End of the year/world awards : Mayan edition

At last another year has seemingly transitioned from January to December in a seemingly Usain bolt-esque 100m timespan. Amongst all the false promises that'll inevitably turn into february's guilt were sure to make ourselves, comes a look back on the supposed final year of our existence. A lot transpired this year other than our beloved Mayans slight miscalculation. So here are my terribly slanted looks at the ups and downs of 12'. I give you the "end of the year awards: Mayan Edition"


Best Film: ARGO



If you take our generations far and away best film director and couple it with our generations far and away best on screen actor and add a smidgen of presidential portrayal of one of our most significant american figues, you would assume you'd have a shoe in for film of the year, right? Well, almost. Maybe in any other year except this one. In a surprising delicate on doucheyness performance from Ben Affleck and a much more matured directing version of Ben, he gave us his 3rd directorial effort with Argo. A non-stop antacid popping provoking, true story. Now i always find movies that are based on real events are usually the hardest to stay entertained in without throwing the once "true story" film into a "loosely based around" escapade. But Argo accomplishes the accuracy of the story and keeps the viewer in the spot of any of the hostages that are perfectly depicted by an ensemble patchwork cast. Also included a surprising but much needed comedic relief by the sharp tongued duo of Alan Arkin, and John Goodman who did their best Grumpy old men visit Hollywood rendition. Argo offered a perfect balance of the type of film that will always succeed in hollywood and gave us a brief hiatus from flying Aliens, spaceships, computer generated heavy scenes, and explosions. Heres to you Mr. Affleck, for having a flawless directing record thus far. Maybe your true calling is behind that camera instead of in front of it. If you need convincing, just take a trip down to your local redbox and rent the thought provoking DAREDEVIL film you did.

Honorable Mentions: Killing them Softly, Lawless

Dishonorable Mentions: The Master, The Dark Knight Rises, Flight


Best Album of the year:

Brandon Flowers, fresh off his solo effort "Flamingo" rejoins his cast of unshaved, verging on hipster cronies to give us The Killers 3rd studio album "Battleborn". As a heavy duty fan you are always weary of a band changing their sound too much in an attempt to stay relevant with the ever changing music scene. The Killers failed at this, and succeeded tremendously at taking their original sound to new heights by injecting audio growth hormones into everything from their melodies, eerily profound synthesizers, vulnerable content, and all around musical accompaniment. While their single "Runaways" currently burning up every alternative station youre tuned into, they also have 2 melancholy songs that balance the overall high energy that remains throughout the album. Battleborn provides stories from Brandon's childhood, love lost ballads, and the typical "what the hell does that line mean?" lyricism that we've come to expect. The killers have reached their full potential with an almost immaculate album. Us fans are just hoping we can ride this creative wave for a couple more projects.

Honorable Mentions: Watch the Throne (Jay-z, Kanye West),  Kaleidoscope (miguel), Red (Taylor Swift)

Dishonorable Mentions: Channel Orange (Frank Ocean),