1. Hugo - Easily the best movie about movies I’ve seen in years. While that might sound a bit meta, Hugo is Martin Scorsese’s love letter to the movies. I went in to the movie blind, not knowing only that the movie took a hard left turn halfway through the movie. I won’t spoil it for you here, but suffice it to say that you will leave Hugo with a smile on your face.
2. Tucker and Dale vs. Evil - Doing a parody of horror films is extremely hard. It’s easy to come up with a premise, but sustaining it can be a bit of a challenge. I mean, how many ways can there be for stupid college kids in the woods to accidentally kill themselves? A lot, as it turns out.
3. Hanna - Not only does this movie have an amazing score, it has some of the best performances of the year. Eric Bana, Saoirse Ronan and Cate Blanchett all turn in impressive performances. Joe Wright’s direction is understated and haunting.
4. Rise of the Planet of the Apes - Making a talking ape seem scary instead of laughable is this film’s most impressive feat.
5. Bridesmaids - A female-lead comedy where one of the characters shits in the middle of the street. That is all.

Bands I’d love to see live that I can actually see:

1. The Presidents of the United States of America
2. The Who
3. MC5
4. UFO

Bands I’d love to see but can’t for one reason or another: 

1. Black Sabbath (with Ronnie James Dio)
2. Creedence Clearwater Revival
3. Rainbow (again, with Dio)
4. 3rd Bass
5. Deep Purple (the original, Mach 1 lineup)
6. The Blues Brothers
7. Howlin’ Wolf
8. Billy Joel (specifically, 70s coked out Piano Man-era Billy Joel)