5x5 year review

So my friend Mazie recently did a 5x5 review, and I really like the idea, so I've decided to do my own. I changed one of the categories to better reflect my personal interests, but the rest of the structure is taken from hers.
Edit: My friend Cody has also decided to do one as well!
Here I will be going over my top 5 favourite things of the year from the following 5 categories:
- Movies
- Books
- Games
- Musics
- TV Shows

Also, I have decided to go based on things that I personally experienced for the first time in 2013, rather than things that were newly released in 2013, so that I am reflecting on my year rather than the year of 2013 as a whole. This is what Mazie did in her 5x5 and I really liked that approach, so I have decided to imitate it. Therefore, there are a lot of things on here that didn't actually come out in 2013, but that I personally experienced in 2013.

 Anyway, here are my favourites from those categories:

Movies

5) Pitch Perfect
- I volunteered at an arts camp this summer and all any of the campers wanted to do the whole week was the cup song. They would sing Taylor Swift songs while doing the cup thing, do the cup thing before we ate, and they pretty much spoke in nothing but pure Pitch Perfect references. As I had not seen the film before this week, I had no idea what was going on, and was confused most of the time. After arts camp ended, I decided to watch the movie so I could understand what they had been talking about the whole time, and I actually ended up loving the movie and watching it like 2 more times in a week, and it has since become one of my favourites. It's aca-awesome!

4) Make the Yuletide Gay
- Wasn't really the best movie ever: it relied a lot on lame puns and mediocre innuendo and a lot of things were awkwardly paced and written. However, it made up for this by having a few really, really strong scenes, with a particularly strong ending that made me really happy. Overall, I did really enjoy the movie, even if I have to admit that it was weak in a lot of places.

3) Iron Man 3
Much, much better than Iron Man 2. Although there were some weak spots, I really enjoyed the film as a whole. The interaction between Tony Stark and Harley was delightful, and the Bruce Banner cameo at the end was hilarious.

 2) Thor: The Dark World
I enjoyed this one more than Iron Man. To be fair, though, I also prefer Thor to Iron Man in general, so I'm biased. I love Darcy's character, and it was nice to see her again. Loki's role in the film was fantastic, and the movie overall had the great mix of humour, drama and action to keep me enteratined.

1) Frozen
Anyone who knows me will not be surprised at all that this is at the top of the list. I absolutely loved this film! I found all of the characters to be interesting and enjoyable to watch, and I really like how it undermines a lot of traditional fairly-tale notions about true love and about what types of relationships are important. The music was amazing as well, and I just generally had a fantastic time watching this movie!

Books

5) Dubliners: James Joyce
I technically read part of this before 2013 since I read Araby in first year. However, this summer was the first time I actually read the whole book, so I still consider it to be a 2013 thing.
I have enjoyed everything by Joyce I have read before, but reading the whole collection of stories in Dubliners was probably my favourite experience with him so far. Eveline was particularly heartbreaking, but the collection as a whole was just amazing. Joyce has a way with words that just moves you.

4) The Thief: Megan Turner
I read this novel for a fantasy class I took, and my first reaction was to go on Amazon and order the rest of the series! It starts off a bit dry, and my first reaction was to think that I wasn't going to enjoy it. However, once you get to about the halfway point, it starts to really take off, and you find out why all of the exposition was so important. Turner's series may end up becoming a new favourite for me!




3) Parable of the Sower: Octavia Butler
It seems like everything on this list comes from class, but I guess that's what you get when you're an English major. Anyway, I studied this one in feminist speculaitve fiction, and it is absolutely fantastic! A really interesting take on the dystopian wasteland story. I love Butler, and this novel is one of her best!

2) Evelina: Frances Burney
 A delightful romp through 18th-century England meets a biting social and political satire. Frances Burney shows the darker side of the "young lady's entrance into the world" story, while still indulging in some of the more fun aspects of the genre. Very thoughtful, interesting and enjoyable novel. 


1) The Faerie Queene: Edmund Spenser
I went into my class on Spenser expecting a dull, courtly poem about Queen Elizabeth I, since that's what this poem is always marketed/portrayed as being. However, I was delightfully surprised when I started reading it and discovered a fantasy tale about a knight going to slay a dragon that reminded me a lot of contemporary fantasy novels. Despite the sometimes ridiculous religious allegory, The Faerie Queene is exciting, enjoyable, and has some fantastic use of language. I would highly recommend it to any fantasy fan, and I have actually started working on my own adaptation of it in style of a 20th/21st century fantasy novel because I enjoyed the story that much!

Games
5) Braid
I was really late to this game: it's been on my "Going to play" list for a few years now, and I never got around to it until this year. I must say that it was well worth the wait. Braid is a really interesting approach to the puzzle genre, managing to be innovative, challenging and enjoyable at the same time. The gameplay is fantastic, and it also manages to provide a fairly interesting narrative element that is thought-provoking and interesting to follow

4) The Mirror Lied
Although very short, The Mirror Lied is one of the most intriguing games I have played in a long time. It will mess with your head, confuse the hell out of you, and give you a ton to talk about after finishing it. Simple, yet powerful is the best way to describe this game, and I would highly recommend it.

3) Uncharted
Despite essentially being "Lara Croft with a penis," the Uncharted series manages to be a lot of fun. It provides surprisingly intriguing characters, plotlines and levels, and I really enjoyed it as a whole. Another one of those games that I had been "meaning to play" for a really long time, that I am really glad I finally started playing in 2013.

2) Mass Effect
I have been a huge Dragon Age fan for quite a while now, to the point where I have actually ordered colognes based on some of the characters, and spent more hours discussing the politics of Thedas than I think I have ever spent discussing the politics of our consensus reality. Obviously the next step was to play Mass Effect, as I like Bioware and had been told that it is essentially "Dragon Age in space." I definitely wasn't disappointed, and I really enjoyed the game!
 

1) Fallout: New Vegas
I was really hesitant to try Fallout at first: based on promotional material and what I had seen, it really did not look like my type of game. However, my friend Kelly kept recommending it to me and trying to get me to play it, and then Steam had it on sale for super cheap, so I decided to give it a chance.
I am really glad that I did give it a chance, because it has become one of my absolute favourite games! The setting is absolutely fantastic: a post-apocalyptic wasteland meets the Wild Wild West. There are cowboys and typical western plotlines combined with laser guns and fallout shelters, and it was a really cool setting to experience. The storyline was intriguing, the factions were all interesting to explore, the characters were fantastic, the gameplay was enjoyable, and the game was overall a fantastic experience! I'm really glad I tried it out, because it was amazing, and I would highly reccomend it.

Music
5) Rebecca Black posts a video of herself watching Friday, and then releases follow-up song "Saturday."
 As many Tumblr users have pointed out, Rebecca Black has recently done a good job of letting us know that she hates Friday just as much (if not more) than everyone else did. Essentailly the same way that Robert Pattinson hates Twilight more than anyone.
She has taken the hate she got from Friday with grace, and shown that she is actually a pretty fantastic person. She has done a few things lately that have essentially been a "Screw you" to all of the haters, and then shown that she is able to laugh at herself. Saturday was quite entertaining, and the growth of Rebecca Black as a rather fabulous Youtube/internet personality has been great to watch. She took a crappy situation that came from a dumb thing she did when she was 13 and made the most of it.

4) Blake Shelton: Based on a True Story
My friend Liz played me the song "Boys Round Here" for the first time earlier this year, and I absolutely loved it. Shortly afterwards, Blake Shelton kind of exploded, and I was hearing the song absolutely everywhere! I listened to the rest of his stuff, and I ended up becoming a fan. 

3) Steve Grand
At a basic level, Steve Grand's music is fun country pop, and a lot of fun to listen to. However, what makes his music significant is that he is not only an openly gay artist, but he is also not afraid to write music that is clearly about other men.
 One of the biggest problems I've been having with the music industry lately is that we seem to be getting more openly gay musicians, yet they insist on using gender-neutral pronouns, or even singing songs about the opposite sex, so that their music doesn't actually do much to help with gay representation in music, even if the artists are out. Some of the songs may be about someone of the same sex, but you'd never know it because they insist on using terms like "baby" that disguise the gender of the other person. I can understand certain situations (Elton John doesn't write his own lyrics, and Bernie Taupin is straight, so it makes sense that he has a lot of songs about women, since the words are Taupin's), but it is still kind of disappointing.
 That's why it was really nice to discover Steve Grand, with songs like All-American Boy, and lines like "you're my southern king" that make it clear that he is singing to men. It's a really big step, and I'm really glad that he has taken it. I look forward to hearing more from this artist!

2) Showtime Storytime/Floor Jansen and Troy Donockley joining Nightwish
I was a bit disappointed when Nightwish let go of Anette Olzon in 2012: I had finally started to like the vocalist (I wasn't a fan of her on Dark Passion Play, but her performance on Imaginaerum was fantastic), and then she left soon after I stared to warm up to her. However, this year saw Nightwish officially taking on Floor Jansen as their new vocalist, and officially adding Troy Donockley to their lineup. I'm not sure how I feel about Floor quite yet, but I have enjoyed the performances I have heard so far, and I am looking forward to seeing where she goes. I am hopeful that she will be a good fit for the band, and I am excited for whatever they end up doing next. I am also glad that Troy is now officially part of their lineup. Overall, I feel that Nightwish has some cool stuff in store for us in the future.
 
1)Professor Elemental
I had the privelege of taking a class on Steampunk this year, and our prof played us the song "Cup of Brown Joy" by Professor Elemental. For those who haven't heard it, it's an entire song about tea, and it is fantastic. With album titles like "The Indifference Engine" and song titles such as "Penny Dreadful," Professor Elemental is an absolutely delightful Steampunk artist, and I really enjoy his music!

TV Shows 
5) Pretty Little Liars

PLL did not seem like the sort of show that I would enjoy at first, but I decided to give it a chance after accidentally watching the first episode (it's a long story) and actually enjoying what I saw. I ended up spending my entire winter reading week watching the show (luckily I was a bit ahead on my schoolwork) and getting a little bit hooked. The mystery is actually quite intriguing - if at times predictable - and I enjoyed the characters and the plotline. I surprisingly ended up really enjoying the show.

4) Matt Smith leaves Doctor Who
Although I do not dislike Matt Smith as the Doctor (despite being a bigger fan of 9 and 10), I feel like it was his time to go. The show has been getting progressively less interesting the last few years, and while I definitely don't think it was Smith's fault in any way, I hope that bringing in Capaldi should do something to help. I liked Smith, but I'm ready for a change. What I would really like is for Moffat to leave Doctor Who, as I think he is at the root of a lot of the problems, but a new Doctor will do for now. Smith was great, though, and his departure from Who was a pretty big part of the year.

3) The end of The Guild
I know that it's technically not a TV show, but there was no "webseries" section (maybe an idea if I do this again next year?), so this section is close enough.
Anyway, The Guild is one of my absolute favourite webseries. It reminds me a lot of my friends and my life in general, and I have been a big fan for a few years. I was really sad when I heard that this season was going to be the last one, and I will really miss the show. However, I was happy with the way that it was ended, and the last season was a good one, so I am happy. Wonderful show: if you're a gamer, I would highly recommend it.

2) The Newsroom
My friend Liz (the same one who recommended Blake Shelton) became a bit obsessed with Newsroom, and got me into it over the summer. Really good show: she showed me the "America is not the greatest country in the world" scene, which was good enough that I decided to check out the show. I fell in love with the characters, and I really enjoyed the writing and commentary that the show provides. Really interesting, thought-provoking and enjoyable show, and I would highly recommend.

1) I finally caved and got Netflix
I know this isn't a "TV show", but it was a really big moment this year I wanted to address. I had avoided getting Netflix for the longest time, but then when I came home from the break, my mom was talking about how she had cancelled the cable because it cost too much for the amount she was using it, but she kind of missed being able to watch tv. Since I have a PS3 that I don't bring to school with me, I taught her how to use Netflix on it so she can watch shows on the TV now without being restricted to the limited channels available via atenna.
So now I have Netflix, and it's actually fantastic! I have only had it for a short time, but I can already see the potential for discovering new shows and movies that I would have never even known about before. I am excited for all of the shows I will be able to discover through the site in the new year, and I am really glad that I made the decision to get Netflix.