The end is upon us!
One more decade down, and the first decade I really enjoyed fully, as both a teenager and an adult, I come out of this one 23 years old, having entered at the begining of my teens at the ripe age of 13. Lots of stuff happened this decade, for better or for worse. Culture changed, wars errupted, people died, people were discovered. So let us discuss our favorites in those things that often bind us as a forum, pop culture. Categories I suggest (but are not limited to) are:
Television Show
Movie
Album
Book
Meme
Video Game
Heres my picks:
1) Television Show: Dexter
Beautiful, witty and poetic, the viewer sympathizes with a troubled man who struggles with his urges to do bad things, something that a lot of people can relate to. Michael C Hall's acting is superb, and it is always an enjoyable watch.
2) Movie: Kill Bill
She roared, and she rampaged, and she got bloody satisfaction. Tarantino's cowbow, kung-fu revenge flick is the epitome of cool, and constantly impressive.
3) Album: Sam's Town (by the Killers)
From begining to end, you can detect the love and frustration that the Killers have for their home of Las Vegas. No album has captured the spirit of America for me like this, certainly in the past 20 years. Stepping beyond the trivial subject matter of their premiere album, the Killers just capture a big, wide open sound.
4) Book: John Dies at the End
Begining originally as a web serial on pointlesswasteoftime.com , JDatE has developed into one of the strongest works of sci-fi/horror/humor that I have read. It feels consistently honest, which increases the horror. The humor is generated by the characters personalities, you feel that would be how they deal with what they experience, so it doesn't feel like the comedic aspect is forced on you. Ultimately, the thing is a page turner, and David Wong deserves all the success he obtains from his book.
5) Meme: Charlie the Unicorn
There are few things as funny as "Oh, they took my freaking Kidney!" It is shallow and trite, but the magic leopluradon always brings me back.
6) Video Game: Mario Galaxy
Though it isn't my most played game, I would definately say Mario Galaxy for the Wii is the most impressive game I've played in how it constantly threw clever thing after clever thing at me. Without relying too much on gimicks of the hardware, Mario Galaxy was a joy begining to end.
So what are your guy's favorites?
Backlog Challenge: 0%0/8
PS2
FF X replay
PS3
God of War 1&2 HD
Rachet and Clank Future
MGS 4
Prince of Persia
360
Bayonetta
Fable 3
DS
FF: 4 heroes of light
Posts
Best Movie: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind; Runner up: Fellowship of the Ring (really the whole series, but if you make me pick one, I think Fellowship is the best)
Best Game: Tempted to say Metroid Prime, but probably Galaxy.
The others I don't have enough information on.
I think we can all agree that LotR can be counted as one single movie for the purposes of "Best of 2000-2009"
PS2
FF X replay
PS3
God of War 1&2 HD
Rachet and Clank Future
MGS 4
Prince of Persia
360
Bayonetta
Fable 3
DS
FF: 4 heroes of light
1. TV show
The Wire: All my favorite shows of the decade were HBO shows, and the Wire was the best of the bunch. If you imagine urban decay as a crime, then this show is Rashomon. On top of all its complexity it's genuinely entertaining too.
2. Movie
Bubba Ho-Tep: I had a bunch of "favorite movies" over the decade and this one is just one of a dozen I could've listed here if I was in a different mood. But this movie is just great, bizarre, funny, even inspiring, with great performances by Bruce Campbell and Ossie Davis. It's a bit slow moving but that's kind of the point.
3. Album
John Coltrane and Thelonious Monk at Carnegie Hall: I imagine different posters will have wildly different albums they list based on what music they like. I'll list this one even though it was recorded in 1957. It's here because it was found - in an unmarked box by some random guy looking through the library of congress archives - in 2005. Monk and Coltrane are both legends and prior to this album there were only three tracks of them playing together, now there's a whole live performance and best of all they both play well. It's like someone just stumbled across another Beethoven symphony like "oh, we must have missed this one."
4. Book
The Great War for Civilization: Robert Fisk has been a middle east correspondent since forever, and he gathered pretty much all of his experiences into this ginormous book that I'm still in the middle of. There are certain things about his writing and storytelling style that bug me, but they're nothing compared to all the fascinating things to be found in here. He covers the soviet war in Afghanistan, Bin Laden's emergence, the Iran-Iraq war, the Iranian revolution, I'm gonna cut this list off in the middle because it'll get too long. It's all here, all in a personal, exciting, detailed style.
5. Meme
The motivational poster may no longer qualify as a "meme" due to its longevity. It may have transcended memehood and become a genre or even a medium. In the future, cultural studies programs will cover literature, music, visual art, dance, and motivational posters.
6. Video Game
TES III: Morrowind: I can't claim that this is anything but a personal preference. Morrowind just scratched me right where I itch. There are a multitude of legitimate criticisms to be made of it but like many of my other favorite games, I can't quantify what makes it good through any kind of pro vs. con list. I don't think the RPG worldbuilding has ever reached a higher point than it did in this game.
Best Movie: Toss up between Lucky # Slevin and The Incredibles.
Best Game: Shadow of the Colossus, with Beyond Good & Evil & Resident Evil 4 as runners up. (Fallout 3 almost made the list, except for that shitty ending.)
Best Meme: Yo Dawg, if only because I haven't gotten sick of it yet.
Daft Punk - Discovery
Electric Six - Fire
Finger Eleven - The Greyest of Blue Skies
Zoe Keating - One Cello x 16: Natoma
Oleander - February Son
I know Oleander came out in 1999, but I didn't discover it until 2000, and it helped me through such a difficult point in my life at that point, that I don't really care.
3DS: 1521-4165-5907
PS3: KayleSolo
Live: Kayle Solo
WiiU: KayleSolo
Mike Rowe is one saucy looker. grrrrrrrowllll.
PS2
FF X replay
PS3
God of War 1&2 HD
Rachet and Clank Future
MGS 4
Prince of Persia
360
Bayonetta
Fable 3
DS
FF: 4 heroes of light
Drama - "House" - Love it or hate it, you're glued to it every week
Comedy - "Chapelle's Show" - It was the most quoted thing in the world for three years straight
Sci/Fi - I really want to give this to BSG, but Firefly was so good that it made Fox actually read the internet....
Runner Up(s) Chuck, Supernatural, American Dad, Venture Bros
Film
Drama - "Gladiator" - It kicked off the new millennium and definitely had the pop culture credibility
Comedy - "Dude, Where's My Car" - The original bromantic comedy
Sci/Fi - I know it's actually Fantasy, but this has to go to The Lord of the Rings, just because
Runner Up(s) The Departed, Million Dollar Baby, Spider Man
Album
Other - Various artists: O Brother Where Art Thou? Soundtrack
Other - Coldplay: A Rush Of Blood To The Head
Hip Hop - OutKast: Stankonia [Arista/LaFace]
Rock - The White Stripes (pretty much every album for the last eight years)
Runner Up(s) - Kanye, who as much as we hate him, is really, really talented, and a gay fish
Book
I read comic books, so I'm going to go out on a limb and say that both Infinite Crisis (DC) and House of M / Avengers Disassembled / Civil War (Marvel) were amazing reads
Meme
Motivational Posters, although they've dropped off a LOT in quality over the last two years
Video Game
Beyond Good and Evil
WoW
Kingdom Hearts
Dude is awesome, no doubt about it.
3DS: 1521-4165-5907
PS3: KayleSolo
Live: Kayle Solo
WiiU: KayleSolo
Television Show: The Wire
Movie: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Album: Absolution by Muse
Book: We3
Meme: Garfield Minus Garfield/Garfield Randomizer/Garfield Hurr
Video Game: Eternal Darkness
Almost picked BSG. I'm happy someone else picked Stankonia, because that was my runner up. Also happy to see love for The Wire and Eternal Sunshine already.
You people? You're good people.
Geek: Remixed - A Decade's worth of ruined pop culture memories
Xbox Live - Fatboy PDX
Movie - The Departed
Album - Funeral (Arcade Fire)
Video Game - Oblivion
I actually found Viva La Vida much better, it just has much more variety while remaining good. To each their own I suppose, it's your list, not mine.
PS2
FF X replay
PS3
God of War 1&2 HD
Rachet and Clank Future
MGS 4
Prince of Persia
360
Bayonetta
Fable 3
DS
FF: 4 heroes of light
Geek: Remixed - A Decade's worth of ruined pop culture memories
Xbox Live - Fatboy PDX
Television Show: I'll go with Firefly on this one, since it is my favorite of those I've watched. My exposure to TV series has been very limited this decade, though, so take that for what it's worth.
Movie: Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings, by a wide margin.
Album: I haven't heard nearly enough to have a real opinion.
Book: Again, I've hardly read anything this decade. Can't say.
Video Game: WoW. Even though I've never played it, the impact it has had on gaming has been enormous.
Geek: Remixed - A Decade's worth of ruined pop culture memories
Xbox Live - Fatboy PDX
cough up a list, man. I'm curious to see what you dug.
Geek: Remixed - A Decade's worth of ruined pop culture memories
Xbox Live - Fatboy PDX
Drama: Band of Brothers
Comedy: Arrested Development
Movie:
Drama: Downfall
Action: Lord of the Rings
Comedy: O Brother Where Art Thou
Album - Radiohead: Kid A
Book - From Dawn to Decadence: 500 Years of Western Cultural Life 1500 to the Present by Jacques Barzun
Meme - 9000?!
Video Game - The Orange Box
Movie: The King of Kong (I kind of prefer documentaries)
Vidja Game: Total War (Pick one most would pick Rome or Midevil2)
Meme: Rickrolling
Book: American Gods - Neil Gaiman
Album: The album is dead to me. Long live mp3's ala carte and mix dj sets and podcasts.
Geek: Remixed - A Decade's worth of ruined pop culture memories
Xbox Live - Fatboy PDX
Movie: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Book: The Road
Videogame: Shadow of the Colossus
Album: I don't know, but my favorite song is Radiohead's brand new "These Are My Twisted Words"
Meme: CATS: ALL YOUR BASE ARE BELONG TO US.
(come on, people. It was the meme that started the meme of "memes" on the internet. A metameme, if you will.)
SotC wasn't even good. I mean, it had a (very) few good parts, interspersed with fucking pain in the ass parts.
If I'm gonna talk best game of the decade, it's gotta be something that's mostly good parts, interspersed with maybe a few bad parts (not looking for perfection, here). Something like KotOR, maybe.
PS2
FF X replay
PS3
God of War 1&2 HD
Rachet and Clank Future
MGS 4
Prince of Persia
360
Bayonetta
Fable 3
DS
FF: 4 heroes of light
-- Cartoon: Avatar
Movie: Children of Men
Book: Scott Pilgrim (a graphic novel series, I know, but I'm a pop-culture geek living in Toronto, c'mon)
Album: Live it Out - Metric
Motivational Poster: Game: Super Smash Bros. Melee
The clumsy controls? I'll get to that.
The camera? It wasn't that bad. It mostly worked. It was rarely frustrating. It rarely detracted from the experience.
And the experience was sublime. SoTC, to me, is the fulfillment of the Ocarina of Time 3-D adventure game. It strips away everything tedious and repetitive in Zelda-like games—the fetch quests, the constant battles with enemies that take no brainpower to defeat, the one-use items—and explores what I thought was always the essential core of Zelda: transporting the player into another world. What made OoT my favorite game ever was that for the first time in history (with the possible exception of SM64), you really felt like you were there—the game's graphics and gameplay combined to give this visceral sense of immersion, like the places you were exploring were real in a sense that no other videogame ever achieved.
SoTC is one of two videogames (the other is ICO) to surpass OoT in this regard. Yes, the controls were clumsy. This is because you are supposed to be a real person who is apparently inexperienced in combat. When the kid stumbles or slips when he's running or climbing, it didn't distract from the experience for me; it heightened the sense of immersion, and the intensity. Agro moved and felt like a real horse; he is arguably the most beautifully animated creature in any videogame I can think of. The sense of weight that the colossi had, the scale and beauty and detail of the world—SoTC, quite simply, is the most "realistic" game I have ever played, in the sense that "it felt like you were there."
And the game was shocking and emotional in a way that could only work in a videogame. Most games just parrot the mechanics of another medium, film, to get an emotional reaction out of players. SoTC gets an emotional reaction from the gameplay itself, from the experience you have as a player and the actions the game forces you to make. The sad loneliness that suffuses the game is magnified by the fact that it's just you, you and your horse, and this weird dead girl. And these magnificent creatures that you have to kill.
I can understand why other people didn't like it. I don't really like games for games' sake. I like to play games for the experience of being somewhere else and doing something interesting; the mechanics don't really interest me unless they serve to heighten this experience. But if you're the kind of gamer who plays for points and virtuosity, I can see why you wouldn't think it's a good game.
And the world is so pretty. A big part of why I like to play games is just to see new places. Part of the excitement in Zelda or Metroid for me is "oh maybe this tool will let me get to a new cool-looking Temple." I never bothered with the lizards or anything; I liked exploring the world just to look at it.
TV Show: Arrested Development (but the Wire is basically tied with it)
Movie: There Will Be Blood
I am bad at books and memes.
http://rateyourmusic.com/~Elendae
http://mxmissile-proof.blogspot.com/
And yeah, you have a horse, but it moves so slowly that it doesn't really matter. I mean, if you want to love a game for its scenery, then Bioshock should be your game of the decade.
Hell, it's better than SotC in pretty much every conceivable way.
Television Show - Comedy: Arrested Development
Movie: Children Of Men
Album: Spent most of the decade not listening to much new music, so I'll cheat. Led Zeppelin - How The West Was Won
Book - Nonfiction: Nixonland
Book - Fiction: The Road
Meme: I have to agree with motivational posters
Video Game: City Of Heroes. Can't honestly call it the best game of the decade, but it's the one that had the most impact on me.
I really liked the setting of Bioshock and how it managed to be an actual commentary on political philosophy, but from what I played it seemed less ... mature? then SoTC. Not sure if that's the right word. But there was a disharmony, I thought. The gameplay was bluntly a first-person shooter; I guess it did some kind of innovative things, but I didn't think the gameplay informed the setting or the experience, or vica-versa. It was a conventional FPS that took place in a pretty awesome commentary on Ayn Rand but it's not like the gameplay helped that commentary. And the "choices" you make aren't anything significant.
Also, the animations weren't anywhere near as pretty as SoTC's. And while both games had great art design, Bioshock's was certainly "uglier" (though I guess that was part of the point). I would actually put Resident Evil 4 above Bioshock from what I've played of it.
And who the fuck gives a shit about choices? You don't get to make any choices in SotC, meaningful or not, so I don't see how that's a point for Colossus. And the gameplay on SotC really didn't seem like anything special to me, either. It seemed like a pretty standard Zelda-style adventure game, so I'm not really seeing how that makes it any better, either.
And I'm not typically a fan of FPSes, either; I'd much rather play God of War than most FPSes, but the fact is that in spite of my genre bias in favor of SotC, it was a shitty game in comparison to Bioshock.
I mean, you pretty much didn't give a single area where SotC was actually better than Bioshock, just a couple of things in which Bioshock was slightly lacking, and your own personal bias against FPSes.
Movie: Tough call, but I'm going to go with Donnie Darko, with The Fountain in a close second.
Album: I've probably listened to Pendulum's Hold Your Color far more times than is healthy.
Book: I honestly don't recall if I've read anything from this decade... I'll check my bookshelf when I get home and get back to you.
Meme: I'd argue that the Lolcat is easily as big as the Motivational Poster, but as one can combine the two, there is no hope for any of us.
Video Game: WoW wins by default. No one can argue the effect it's had on the business, multiple genres, and society globally. Speaking on more artistic terms, I'm putting Portal for #1, with SotC in a close second. Honorable mention for Uncharted 2, which is fucking fantastic in all respects, but lacks that same deep emotional pull of the other two; it's a "popcorn flick" of a game, but polished to a supernova shine.