The PCWEI Best of 2008 Awards

Tonight another year silently slips into the mists of memory like mime into quicksand. And to celebrate, here’s what those of us a PCWEI think are the best things to remember about 2008:

Best Movies

5. Iron Man (review)
This was Robert Downey, Jr’s year. Iron Man kicked off the summer of comic book movies and Tropic Thunder wrapped the summer up. Somehow director Jon Favreau managed to make a billionaire playboy in a metal suit seem realistic. Possibly the most fun I had at the movies all year.

4. Zack and Miri Make a Porno (review)
With Kevin Smith movies you can be pretty sure you’re going to get dick and fart jokes. And you can also be pretty certain you’re going to get good dialogue. He’s a great writer after all. The knock against him has always been that he’s not a very good filmmaker. Well Zack and Miri Make a Porno has dick and fart jokes. It has great dialogue. And it’s a well-made film. Take that pretentious film snobs.

3. Man on Wire

There’s a decent chance you’ve never heard of Man on Wire. I probably wouldn’t have if not for Filmspotting’s review of it. It’s a documentary about Philipe Petit and his 1974 plan to walk a tightrope between the twin towers of the World Trade Center. It may be a documentary, but it plays out like an incredibly taut heist movie (pun intended…). Check out the trailer over there –>, then go track down the DVD and give it a shot.

2. The Dark Knight (review)
By far my most-anticipated movie coming into the year, there was a good chance The Dark Knight was going to disappoint. How could it possibly live up to the hype? Well, it did, and then some. Heath Ledger was everything critics said he would be, bringing a malevolent chaos to The Joker. Christopher Nolan stayed true to the gritty realism he setup in Batman Begins. Overall, while certainly not a perfect movie, The Dark Knight became the new acme for comic book movies.

1. Wall-E
How can a “kids movie” about a lonely robot be the best movie of the year? Easy. The first act is basically a modern take on a Chaplin movie. It has essentially no dialogue, yet it’s completely engrossing. Add to that the themes of pollution, apathy, and the dangers of large corporations, and you have a prescient and mature film that also happens to be highly entertaining. Oh, and it doesn’t hurt that the robot’s funny.

Best Cover Songs

5. “November Rain/Paradise City” – Carrie Underwood (video) – The hot American Idol country chick can ROCK!.

4. “I Shall Be Released” – Wilco and Fleet Foxes (video) – Bob Dylan and Richard Manual should be proud.

3. “Toxic” – Yael Naïm – We featured a bunch of covers of this Britney Spears song, but this chilled-out version was the best.

2. “Don’t Bring Me Down” – The New Pornographers (video) – ELO never sounded so good.

1. “Lovin’s For Fools” – Bon Iver and Bowerbirds (video) – I wasn’t familiar with Nashville singer-songwriter Sarah Siskind’s original version of this song when I heard the cover. And no offense to her, but this version renders hers irrelevant. Two of my favorite artists of 2007 join together and show of some of the best harmonies you’ll ever hear in a pop song. Stunning.

Best Songs

20. “Cigarettes” – Russian Red (from I Love Your Glasses)

19. “Rum & Tequila” – The Tom Fun Orchestra (from You Will Land with a Thud)

18. “Consolers of the Lonely “ – The Raconteurs (from Consolers of the Lonely )

17. “Acid Tongue” – Jenny Lewis (from Acid Tongue)

16. “The Modern Leper” – Frightened Rabbit (from The Midnight Organ Fight)

15. “Perfect Games” – The Broken West (from Now or Heaven)

14. “Valerie Plame “ – The Decemberists (from Always The Bridesmaid: Vol 1)

13. “Why Do You Let Me Stay Here? “ – She & Him (from Volume 1)

12. “Nice Fox “ – The Rosebuds (from Life Like)

11. “You, Me, & The Bourgeoisie” – The Submarines (from Honeysuckle Weeks)

10. “Sequestered in Memphis” – The Hold Steady (from Stay Positive)

9. “5 Years Time” – Noah and the Whale (from Peaceful, The World Lays Me Down)

8. “Cannibal Queen” – Miniature Tigers (from Tell it to the Volcano)

7. “Greatest Show on Earth” – The Felice Brothers(from The Felice Brothers)

6. “White Winter Hymnal” – Fleet Foxes (from Fleet Foxes)

5. “Winter Birds” – Ray LaMontagne (from Gossip in the Grain)

4. “Many Shades of Black” – The Raconteurs (from Consolers of the Lonely)

3. “Sleepytime in the Western World” – Blitzen Trapper (from Furr)

2. “Keep Yourself Warm” – Frightened Rabbit (from The Midnight Organ Fight)

1. “People C’mon” – Delta Spirit (from Ode to Sunshine)

Best Albums

10. Jenny Lewis – Acid Tongue
Come on, tell the truth, who doesn’t want to drop acid with Jenny Lewis after hearing this album?

9. The Broken West - Now or Heaven
A great followup to last year’s I Can’t Go On I’ll Go On. No sophomore slump for The Broken West.

8. Ray LaMontagne – Gossip in the Grain
How can such a brilliant songwriter be so shy? The lyrics and music blend perfect on Gossip in the Grain, showing songwriting progress for an already gifted artist.

7. She & Him- Volume One

Sadly, Zooey Deschanel recently got engaged to Ben Gibbard. Still, her charm M. Ward’s arrangement and production make me hope for a Volume 2.

6. The Hold Steady – Stay Positive
More proof that you don’t have to be a great singer to make a great rock album.

5. Fleet Foxes- Fleet Foxes
What the Beach Boys would have sounded like if the grew up in a cabin in the woods instead of near the beach. Or something like that.

4. Delta Spirit – Ode to Sunshine
“People C’mon” is the best song of the year, but it’s got plenty of good company on this album. A great effort from a band whose best work is probably ahead of them

3. The Raconteurs – Consolers of the Lonely
Jack White and pals managed to put together an album with no duds. And plenty of high points.

2. Blitzen Trapper – Furr
Last year’s Wild Mountain Nation was good, but fairly uneven. There were several good tracks, but also a few head-scratchers. Furr highlights all the band’s best points and skips over their shortcomings, and is a great album from top to bottom.

1. Frightened Rabbit – The Midnight Organ Fight
The Rabbit brothers’ second effort is not what you’d call a feel-good album. Its songs are tortured, gutwrenching tales. But the lyrics and performance give each song tremendous emotional impact. And any album sung with a Scottish brogue and containing lyrics like “It takes more than fucking someone to keep yourself warm” is going to rate highly in my book.

Honorable Mention – AC/DC, Ben Folds, Born Ruffians, Dr. Dog, Plants and Animals, The Motion Sick, The Felice Brothers, I’m From Barcelona, Kings of Leon, Miniature Tigers, The Rosebuds, The Tom Fun Orchestra, and Bon Iver (For Emma Forever Ago is on a lot of people’s lists this year, but it was on our 2007 list),

Happy New Year everyone.