men: Days of Future Past – John Ottman

Movies

My Top 10 Favorite Movies of 2014 (that I’ve seen):
1. Guardians of the Galaxy
2. Captain America: The Winter Soldier
3. The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
4. X-Men: Days of Future Past
5. Edge of Tomorrow
6. 22 Jump Street
7. The Lego Movie
8. The Trip to Italy
9. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1
10. The Interview

Movies I Wanted To See But Haven’t Yet:

Birdman
Horrible Bosses 2
Dumb and Dumber To
Fury
Sin City: A Dame To Kill For
St Vincent
John Wick
Inherent Vice

The Ending Could Have Been Better:
Interstellar

Coolest Intro To a Movie This Year:
X-Men: Days of Future Past

Movie I liked but Could Have Been Better:
Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit
The Monuments Men

Best Documentaries of the Year (that I’ve seen):

The Newburgh Sting
Banksy Does New York

The 5 Worst Movies of the Year (that I’ve seen):

1. Transformers: Age of Extinction
2. Noah
3. Maleficent
4. Divergent
5. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Annoying Characters In A Movie:
Alfrid – The Hobbit: Battle of The Five Armies

Miscast of the Year:
Megan Fox as April O’Neil – Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

What The Fuck moment in a movie:
Rock monsters in Noah

Movies That Looked Bad Even Without Watching Them:
Into The Storm
Expendables 3
Amazing Spiderman 2

Sexiest Movie Poster of 2014:
Sin City: A Dame To Kill For (Eva Green)

Most Quotable Movies of the Year:

The Interview
22 Jump Street
Guardians of the Galaxy

Scene Stealer in 2014: 

Groot – Guardians of the Galaxy

Best Blu-Ray of the Year:
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug Extended Edition

Most Anticipated Movies of 2015:
1. Star Wars: The Force Awakens
2. The Avengers: Age of Ultron
3. Jurassic World
4. Ant-Man
5. Mad Max: Fury Road
6. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 2
7. Terminator: Geniys
8. The Peanuts Movie
9. Tomorrowland
10. The Good Dinosaur

TV

Favorite TV Series of the Year:

1. Game of Thrones

2. True Detective
3. The Walking Dead

4. Homeland

5. Silicon Valley
6. South Park
7. Justified
8. Marvel’s Agents of Shield (they certainly rebounded!)
9. @Midnight
10. Veep
11. Person of Interest
12. The Getaway
13. Modern Family
14. 24: Live Another Day
15. Mike Tyson Mysteries

Best Political Shows of The Year:

Last Week Tonight
The Daily Show

The Colbert Report

Real Time With Bill Maher


Favorite Documentary-Style Series:
Foo Fighter’s Sonic Highway
The Sixties

Holy Shit Moments of the Year:
A Certain character on Game of Thrones NOT appearing!
The Red Viper vs The Mountain on Game of Thrones
That 13 minute long continuous shot on True Detective

Most Predictable Season of a Show:
House of Cards Season 2

The Holy Shit, What Am I Watching Yet This Is So Funny Award Goes To:
Too Many Cooks

New Show I Hope Doesn’t Suck:
Better Call Saul

Most Annoying TV Character This Year:
Lily – Modern Family

Shows that are Slipping:
Castle
The Big Bang Theory (yes I watch it)
Family Guy

A Good Show That Got Canceled:
The Pete Holmes Show

Best TV Show Intro of the Year:

Game of Thrones (still)
True Detective

Best Episode of any TV series this season:
The Mountain and the Viper – Game of Thrones

Show I Got Back Into This Year:
The Simpsons

Guilty Pleasure Shows to Watch on Weekends:
American Pickers
Rick Steve’s Europe
Yard Crashers
Property Brothers

Favorite Late Night Talk Series:

The Graham Norton Show
Conan
Jimmy Kimmel Live
The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon

Funniest moments on Late Night Talk Series:
Conan, Ice Cube and Kevin Hart use Uber – Conan
Jimmy Kimmel gets pranks by Emily Blunt and John Krasinski – Jimmy Kimmel Live
Lip Sync Battle with Paul Rudd – Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon

Internet & Other Random Stuff

Top 5 Favorite Podcasts of the Year:
1. Nerdist
2. Doug Loves Movies
3. WTF with Marc Maron
4. By The Way with Jeff Garlin
5. Seeing Red: New York Red Bulls podcast

Favorite Web Video Series:
The Screen Junkies show
Bad Lip Reading
Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee

Top 5 Favorite Comedians of the Year:

Bill Burr
Anthony Jeselnik
Louis CK
Doug Benson
Todd Barry

Best Mobile Apps:

HBO Go

Netflix

Angry Birds Star Wars II

Book(s) I Read In 2014:
Fall of the Governor: Part 1
….that’s about it haha

Top 5 Celebrity Crushes of the Year

1. Alexandra Daddario

2. Sofia Vergara
3. Lauren Cohan
4. Eva Green
5. Nathalie Emmanuel

Biggest Assholes of 2014:
That asshole music venue that rhymes with Cockwood
Those assholes at PATH for making it really tough to travel on the weekends
That asshole that cut me off on the Palisades
That asshole bus that almost ran into me on Kennedy Blvd
That asshole Jitney bus that almost crashed into me on Newark Ave
Those assholes over in Apple for discontinuing the iPod Classic
Those assholes at Facebook for making it impossible for people to see my posts
Every asshole that complained about the ALS challenge. Oh no, people raising awareness for a charity!
Those fucking assholes over at Allied Interstate for calling my phone twice a day for the last 2 years…..and for the wrong person!

Things that need to go away:
Selfie sticks
Anyone that takes pictures with their Ipad
The Hitler Youth haircut…face it, you’re not Beckham

People that need to go away:
Grumpy Cat
Miley Cyrus
Justin Bieber
Kanye
The Kardashians
Chris Christie

Phrases/words that still need to go away:

the usual stuff I complained about the last couple of years

Things I Learned in 2014:
Cancer fucking sucks
Kidney stones can be sort of a blessing
Remember to check your pockets after you sit down in a mall chair waiting for your car to be done (lost my iPod)
Remember to turn off the lights in my car after frantically trying to find something
No matter how many times a movie theater tells people not to talk during the movie beforehand, people still do
If a hacker group says the words “9/11,” movie theaters won’t show a movie
People are more concerned about traffic than the justice system
People would rather wait on line for a crappy iPhone than protest
People can be really annoying on eBay
Learned how to be somewhat of a man and grill outside
Don’t wash a grill spatula without a sponge and with your bare hands
Ducttape works to stop the bleeding
PATH schedule is never right
People that work at TV channels can be cheap
Don’t microwave a small piece of bread on a paper towel
I still don’t like Jiker
Antigone Rising fans like to talk throughout the opening acts and are rude jerks
The creators of Game of Thrones fucked up the season finale

That’s it! Happy New Year Fuckers!