The end of the year is when many publications around the world put together their best of the year lists. It’s an old tradition, and as people look back at the highlights of the year, and maybe try to influence others to pick up the great stuff we have experienced over the past year.
The trouble with doing this for myself is that a lot of the apparently great things from the past year I haven’t really experienced. I’m not out of the loop entirely, but there have been raves for films I haven’t seen, music I haven’t listened too, games I haven’t played and books I haven’t read. In fact, I haven’t even read a book published this year, instead choosing to read older books I already had lying around, stockpiled one fall when I decided I needed something new to read and couldn’t decide what that should be. So, with my limited credentials firmly in place, here is my best of the year.
The best album, David Bowie’s Blackstar. A cynical person might argue that the album got a lot of power from its context, since the artist died soon after its release, and the album itself is clearly written by a man struggling and ultimately coming to peace with his own mortality. It isn’t unbearably dark, but it is incredibly sad, because it is the last message of a dying man who knew full well that was what the album would be. It’s not an easy listen, but it might be one of the most powerful albums he has ever made.
The best film, so far at least, would be 10 Cloverfield Lane. I include the disclaimer so far because I haven’t seen many films that I’m excited about watching, including the critically adored Moonlight and the newest film from Martin Scorsese.
But I probably won’t need that disclaimer, because I absolutely loved the film. The story of Michelle (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) who wakes up to discover she is in a bunker with Howard (John Goodman) who is telling her there has been some kind of disaster outside and Emmett (John Gallagher Jr.), who apparently fought his way in. As one might expect, she doesn’t quite trust this version of events, especially since Howard is a bit on edge and after all, he did kidnap her. The tension of the situation drives the film, and it changes as the film progresses, more information is revealed, and Michelle doesn’t know exactly how much she can trust the men around her. It’s also about as different from the first Cloverfield as two films sharing a series can be.
The best game is a remake of a game from 2000, which was originally released in 2013 Japan. So it’s only technically new, but it was only released in November of this year in Canada so I say it counts. That’s Dragon Quest VII, a ridiculously long game - my file is not finished and has broke 50 hours - in a series that is huge in Japan that didn’t really make an impact elsewhere.
That’s a shame, because this is one of the rare games that justifies the medium as an artistic endeavor. Appropriate for something incredibly long, it’s about the passage of time, as the heroes solve crises in the past in order to save their world in the present. The stories are about what you don’t see, how centuries can distort what actually happened and how legends and reality relate to each other. It is, at turns, sad, funny and life affirming, whether it’s the monster who becomes a celebrated hero or the tiny touch of a family that gains the ability to talk to cows. For something with its sheer length, it is strongest in the tiny moments, little details that add to the rich tapestry that the world represents.
That’s what I liked in 2016, at least. And this time next year, I hopefully will be more familiar with the other great things that were released this year.
