The Best & Worst of 2008 - Video Games Edition

I believe this will be the last of my Best & Worst lists for 2008. The vast majority of my video gaming in 2009 was done on the Xbox360, so all the titles here are for that system. So far there hasn't been any must-play games for me on the other two consoles, so I haven't felt the need to buy them. Someday maybe. For now, I am quite happy with gaming on the 360.

1. Fallout 3 (2008) - My favorite game of the year by far. My favorite game ever. I spent hours and hours playing Morrowind and Oblivion, so I was really anticipating Bethesda's next game. I scheduled the day off work. I picked it up at midnight and played it for 24 hours straight before going to bed. I kept playing and playing and it never got boring. There is so much to see and do. And then there is VATS which never gets old.

2. BioShock (2007) - This is my kind of FPS. I don't like shooters where you run around and constantly kill wave after wave of enemy. I like to take my time and explore. I like a compelling story. BioShock is all about the story. My feeble FPS skillz were adequate to get me through this wonderful game.

3. Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2 (2008) - I can still remember ten-year-old me sitting on the living room floor playing Asteroids on my 2600 for hours and hours. Not much has changed in twenty-seven years. Well, i guess the games have changed a bit. And I tend to sit on the couch now instead of the floor. 

4. N+ (2008) - Another retro-looking game that does everything right. This game is hard, but so much fun that it doesn't matter. There is an achievement you unlock when you die 1000 times. Never has failure been so much fun.

5. Overlord (2007) - I really need to finish this game. Having a horde of minions to do your bidding is great fun. In addition to the great fighting and puzzle solving, the game is hilarious. An underrated gem.

Worst. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (2008) - I finished this game, but it was so frustrating to get through. Very, very annoying gameplay. The story was fine, the force powers were mostly fun, but overall it was a mess. Finished it and I hope I never have to play it again. I think the only Star Wars games that have been worth playing are the two Knights of the Old Republic games.

If I Picked The Oscars...

The Academy Awards kick off in a few hours, so I thought I would post my winners now. That way the winners can celebrate early since I am sure they are anxious to hear my thoughts. I haven't seen all the movies, so some of these awards are based on me watching the trailers. Here are the categories that I have some opinion about.

• Best Actor in a Leading Role - Sean Penn in Milk
• Best Actor in a Supporting Role - Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight
• Best Actress in a Leading Role - Anne Hathaway in Rachel Getting Married
• Best Actress in a Supporting Role - Marisa Tomei in The Wrestler
• Best Directing - Danny Boyle for Slumdog Millionaire
• Best Documentary Feature - Man On Wire
• Best Song - "Jai Ho" from Slumdog Millionaire
• Best Picture - Slumdog Millionaire
• Best Original Screenplay - In Bruges

UPDATE: Six of the nine I was rooting for went home with the actual awards. I missed on both female acting awards and original screenplay. I am quite happy Kate Winslet finally picked up her Oscar. I do wish that In Bruges or Happy-Go-Lucky would have won the screenplay award. They are both wonderful smaller films that should be seen by more people.

UPDATE 4/18/09: So, I finally got around to seeing 'Milk' last night and I was underwhelmed. It was a decent movie, but I didn't find it that compelling. I still haven't seen three of the other Best Actor films, so I don't know which performance should have won.

The Best & Worst of 2008 - Movies Edition

Here is another of my best and worst lists. As usual, there are items that came out before 2008 on the list, but I did make some effort to include only movies that are relatively new. The vast majority of my movie watching is done at home. I only saw three movies in the theater in 2008, so I tend to be catching up on older movies more often than seeing the current hot movies.

1. Millennium Actress (2001) - Before watching this, I had a list of my top ten favorite movies. Now I have a top eleven list. I don't know what to remove, but Millennium Actress is now one of my favorite movies. A documentary filmmaker is investigating the life of a famous actress. Her life's story is told through flashback and reality blurs with her cinematic history. All of Satoshi Kon's films are wonderful, but this is my favorite.

2. In Bruges (2008) - Martin McDonagh's first full-length film is excellent. Two hitmen hide out in Bruges, Belgium after a job. Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson are the hitmen who deal with their time in Bruges in very different ways. Bonus points for excellent use of a dwarf! I hope it wins the Oscar for Best Screenplay tomorrow night.

3. The Dark Knight/Iron Man (2008) - I still haven't decided which of these I like better, so I'll put them both at number three. Iron Man is more fun and Robert Downey, Jr. is perfect as Tony Stark. The Dark Knight is chock full of excellent performances and dark comic goodness. 

4. Perfume: The Story Of A Murderer (2006) - Patrick Süskind wrote the novel, one of my favorites. I was ready to hate the movie if it strayed too far from the book. I was pleasantly surprised to find the movie just as wonderfully twisted and fascinating as the book. It appears that no one in America went to see this movie in the theaters. It made $2 million in the U.S.A., but $135 million worldwide. Take a tip from the world and rent this movie.

5. This Is England (2006) - I am instantly interested in any film set in England. Unfortunately, they aren't all this good. Shaun is a troubled 12-year-old who stumbles his way into a gang of skinheads. Hilarious hijinks ensue. According to the picture, they are all about peace.

The worst movie I saw for the first time in 2008 was a Steven Seagal abomination called Flight of Fury, but the most disappointing was Leatherheads (2008). George Clooney is one of my favorite big-time-Hollywood actors. I typically love screwball comedies. I figured this would at least be a fun watch and it had a possibility of being great. But it wasn't. The parts just didn't gel into a fun movie for me.

The Best & Worst of 2008 - Live Music Edition

Over the past couple of years there has been a resurgence in the amount of live music I have witnessed. This has been mainly caused by my wife dragging me out of the house, but I have actually enjoyed many of the shows I have seen. I have even started dragging her out of the house occasionally. So here are my favorite live music experiences from 2008.

1. Fall Out Boy - December 20, 2008 at the Epicentre. I am not a huge fan of going to see bands in large venues. So, when I get the chance to see a huge band like Fall Out Boy in a tiny venue, I am quite pleased. The Epicentre is a youth recreation center that is about a five-minute walk from my house. Fall Out Boy is my son's favorite band. So, this was an amazing stroke of luck that they were playing there. I did have to wait in line for thirteen hours to ensure that we could get in, but it was worth it. It was a great show.

2. Ghostland Observatory - September 20, 2008 at Street Scene. My love for festivals has been diminishing lately. I do like the variety of music they provide, but the ambiance is usually lacking. I went to the second night of Street Scene only because I wanted to see Ghostland Observatory and they were amazing. I typically hang back and watch shows, but for this one I had to be as close as possible. So I was right in the midst of the crazy crowd right down in front. The amount of energy these two guys generate is unbelievable.

3. Maceo Parker - February 16, 2008 at the Belly Up. Over two hours of non-stop blistering soul and funk. Maceo is a legend. I can't remember the last time I actually danced at a show. I don't think it is possible to not dance at a Maceo show.

4. Vampire Weekend - September 19, 2008 at Street Scene. These guys are the reason I went to the first night of Street Scene and they did not disappoint.

5. Tilly and the Wall - July 11, 2008 at the Epicentre. A great band with a super-cool gimic. Their percussion is supplied by a tap dancer instead of a drummer. Great songs and a very fun live show.

The worst show of the year? New Kids On The Block - November 25, 2008 at Cox Arena. I won't go into how crazy my wife is for these guys, but she dragged me along to their show. I knew they would be bad, but they were way beyond bad. I spent the first hour laughing out loud constantly as things just got more horrendous with each song. Eventually it reached  a point where things couldn't get worse and I got bored, but before that I did enjoy the shear ridiculousness of the spectacle. It was definitely a horrible show, but I did have some fun.

Adopt a Character for 2009

My favorite comic book-related podcast/blog is Collected Comics Library by Chris Marshall. If you are looking for a blog to read then head on over there. Each year Chris adopts a comic book character to learn more about. This year Chris picked Will Eisner's The Spirit. Someday I will get around to reading that, but I am not prepared to buy twenty-seven volumes of it this year.

For 2009 I'm going to adopt Red Sonja. I've already got a few books unread in the stack and I have ordered up some more. I'll be starting with the Marvel books from the 1970s and working my way up to the current series from Dynamite. Eventually, I will have to go back and find all the Conan books she appears in. Maybe I'll even find some of the novels. It should be a good year of swords and sorcery with Red Sonja. If you decide to adopt a character this year, I hope you will send me a note.

Mark's Box - February 2009

This month's box was a bit heavier than January's. Heavy is good, although my shelves may not agree. A few of the books will be mentioned in my next blog post, so I will skip them for now So, these are the new books at the top of my stack.

Miss Don't Touch Me is a murder mystery that looks to be right up my alley. A serial killer on the prowl. Much of it takes place in a 'luxury house of call-girls.' Looks like an excellent French import. Check out the link to read a very good review.

This makes two 'chicks holding blades' books in a row. The Sword by the Luna Brothers looks to be more awesomeness from the creators of Girls. I don't know anything about it, but Girls was one of my favorite recent reads. I like the cover.

Last but not least, I got three duck comics. The Barks/Rosa Collection, Volume 1: Uncle Scrooge Adventures features one of the best characters in comics ever. Uncle Scrooge is amazing and you really should go out and read some Scrooge right now. I also got some Donald Duck comics, but Uncle Scrooge is the real star of the box.