Year End Review 2010

Hey all its the end of the year and you know what that means.  No not Christmas ham and presents.  It's time for end of the year awards.  These are the things that really wowed me this year.  Let me know what you think and give me some of your year end awards.  Here we go.

Game of the Year:

Mass Effect 2 (Xbox 360)

I absolutely love this game.  How can you tell?  Well, this game was released on January 26, 2010, yet this past week I played the game like it was brand new.  This is a 20+ hour game, and I have finished it in its entirety 5 times now, and working on my 6th.  This game is leaps and bounds over the original Mass Effect.  So much so that I can't even go back and play that game.  The story is awesome, the characters are unique, and the gameplay is superb.  Add to that the plethora of downloadable content that was made available for this game and you have yourself a winner.

Honorable Mentions:

Red Dead Redemption (Xbox 360/PS3)

Heavy Rain (PS3)

Halo: Reach (Xbox 360)

Movie of the Year:

Inception (Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt)

Holy hell in a hand basket.  Christopher Nolan does it again.  Not only did Christopher Nolan direct quite possibly the best comic book movie of all time in The Dark Knight, he followed it up with one of the most mind-bending, complex, and visually stunning movies I have ever seen in Inception.  Everyone knows what Leo can bring, he is almost guaranteed to provide an A+ performance, and he doesn't disappoint here.  That being said my favorite character in this movie was Joseph Gordon-Levitt.  His scene in the hotel hallway and elevator was superb.  I still have to watch it again to fully understand all of the intricacies.  I better get my totem ready.

Honorable Mentions:

The Sorcerer's Apprentice (Nicolas Cage, Jay Baruchel)

The Town (Ben Affleck, Jeremy Renner)

Kick Ass (Nicolas Cage, Chloe Grace Moretz, Aaron Johnson)

Television Show of the Year:

Community (Thursdays, NBC)

Try explaining Community to someone who has never heard of it and they will be immediately confused.  Here are some of my favorite things from this series: spanish rap, parking lot sail boats, epic paintball battle, godfather parody, chloroform, pen-stealing monkeys, and studiology.  Then I tell you this is a show about a Community college. The creators of this show have pulled it out of the realm of normalcy.  One week they are attending class and having issues of a relatively normal study group, and then the next they are piloting a mock space shuttle used by KFC in the 80s.  They even did an episode via Twitter.  Such a great show with characters you really care about.  Oh yes let's not forget Alison Brie.  So hot.

Honorable Mentions:

Modern Family (Wednesdays, ABC)

Castle (Mondays, ABC)

Dexter (Sundays, Showtime)

New Show of the Year:

The Walking Dead (Sundays, AMC)

Based off of an excellent series of graphic novels from Robert Kirkman this show is an ingenious idea.  People are so fixated with zombies and zombie movies, yet nobody has ever made a zombie television show before.  The premiere captured the essence of the books so well.  I got a little worried as more characters were introduced like the racist Merle and the horribly named T-Dog.  But they made it work.  My favorite thing about this show is that they are unapologetic.  I love shows like that.  Shows that won't cater to the fans.  They'll tell the story the way it needs to be told.  They don't care if the fans like certain characters, they will kill them off if the story dictates it.  With only 6 episodes in the first season a lot has already happened to our survivors.  If they follow the books then the fans are in for quite a treat, and some pretty interesting surprises.  A must watch show.  Unfortunately after this brief first season (only 6 episodes) we are going to have to wait until October 2011 until season 2.

Honorable Mentions:

No Ordinary Family (Tuesdays, ABC)

Hawaii 5-0 (Mondays, CBS)

The Event (Mondays, NBC)

Here are some quick hits of my faves from this year.

Entertainer of the Year: Donald Glover (Community, Childish Gambino)

- once the youngest writer on 30 Rock, he does stand up comedy, he's hilarious on Community, and he's an awesome rapper

Album of the Year: Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy

- some people call this album a work of art, I just think it's damn good music

Hotty of the Year: Alison Brie (Community, Mad Men)

- just adorable

Podcast of the Year: Hollywood Babble On (Kevin Smith & Ralph Garman)

- Kevin Smith and the man of a thousand voices Ralph Garman talk about movies

Tweeter of the Year: Kristina Rose (@kristinarosexxx)

- the most entertaining pornstar on Twitter, she seems like she'd be a blast to hang out with

Event of the Year: Yelp Elite Halloween Party (Level 236, San Mateo)

- one of the funnest events I've attended in a long time, nice people, hot girls, great costumes.

Meal of the Year: Level III (JW Marriott, San Francisco)

- thanks to my sister we had the hookup, and I had one of the best meals ever, then I stole the leftovers

San Diego Charger of the Year: Philip Rivers

- he single-handedly put this team on its back, definitely going to be in MVP contention this year

Comeback Player of the Year: Michael Vick (Philadelphia Eagles)

- don't hate me dog lovers, this man's re-emergence into football is such a great thing, one of the most exciting players to watch

Story of the Year: San Francisco Giants win the 2010 World Series

- not an SF Giants fan but it was great to see the whole bay area energized