Rather than a best of list, these are the things that I got the most out of this year. If you haven’t seen/heard/tried these, maybe you should. Not in any particular order:
1. Video Game – PS – Rock Band. All those hours lost but not forgotten.
2. Video Game – Wii – Lego Indiana Jones. Moderate and not complicated, and full of fun for the whole family. Although easier than the Star Wars edition, Jones fits the concept of an adventure video game better than the former. The Wii version is much more satisfying. One of the few games of 2008 I spent the time to complete.
3. Movie – In Bruges. Better than Bond, a heart with complex storyline and a reasonable twist. And taking the chase scene to a new height - a tower.
4. Album – Tokyo Police Club – Elephant Shell. When was the last time you heard an intelligent, Punk-Pop album? It might not be catchy forever, but right now the songs are stuck in my head.
5. Album – Saul Williams – The Inevitable Rise & Liberation of Niggy Stardust. Punk, rap and politics mixed in perfection. It may be too radical for some, but Williams poetry fits his music.
6. Film – No Country for Old Men. I didn’t see this until April, but I enjoyed every moment. Even the ending.
7. Book – The Naming of the Dead – Ian Rankin. My newest guilty pleasure, Rankin’s novels are well crafted and weave several stories to a satisfying completion. This one is particularly wicked in its conclusion.
8. Album – The Flaming Lips – Transmissions from the Satellite Heart. Although fifteen years old, I had to re-purchase the CD after my copy was scratched horribly. As wonderful as it was the first time.
9. Video Game – Wii – Pro Evolution Soccer 2008. Forget that it is soccer for a moment. This game advances the button pushing systems of yore and shows how a game can take advantage of the Wii platform. Intelligent, easy to grasp and yet at times maddeningly difficult, by far the best example of how the Wii will revolutionize games, especially sports ones.
10. TV, Sci Fi, Battlestar Galactica. The first few years were wonderful, but the last season was a ride on a roller coaster filled with screams of shock and no fluff.
Also rans: Album, Kaiser Chiefs, Off with Their Heads; Album, anything Post-Punk; TV, ABC, Pushing Daises; Video Game, Wii, Super Smash Brothers; Album, Smiths, The Sounds of the Smiths; TV, CBS, The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson; Book, Ian Rankin, Resurrection Men.
#10 so dying to know more about what happened to earth and who the frak is the fifth cylon!
Jeepers – am I the ONLY person you know who doesn’t watch Battlestar?
Rock band is kinda cool, but Guitar Hero 4 has a way better drum set. I’m tagging you, which means i’m gonna put you on the blogs I read.