Over 800 films, 100,000 albums and hundreds of television shows were released in 2011. Most people caught the flicks and ditties that hoarded all the hype—like Kanye West and Jay-Z’s “Watch the Throne” and Harry Potter’s last act on the silver screen.
But a few worthy movies, albums and television programs fell through the sifter and back into the river of unacknowledged bunk that pours out of Los Angeles every year. For whatever reason, the following failed to garner much commercial attention and went underappreciated in 2011.
Superhero movies tend to be multi-million dollar fairy tales about people who are unquestionably good incapacitating people who are unquestionably bad. “SUPER” is more about what would actually happen if a man like Bruce Wayne—or, more accurately, Dwight Schrute—donned a mask and carried out vigilante justice. Rainn Wilson (“The Office,” “Few Options”) is one part lovable and two parts twisted as he swings a wrench to dent the heads of drug dealers, child molesters and people who cut in line. As the Crimson Bolt, Wilson proves that heroes don’t have to be sane to make the world a better place. It’s a little screwy, but watching Wilson take a beating to “It Hurts Too Much” by Eric Carmen makes this one worth a watch.
It’s not hard to understand why “Troll Hunter” failed to obtain much box office success in the U.S. It is a subtitled movie filmed with a handheld camera, starring unknown actors. The movie’s premise is about a Scandinavian myth that most Americans know nothing about. But none of that matters the moment the characters find their car overturned and their tires eaten. And by the time a fat man wearing medieval armor is swatted 20 meters by a troll hiding under a bridge, you’ll forget the subtitles even exist.
In a year when Lil’ Wayne’s “Tha Carter IV” was the fourth best selling album and rap and hip-hop artists accounted for three of the top 10 albums, a rapper who began his career in the early ’90s came back to remind listeners that those guys are just a bunch of chumps. Earl Stevens, better known by his stage name E-40, released not one, but two albums on the same day. “Revenue Retrievin’: Overtime Shift” is the better of the two, featuring the song “F*** ‘em”, a smooth track that takes on Internet haters and closed-minded program directors and explicitly reminds other rappers where they were when E-40 began his career.
Psychedelic rock has seen something of a resurgence in the 2010s through bands like MGMT and Grace Potter and the Nocturnals. Los Angeles-based Dengue Fever threw some Cambodian pop music into the mix and created a whole new sound. Imagine a scenario where the Beach Boys hung out with Col. Kurtz in the jungle during the Vietnam War and you won’t be far off. In last year’s “Cannibal Courtship,” lead singer Chhom Nimol is all smiles as she sings in both English and Khmer. Listening to upbeat tunes like “Family Business,” it’s hard not to smile back.
Until last year, the only thing worth watching on the Travel Channel was Anthony Bourdain’s “No Reservations.” The chef and author’s no-holds-barred narration and world travels are peppered in profanity and sautéed in wit, making every hour of his show a gourmet experience on a menu of otherwise bland programming. The channel took a step to fix that menu by giving Bourdain a second show, “The Layover”, in which the celebrity chef shows viewers the cream of any given city in 48 hours. Bon appétit!
One of the best shows on television is a period piece set in the first half of the 20th century in which nicely dressed rich men worry about the future of their patriarchal society. Don Draper, eat your heart out, because America was introduced to BBC’s “Downton Abbey” in 2011. The British drama begins with the sinking of the Titanic and depicts the fall of the aristocracy and the rise of the first World War. More importantly, it shows how these events change one charming British family and the caretakers and servants in their employ. Episodes are available free on PBS.org and on Netflix. Season two airs in the U.S. starting Jan. 8.
Louis CK is a comedian that needs no introduction. Barring lowest common denominator clowns like Jeff Dunham and Daniel Tosh, CK is at the top of the heap of American funnymen. That’s why this recommendation isn’t for CK himself, rather for his latest special, “Live at the Beacon Theater”, which was only released online. Rather than give Comedy Central a giant cut of his earnings or charge viewers upwards of $20, CK released the special on his website for a measly $5. CK is depending on his fans to legally purchase the special, and is donating a good portion of the money to charity. If all goes well (and it looks like it should, he made over $1 million by year’s end), this underappreciated method of trustful distribution could revolutionize the industry.
When it comes to NPR programming, “The Sound of Young America” (which recently changed its name to “Bullseye”) is the best show you’ve never heard of. With only 25 public radio stations broadcasting it in the entire U.S., and none in Florida, it’s no wonder this show is a relative unknown. Every week, Jesse Thorn, a plucky young San Francisco native, loads a shotgun of pop culture gems and fires them through his born-for-radio voice. Thorn chooses his own guests and only bothers with the best of the best. At least two of the recommendations on this list originated from his show. Floridians and all others not lucky enough to hear the show through their radios can tune in at maximumfun.org.
Email: arts@crowsneststpete.com
