Gareth Williams: The Outsider

The ‘End of the Year List’-type blog is hardly original – indeed, you’ve probably seen too many already – but sod it. This is my blog, so end of the year lists is what you’re getting!

Before we go any further, I should make clear that what follows is not so much my opinion on the Best of 2010 (though strong cases could be made in a lot of cases), but rather my personal Favourites of 2010. As well as that, I’ll also be looking ahead to some of the things I’m most looking forward to in 2011.

So let’s get started, shall we?

FAVOURITE FILMS OF 2010

·         Inception

·         Toy Story 3

·         Tron: Legacy

·         Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

·         Kick-Ass

Inception tops the list of my fav films of the past year, and by some considerable margin. I’ve seen it 3 times at the time of writing this, and if anything it gets better each time. Christopher Nolan hasn’t put a foot wrong in ages now, and that bodes well for The Dark Knight Rises in 2012. Picking the 2^nd place wasn’t that tough here, either. Toy Story 3 was a surprise for me, simply because I wasn’t sure Pixar had it in them to strike gold for a third time. Boy was I wrong! If anything, it was the best of the three, and it was probably the most moving film I saw all year. How many animated films can genuinely convince you, even for a second, that they are about to wipe out their entire main cast? Toy Story 3 managed it. Thatincinerator scene is bloody heart-wrenching. Tron: Legacy and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World make it onto the list by being exactly my type of film. I love the first Tron and I think the sequel might have bettered it. I think it was underrated by critics. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and I can’t wait to see it again. Scott Pilgrim was just brilliant fun, as was Kick-Ass (though I do think it was slightly overrated in some places.)

FAVOURITE TV SHOWS OF 2010

·         Lost

·         Fringe

·         Chuck

·         The Walking Dead

·         Castle

·         Doctor Who

Much like my favourite film of the year, my favourite TV show of the year was never in doubt, either. It was the final season of one of my favourite ever shows, and unlike some, I loved – LOVED – Lost’s final season. And yes, I loved the finale too! Moreso than pretenders like Heroes, FlashForward,or The Event, Fringe is the true heir apparent to the throne of Lost. A brilliant show in its own right, it has (so far) really excelled itself in its third season. Here’s hoping its move to the Friday night death slot in the US doesn’t signal the beginning of the end. Fringe deserves so much better. Chuck’s third season may have been its peak, as its fourth has so far struggled to match up, but it remains tremendously entertaining. But like I said earlier, this isn’t so much about quality as it is my personal preference, and Chuck has become a firm favourite of mine. The Walking Dead is the only new show on this list, so that show how much I enjoyed it – especially as it only had 6 episodes. The second season can’t arrive soon enough for me. Rounding out the list are Castle and Doctor Who. I’m planning a blog specifically about the last season (or series, if you prefer) of Who and to explain why, as much as I loved the first year of Moffat’s reign, it didn’t blow me away as much as it seems to have others. And Castle is a show I wouldn’t have given the time of day if not for the presence of Nathan Fillion, and even then I didn’t expect to enjoy it as much as I do. But it’s a great, great show and has earned its place as one of favourites of the year. And I would like to give an honourable mention to 24, another one of my all-time favourites that came to – a surprisingly emotional – end this year.

FAVOURITE VIDEO GAMES OF 2010

·         Red Dead Redemption

·         Fallout: New Vegas

·         Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood

·         Heavy Rain

One of the reasons to pick Favourites of the year instead of Best, is that it’s so much easier to pick the top entry. Much like the previous categories, Red Dead Redemption stormed this one, being not only my favourite game of the year, but probably better than its sort-of older brother, Grand Theft Auto IV. It improved on the open world formula, maybe even perfected it, and is arguably the most evocative game you’ll ever play. Fallout: New Vegas makes it into second place despite all of its numerous bugs and glitches. It’s a great game (when it’s not crashing) with a compelling world and story to get lost in. It’s as good as Fallout 3, but does not, in my opinion, better it. Hence it’s only my second favourite game of the year. Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood is third, even though I’ve only recently stared playing it. It’s just that good. And finally, Heavy Rain is one of those love-it-or-hate-it games. I loved it. It’s different from almost anything else out there, and everyone should give it a go.

FAVOURITE PODCASTS OF 2010

·         Official Lost Audio Podcast

·         PWTorch Livecast

·         G4 TV Web Shows: Feedback

·         SModcast

·         DC Comics Comic-Con Panels Audio

Bit of a leftfield one, this, I admit. But 2010 was the year where I listened to more podcasts than ever before, so why not share some of my top picks? All of the podcasts listed here are available on iTunes, so check ’em out. The Official Lost Audio Podcast (and I do specifically mean the audio, not the video ones) is finished now along with the show, and may mean little to people who are not Lost fans, but holy fuck was it good fun! I wish more TV showrunners would follow the example of Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse and do a weekly podcast about their show. The PWTorch Livecast is a daily pro wrestling podcast from the people who produce the Pro Wrestling Torch newsletter. If you’re even slightly interested in pro wrestling and would like to hear it discussed intelligently, this is the show for you. If you listen live, you can even call in yourself. Feedback is a video podcast where the team that makes the X-Play video game TV show in the US sits around to discuss the latest video game news and the latest big releases. SModcast  is a weekly show from writer/director Kevin Smith and his friend and producer Scott Mosier. It’s very, very funny, even if you’ve never seen (or never liked) any of Smith’s films. You may want to avoid it if you’re easily offended, though. Finally, the DC Comics Podcast is a great one to subscribe to, if only because they put the audio from the Comic-Con panels up for download so everyone can hear them. I can’t tell you how much I wish other people would do this. In fact, I’d bet many people would be willing to pay a small fee to hear/see Comic-Con panels when they can’t make it in person.

FAVOURITE HOTTIES OF 2010 (yes, this is as prurient as it sounds! ;-))

·         Olivia Wilde

·         Olivia Munn

·         Yvonne Strahovski

·         Scarlett Johansson

·         Katherine Jenkins

I have nothing to say here. This one kinda speaks for itself, doesn’t it?

Now, before we all move on with our lives, I’m going to take a quick peek into my crystal ball and look ahead to 2011.

MOST ANTICIPATED FILMS OF 2011

·         Thor

·         Cowboys & Aliens

·         Super 8

·         Green Lantern

·         Paul

·         Captain America

MOST ANTICIPATED VIDEO GAMES OF 2011

·         Mass Effect 3 (PlayStation 3 version)

·         Batman: Arkham City

·         Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception

·         Deus Ex: Human Revolution

·         Portal 2

·         L.A. Noire

·         Crysis 2

Happy New Year, everyone!