PixlBit

This is the year I got into the Toys-To-Life games. I believe it was the vehicle designs for the Skylanders Superchargers that got me interested and then Gamestop's sales right after the holidays. This lead to Disney Infinity, then Lego Dimensions, Amiibo, and finally Skylink: Battle for Atlas. The genre is sort of in limbo right now, but I hope it returns. But I experienced more than just games. Here are five favorites from that year. 

TV: The Best of Big Blue:

I've loved BBC nature documentaries with David Attenborough since Life on Earth in 1979. In 2015 there were 18 films shot by the BBC's Natural History Unit. Amazing! This one is about wildlife on America's West Coast. 

Film: Mad Max: Fury Road:

The original director, George Miller, of the series returns and puts on a great show. The main character and story are better in the first two movies but the spectacle is greater here. I just love the vehicle designs and the slightly sped up filming. It's like a comic book come to life. I love this film for its artistic style and action. 

Game: Skylanders: Superchargers:

This is the game that pulled me into the toys-to-life genre. Exciting vehicle designs have captured my attention since I was a kid collecting Matchbox and Hotwheels. I liked all the Skylander's toy designs though and quickly got all the previous games and figures on various sales that were going on. The end must have been in sight for the genre, or at least, a temporary hiatus. Wei Huang did the original character design in the first game with developers Toys for Bob. Others took the reigns after that but his stamp is on everything and I feel like it's his artistic sense that captivated me from the beginning. 

Music: "There Won't Be Many Coming Home" by Roy Orbison used in the film Hateful Eight

This song plays at the end of Quentin Tarantino's Hateful Eight and grabbed my attention. It's from a film Orbison did in '67 called Fastest Guitar Alive. The rest of the soundtrack is an original score by Ennio Morricone, the first by him in a long time. So the whole soundtrack is certainly worth a listen. 

Book: Haruki Murakami "Wind/Pinball": 

 

This book is the first two books written by Haruki, Hear the Wind Sing ('79), and Pinball, 1973 ('80). They are two parts of the Trilogy of the Rat. The stories are a little surreal. The main character is obsessed with pinball, goes to a bar with his friend Rat, and lives with two females who are twins who remain nameless (this is mostly about Pinball, '73). He is apathetic about life but deeply introspective. This book has haunted me ever since I read it, drawing me to his other books whenever I see them at my library. The third book of the trilogy is A Wild Sheep Chase ('82) which I'm reading now. 

What did you like in 2015?