Goodbye to 2008

It feels like the right time to take a break from the holiday fun (such as it is, with both Karen and myself both full up with a cold) and take a look back at what's gone down with this year.
Musical Highlight of 2008
As ever, tying me down to one standout musical moment of any time period (unless it's the last five minutes) is impossible. I have a favourite song for every mood and occasion and I love them all equally on an emotional level. However, as the point of this blog is about writing I'll try and be more critical.

Usually a decade has a musical trend that defines it usually in the main pop scene but also on the underground levels. This year, I think the dominant trend is for pop to have drawn heavily on underground 80's indie sounds. The Wombats, Foals, Black Kids, Ladyhawke, Late of the Pier and Friendly Fires have all come to the fore sounding like a progression of the bands that I thought were cool and rebellious when I was in high school (which is now longer ago than I like to admit).

Its been a good year in other areas too though with bands like Hot Chip, TV on the Radio and Kings of Leon as top contenders.

Ultimately though I'm torn between two bands from the US who don't actually sound like they're from the US.

MGMT and Vampire Weekend.

I like both for different reasons. Vampire Weekend are VERY pop, but not cringily so. There's nothing wrong with catchy songs so long as they are sincere attempts at expression and not cynical productions following a formula where the artist doesn't matter. I can enjoy that kind of pop.

MGMT on the other hand represent that other side of me that just wants to rebel against the norms. They aren't rebellious in the seventies punk style, I guess its more akin to the hippie kind of anarchy that their dress style seems to represent.

If I had to choose one then it would probably be Vampire Weekend, if only because they seem to have more places to go whereas I'm not sure how MGMT can sustain their invention over more than one album. Instead I'm going to give it to MGMT for one reason only. I can't play the VW album to my kids because of the swearing, which is a shame because they love the edited versions they see on the TV.

TV Highlight of 2008
I'd like to throw up a surprise or two here but at the moment there's nothing that really touches my pick for the year. Before I reveal it though I'll give a few honourable mentions for programs that I've enjoyed even if they haven't set my TV world on fire.

Harry Hill has been consistently funny thoughout the year. His TV Burp program shows the absurdity of taking TV programs too seriously and his trick of inserting himself into the programs through clever editing tickles my funnybones in particular.

Battlestar Galactica was also an intermittent pleasure but it can be heavy going as it is quite plot driven. Knowing it was coming to an end seemed to lift this seasons episodes and I'm looking forward to the return of the final episodes in the new year.

Chuck was another show that had potential this year. It was consistently enjoyable, but not dazzlingly so. With a second series coming in 2009 aybe it can shine a bit brighter.

A late contender was Survivors but the BBC's habit of only producing a handful of episodes per series means that it was over before it began. With a second set of episodes scheduled for next year then at least we know there's more to come but it's not enough to give it top spot.

Finally we come to my actual choice for the year. With an expectation bending season that looked like it might not even get off the ground, the 14 episodes of Lost that kicked off the year set the benchmark and was never beaten. With the developments coming thick and fast we finally saw some payoff to the first few seasons and whilst some questions about the plot have been answered we still have many more questions about the characters still to go. Do they have a larger purpose in the scheme of things. Does the Island have some larger purpose or will it all boil down to some small-time ambitions. At the moment I'm as hooked as I ever was and even though I'm probably setting myself up for a fall when the final season comes along, I'm still enjoying the ride. So Lost gets my TV pick for the year.

Movie of 2008
There's nothing I'd like better than to name some obscure, foreign-language film as my pick of 2008, but unfortunately I've been cured of my movie snobbery, so I guess I'll just have to go with the film I enjoyed the most.

The Dark Knight was the years most hyped film but for me it kind of disappeared up its own backside and failed to tell a compelling Batman story. I've always seen Bats as a detective so I actually like to see him using his brain once in a while. His fisticuffs should only be employed to get to where he knows he already wants to be, the fights and gadgets are secondary to the fact that essentially he is the greatest detective mind pitting his wits against other criminal masterminds. His greates enemies are usually insane because that makes them unpredictable. Those who follow a logical thought pattern are easy to catch. There should have been a better battle of wits between the two, although I have to admit the final showdown was classic. The switch was only predictable until just before it happened and it dawned what was going to happen. Ultimately disappointing for me.

Instead another film from the comic book genre came to my rescue. Iron Man showed lots of wit and character even though the film had even more of an excuse to show off gadgets than Batman did. It also showed the difference between Marvel and DC even more so than before. Marvel's ethos has always been about superheroes in the real world whereas DC invented cities to reflect the characters they created. Therefore DC created fantasy heroes who faced fantasy villains which you knew they would escape from. Marvel however put the hero in the real world, facing real threats and you were then able to suspend disbelief that the hero was in real danger.

So the charming Tony Stark (aka Robert Downey Jr) takes my pick as movie of the year.

There you go! The top awards go to MGMT, Lost and Iron Man.

I hope the next year has more in store than this past year.


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Now playing: Air - La Femme d'Argent
via FoxyTunes

TV Meview 6-8.12.2008

It's been a sparse weekend's programming, mainly because of putting up decorations and not sleeping very well but here's my thoughts on what I did watch.

The Semi-Final of X-Factor was a tough one to call, but at the end of the day the right people made it to the final. As I keep saying the talent has been very high this year but Diana Vicker's quirky vocal just wasn't strong enough or consistent enough to get her to the final. I'm sure she'll do well in the current pop landscape when she finally releases something, as long as they find the right songs for her anyway.

Shall I call a winner yet? Yeah, okay!

Eoghan Quigg.

He'll do it because of the fan base of the show and the fact that teens are more likely to be motivated to see more of his cute, but vacant expressions.

Talking of Eoghan's facial expressions, I almost missed Harry Hill's TV Burp as it was on later than usual. This weeks show was full of its usual running gags and TV absurdities. The standout moment was when he cast his weirdy eye onto a show about Health and Safety professionals (The Fun Police). It had me in stitches. Uncomfortably so, as I had company whilst watching it this weekend that don't see the fun in Harry Hill and so were actually more amused at my amusement. Please ITV, please put Harry back on at a normal time so I can watch it with my boys and not bear the shame of merriment alone.

After Harry had brought Anna Ryder-Richardson low to close the show I got sucked into watching the British Comedy Awards (yes, ITV does win hands down on Saturday nights in this house). Purposefully unaware of the Ross/Brand debacle that affected this show (I didn't hear the broadcast so I have no opinion of it) I was reminded of it constantly by every comedian who wanted to sound a little controversial by standing up for them. I know awards shows are notorious for luvvies, but this year's awards seemed to show new depths of self reference in place of genuine humour. That's not to say I didn't laugh every now and then, its traditional for ITV comedy, but I guess it did miss the irreverence and confidence of Head Boy Jonathan Ross. Having his lines delivered by the deadpan Angus Deayton didn't always work.

As usual most of the good comedy came from the BBC, so I guess its off to iPlayer to find out what the fuss is about half the shows mentioned.

After Match of the Day I spent most of the day trying to stay awake but managed to last throughout the whole of the Disney Premiere of Ratatouille. This was the first Pixar movie in a while that I hadn't taken the kids to the cinema to watch. Possibly because it was about a Rat who wanted to be a Chef. How amuszzz....zzzz..zzz

Oops! Sorry, getting tired again! So anyway, I thought, why let the kids see an animated tale of Gordon Ramsay's private life. Having seen it though it was fairly amusing though definitely one of their dullest in my book. The head chef was just too much of a loser, as was the original chef, who died because of a bad review. The only highlight was the fiesty french chick who the loser falls for and inexplicably wins. I hate hollywood romances. I was glad when the thing finished and I could get the kids to bed.

After our evening had relaxed a bit it was time for a bit of Fringe. This was the last episode before the new year (I still haven't found out if they're making anymore yet though) so a cliffhanger was expected, but the route there wasn't.

It was time to start tying up some of the plot threads whilst throwing more questions into the pot. The things that stuck with me were the revelations of how surprised Walter was at some of the things coming his way. Usually he recognises the wierdness and says 'oh yes, I invented that whilst I was drying myself in the shower'. To see him react to things he hadn't encountered was a neat twist on how the show has worked to this point. Also the fact that Olivia suddenly became more valuable to two parties possibly behind 'the pattern' and that one of them has aquired her against her will was also a logical place to take the character even if you wouldn't expect them to do so this early on.

I like the fact that the show is taking risks with its characters. None of the three leads are your typical, likeable everyman character. That makes them interesting because not only do you not know where 'The Pattern' will take you next, you can't necessarily guess the character's responses in these situations. I'm going to miss this in the coming weeks. Sunday is now dead to me.

As Monday soon will be once Eli Stone wraps up its first season. Another great episode where we get to see good people being good and leading the morally gray into a better place. The effects of Eli's new found ethics are starting to have their ripples felt around the law firm and it hasn't gone unnoticed as Katy Sagal (Married with Children, Futurama) steps in as one of the silent law-partners who finds she can no-longer be silent due to Eli's crusading costing them high-paying clients.

Has Eli found himself a formidable adversary who will try to reverse, block and end all the good he has tried to do? I hope we find out.

This week Eli sees the future which involves some of the people from his present ending up somewhere he didn't expect them. This leads him to representing a criminal who is being persecuted for standing up for himself in jail and who has links in the past to one of the other lawyers in the firm.

Whilst Eli gets on with this case his relationship with his assistant continues to be awkward as her sudden engagement becomes an issue. Eli's Ex on the other hand is now being won over by the office jerk who, since learning about his baseball hero's underhand tactics when representing him, seems to be showing a softer side. I guess with all of the characters from the opening episodes who seemed to be Eli's enemies now showing either indifference or some actual character growth a new adversary had to be put in place to create some internal tension in the office.

Lets see where it takes us.


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Now playing: Supergrass - She's So Loose
via FoxyTunes