2010 Year in Review

Well 2010 was a pretty miserable year for me. Between the horrors of college and the like, I am glad 2010 is over. With that said however, I feel obligated to create a best of list for the year. Despite all of my hardships, there were some gleaming moments, and I was able to witness some pretty cool things during the year. I joined the US Army which has been a shining light of hope in terms of future opportunities as well as meeting some of the coolest people on the planet. Even though college was hard, I did learn a lot and now know how the Internet works. And while Jupiter never became a sun, I did see some pretty cool things this year.

Favorite TV Show of 2010:

The Walking Dead

This was kind of a no brainer. I am a huge fan of the comic book series, and this was a dream come true. The books are very entertaining, and since the story does have the potential to never end, it was a great idea for a television series.
The Walking Dead follows police officer Rick Grimes who has been in a coma while a zombie apocalypse was beginning. When he wakes up, he finds the world very different, and his sole purpose is to find his family. Fortunately, he finds his family fairly quickly, but unfortunately they have to struggle to survive in the zombie apocalypse where the undead aren't necessarily their greatest threat.

The most interesting aspect though of the show is how much it deters from the book. The first season pretty much covers just the first book. At the end of the first book - spoiler alert - Shane gets shot by Carl. If you have been watching the series, this didn't happen. Not only that but they added new characters which are interesting, and they even went to the CDC. After watching that episode, it made me wonder why our heroes wouldn't do that. Coincidentally, within a few seconds of asking myself that question, I happened upon an interview with Robert Kirkman. He explained that one of the great things with the television show is that he can explore missed opportunities. He regrets killing Shane off so quickly when the whole love triangle works very well in the context of a zombie apocalypse.

The other great thing about the show was the make-up and special effects with the zombies. Never before have I praised a show so much for their special effects, but - wow - the zombies looked so real. They really did look like decaying corpses. I can safely say that these were the best looking zombies on film. Many applause to the special effects department on the show.

The runner ups listed below came in just behind of the winner. I looked forward to all of these shows every week, but I was simply more excited to see what was going to happen next in The Walking Dead.

Runner Ups:
House M.D.
Venture Bros.

Favorite Video Game of 2010:
Undead Nightmare

Zombies were the big thing this year as you could probably tell. Red Dead Redemption was considered one of the best games over the summer, but I got bored very easily playing it. I found that the game was just too repetitive and not a lot to do. Undead Nightmare however turned Red Dead Redemption into a sillier yet very creepy game which I obviously felt made it tremendously better.
Red Dead Redemption is about bounty hunter John Marston in a fictional version of the old west. Government agents kidnap his family and force him to capture an outlaw who used to be in his old gang. Undead Nightmare revisits a lot from the original game and takes place shortly after John reclaims his family. Suddenly, a mysterious outbreak of zombies wreaks the world and John's family turns into zombies. Now it is up to John to find a cure for his family and put an end to this zombie plague.

What easily made this my favorite game of 2010 was the fact that I felt genuine fear when playing it. The atmosphere and the music was just perfect. Not since F.E.A.R. have I felt truly tensed when playing a game. Aside from that, there were moments that made me laugh out loud. There were some ridiculous actions by characters, and even a sympathetic moment with a Sasquatch. The four horsemen of the apocalypse was a great idea, and it was fun getting all of those horses and utilizing their special powers.

Now I did want to say something about one of the runner ups. While Transformers: War for Cybertron wasn't my favorite game of the year, it was certainly a surprise to me. I downloaded the demo online and fell in love with it. Unfortunately, the multiplayer had a lot of problems which was a great disappointment. It was interesting how the downloadable games were some of my favorite this year.

Runner Ups:
Scott Pilgrim: The Video Game
Transformers: War For Cybertron


Favorite Comic Book of 2010:

Victorian Undead
Okay I lied. Zombies were REALLY BIG this year. Another surprise hit was definitely this book. I thought it was just going to be some kind of exploitation of the Sherlock Holmes franchise. While that was certainly true, it served as possibly the greatest sequel ever made.
Victorian Undead literally takes place after the final Sherlock Holmes book, The Final Problem. Without giving away too much, Sherlock Holmes is called in to investigate an undead epidemic that plagues London.

It's hard for me to talk too much about this book since spoiling the huge twist in the middle of the book would be frustrating. All I can say is that if Guy Ritchie makes this Sherlock Holmes 3, he will be my favorite director of all time.
With regards to the runner ups, I think it is fascinating that the final Scott Pilgrim book came out shortly before the movie came out. The final book was another great addition to the awesomeness of Scott Pilgrim. The new Justice League series was pretty phenomenal, easily my favorite comic book run of the year. Please go to your local comic book store and pick these titles up.
Runner Ups:
Justice League: Generation Lost
Scott Pilgrim's Finest Hour

Favorite Internet Video of 2010:



RedLetterMedia's Star Wars 3 Review

I chose this one because it came out just before the new year, but seriously I could fill my top favorite internet videos with all of their reviews that came out this year. I believe the reviews for Star Wars 2, Avatar, and the new Star Trek movie came out this year too. All of them are great, but for the sake of variety, I am just claiming the third of the infamous Star Wars reviews as my favorite.

Easily, the greatest part of these reviews is that the reviewer is a psychotic murderer who butchers women and loves to eat pizza rolls. Mr. Plinkett is what makes these reviews so funny, but what makes them brilliant and truly stand out is the additional social commentary. In his recent reviews, Plinkett not only pokes fun at the HUGE flaws of the Star Wars' prequels, but also points out how society is getting dumber and how art is being replaced with commercialism and cheap gimmicks. My personal theory is that Mr. Plinkett loves movies so much that watching all of these movies over the years has made him insane.

One thing about the runner up videos. I am aware that one of the videos came out before 2010. I am making an exception with internet videos because some don't really become popular until a great deal of time has passed. With that said these videos are the ones I found this year. There's nothing thought provoking with the runner ups, but they make me laugh.

Runner Ups:
Black man loves Pokemon Original version!
Who's that pokemon?


Favorite Movie of 2010:



Scott Pilgrim vs. The World

Easiest choice of them all. This was by far my favorite movie of the year and so far the millennium. Because of this movie I am now in love with the books, and it has even usurped Batman Begins in my all-time favorite movies list. I am giving this movie the test of time, but as of right now this is my favorite movie to watch.

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World is about an early twenties slacker, Scott Pilgrim. He plays bass in his band and is dating a high schooler. One day though he meets the girl of his dreams, Ramona Flowers. From there all sorts of trouble ensues when Scott has to fight Ramona's seven evil exes in order to continue dating her.

This movie has action, romance, and comedy all tied up in the coolest, hippest bow imaginable. Edgar Wright doesn't pull back any punches in what many will claim to be one of the most bizarre movies to come out. This is truly a niche film, and it hits just about all of mine. I was really sad to learn that this did poorly in the box office, but I was glad to see it number one in DVD sales on Amazon. This movie was so fun and heart warming that I'm sure I'll probably watch it again later this week.

And lastly, my runner ups for movies. While this year had a lot of flops, there were quite a few gems. Toy Story 3 was the final chapter in what may be one of the few perfect trilogies. Toy Story 3 accomplished what few other movies can do: make me cry. Kick-Ass surprised me only because I was unaware that this was based off a graphic novel and the name put me off. After not liking the comic book, I actually did enjoy the movie. I hated how it abandoned its more interesting premise about real superheroes, but following Big Daddy and Hit Girl were certainly entertaining to watch.

Runner Ups:
Toy Story 3
Kick-Ass
Well there is plenty more to say about 2010, but these were truly my favorite things about the first year of a new decade. I really do just hope that mankind continues being creative and becomes a lot more peaceful and civil. Happy New Year everyone!