PixlBit

2008 was about the end of my music career, if I can call it that. We still jammed a lot but we only played one summer pool party gig. Even though the band was fading, I was still heavily invovled with various media, mostly gaming and reading. Here are five of my favorites from five different media formats. 

TV: Star Wars Clone Wars (animated)

I wanted to really love this show, but I found it very derivative of previous Star Wars stories. I didn't much like the lead characters either: Anakin, a prideful, unlikeable snob; and Snips, who was likeable, but was a little too passive to Anakin's will. What I liked, though (and this is true for me even with bad Star Wars films), was the design of the visuals. The worlds are amazing, the space ships really cool and the orchestration of all that stellar.

FIlm: Tropic Thunder

I remember when this movie released that summer. I was ambivalent about seeing it, and so I didn't. I watched it later on DVD and kicked myself for not seeing it then because I enjoyed it so much. Ben Stiller, Jack Black and Rober Downey jr are really great in this sendup of triple-A actors and big budget films about serious subjects. One of my favorites.  

Game: Valkyria Chronicles

I was hooked on the first demo I played on my recently bought PS3 that fall. At first I was in love with the visuals. It has a hand drawn look. It's very detailed and the colors are earthy like a watercolor painting. Then I was wowed by the combat system. It's turn-based but also includes limited free roaming and real-time enemy return fire. You get both a 2D overhead map view to plan strategy and a 3D third-person view to execute it. You can upgrade and develop new equipment and you can cultivate relationships that improve performance in combat. It's like my dream-come-true strategy game. 

Music: Wall-E soundtrack

Thomas Newman composed the soundtrack, and it's fine, but what I loved best was the collaboration with Peter Gabriel on the song "Down to Earth" that plays over the amazing title sequence at the end of the movie. I was in high Pixar fandom at the time and loved every minute of this movie, but that 2D animation with the credits, and this great song, cemented it as one of my favorites. The finale of the film is a wonderful moment of hope with intent to renew Earth. I wish we would now do the same and come back "down to earth". 

Book: Conan: The Cimmerian

In the midst of my return to comics , I read some Conan The Cimmerian. Timothy Truman has written Conan for Dark Horse from 2006-2014. I think his stories are great. Conan is a smart calculating barbarian, not just a thug. Tomas Giorello, who has worked a lot with Truman, is an amazing artist. I loved the lush natural environments he created for Conan. He really made the worlds of the stories come alive with his densely detailed scenes.  

What was your favorite media of 2008?