Dear 2011/The Highlights

Dear 2011,

How bout that ride in? I was a little worried about how you might play out but to my surprise you turned out to be a pretty good year. Thanks for the memories! Lets hope 2012 holds up ;)

xoxo,

Tiff

The Highlights...

• Getting the opportunity to work on these show: 
• Independent Spirit Awards
• Nickelodeon Kid's Choice Awards
• MTV Movie Awards,
• 63rd Primetime Emmys
• Going to the Govenor's Ball!!!! (still can't believe I was there)
• Getting scared by a Norman Bates impersonator on the Universal lot
• My brother TJ's graduation from The University of Texas-Arlington
• Launching THAT'S RUDE COMEDY (shout out to the TRC crew...love them)
• Shooting my 1st music video "Miss U. Dig U. Love U."
• All the new and amazing people in my life
• Jessica and Josh's Wedding
• Bachelorette Vegas Weekend (#TeamBlackout)
• The following albums: 
• Adele "21"
• Kanye West & Jay Z "Watch The Throne" 
• Mayer Hawthorne "How Do You Do?
• TuneYards "Whokill"
• The infamous Halloween Party I can barely remember ("Black Swannin")
• My 24th Bday Brunch/House Party with Tyler and Bojan
• Meeting Chris Evans...I died.
• The following movies:
• Midnight in Paris
• Warrior
• Super 8
• Attack the Block
• GAME OF THRONES!!!!!!
• Visit from my Nicholas
• All the new music I discovered from Aquarium Drunkard
• Seeing ADELE live!!
• My new MacBook Pro (RIP iBook G4)
• Being in the same theater as Justin Timberlake
• Alabama Shakes (my new favorite band)
• Seeing THE BLACK KEYS live!!
• The amazingness that is Jean-Ralphio from Parks & Rec
• Friday night's pizza & Dos Equis with Queen T
• "My presence is a present...kiss my ass." - Lena Waithe (Quote of the Year)

AND MANY MORE!!!!

From me to you...

Wishing you all a wonderful Holiday with loved ones and good food! Here's my gift to you, a playlist of my favorite singers from the 30s, 40s, 50s & 60s..."Soul Sistas & Blue Bellas" 

Click HERE to open the playlist on Spotify! Enjoy :)

xoxo,

SpikeLeah

My Top 10 Movies of 2011

This list was a little harder to put together only because films are my first love and I'm way more judgmental when it comes to them. Also, keep in mind there are still a few movies I need to see (The Artist, Hugo, Pariah, A Separation) so I might have some "Honorable Mentions" I'll be posting about later ;)

10. Drive

Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn

(Wish there was just a little bit more character development, but the soundtrack alone is what really drives this movie.)

9. Hanna

Directed by Joe Wright

(I love Joe Wright. He's like the king of tracking shots and there's a great one in this movie with Eric Bana. Saoirse Ronan is a beast and Cate Blanchett was fierce and creepy at the same time.)

8. Horrible Bosses

Directed by Seth Gordon

(I have such a soft spot for Jason Sudeikis after working with him on the 2011 MTV Movie Awards so I had to see this movie. And it was f*cking hilarious! SO underrated!)

7. X-Men: First Class

Directed by Matthew Vaughn

(This is how a comic book movie is done...great story + great performances...can't go wrong.)

6. Moneyball

Directed by Bennett Miller

(Never have I ever cared so much about a baseball game.)

5. Bridesmaids

Directed by Paul Feig

(Three words...Kristen, Maya, Melissa...done.)

4. Super 8

Directed by J.J. Abrams

(Thank you J.J. Abrams for reminding me why I want to make movies.)

3. Attack the Block

Directed by Joe Cornish

(When Spike Lee raves about a movie, you kinda have to see it...and now I see why. I can't remember the last time I had so much fun watching a movie. I was scared out of my mind but laughing uncontrollably at the same time.  The best tag line ever: "Inner City vs. Outer Space")

2. Midnight In Paris

Directed by Woody Allen

(I mean, I'm pretty sure I've raved enough about this movie...Destination Paris!)

1. WARRIOR

Directed by Gavin O'Connor

(No words...period.)

Hidden Gem: WARRIOR (My best picture of the year!)

***Honorable Mentions***

Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Crazy Stupid Love

My Week With Marilyn

The Help

Can't forget about the EPs

Since technically they're not considered full albums I couldn't include them in my Top 10 Albums of 2011, but I can't forget about these EPs that I've been obsessed with all year. I'm hoping they drop full albums next year...#getfamiliar

Beth Ditto

Do You Need Someone by Beth Ditto

 

Alabama Shakes

Hold On by Alabama Shakes

 

Nick Waterhouse

I Can Only Give You Everything by Nick Waterhouse

 

My Top 10 Albums of 2011

10. Future Islands - On The Water

  Future Islands - Balance 

 

9. James Blake - James Blake

8. Kendrick Lamar - Section.80

Kendrick Lamar - Hol' Up

7. The Black Keys - El Camino

The Black Keys: Gold On the Ceiling

 

  

6. Florence + the Machine - Ceremonials

Florence + The Machine - Leave My Body

 

  

5. Raphael Saadiq - Stone Rollin'

  Raphael Saadiq - Stone Rollin'

 

4. tUnE-yArDs - Whokill

tUnE-yArDs - Gangsta

 

3. Kanye West & Jay Z - Watch The Throne

Who Gon Stop Me

 

2. ADELE - 21

Adele - I'll be Waiting

 

1. Mayer Hawthorne - How Do You Do?

Love. Love. Love Him!

Mayer Hawthorne - Get to Know You

**Honorable Mentions:**

Fitz & The Tantrums - "Pickin' Up The Pieces"

The Cool Kids - "When Fish Ride Bicycles"

M83 - "Hurry Up, We're Dreaming"

Frank Ocean - "Nostalgia"

Fleet Foxes - "Helplessness Blues"

Bon Iver - "Bon Iver"

Lykke Li - "Wounded"

Pac Div - "The Div"

Documentary Spotlight: RE:GENERATION

This documentary feature, produced in association with The Grammy's looks at the history, songwriting, and recording process of five different genres of music through the eyes of 5 of the most influential producers/DJ's in the world as they create new music tracks with influential collaborators from rock, country, classical, R&B and Jazz.

Featuring Skrillex, DJ Premier, The Crystal Method, Pretty Lights and Mark Ronson.

I just can't wait for the soundtrack!!!!!!!!

Re:Generation Music Project

In theaters Feb 16th

BAUCE!

A legend at work.

Wow, has it really been a year already?

December 11th marked the one year anniversary of my blog, SpikeLeah (My 1st post) Just a little thing I wanted to start to keep my friends in the loop on my current obsessions...because I know they always get tired of me asking/telling them, "Have you heard of this group?"/"You need to see this movie..." and I must say, a year and over 5,000 views later, I guess it wasn't a bad idea after all :)

So THANK YOU to everybody for their constant support and love...I really appreciate it!! I'm glad you guys are not over me...just yet ;)

Stay classy,

SpikeLeah

In case you missed it...

By now, everyone should be on the Robyn band wagon...and if you're not, then you need to hop on real quick...period.

Damn, it feels good to be a gangsta

How dope is Ice Cube?! The legendary West Coast Rapper drops some mad knowledge about husband and wife team, The Eames and their amazing home built in 1949.

"Who are these people who got a problem with LA? Maybe they just mad they don't live here."

 - Ice Cube

Pacific Standard Time: Art in LA 1945 to 1980

I'm obsessed with this little girl

Future movie star, fashion diva and just overall BAUCE in the making!! Love her!

Chloe Grace Moretz

2012 Movie List: HAYWIRE

So as the year comes to an end, I'm starting to put together my 2012 Movie List, all the films I can't wait to see next year. And adding to that list, HAYWIRE because it looks so bad ass! (and because I love Steven Soderbergh)

www.haywiremovie.com

Some other movies that have made the list:

CHRONICLE

THE HUNGER GAMES

RED TAILS

AVENGERS 

Swag.