2020’s just about over and I’m sure I speak for most all of us when I say I would very much like to not do this again. Through it all, blog posts were written and so here’s the big ones from this year.
Five Most Popular/Viewed Posts
#5: What Day Is It?
Oh man, remember when this whole quarantine and pandemic thing was still new? There’s a lot of musing on Death Stranding in this one, a great game with an experience improved by playing in the middle of a period in real life when you weren’t supposed to leave your house. Great game.
#4: Parasite Won
Right! That was this year! Well. In more recent news, the movie Minari about a family of Korean immigrants in Arkansas has been deemed eligible for Best Picture at the Golden Globes because it’s mostly in Korean. So much for that.
#3: Day Thirteen
It’s Day 286 now so suffice to say things are looking quite Groundhog Day-ian over here.
One day I’m sure I will tire ofThe Mandalorian borrowing whole sale from Samurai and Western movies, but it’s going to take a very long time before we get there.
#1: Comforts
There’s a chart in this one and it’s a chart I’m still very proud of. The pandemic has me seeing what I like to consume as comfort, and funnily enough, Death Stranding and The Great British Bake Off both feel like warm hugs.
Josh’s Pick of Three
#3: The Speech of The Colonizer
Accents are important, man. And the way Wakanda repositions a non-Western accent into a place of power is so important.
#2: Lightsabers
One of my big issues with the Star Wars Movie Of Which I Speak Not is that, like Revenge of The Sith before it, it kinda abandons character arcs. A really cool way that character arcs in Star Wars develop is with lightsabers. And there was a chance here for Rey to have a really dope double sided lightsaber but, well. Well. This post is about why that’s a big deal.
#1: Alone Together
I really liked Death Stranding. I posted this very early into the quarantine, but so much of what resonated then still rings true today. I love this game that makes you feel a connection to strangers, I love that this story that could be so oppressive is really so heartwarming. I thought Kojima was nuts as ever when he would talk about the importance of strands and all that stuff, but after playing the game and sitting with it for months of lockdown: he’s on to something.
So that’s it for this, uh, unique year. Here’s hoping next year’s a bit less, well, 2020.
Essays, Not Rants! 