• 22Dec 09

  2009 - Year in Review

  As 2009 is drawing to a close I thought I'd look back on the last 12 months and highlight the main things that happened this year (main as far as I'm concerned that is). I wouldn't say 2009 was the best year ever or anything, but there was a lot to love about it, so let's get started!

  TV

  

  I'm not going to dwell on this section too much as I've done multiple blogs and reviews so most of what I'm about to cover would otherwise end up with me repeating myself. The heavy hitters for me in the TV world are Smallville, Supernatural and Lost. As I'm just covering 2009 here: The second half of season 8 of Smallville didn't quite continue the awesome quality of the first and ended very badly, however so far season 9 has been great. Supernatural continued to be awesome and that season 5 has been no different has cemented the show's place as my favourite show currently airing. Then there's Lost which is the only one of the three to have had it's whole season this year. Uneven is the best word for it. Some of the series best episodes as well as some of the worst. I think I'm alone in thinking this, but the finale was rubbish. I sometimes feel Lost gets a free ride a bit and people ignore its faults, but I take the show one episode at a time and if that individual ep didn't have me on the edge of my seat the whole way then I'm going to complain! Of course that doesn't mean I don't still love the show; second favourite show currently airing.

  

  Other shows included the conclusion of Scrubs, only for it return with pretty much the entire cast at least having small parts for Scrubs: Med School. House had a strong finish to season 5 and despite a couple of missteps season 6 has been good so far too. Then there's Heroes and The Big Bang Theory which are decent enough to watch, but I'm not going to go out of my way for them. As for the new shows this season I can't think of one I still care about, which is a shame as Flashforward in particular had a lot of potential. And special mention to Doctor Who where David Tennant's time as the Time Lord ends at the end of the year (or maybe at the start of next year, I'm not sure exactly when part two is airing) which will hopefully be awesome!

  Films

  

  It wasn't the best year for summer blockbusters with Watchmen getting us underway early in the year (therefore technically not making it a big summer movie, but bare with me) and unfortunately wasn't as good as everyone hoped it'd be. Great action, but not the most engrossing. The fact characters were still sharing their backstories within the last hour of the movie showed that just because something works in one medium doesn't mean it will work in another. That said it was still entertaining and far from bad.

  Of the big summer movies (Wolverine, Terminator: Salvation, Transformers and Star Trek) Star Trek was probably the best of an average bunch. While the story was naff there was enough humour and loveable characters to keep things interesting. Although despite the claims they were making the series cool again the fact they saved the day using pure techno-babble annoyed me. The next biggest one was probably Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. Now unlike everyone else on the planet who would actually discuss its quality I didn't hate it. That's not to say I liked it though. It basically had everything from the first film done even bigger, whether that was a good thing or not. So the action was bigger, clearer and a lot more impressive, but the cringe-worthy "comedy" side also returned and then some. Where the first film was charming in its own way (at least I thought so) this one was just irritating. Big robots and hot girls are great for a popcorn movie; but if that's what this was then why was it over two hours long?

  As for Wolverine and Terminator: Salvation to be honest they weren't good or bad enough to really be worth talking much about. So let's dive into the other movies this year of note. I unfortunately missed District 9 so let's talk about the most expensive movie ever made: Avatar. It looked brilliant (even the 3D kinda worked) and Pandora was brilliantly realised as well as the [Navi], both visually and in how the planet worked. Unfortunately I didn't find myself really caring about any of the characters and the story was incredibly predictable. Still despite being three hours+ it didn't really outstay it's welcome. So although my backside went numb I was never bored by the movie so if you haven't seen it I'd say it's at least worth a look. And did I mention it looked awesome?

  

  But my favourite film of the year was Zombieland. Basically an American Shaun of the Dead, which is definitely a compliment. Funny, violent, scary and genuinely moving this was a great surprise. The cast was great and the visual text tricks, something I usually hate, worked really well and were very funny. A film that both parodies and embraces zombie clichés at the same time and if you haven't seen it yet, do yourself a favour and go check it out!

  Games

  

  Well it's been a big year for games, but to save this blog being too long I'll just concentrate on the PS3 (as I've barley played games on any other console this year!). Resident Evil near the start of the year was a great title and despite having very little if anything different from RE4 and the terrible AI for Sheva it was a lot of fun. Works well in both single and co-op mode and was basically the equivalent of a popcorn movie. Not much new or revolutionary, but great production values and thoroughly entertaining while it lasted.

  My other favourite games from this year were Uncharted: Among Thieves, which was great and looked amazing even if it was fairly forgettable once it was over, and Batman: Arkham Asylum. It's well documented that games based on comics are rarely great. There are exceptions to this rule, usually Spider-Man games, but this was definitely the greatest comic book game ever made! Superb action, a battle system that perfectly balanced fighting and stealth and generally made you feel like Batman. A very cool story that incorporated many villains with all of them working nicely into the plot and it, also, looked amazing. Despite the weak ending to the game I'd still give it my game of the year award!

  

  And the rest

  

  It's been a mixed year for myself, as while work continues to go well (I'm now on a full-time contract) my beloved Newcastle were relegated to the second tier of English football. Which if you're unfamiliar with football was akin to losing a limb. However in the Championship they are doing very well and are currently 10 points clear at the top of the table.

  And that's really all the excitement. Since graduating from university things are a fairly mundane case of working interspersed with going out. Which definitely isn't a bad thing, just doesn't give me much exciting to write about.

  So all that's left is to wish you all a very merry Christmas and I'll be back in the new year.

  • Posted Dec 22, 2009 3:07 pm PT
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• 4Dec 09

  World Cup Draw, Scrubs and More

  Well the draw for next summer's World Cup in South Africa has been made and the main group of interest is Group C: ENGLAND, USA, Algeria, Slovenia.

  Yes we have been drawn against our friends from across the pond and not only that but it'll be both teams first game of the tournament! I know football isn't the US' main sport but I would've thought that match up will bring about some interest.

  Other groups of interest include the so-called "Group of Death" (the name given to the group with theoretically the best teams in it despite the seeding system) which has Brazil, North Korea, Ivory Coast, Portugal. On paper North Korea are the weak link there but you never know. After cheating their way to the finals France have arguably the easiest group alongside South Africa, Mexico, Uruguay. South Africa are only top seed due to them hosting the tournament and therefore are theoretically the weakest of the top teams.

  I'd link the full draw but it'll be everywhere so if you're interested it won't be hard to find! So instead here's a nice picture of the draw featuring FIFA Secretary Jerome Valcke (who looks worryingly like England manager Cappello) alongside the lovely Charlize Theron who did her best to feign interest while presenting and David Beckham in the background.

  

  In other news season 9 of Scrubs started this week (or season 1 of Scrubs: Med School depending on your opinion)! And slightly surprisingly it was really good. Have a look at what I made of the episode here if you're interested. Despite loosing most of the main cast for this year (although every ex main character except Carla was in the premiere) it still feels like the great show it always was. Time will tell if the new characters can fill the void when JD finally moves on, but for now it's still a great watch.

  

  As well as new main characters the background cast has been expanded a bit, the most noticeable inclusion is a stunning Australian girl who's character name I can't actually remember (I wonder if she's happy with the group the Aussies got in the World Cup?). She's of interest not only because she's super-hot but because she was on Aussie soap Neighbours a couple of years ago which is a fairly big show over here in the UK. And for proof that Australia produces the most gorgeous women here's nice picture of her.

  

  In other news Scotland's really, really cold! Ok it always has been but you kind of forget over the summer/autumn. Still if the cold weather means it's almost Christmas I'm happy with it! Shame we haven't had any snow here yet though.

  Well thanks for reading and hope you all have a great weekend!

  • Posted Dec 4, 2009 11:18 am PT
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• 1Dec 09

  It's December!

  Just a quick blog to point out that we're into the last month of the year! Only three and a half weeks until Christmas, I hope you've all started your Christmas shopping (not that I have).

  To be honest there's not much else to add.... Following on from my last blog my reviews for the fall finale episodes of Supernatural and Smallville are here and here. Feel free to let me know what you make of them if you have time to read them.

  I'll be back on before long, maybe with a 2009 recap blog or something. Until then, enjoy December!

  • Posted Dec 1, 2009 11:24 am PT
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