Media I've consumed in 2012
January 01, 2013 at 12:09 PM | categories: movies, books, games | View CommentsWhile some people take the end of a year as an opportunity to reflect on how awesome and successful they are, I prefer to look back at all of the media I've consumed over the past year.
Without further ado, here's how I wasted my time:
Books
- The Hunger Games
- Catching Fire
- The Elements of Scrum
- The Prince
- Mockingjay
- Steve Jobs
- The Red Badge of Courage
- Presidential Pardons: Shades of Mercy
- Masters of Doom: How Two Guys Created an Empire and Transformed Pop Culture
- The Great American Foreclosure Story: The Struggle for Justice and a Place to Call Home
- Treasure Island
- I Am Legend
- Finding Oscar: Massacre, Memory, and Justice in Guatemala
- The Lean Startup: How Today's Entrepeneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses
- Fight Club
- Great by Choice: Uncertainty, Chaos, and Luck--Why Some Thrive Despite Them
- Space Chronicles
- A Journey to the Centre of the Earth
- Bossypants
- That Is All
This year, I highly recommend John Hodgman's That Is All audiobook. I normally don't like listening to books, but I make exceptions for comedians reading their own books. Listening to Hodgman deadpan lies to me for over a dozen hours is a treat, and is a great conclusion to a trilogy of books full of bullshit.
Movies
- Certified Copy
- The Room
- Mystery Science Theater 3000: Gamera vs. Barugon
- Rango
- The Arbor
- Big Trouble in Little China
- Cedar Rapids
- Bill Cunningham New York
- Double Indemnity
- The Other Guys
- High Noon
- Outsourced
- Source Code
- Super
- Meek's Cutoff
- Thor
- Bridesmaids
- Cars 2
- Clue
- Captain America: The First Avenger
- Horrible Bosses
- Julie & Julia
- Super 8
- Pirates of the Carribean: Stranger Tides
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II
- Being Elmo: A Puppeteer's Journey
- The Front Page
- Kung Fu Panda 2
- Rise of the Planet of the Apes
- Ace in the Hole
- Melancholia
- Page One: Inside the New York Times
- L.A. Confidential
- The Artist
- The Muppets
- Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol
- Another Earth
- Martha Marcy May Marlene
- Project Nim
- Take Shelter
- Looper
- The Interrupters
- Indie Game: The Movie
- Win Win
- 50/50
- The Avengers
- Jeff, Who Lives at Home
- The September Issue
- Contagion
- God Bless America
- Lincoln
- Brave
- This American Life - The Invisible Made Visible
- Moonrise Kingdom
- Argo
- Tiny Furniture
- Seeking a Friend for the End of the World
- Safety Not Guaranteed
There were tons of good movies in this list (sequels notwithstanding, which were universally a disappointment for me this year). Still, head and shoulders above the rest was a huge surprise in 1951's Ace in the Hole. That movie predicted the 24 hour news cycle 60 years ago with incredible prescience, and it's refreshing to see a movie as cynical as I am, doubly so one from the same decade that brought us Leave it to Beaver. Billy Wilder is fast becoming both my favorite writer and director.
Games
- EDGE
- Osmos
- TRAUMA
- Snuggle Truck
- Mass Effect 3
- Diablo III
- The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
- Civilization V
- Professor Layton and the Unwound Future
- Torchlight II
- The Walking Dead
I didn't play many games this year, and even fewer good ones. Still, Skyrim is most impressive in both quality and quantity of content. Honorable mention to The Walking Dead for its handling of story and episodic content. It's good to finally see Telltale Games get credit for what they're doing.
Hello world
July 15, 2012 at 04:20 PM | categories: uncategorized | View CommentsThis is a blog. Expect posts rarely.
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