DAM NATION Year End List: 10 Worst Movies of 2012

Of course, we have to take a good look at the other side of the spectrum after the Best Movies list of 2012 no? To be honest though, there's nothing more fun than trashing a really, really bad movie. Haha.

And just like my "best" list, it’s not physically and financially possible for me to go and watch ALL films that were released this year. Oh, and instead of a snippet of my reviews, which I'm seriously lacking, I've decided to just quote critics giving praises to the movies I have selected.

On my fifth year now, I give to you the 10 Worst Movies of 2012..

DAM NATION Year End List: 20 Best Movies of 2012

Compared to previous years (2011 and 2010) my movie watching this year - or maybe just the reviewing - sucked. Haha. 2012 was the year I started incorporating a DAM NATION Movie Pool that worked fine until my blog got deleted - for reasons I explained before - and everything just went chaotic. So yeah, I somehow stopped writing reviews and the Movie Review segment of this blog collapsed.

But just the same - and maybe to start 2013 right - I'm still putting up my year-end list of the 20 Best Movies of 2012. Instead of a snippet of my reviews, which I'm seriously lacking, I've decided to just quote critics giving praises to the movies I have selected.

Oh, and since I'm not particularly fond of independent films - just my personal preference. Sue me! - so better not bash me for not including most of them in this list. Also, it’s not physically and financially possible for me to go and watch ALL films that were released this year, so just chill. Haha. This is just for fun.

So, without further ado, DAM NATION presents the 20 Best Movies of 2012..

DAM NATION Year End List: 25 Songs of 2012

In 2012, we all declared that we are young, we shined bright like a diamond and we've decided to give our hearts a break as we're never ever getting back together. Like, ever. Haha. But seriously, there is no way to sum up another spectacular year for mainstream pop music, so let's have the songs do it for us instead.

So, like every year, these are my picks for the 25 Songs of 2012: odes to bittersweet heartbreaks, songs about loving for a thousand years, and even tunes about a chemical element. They're all important as this definitely "moved" me at some point over the past 12 months.

Of course, this is admittedly a subjective list based on my personal judgments and preferences, but this list should also be a great conversation starter and feel free to agree or disagree. Either way there is a lot of great mainstream music - again, take note - to be found here.

Enjoy!

The Voice Season 4: Promo with Usher and Shakira

Here's a cute sneak peek at next season's The Voice sans Cee Lo Green and Christina Aguilera (thank God!) and will be temporarily replaced by Usher and Shakira.

I mentioned before that to be able to make the show fresh, The Voice should just have a complete overhaul of the panel for the Spring edition of the show. That said, I'm going to miss Cee Lo just because he's a terrible song picker for his contestants and his craziness adds value to the show. As for Christina, she's obnoxious and it's always about her all the time, so I'm glad she's off the show. I'm interested to see how Usher and Shakira will do.

X Factor US 2 Wrap-Up: 20 Best Performances

Just like with American Idol and The Voice, my series review of the  season wouldn't be complete without the obligatory wrap-up! Again, this will be VERY subjective, but it's fun to take a look back at some of the best live performances of this season's X Factor US. There were a couple of standouts and that's something I didn't expect really after the crap that was last year.

So, who made the list?

X Factor US 2: Finale Results Show

After The Voice's unpredictable results two days ago, The X Factor US gave us possibly the most shocking result on reality singing competition EVER. Haha. Of course, I'm kidding. The result was annoyingly predictable - thanks to the weekly announcement of the rankings of acts. I admit, I have zero emotional investment on this show all season - it never actually mattered to me who won or lost - but just the same, I was hoping something fresh and new to come out of this show.

To be honest, I had high hopes for this season of X Factor. After last season's trainwreck with Paula Abdul and Nicole Scherzinger on the panel and countless shocking eliminations, I figured that the show could NEVER get worse. Instead, we got Khloe Kardashan who's seriously more clueless in hosting than Britney Spear's judging. Haha. Speaking of Britney, she was interesting the first few weeks, but then became repetitive with a couple of shining moments especially last week's results show with her EPIC facial expressions. Haha.

Good thing, Demi Lovato was an upgrade from last season's judges. She maybe a little annoying at times - even childish - but that gives the show a sense of  fun next to the emotionless Spears and boring Reid. Simon Cowell was, well, Simon Cowell. Haha.

Anyway, let's cut to the chase! And the winner of The X Factor Season 2 is..

RESULTS after the jump!! 

X Factor US 2: Finale

This Finale was a major flop and completely underwhelming. I mean, Carly got paired with a strangely off pitch artist, Fifth Harmony performed two songs that they have already done and Tate was, well, Tate. Haha.

I don't know. At this point, I was expecting someone to kill it, but no one stepped up their game. Fifth Harmony was consistent, but the song choices may hurt them. Oh well. 

Let's get on with the rankings, shall we?

The Voice 3 Wrap-Up: 20 Best Performances

3 months. 32 episodes. 100 blind auditions. 32 battle round matches. 40 knockout battles. 20 live playoffs. 46 live performances. Yes, The Voice Season 3 finally crowned Jermaine Paul's successor, Cassadee Pope. And now that a new winner has emerged, it’s about time to recognize the best live performances this season.

It’s a pretty interesting batch with a couple of polarizing personalities and vocals. But I was fairly impressed with the performances in general. I wasn’t really expecting much from this season, but I really thought they were able to deliver – safe to say more than last season. It was tough finalizing the list, but here we go..

Now, we pay tribute to the performances that made this season worth watching - and reviewing!

The Voice 3: Finale Results Show

One of the most unpredictable Finale results shows EVER! Not. Haha. To be honest, I'd rather have a predictable winner than something like Jermaine Paul's win last season, which completely shocked almost everyone - of course, except for people who did vote for him.

 I find it interesting though that two out of three winners of this show are people who came into it after already establishing a name for themselves in the industry, and having relatively small, but solid fanbases. Yes, the black soulful guy winner trend has ended after Trevin Hunte got eliminated last week, but I guess this is what the show is about - giving a second chance to has beens artists.

Anyway, the show had lots of fillers, but I enjoyed the performances of the eliminated contestants - especially from Amanda Brown, Melanie Martinez and Dez Duron - and other performances from Rihanna, the incredible Bruno Mars and the very talented Kelly Clarkson. Plus, I LOVE the sort of "goodbye" performance of the judges as Christina Aguilera and Cee Lo Green will exit the show for next season. 

But let's cut to the chase! And the winner of The Voice Season 3 is..

RESULTS after the jump!! 

The Voice 3: Finale

Why did I find this episode utterly boring? Was it because I still can't seem to move on after Amanda Brown and Melanie Martinez's eliminations two weeks ago? Or maybe because the results tomorrow will be as Terry McDermott's repertoire? Or because Cassadee and Terry stayed 100% in their comfort zone tonight and only Nicholas took a massive chance - thought not completely successful. Haha.

I don't know. I guess, this season was just WAY too long that I lost interest after Amanda and Melanie got eliminated. Plus, there was nothing exciting about the performances this week - despite this being a Finale week. How I wish they would have done original songs like the finalists did in Season 1, but whatever.

Without further ado, for the last time this season, recap after the jump!

X Factor US 2: Top 4 Results Show

It's semifinals week and one more act got axed just before the three-way Finale next week. I admit, the results, to me, was shocking, but I'm not complaining. The eliminated act was possibly the worst of the four and turned in a couple of mediocre performances since the live shows started.

Oh, and an unknown girl performed tonight and Bruno Mars. So, there's that. Plus, wait for Britney Spears' EPIC reactions as the results were announced. TELEVISION GOLD. Haha.

RESULTS after the jump!!

X Factor US 2: Top 4

One act shockingly chocked. One act was still bland. One act was terrible. One act stepped up. Yes, that's how this episode went. With one exception, I didn't feel like the acts performed at their best tonight. Heck, one frontrunner even gave probably the most underwhelming performances all season long.

I'm now interested as to how things will pan out tomorrow. Will the underdogs prevail? Or will there be a shocking boot? Can't. Wait. Haha.

Anyway, on to the rankings!

The Voice 3: Top 4 Results Show

Somehow, The Voice changed their format and suddenly eliminated one more before the actual Finale. Were they trying to end the season the same week X Factor US scheduled theirs? I don't really care. I personally think the show's Top 4 is more talented, but less interesting than X Factor US' Final 4. I mean, an Amanda-Melanie-Cassadee-Nicholas Top 4 would've been A LOT better no? But whatever.

RESULTS after the jump!! 

The Voice 3: Top 4

Voice keeps changing the rules as we go. Three person Finale? 

Well, I felt like this episode lacked interesting material this week. I don't know, but the whole show was boring. Was it because Melanie and Amanda are already gone? Clearly, the two ladies who got eliminated last week brought a LOT of their own brand of entertainment to the show and they were sorely missed in this episode. I just know Melanie would've came up with some wild and interesting idea and Amanda would've figuratively exploded on stage. But, I digress.

Anyway, recap after the jump!  

Movie Review: Rise Of The Guardians

Rise of the Guardians was an utterly charming animation that set out to be highly imaginative and thoroughly heartfelt. Yes, the storytelling was a bit messy in parts with too many action set pieces, but I thought the writing was well-balanced and didn't come across as too childish for adults or too confusingly sophisticated for kids. The visuals were brilliant, the animation was amazing, the characters were endearing and the landscape were beautifully rendered. Oh, and the voice acting were pretty good especially Hugh Jackman. Not exactly the best animated film I've seen this year, but it did succeed in it's main purpose: to entertain!

X Factor US 2: Top 6 Results Show

Hopefully the last double elimination for this season? I don't know, but this season seemed way too fast. They're suddenly down to 4 and in a matter of two weeks, we'll have a new X Factor winner. As for the elimination, I got it my predictions right.

Oh, and Cece Frey Ke$ha and last year's X Factor Winner - can you name her? Haha. - performed tonight.

RESULTS after the jump!!

X Factor US 2: Top 6

.. and suddenly, most of them performed shockingly well this week. Was it the song choices? Personally, this was probably one of the more enjoyable live shows of X Factor this season. Sure, there were a couple of trainwrecks, but that's something I'd expect from this show. Haha.

Also, there judges were pretty brutal. Demi Lovato, in particular, was mostly on point with her critiques and pretty fearless. She's competent, intelligent, sober and fiesty. Some of the bickering with Simon was a little obnoxious, but I digress.

Oh, and the audience were doubly annoying. Haha.

Anyway, on to the rankings! 

The Voice 3: Top 6 Results Show

The Voice axed two more people to finally have their Final 4 who will all perform in next week's finale. But am I the only one who's not entirely excited after this week's elimination? Personally, I don't think these two people deserved the boot. They are probably the most interesting singers in the bunch. It's funny that this is the most boring Final 4 I could picture out of an exciting Top 12. Haha.

RESULTS after the jump!! 

The Voice 3: Top 6

Possibly the strongest Top 6 on The Voice EVER. I do appreciate the talent level of this group, even if some of them showed some wear and tear at this stage. I think they all have their strengths, but we will see how things will pan out at the end.

Now, have I ever mentioned how Christina Aguilera is absolutely insufferable in every feasible way? Yes, she gives valid criticisms, but there's a vibe she gives off when she doesn't really like someone. I mean, Adam Levine gives criticisms too but he does it in a way that doesn't seem condescending. I loved how Christina got slighted by Melanie to be honest. This is the same reason why I am happy Shakira will be in that seat next season. I'm over this b*tchy crap. Haha.

Anyway, recap after the jump!