YEAR END LISTS

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So the year's about to end and the time has come for people to recap the year. With lists. Obviously. So ehat are some of your year end lists? Best movies, best games (boardgames, computer games, rmn games), best all kinds of things.

Everyone loves a top 5 or 10 or so. I'm compiling some of the usual lists for my blog (tv, movie, game). So far I've only done the TV list, which I might share. But really I'm thinking this could be the place for some lists.

My TV shows of 2014 list:

10. Black Sails
Pirates!
9. The Walking Dead
It's getting good again after being not quite as good.
8. The Musketeers
Swashbuckling fun. And Peter Capaldi!
7. Bluestone 42
Army workplace comedy in Afghanistan. What could possibly go wrong? Except things blowing up of course. Damn insurgents.
6. Rick & Morty
Insane animated shenanigans. Without being too random and having just right amount of heart. (I don't know about you but so many animated things are just random for random's sake. I feel this is not that)
5. Agents of SHIELD
After a rocky start it got good. It got REALLY good.
4. Brooklyn: 99
Workplace comedy in a police district. With such a wondeful cast that I think actually made me fall out of my chair laughing at one point. I mean damn. This is great stuff.
3. Sherlock
It was in the early year. But it's Sherlock. The Batch is the Batch is the Batch. And Martin Freeman is awesome too.
2. Orphan Black
Orphan is the new black.
1. Game of Thrones
Because of course. It's game of fucking thrones.

So. Lists?
Bit of a shameless plug for my nonexistent website, but here's my 6 favorite games of the year!

too long;didn't click:
6. The Uncle Who Works For Nintendo
5. Bravely Default
4. Binding of Isaac Rebirth
3. DanganRonpa
2. Ghost Suburb II
1. Huevos Rancheros
Top 5 most watched kids youtube videos while a kid sits in my lap on my PC:

5. Ten In The Bed | Super Simple Songs


4. Uh-Huh! | Super Simple Songs



3. Alphabet Song | ABC Song | Phonics Song



2. Outer Space: "We are the Planets," The Solar System Song by StoryBots



1. "Let's Wait for Yellow," Songs About Colors by StoryBots



Sailerius
did someone say angels
3214
Games
It has been a pretty terrible year for games. I wanted to do a top ten list, but I couldn't find ten games that came out in 2014 that were worth playing, so I settled for five.

5: République
4: Drakengard 3
3: Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII
2: This War Of Mine
1: Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes

Anime
5: Jojo's Bizarre Adventure
4: Aldnoah.Zero
3: Fate/stay Night
2: Psycho-Pass 2
1: Madoka: Rebellion
CashmereCat
Self-proclaimed Puzzle Snob
11638
@kentona Love that list. My little cousin of 6 months is a bit different though. His favorite is Pharrell's "Happy". He will actually stop crying if it plays and he is only 6 months. It is cute and scary at the same time.

This year was a great year for films. So great I didn't even see half of the best films this year but I still watched many awesome films. Here's a list of my personal top.

10. Snowpiercer
A real polarizing film about classism. If you hate over-the-top unrealistic action and weirdness in general, you might not like this film. For me it was brilliant, an imaginative piece where American and South Korean influences collide. A really long train with the rich at the front and the poor at the tail. "Keep your place!" dictator Swindon shouts.
9. Guardians of the Galaxy
A real crowd pleaser. Funny sci-fi that is original and has cool space ships? Sign me up. Couple it with a machine-gun toting raccoon, tree man, and the too-literal Drax and you have hilarity on your hands. Very funny Marvel movie.
8. The Guest
This slick thriller may catch you by surprise. Subtle build up for the first half, balls out action in the second half. The first half's slow burn and tension was pretty bloody unique in my opinion.
7. The Babadook
A smart horror from Australia. Great acting by the two leads, which includes boy actor Noah Wiseman in one of the best child performances I've seen in a while. Also the movie relies less on cheap jump scares and more on psychological horror to make you on the edge of your seat.
6. Ida
Top notch cinematography and a slow, almost religious pace that reflects the nun's sober point of view. A film about reality and illusion and whether it matters if we distinguish between the two. Entirely shot in black and white.
5. Interstellar
Nolan's next big hit, this time in space. Truly thrilling. Good cinema experience, worth it to see in IMAX. Solid acting, taut screenplay, and as always, attention-to-detail directorial control. Auteurs' work.
4. Gone Girl
Tense thriller. I read the book beforehand. The book kept me up at night, with its page-by-page intensity. The film is incredibly faithful to the novel in story and tone. Fincher is such a good director he can pull a fantastic performance from even Tyler Perry. I got to say I felt Neil Patrick Harris did not deliver though. But it was still a deranged film with a brilliant Rosamund Pike at its centre.
3. The Grand Budapest Hotel
The most Wes Anderson Wes Anderson film Wes Anderson ever made. So many of the familiars are here, as well as some new entrants. Exciting screenplay filled with comedic moments that had me rolling on the floor laughing with my friend. He wanted to watch it again the next day (incredibly rewatchable film). Fantastic art direction. Great lead performance by Fiennes. But most of all this is Wes at his best. Deft control of almost everything in the film, a true artist.
2. Whiplash
This film grabs you by the throat from the start and doesn't stop. My eyes were glued to the screen from start to finish, and in the final screen I was almost squealing with joy at how perfect it all was. Truly transcendent film with a game-wining performance by JK Simmons. Must-see.
1. Boyhood
Linklater's masterpiece, for reasons it is hard to explain. Sure there's the fact that it was filmed over 12 real years, a few days per year. But that shouldn't matter. For me it was a transcendent film where I felt connected to the characters in a way I had not before. Boyhood was an experience. One of the few movies where it was 3 hours long and I wanted to keep watch and live in this universe. Truly spectacular and tender, for reasons I'm not sure i know how to describe. Must-watch.

That's it. Hope I didn't exaggerate too much. Still haven't seen Birdman, Foxcatcher, Nightcrawler, Mr Turner, Selma, The Tale of Princess Kaguya, The Imitation Game, The Theory of Everything and many other great feature films, which I am thoroughly looking forward to.

Honorable mentions: Two Days, One Night; Ernest & Celestine; X-Men Days of Future Past; Locke; The LEGO Movie; Housebound; Calvary; The Raid 2; Edge of Tomorrow.
The Imitation Game is OK, the dialogue is a bit too Hollywoody and it downplays Turing's sexuality a bit. Annoyances, but not a bad film.
I can't believe how popular The Babadook is. The beginning was okay (as was the intent of trying to make a more sophisticated psychological horror) but overall I thought it was really lame.

All I can think of now (because I've probably watched more movies from any year BUT 2014) are the TV shows I found worth watching/waiting every week for:
6. The Walking Dead. Unfortunately still pretty corny & slow in parts, but still enjoyable
5. The Leftovers - only watched it 'cause my Dad started to. It's okay (I forgot Justin Theroux was a decent actor) though it also tends to be quite corny
4. True Detective. Failed I thought as a crime drama, but succeeded immensely as a character study of the two male leads
3. RuPaul's Drag Race. It's just great.
2. Boardwalk Empire - after the fairly bad season last year, the final season was amazing. A really beautiful and thoroughly depressing drama.
1. EastEnders. Hahaha

Unfortunately I didn't catch Fargo. Would like to watch it eventually, though.

author=CashmereCat
Fincher is such a good director he can pull a fantastic performance from even Tyler Perry.

Hahahahahahaha
CashmereCat
Self-proclaimed Puzzle Snob
11638
I didn't watch much TV this year, save for Louie which was absolutely brilliant. I usually don't feel to watch TV series in succession unless they're really short and/or comedic.

I felt like Babadook was effective as an exploration of a woman's grief after the loss of her husband. It affected me more than it disturbed me. I'm not a horror fan, not that I dislike it but I don't actively pursue the genre just for its scares, so The Babadook was effective for me as a tautly directed thriller about a woman who just couldn't let go. The way that the monster was designed to be foreboding rather than creepy underscored her pain and her defiance really shone through. Everyone has their own opinions, though, and I can see why people would dislike it.

Horror films are generally very polarizing anyway. The 3 people I watched it with were like "meh" but I personally really enjoyed it and would watch it again.

Edit:

@kentona: "Sunshine Is Yellow" is a totally pimping song. I didn't know they did it this well for kids.
It wasn't like the worst movie I've ever watched or anything! It's popular, but I think there have been far better horrors from 2014.

I thought the emotional & psychological aspects of the story were handled rather poorly, but as you say, people can't agree on everything.

The first quarter of The Babadook reminded me heaps of The Shock, a 70s horror movie with a similar scenario - a widowed mother struggling with her difficult son. In that film though, the son was far less sympathetic and just plain creepy, haha.
I barely scraped together ten games that came out last year that I played. So here's my list of those games. Though I might have forgotten something.

10. Dead State
A bit buggy but otherwise fairly excellent in capturing the lovely zombie feel.
9. Broken Age Act 1
See I have to have an incomplete game to make it to ten. It was a lot of fun and very cute. But I'm waiting for the rest of the game...
8. The Walking Dead: Season 2
Not as good as season one. But still had some really great moments.
7. Insurgency
So much co-op fun shooting terr... insurgents. It's just the right kind of hardcore for me.
6. The Wolf Among Us
Telltale adventure that is a murder mystery. Awesome music and it made me want to read the Fables comics. (which I did)
5. Elite: Dangerous
Euro Truck Simulator in space.
4. Xenonauts
A surprisingly scary squad based tactical game.
3. Defense Grid 2
My favourite tower defense game got a sequel. That was just as good.
2. Wasteland 2
It's the Fallout sequel we never gotl (just like how I guess Fallout was the Wasteland sequel we never got. It's full circle!)
1. Valiant Hearts: The Great War
To be honest it probably is nothing special. But it is the first time that I cried playing a video game and even though it used cheap underhand tricks to achieve it I still have to give it props.

And then we also need some youtube goodness. I suppose. So top 3 songs I sang in the shower this year:
3. The Hanging Tree

2. The Rains of Castamere

1. Jåo nåo e ja jåo YOLO ja nåo
@Shinan
I wish I understand a word in Jåo nåo e ja jåo YOLO ja nåo. Seems like a really fun/wacky video. It's finnish, right? I can't find the name's translation on google translate, unless it's just gibberish?

Um I haven't really watched any drama series after Breaking Bad and the only movies I've watched were Interstellar and Hobbit 3 so I'll do a top 5 anime list.

Anime

5. Spice and Wolf
Fun "economic" anime. Still hoping for the 3rd season.

4. Silver Spoon
Checked it out solely because it's from the same mangaka of FMA. "Chillax" slice of life that gets corny at times.

3. Terra Formars
Been waiting for this for a long time and glad there was a censored version.

2. Psycho-Pass 2
It's funny when Terra Formars and this anime's subbed version were uploaded at the same time. Every saturday after I came back home from school I would be thinking of which to watch when I'm gonna eat lunch then I'd remember last episode's of TF of a woman who jumped into the fire laughing maniacally because she'd rather not get tortured by the roaches, and then when I think "Oh I'll just watch Psych-Pass then" then it'd hit me that last episode involved people getting blown by bits. And I'd kinda have that black-guy-happy/sad-meme face.

1. Parasyte
Only because of the manga. Honestly how the fuck was this under my radar for so long?! And how is it not more famous?? :/ I adore Migi's voice, but I wished they didn't rework Izumi and Murano's looks. The music/dubstep in the series was surprisingly good though.
Yellow Magic
Could I BE any more Chandler Bing from Friends (TM)?
3154
@Ivory: I watched the first episode of Parasyte yesterday and was just...confused...and ever so slightly grossed out, which was bad because I was eating lunch at the time.

And Psycho-Pass S2 was a bit of a disappointment compared to the first one...



I didn't consume anywhere near enough (modern) media to make top ten lists of anything - certainly not games, as I've been catching up on the PS3 I just bought a couple of months ago.

Top 5 TV shows

5. The Apprentice season 10 (UK)
Can't believe I'm saying this but I think this season had the most decent bunch of contestants I've seen in years...there was a lot of legit character development, too (particularly Daniel "I'm better than everything" Lassman and James, who almost seemed like a misbehaving son of Lord Sugar's towards the end), which isn't something you see in most 'reality' TV shows.

Plus Roisin was super cute. <3

4. Akame ga Kill!
The thing I loved most about this anime was how typically shonen and low-brow it was, and at the same time it wasn't afraid to admit it in any shape or form. Troperiffic and OTT, yet ever so slightly tasteful throughout. Oh, and it has one of the best endings to an anime that I've ever seen - probably second to The Tatami Galaxy.

3. Homeland Season 4
This show made my Monday nights during the last quarter of 2014. I don't think I've ever seen a season of a TV show that was as many parts amazing as it was absolutely shitey - but god DAMN if it wasn't entertaining throughout.

2. 24 Season 9
Been a massive 24 fan for quite a while now, so when I heard that they were going to be filming in London in the beginning of the year I totally freaked out (in a good way). Vintage 24 throughout, from the numerous DAMMITS to the obligatory MOLE screwing everything up for the good guys.

1. WWE (Kinda cheating as its several shows in one but w/e)
The most surprising thing of 2014 for me was my rekindled appreciation for wrestling (or 'sports entertainment' as it's now widely called for some reason). It's pretty much as cheesy as it was when I stopped watching back in 2005/6, but the cool thing now is how the WWE is in a phase it calls the 'Reality era', where it tries to blend real-life, behind-the-scenes happenings with whatever ridiculous storylines it decides to come up with. Case-in-point: The CM Punk promo that started the whole trend, which is basically a masterclass of lampshade-hanging and great acting (yes, 2011 but it's really worth watching as I honestly think even game developers can take a lot from this):


Admittedly, most of the writing for the main two weekly shows, RAW and Smackdown, has been supbar (and John Cena's still around ugggh), but the matches can get really good and every now and then there's a hilarious promo of some sort. There's also NXT, which is pretty much a 'training ground' for wrestlers who aren't deemed as ready for the main WWE shows - the ironic part is usually the show's better in pretty much every way, from the writing to the technical ability on display. The R: Evolution pay-per-view in particular blew my mind several times over - even the entrances of the wrestlers were awesome.

TL;DR I feel like Im 13 years old again



I'll try to do a music list at some point, although there wasn't much good stuff last year unfortunately
BEST GAMES:

1. Mario Kart 8
2. Dragon Age: Inquisition
3. Tales of Xillia 2
4. Super Smash Bros. for Wii U
5. Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS
6. Bravely Default
7. Kirby: Triple Deluxe
8. Destiny
9. Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag
10. Shovel Knight

BEST GAME SOUNDTRACKS:
1. Destiny
2. Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze
3. Bravely Default
4. Mario Kart 8
5. Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII
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