Brandon Flowers - Can't Deny My Love
Carly Rae Jepsen - Run Away With Me
CHVRCHES - Clearest Blue
Courtney Barnett - Pedestrian at Best
Grimes - Kill V. Maim
Jason Derulo - Want To Want Me
Kacey Musgraves - Late to the Party
MisterWives - Reflections
Passion Pit - Until We Can't (Let's Go)
Shamir - On The Regular
Sleater-Kinney - A New Wave
Smallpools - Street Fight
Tame Impala - The Less I Know The Better
Torres - Strange Hellos
The Weeknd - Can't Feel My Face
My Favorite Albums
I thought it was a down year for music, or at least according to my music taste (or maybe I'm getting too obsessed with podcasts). I enjoyed The Balcony, Catfish and the Bottlemen's mature-beyond-its-years debut; the riotous comeback of Sleater-Kinney with No Cities To Love; The Desired Effect, the sparkling solo sophomore album from Killers frontman Brandon Flowers; and the pleasant surprise of CHVRCHES avoiding the sophomore slump with Every Open Eye. But the album that I kept returning to was one I was not anticipating: Carly Rae Jepsen's E•MO•TION. With this album chock full of earworms, she proved she's much more than a one-hit wonder. I ended up purchasing the deluxe version of this album because even the bonus tracks were that catchy.
My Favorite Movies
Creed
I'm pretty sure the only Rocky movie I've seen in full is Rocky Balboa, so I'm not the foremost authority on this series. But I thought USC alum Ryan Coogler and Michael B. Jordan made this their own, whether it was through that masterful one-take fight or the goosebump-inducing, Meek Mill-soundtracked bikes in the street scene.
Ex Machina
There were so many things I loved about this minimalist thriller: The way the first scene is shot to immediately hook you. Watching two of the finest young actors working today square off for 90 minutes. And of course, that dance scene.
Inside Out
I know some people don't think adults should adore these movies, but what I like about them is that they're one of Hollywood's few remaining sources of original storytelling. I was pleased to see Pixar emerge from its funk (Cars 2, no thank you) with a movie that was so universal (We all have feelings!), so creative (Personality islands! Your forgotten imaginary friend!) and perfectly cast (Phyllis! Lewis Black!). Did you know people cried during this movie? (I did.)
Mad Max: Fury Road
What a lovely day it was when I saw this relentless, refreshingly CGI-averse movie. I can't take any opinion of this movie seriously unless the person saw it in a theater. This is a spectacle that was made to be consumed on the big screen. Since my first viewing, I've seen bits of this on a plane and on HBO and it isn't the same. Like Gravity, I believe this should only be available to watch in theaters.
My Favorite Comedy Special
My Favorite Article
(I am still a voracious reader, although I've become more of a news junkie than the bookworm I once was. Because I didn't really read a book I loved this year, I thought I'd highlight my favorite article of the year. This is clearly my most exciting category.)
Like a car crash on the highway, I've found it difficult to look away from how Donald Trump crashed the presidential party this past year. I thought this magnificent Frank Rich article in New York Magazine offered a balanced, masterful breakdown on the massive ripple effects of his wrecking-ball campaign.
Honorable mention goes to an article by a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter that should have set off a media firestorm but didn't because it wasn't easily compartmentalized into a listicle format: Seymour Hersh's exposé on the killing of Osama bin Laden and the many liberties the Obama administration took in telling their version of the story.
My Favorite Product To Aspire To Own
While on vacation in Hawaii, I experienced my first Toto toilet. It was the heated seat that got me. You wouldn't expect that to make a huge difference until it makes you realize you've been sitting on cold toilet seats your entire life, and now all you want is this luxury you didn't know existed seconds before. The built-in bidet and dryer are just gravy after that. Now I know what the most appealing part of becoming a homeowner would be for me. Needless to say, I've added this to my Amazon wish list.
My Favorite Video
My Favorite TV Show
Nathan For You continues to be the funniest show on TV. It's also the first show for me since the U.K. Office where there is as much laughing as cringing from the unbearable awkwardness. It was endlessly entertaining to see the unexpected and outrageous ways Nathan escalated the stakes this season. "The Movement" (embedded below for your viewing pleasure) was the best example of that.
Honorable mention to two true-crime documentaries - HBO's The Jinx and Netflix's Making A Murderer.
Later 2015, you were all right.
Later 2015, you were all right.
