Best of 2012

Tallying it up, it looks like I read 21 books, 27 comics (trade paperbacks), and watched 100(!) films in 2012. 45 of the films were documentaries. Looking back, here are the highlights as I remember them:

Top 10 11 feature films I watched in 2012:

The Skin I Live In

Death Proof

Mesrine 1 & 2
the 400 Blows

13 Assassins

Grand Prix
Django Unchained

Drive

Somers Town

NEDS

Red State

Top 5 documentaries I watched in 2012:
Senna
Pearl Jam Twenty
Fire in Babylon
One Night in Turin
Helvetica

Top 5 biker flicks I watched in 2012:
The Wild One
Once a Jolly Swagman
C.C. and Company
Fastest

Sukeban Gerira

Top 5 comics I read in 2012:
Conan (all of the Nemedian Chronicles)
Criminal
Slaine - the Horned God
Northlanders (all)
Incognito


Top 5 books I read in 2012:
Thunderstruck
Icons of Men's Style
Dirty Deeds
Isaac's Storm
Steve Jobs

Top 10 albums that were released in 2012:
Converge - All We Love We Leave Behind
Gojira - L'Enfant Suavage
Zodiac - A Bit of Devil
Neurosis - Honor Found in Decay
Alcest - Les Voyages De L'Âme
Graveyard - Lights Out
Nachtmystium - Silencing Machine
Ahab - The Giant
Aura Noir - Out to Die
Hooded Menace - Effigies of Evil


Top 3 albums I procured in 2012 that came out prior:
Black Mountain - Wilderness Heart
Eddie Vedder - Into the Wild Soundtrack
the Prodigy - Experience

I'm as shocked as anyone that I'd pick Converge as the best album of the year...but god damn, just listen to it. The production rips your head off. It's so clear, but so raw and visceral. The layout is awesome, too. The songs are super eclectic. They're relentless. Catchy. Brutal. Technical but accessible. For a band that I thought sucked for 20 years or so...the last two albums are brilliant.