John’s Top Ten Albums of 2016

I’m scared. I’m scared that even the slightest mention of a celebrity right now may inadvertently lead to their death. Less than a week ago my girlfriend and I were talking about Watership Down author Richard Adams (R.I.P. 1920-2016). And how many people had George Michaels “Last Christmas” on the brain before the Wham singer died ON Christmas? And now Carrie Fisher? It’s been that kind of year.

Music has been no exception, quite the contrary, it’s suffered some of the biggest blows. The loss of the Starman affected me the most, but no doubt I felt the loss of Prince, Glenn Frey, Maurice White and more. We lost two-thirds of Emerson Lake and Palmer, Phife Dog from A Tribe Called Quest, and many more talented people. The one silver lining is that we’ll always have the music. Music never dies. With that somber reminder out of the way let’s get to the list.

Honorable Mention
Leonard Cohen – You Want it Darker
Radiohead – A Moon Shaped Pool
Paul Simon – Stranger to Stranger

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Colin’s Top Ten Albums Of 2016

With George Michael’s passing yesterday (just, why?) it has continued to be abundantly clear that 2016 has not only been a hard year to be a human being, but also a hard year to be a music fan. And yet, even when we get bogged down with some beloved musician’s death or a million different news stories that should fill us with nothing but the utmost despair, music fights back. Take for instance the fact that even with the year not quite being over, just a few hours prior to the news of the reluctant gay icon’s passing, we also got a new Run The Jewels album that I’m sure will suitably rally us against whatever bullshit is headed our way in 2017.

So when I say 2016 was an overwhelmingly great year for music, it’s hard for me not to think that this was some sort of reaction to all the bad stuff that went down in 2016. Now, I can’t say that artists were making a conscious decision to make great albums this year, since I assume most artists are aiming to make great albums whenever they can. But I suppose it’s possible there was this feeling in the air that this shit really mattered in 2016. For me, music has always been the most immediate, gut-level art form, and so I think for that reason, a lot of musicians felt the need to speak from their guts, which in turn created a lot of albums that spoke to people’s guts, minds, bodies, souls, etc.

Anyways, enough about guts… on to the list. Continue reading →

Sean’s Top 10 Video Games of 2015

Hey, the podcast is going to be a little late this week, here’s a personal top 10 to tide you over. When I finished Dragon Age: Inquisition way back in 2014, I had no idea that basically every big game in 2015 would go for that same epic approach. Last year was the year of the open world game, and also the year of me having a full-time job for the full year for the first time ever. So I played less video games, I admit it. I made time for movies and TV shows and music and podcasts and friends and as a result, didn’t play as many video games as a professional game critic. I’m sorry to have let you all down.
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John’s Top Ten Movies of 2015

Every year I try to watch movies I don’t think will be on anyone else’s list. I watch under appreciated dramas, foreign films and documentaries, but rarely do these pan out. Meaning, most of my favorite films of 2015 were yet again some of the most popular. You might see one “outsider” pick, but not much else you haven’t already seen on a dozen other top ten lists. 2015 was Not a bad year by any means, but certainly not one with as much variety as I would have liked.

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Colin’s Top Ten Movies Of 2015

I don’t really have much to say about 2015 in movies, as Sean pretty much summed up my feelings, since as he failed to mention, I saw a lot of the movies to come out last year with him as my wingman. And I agree that there are a lot of different ways of watching movies these days, but I still don’t think you can beat the communal experience of seeing a movie on the big screen in a theater. Especially when you’re seeing a weirder, more off-the-beaten-path film, where you don’t exactly know what you’re in for. Though I suppose it’s that fear of the unknown that fuels the thinking behind the “I just wanna go watch a sequel/reboot/rehash mentality”. Anyways, here are the films that made those risks into completely worthwhile endeavors… Continue reading →

Sean’s Top 10 Movies of 2015

When I think back to 2015, I’ll remember John falling asleep at the most exciting part of Furious 7. I’ll remember the last-minute “dream team” viewing of the second Avengers movie with friend-of-the-blog Paul Otteni and my dad. I’ll remember exhaustedly dropping myself into a Washington, DC theater seat to watch Tomorrowland, just because I couldn’t bear any more walking. I’ll remember my car not getting out of the shop in time and my friends having to make multiple trips between Seattle and the Eastside just so we could all be disappointed by The Good Dinosaur (dinosaurs were such a letdown in 2015). Basically, I’ll remember how fun it is to go to the theater and give yourself over to a movie. It’s an experience I cherish, and one I think I did more often than any other year.
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Colin’s Top Ten TV Shows Of 2015

Ah, so much good TV! I don’t usually have a problem constructing my top ten of the year lists, since whatever’s gonna end up on them will assuredly fall into place over the course of a given year. But TV this year was an intense struggle, just because there was so much of it that I watched and so much of it was great, and at the same time there were probably a lot of great TV I didn’t manage to catch up with. That said, I apparently have been watching basically all the same great TV as Sean and John, so there’s not gonna be a ton here that hasn’t been talked about already. And instead of doing a long list of honorable mentions, I’ll just say Rick & Morty, Difficult People, Key & Peele, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, The Americans, Louie, and Wet Hot American Summer: First Day Of Camp were all really great but didn’t make the cut. Continue reading →