The Best of 2019

We're approaching the end of 2019 and so it is time for the annual tradition where I share some of the things I've enjoyed the most this year. I say "annual tradition" but this is only the second time I've done this. I suppose the act of writing this is making it an annual tradition.

TV

It occurs to be that I haven't loved much TV this year. I've never watched Game of Thrones which is probably just as well because it seems most people were disappointed in it's final season. The second series of Killing Eve was enjoyable but no-where near the heights of it's first series and the first version of The War of the Worlds that actually set the story in the 19th century was a bit of a mess. 

Still, there have been some good things. One of them is the BBC's His Dark Materials which has turned Philip Pullman's excellent novels into something really special. There's a wonderful cast with Dafne Keen as Lyra and the CGI in it is stunning- the second series has already been filmed and is already a strong contender for filling this slot this year.

My pick this year though is Good Omens, an adaption of Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman's book of the same name. It's only been on Amazon so far but is showing on the BBC soon. I love both writers and like the book so I was nervously excited for this. Neil Gaiman created the show and cast David Tennant as demon Crowley and Michael Sheen as angel Aziraphale. Both actors are superb in this and they lead an all star cast in a series which depicts the most fun apocalypse I've ever seen. It looks great and is such a fun ride- every episode was wonderful.

Film:

I saw quite a few films at the cinema this year and enjoyed them all. Wild Rose is a great British film about an aspiring country star, Ad Astra is a decent sci-fi flick starring Brad Pitt and Knives Out is an utterly brilliant modern take on the classic whodunnit formula. 

Probably my favourite film of 2019 was Avengers: Endgame. I'm not sure I've ever been so excited for the film, to the point I even had a nightmare that I went to see and it turned out to be awful. But no, I felt it was the perfect conclusion to eleven years of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and was a whole heap of fun. When I cast my critical eye over it I can spot issues but as a Marvel fan it's something I adored and I'll be going back to it a lot.

The film I thought was the best was Quentin Tarantino's latest offering Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood. I've seen most of Tarantino's films and I think this might well be the best. It stars Leonardo di Caprio as washed-out actor Rick Dalton and Brad Pitt as his best friend and stuntman Cliff Booth. It's a love letter to the golden age of Hollywood as well as being heartfelt and funny and at times really rather creepy. Superb!

Books: I've been reading a lot less this year, mainly because as soon as I pick up a book I start feeling sleepy and am lucky to manage more than a chapter in one go. Of course I've still been reading but there have honestly been very few books which I've adored this year.

My book of the year goes to The Lights Go Out in Lychford by Paul Cornell. It's a novella that's the latest in a series of book about the village of Lychford and the three modern day witches who protect it's borders. The series is very much a modern fantasy, combining elements of traditional fantasy of witches and fairies with modern day issues like commercialism and in this case, dementia. This latest installment was the best so far, emotional, powerful and fun at the same time.

Author Paul Cornell has written a lot of stuff I've enjoyed- I first discovered him from when he wrote several episodes of Doctor Who and ended reading comic books and novels he wrote. He writes a newsletter where he talks about his work and his life which has become part of my weekly routine- every Friday lunchtime I sit in the staff-room and read the newsletter. It makes you almost feel like you know the author and that helped to connect me with the book further because I could understand the difficult real world events that inspired the story. 

Podcasts: 

I listen to No Such Thing as a Fish, the podcast from the Qi, elves every week and this year has also seen some great new podcasts. David Tennant's podcast has the actor interview various celebrities, generally actors with the Olivia Coleman episode being a particular highlight. Historian Greg Jenner launched You're Dead to Me, a history podcast where he brings together a historian and a comedian to discuss a particular subject each week which is great. 

My podcast of the year though goes to a long-running podcast that I've recently discovered, the podcast from the team at Empire magazine. Each week the team discuss the week's film news and review new releases as well as interviewing various actors and directors. There's also lots of specials where they do deep dives into films or have extended interviews. What I love is how much fun it is as it could be too geeky and dry but never is thanks to the fun the panel of Empire writers have each week.

Games:

As much as I've wanted to get back into console gaming I've found myself being priced out. Back in the day you'd buy a console and spend around £30 on a game. These days the consoles are more expensive, the decent games are around £50 or more and you have to pay a monthly subscription for online services.

I do like to waste time playing games on my phone though. One that has filled a lot of time this year is Train Conductor World where you have to move trains along different tracks to avoid them crashing into each other- it's genuinely a lot more exciting than it sounds. Like most games though I've now reached a point where it's increasingly difficult to unlock new levels and you either have to pay or constantly replay the same levels to progress.

My game of the year though is Mario Kart Tour. There have been few periods of my life when I've not been playing a Mario Kart game on occasion and I've long dreamed of a game which includes tracks from the history of the series. Well, Tour is quite close to that and the joy of being able to play Mario Kart on a phone is great. It's not quite as good as a console version but I've really taken to it and it's updated every two weeks with different tracks and content which means I've not got even close to getting bored of it.

Well that's it for this year on this blog and I'll be back early in 2020 with a new year themed post. Thanks for reading this year, if indeed you still are.