2019 Superlatives
As we come to the close of another year, I thought it would be a neat idea for people to give their picks for the Best/Worst/Most/Least [something] of 2019. Think of these like awards, although some of them are not necessarily in categories people would want to win.
There are no limits and no criteria. Examples:
Best Meme
Worst Tweet
Most Pretentious Startup
Least Surprising Box Office Bomb
Anything is fair game -- do whatever you want! Get creative and have fun! Winners can be people, places, or things -- all 2019 nouns are eligible!
While I'm intending this to be mostly for fun, it's okay to give serious ones too, so if you want to tell me about, say, the legit Best Movie or the Most Transformative Hashtag of 2019, be my guest.
Make sure you don't just drop your award winners' names in the thread. Be sure to explain why they're deserving of their title.
Also, it's okay for one category to be awarded with more than one winner, so if someone else has already given their pick for, say, Best Season Finale, and you feel strongly that another deserves the win, add your pick and explain your thinking!
I would like to nominate @kfwyre for Best Community Organizer for orchestrating last month's Timasomo in addition to all of the other conversations he has started!
Awww, thank you @Akir! That's incredibly kind of you.
Best Movie of 2019: The Highwaymen. That is a personal choice, I'm in no way qualified to elect the actual best movie. I'm a sucker for traditional storytelling with all three well-sized acts, including a generous conclusion to give us a sense of closure and satisfaction. That's very rare nowadays. On top of that, a delicious crime story with a moral compass (cynicism is becoming a beaten cliché...). And it helps to have Kevin Costner and Woody Harrelson basically playing himself.
Best Movie I watched in 2019: Hell and High Water (2016). A dry and compelling modern western that takes inspiration in works such as Breaking Bad to update the genre while gloriously reaffirming its essence and history.
Thanks for your note on The Highwaymen. I think i saw the little icon on one of the streaming services, and just skipped without thinking on it further. Generally, i tend to reflexively give Woody Harelson movies a look-see, and Kevin Costner movies a pass/skip. I always enjoy reading about comments - and especially suggestions for/against - about movies from humans as opposed to algorithms. So, thanks again!
Costner did a lot of crap, but he's still a terrific actor!
I listened to The Big Freeze at work today, and it reminded me a lot of Kate Bush (who I love). Stevenson's voice is gorgeous and the arrangements were beautiful and sweeping. I wasn't able to give it my full attention since I had it on in the background while working, but I liked what I heard and plan to return to it. Thanks for sharing it here!
I guess i know which album I'll be listening later today! :-)
Wow, this is a great sell! you've convinced me to listen to her. Also I grew up not listening to Neil Young...and then someone introduced him to me via...Harvest Moon! So, guess which song I'll also hear from Laura Stevenson? Thanks for this review!
Best use of petty rebellion: Tagging posts as Exemplary that the owner wished to be tagged as anything else.
Best Essayist who is putting their media recaps on Patreon for free: Film Crit Hulk
Worst Kick in the Ass from a Video Game Company: Activision-Blizzard for letting go off a massive chunk of staff the weekend when they announced their highest earnings ever, and for their duplicitous way of dealing with Blitzchung in the Hearthstone Grandmasters.
Best Movie adapted from a video game: Detective Pikachu, it was the quality of a solid Disney Channel Original Movie, which makes it the best game to movie adaptation ever made.
Best Album.
Tool - Fear Inoculum.
This took a while to solidify for me. I've been a long time Tool fan (not OGT, mind) but when the first single ("Fear Inoculum") dropped, my comment to my mates was, "this sounds like a machine-learning algorithm ingested the Tool back catalogue and produced something 'new'".
I put in about 5 or 6 spins and my main feeling about it was "meh". There was nothing wrong with it, per se, it was just that it wasn't sitting right with me.
After a few weeks of leaving it alone I slowly started to miss parts of songs and so it entered the mix again. I then moved into a phase of "I don't really like it, but I do like: [songs]". This slowly grew to the point where I was a fan of every single song, and I was hit with the realisation that I actually really like the album as a whole.
Sure, the instrumentals are gash and can take a running jump, but the songs are strong, layered, complex, and well worth your time.
Where does it sit in the hierarchy of Tool albums? Slightly above 10,000 Days maybe, but not as high as Lateralus or Ænima. But if that's the worst criticism it has to endure then that's truly no criticism at all.
Most meta response to this post: Q&A with grey: Favorites Edition