Some Stuff that Happened in 2003 that I Actually Noticed
A Decent Movie Award: Goes to - "Pirates of the Carribean". I liked this movie. It was enjoyable, well made, and Johnny Depp stole the show. It was a decent story, and didn't seem ruined by what I thought would be the inherent commercialism (it is based on a Disney ride/attraction, after all).
A Crappy Movie Award: Goes to - "Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines". What a crapfest this turned out to be. How disappointing. Ahnuld got what, like 50 million plus backend deals for this? (I feel like I got a "backend deal" from paying to see this movie).
A Not Bad Movie that I Wish Would Have Done Better at the Box Office Award: Goes to - "Hulk". Folks, this wasn't that bad a movie! Yes, the merchandising was hell, and I could tell it was going to sink based on that (remember the last merchandising monster? Yes folks, Godzilla, the american version) alone. But the movie itself, was a good one! It was more of a psychological drama with some action in it, the way HULK IS MEANT TO BE! But unfortunately, too many people wanted just the eye candy aspect that this movie had the potential for. So screw the story, where's the CG? Apparently there wasn't enough for many folks. Don't worry though, if the sequel does come out, it'll probably feature the Abomination and/or Leader for some cg "hulk on hulk" action. Eww, that just sounds nasty. Now take mind out of gutter. There, that's better.
Biggest Comic Book Non-Event Award: Goes to - "Batman: Hush". Everybody kept saying "They're gonna bring back Jason Todd from the dead! He's going to be the best Batman villian ever!". Everybody was wrong, and Hush was a lame duck. And on top of that, he wasn't even the main villian of the arc! It was the Riddler (somehow, regaining your youth and healing will cause you to deduece that Bruce Wayne and Batman are one and the same). So cheers to Jim Lee for some great money shots, and jeers to Loeb for an ending that jumped off the cliff...
Worst Comic Event that Will Haunt Me Award: Goes to - "Xorn reveals himself to be Magneto." NO! You stinkin' bastards! *ahem* sorry. But seriously, that has got to be the worst idea to come out of the "House of Ideas" in the last... decade at least. I'll take another "Brute Force" miniseries over this any day. Mags died like 56 times. LEAVE HIM DEAD FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!!! He's not even an exciting villian anymore! He's like the trash collector. He's boring, interrupts your sleep, and you know he's gonna come back around again like clockwork. He really is one character that needs only, at absolute best, come about for some monumental anniversary-type occassion. Just leave him be otherwise. He started out as a villian when comics were "simpler", then became something of a martyr. Someone who wanted his people to be free. He was violent, yes, but even tried twice to create a 'free state' for mutants, that could be relatively isolated from the rest of the world. On that last attempt (in Genosha) he was KILLED. Dead. Gone. Finito. Morrison has drawn my ire more than any other comic book creator save Rob Leifeld over this event. And I don't even care that much about Magneto, or even most of the Xmen for that matter! But I've always enjoyed them, and this event has taken that enjoyment away completely. Even Guang Yap couldn't do that...
Favorite Pair of Pants Award: Goes to - My "Judo Shorts" pants. I got them before the summer. They are three quarter length cut, cargo pocket pants. Very comfy, and very neat. With 14 pockets, how can you go wrong?
Favorite New Game I Started Playing Award: Goes to - "Heroclix". I started a lot of games this year. Mechwarrior, MageKnight, Heroclix, YuGiOh, Magic: The Gathering, Lord of the Rings Miniatures Game, Lord of the Rings Card Game, and a few more. Since I manage a comics and gaming shop, it helps to be knowledgeable about a great many games. But my personal playable fave goes to Heroclix. Kind of obvious, no? It combines comic book characters, into a strategy game that's more about knowing your team than knowing how to play the field. MechWarrior and Mageknight have that "movement in inches" thing, so it's easy to stay half an inch outside your opponents range. That sort of thing tends to tick me off, but moreso, my brain doesn't compensate well for those kind of tactics. Heroclix is a little simpler, I can wrap my brain around it better. I also used to be the "man to beat", when we had more people playing during the summer. I used to enjoy teaching the younger players some of the important basics of the game. I don't get to play much now, as I am a Judge and run events, and most of our players are other Judges who don't get to play as much either. Except that they do have cars and some time in their schedule to play once in awhile (I'm not so lucky. I get my LE prizes by way of Wizkids Envoy prize support).
Back to movies! Best Actor Award: Goes to - Gotta give this one to Johnny Depp. He was flamboyant and over the top as Captain Jack Sparrow in "Pirates of the Carribean", but he was still believable and thoroughly enjoyable. It's nice to see he does have talent.
Best Actress Award: Goes to - um... dang... there were some nice ones, but none that really stand out in my mind... I like Jennifer Connely, and she did a good job in "Hulk", but to say she did a better job than Kiera Knightly in "Pirates" is questionable. Then again, maybe it's not quite my "brain" that I'm thinking with... sucks to be male sometimes...
Best Video Game Award: Goes to - argh. Another tough category. I don't really get to play games like I used to. But I guess I would give this award to "Metroid: Prime" for Nintendo Gamecube. I'm still not finished with it, even though I've been playing on and off for months. It's not my gamecube though, so I'd probably play more if it was. Whilst I'm a huge fan, and did enjoy "Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee", I feel the game was severely undercut in many ways (way too few monsters is the main complaint). I'm a big Final Fantasy fan, and got to play through FFX again (I did so when it first came out, on my then roommate's PS2), but it's not new, and even though I'm kicking butt in it in ways I never did the first time around, I still can't give this one the award due to age. I do want to try FF11 and FFX-2 especially though. Maybe next year...
That wraps it up for now. I'd love to make these awards a "multiple entries" thing, so I need suggestions from you, my loyal readers, as to what to "rate". It's fun. Go on, you know you want to see me rate stuff...
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