2020 Best Ofs!

 

Is it that time of year already?

That time when Hopper announces the Best (and, on occasion, the Worst) of whatever tweaked his interest over the past twelve months?

It is!

And what an awesome way to wring out the most wretched and miserable spin around the Sun. Good riddance, you craptastic annum. Yet, there were some highs among the Marianas-like lows. Such as –

 

Best Book, fiction – The Count of Monte Cristo

   What a phenomenal, 1400-page read! Read in tandem with Patch, at her very excited suggestion. I was originally hesitant, but now it’s firmly ensconced in my Books To Be Re-Read file. Thanks Patch!

 

Best Book, non-fiction – The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich

   Wow. Read at least 20 nonfiction books this year, all of high quality, and at least half related to World War II. I’d give the award to this 1960 classic. The sense of impending dread filled me from page one, but I needed to gird up and gain some context to the other works I was reading.

Best Short Story – “The Basilisk”

   A modern tale of horror about – social media. Made me feel utter pity for my children and that evil handheld box that plugs them – and us all – into that inescapable Baudrillardian level of unreality we call the Internet.

 

Worst Book – The Well at the End of Time

   I had picked up this classic years ago and, searching for something Tolkiennish to read over Covid Summer, and began it at the end of June. Ten days later I was so utterly bored with it I made the unusual decision of setting a book aside forever. Life is too short.

 

Best Movie – Once Upon a Time In Hollywood

   My wife cringed and covered her eyes during the last twenty minutes. You who’ve seen it know what I’m talking about. Those who haven’t, if you’re not Tarantino-squeamish, it’s a must watch. I found the entire movie, and especially the ending, an immensely enjoyable and satisfying participation in cosmic justice. If you’ve seen it, I think you’ll agree.

 

Weirdest Movie – Horse Girl

   Watched this while the family was in the middle of binging Community. It’s Annie from that show, as a lonely shy twenty-something who either is a functioning schizophrenic or an alien abductee. But the movie is so much more, as it’s one of those flicks whose innate weirdity makes the viewer question reality. Watched it with 16-year-old Little One, and we both loved its bizarre eccentricity.

 

Worst Movie – ?

   Don’t think I watched a bad movie. Saw a bunch of mediocre ones, but none which deserve the award. Let it remain vacant in 2020.

 

Last movie seen in a movie theater – Call of the Wild with Patch, Crawl with my friend.

   Rest in peace, movie theaters. You were unjustly murdered. I will catch your killer.

 

Best Netflix – The Blacklist

   Our current binge. We are currently starting Season Four. Wish there was a little less “innocents having their heads blown apart”, but the incredibly complex and witty writing transcends the dumpster dives into amorality.

 

Worst Netflix – The Witcher

   Ugh. I despise feminism and modern tropes tossed into medieval settings. Plus the Superman guy protagonist just looked weird and felt out of place.

 

Best Song – “Swan Song” from Led Zeppelin

   Discovered this back in October or November, and listen to it regularly. It’s the “Midnight Moonlight” song from Jimmy Page’s 1984 The Firm album, as originally recorded in the mid-70s with Bonham on drums and John Paul Jones on bass. A million percent improvement! Wish they would’ve gotten it together for Physical Graffiti. Alas, they didn’t, but you can check it and a whole number of Zeppelin outtakes, on Youtube.

 

Best Youtube channel – Gary and Ian’s Off The Shelf Reviews

   In the past two months I’ve probably watched 50 or 60 of their movie reviews, going back six or seven years. The two English lads have a funny rapport and remind me of the dudes I used to watch flicks with back in the late 80s. They specialize in horror and SF reviews, but also do such films as Planes, Trains, and Automobiles, Das Boot, TV shows and video games.

 

Phases during 2020:

   Derek Prince’s brand of Christianity

   World War II

   Sherlock Holmes

   Reading through the King James Bible (and the Douay-Rheims for the Gospels)

   Six weeks of The Count of Monte Cristo

   Walking and weightlifting

   Losing 20 pounds on the Keto Diet

   The “Monstrumologist” books

   Re-reads (The Hobbit, Magic, The Spinner, Lord Foul’s Bane)

 

Best phase? I dunno. I’m currently still in the World War II phase, with six books on the shelf awaiting a first reading, plus a historical fantasy novel based on it in the outline stage. So let’s award the Second World War as the Best Phase of 2020.

But I loved them all!