Best of 2009

December 9, 2009

Best Anticlimax – The “Battlestar Galactica” series finale

Only a show this smartly written and this steeped in its own mythology could find a way to leave their fans scratching their heads. Like a science fiction version of Mark Twain's “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,” nearly everything leading up its final act make it a classic – one of the best ever. But when that final shot faded away, all that was left was the memories of Cylons, moral questions about leadership, Iraq War metaphors and a heap of unanswered questions.

-Andrew Mitchell

Best Viral Video -David After Dentist

This video is why YouTube was invented.

There is no better purpose for the Internet than to showcase poor parenting decisions in the form of drugged up 7-year-olds having an existential crisis.

Our little hero, David, was just released from the dentist’s office and tells his father he feels “funny.” The father proceeds to videotape the after effects of anesthesia and David gains YouTube stardom.

With questions like, “Is this real life?” and astute observations like, “You have four eyes,” young David sounds higher than a kite. Many in the media lambasted David’s father following the video’s viral explosion saying that he exploited his child.

I disagree and can only hope that someone has a camera on me the next time I get out of the dentist chair.

-Luke Runyon

Best New Band - The xx

Most of the time, it's hard to hear a young band, especially one younger than this writer, and not get a little jealous at their success, the pithy little upstarts. But the critical acclaim of this London group's debut album is rightfully earned. Underneath a subtle and seductive mix of guitar, bass and drum machines, co-lead singers Romy Madley Croft and Oliver Sim trade back soft-spoken lines that cross between heartwarming pleas of devotion and searing come-ons. (“Maybe I have said / something that was wrong,” Croft sings, “Can I make it better / with the lights turned off?”) The xx offered compelling proof this year that a band can take parts of the Cure and R&B singer Aaliyah and make it sound as natural as tea and sugar.

-Andrew Mitchell

Best Music Video: “We Own the Sky” by M83

Let’s get the indie checklist going on this video.

Hipsters? Check. Running through a field? Check. Fawning eyes from hipster girl to hipster boy? Check. Giant white boxes filled with confetti? Ch…wait, what?

This video starts feeling like a tired cliché. Beautiful French teenagers, dressed head to toe in horizontal stripes, plaid shirts and skinny jeans, frolic through a meadow, flying kites and spreading obscene amounts of glee.

As the video goes on though, the focus shifts from the whole group to our Parisian lovebird protagonists, complete with tangled kite strings. And just when everything seemed perfect, enter giant, foreboding confetti boxes.
While the end of the video doesn’t necessarily live up to the suspense built up by M83’s chanting of “It’s coming, it’s coming on,” the whole piece paints a beautiful picture of young love.

Even if it’s only hipster love.

- Luke Runyon

Worst Publicity Stunt: The Balloon Boy

When Falcon Heene’s face showed up all over the news media as the aptly titled “Balloon Boy,” there was no way to know how bizarre this story would get. For hours, Americans all over the country stood rapt in front of their TVs, with a silver muffin-shaped balloon floating across the sky.

Then, little Falcon, followed his parents’ orders and climbed out from the attic. The reality show producers were supposed to be lining up in front of the Heene’s house, begging for chance to put them on TLC, VH1 or some other trashy network. Instead, the Heene family found themselves in hot water with the federal government. Apparently no one told them it was illegal to call the police and pretend your son is in hot air balloon to get a timeslot after Jon and Kate Plus 8, speaking of terrible parents…

- Luke Runyon

Worst News Event: Swine Flu

It was the SARS of 2009. I’m pretty sure the media even used the same B-Roll when it came to news stories about swine flu. Faces covered in white masks, people getting vaccines, spliced together with clips of pigs and Mexicans. Way to go, 24-hour news media!

People love being afraid and swine flu continues to feed the fear left in the absence of terrorist attacks, virus-laden monkeys, and earthquakes. Even though swine flu’s mortality rate was a fraction of the seasonal flu’s, just try opening a newspaper (here it is again, irony alert!) or flipping through a news channel without seeing tips about washing hands. Which, by the way, if you need a newspaper to tell you to do each day…gross.

- Luke Runyon

Worst Trend – Vampires

There's nothing wrong with the undead descendents of Nosferatu, nor is there anything wrong with them being popular. But would it stab someone in the heart with a stake to make some quality art with the idea? “True Blood” started off with a promising premise, but dipped too far into the soap opera pool. “The Vampire Diaries” did the same. Don't even get this writer started about “Twilight.” Where's Buffy when you need her?

- Andrew Mitchell