Okay, dudes!
Here's a quick review of the year that I always try and do, but unfortunately last year I didn't get around to it, so to make sure I did this time around I'm actually writing this having just finished off my last devotional blog of 2015.
We're going to cover the things that have inspired me the most, along with some highlights of my year along the way, including the films and games that have made most of an impression upon me.
Movie of the Year
To start things off let me give you a shortlist of some of the movies that have really inspired me over this last year. Bear in mind, though, that one or two haven't been release this year, but they made enough of an impression to make it into the shortlist: -
- Vendetta - a cracking revenge thriller with Danny Dyer playing a role I was not expecting much from given I've seen Liam Neeson perfect this type of role in "Taken";
- Jurassic World - a welcome sequel after all these years;
- Minions - it was inevitable, wasn't it, that they'd get their own film;
- Peter Pan - of the many versions, this 2003 version particularly stood out for me since Robin Williams' iconic performance in 1991; and
- Moby Dick - again, of the many versions, this one featured Patrick Stewart one of my all-time favourite actors and was a cracker of a film!
And the winner is...
Controversially, this one is given the award against the run of play because I was first expecting to hand it to Jurassic World when I saw that at the cinema, then to the Minions film because of all the tremendous pop-culture references in it. I saw this film not a day ago and...
It stuck with me!
You know? How a film just has that lasting effect upon you because of how brilliant it was, you cannot stop reliving those iconic moments including, nah, I'll save that for another time!
This was one of those films and has changed, forever, the way I see Danny Dyer!
Videogame of the Year
Remember, like the movies, this is the games that have appealed most to me over the course of this past year and you could say that it's looking good for the Assassin's Creed franchise as they make up three of the top five entries: -
- Assassin's Creed: Revelations;
- Assassin's Creed III;
- Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag;
- Battlefield 4; and
- Minecraft
Is that quite a mix, or does it show that I back one franchise? Answer: I back one franchise all the way!!!
I was originally going to go for number three because of the way it streamlined the "free-running" aspect that this franchise has revolutionised, but as the character was, until about the last third of the game, as unlikeable as a zit, I opted for Edward Kenway!
I am intrigued, though, at this point as to what the fascination is going to turn out to be with the "Kenway family line" because AC:III featured Haytham & Connor Kenway, AC:IV features Edward, so I'm waiting for a bombshell in a future release as to why the developers, Ubisoft, chose the same family like in two of their games.
In Assassin's Creed there is no coincidence!
No doubt readers are screaming about future releases in the series providing answers because, remember, I'm nearly three years behind schedule with the AC games, but that's fine by me as I only want to play them in order!
TV Highlight of the Year
This one is a fairly straightfoward category as I do not watch that much TV so my options are going to be limited for a shortlist, so onto the winner: -
Peter Capaldi has single-handedly (alright, with a tremendous scriptwriting team behind him, such as the excellent Steven Moffat!) changed the way I see the Doctor and he has taken the bar which Tennant raised from Eccleston, who then saw it raised further still by Smith to be taken to another galaxy (sic!) by Capaldi's turn as the Doctor!
I'll put it to you like this... I am biased!
If you do not not think Capaldi is the best thing since the regeneration in 2005, you're wrong! :-P
He's taken it in a much darker direction which, in my mind, is a direction it's been needing to go since Eccleston's goofy, in a good way, triumph in 2005!
This season has seen last year's arrival go to interstellar levels with episodes such as "The Witch's Familiar" killing off this year's seasonal special, "Under the Lake" once again tapping into many people's fear of being trapped underwater with things coming after you.
Finally, I cannot go on without mentioning the sublime Jenna Louise Coleman's assistant, Clara, proving that you can be feisty and a heroine without being a spare part in the Who cast, like others might have been!
Her bowing out episode, "Fear the Raven", set a new high that hasn't been reached since Rose Tyler bowed out, before her brief return, as the pinnacle of female assistants the Doctor has worked with!
This always reminds me of the short story by Edgar Allan Poe which I'm sure was the inspiration behind this episode and that creeped me the heck out the first time I read it, lol! :-D
Final Thought
That's enough for now, folks, because I could go on, but I thought I'd stop it here or else it'd turn into one of those dreaded multi-part reviews, the likes of which I just haven't got the time, or the inclination for right now!
To 2016 we go...
Watch the skies!
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