It was a really good year for movies. Going down my list of movies I find that they mostly fall into two categories – really great, and really awful. Paring the list down to five was truly difficult.
Top Five Movies I’ve
1. Tangled & Megamind & Inception – It’s my blog, I can have a three-way tie if I want to! But seriously, all three of these are fabulous movies. I couldn’t choose between them if I tried.
2. Scott Pilgrim vs. The World – it’s an epic movie, and I’m not using that word lightly. It feels as natural to me as breathing, and portrays an accurate, if sometimes unflattering, picture of my generation.
3. Eclipse – When ever Edward and Bella weren’t on the screen it was a really awesome movie. When they were it was a fun movie to mock. Win-win.
4. Professor Layton and the Eternal Diva – This gem of a movie is a first rate adaptation of the games it is based on, staying true to the tone and intelligence with getting bogged down. It’s crazy-awesome climax is what lands it on my list.
5. Hamlet – One part Shakespeare, two parts David Tennant and Patrick Stewart – the Royal Shakespeare Company’s performance is one that has stuck in my head.

Hey lookit that, I failed once again to watch enough television to put together a Top Five list. Maybe next year? I do have a lot of shows to catch up with.
Top Five Anime I’ve Seen
1. Spice and Wolf – Based solely off the character designs I went in expecting something action based and fanservicey. What I found was cheerful characters, easygoing pace, a dark plot, and a world rich in details. The explainations of economy that the plot revolves around make my inner RPG geek squee.
2. House of Five Leaves – With a unique style and somber, intricate storytelling, it won my heart with it’s unlikely hero and the mysterious man who draws him into a kidnapping ring.
3. Soul Eater – a series brimming with visual style and colorful characters, and has the heart to match.
4. Emma : A Victorian Romance – a highly detailed period piece and an elegant, touching love story the likes of which are far too rare in anime. Or any medium actually.
5. Escaflowne – Still a classic, still pissed at the ending.

Top Five Games I’ve Played
1. Plants Vs. Zombies – This game? This game ate my brain.
2. Professor Layton and The Curious Village / Professor Layton and The Diabolical Box – these games are made out of brilliance and TEA. Sherlock Holmes combined with James Bond in a top hat. The first game had the better story, but I think the second had better puzzles, or at least a better implementation of those puzzle.
3. Super Scribblenauts – everything Scribblenauts was supposed to be, only better. Review forthcoming.
4. Kirby’s Epic Yarn – Tastes like diabetes. And cotton. Too adorable, and too much fun.
5. Fable 3 – Not as good as it’s predecessors, but still a pretty well written game. Except for the ending. RAWR.

55 books this year. Not bad I guess, but not as many as I hoped to read.
Top Five Books I’ve Read
1. Feed, by Mira Grant – this book changed my life. A thrilling, heartbreaking, terrifying tale. Like zombies? Read it. Don’t like zombies? Read it anyway.
2. The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, by N.K. Jemisin – With a vivid world and complex characters, fantasy gets turned on it’s head with anime tropes.
3. The Lightning Thief, by Rick Riordan – Greek mythology, DONE RIGHT. I’m still in shock.
4. The Replacement, by Brenna Yovanoff – another one of those stories that just stuck in my head and refused to leave.
5. The Queen’s Bastard, by C. E. Murphy – there’s really no way to describe what makes this book great without spoiling it. It starts off slow, but all that world building leads up to an OMGWTF ending.

Now I must return to keeping the dogs calm – the fireworks rile up them and people are out there celebrating up a storm.

It was a good year for movies.
Top Five Movies I’ve Seen.
1. The Princess and the Frog – Disney is back baby! I loved it so much I went back to watch it a second time.
2. Ponyo – more brilliance from Miyazaki.
3. Sherlock Holmes – steampunk, detective work, black magic, stellar soundtrack!
4. New Moon – Hey, this is my top five. I said nothing about these movies being good, just that I found them entertaining.
5. Sword of the Stranger – a gem of a movie in the style of the classic samurai movies.

While it was a good year for movies it was a terrible year for tv viewing. There were about two-three shows I actually bothered to watch all year(NCIS, Dexter, and Castle. fyi.) So I’m skipping right to the…
Top Five Anime I’ve Seen.
1. Mononoke – a medicine seller fights monsters. Bright colors, mindbending narrative, and vibrant action.
2. Mushishi – A similar premise, but a vastly different implementation. The shinto to Mononoke’s buddhism. Calm, meditative, and reflective.
3. Claymore – Women with BFS fight monsters. Than it got worse. (I’m ignoring the gecko ending, because wtf people?)
4. Darker than Black – A slow burn that builds up into a WHOA story. (And the best episode 26 -ever-.)
5. Ouran High School Host Club – nononsense scholarship student ends up in the middle of a harem, hijinks ensue? And crossdressing. Lots of crossdressing.

Top Five Video Games I’ve Played.
1. Legend of Zelda : Spirit Tracks – Best Zelda game since Wind Waker. Of course I am a sucker for trains…
2. Infinite Undiscovery – a fun game that suffered from not enough attention or budget. Also the story is on crack. (I just found out there is going to be a sequel! Can’t wait!)
3. Fable 1 & 2 – I serious can’t decide which I like better. They both glitchy, and where one shines the other founders. Both have fun, engaging worlds. Also, the dog rocks.
4. Braid – What is there about this game that I can say that hasn’t already been said?
5. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trials and Tribulations – The series’ storylines come together with a nice big bow. Also, Franziska Von Karma. “Only a fool would suggest such a foolish piece of absolute foolishness!”

I didn’t quite make my goal of 75 books in a year, but I’m happy with having read 60. It was more than last year! This was also the hardest list because, well… books!
Top Five Books I’ve Read.
1. Flesh and Spirit/Breath and Bone by Carol Berg – technically two books, but I refer to them collectively as The Book That Never Ends. In a good way.
2. The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman – it deserves every award its won. Spooky and heartwaring.
3. Strange Angels by Lili St. Crow – a ya urban fantasy! with a realistic strong heroine! vampires! werewolves! a kick-ass truck!
4. Evil Genius by Catherine Jinks – A supersmart kid goes to a school of evil.
5. Goddess of the Hunt by Tessa Dare – The book that finally dragged me into the romance genre.

Well, that is certainly enough reminiscing for now. Happy New Years!