Ok, well 2009 was a big year in all media aspects: there were some truly great films, some awesome albums and some inescapable games. Let’s not waste any time.
Best Motion Picture-Nominations: Avatar, Up, Star Trek, The Hurt Locker, (500) Days of Summer
Winner: Up- A truly brilliant film from start til finish, accompanied by the best short Pixar have ever made. This is laugh out loud title the most emotionally engaging Pixar movie to date and a very close second to Toy Story. Hilarious, adventurous and ultimately about the pleasures of life.
Best TV Comedy Series-Nominations: Gavin and Stacy, Scrubs, Flight of the Concords, How I Met Your Mother
Winner: How I Met Your Mother- A show in its fourth series finally gets exported and started showing every week night on E4, with each episode as hilarious as the next this is a show that combines the lovable Friends-style characters with the quirkiness and surrealism of Scrubs whilst bringing something new entirely. Plus How I Met Your Mother brought us the Legen..wait for it… -dary character that is, Barney Stinson.
Best TV Drama Series-Nominations: Lost, Heroes, 24, True Blood, Dexter
Winner: Lost- The most impressive thing about Lost is that even though no one has a fucking clue what’s going on it proves to be such addictive television. With more twist and turns than any other programme on the box, Lost reigns champion due to its compelling viewing and unique, obscure and intriguing plot lines. Just great TV. (Dexter comes in at a very close second, addictive and nail-biting)
Best Factual Programme or Documentary-Nominations: aren’t even worth putting because the undisputed winner is BBC’s Life
Winner: (surprise) Life- The best frikin documentary you will ever see, stunning in HD, beautifully shot and put together with care and the greatest attention to the most minute detail. Fascinating and mind-blowing footage coupled with the vocal prefection of national treasure, Sir David Attenborough.
Best Game-Nominations: Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Batman: Arkham Asylum, Assassin’s Creed 2, Halo ODST, UNcharted 2: Among Theives
Winner: Assassin’s Creed 2- It gave everything it promised it this record-breaking gaming year. Ubisoft actually listened to all the negatives from the first game and magically fixed anything that would make this game less than thoroughly enjoyable. With some sweet-ass moves and weapons, the combat is hugely superior and so cool to watch. There are so many side-quests and projects to be getting on with this game is fully worth your hard earned cash. Its well told story (complete with surprising twist), visual beauty and sense of freedom add up to a game that is so much fun to play.(Sadly there’s no multiplayer… That’s where the almighty COD dominates)
Best Album-Nominations: The Resistance (Muse), Only Revolutions (Biffy Clyro), The XX (The XX), Only By The Night (Kings Of Leon), Conditions (the Temper Trap), The Blueprint III (Jay Z)
Winner: Conditions (The Temper Trap)- A perfect indie-pop record, every song is a radio friendly masterpiece and is carried by frontman Dougie’s unique vocals. Destined for mainstream success, The Temper Trap, are an incredible live act and have made a record that is daring, different and epic.
Best Thing Of the Year-Nominations: iPhone 3GS, 3D Films and TV (all the time), The Wildfire Spread of Spotify, Twitter, Reading Festival, Rage Against the Machine’s Christmas No1 (Honorable Mention for sheer hilarity and awesomeness)
Winner: Spotify- even though it was launched in late 2008, Spotify has spread faster than Swine Flu and is even more infectious. The music library is extremely impressive and of a good quality. Alas it has returned to its old ways of invite only, taking us on to…
Biggest Disappointment of the Year-Nominations: Spotify Returning to Invite Only, 9 (Tim Burton), Swine Flu, Oasis Split, Michael Jackson’s Death, Funny People (Judd Apatow), Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Everyone’s Sudden Obsession with Vampire- thus making them uncool in the process
Winner (Loser): Funny People- I was really looking forward to this film which is why I was so let down by it. It isn’t a bad film, it just never really gets going, there are some laughs, but not as many as you’d expect, the majority of the movie’s comedy is constructed of dick jokes that fail to tickle the humorous sense. Apatow’s first two films are hilarious yet emotionally relatable and engaging, Funny People was a fairly empty shell of a film by comparison and I left the theatre feeling dissatisfied and a tad cheated regardless of my high expectations.
And: Transformers- I was so excited to see some more kick-ass robot action but this sequel was dumb, annoying and riddled with flaws. The story was pretty crap, the new characters were kinda racist, infuriating and in no way awesome. However the fight scene in the woods is probably the best action sequence of the year, alas it couldn’t save this big- budget blow out. A poor sequel when compared to the incredible original.
How can they be worse than Swine Flu I hear you ask? Well, I honestly wasn’t looking forward to getting a potentially fatal infection so I wasn’t really that disappointed by it. Simple.
Overall it was a solid year for entertainment and technology alike. With records being shattered in every direction, James Cameron and Activision both clocking up over a billion a piece and the confirmation that Big Brother is almost dead 2009 was a bloody good year (even though there’s a recession).
Other good things include: The Royale Family Christmas Special, Super-low Interest Rates (good for borrowing), Tonnes of Snow, Megan Fox’s Slow-motion Scenes from Transformers, Announcement of another Halo game.
Bring on 2010.
If I’ve missed anything you think should be up here, let me know.
