Adam "Gunny" Willis' General Year In Review

In writing something of this nature, I tend to dwell on my decision for too long. The main reason for this is that having a limited amount of time and money for buying/"buying"(downloading) music, watching movies, reading books (ha!), watching television and generally participating in cultural studies restricts the pool from which I can draw. Therefore these year end lists would probably be more accurate a few years down the road after I've had the chance to watch more DVDs and listen to more CD releases from the year in question.

The lists on this blog alternately make me feel good and bad about my tastes in pop culture. I hope the following best-of-lists of my own will impress you and make you feel ashamed for not nearly being as cultured as I am. Sorry for the length of this post. Enjoy!

Best Movies I Saw in 2006
7. Wassup Rockers! (maybe not the 7th best, but very enjoyable and influenced me to take up skateboarding too late in life)
6. Borat
5. The Departed
4. Half Nelson
3. A Guide To Recognizing Your Saints
2. Brick
1. The Fountain

Worthy Acting Performances Worth Mentioning In Which The Film Itself Did Not Make The Top 7
2. Sasha Baron Cohen- Talledega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (I still stand by my comment of this being a "Peter Sellers-worthy comedic performance)
1. Isaac Laskin- Art School Confidential (most shocking recognition of an actor on screen, and most Malkovich scene-stealing performance of the year)

Best Movie Trailer of the Year
1. Marie Antoinette (the initial teaser featuring New Order's "Age of Consent")
View Trailer

Best Television Shows of the Year
4. MTV's Two-A-Days (my lack of interest in the past few Real World Seasons, Real World/Road Rules Challenge-esque shows, and the latter 2 Seasons of Laguna Beach provided a gaping hole in my youth culture "reality" programming which this show filled. There's nothing like High School Football and High School Drama. Also, those Alabama jocks had the best uniform hairstyles of the year.)
3. 30 Rock (Tracy Morgan and Alec Baldwin. Fantastic.)
2. Saxondale (Steve Coogan's latest BBC Comedy, see it now before it is made into a watered down, slightly less-funny American version for NBC)
1. Sopranos Season 6 (I can't help being on the bandwagon, it's great.)

Most Un-funny Television Show of the Year Which The General Public As Well As Multiple Friends & Family Find Funny to My Lack of Understanding
1. My Name Is Earl (Jason Lee is much smaller in real life than he appears on screen.)

Most Cliche Celebrity Sighting Observation Used In This Best-Of-List
1. Celebrities are always smaller in real life.

Facial Hair of the Year
1. Beards

(This was such a ridiculously long post, that I have split it up into 2 to look less obnoxious.)

Love,
Adam Willis