In 2008: a year of media

My media memory only goes back so far, but the great thing about the human brain is that it's self-selecting, automatically dismissing that which isn't noteworthy.

Memorable this year were a few things in tv-shows, films, and music.

The year in TV-Shows:
My highlight this year is definitely finishing "The Wire", which I managed to do over the period of several months. A genius piece of writing and it made me a big fan of HBO, which, as I recently found out, stands for Home Box Office. A great name!

Another gem that stood out was "Damages," with Glenn Close, which never let up in the tension. I've only seen the first season and can't wait for the rest.

Comedy-wise, I've been left pretty disappointed since Seinfeld and the early Friends, but I can warmly recommend "How not to live your life." It only aired a few episodes this year, but it was laugh-out-loud funny British comedy.

The year in Films
Last Christmas, I actually made it my resolution to focus on the classics in 2008 and beyond, and can't really recall any brilliant films coming out (of course, I'm wrong, but my brain only holds that much space).

Classics that stood out were:

• The Public Enemy, which I liked because it's the oldest thing I've ever seen and I'm fascinated at the idea of looking through a window into life when my grandparents lived.
• Rebecca, which was also tension non-stop.
• A few Jean Arthur movies, whom I've developed a mini-crush on.
• Lawrence of Arabia, which just seems like the optimal adventure movie to me.
• And Casablanca, which is just a classy flick.

I'm trying to strain my brain for some more recent films, perhaps you can suggest some. Did Juno come out this year (no), in which case, that's worth a watch, as well as Mongol (the life of Genghis Kahn).

The year in Music
Similarly, I think it is hard to form a valid opinion as to an album is great, when it has only recently been released. Thinking back at 2008, only two albums stood out:

• 88 Keys - Death of Adam, which is the story of Adam, told in bits and pieces.
• M83 - Saturdays = Youth, which is a trip down the 80s.

Everything else, I still have to think about.

In Film: Hamlet 2 is a piece of ridiculous genius

Man, I'm glad I watched this movie. You know, the type of film that's really painful to watch, until at some point, it all makes genius sense. Hamlet 2 is very similar to Napoleon Dynamite, in the way that you don't understand what the movie is all about, until you witness the end-result.

Until you get there though, you have to see Steve Coogan do some pretty embarrassing shit, prove to everyone that he is an artist, even though he's been pretty much "raped in the face" since he was a kid… or something. In any case, if you like South Park, same writer as that movie and the show, chances are you'll dig this too (a lot of gay jokes).

In People: You'll love Russell Peters as a global citizen

Russell has a way of insulting half the room and making it all better by insulting the other half two seconds later. If you somehow cannot take jokes about your race / culture, you'll probably hate him.

In films: "I'm not there"

"The smile is contagious, I was born to love her"—a random lyric from the end-titles of "I'm not there."

I felt like blasting this picture up there and writing no words at all.

Detachment is the word that most comes to mind to describe the film. 6 actors, of which Kate Blanchett was the biggest surprise, because I just couldn't place her, each of them apparently portraying a stage in Dylan's life.

But he's never there and you get this real guessing game going about what's going on.

I like the film, it felt like it went through some important questions about the meaning of life. Do we have a responsibility to change things or just report them? Why don't people revolt more? Is there ever a point to revolting? I also had an good discussion about the phrase "Plus ca change" during the film, essentially meaning: the more we change, the more we all become the same. And vice versa.

And I realised that when we truly listen to ourselves, we all become aliens to everyone else. And when we try to be different, we end up listening too much to others and become like them. It's sort of related to the film, but not really.

"I'm not there" cannot be described as anything less than a piece of art. Which makes it, by nature, difficult to digest. You never know whether you're being taken for a ride or whether there is a great lesson there. But, the acting, the music, I had a good time for 2 hours.

Oh, and I think it's probably best to read some kind of summary, before watching the film.

In Film: Mickybo and Me

"Mickybo and Me" is a feel-good film in the setting of Angela's Ashes. It plays in Belfast, 1970, through the eyes of two young boys, Mickybo and Jonjo. 90% of the film is an adventure, inspired by the classic "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid," and leading to some pretty mad situations.

It was a pick by my brother, who chose it in the spirit of "Purely Belter" and "About a Boy." Chances are that if you like those two (the books are even better), you'll like this one as well.

In Pics: walking the line

No words.

In Web: Stephen Fry's Twitter poetry

Meant to be read upside down:

But NOT Vista and OS X. Non posso. Unmöglich. x about 2 hours ago from Tweetie
Coke and Pepsi. (Coke and Ecstasy for that matter ...) x about 2 hours ago from Tweetie
Bach and Mahler x about 2 hours ago from Tweetie
Carbs and protein x about 2 hours ago from Tweetie
You can like iPhones and BlackBerries x about 2 hours ago from Tweetie
You can like Dickens and Austen x about 2 hours ago from Tweetie
You can love Mozart and Wagner x about 2 hours ago from Tweetie
It's possible to like the Beatles and the Stones. x about 2 hours ago from Tweetie

By Stephen Fry.

In Games: "Portal" and "The World of Goo"

These games have two things in common. They're short and portray a fairly cynical view of the world. In Portal, you play as something, probably some kind of artificial creation (well, it is a game-character), that has to play a series of games to get out. You are guided by a voice that encourages you, while subtly saying that you really mean nothing. You are test-subject that exists only to test the game, or perhaps to test your resilience to a game that is trying to kill you.

In the World of Goo, you are an observer that manipulates pieces of goo. Little tiny bubbles, which you can stick together, until a way out is found through a vacuum. Each level has a message from the Sign Painter, who again tells you what the purpose is, while also subtly pointing out that this is just goo, that, perhaps, we are all just goo, working together to find a way out.

The target audience for both games would be between 12 and 99, I would say. I would raise that up a little higher. Sure, life is a cynical beast and we are its beastmaster, but to pump our kids full with this message… I'm not sure what the pedagogical value of that is. Of course, if you win, well, then it makes more sense.

Time to finish one of these games: probably a weekend.
Quality of game-play: challenging, solid games that stay with you.

In Film: 12 angry men

One by one…

12 angry men is actually a misnomer. The film start when the public trial ends and the jury convenes to decide the fate of a young man. If guilty, he will die. If innocent, he will walk. In the jury of 12, one remains calm. He, Henry Fonda, is the one that votes not guilty, while everyone condemns the accused, without deliberation.

The film is about the nature of facts and how they can be twisted into what you want them to believe. And it's about logic.

A must-see for anyone that's ever argued a point. So everyone…

In Film: "Steel Magnolia" — a chick flick

Steel Magnolia is a chick flick. If you don't believe me, observe how much the women speak, as opposed to the men. Men are just fillers in this film, filling in the gaps between the colour that the women bring to the scene. But I'm not bitter, far from it.

The Magnolia is a flower, but stands for woman in this film. Women that go through both happiness and tragedy and stand straight, as in made of steel. The film is quite extraordinary that way, in the sense that instead of exaggerating happy moments, like a wedding, or dramatic moments, like a kidney-transplant, it just jumps ahead right after you start feeling the emotion. A woman's style, I think, is to feel the emotion beforehand. Doing your best that an event is felt for real, that everything has been done that could be done, and not looking back after the moment has passed.

Great acting by Sally Field, Julia Roberts, and Shirley MacLaine! A chick-flick it is, but one that can be enjoyed by all!