Flyer Favorites: The Staff’s Top Picks in Entertainment for 2012
PDF Alyssa Cicero, Copy Editor
Photo courtesy of sxc.hu.
With the end of every year, I find it important to reflect on one of the most important elements of our culture: entertainment.
This year was a huge year for pop-culture enthusiasts with plenty of movies, television and music for many different tastes.
The movie theaters had plenty of huge franchise films hit the screens this year, including the book-to-film adaption of “The Hunger Games” starring Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson. Other big titles of the year include the films that made everyone want to be superhuman, which included “The Avengers,” “The Dark Knight Rises,” “The Amazing Spider Man” and the recently released James Bond thriller, “Skyfall.”
Tempo Editor Tony Lyen was one of the many who thought highly of the newest Batman flick that was released over the summer.
“I absolutely loved it,” Lyen said. “I thought Christopher Nolan’s final installment in the Batman franchise was superb, and regardless of what some people said, I thought Tom Hardy’s Bane was one of the coolest, most intriguing villains I’ve seen in a movie in recent history.”
As for television, popular network shows such as “Modern Family” and “Big Bang Theory” still rule the roost, and talent competitions like “American Idol,” “The Voice,” “X Factor” and “Dancing with the Stars” also have done well according to Nielsen ratings. However, it seems that two non-network shows are causing quite a buzz lately: AMC’s “The Walking Dead” and “Breaking Bad.”
With only half a season to go, many die-hard viewers of “Breaking Bad” are sad to see it almost come to an end. News Editor Katie Esposito is one who is particularly fond of the show.
‘Breaking Bad’ is unlike so many other shows in that the main character Walter White (Bryan Cranston) has changed beyond recognition over the show’s past five seasons,” Esposito said. “There have been so many unforgettable moments in the show, and I can always plan to be entertained when watching.”
This year wasn’t too shabby for the music industry either. The year saw smash albums from big names such as Carrie Underwood, Taylor Swift, Maroon 5 and Fun., along with top albums from our British friends from across the pond, including Mumford & Sons, Ed Sheeran, Ellie Goulding and One Direction.
One artist who Online Editor-In-Chief Dave Hansen and Sports Editor Kevin Ryan agree had a successful year is Jason Aldean who released his new album, “Night Train” in October.
“Jason Aldean’s newest album, ‘Night Train,’ is flawless from top to bottom,” Hansen said. “I don’t have to hit the skip button on my iPod once while listening to the 15-song CD.”
Ryan agreed, saying, “I like Jason Aldean’s new album ‘Night Train’ because it’s 15 quality country songs, and he was creative and sang with Luke Bryan and Eric Church in one of the songs called ‘The Only Way I Know.’”
No matter if you’re into the big screen, TV shows or music, 2012 had a little of something for everyone in terms of entertainment. Hopefully 2013 will live up to this year’s expectations.
The Staff’s Favorites of 2012:
TV Shows
Lauren Pirc: “Chicago Fire and “Nashville”
Katie Espositio: “Breaking Bad”
Lauren Barnes: “Chicago Fire” and “X Factor”
Ross Reed: “Scandal”
Alex Veeneman: “Downton Abbey”
Brian Neal: “The Walking Dead”
Julie Szamlewski: “How I Met Your Mother”
Roslyn Summerville: “The Vampire Diaries”
Michael Gates: “The Walking Dead”
Andrea Earnest: “Supernatural”
Ben Eveloff: “Swamp People”
Movies
Anthony Lyen: “The Dark Knight Rises” and “Prometheus”
Brent Sumner: “Get the Gringo”
Rachel Stella: “The Lorax”
Audrey Heiberger: “The Hunger Games”
Lisa O’Tolle: “Argo” and “Flight”
Michelle Villalobos: “The Avengers”
Kevin Kuchler: “The Raven”
Tyler Jankowski: “Red Dawn”
Eric Hernandez: “The Dark Knight Rises”
CD’s
Kevin Ryan: “Night Tran” by Jason Aldean
Angela Cotta: “Wrecking Ball” by Bruce Springsteen
Alyssa Cicero: “+” by Ed Sheeran
Kendra Mills: “Coexist” by The xx
Lauren Nieminski: “Madness” by Muse
David Hansen: “Night Train” by Jason Aldean
About the Author
Alyssa Cicero is currently a junior at Lewis University majoring in public relations and minoring in marketing. She is also employed in the Office of Admissions at Lewis, and is excited to begin her first year working as a copy editor for The Flyer.
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