Okay, so it's that time of year again. Normally I just do books - this year I've included everything I read, watched, listened to, and played in 2016. That made things just a bit tougher.
Video Games
- Titanfall 2 (XBox, PS)…Combine Call of Duty-like first person shooter with fighting in big robots, and you know all there is to understand about this game. So. Much. Fun. Give players a very strong feeling of control over their character, and adds an engaging-but-short single player campaign to the franchise. Multiplayer is pretty much a practical lesson in being a N00b and getting pwnd by millennials, but the game rewards trying, not dying. BONUS TIME: The hilarious Mr. Fruit’s Gaming Titanfall 2 Channel on Youtube
- Dark Souls 3 (XBox, PS)…I have an affinity for this game for the exact opposite reason. This game Dark Souls 3 is 95% not fun. It's the antithesis of popular games today. You die. A lot. It feels like playing soccer with a boulder as the ball. This game is tough, REALLY tough. Most of my mental energy is spent being so frakking (Battlestar Galactica reference) frustrated with it. I’ve put perhaps 20-30 hours into learning it with my buddy James, and am perhaps 20% complete. The story is elaborate and not easily accessible. The interface is complex and confusing, so much so that it has it's own wiki website to decode everything. Bad guys, even the little guys, can kill you. It’s like the only point of it is to be hard. But that other 5% is so damn rewarding to complete a level or finish off a boss. Plays on the gambler’s emotion in me: being vulnerable with a lot to lose, with occasional payoffs. If you're still interested, watch this.
Books
- His Needs, Her Needs…Every year I try to pick up a few reads on marriage and relationships, and this was the best one this year. Coincidentally, the used version on Amazon came with a business card for a marital counselor, so if anyone needs one, I’ve got the hook-up. Read it if you interact with the opposite sex.
- Burning the Days… Salter’s writing absolutely destroys me, it’s so engrossing, and this autobiography of his early flying and writing days is perhaps among the best of his non-fiction writing. The author excels at establishing a connection with the reader and holding it. The chapter called “The Captain’s Wife” pulls no punches. See also: honorable mention and fiction favorite of mine, The Hunters, about an F-86 pilot in the Korean War.
- Quiet…This book helped me learn a little bit about myself, and that’s always rewarding. Whether an introvert or extrovert in the classical sense, Susan Cain does a good job of stepping back and asking how we can benefit from making our own space from time to time.
- South of the Border, West of the Sun…Those of you who understand my reading tastes will know that Japanese author Haruki Murakami is one of the authors whose body of work is on my Bucket List (see also: Stephen King, David Mitchell, Cormac McCarthy), and this is one of his best I’ve read of his in a few years. Additional recommendations: Blind Sheep Chase, Wind Up Bird Chronicles
Television
- The Night Manager (free on Amazon Prime)…based on a book by former spy and thriller author John LeCarre, this modern adaptation follows the ascension of a hotel clerk named John Pine (played by Tom Hiddleston) as he is recruited by MI5 to infiltrate the organization of a secret arms dealer and bad guy, Richard Roper, who is convincingly portrayed by Hugh Laurie. The single season (AKA self contained “series”) is far from perfect: at some points, the inner journey of our protagonist unravels, and the ending is far from fulfilling. However, I liked that it was a self-contained story, which contrasts the tendency for American television to become bloated and dumb (I’m looking at you, True Detective Season 2). I want more stories, not more of the same story. If you want more of this, read The Spy Who Came in From the Cold, or watch A Most Wanted Man.
- Forged in Fire (History Channel)…cable today is like junk food for our brains. This show is one of my few indulgences in it. Hosted by the History Channel (c'mon guys, is this channel really about history anymore? It spends more time talking about aliens than the Revolutionary War), it riffs off of your standard reality competition format: Home smiths forge knives. 4 competitors, 3 rounds, unique judges, winner takes the money. A few Chopped-like surprises for the competitors. What I think makes this show actually stand out is the feeling of being a witness to the act of creating something from a hunk of steel and some fire and hammers. Plus, they really nerd out on slicing through stuff to test the creations. (sample here) See also, anything on HGTV, FaceOff, Inkmaster, Chopped, Christmas Light Fight, etc.
- House of Cards, Season 01/02 (Netflix)…speaking of things that should be self contained into one season. Basically, this is Machiavelli in US politics, on steroids. I like films and television that force us to like the bad guy, or at least to understand him, and Frank Underwood’s character delivers. Kevin Spacey is fantastic, delivering eloquent monologues directly to the viewer to help us understand him better. The series peaks somewhere around the end of Season 1 or beginning of Season 2, and goes downhill from there.
Film
- Hell or High Water…a modern interpretation of Western/Crime movies. Captain Kirk and his rebel brother rob banks, and The Dude (Texas Ranger edition) tries to stop them. This movie feels like part No Country for Old Men, part The Departed, and part Fargo. It’s less of an action movie than a character study, and it feels fresh. Deliberately takes its time with pacing. Bonus dialogue banter between Jeff Bridges and his partner. It's fantastic. Best scene: Jeff Bridge’s character orders steak from a straight-shooting waitress. To replicate the experience in real life, go visit the Highway 41 Diner in Lemoore.
- A War…Oh no! Subtitles! A War is a character study about a Danish infantry officer who leads his team in Afghanistan during a deployment that puts him through the grinder. It’s director does a strong job at immersing the viewer into their world, and making us feel the experience, fear and tension. Most surprisingly, the story transitions from war scene to legal drama at about the halfway point, becoming less a movie about war than it is about leadership and the moral decisions we make in war, our ineptitude at judging them, and its consequences. If you like this, watch the movie ’71 (which, if you haven’t already, you’re wrong).
- Arrival… At this point, I’ll watch anything by director Denis Villeneuve. Sicario was my favorite movie of 2015. Arrival, while relying on a cheaper twist to reveal all at the end, was still fun to watch a second time. And there certainly will be a third. I liked that it was an alien movie that didn’t give into any of the temptations to go Independence Day 2 on me (see also, worst movies of the year).
- Anthropoid…Probably the movie that caught me the most off guard this year, both for my ignorance at this historical event, and for the filmmaker’s courage to tell a story compellingly and honestly. Anthropoid isn't sci-fi, it's the name of a real operation in 1942 where agents parachuted into Nazi-controlled Czechoslovakia and attempted to assassinate Heydrich, the architect of Hitler’s “Final Solution”. The story revolves around the lives of two of these principal individuals, their love interests, and the remainder of the Czech resistance. It starts slow and swells in momentum to one inevitable but incredible ending, with images that will resonate with me for a while to come. I was on the literal edge of my airline seat for the whole trip. Also recommended: Of Gods and Men.
- Thin Man…So, I’m about 82 years behind the times on this one. It was recommended as a Christmas movie. I guess I expected the Invisible Man, and I got an alternate version Maltese Falcon. For good reason - both books were originally written by Dashiell Hammett. I like everything about the first 15 minutes of the movie most - cinematography, characters, and most of all the dialogue sweeping me in, wondering which character would emerge as the protagonist, as it gave the impression that any character had the potential to take the lead from the outset. I was pleased for it to be our humble detective Nick, who spends a lot of screen time bantering with his wife. Our central character in question, the Thin Man, has perhaps the least screen time and most importance of any of them. Spoiler alert?
Music
- Chvrches, Every Open Eye…when it comes to music, I'm a neanderthal. I go through phases when I don’t listen to any at all, and others where I can’t get enough of some artists and albums. I binged on this one for a full two months this year. See also this fantastic mash-up cover of Justin Timberlake.
Podcasts
- Serial, Season 1…This category is a new discovery for me, starting with NPR’s Pop Culture Happy Hour this year, and migrating to a much broader selection. I’m definitely still exploring this media format, but perhaps the podcast which held my attention the longest was Serial, which is more about the process by which we learn about a complex idea than it is about whodunnit. It’s fascinating because it feels like we’re discovering something along with the narrator. See also: the Netflix series Making of a Murderer
Some honorable mentions:
- Palmistry, by Club Aso
- Glitch Mob, Love Death Immortality
- Bob's Burgers
- Stranger Things, maybe even just the theme
- The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
- Macbeth
- Sing Street
Stuff I didn't see/listen to/play/read, but wanted to:
- Shin Godzilla
- Train to Busan
- La La Land
- Edge of Seventeen
- Westworld
- Atlanta
- The Vegetarian, by Han Kang
- The North Water, by Ian McGuire
- Culture Making, by Andy Crouch
- Green Room
- Blood Father
BONUS PICK!
Since I wrote this draft, I have one more to add.
- Manchester by the Sea...Kenneth Lonergan directed and wrote this gem, and wow. I'm still processing this one. CASEY FREAKING AFFLECK. Give that man an Oscar, please.
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