Best Movies: Seeking a Friend For the End of the World, Dark Shadows (I love high camp), 2 Days in New York and Moonrise Kingdom.
Best TV Shows: Dave’s Old Porn (Dave Attell’s show on Showtime), Parks and Rec (still great)
Best Books (fiction): The Fault In Our Stars (John Green) and Sacre Bleu: A Comedy d’Art (Christopher Moore)
Best Video Game: The Walking Dead
Best Albums: Public Image Ltd- This is PiL
Best Comic Books / Graphic Novels: I spent the year re-reading Preacher, Nightbreed, Locke & Key and Season 8 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Best Blu-ray/DVD Release: Bond 50: 22 Bond movies in one set…awesome
Thing that you were most excited about in 2012? My 20-year high school reunion
Thing that disappointed you most in 2012? That there was no drama at my 20-year high school reunion…everyone was so damn happy to see each other…wtf?
Thing that you’re most looking forward to in 2013? publishing a book
Elizabeth Weitz is the Managing Editor of Forces of Geek.
Todd Sokolove
@tsokolove | bewareofthebabylon.com | Todd81.com
Best Movies: Wanderlust, The Master, The American Scream, The Cabin in the Woods, Life of Pi, Django Unchained, Prometheus, Cloud Atlas, Zero Dark Thirty, Frankenweenie
Best TV: Homeland, The Walking Dead, Downton Abbey
Best Book (non fiction): Detroit City is The Place To Be by Mark Binelli, Too Much Horror Business by Kirk Hammett
Best Comics: Before Watchmen (Silk Spectre and Rorschach)
Best Songs: Charmer (Aimee Mann), Take a Walk (Passion Pit), Hold On (Alabama Shkes), Blue Velvet (Lana Del Rey), Madness (Muse), Simple Song (The Shins), Thinkin Bout You (Frank Ocean)
Best Albums: Mixed Emotions by Tanlines, The 2nd Law by Muse, Oceania by The Smashing Pumpkins, That’s Why God Made the Radio by Beach Boys, Some Nights by Fun., Master of My Make-Believe by Santigold
Best Blu-ray/DVD Release: Harold and Maude (Criterion), E.T., Lawrence of Arabia
Thing that you were most excited about in 2012? Prometheus
Thing that disappointed you most in 2012? The Hobbit
Thing that you’re most looking forward to in 2013? Man of Steel
Todd Sokolove is the author of three rotating columns at Forces of Geek; “Netfix”, “In Defense Of,” and “Don’t You Forget About Me.”
Steven Segal
Best Movies:
- The Dark Knight Rises – Flawed? Sure. Cramped? Definitely. Does Bane tend to monologue a bit too much? Guilty as charged. Still, Christopher Nolan pulls off the rare cinematic hat-trick of directing a unified trilogy that is, at the very least, consistent in tone and vision. Considering how frequently “Parts 3” of any given series jump the rails, TDKR acquits itself marvelously.
- Skyfall – James Bond is back in a big way—and so is grand-scale, old-school filmmaking. Rousing proof that even after 50 years of suffering numerous action-espionage imitators, nobody does it better than 007.
- Looper – Tricky time-travel shenanigans interwoven with an unexpectedly poignant romance.
- Safety Not Guaranteed – Poignant romance that may or may not truly be time-travel shenanigans.
- The Avengers – Joss Whedon delivered. Case close. Bring forth Avengers: Phase 2!
Supposedly Great Movies I Haven’t Yet Seen But Wager I’d Also Rank:
Ted
, Moonrise Kingdom,
Django Unchained, Samsara, Argo
Movie I’m Most Proud To Admit I Haven’t Seen:
Twilight: Breaking Dawn – Part 2
Movie I Wish I Hadn’t Seen:
Total Recall
Biggest Cinematic Fart:
John Carter
Best TV Shows:
The Walking Dead, American Horror Story, 30 Rock
Best Songs:
Moves Like Jagger (Maroon 5 w/ Christina Aguilera),
Skyfall (Adele)
, We Are Young (fun.)
, Back in Time (Pitbull)
Best Albums:
The Dark Knight Rises Soundtrack (Hans Zimmer)
, Skyfall Soundtrack (Thomas Newman)
, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Soundtrack (Howard Shore)
Best Blu-ray/DVD Release:
Indiana Jones: The Complete Adventures
, Lawrence of Arabia, Jaws, Finding Nemo, Little Shop of Horrors’ Director’s Cut
Thing that you were most excited about in 2012?
: Learning both that a further Star Wars trilogy is in the works (OMG, a new Star Wars trilogy is in the works!!!), and that Darth Lucas will have as little to do with it as creatively possible.
Thing that disappointed you most in 2012?:
The 48fps “High Frame Rate” format. After all of Peter Jackson’s giddy posturing, Bryan Singer’s kiss-ass endorsement, and James Cameron’s piqued interest, this supposedly revolutionary filming/projection technology finally premiered—make that “reared its ugly head”—with The Hobbit. Sure, the motion is smoother but, alarmingly, the format betrays the overall cinematic experience because the higher frame rate alters the visual aesthetic—the movie looks like an over-enhanced video projection of a soap opera shot on chintzy sets with a cheap camcorder. How can these guys not see that as a game-stopper? Whatever it is, it’s the opposite of cinema.
Dishonorable Mentions (3-way tie): The gorgeous but frustrating Prometheus, which felt like a work-in-progress; No IMAX option for Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol on Blu-ray; No special edition of Quantum of Solace in the new Bond 50 set, despite the existence of a four-year-old director’s commentary and a reportedly seismic alternate ending.
Thing that you’re most looking forward to in 2013?
: Man of Steel, even if it does look to be a combination reboot of Superman and Superman II.
Honorable Mention: Finally, The Right Stuff on Blu-ray, in time for its 30th anniversary. Hoo-rah!
Steven Segal is the author of the Forces of Geek column, “Geek Spasm.”
Jimmy Palmiotti
@jpalmiotti
Best Movies: Prometheus, Flight, End of Watch
Best TV Shows: Boardwalk Empire, The Big Bang Theory
Best Books (fiction): The Sisters Brothers by Patrick Dewitt
Best Books (non-fiction): Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman
Best Video Game: Mass Effect 3
Best Songs: Money (Jessie J), Eyes Wide Open (Gotye), Beautiful Killer (Madonna)
Best Albums: Making Mirrors by Gotye, Devotion by Jessie Ware, Visions (Grimes)
Best Comic Books / Graphic Novels: Before Watchmen: Silk Spectre, Richard Stark’s Parker: The Score
Best Blu-ray/DVD Release: Prometheus
Thing that you were most excited about in 2012?: The idea that independent and creator owned titles were going to be embraced more by retailers and fans.
Thing that disappointed you most in 2012?: That there really weren’t more than a few titles.
Thing that you’re most looking forward to in 2013?: Doing more successful Kickstarter projects and watching an adaptation of one of my books in a movie theatre.
Jimmy Palmiotti is a comic book inker and writer of comics, television, videogames and film. His work includes “Painkiller Jane,” “Jonah Hex,” “The Punisher” and most recently, “Creator-Owned Heroes,” “G.I. Combat,” “Queen Crab,” “Phantom Lady” and “Retrovirus.”
Joe Keatinge
@joekeatinge | https://joekeatinge.tumblr.com | www.facebook.com/joekeatingecomics
Best Movies: As of this writing, it’s a tie between The Cabin in the Woods and Skyfall, but I am very confident Django Unchained will end up taking the crown. I see a lot of revival house stuff and I have to give that crown to a 35 MM print of Barry Lyndon that played at Cinema 21. Absolutely beautiful movie, astonishingly good print. I also wanna give props to Little White Lies — a brilliant film magazine I’ve been obsessed with all year.
Best TV Shows: Louie. Absolutely no contest. The Late Night trilogy was some of the best writing of the year, in any medium.
Best Books (fiction): I’ve actually been neck deep in pretty much all things Lost Generation this year so most of the books I’ve been reading have been from the early 20th century, especially Hemingway. I guess this is obvious to anyone reading Glory. So, I don’t know if any of those will count since they were written almost a hundred years ago, but, yeah — Farewell to Arms was brilliant. Let’s go with Farewell to Arms.
Best Books (non-fiction): Marvel Comics: The Untold Story by Sean Howe was my favorite non-fiction book released this year. Like I said about fiction, most what I’ve been reading has been from the Lost Generation and along those lines I read a book called by a catty journalist named Sisley Huddleston entitled Paris Salons, Cafes & Studios. That was basically Sisley gossiping about life in, well, Parisian salons, cafes & studios circa 1928. He was an interesting cat — somewhat of an asshole, especially later in life when he sided with the Vichy regime during World War II. But, y’know, if you like sassy gossip about Gertrude Stein, it’s a pretty swell read.
Best Video Game: Walking Dead from Telltale. Quite possibly the only traumatic experience in my life that I can’t wait to revisit.
Best Albums: The Future of the Left’s The Plot Against Common Sense. Kick ass album. So damn good.
Best Comic Books / Graphic Novels: It was a massive year for comics. So many great books from so many different creators from so many publishers. The one I’m preaching about most is Saga Of A Doomed Universe from Scott Reed. Essentially it’s ‘What If Alan Moore Wrote Secret Wars Instead of Watchmen.” I also finally read Cerebus all the through this year and it was a pretty major experience for me. Such an amazing work that has lost a lost of attention for various reasons, but it’s a damn shame. It’s an even bigger shame that so much of it goes unloved. Yeah, High Society is brilliant. Church & State is a masterpiece, but I feel there’s a whole lot of brilliance beyond those volumes. Melmoth alone has become of my favorite comics of all time. I was extremely impressed with Going Home and Form & Void. Sure, it helped I was already on a Hemingway kick, but damn — Sim and Gerhard were killing it. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a work with some major flaws and there’s a good chunk of it I find outright offensive, but I think if you avoid works that will offend you, you end up kinda boring.
Best Blu-ray/DVD Release: I just got a Blu-ray player at the end of 2011, so I’m playing a lot of catch up. My favorite thing I’ve purchased has been that Stanley Kubrick: Limited Edition Collection set that came out a while ago. I also had an obsession with the Planet Earth Blu-ray set, but I’m pretty sure that came out years ago. If I had to pick something from this year — that Bond 50 set is pretty nice.
Thing that you were most excited about in 2012?: Like I said before, it was such a massive year for comics. US comics were overall killing it, whether it was something like brand-new like The Hive, Saga & Fatale or reinventions of classic characters like Snyder & Capullo’s run on Batman, Opena & Hickman’s Avengers debut or Roger Langridge & company’s Popeye series. Things were brilliant internationally too — 20th Century Boys finishing its English-language run. Other international titles like Zaya and a new volume of Little Thunder’s Kylooe blew me away.
Thing that disappointed you most in 2012?: A new issue of Age of Bronze came out and the response it got was a slight mention on Comics Reporter and a single (albeit, a very well written, well thought out) review on Comic Book Resources. Everyone in comics should be losing their collective shit every time anything Age of Bronze comes out. Eric Shanower is one of graphic arts’ most astounding craftsmen of the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Even better? He’s one of comics’ greatest storytellers. There’s disconnect when he’s not perpetually celebrated.
Thing that you’re most looking forward to in 2013?: The seeds planted from this year of innovative, interested comics being released this past year beginning to blossom into something new. Books like The Walking Dead, Saga and Building Stories continued to greatly expand a readership that goes far beyond superhero comics (and I’m saying that as a superhero fan). The result of that is something I’m enthralled by.
Joe Keatinge is a former editor and current writer of comic books. He is the author of “Glory,” “Hell Yeah” and the upcoming “Morbius: The Living Vampire.”
B.S. Walker
Best Movies: The Sessions, Les Misérables, Zero Dark Thirty, Silver Linings Playbooks, The Hobbit, Flight
Best TV Shows: Homeland, Game of Thrones, Justified, Downton Abbey, Girls, The Newsroom
Best Video Game: Skyrim followed by Mass Effect 3
Best Blu-ray/DVD Release: Jaws!!!!
Thing that disappointed you most in 2012?: The Hobbit in 48 fps.
B.S. Walker is a contributing reviewer for Forces of Geek
Jess Barnes
Best Movies: Zero Dark Thirty, The Dark Knight Rises, The Master, ParaNorman, Goon
Best TV Shows: Louie, The Walking Dead, Mad Men, Game of Thrones, Parks and Recreation
Best Books (fiction): Redshirts by John Scalzi, This Book Is Full of Spiders: Seriously, Dude, Don’t Touch It (John Dies at the End #2) by David Wong
Best Books (non-fiction): Quiet by Susan Cain
Best Video Game: I am Alive, Darksiders II
Best Songs: Somebody That I Used to Know (Gotye), Little Black Submarines (The Black Keys), Angels (The xx)
Best Albums: Devotion (Jessie Ware), Coexist (The XX)
Best Comic Books / Graphic Novels: Everything We Miss (Luke Pearson), Batman (Scott Snyder, Greg Capullo)
Best Blu-ray/DVD Release: Star Wars: The Complete Saga [Blu-ray]
Thing that you were most excited about in 2012?: The Dark Knight Rises
Thing that disappointed you most in 2012?: The sad, slow decline of Community
Thing that you’re most looking forward to in 2013?: Grand Theft Auto 5
Jess Barnes is an upcoming contributor to Forces of Geek
Lauren Berkley
@goodgirlgongeek | www.goodgirlgonegeek.com
Best Movies: Argo, Wreck-It Ralph, Looper, The Avengers, Dredd 3-D (for realz, y’all), Skyfall, Moonrise Kingdom
Best TV Shows: Game of Thrones, Boardwalk Empire, Archer, Sherlock
Best Books (fiction): I HAVE NO TIME TO READ.
Best Books (non-fiction): STOP MOCKING ME.
Best Songs: “Set Fire to the Rain”, “Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You)”, “We Are Young”, “We Found Love”, “Somebody That I Used to Know”, “Gangnam Style” (guilty pleasure), “Skyfall”
Best Albums: NOTE: Soooo many great artists that I love released great albums. I only listed the artists who’s albums I’ve heard in their ENTIRETY: Theatre is Evil, Speak in Code, Close the Distance, Babel
Thing that you were most excited about in 2012?: The Dark Knight Rises
Thing that disappointed you most in 2012?: The Dark Knight Rises….and the sudden explosion of “Fake Geek Girls” diatribes.
Lauren Berkeley is an upcoming contributor to Forces of Geek
