FILM/ALBUM/GAME OF THE YEAR – 2013

-2013-

FILM OF THE YEAR:
SHORT TERM 12

For me, this year came down to INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS or SHORT TERM 12, and I decided that SHORT TERM 12 was more personally impactful to me, simply due to the fact that I’ve watched it more times, shown it to more friends and family members, and the movie (arguably) had a greater impact on movies as a whole, when you consider that the film starred Brie Larson and Rami Malek (as relative newcomers at the time) who have now gone on to win Oscars.

This movie tells the tale of the unsung heroes of the everyday, and highlights the importance of listening as an act of healing. It’s a stirring and moving piece of cinema, and is criminally-underwatched.

 

 

ALBUM OF THE YEAR:
YEEZUS

For better or worse, Kanye’s YEEZUS was the definitive album for me from 2014. I listened to it more than any other album from that year. Something was just hypnotic about the manic energy of the album.

YEEZUS plays out like a diary filled with the ramblings of a megalomaniac, but with glimpses of something greater shining through, almost as if Kanye does view himself as a god, but also knows that there’s only one God, and this album is a sonically overwhelming portrait of a psyche at odds with itself.

 

GAME OF THE YEAR:
BIOSHOCK INFINITE & LAST OF US

I know, I know… I’m cheating. That’s two games. Well, news flash! It’s my list, my rules, and I ain’t cheatin’ if I say it’s not cheating (and you just wait for 2015, I’m planning to play fast and loose with the rules come that year… But I digress…

The BIOSHOCK series has been near and dear to my heart since it first made its appearance in 2007, but if the first two games were about secular Ayn Rand-inspired individualism going wrong, this game was about dogmatic religious government going wrong, and not only did a mighty fine job with its world-building, but somehow managed to tie it all back in to the first game with a neat bow on top. It’s an incredible piece of interactive storytelling and was the perfect finale for one of my favorite trilogies of all time.

 

 

As for THE LAST OF US, if anyone has ever played this game, you’ll know why it’s on this list. The line between video games and art had never been more blurred prior to this game. This was a whole different beast. The lighter fare of your common video game story is nowhere to be found, a grim Cormac McCarthy-esque tale tackling themes of survival, fatherhood, grief and what it means to be human, all done with a breathtaking attention to detail and the best facial acting I’d ever seen in a video game. It was, and remains, an incredible, grueling, and memorable experience.