Hope that 2009 turns out to be a good year for everyone. 2008 was OK for me, could have been a lot better, but also could have been a lot better.

Anyway, since it's the new year, I thought I'd make a few short lists of my favorite TV shows, movies, and videogames that I played this past year:

TV

Top 5 shows that I got into this year:

1. Battlestar Galactica: Absolutely brilliant show. Almost everything about it is great, but most importantly, the characters' stories are just so fascinating. Unlike any other sci-fi that I've seen before.

2. Lost: Such a strong show, and it's better the second time around, after getting to know more about what is happening. My favorite thing about the show is how it's like a jigsaw puzzle in the form of a TV show. It reveals a little bit at a time, leading to a much bigger picture. And while it might be slower than most shows on TV, it does a great job at moving the story along, and answering enough questions while bringing even more mysteries to keep viewers interested and (for the most part) not having it seem overwhelming.

3. Dexter: The character Dexter is probably the most fascinating character that I've ever seen on a TV show. There's just so many dimensions to his character, and the writers do a great job at adding new things to explore for his character in order to keep things fresh. If Dexter wasn't on it, the show might not be as interesting, but then it would be a completely different show, since everything seems to revolve around him. One thing I think is great about the show is how it is able to have a completely different feeling for each of the 3 seasons so far, while keeping up the great quality of the previous seasons.

4. Six Feet Under: Definitely not a show I'd imagine I'd end up liking. It's just so different from what I usually like. But what makes it so good IMO is the unique mixture of dark comedy and drama. The characters and their stories took me a little while to really get into, but they were very interesting once I was able to get into it. I haven't actually finished the series (I'm towards the end of the 3rd season), but I do think it's a very good series based on what I've seen so far and am looking forward to seeing the rest.

5. In Treatment: A very different idea for a TV show, and one that I really like. I love the format for the show, where each episode is just a session between a psychologist and a patient, and how the season goes on a cycle, where every 5 episodes equal a "week," and then it loops back to the same people. And the show does a great job at exploring both the individuals' dramas and a kind of over-arcing story that evolves as the season goes on. I just wish I could find a way to watch the last few episodes of the first season.

Best show that I got back into:

MASH: No contest... Literally, there was nothing else, unless if you count shows that I have watched for years and then started over from the beginning again. But even if there was competition, I couldn't imagine any other show being in place of MASH for this. I loved the show before, but going through it again, with a much more matured taste in TV, I just have much more of an appreciation for what the show did. And it definitely helps that this was the first time that I fully took advantage of the DVDs' ability to turn off the laugh track. While the first season was much weaker overall than future seasons, and didn't really benefit from this feature (with a few notable exceptions, like "Dear Dad," "Dear Dad, Again," and "Sometimes You Hear The Bullet), overall, the series greatly benefits from it. So much so that I can't see why anybody at CBS ever wanted to cheapen the show with it's presence.

What I most love about the show is just how well it explores the dramady genre much better than anything that came before it, and arguably anything that has come after it. There were so many great episodes which were comedy episodes, and so many great drama episodes, but also a lot which does a simply brilliant job at mixing the two together. Also, I think that, based on what I've seen of it (I haven't seen all the episodes, but have seen the majority), it pretty much did everything that it could have done with the characters, and the setting (a hospital that was 3 miles from the front lines of the war), and even more, due to how it was never afraid to do something very experimental, and way ahead of its time. While it wasn't perfect (there was at least one episode that I thought was very stupid, and a few that I liked but were weaker than most of the others), it did a pretty remarkable job with the material that they had to work with.

Movies

Top 5 movies:

(note: this is based off of a limited selection of movies )

1. The Dark Knight: While I think that the beginning was somewhat weak, I think that once the movie really got going, it was just a great movie, and easily the best movie out of the few movies that I've seen this year. I loved the portrayal of the Joker, both by Heath Ledger and the writers. I loved how he played with peoples' fears, and tried to create chaos in the city. I also really liked the look at the need for a hero, but also played with that, showing some of the darker effects that it could have.

2. 24 Redemption: Served a dual purpose. First, it served as a transition from season 6 to season 7. And it did a very good job at that. After a disappointing season 6, it showed a lot of promise for the next season, showing a different kind of threat, and setting up a few other elements that will be used in the next season. One thing that I didn't care for was one of the side-stories, which re-used one of the most over-used stories on 24. If they create such a different kind of threat for the new season, why ruin that with a story that has been done to death on the show? But personally, I think that the rest of the movie did a good job at making up for that aspect of the movie. The second thing that the movie did was just to make its own self-contained story, both so that fans can look at Redemption not just as the introduction of season 7, but also see it as its own thing. And it also allows for people who may be new to the show to come into the series without missing a whole lot. With what is basically a reboot of the series, I think that people could watch this and understand what is going on. That isn't to say that the same thing will be true for season 7 (with 24, there could always be a twist that relates back to a previous season), but the movie does a good job at pulling this off. Anyway, the story that is used as the movie's main plot was easily my favorite part of the movie. It did a great job at showing Jack in a new light, that also seems fitting for the Jack that we knew before. A few things in the story were predictable, but for the most part I really liked what the story did, for Jack, and in terms of setting up the main threat of the season. While it's too early to say that the show is back on track after the disappointing season 6, it is showing a lot of promise, and could in fact be 24's redemption (OK, I hate myself for that ).

3. The X-Files: I Want To Believe: While I think that the beginning could have been much stronger, I think that once the story gets going it is a great movie. It does a very good job at showing Mulder and Scully in a new light, after years of being out of the FBI. The main story wasn't really a new one for X-Files fans (psychic using his powers to help solve a crime), and doesn't compare to some of the other episodes with that story (especially "Beyond the Sea" and "Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose"), but it wasn't really trying to be like those episodes. What made it as good as it was IMO was how everything played out for the characters. I loved Mulder's "need to believe," which was well portrayed in the movie, but also Scully's own need to believe. I can understand why some people may not have liked Scully's story in the movie, and in fact, it is part of the problem that I had with the first half of the movie, but it does pay off in the end. I've never been a Mulder/Scully shipper while watching the show (with the best shipper moments in the show being the times when one of them was searching for the other- specifically the Duane Barry arc and the season 8 Mulder arc), but this movie had a few very good moments between the two, showing their understanding of each others' needs to believe, which greatly added to the movie.

4. Stargate Continuum: Like The X-Files, this was based on an idea that has been done before on the show, but also manages to do something good with the material. It really is divided up into 2 different parts, one dealing with an altered past on Earth, and the other dealing with trying to fix the past, which just feels like a very different movie than the first part. But I think that both parts are great, and seem very different from the episodes with that story.

5. Stargate The Ark of Truth: I think that this was a fitting ending of the series, wrapping up everything with the Ori. If it left it at that, it probably would have been better. However, I didn't really care for the side-story that they added in there. It wasn't enough to destroy the movie for me, since I think that it was a good movie, but could have been better without that story.

Videogames

Top 6 games of the year (lol) :

Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts: A great, very unique idea for a game. I love the vehicle builder in the game, and the different ideas to take advantage of it. the game has a lot of things to do (although most of it is exploration of the hub world and different levels). I just love the gameplay and feel of the whole game.

Braid: Very close to being #1, and in fact it was a last-minute change to make Banjo first. Still, I absolutely love the idea of the game. The time manipulation, and the different puzzles that that idea allows is simply genius. The mixture between the gameplay, art style, music, and even the writing for the story make this one of the best examples of "videogames as art," and just a great addition to any gamer's collection, as long as they don't mind the focus on the puzzles instead of simple platforming.

de Blob: Like the other two top games, this is another very unique take on the platforming genre. It's centered around the idea of painting cities different colors, but adds different obstacles to mix things up, and gets more and more challenging as the game goes along. It has a lot of different things for you to do, in order to keep you coming back for more. My favorite part of the game is just how fun it is to go around trying to paint things, and how it even encourages you to change the colors that you're painting with by having a kind of interactive soundtrack, based on which color you use, and how quickly you paint the colors. It may not really sound like much, but when going around painting, it really does a lot to make the experience a lot more fun than it already would be.

Grand Theft Auto 4: I'm a bit conflicted with this game. On one hand, it's a great game, and a huge technical leap over the previous games, with a much stronger story. On the other hand, the missions in the game are nowhere near as fun or varied as previous games, and it just doesn't have nearly as much to do on the side. I prefer the PS2 games, and I'd even say I prefer Liberty City Stories, and it's just a disappointment in that regard, but that doesn't mean it's a bad game. Not at all. It might not be as great as I thought it would be, but it is great.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl: While I feel like it's a bit too much like Melee, only more things into it (characters, stages, trophies, modes, etc.), it does a very good job at adding things to that so that if you don't mind playing more of the same, it won't disappoint. I haven't played it as much as I thought I would, mainly because of how it is so similar to Melee, and also because there are other games I'd rather play, but it is a great game, and can see myself coming back to it in the future, more than any other game that I got this generation.

No More Heroes: It certainly has its flaws, such as repetitive gameplay and a poor hub world. That being said, it does a great job at getting me to look past these problems, and just having a lot of fun. I love the art style, and the humor that the game's story is based on, and the game has some truly great boss fights, which are the best part of the gameplay.

Game that I want most that I can't play:

Little Big Planet: This game looks so unique, fun, and charming. It's hard to look at the cute nature of SackBoy and not want this game. That's not why I think this game looks so great though. I just love the idea of just creating levels, and also playing through other people's levels. And the game looks like it could be a lot of fun in a co-op mode with a friend. Also, I like how it seems to be expanding on ideas with downloadable content. Specifically, the Metal Gear Solid 4 DLC looks great, especially since it includes the "Paintinator," a paintgun for you to use in level creation, along with a lot of other items and a few levels. I'm hoping that they keep doing that kind of thing, having a game-changing item to allow people to make more varied levels. I say that I can't play this because I don't have a PS3, although I've been considering getting one (although if I do, it won't be for a while), and this game is a big part of the reason why I've started to change my mind about getting one (although not the only reason).