Devin’s Top 12 For 2012
2012 was awesome. I don’t care what anyone else says because 2012 was just awesome. There were disappointments, and more than a few horrible things that happened this year but they don’t belong on this list and they don’t dampen a great year.
I’d like to say that this list is my list. That is I don’t pretend to be an all knowing source. I did not see every movie, or video game, or book that came out this year. This list is not meant to be comprehensive in that sense. Instead it is meant to reflect my experiences this year. What follows are the things that were the most important to me in 2012.
Then I’d like to say that I worked on a ton of shit this year. All the video content. All the podcasts, and reviews were fun. And I wrote a damn book. I mean wow. Now that stuff doesn’t belong on this list. This list is about what I enjoyed about what others have done.
Before we begin – honorable mentions to Fringe, The Hunger Games(maybe my soundtrack of the year), Being Human, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, and Hyperion.
Favorite Movie of the Year:
The Avengers
It’s hard to believe I was worried during the pre-release of the Avengers. The trailers just weren’t really doing it for me. But like I said I shouldn’t have been worried. I’d thoroughly enjoyed every Marvel produced movie yet and this one was being written and directed by Joss Whedon.
I think I was worried because of what this film would mean to me. In 2008 Iron Man came out in theaters. I saw the trailer and knew I had to see it. So I did and I loved it. Later that year I saw The Incredible Hulk with Edward Norton which is a great movie as well. When I saw Tony Stark show up at the end of The Hulk I knew something special was happening. I ran to the library and asked where I could find the Avengers books. I came out of the library with a smattering of volumes including a retelling of the Avengers origin story. Shortly after that I began my descent into full geekery. There’s more to the story but this is not the place for it.
Needless to say Marvel’s plan to create a series of films culminating in The Avengers is inadvertently what lead me to asking Tim if he wanted to make a website with me. Which is crazy for me to think because I can’t imagine my life going any other way. OK so all that aside: I don’t think I need to say that I loved the film. But I did. It was more than I could have hoped for. I also love it for just the ballsiness of it. I mean nothing like The Avengers has ever happened in cinema before. And I love that Joss Whedon is finally getting the widespread renown that he deserves. And I love that his success is not changing his projects, well it sorta is cause there’s that whole Avengers 2 thing, but he’s still writing comics, and webseries, and making independent stuff like Much Ado. Anyway even without all of the Avengers significance to me it would still be one of my favorite films of the year.
Why S.H.E.I.L.D. will either make or break the Avengers franchise
You’ve probably heard that Agent Coulson will be starring in the S.H.E.I.L.D TV show helmed by Joss Whedon and Jed Whedon. This was troubling news to me. Don’t get me wrong I love Phil as much as the next guy – his death was among the most emotional moments in Avengers.
Upon hearing the news I immediately asked the question any rational person would ask, why is Coulson alive?
The way in which they decide to treat Agent Coulson’s return will ultimate decide for better or worse the fate of the entire franchise Marvel has tried and succeeded at building over the past 6 years.
Summer Wars Review
Summer Wars is Mamoru Hosoda‘s follow up film to his hit, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time. Like that film Hosoda mixes teen/family drama with science fiction elements. Is Summer Wars as great a film? No, but it is still pretty good.
What is becoming an apparent theme in Hosoda’s work is his merging of a fantastic element in an otherwise normal setting. In Summer Wars we are presented with the world of Oz, a cyberworld in which everyone in the world interacts similarly to the Oasis in Ready Player One. It has become such a mainstay of the world that even the trafficking system is connected for some reason.
Devin’s Thoughts On Fringe Season 4
If there’s one thing I’d say about this season of Fringe is that it takes risks. They aren’t afraid to throw away character and plot development that has been building for seasons. They aren’t afraid to change the focus of the show. Now these changes aren’t necessarily good. I’ll break down my thoughts, and let you know when spoilers enter into the picture.
Devin’s Thoughts on the Hunger Games
I have now read the book, and it’s pretty good. I never expected to like The Hunger Games as much as I did just because my thought process was that any book super popular with teens couldn’t be that great.
That said it is not without problems. I’ll be popping SPOILERS and references to the film adaptation so if you don’t want to be spoiled go read/watch it.
The first thing that hit me as I read the book was that it is told in present tense which is an odd choice in my opinion. Especially since there are some sentences where it seems to forget that it’s a present tense book. It’s also told in the first person which works well because it allows the reader to see Katniss’ thought process which is something that I felt was missing from the movie. In my opinion the book tells a better story than the movie tells, but I also think the movie does what it sets out to do and does it wonderfully. In fact we do get some extra story in the movie with the Gamemaker and the President having larger roles.
Times Last Gift Review
Time’s Last Gift by Phillip Jose Farmer is a time travel novel with interesting elements that is largely unfulfilling.
I was sent the 30th anniversary edition with a new afterword and a new time-line of events written by fans of Farmer’s work. The book is newly available from Titan Books for 9.95.
It is 208 pages in length.
This book is part of a larger body of work known as the Wold Newton Universe which is Farmer’s way of containing all of the British fantastical heroes like Sherlock Holmes and Doc Savage in one universe. You don’t need to know that to understand the novel as there is nothing intrinsically Wold Newton about it, in fact the connection was only hinted at until the revised edition told how the book is connected.
Fringe Season 3: Exploring the Multiverse
This article I’m focusing on the grander idea’s and themes that are present in season 3 of Fringe. If you’re more interested in my thoughts on the plot and some episode discussion check out the previous post. Also Spoilers.
So on the alternate universe:
Aside from the obvious and head-scratching blimps and bronze statue of liberty there are smaller pretty cool changes. First of all Fringe is not a nobody branch of the FBI that struggles for funding, no quite the opposite; everyone knows what Fringe is and the implications are for their visit.
That is the amber.
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More Than 15 (Mostly)Free Ways to Beat Summer Boredom
My friends over at Good Girls Gone Geek wrote an article about what to do now that your favorite TV show is on hiatus. Maybe the seasons over or maybe it’s at a mid-season brake(why do those exist).
Basically, your bored.
You don’t know what to do.
Your just sitting around, it’s summer. Maybe you know you should be doing something but you just aren’t.
So what do you do?
Let me tell you! There are no, and I repeat no ends to the things you could be doing right now.
It’s awesome. Most of it you can do completely free too.
Ready Player One is Like a Geek High
Ready Player One is a fantastic book, but its not for everyone.
Ready Player One
Writer: Ernest Cline
Pages: 384
There’s a fair chance that if you’re on this site, that this book is for you though. Ready Player One follows Wade, a teenager in his quest to complete a huge digital scavenger hunt. Sounds weird right? But the book is also chock full of obscure 80′s trivia which is sometimes reason for the book to get a little wonky in parts. Read More…
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