2013: Reviewtiful Joe!
by xenturik
2013: Reviewtiful Joe! A Year. 365….I watched so much, played much more, read much less….oh and I picked up the Banjo!-kinda. Below is a catalog of the media I consumed from last January till today, packed with dates, thoughts, favorites and all around joy. I’ve seen it written in the stars these words, “The more I live, the more I’m convinced we are acutely influenced by what we surround ourse...
2013: Reviewtiful Joe!
A Year. 365….I watched so much, played much more, read much less….oh and I picked up the Banjo!-kinda. Below is a catalog of the media I consumed from last January till today, packed with dates, thoughts, favorites and all around joy.
I’ve seen it written in the stars these words, “The more I live, the more I’m convinced we are acutely influenced by what we surround ourselves with. In a way, this is a yearly portrait of who I am, and who I want to be (or perhaps, who I hadn’t realized I already was...what? where am I?).” -Rodney Dangerfield
At the bottom you’ll find my picks for favorites of 2013.
And so here is my year in review. Why? Because it was something fascinating to do.
Games(57 Games Played) 2013 in gaming took an interesting twist as we started delving into the world of quirky, smart, fun, and original Table Top and PC games. Here are the dates in which I played/finished them as well as what platform I played them on.
1/2 Frog Fractions (URL)
You start on a Lily pad and end as The President. Yea. This game’s great.
1/2 Futility Pong (URL)
It takes about three seconds longer than it should to realize why this game is good, and that’s what makes it great.
1/2 January (URL)
This experience can be played for minutes or hours. The premise: catch snowflakes on your tongue to make music. How lovely.
1/15 Advanced Dungeons and Dragons 2nd Edition (Table)
What started as an experiment has turned into one of the most powerful gaming and social experiences around, one that has lasted over 12 months so far
1/17 Bastion (Steam)
A game that narrates what you do as you do it. With style dripping off the screen and gameplay to back that up, Bastion stands out as pure polished gaming at it’s finest
2/11 Sequence (Steam)
Combines DDR with an RPG, your imagination can fill in the rest
2/12 Digital, A Love Story (PC)
Sweet, simple, and somewhat scary, this Romance Mystery brings you back to the early days of online connectivity in the 90’s. Fascinating
2/12 Gravity Bone (Steam)
A quick ride, a thrilling ride
2/12 Thirty Flights of Loving (Steam)
To rip off what other’s have said, of which I 100% agree, “ Thirty Flights of Loving does more with it’s story in 15 minutes than most games do in 15 hours”
2/16 Tales from Space: Mutant Blob Attack (Vita)
Fun Arcade Platforming. Simple.
3/4/13 McPixel (Steam)
Super fun soundtrack coupled with a series of point and click adventure levels, each one lasting 10 seconds long. It’s Wario Ware meets Monkey Island
3/5 Jet Pack Joyride (Vita)
You gotta love simple control, high skill games. Fun to keep coming back to
3/31 Kingdoms of Amalur: The Reckoning (PS3)
A Rich Sprawling Fiction to lose yourself in. This game wins most hours logged into topping off at 140 hours of gameplay from me...to put in perspective, if the average length of a movie is roughly 2 hours, then it’s like I watched 70 movies. Damn.
4/10 Bioshock Infinite (PS3)
Trippy, Enthralling, and super fun to experience. BioShock pulls off one of the harder things to do in gaming. Create a FULLY realized and detailed world that immerses the player from start to bombastic finish
4/16 Injustice: Gods Among Us (PS3)
I bought this game less for the fighting, more for the story and big set piece moments. Fun with friends.
4/19 Tekken 6 (Vita)
More affirmation of why I tired out on fighting games
4/20 Sound Shapes (Vita)
Beautiful. The use of Original Music informing your platforming choices feels super fresh.
5/10 Geoguesser (URL)
You’re shown a picture. Your Job is to guess where in the world that picture was taken. The closer you are the more points you get. Smart and addictive.
5/19 Heads Up! (IOS)
Great small party game, instantly gets people involved
5/19 Spaceteam (IOS)
This fast free multiplayer game provided some of the most intense moments of the year. Only play this game with friends you are planning on having for life, cause after you play, your comradery will never be broken
5/21 Candy Box! (URL)
What’s starts off as a seemingly throwaway concept, extrapolates out to become an hilariously engrossing experience
5/22 No One Has To Die (URL)
The game is in the title. Fascinating premise.
6/07 Tomb Raider
A welcome reinvisioning of Lara Croft, fluid controls and robust locales made this game worth playing.
6/13 The Cave
Charming and witty. Compelled me to see every single alternative ending. Not the best playing game, but still...fun
6/16 To the Moon (Steam)
…..this game made me cry...
6/18 Heavenly Sword (PS3)
A nice look back on the early days of the PS3. Andy Serkis is amazingly creepy in this game
6/21 FTL (Steam)
Oregon Trail in Space...The Definition of Addictive.
7/10 Sly 2: Band of Thieves (PS3)
My Favorite Sly Game
7/21 Lord of the Rings: War of the North (PS3)
Three Players running through the world of the Ring. Teamwork is key, frustrating, and rewarding throughout
7/25 The Last of Us (PS3)
This journey gets into your bones.
7/25 Unfinished Swan (PS3)
Great, an almost necessary palette cleanser after The Last of Us. This game is strikingly eye pleasing
8/10 Papers Please (Steam)
Stark. Raw. You play as an immigration officer in 1980’s (fake) Russia. Moral compromises have to be made, especially when you’re trying to feed your family
8/15 Icarus Proudbottom Teaches Typing (URL)
Typing’s never been this...colorful
8/25 Saints Row IV (PS3)
Bombastic and full of personality. And you get to hang out with Keith David and Rowdy Roddy Piper!
8/29 Avatar Fight (iOS)
Eh, i still can’t explain why I played this so much
9/2 Word Blur (Table)
Smart and Cut Throat
9/2 Last Wizard Standing (Table)
Charming, Oddly Strategic, and surprisingly Personal
9/8 Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 (PS3)
Not for me. Also it broke my PS3!...almost broke...
9/12 Star Wars Pinball (PS3)
Great to sit down and dig into Pinball every now and then, especially with some local competition...or should i say “competition”
9/17 DMC Devil May Cry (PS3)
Pure Fun. Great style. Boss battle against fake Bill O'reilly was great.
9/30 Grand Theft Auto 5 (PS3)
Rotating between the lives of three characters gives you a unique new sense of role play and perspective. Viewing the same city from three separate sets of eyes allows for a truly deep experience. But GTA Online is scary
10/13 Far Cry 3 (PS3)
Beautiful Setting, lush jungle island, alive with wildlife and danger. And a pretty cool look at man’s descent into darkness.
10/17 Monty Python Fluxx (Table)
Silly Card Game plus Monty Python references and jokes, sounds like a night
10/17 Aye, Dark Overload(Table)
A game about shifting blame onto others, hilarious and unique everytime
10/17 Settlers of Catan (Table)
A classic, and for good reason. Strategy, teamwork, and persistence pay off in this intriguing game
10/18 Smash Up (Table)
Pick two of your favorite factions ( ie. Zombies, Ninjas, Dinos, Robots etc.) smash them together and let the fun begin. The level of depth in this game sneaks up on you
10/31 Beyond: Two Souls (PS3)
Ellen Page and Willem Dafoe star in this Ghost Tale. Through dynamic storytelling and stellar performances, a truly inspired experience bears itself in an entirely visceral way. Great for Halloween
11/05 Batman Arkham Origins (PS3)
It’s true that this game is disappointing. Rehashed gameplay, unsatisfying premise, shallow adversaries...but in the end...it’s Batman… and well...I like Batman...
11/06 Hotline Miami (Vita)
With a pulsing soundtrack, this indie game gets your blood pumping. Fun throughout multiple playthroughs
12/4 Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag (PS4)
Oh damn, Super fun. Sailing away in the 17th century Caribbean Isles with the wind at your back and a shanty at your ear.
12/10 Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen (PS3)
Amazingly grounded area specific combat. Elegant story which is not too overbearing and allows for personal growth within the world. Uncompromising difficulty makes you feel great about each victory. And has ingenious implementation of online cooperative play.
12/15 DC Universe Online(PS3 and PS4)
My girlfriend and I decided to jump into this . We both made Villians and are still having a blast teaming up with each other to ruin Superman’s day.
12/22 Story Wars (Table)
Each player randomly picks a well known character(ie, The Giant, King Arthur, Merman, Colin Mochrie…) then they have to convince a judge why their character would win in a fight against the others. Surprisingly great improv party game
12/27 Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons (PS3)
A Simple tale. Woven in with inventive gameplay mechanics, stunning set pieces, and one of the most striking moments in video games this year.
12/28 Gone Home (Steam)
The game’s story starts at Midnight and thats when I, unknowingly, started it as well. You enter an empty house, the year is 1995, the rest is up to you. Simply by looking around, listening to answering machine messages, and turning on lights you unravel a beautiful, poignant story that stays with you long after the game is done
12/31 My Singing Monsters (iOS)
Each of these guys make a sound. Put em together and make a symphony. this game makes me happy
12/31 My Muppets Show (iOS)
Each Muppet makes a sound, put em together and they form a band. This game makes me realize I hate certain muppets….Sam Eagle….
Shows(18 Shows Seen) Twas a Super fun, highly energetic year of live performance
1/5 Cat Lady- Mad Cat Theatre
Hilariously Scary look at “pick up artists”
1/22 Fat Men in Skirts- Outre Theatre
Raw and Visceral
2/7 Chapter 2- Plaza Theatre
Sharp and Heartful
2/15 Totem- Cirque de Soleil
Magical and Creepy
3/1 The Rover- Thinking Cap Theatre
So Cool, So Funny
4/3 Brother’s Beckett -Alliance Theatre
Witty and Comfy
4/17 Charming Acts of Misery- Mad Cat Theatre
Daring and Raucous….and Charming...
5/12 Bill Cosby Live!- The Hard Rock Live
That Man’s a Pro
6/24 Cole Bros. Circus
Frightening, but super fun
8/2 Anything Goes- Putnam County Players
oh man what spirit
8/25 Blow Me- Mad Cat Theatre
Dynamic, a joy to watch
9/5 Pop Art- The Project Theatre
Fresh and Cute
9/21 Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson- Outre Theatre
Intense and Exciting
10/14 Chicago- Royal Caribbean Cruiseline
Bland and Rocking...literally the ship was rocking
10/26 Next to Normal- Slow Burn Theatre
Sweeping and Powerful
11/1 Knowledge and Noise- Theo Reyna
Smart and Adventurous
12/13 Black Man Revisted: Revenge of the New Negro- Jaamil Olawale Kosoko
Felt like I was being forced to relate...I didn’t really and thats okay
12/22 Urban Apparel - The Project Theatre
I love this shit
Songs(singles that stood out) Each month particular songs will stand out. Either I’ve never heard them before, they encompass my mood or perhaps relate to what's going on around me. But for one reason or another they stick with me for a while. Sometimes they make me think, sometimes they’ll be purely ridiculous, or sometimes they simply make me smile, here are my songs of the year
January- Build That Wall- Darren Korb
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGxgFxF47XY
February-Destiny- Lionel Richie
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNmDgRwNFsI
March- Sing a Happy Song(Feel so Good)- War
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QlieLu4BHqY
April- Linda Linda Linda - The Blue Hearts
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrwbUoZsLEc
May- Doin it Right- Daft Punk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8W4ooVNr82U
June- Library Guy- Orla Buckley
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-HHijZDD2o
July- Make You Feel my Love- Bob Dylan
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ql2qlO8HH20
August- A Whiter Shade of Pale- Procol Harem
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mb3iPP-tHdA
September- We Were Like Rock n Roll- Janelle Monae
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqKP8VzPbAg
October- You Don’t Have to Say you Love Me- Elvis Presley
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U914MUX1uoc
November- If You Could Read My Mind- Gordon Lightfoot
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqMG3VR5PP4
December- This is the Time- Billy Joel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0AR5bcjn3IA
Movies(91 Movies Watched) And now for your reading delight, Friend Bobby has elected to write down his quick reviews on movies that I’ve seen this year(so that I could hurry up and we could go to our New Year’s Shin Dig)…..whether he’s actually seen these movies or not is highly irrelevant
1/3 Natucket Comedy Festival (2012)
There once was a Man from a better movie than this
1/13 Django Rewatched (2012)
Lavar Burton was great in this
1/17 Space Jam Rewatched (1995)
Michael Jordan, Renaissance Man
1/21 Brother From Another Planet (1984)
E.T gone homie
1/27 Circus of Horrors (1960)
No Clowning Around
1/30 At Home with the Webbers (1993)
There goes the neighborhood
1/31 Apocalypse Now! Redux (2001)
I Don’t really enjoy the smell of napalm all that much
2/2 Steal a Pencil for Me (2007)
This is why I use pens
2/4 Heavy Metal Baghdad (2007)
Iran so far away
2/4 Triumph of the Will (1935)
Will Smith isn’t even in this
2/5/13 Mugabe and the White African (2009)
White men can’t jump, Mugabe makes sure of that
2/6 Mission Impossible 3 rewatched (2006)
Alias the movie
2/6 Friday Foster (1975)
I prefer banana’s foster
2/7 Sugar Hill (1974)
mmmmmmm child
2/9 Scream, Blacula, Scream! (1973)
Better than Citizen Kane
2/14 Forgiving Mengele (2009)
Unforgivable
2/26 Private Practice : A Story of the Sex Surrogate (1985)
Sexy
2/27 Chasing Ghosts: Beyond the Arcade (2007)
Ghosts are too fast to be caught.
3/17 Roman Holiday rewatched (1953)
Everyones favorite holiday
3/22 Beautiful Losers (2008)
They weren’t that beautiful
3/22 Bela Fleck: Throw Down Your Heart (2008)
Stop throwing organs.
4/1 The Vagrant (1917)
Amazing
4/1 The Misadventures of Musty Suffer (1916)
Why must(y) I suffer watching this bullshit
4/1 Good Night, Nurse! (1918)
Good night and good luck. Hello nurse!
4/1 The Scarecrow (1920)
My favorite Batman villian
4/20 Arena (2011)
Like the hunger games...but for adults. Also battle royale exists, why do I keep doing this to myself
4/22 SevenUp (1964)
Heads up
4/22 Seven Up Plus Seven (1973)
14
4/23 21Up (1980)
I want to throw up
4/23 28Up (1987)
Kids say the darnedest things...and then grow into sad adults
5/2 Iron Man 3 (2013)
Fuck this movie. The mandarin is a real villian. This is total bullshit. fuck this. Fuck you.
5/17 Star Trek: Into the Darkness (2013)
KHHAAANNNNNN
5/22 Mission Impossible II (2000
Alias the movie, part deux
5/23 The Great Gatsby (2013)
Not that great
6/5 John Dies at the End (2012)
John actually dies in the middle
6/8 Fast 6 (2013)
Best. Movie. Ever.
6/10 TMNT III (1993)
Dibs on Leonardo - (Bobby)
Speaking of Leonardo...jesus, that creepy smile.
6/14 Man of Steel (2013)
Movies are dumb. But Krytpon was cool
6/14 This is the End (2013)
This was actually pretty funny. So many demon penises...not a complaint
6/18 Bully (2011)
Don’t bully
6/18 Erasing Hate (2011)
Hate can’t be erased. Like matter it can only be created
6/18 Kumare (2011)
Hakuna Kumare
6/19 Justice League:Doom (2012)
Superman is awesome...Batman is better
6/19 Cabin in the Woods (2012)
Thor dies.
7/1 Good Will Hunting rewatched (1997)
I really like them apples
7/12 Ultimate Avengers (2006)
Ant-man is my homeboy
7/12 Ultimate Avengers 2 (2006)
Fuck Ant-man
7/18 Pacific Rim (2013)
it’s No Fast 6
7/24 Naked States (2000)
Put on some clothes Florida.
7/31 Springbreakers (2013)
How did this not win the Oscar?
8/12 Planes (2013)
Boats!
8/16 Oblivion (2013)
Nice goggles Morgan!
8/25 Bad Girl Island (2007)
I want to go to there.
8/28 Batman Under the Red Hood (2010)
Spoiler alert: It was Robin.
8/29 Super 8 (2011)
Truly heartwarming. Should have just called it E.T. 2
8/29 Batman Year One (2011)
Batman starts up his part time job at a Best Buy. Gordon returns his T.V.
8/29 Ip Man (2008)
I pee too.
8/30 Video Game High School
The script writers should level up...amiright
8/30 Battle Royale (2000)
Hey guys the hunger games!!
8/31 Batman the Movie (1966)
Brought my Shark repellant
8/31 Jiro Dreams of Sushi (2011)
Sushi is sexy
9/1 Wet Hot American Summer (2001)
Quirky. Funny. There is a reason its a cult classic.
9/1 The Adventures of Tin Tin (2011)
I wish I was french
9/2 The Wild and Wonderful Whites of West Virginia (2009)
Why no black guys?
9/2 Heckler (2007)
So bad.
9/3 Reefer Madness (1936)
Dope.
9/4 Everything or Nothing (2012)
Everything
9/4 American Grindhouse (2010)
More grinding than a middle school dance
9/4 Happy (2011)
Not so happy.
9/5 Ip Man 2 (2010)
I pooped.
9/8 The World’s End (2013)
You’ve got red on you.
9/10 Evil Dead (2013)
Movies are dumb...still. The chainsaw was a good callback.
9/18 Solitary Confinement (2012)
Never suffer alone.
9/26 Life of Pi (2012)
I want a tiger
9/30 Dracula (1931)
Blehhh I want to suck your blood.
10/2 The Wolf Man (1941)
Hairy palms...all i’m saying
10/10 The Invisible Man (1933)
I could see right through this plot
10/10 The Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
I hope the marriage lasts
10/13 Star Trek: Into Darkness rewatched (2013)
KHHHAAAANNNNN...Benedict Cumbersexy
10/19 Jack the Giant Slayer (2013)
Booo
10/21 Zero Charisma (2013)
I think I should start watching more indie movies!
10/21 Safety Not Guaranteed (2012)
No...No I should not watch more indie movies
11/08 Thor: The Dark World (2013)
I don’t know what I was expecting
11/25 Movie 43 (2013)
I can’t believe we watched this whole thing...
12/7 Frozen (2013)
I think I’d like to build a snowman
12/10 Pain and Gain (2013)
Rock Gods
12/13 The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013)
I saw this without Bobby, because I'm a bad friend. And want him to be sad. Also...Battle Royale 2
12/17 Godzilla: King of the Monsters (1956)
Steve Martin…
12/18 Blackfish (2013)
Who is that surprised that animals don’t like captivity? Anyone want sushi?
12/18 Jeff Who Lives at Home (2013)
Pfftttt
12/23 Batman Returns rewtached (1992)
Batman totally killed that guy.
Series(26 Seasons Watched) None of these were watched via your standard television programing...yea take that TV
3/22 House of Cards
Great show. Ends a little too obviously. But season 2 is on the way.
4/01 Louie Seasons 1 and 2
Real smart, great, honest pacing
5/6/13 Hemlock Grove
So many people watched this...none of us know exactly why
5/18 Workaholics Seasons 1 and 2
Great characters. Tight butthole
5/18 Astonishing X-Men Seasons 2-4
A wonderful style and presentation, coupled with an engaging storyline
5/26 Arrested Development Season 4
Picked up faithfully from where it left off, really gave the series a new start
6/2 Weeds Season 5
As time went on the series overstretched itself and felt tired at times. Mary Louise Parker is still rockin hot all the way though. And I thought the ending was sweet albeit contrived.
6/4 Adventure Time Season 1
I think this show is well made. I’d like to watch more
6/11 The Avengers: Earths Mightiest Defenders Season 2
Ant-man came back around
6/11 Ben 10 Season 1
Not compelled to watch any more of this franchise, but I enjoyed my time with it
7/17 Orange is the New Black
Prison is the new...not prison. Great characters make this show.
8/8 Girls Seasons 1 and 2
Fun dialog, impressive perspective
8/9 Californication Seasons 5
This falls into the category of shows of which I've followed the characters this far...might as well continue
9/20 Derek
How is he getting away with this…
10/9 The Walking Dead Season 3
A little laid back for my taste, but I really enjoyed the fleshing out of Woodbury
10/1 Breaking Bad Season 5
Started off pushed, but came around towards the end. Delivering great moments and lines.
11/9 Downton Abbey Seasons 1-2
This show is a light joy to watch
12/13 Louie Season 3
Louie C.K. really reaches new levels of craftsmanship with this season
12/16 Downton Abbey Season 3
A repetitive plot and stagnant characters slow the momentum of this show waaay down
12/27 Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee Season 1
Seinfield jumps into beautiful automotive relics and simply goes on dates with a slew of accomplished men and women of comedy. The Mel Brooks/Carl Reiner episode was...too cute
12/31 Mr. Augie’s Angel
Heartbreaking, Insightful, Humorous, Invasive, Poignant
Books No Lie, I feel rather ashamed at the entire lack of books I’ve read this year, but hey, Downton Abbey wasn’t gonna watch itself
May: The Great Gatsby-F. Scott Fitzgerald
I hadn’t read this before, so it felt right to check it out before the Baz flick.The dialog was still impressively contemporary
July: Forsaken- Oliver Bowden
A world trekking thriller. Simple fun and great for plane rides
December: Fables Collection One- Bill Willingham
A great introduction, and what seems to be a promising premise
Game of the Year
The thought that each week 9 of us, some from different states and zipcodes, come together to eat, drink, and role-play for hours on end is still incredible to me. D&D provides unmatched moments of hilarity and sincerity wrapped in a smart, creative, social framework. Proud to be a part of this group and it’s legacy.
Show of the Year
Bill Cosby Live!
It honestly came down to Bill Cosby and Fat Men in Skirts for my Favorite live performance this year. And it should speak to Fat Men’s credit that this was not an easy decision, but thinking back on the way Cosby was able to masterfully control and command an audience of thousands with such absolute finesse...was and is still flooring.
Song of the Year
Anonymiteten- Friendship Time!
The Intro gets you pumped, the rest is psychedelic jam nonsense, and man I dug it. Not only has the first 30 seconds been my ringtone since june, it’s also the way we start our podcast aptly named “Friendship Time”(small plug)
Movie of the Year
While a handful of movies truly grabbed me this year, The World’s End had me grinning ear to ear throughout. And what's more, it lulled me into it’s demented fiction without me even realizing it.
Series of the Year
Each season Louie C.K. develops more sophistication in the “Funny”. Finding poignantly hilarious ways to present content. The Dave Letterman Three Episode Arc is amazing.
Book of the Year
I really should read more books!
Thanks for reading and join us next year!
Here’s my list from 2012
https://www.facebook.com/notes/troy-davidson/2012-a-review-to-a-kill/10151192699612727
Here are others who have done the same this year, super fascinating, each one.