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Thursday, January 07, 2016

2015 Recap

Another year, another year-end recap. Here are a few of my favorite things. 



MOVIES
Mad Max: Fury Road really takes the cake for my favorite 2015 movie. I had no idea what to expect going in to it since all of the Mad Max movies are so different. Everything just worked so well for me: the narrative, the style, the characters, the stunts, the color, the music, etc, etc. Star Wars: Force Awakens also landed pretty high up on the list. Sure, it had some weak points but god damn I had fun watching it and it just makes me so happy and excited. Other favorites from 2015: Crimson Peak, Song of the Sea, The Martian, Turbo Kid, What We Do In The Shadows, Testament of Youth, and Krampus. I also really enjoyed The Raid: Redemption and the 2006 Jane Eyre mini-series, but those aren't from this past year so they get their own little sub-list.


TELEVISION
2015 was the first year I haven't had cable TV and given how many streaming services I am able to subscribe to, that was totally not a problem. I really enjoyed Daredevil, Master of None, Hannibal, The Flash, Broadchurch (Season 1), Penny Dreadful, and iZombie. Good grief there are a lot of good TV shows being made right now (and so many more shows I need to start watching/catch up on in 2016). I am also kind of obsessed with the YouTube channel Outside Xbox, which isn't a TV show, but probably the one thing I watched the most this year. 


VIDEO GAMES
I didn't end up playing many games in 2015, but my favorite game from the small pool of games I *did* actually complete was Tales from the Borderlands. I loved the story and the characters, and even though the game had some technical problems (laggy and buggy), I still had a lot of fun. Plus, it included this scene (which I assume is an homage to the equally amazing scene from Spaced) which pretty much broke me with laughter (minor spoilers if you haven't played the game).



I also enjoyed Far Cry 4 (which was my first Far Cry game - I have since started playing Far Cry 3 as well), Assassins Creed: Syndicate, Fallout 4, and Runner 2. I still need to finish Fallout (as much as you can actually finish Fallout) and then Witcher 3 and The Wolf Among Us are hopefully next in line.




COMICS
I got back into comics in a big way in 2015. Trade paperbacks to be specific (seriously, they have taken over my bookshelves). While I have always loved comic books, something about the content this past year really clicked with me. Part of it seems to be the increase in material with well written female characters, based on the fact that all of my favorite series feature strong ladies. Hawkeye, Saga, Ms. MarvelSex CriminalsRat Queens, The Wicked & The Divine, and Nimona were all stand outs, and I already have a big list of comics I want to read in 2016 (Bat Girl, Bitch Planet, Kaptara, Lumberjanes, and Kate Beaton's work to name a few). 


BOOKS
My reading goal for 2015 was 50 and I accomplished it! This is probably why I didn't get many games played. Favorite books this year include Uprooted, the Bronze Gods series, The Martian, Name of the Wind, Smoke Gets in your Eyes, Radiance, The ScribeWildwood, and Horns. Be warned. Some of those are romance books, with, like, kissing and stuff.



MUSIC
According to Spotify, I listened to 46,000 minutes of music in 2015 (and that doesn't include the Taylor Swift). There was a new Decemberists album this year, so it's not at all surprising that I listened to it the most. The rest of the entries on my list are not as obvious but also not that surprising. I'm fairly certain that Pulp's "Like a Friend" will be in the top five every year. Forever. 










ART
2015 was difficult for me in the art-making department. I had a really hard time finding the motivation that I needed to create the art that I had in my head. I'm not sure of the cause, but my brain and heart were not in the right place this year. I did like the work I created, it just took a lot more energy than it should have to get into the studio. Here's hoping 2016 will be more productive and that I'm able to re-ignite my art-spark. I'm trying to make myself draw every day and try new things. Maybe that will shake things up a bit.

   

    

So that's my year. What were some of your favorite things in 2015?

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