2011 - A Year in Favourites

Now that 2011 has ended I thought I'd go with the trend and do an end of year post to sum up my favourite books, films, T.V. shows and moments of this year. Overall, for me this has been an interesting year - I met some of my own deadlines, discovered some weird things about my family and friends, annoyed even more people than last year with my obscure beliefs and principles and started a blog.

To begin with I'll talk about the books that have stood out for me this year, I don't think there's any books that actually came out this year but that's just because I tend to avoid books when they've just come out, mostly because my reading list is already so long I'm scared to add any more to it. Anyway, the number 1 book for 2011 for me is The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Stieg Larsson):

Keeping with what I said before, it took me till this year to finally read this book, although I've been aware of it and the praise it has received for a few years now. Getting into the book was difficult at first with a bit of a slow and obscure start, but about four chapters in I was completely obsessed and literally couldn't put the book down at some points. It only took me 1 week to read, which isn't my quickest but it was a busy week. I actually can't express properly how much this book had drawn me in and how addicted I became to the story and the central characters and this is the first book in many, many years that I have not wanted to go online and find out what happens, I've actually wanted to read it and find out as the characters do - the perfect mystery. There are some aspects that I actually hate, the character of Erika Berger in particular and the bias nature of the story to woman, as though we are just victims who would never do anything wrong or commit any crime. This, however, only makes The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo even more interesting because of the complete contrast between the parts I love and the parts I hate. With the new movie out now, this book has become even more exciting as there is now a film adaptation I can enjoy but also criticise for the differences to the awesome book.

Runner up book for 2011 is Regeneration (Pat Barker):

Regeneration is based in the historical Craiglockhart Hospital in Scotland during World War I with a mixture of both historical and fictional characters and an exploration of their mental state while suffering from war neurosis. This may sound offish to anyone who doesn't know anything about these books but its actually a very interesting book, the first of a trilogy but can stand on its own completely just like The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Normally, anything to do with either of the World Wars will immediately turn me away but due to Regeneration being more of a focus on the psychological complexity of the characters after they have returned home rather than soldiers on a battlefield getting blown up. Character development is what mainly attracts me to a book so I very much enjoyed this one as everything - the plot included - comes from the character development. I first read this book earlier on this year and have since read the following two and have been completely captured by society from 1919 and the characters attempt to heal themselves and either return to the battlefield or escape it.

Other books to note that I've enjoyed or have been made aware of this year and want to read include Lord of the Rings (which I've read many, many times), Dracula, The Picture of Dorian Grey, A Song of Ice and Fire and Hannibal.

Films, unlike books, I tend to watch in a mixture of films that have just come out and films from years ago, which is reflected in my choices for number one and runner up film for this year. 2011 number 1 film has to be X-Men: First Class:

This film has definitely been a major highlight for me for this year, and for Superhero films in general, so is an obvious number one film for 2011, especially as it only came out this year. Being a prequel of the other X-Men films, focusing on Professor X and Magneto and starring James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender this film immediately popped up on my radar and new I would enjoy it, which I did, very much. I thought it was a brilliant film with excellent characters, a believable story for a prequel and it was focused on Professor X and Magneto - I cannot express how much I love these two characters, especially interacting with each other. I enjoyed certain X-Men like Banshee and Havok finally appearing and the new back story for Mystique but to be honest really could have done without Frost, I really just hate her. This film was even better with the excellent and gorgeous actors and actresses - I'm sure there would be a few more not too attractive mutants in the bunch - like McAvoy (Professor X) and Fessbender (Magneto), who I love, and even though I hate the character she plays, January Jones gave a wonderful performance as Frost.

Runner up for film of 2011 isn't one that came out this last year but that I've only just watched about 6 months ago and is Les Chansons D'amour (Love Songs):

A french musical film that became popular through film festivals that centres around the themes of sexuality and grief. The message of the film - sexuality isn't really something that can be named and to deal with grief one must accept what has happened and move on - is the backbone of the film and the songs are catchy and fit perfect with the theme and atmosphere helping to tell the story. However, while the main character has such amazing character development that almost anyone can identify with him, the rest of the characters unfortunately don't get enough coverage and are left not fully developed. With that said, there is enough overall development to keep to interested and the plot and situations that occur keep your attention and make the film and the message quite beautiful.

Other films I have enjoyed this year definitely include the other two big superhero films - Thor and Captain America: First Avenger - as well Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows pt 2, ending the movie run for that series, and a blast from the past Lion King 3D.

T.V. Shows for me this year have taken a back seat to films, books and comics but there have been some greats in 2011, the majority of which were actually broad casted first this year. Number 1 T.V. Show for 2011 is a link back to my first T.V. Show of the Week with Game of Thrones:

This T.V. Show has completely stormed through my life, absolutely captivating me from the first episode and completely changing my outlook on fantasy shows and books - the series also prompted me to read the books it was based off, A Song of Ice and Fire. The series immediately caught my attention due to the strong praise and fantasy medieval setting and after watching it the characters, the plot and the brilliant production amazed from the very beginning. The actors and actresses are brilliant and the harshness of the series, coming from the books, with the main character dying at the end of the series made this show stand out from most other T.V. Shows I've seen in a truly breathtaking way.

Runner up for T.V. Show is a show I've been meaning to watch for ten years, and finally watched a lot of it this year, being Smallville:

Probably not one of the best adaptations of a comic out there but this show did run for ten seasons and concerns the superhero of all superheroes, Superman. As I mentioned before, I've been wanting to watch this series for a while and this year have managed to get through a fair amount of it and am both loving and hating the series. I love seeing Clark Kent and Lex Luthor meet and be friends as a beginning and watching it turn sour as well as the mixture of original and new Superman mythology the show presented. Whereas, I hated the sometimes childish nature the show took and certain characters who I never liked much from the comics I also didn't like here, for example Lana Lang. That said, I have spent a great deal of time this year watching and thinking about this show and part of my motivation for picking up the new Action Comics series after the reboot so I think its a good choice for runner up this year when T.V. Shows have been a little less for me.

Other T.V. Shows that have been prominent for me this year include Merlin, Sherlock (which was broad casted in 2010 but I watched a few months late), The Walking Dead, Russell Howard's Good News, Never Mind the Buzzcocks, QI and Question Time.


2011 has been a very good year for comics with the DC reboot and Marvel's X-Men Regenesis and Fear Itself so my favourite for this year are difficult to decide, but I have made the choice, choosing to stay with comics that came out this year. For comics, my number 1 this year is Alpha Flight:

 There are quite a few series that overall I like more than this one but giving that I'm just dealing with comics that came out in 2011, this series is definitely number 1. After deciding to get the first issue for this one an impulse and a slow start I have fallen in love with the characters and am really enjoying the plot. The last few issues have left me satisfied and desperately waiting for the next one and I feel having Alpha Flight back in comics is the best thing to come out of the Fear Itself event. I have been particularly impressed by the presentation of Guardian, Northstar and Aurora with the former two's loss and betrayal from their partners and Aurora's mental breakdown being interesting and quite heart-breaking to read. With only 8 issues for this series and 7 out already, there's not much time left at all to enjoy what has now become one of my favourite series so I hope there's a great ending and somewhere down the line Marvel bring this great team back again.

Runner up comic for 2011 is also another Marvel comic as I'm still giving the new rebooted DC comics chance to get a foothold and I can't be bothered to remember further back than September. So runner up comic is X-Factor:

This series could have been number 1 but since I've decided to focus on comics that first came out this year, this has been bumped down as I felt this year hasn't been that strong overall for X-Factor. There have been some great issues, like #226 which is the cover I have used, but there has also been some not bad but not particularly good issues either, like the stupid Hard Labour storyline. This comic series has a very high majority of my favourite characters - Shatterstar, Layla and Longshot to name but a few - which is mainly due to Peter David's excellent writing which even makes the characters I'm not too keen on fascinating to read. Similarly, even though there were stories I really didn't like in the end, Hard Labour again, they still were interesting to read and there were some enjoyable elements, like all the mythological creatures and Layla lining the windows and doors with salt. Although, at the end of this year X-Factor has got a lot better with the twist of Madrox 'dying', Rictor getting his powers back and the effects from X-Men Regenesis.

Like I said before, its been an interesting year for comics, especially the last few months and other comics I've really enjoyed include Stormwatch, Demon Knights, The Walking Dead, Wolverine and the X-Men and Avengers: The Children's Crusade.

2011 for me personally has been rather uneventful, the majority of it being taken up with burying my head in fiction and complaining about the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats, so my choice for my favourite moment was surprisingly easy. It goes to my holiday in late March when I spent a week in Greece visiting all the Ancient Greek ruins like Olympia, Delphi and the Acropolis. I've always been fascinated by classical civilisations and mythology so I completely enjoyed this trip, even though there was a lot of travelling and I was tired nearly all the time - which I blame on the cheap alcohol.