Best of 2005

Picture of Holly after her Filiponizing operation...worked well, don't you think. It was her Christmas present to me...

Nah, Just kidding...

Anyway...

Well, it’s that time of the year when critics start to put out their TOP 10 LISTS of the year or something. Well, I’m gonna be original and do the same. Except I can’t think of 10 things to put on a specific list so, here’s my things that I liked/disliked about 2005. I know there’s still a couple of days left in the year and this might be premature- but what the fuck…

On with the show…
BEST MOVIE: Howl’s Moving Castle by Hayao Miyazaki

Awesome, just awesome. Didn’t really care for the book- but the movie, dammit- just blew all expectations out of the water. I have fallen behind as an anime fan- but Miyazaki transcends the medium and is just a great filmmaker. One wonders why he’s never ventured into live action film- then one realizes reality is too constricting for a mind like his. Like all his movies, I can watch this over and over again…

Runner ups-

Kung Fu Hustle: Happy that Stephen Chow stopped making seven movies a year and concentrates his energy into one every couple of years or so. The wait sucks but the results are spectacular. Not what you’d expect after Shaolin Soccer and at the same time exactly what you’d expect. Stupid dichotomies…but anyway- love Chow’s underdog characters. If the ever does American cinema, I’d like to see him do a live action remake of A Charlie Brown Christmas…

Star Wars: Episode III: A pure Star Wars movie. Eps I & II had moments but ultimately weren’t Star Wars movies…Episode I- I only watch the Darth Maul bits, Episode II- I fast forward the romance bits, which is a 3rd or more of the movie…Episode III, I can watch the whole thing over and over again. Happy that it’s over though…because any more would just lower the entire franchise than it already has after the first two prequels. Although I’d love to see Side Stories, a Rosencrantz & Guildenstern take on the stories or back stories on the characters like the rumored young Yoda kicking Sith ass. They didn’t have to be theatrical movies too, although I’d like to see other directors take on the universe. Spielberg doing the Yoda bit, Tsui Hark doing a Knights of the Old Republic bit, John Woo doing a smuggler’s story (we never did see smugglers in the prequels), A Wong Kar Wai bit on Anakin & Padme’s forbidden romance, Tim Burton on the citizens of the lower levels of Coruscant and the list goes on and on and on…personally, I’d love to see Chow Yun Fat as the Jedi who trained Yoda

Serenity: Love to have seen the story’s end and not told through novels and/or fan fiction.

House of Fury: Flawed and ultimately forgettable but dammit- the kung fu is cool! Like old HK films that are similarly flawed and forgettable, this movie has a SCENE that rises above the movie and on a cold day, you fast forward just to see that scene- here it’s of an unassuming blonde white boy who’s constantly playing his game boy and all of a sudden he picks up a staff and kicks Anthony Wong’s ass…it’s cool I tells ye…

Initial D: I never finished watching the anime or even read the first volume of the manga…but this movie rules (from the makers of Infernal Affairs- my favourite trilogy of HK films). The best racing film there ever will be…even Holly liked it!

Land of the Dead: George Romero zombie movies rule!

Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy: I enjoyed this more that I thought I would- but then again, Douglas Adams does kick ass…I actually don’t want to see a theatrical sequel because he won’t be involved in them…

Corpse Bride: this is the Tim Burton I know and love…too bad the Danny Elfman songs sucked

Good but not great-

Fantastic Four: I’m a Marvel Zombie for life, but the ending annoys me. They made Dr Doom lame and the Thing at the end of the movie was off character.

Batman Begins: I didn’t even see this in theaters- but then again, I’ve seen Batman in theaters before so there…but this is the best live action Batman movie (until the sequel to this comes out). Katie Holmes isn’t even that nice to look at and she bugs, the Batsuit seemed wrong and in the end they are on the verge of making batman too invincible…at least he’s not an ass like he is in the current comics. But I love his characterization and portrayal, I enjoyed Jim Gordon and made me want to read Batman: Year One again.

Sin City: Speaking of Frank Miller…great to see, but they’re just replicas of the books I love and the source material is always the best…

King Kong/Constantine: Because it could have been so much better…but there are pieces in both movies that I just love.

THE BEST OF THE REST:

Best CD:
Matter and Form- VNV Nation

Best Show:
Matter & Form Tour- VNV Nation
Runner Up:
Depeche Mode’s Playing the Angel Tour

Best Comic Book (tie):
Runaways (Marvel)/ Streetfighter (Udon)- there are better books with better writers and artists out there, but these two books have never disappointed me. Runaways is the kind of comic book I fell in love with growing up, the kind I can read in ten minutes and will immediately read again after the initial read. And the book is never late too (hope I don’t jinx it…)
Streetfighter is for my nostalgic love of sucking at the game- because I was more interested in the images and the character back stories. And Chun Li- who doesn’t love Chun Li?


Runner up:
Anything by Warren Ellis- the guy is just insane.

Best Real Book:
Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman- A different creature than American Gods- which threw me off at first, but became lost in the story and wanted more after the last page. I’m Fat Charlie Nancy Dammit!
Runners up:
Private Wars by Greg Rucka and Harry Potter & the Half Blood Prince by a rich British chick- I actually haven’t finished Private Wars, but I have a fond spot for the Queen & Country series. As for Harry Potter- it’s more of a good but not great thing- I’m disappointed that I didn’t miss anything by skipping the fifth book ( I read a third of it then got bored…). As for Book 6, the now familiar structure of the book tempted me to throw it out as it got too predictable (Harry & the Dursleys, first day at Hogwarts, Quidditch matches etc, etc…). But Harry’s love woes (nice to see him getting over his yellow fever), mystery of the Half Blood Prince (so he IS a bad guy!) and Dumbledore’s fate intrigued me enough to finish the book. The se7enth looks to throw the structure off- but we’ll see…

BEST TV SHOW:
24: the non-stop fourth season just kicked my ass! I re-watching it on DVD and enjoying it as much as I did during the broadcast run.
Runner up:
Enterprise and Alias- Loved Enterprise’s love letter to the original show and would have loved to have seen it continue…although I also have no qualms about giving Star Trek a rest for now…As for Alias- I hated this season during the broadcast run- but DVD changed my mind, although it’s still not perfect…happy that this season is the last…

Thing that I’ll miss the most:
Southern California.

Thing I love most about Austin:
That the city is still new to me and there’s still tons of exploring for me to do. That and Half-Price Bookstores…

Thing I hate most about Austin:
The music scene here actually sucks, the fact that most bands I like don’t come anywhere close to here to play but most of all- TRAFFIC! Hell for me is anything Sisyphean- and stop and go traffic is just that and I am forced to endure this everyday.

Worst Day/s of the Year:
When I left California to go to Texas. Wouldn’t have been so bad if I had flown or if someone else did the driving…
Runner up:
My last day at Casa Pacifica.

Best Day of the year:
Any day with Holly…all together now-AWWWWWWWWWWWWWW………………….I'd love her if she was he, that's how strong my love for her is dammit!